Palou, O’Ward set stage for dramatic INDYCAR start at Laguna Seca
Alex Palou – Java House Grand Prix of Monterey – Photo by Joe Skibinski
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio
Row 1 will be center stage for the start of INDYCAR’s Java House Grand Prix of Monterey this afternoon at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
Alex Palou – Java House Grand Prix of Monterey – Photo by Paul Hurley
Championship contenders Alex Palou and Pato O’Ward qualified 1-2 for Round 14 of the NTT IndyCar Series schedule Saturday in Northern California. The pair has combined to win the past three races, and four of the last five dating to late June. So, whomever wheels first into Turn 1 when the green flag drops shortly after 3 p.m. (EDT) likely will dictate pace and strategy over the course of 95 laps/212.6-miles.
“Honestly, I’ve said it to the team, I always think that it’s better to have your closest competitor close,” said Palou, the three-time/reigning series champion from Chip Ganassi Racing. “You want to be on the same…kind of same strategy and you want to know…yeah, I think when you have somebody starting on like 17th, it might look good on paper. But then suddenly they do a crazy strategy and they cycle to the front and you have, like, no chance to fight for it on-track.
Alex Palou – Java House Grand Prix of Monterey – Photo by Joe Skibinski
“I think it’s great. I think it’s good. It’s for sure making it more challenging and more interesting for everybody. I like it. Honestly, I like it.”
FOX Sports, FOX Deportes, FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network will broadcast what looms as the season’s hero-or-zero moment.
“Look, I started on-pole last year and I only led for Turn 1, like not even Turn 2,” said Palou, the winner of seven races this season. “(Kyle) Kirkwood caught me there on the outside, and I think it’s one of those tracks that maybe it’s not a huge, huge difference between first and second. I didn’t do a great job last year on the start, so hopefully I can do a better job this year.”
Alex Palou – Java House Grand Prix of Monterey – Photo by Joe Skibinski
Palou’s best lap in Saturday’s Firestone Fast Six was clocked at 1-minute, 8.3413-seconds/117.891 mph in the No. 10 DHL Honda. The Spaniard’s time was nearly three-tenths of a second quicker than O’Ward’s fastest tour of the 2.238-mile/11-turn natural-terrain road-course. O’Ward’s money lap was 1:08.6280-seconds/117.398 mph in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet.
SEE: Qualifying Results
O’Ward classified Palou’s performance as “a monster lap” on a track featuring the famed Corkscrew Complex in Turn 8.
Pato O’Ward – Java House Grand Prix of Monterey – Photo by Joe Skibinski
“I think it was not very close. We’ve definitely seen closer ones before,” said O’Ward, a 26-year-old native of Mexico with family ties to San Antonio, Texas. “But it’s my best start here, so I’ll take that. Yeah, I think Alex just did a really strong lap. My qualifying was a bit more scrappy, really, especially from Q2 to Q3. I found four-tenths but needed two more to be closer. Yeah, we’ll take that.
“It just makes it that much harder whenever the one that you’re trying to beat is having as good of days or better. Yeah, it just makes us push even harder, and I think that’s going to be a great opposition and view going into Turn 2.”
Pato O’Ward – Java House Grand Prix of Monterey – Photo by Paul Hurley
Palou said his pole-winning lap “felt amazing. Honestly, the car has been amazing (all weekend). I’ve felt we had a ton of pace, like all year. Everybody at CGR has been doing a tremendous job making me look good on-track.”
Palou won this race last summer for the second time in three years, and his average finish in four races is 1.8. Palou, in fact, won the 2022 race by more than 30 seconds. In comparison, O’Ward’s average finish at Laguna Seca is 7.5.
A win Sunday would all but secure Palou’s third consecutive series championship and fourth in five years. Alex holds a 99-point lead over Pato heading to the season’s final four races, and winning pole added another point to his total.
Pato O’Ward – Java House Grand Prix of Monterey – Photo by Joe Skibinski
“Oh, now it’s 100?” O’Ward said, sarcastically. “Yeah, we’re obviously the only two that can win the championship now. And I’m the one that’s chasing down pretty hard. Much rather be next to each other than not, so usually if you’re next to him, it means that you’ve been qualifying well because he seems to be the master this year at that, and we seem to be a little bit more of a stranger to the Fast Six.”
As noted, Palou has scored seven wins in the season’s first 13 races in an apparent drive into open-wheel history. The record for most series wins in a season has stood since 1964, when Houston native A.J. Foyt Jr. won 10 of 13 races. Six years later, Al Unser matched that total in 18 races. Only eight INDYCAR drivers have won eight or more races in a given season.
Alex Palou – Java House Grand Prix of Monterey – Photo by Chris Owens
The NTT P1 Award was Palou’s fifth of the 2025 campaign, tying his personal mark set in 2023.
O’Ward settled for his third front-row start of the season _ he was on-pole at The Thermal Club in California in late March and qualified third for the 109th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge in May. O’Ward is fully-aware a massive challenge awaits. “(Palou) is the guy we have to beat, and he’s starting in front of us,” O’Ward said. “We’ll see what (the race) has in store.”
Like Palou, O’Ward has goals to pursue. Pato set a personal mark last year with three race wins; he has two so far this season, both coming in the span of eight days. O’Ward also is seeking his first title at this level after winning the INDY NXT by Firestone championship in 2018.
Scott Dixon – Java House Grand Prix of Monterey – Photo by Joe Skibinski
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon _ the six-time series champion from New Zealand who won this event in 2023 _ is one of four drivers to have won races this season. But the driver of the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda did not advance to the second round of qualifying and will start from the 19th position in the 27-car grid. Only once in the 27 previous series races has the winner started outside the top-11. Max Papis of Italy won the 2001 race from the 25th position.
Palou, Andretti Global’s Kirkwood (three wins) and O’Ward are the other race winners this season. Kirkwood will start 18th in the No. 27 JM Bullion Honda after bobbling on exit of the Corkscrew corner.
The only incident of note in qualifying occurred when Felix Rosenqvist of Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian went wide in Turn 5 late in the second round. The driver of the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian Honda was on-pace to advance to the Fast Six until the slide into the gravel pit required a local yellow, which by rule disqualified the Swede’s fastest lap. He will start from the 12th position.
“I went in (to Turn 5) a little hard and I couldn’t save it,” the event’s 2023 pole-winner said. “It’s unfortunate. Yeah, it is what it is. My bad.”
Qualifying was the first session of the day after the morning practice was cancelled amid lingering fog on the Monterey Peninsula. With the same weather expected Sunday morning, INDYCAR officials rescheduled the weekend’s third and final practice to the end of this day.
Caio Collet – INDY NXT By Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey – Photo by Josh Hernandez
Brazilian Caio Collet is not letting up in his pursuit of the INDY NXT by Firestone championship.
Hours after scoring the top starting position for both Grand Prix of Monterey races this weekend at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, the HMD Motorsports driver led all 35 laps of Race 1. Collet held off series point-leader Dennis Hauger of Andretti Global for his second race win this season and third overall over the past two years.
SEE: Race Results
Collet’s margin of victory was 0.2092-seconds, making it the closest INDYCAR-sanctioned INDY NXT by Firestone race at Laguna Seca. Collet also is the series’ 11th consecutive pole-winner to reach Victory Lane at the 2.238-mile/11-turn road-course.
Caio Collet – INDY NXT By Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey – Photo by Josh Hernandez
“I think at the beginning of the race we had a really good car with pace,” said Collet, 23. “I was just pushing, praying that everything would stay under control. But with a few laps to go I started to see a lot of vibration on my left front (tire), and I’m like, ‘OK.’ So, I worked with my tools and I could see Dennis was catching me, catching me, catching me. I was counting down the laps, praying that the race was over soon.”
Collet also won the Grand Prix of Road America in June. He will start P1 in Sunday’s second race.
Rookie Hauger, a 22-year-old native of Norway, entered the weekend with a string of five consecutive poles and a 76-point lead over Andretti Global teammate Lochie Hughes of Australia. With Hughes among the eight drivers collected in a series of first-lap incidents and finishing sixth, Hauger’s series lead grew to 81 points with Collet now in the second spot. Hughes is third in the standings, 89 points in arrears. Four races remain.
Hauger has finished first or second in eight of the 10 races this season. He also has finishes of fifth (at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Ill.) and eighth (Race 1 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course). Hauger will again start from P2 in Sunday’s 35-lap race.
HMD Motorsports’ Josh Pierson finished third, and he will start Race 2 from that position. It was his first career podium in 33 race starts.
NTT IndyCar Series Point Standings _ 1, Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing, 536; 2, Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren, 437; 3, Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global, 363; 4, Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing, 362; 5, Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren, 317; 6, Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank Racing, 309; 7, Marcus Armstrong, Meyer Shank Racing, 283; 8, Colton Herta, Andretti Global, 278; 9, Will Power, Team Penske, 263; 10, David Malukas, A.J. Foyt Racing, 259;
11, Rinus VeeKay, Dale Coyne Racing, 252; 12, Santino Ferrucci, A.J. Foyt Racing, 240; 13, Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske, 239; 14, Kyffin Simpson, Chip Ganassi Racing, 226; 15, Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter Racing, 217; 16, Josef Newgarden, Team Penske, 213; 17, Alexander Rossi, Ed Carpenter Racing, 199; 18, Conor Daly, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 199; 19, Marcus Ericsson, Andretti Global, 195; 20, Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 195;
21, Nolan Siegel, Arrow McLaren, 168; 22, Robert Shwartzman, PREMA Racing, 159; 23, Louis Foster, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 159; 24, Callum Ilott, PREMA Racing, 135; 25, Sting Ray Robb, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 133; 26, Devlin DeFrancesco, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 123; 27, Jacob Abel, Dale Coyne Racing, 95; 28, Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 36; 29, Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing, 20; 30, Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing, 16;
31, Jack Harvey, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports, 12; 32, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports, 10; 33, Kyle Larson, Arrow McLaren with Henrick Motorsports, 6; 34, Marco Andretti, Andretti Herta with Marco & Curb-Agajanian, 5.
FOX SPORTS’ 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES BROADCAST COVERAGE SCHEDULE
Sunday, March 2 _ Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla. (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)
Sunday, March 23 _The Thermal Club, Thermal, Calif. (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)
Sunday, April 13 _ Streets of Long Beach, Calif. (Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global)
Sunday, May 4 _ Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Ala. (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)
Saturday, May 10 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)
Sunday, May 25 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Oval (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)
Sunday, June 1 _ Streets of Detroit (Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global)
Sunday, June 15 _ World Wide Technology Raceway, Madison, Ill. (Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global)
Sunday, June 22 _ Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis. (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)
Sunday, July 6 _ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington (Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing)
Saturday, July 12 _ Iowa Speedway, Newton, Race 1 (Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren)
Sunday, July 13 _ Iowa Speedway, Newton, Race 2 (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)
Sunday, July 20 _ Streets of Toronto, Canada (Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren)
Sunday, July 27 _ WeatherTech Raceway, Laguna Seca, Monterey, Calif. (FOX, 3 p.m.)
Sunday, Aug. 10 _ Portland (Ore.) International Raceway (FOX, 3 p.m.)
Sunday, Aug. 24 _ The Milwaukee Mile, West Allis, Wis. (FOX, 2 p.m.)
Sunday, Aug. 31 _ Nashville Superspeedway, Lebanon, Tenn. (2:30 p.m.)
NOTE _ All times Eastern. Dates and times subject to change.
