- Alex Palou earned his third win of the season, equaling the number of wins he earned in 2021.
- It was Palou’s second win at the twisting, turning 14-turn, 4.048-mile road course in central Wisconsin (he also won there in 2021).
- Palou made a huge jump in his points lead in the standings, going from 51 points to 74 points after Sunday’s win.
Alex Palou has some bad news for the rest of the drivers in the NTT IndyCar Series: as good as he was in his championship-winning season in 2021, he’s driving even better in 2023.
The Spanish driver earned his third win of the season (equaling the number of wins he earned in 2021), capturing the Sonsio Grand Prix Sunday afternoon at Road America in central Wisconsin.
And there’s still nine races to go this season for Palou, who now has seven wins in his IndyCar career, including the two most recent races (Detroit and Road America) as well as three of the last four (he also won the Indy GP, before finishing fourth in the Indy 500).
It was Palou’s second win at the twisting, turning 14-turn, 4.048-mile road course in central Wisconsin (he also won there in 2021).
Palou made a huge jump in his points lead in the standings, going from 51 points to 74 points after Sunday’s win.
It was a big rebound after he wrecked during Practice 2 Saturday, causing significant damage that his team dutifully was able to repair in less than two hours, allowing him to get back out for qualifying.
“It’s been an amazing weekend,” Palou said. “Super happy, they gave me the pitstop that gave me the win as well. We’re going to keep it going.
“It’s amazing. We’re going to keep it rolling. We have an amazing team behind us.”
The key to the win was a great last pit stop that allowed Palou to put pressure on pole-sitter and leader at the time, Colton Herta, who was forced to drain much of his push-to-pass reservoir to try and keep Palou at bay.
But that ultimately proved futile as Palou passed Herta with seven laps to go and it was “Hello, Palou” en route to victory lane.
“I thought I wasn’t going to catch him,” Palou said. “We kept pushing and putting some pressure on him and finally made it happen.”
Josef Newgarden, who won at Road America last year, finished second, followed by Pato O’Ward, Scott Dixon and pole-sitter Colton Herta. Sixth through 10th were Marcus Ericsson, Christian Lundgaard, Scott McLaughlin, Kyle Kirkwood and Alexander Rossi.
“We definitely had a shot at the win today, but not at the end,” Newgarden said. “Palou was just better on that final stint. I guess I’m happy to be disappointed with second. It was a great recovery drive. So I have to be pretty pleased with second but it’s tough when you have an opportunity to win and you just can’t seal the deal.”
Chip Ganassi’s race teams have 250 IndyCar Series wins.
The win was not only special for Palou, but also for team owner Chip Ganassi, who celebrated his 250th all-time race win as a team owner in all forms of racing, including IndyCar, NASCAR, sports cars and other series. Three of his drivers finished within the top six Sunday.
“It’s a big number that’s a testament to a lot of people who had a lot of blood, sweat, tears and money in those 250 wins,” Ganassi said. “It’s just an incredible feat.”
As for Palou, Ganassi added, “The kid is just a phenomenal driver. The kid has a lot of heart, a lot of drive.”
Unfortunately, Ganassi will lose Palou after this season, as Sunday’s winner is headed to Team McLaren to compete either in Formula 1 or IndyCar.
Marcus Ericsson is a distant second in the points standings behind Alex Palou.
Updated Points Standings
Palou’s 74-point lead in the standings increases his edge over second-ranked Marcus Ericsson. Newgarden is third (-81), while O’Ward and Scott Dixon are tied for fourth (-98).
But Palou isn’t about to get overly comfortable.
When asked how much he may already be thinking about winning this year’s championship, he replied, “Nothing. Zero percent. It’s IndyCar. We’ve had real good results so far and are good on points, but in IndyCar, you never know. Someone can get on a roll and win two or three in a row.”
But perhaps Rossi said it best about Palou’s achievements thus far this season, noting with a half-chuckle: “We’ve got to find a way to explain why that guy keeps on winning.”
Will Power, right, and Scott Dixon, left. had to be separated after an on-track incident Saturday at Road America.
Power, Dixon Clash
Saturday was a rough day for two of the sport’s biggest names. Six-time IndyCar champ Scott Dixon inadvertently caused a wreck with Will Power during practice Saturday that significantly damaged both cars and forced both drivers to start Sunday’s race from near the back of the grid.
Power was as angry as he’s likely ever been in IndyCar after Saturday’s wreck, shooting the middle finger to Dixon twice as he climbed from his wrecked car, then grabbed Dixon’s firesuit and shoved him, along with using extensive colorful language.
Come Sunday, Dixon was nothing short of outstanding. He started 23rd and finished fourth, a gain of 19 places on the grid, the most of any driver.
“Obviously, one spot away from a podium, which would have been nice,” Dixon said. “Congrats to the 10 car. He’s having a great championship run. We need to start working on trying to cut into that lead.”
Dixon is tied for fifth in the standings, 98 points back.
As for Power, he finished an unlucky 13th. He had an issue early in the race on Lap 11, drifting off-track into the grass and dirt and then bottomed out hard getting back on the pavement.
It’s unclear if Power’s car incurred any damage, but he dropped from 15th to 19th after the incident, and was never really a factor in the race from that point on.
Power made four pit stops in the first 15 laps, primarily to top off for fuel each time to get back on the same strategy as most other teams.
Power briefly grabbed the lead on Lap 44 due to pit stop sequences, but he would quickly lose that position two laps later due to needing to pit for fuel once again.
Colton Herta had little to show for a weekend that included the pole at Road America.
Frustrating Day for Colton Herta
You can’t help but feel bad for Colton Herta. He not only started on the pole but dominated the majority of the race, leading 33 laps of the 55-lap event.
But the combination of constantly being told to save fuel, being off-strategy by one lap, causing him to pit a lap sooner than he would have liked, and then with the need to deplete his push-to-pass reserve in an unsuccessful bid to keep Palou at bay in the closing laps, Herta was none too happy with a fifth-place finish.
“It’s frustrating,” Herta said. “We had the best car. We were cruising but we had to save fuel. It’s still good we got fifth, but it’s not what we wanted. It does suck.”
For more than three-quarters of the race, it appeared as if Herta would earn his eighth career IndyCar win, which would have added to his previous total all on permanent road courses (five wins) or temporary street courses (two wins).
Follow Autoweek contributor Jerry Bonkowski on Twitter @JerryBonkowski
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