Palou earns P1 for Sonsio Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course
Alex Palou earned the pole position for the Sonsio Grand Prix at IMS. Photo by Titus Slaughter
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio
First bragging rights for the “Month of May” at Indianapolis Motor Speedway belong to Alex Palou, who qualified on-pole Friday as defending champion of today’s Sonsio Grand Prix.
Alex Palou. Photo by Karl Zemlin
Palou earned his fourth career NTT P1 Award and first since the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear last June. The two-time/reigning NTT IndyCar Series champion, Palou’s best lap during the Firestone Fast Six was 1-minute, 9.0004-seconds/127.251 mph in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
The pole-clinching lap on the 2.439-mile/14-turn IMS Road-Course admittedly ranked as a mild upset after Palou placed 17th and 11th, respectively, in separate practices preceding qualifying.
“It’s been a tough day, honestly,” said Palou, a 27-year-old native of Spain and series champion in 2021 and 2023. “Practice 1 and Practice 2 wasn’t amazing. Even the start of qualifying, too. So, really happy to be there. Didn’t expect it. I’ll take it.
“It was my mom’s birthday today, so it’s probably a good birthday present.”
Live coverage of the 85-lap/207.3-mile race will start at 3 p.m. (EDT) Saturday on NBC, Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network. A 30-minute warmup session is booked for 11:15 a.m., with live coverage on Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network.
Christian Lundgaard. Photo by James Black
Palou will start alongside Denmark’s Christian Lundgaard, who qualified second at 1:09:0921/127.083 mph in the No. 45 Hy-Vee Honda fielded by Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Lundgaard scored his third consecutive front-row start on the IMS Road-Course after winning pole position for this event last May. Lundgaard also started second in the Gallagher Grand Prix last August.
Team Penske and Chevrolet secured Row 2. Two-time series champion Will Power will start third after his lap of 1:09.1636/126.951 mph in the No. 12 Verizon Business Team Penske Chevrolet. Teammate Josef Newgarden qualified fourth via his hot lap of 1:09.2528/126.788 mph in the No. 2 Snap-on Team Penske Chevy.
Power and Newgarden posted their stout Firestone Fast Six performances despite working without their usual/respective strategists and key engineers. Team Penske President and Newgarden strategist Tim Cindric, Power strategist Ron Ruzewski, Newgarden engineer Luke Mason and Power data engineer Robbie Atkinson were suspended earlier this week by team-and-series owner Roger Penske for this event and the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500 for their roles in the push-to-pass technical infraction scandal discovered on the cars driven by Power, Newgarden and teammate Scott McLaughlin.
Power has been reunited with engineer David Faustino, who joined the Penske organization fulltime with Will in 2010. Faustino, who has been involved in 40 of Power’s 41 series victories, also will serve as race-day strategist.
Will Power. Photo by Karl Zemlin
“We’re there. We’re tickling it,” said Power, a native of Australia and the team’s senior driver. “Once again, right at the front, though. That’s a good starting spot. The track temp definitely changed the air and it’s kind of…I think that’s what cooled those (Firestone Firehawk) tires. We didn’t get a temp we needed but it was a fun session. Good stuff in this qualifying.
“We were super-quick through all the rounds. Top-six in this series is very, very good. We’ll see if we can get that Verizon Chevy car in Victory Lane. We’re knocking on the door. I love being up there, love battling for pole. You don’t win a race crashing. If you play it smart, like I race every time, I’m going to try and get it together properly. I’m going to do everything to the best of my ability and hopefully, that brings a win.”
Newgarden has returned to IMS as defending Indy 500 champion, albeit without race strategist Cindric and lead engineer Mason.
“We’ve got an amazing team, as everybody knows,” said Newgarden, whose victory on the Streets of St. Pete on March 10 was disqualified last month after an investigation by sanctioning body INDYCAR. “We’ve got a lot of depth. For us, we pride ourselves in it’s never one person. It’s great to plug-in some of these other guys that I’ve known for a long time, ever since joining the team, and it’s also been great to work with Raul (Prados). He’s on the Porsche side (of Team Penske) right now, but just a great engineer. I’ve worked with him a lot in the past. Really enjoy him. Myron did a great job calling today.”
The latter reference was to Jon “Myron” Bouslog, a Team Penske employee for 38 years. Bouslog currently is general manager of Penske’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Porsche effort after serving as team manager for its INDYCAR program for several years.
“Yeah, he (Bouslog) knows what he’s doing, and he’s great to have on the box this weekend,” Newgarden said. “It was a little different, just a new voice in my head that I haven’t had in a little while.”
Prados, of Cypress, Texas, is in his seventh year at Team Penske after a nearly five-year stint in the series at A.J. Foyt Racing of Waller, Texas.
Josef Newgarden. Photo by Karl Zemlin
“They did a great job and it’s awesome to be here at the Speedway,” Newgarden said. “I mean, what’s there not to like? We were rolling down pit lane today and I was telling my crew chief Chad (Gordon), I was like, ‘There’s just no place like the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.’ No place compares. The history of this facility and the feeling that it gives you, it’s very emotional. It’s just a great place to be. I love this place. Puts a smile on my face every time I drive through the gates. It’s going to be a good month for us hopefully.
“Certainly this weekend is different than a couple weeks from now. The road-course is one challenge. I would say it’s not been our best challenge. We’ve actually gotten a race win in the No. 2 car on the road course but only one, and certainly on the oval it’s a totally different ballgame when you show up for the 500. This is a good warm-up, everybody enjoys this show and we’re really thrilled for what’s going to come in two weeks.”
Pato O’Ward will start fifth after his best lap of 1:09.3320/126.643 mph in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. “Considering where we started the day, I’m pretty pleased with getting the car in the Firestone Fast Six,” said O’Ward, a native of Mexico with family ties to San Antonio. “We’re starting inside Row 3, which is not a bad place to start here. We’ll see what Turn 1 brings, and then we just really want to have a clean race.
“I don’t want to get too ahead of ourselves by saying that we’re expecting to win or get on the podium. I just want to have a clean race and take advantage of the opportunity presented to us.”
Six-time series champion Scott Dixon, a native of New Zealand, completed the Firestone Fast Six at 1:09.5270/126.288 mph in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
Alexander Rossi, winner of the 100th Indy 500 in 2016, qualified a season-best seventh at 1:09.0801/127.105 mph in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet after missing the Firestone Fast Six by 0.0185-seconds. Rossi’s previous best start this season was 13th on the Streets of Long Beach in Southern California.
“I don’t know how excited to be with P7, but I guess where we’ve been this season, we have to be,” Rossi deadpanned. “In this sport, you’ve got to take the small victories. The whole Arrow McLaren organization has done a great job this weekend. The car is kind of back into a window we expected after the last two events that were quite a challenge. We’ve just got to keep chipping away at it.
“It sucks to miss it (the Fast Six) by that much, for sure. When it’s that close, there’s so many places over the lap where you feel like you could have found it. You almost would rather miss it by several tenths. But that’s the way it goes. We know that we’re strong on race day. This gives us our best opportunity, by far.”
Meanwhile, series point-leader Colton Herta faces a long climb up the grid Saturday after qualifying a season-low 24th at 1:09:5391/126.266 mph in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda fielded by Andretti Global with Curb-Agajanian. Herta’s day was doomed when his car ran out of fuel on his final flying lap during the first round of time trials. Ironically, Herta had led Friday morning’s opening practice. This is Herta’s lowest qualifying position since he also started 24th for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix last June.
The highest-qualifying rookie, in 18th, was Theo Pourchaire, the 20-year-old Frenchman selected to drive the No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet for the remainder of the season (minus the Indy 500) in place of the recuperating David Malukas. The reigning Formula 2 champion, Pourchaire will make his third start in the No. 6 Chevy and first at IMS after posting a lap of 1:09:3816/126.552 mph.
“I’m a bit disappointed after qualifying,” said Pourchaire, whose European background is as a road-racer. “I was P5 before the run on the alternates (Firestone tires) and then I was blocked on my best chance to push. The NTT IndyCar Series is one of the best motorsport series in the world with the best racing drivers in the world. It’s super-tight. As soon as you have those kind of things happening, you cannot aim for Q2. It’s part of the game, but I really think we have the potential to move up through the field and deliver a strong result.”
Pourchaire will sit-out the Indianapolis 500 on May 26 before returning to the cockpit for the Detroit Grand Prix street race in June and remainder of the 2024 schedule. Pourchaire has replaced 22-year-old Chicagoan Malukas, who was released from his contract on April 29 after missing the season’s first four races while recovering from extensive wrist injuries suffered in a mountain bike accident in February.
Jacob Abel will not reside in the INDY NXT by Firestone record book as a one-hit wonder. His confidence boosted after scoring his first series victory at Barber Motorsports Park on April 28, Abel added win No. 2 Friday afternoon on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course.
Abel held off eventual second-place finisher Nolan Siegel over a three-lap shootout around the 2.439-mile/14-turn layout to score his second consecutive victory in the No. 51 Abel Construction entry.
“This is awesome,” Abel said after leading the entire 35-lap distance. “Unfortunately, we don’t get to celebrate for too long here. We’re getting another chance (Saturday). That was a really great race, though.”
Siegel, who began the race tied with Abel for the point lead, charged from a fifth-place starting position to bring his No. 39 HMD Motorsports entry home second, 0.5470-seconds short of a win. Siegel trails Abel by 14 points entering Saturday’s second race of the Indianapolis Grand Prix doubleheader at 1 p.m. (EDT), with live coverage on Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network.
Friday’s result marked the third time in as many races this season the duo finished 1-2, as Siegel won the season-opener in March in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Meanwhile, Andretti Global’s Jamie Chadwick scored the best finish for a female driver in the developmental series since Pippa Mann’s 2010 win at Kentucky Speedway on Sept. 4, 2010. Chadwick placed third in the No. 28 VEXT entry, besting her previous best finish of sixth last September at Portland (Ore.) International Raceway.
Rookie Callum Hedge finished fourth in the No. 17 HMD Motorsports car, with fellow-rookie Myles Rowe completing the top-five in the No. 99 HMD Motorsports with Force Indy car.
Abel was basically operating on cruise control until a pair of late-race cautions caused by both Abel Motorsports teammates erased his advantage. Abel bolted to nearly a five-second lead over Siegel before the first caution flew for Yuven Sundaramoorthy stopping off-course in his No. 22 S Team Motorsports/Abel Motorsports entry in Turn 4 on Lap 21.
On the Lap 26 restart, Abel led Siegel to the green. Two laps later, his advantage grew to 0.9704-seconds. On Lap 30, Jordan Missig, driver of the No. 21 Abel Motorsports entry, also went off-course after contact with the wall in Turn 7, triggering the second full-course caution.
Siegel had a second chance to pass Abel for the win. But even with a great launch on the Lap 32 restart, Abel prevailed. “Nolan and I had a great battle,” Abel said. “I had it under control the whole time. I had a big lead there, and unfortunately a lot of yellows really made me work for it at the end. I was just saving tires early on, so I was ready for that.
“Massive thanks to all the Abel Motorsports crew. They delivered an amazing car. We didn’t roll off 100 percent here, but we everyone figured it out in that one practice session that we had, and that’s almost more gratifying than last weekend, when we just rolled off perfect.”
The race produced 165 on-track passes and 136 passes for position _ both series records for the IMS Road-Course circuit.
Results Friday of the INDY NXT by Firestone Indianapolis Grand Prix on the 2.439-mile/14-turn Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, laps completed and reason out (if any):
- (1) Jacob Abel, 35, Running
2. (5) Nolan Siegel, 35, Running
3. (6) Jamie Chadwick, 35, Running
4. (8) Callum Hedge, 35, Running
5. (12) Myles Rowe, 35, Running
6. (10) Reece Gold, 35, Running
7. (4) Louis Foster, 35, Running
8. (7) Jonathan Browne, 35, Running
9. (17) Christian Bogle, 35, Running
10. (19) Niels Koolen, 35, Running
11. (13) Salvador de Alba Jr, 35, Running
12. (9) Michael d’Orlando, 35, Running
13. (18) Nolan Allaer, 35, Running
14. (11) Bryce Aron, 34, Running
15. (3) James Roe, 34, Running
16. (20) Jack William Miller, 34, Running
17. (21) Lindsay Brewer, 33, Running
18. (16) Jordan Missig, 33, Running
19. (2) Caio Collet, 32, Running
20. (15) Yuven Sundaramoorthy, 31, Running
21. (14) Josh Pierson, 6, Off-Course
Race Statistics
Winner’s average speed: 105.437 mph
Time of Race: 48:34.6690
Margin of victory: 0.5470-seconds
Cautions: 2 for 7 laps
Lead changes: 0
Lap Leaders: Abel, Jacob 1 – 35
NTT IndyCar Series Point Standings: 1, Colton Herta, Andretti Global, 101; 2, Will Power, Team Penske, 100; 3, Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing, 98; 4, Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing, 94; 5, Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank Racing, 87; 6, Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren, 71; 7, Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global, 67; 8, Linus Lundqvist, Chip Ganassi Racing, 62; 9, Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske, 59; 10, Santino Ferrucci, A.J. Foyt Racing, 58;
11, Alexander Rossi, Arrow McLaren, 53; 12, Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing, 53; 13, Romain Grosjean, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 50; 14, Marcus Ericsson, Andretti Global, 49; 15, Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 48; 16, Josef Newgarden, Team Penske, 48; 17, Christian Lundgaard, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 48; 18, Marcus Armstrong, Chip Ganassi Racing, 45; 19, Kyffin Simpson, Chip Ganassi Racing, 45; 20, Augustin Canapino, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 39;
21, Jack Harvey, Dale Coyne Racing, 35; 22, Tom Blomqvist, Meyer Shank Racing, 34; 23, Pietro Fittipaldi, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 28; 24, Theo Pourchaire, Arrow McLaren, 27; 25, Sting Ray Robb, A.J. Foyt Racing, 23; 26, Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter Racing, 22; 27, Callum Ilott, Arrow McLaren, 19; 28, Colin Braun, Dale Coyne Racing, 10; 29, Nolan Siegel, Dale Coyne Racing, 10; 30, Luca Ghiotto, Dale Coyne Racing, 9.
