Alex Palou dominates IndyCar field, extends winning…

For a brief spell, it looked like Alex Palou might actually be beatable on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. The pole-sitter lost the lead just after the green flag flew and spent most of the race running in the tire tracks of Graham Rahal.

But in the end, the Spaniard found his way to the front - just as he’s done for the bulk of the NTT IndyCar Series season to date.

Palou worked his way past Rahal on lap 58 of 85 and marched off from there for a comfortable victory in the Sonsio Grand Prix. The first in-race caution since the St. Petersburg season-opener threatened to shake things up with 16 laps remaining, but Palou held serve on the ensuing restart and never looked back.

“I cannot describe the amazing season we’ve had so far,” Palou said afterward. “I owe everything to the team - Chip Ganassi Racing, my teammates and everybody that is working behind the scenes to make me look so fast on track.

“It’s amazing. It’s unbelievable. Hopefully we get to stay here (in victory lane) again in a couple of weeks for the biggest race of the year.”

The Chip Ganassi Racing star ultimately took the checkered flag 5.484 seconds clear of runner-up Pato O'Ward, securing his fourth victory and fifth top-two finish in as many races to open the year. It’s the best start for an IndyCar competitor in over 60 years. He’ll now set his sights on a win in the tour’s biggest race, the Indianapolis 500.

O’Ward mounted an impressive drive to rally from eighth to second, starting on sticker reds and rising through the field with two sets on primaries in the middle stages. He was joined on the lower end of the podium by Team Penske’s Will Power, who used a similar play to go from seventh-to-third.

As the race unfolded

Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing, Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (Photo by: Penske Entertainment)

All eyes were on the tire charts in Saturday’s race, with IndyCar forcing teams two utilized two sets of both the primary and alternate tires. In the end, the podium all used the same strategy, starting and ending on alternates with two primary stints in the middle stages. Scott McLaughlin was the first finisher to start on the black tires in fourth, with Scott Dixon using a similar strategy to rally from 16th to fifth.

Rahal was the story of the day, looking to end a 128-race winless streak. But the Ohioan’s alternating red-black-red-black tire strategy proved to be his undoing, leaving him sixth at race’s end after he lost ground waiting to be released for a pitting Kyle Kirkwood on the final stop.

Marcus Armstrong, Kyle Kirkwood, Rinus VeeKay and Felix Rosenqvist completed the top-10.

Saturday’s race started under yellow, delayed by an MGU issue for sixth-place qualifier Josef Newgarden. The Tennessean had to start at the back of the grid as a result, relegating him to 12th at race’s end. Another driver - Kyffin Simpson - had a mechanical issue on the grid and never saw the green flag.

Of those that were more fortunate, a few saw their races impacted by early trouble. A three-car accident on the opening green-flag lap ruined Callum Ilott’s race. Colton Herta suffered a broken front wing after early contact with Christian Lundgaard and ended up retiring before race’s end. His teammate, Marcus Ericsson, suffered early mechanical woes and retired after seven laps. Jacob Abel retired 17 laps from the finish.

Of those with issues, David Malukas was the most notable. The Wisconsinite found himself stalled off-course with 16 laps remaining, forcing series official to throw the first mid-race caution since the Lap 1 crash in the St. Petersburg season-opener. It ended a stretch of nearly five races without a genuine caution - a stretch of 408 green flag laps.

Most of those laps ended with Palou in front. He’ll hope to keep that trend going for another 200 in two weeks.

With Saturday’s race complete, the IndyCar field will take Mother’s Day off before kicking off two weeks of action on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval. The Indianapolis 500 will crown its 109th champion on May 24.

Photos from Indianapolis Roadcourse - Race

1 - 2
Cla	Driver	#	Laps	Time	Interval	Mph	Pits	Points	Retirement
1	A. Palou Chip Ganassi Racing	10	85	-
2	P. O'Ward Arrow McLaren	5	85	+5.484 5.4840	5.484
3	W. Power Team Penske	12	85	+8.453 8.4529	2.969
4	S. McLaughlin Team Penske	3	85	+10.539 10.5391	2.086
5	S. Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing	9	85	+11.265 11.2645	0.725
6	G. Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	15	85	+19.076 19.0760	7.812
7	M. Armstrong Meyer Shank Racing	66	85	+19.964 19.9644	0.888
8	K. Kirkwood Andretti Global	27	85	+21.996 21.9958	2.031
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