Alex Palou – Sonsio Grand Prix winner – Photo by Amber Pietz

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio

From pole position to Victory Circle to the top of the championship standings, Alex Palou had the NTT IndyCar Series field blanketed this weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

A two-time/reigning series champion, Palou began the quest for the only item missing from his brilliant INDYCAR resume _ victory in the prestigious Indianapolis 500 _ with a repeat win in the Sansio Grand Prix on the IMS Road-Course.

Alex Palou – Sonsio Grand Prix – Photo by Joe Skibinski | IMS Photo

Palou drove the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda to a calculating 6.6106-second victory over Will Power in the No. 12 Verizon Business Team Penske Chevrolet. Palou’s second consecutive event win on IMS’ 2.439-mile/14-turn layout was the lead-in to INDYCAR’s pivotal “Month of May” and the 108^th running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge on Sunday, May 26.

“It was an amazing win,” said Palou, a 27-year-old native of Spain. “It’s great to be back-to-back from last year, and we’re going to continue this May. A win helps a lot, especially if it’s a pole and a win and the way we won it. We’re going to celebrate, for sure, but we’re going to switch this afternoon our focus to the big one.”

Practice for the Indianapolis 500 _ “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” _ is scheduled to start on the famed 2.5-mile oval Tuesday and continue through “Fast Friday.” PPG Presents Armed Forces Qualifying is booked for Saturday and Sunday to determine the traditional 33-car field.

Palou posted his 10th career victory and first point-paying win of the season, as he also prevailed in the non-point The Thermal Club $1-Million Challenge in March. Palou also replaced Colton Herta atop the points table, finishing the day with a 12-point advantage over Power. Another two-time series champion, Power placed second for the third time in four races this season.

Will Power – Sonsio Grand Prix – Photo by Joe Skibinski | IMS Photo

“This is what was available today,” said Power, who now has five podium finishes in this spring event since 2014, and seven total on the IMS Road-Course. “Yes, you do get sick of finishing second. You’re just racing very tough people. If you’re not exactly perfect, you won’t win. I wasn’t exactly perfect in qualifying, and I didn’t win.

“It was a good run. Alex was super-quick at the end. We had a shot at him. Man, he was fast at the end but we’re just sort of knocking on the door each week. It’d be nice to get a win. You never know how these things play-out. All you can do is keep pushing and do your best.”

Power earned his 104^th career series podium and 31st career runner-up finish, tying him for sixth on the all-time list with four-time Indy 500 champion Al Unser.

A determined Christian Lundgaard, who started second in the 27-car field, ambushed Palou moments after the wave of the green flag. Lundgaard took the lead from Palou on Lap 1 of the 85-lapper but ultimately placed third in the No. 45 Hy-Vee Honda fielded by Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing for his best finish this season.

“We needed a little luck today,” said Lundgaard, a 22-year-old native of Denmark. “I think we did everything we could in the first two stints to make sure the No. 45 Hy-Vee Honda had a shot. Palou really deserved it today.”

Scott Dixon – Sonsio Grand Prix – Photo by Joe Skibinski | IMS Photo

Indeed, Chip Ganassi Racing secured three of the top-five finishing spots, as six-time series champion Scott Dixon of New Zealand placed fourth in the No. 9 PNC Bank CGR Honda and fellow-Kiwi Marcus Armstrong was fifth in the No. 11 IU Simon Cancer Center Honda. The Ganassi organization now has won the last three road races at IMS via Palou’s repeat Saturday and “Dixie’s” victory in the Gallagher Grand Prix last August.

Herta rallied from his 24th starting spot to finish seventh in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda fielded by Andretti Global with Curb-Agajanian despite being hip-checked off-track by new teammate Marcus Ericsson of Sweden early in the race. Herta fell to fourth in the standings, 25 points behind Palou.

Lundgaard muscled into the lead in Turn 2 of the opening lap _ one of a record 13 lead changes for this event _ and remained out front until making his first pit stop on Lap 19 along with Palou, who was running second after Power had made his first stop on Lap 18.

That sequence set the stage for a three-way tactical fight that was as much about strategists and pit crews as drivers for the remainder of the race. The decisive stops took place at the end of the second stint. Power dove into the pits late on Lap 39, attempting to undercut leader Lundgaard, who pitted on the next lap in reaction to Power’s last-second stop.

It appeared Power, charging down the front straightaway on hot Firestone Firehawk tires, might jump Lundgaard as he exited the pits on Lap 40. But Power’s pursuit was impeded by the No. 28 Delaware Life Honda of Ericsson, allowing Lundgaard keep the advantage.

“I mean, he’s (Ericsson) on the lead lap, right, I’m guessing. So there’s nothing that he did wrong,” Power said. “It just happened to be in that spot. Would be nice if he had let me go. It’s just not…he’s racing, too. If he’s a lap down, yes, that sort of thing is very frustrating but if you’re pitting into where he is on-track, well, that’s on us. We took the risk maybe hoping we would jump ahead of that car. Yeah, that certainly stopped my chance of getting Christian.”

Alex Palou – Sonsio Grand Prix – Photo by Joe Skibinski | IMS Photo

Palou, meanwhile, stopped on Lap 41 on an overcut strategy and left the pits ahead of Lundgaard. When the rest of the field cycled through its stops, Palou found himself out-front on Lap 45 and steadily increased his gap over Lundgaard.

“I did a mistake on that start, lost our first position that we fought so hard for in qualifying,” Palou said in the track’s signature raised Victory Circle. “But everybody on the crew, engineers and the mechanics did an amazing job in the pits, and we just had to try to get the performance we had all weekend in the No. 10 DHL Honda car.”

Most of the 27-car field made its final stops between Laps 62-65. Palou cycled into the lead for good on Lap 65, but his rivals got one more chance to pass him when the day’s only caution period was triggered on Lap 66 by rookie Luca Ghiotto’s spin in Turn 10 in the No. 51 Dale Coyne Racing Honda.

Palou methodically pulled away on the restart on Lap 68 to secure the victory. He turned the quickest lap of the race while leading on Lap 72 and never was challenged to the checkered flag.

Recall that Power was reunited at this event with longtime Team Penske engineer/race strategist David Faustino in the wake of the push-to-pass scandal discovered weeks after the season-opening street race in St. Petersburg, Fla. Ron Ruzewski, Power’s regular strategist, was among the key personnel suspended for this race and the Indy 500 by team founder/series-owner Roger Penske earlier this week. In addition to Ruzewski, Team Penske President and Josef Newgarden strategist Tim Cindric, Newgarden engineer Luke Mason and Power data engineer Robbie Atkinson were suspended for their roles in the technical infraction controversy discovered on the cars driven by Power, Newgarden and teammate Scott McLaughlin of New Zealand.

“I think if we had gone longer on that second stint, it would’ve kept Palou behind us,” Power said. “He wouldn’t have been able to use his speed. Then, maybe we jump Lundgaard on the pit stop. I mean, I don’t know. We thought that was the best option at the time. I thought that, too. I thought the undercut would be good. It was slightly cold today, so the overcut wasn’t bad.

“All you can do is your best. I’m driving really well and my crew is the best on pit lane. We’re the quickest guys on pit lane, so every time the Verizon Chevy stopped we had a good shot at jumping someone. That’s actually what happened to get second.”

While Palou pursues his first Indy 500 victory in two weeks, Power will be looking to swig the milk for the second time after prevailing in 2018.

“I’m looking forward to the 500,” said Power, a 43-year-old native of Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. “Chevy has done a very job, and the whole team has done a really good job on everything. We have a good shot at fighting for a pole, and it’s been a long time since we’ve fought for pole and fight for a win.

“It’s got to be a perfect day, man. I remember the day I won the 500 was a perfect day on strategy, pit stops, everything, no mistakes. There weren’t really any mistakes today. It was just circumstance. Qualifying, little mistake puts you on the back foot.

“Yeah, just some days if you keep working hard, it just falls together for you at some point.”

Patience paid off with a victory for Louis Foster Saturday on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course. Foster sat behind leader Caio Collet for numerous laps in the second race of the Indianapolis Grand Prix doubleheader before passing him with 11 circuits remaining to earn his first INDY NXT by Firestone victory of the season.

Englishman Foster, who started fourth in the No. 26 Copart/Novara Technologies car fielded by Andretti Global, powered to a 2.3688-second victory over series-leader Jacob Abel in the No. 51 Abel Construction entry fielded by Abel Motorsports. Rookie Collet placed third in the No. 18 HMD Motorsports car.

“Managed our tires, managed our push-to-pass,” Foster said. “It was quite tricky for me because I had to burn a lot (of push-to-pass) to get past Abel, and then I had to pressure Caio enough to burn off his. But I think we managed it well. All around, a really good job by the Andretti crew. Super-happy.”

Abel, who won the first race of this doubleheader from P1 Friday, has finished first or second in all four races this season and leads the standings in the INDYCAR development series by 25 points over Nolan Siegel. James Roe finished fourth in the No. 29 Topcon car fielded by Andretti Global, with Siegel completing the top-five in the No. 39 HMD Motorsports entry.

Collet powered from his second starting position past pole-sitter Abel in Turn 1 of the opening lap to take the lead, building a gap of around one second for the next 10 laps of the 35-lapper. Meanwhile, Foster passed Abel for second on Lap 11 and set his sights on Brazilian rookie Collet.

By Lap 14, Foster drove to within one-half-second of Collet and then pulled side-by-side with him on the front straightaway two laps later. But Collet parried the move in Turn 1 and Foster opted to stay close to Collet’s gearbox but conserve his Firestone Firehawk tires and push-to-pass over the next eight laps.

Foster made another attempt to pass Collet with an over-under move in Turn 1 on Lap 24, but Collet also repulsed that. Meanwhile, Abel _ who conserved his tires and push-to-pass after falling to third _ stood on the throttle and pulled to within seven-tenths of a second of the dueling Collet and Foster on Lap 25.

On that same lap, Foster made the decisive pass under Collet in Turn 11. “I put my nose there and he got a penalty for blocking me (Friday),” Foster said. “So, I knew that if I put my nose there, he wasn’t going risk it, and he didn’t.”

Abel had more push-to-pass for the remaining nine laps and passed Collet for second on Lap 26, and it appeared a showdown with Foster for the win might develop over the closing laps. But Foster’s pace was too quick, and he eased away for his third career INDY NXT by Firestone victory.

“I was expecting them to fall-off a lot,” Abel said of Foster and Collet. “They were battling really hard. I was just sitting back, saving my push-to-pass and letting them do what they were doing. Collet fell off a ton. I was expecting Louis to kind of do the same. Louis was just super-on it today. Congrats to them.”

Next series race is the INDY NXT by Firestone Detroit Grand Prix on Sunday, June 2, through the Streets of Downtown Motown.

Results of the Sonsio Grand Prix NTT IndyCar Series event on the 2.439-mile/14-turn Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):

1. (1) Alex Palou, Honda, 85, Running
   2. (3) Will Power, Chevrolet, 85, Running
   3. (2) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 85, Running
   4. (6) Scott Dixon, Honda, 85, Running
   5. (8) Marcus Armstrong, Honda, 85, Running
   6. (13) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 85, Running
   7. (24) Colton Herta, Honda, 85, Running
   8. (7) Alexander Rossi, Chevrolet, 85, Running
   9. (9) Graham Rahal, Honda, 85, Running
   10. (10) Felix Rosenqvist, Honda, 85, Running
   11. (14) Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, 85, Running
   12. (23) Romain Grosjean, Chevrolet, 85, Running
   13. (5) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 85, Running
   14. (11) Pietro Fittipaldi, Honda, 85, Running
   15. (25) Kyffin Simpson, Honda, 85, Running
   16. (21) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 85, Running
   17. (4) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 85, Running
   18. (17) Jack Harvey, Honda, 85, Running
   19. (18) Theo Pourchaire, Chevrolet, 85, Running
   20. (20) Christian Rasmussen, Chevrolet, 85, Running
   21. (15) Agustin Canapino, Chevrolet, 84, Running
   22. (27) Sting Ray Robb, Chevrolet, 84, Running
   23. (26) Tom Blomqvist, Honda, 84, Running
   24. (19) Linus Lundqvist, Honda, 84, Running
   25. (22) Luca Ghiotto, Honda, 84, Running
   26. (12) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 84, Running
   27. (16) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 54, Mechanical

Race Statistics
Winner’s average speed: 117.956 mph
Time of race: 1:45:27.2320
Margin of victory: 6.6106-seconds
Cautions: 1 for 2 laps
Lead changes: 13 among 8 drivers

Lap Leaders
Lundgaard, Christian 1 – 18
Armstrong, Marcus 19
Rahal, Graham 20 – 21
Fittipaldi, Pietro 22
Lundgaard, Christian 23 – 39
Palou, Alex 40
Dixon, Scott 41
Rossi, Alexander 42
Fittipaldi, Pietro 43
McLaughlin, Scott 44
Palou, Alex 45 – 61
Armstrong, Marcus 62 – 63
McLaughlin, Scott 64
Palou, Alex 65 – 85

NTT IndyCar Series Point Standings: 1, Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing, 152; 2, Will Power, Team Penske, 140; 3, Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing, 127; 4, Colton Herta, Andretti Global, 127; 5, Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank Racing, 107; 6, Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske, 88; 7, Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren, 88; 8, Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global, 86; 9, Christian Lundgaard, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 84; 10, Alexander Rossi, Arrow McLaren, 78;

11, Marcus Armstrong, Chip Ganassi Racing, 76; 12, Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 71; 13, Linus Lundqvist, Chip Ganassi Racing, 68; 14, Romain Grosjean, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 68; 15, Marcus Ericsson, Andretti Global, 63; 16, Santino Ferrucci, A.J. Foyt Racing, 63; 17, Josef Newgarden, Team Penske, 61; 18, Kyffin Simpson, Chip Ganassi Racing, 60; 19, Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing, 58; 20, Augustin Canapino, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 48;

21, Jack Harvey, Dale Coyne Racing, 47; 22, Pietro Fittipaldi, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 45; 23, Tom Blomqvist, Meyer Shank Racing, 41; 24, Theo Pourchaire, Arrow McLaren, 38; 25, Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter Racing, 32; 26, Sting Ray Robb, A.J. Foyt Racing, 31; 27, Callum Ilott, Arrow McLaren, 19; 28, Luca Ghiotto, Dale Coyne Racing, 14; 29, Colin Braun, Dale Coyne Racing, 10; 30, Nolan Siegel, Dale Coyne Racing, 10.