Yahoo Autos Complete IndyCar Results: Alex Palou Extends Points Lead with Road America Win
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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.”
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.