Five in a Row for Pole-O

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There is now a third certainty in life. In addition to dea and taxes, add Ale Palou on pole for an IndyCar race. Alex Palou won his fifth straight pole for 2026 and joins an elite list of consecutive pole winners:

1. Bobby Unser 8 (1971-72)

2. Mario Andretti 7 (1965-66)

3. Alex Zanardi 6 (1996-97

4. Mario Andretti 5 (1984) 4T. Danny Sullivan 5 (1988), Palou

Incredibly, all-time pole winner Will Power never won five consecutive poles. Palou was just sixth fastest in practice this morning, but the team returned to yesterday’s settings to allow the points leader to stay at the front. David Malukas starts second for the second race in a row.

Palou’s lap of 1:43.6615 beat Malukas by 0.29 seconds.

Marcus Armstrong was the favorite going into qualifying, but he ended the session third, just ahead of teammate Felix Rosenqvist. Marcus Ericsson and Scott McLaughlin complete the Fast Six.

“It’s incredible, five in a row this year,” Palou said. “This team, man. This team and everyone on it is giving me the best car, all the power we needed. We suffered quite a lot there in Q2. Couldn’t really get the lap we wanted, but the car was super rapid.”

Notes

Road America’s IndyCar weekend is looking a lot like the Sebring 12 Hour race. While roaming the track this morning, I saw more campers, cars, and golf carts than I have ever seen here. The last two years that I attended Sebring I had the same feeling of an event that was bulging at the seams with vehicles are shoehorned into the place, and I trust management here has a plan to prevent that from happening.

Weird thought- How many pounds over minimum weight would the 10 car be if IndyCar implemented Balance of Performance?

Today’s crowd was massive. I have never seen the grandstands so filled for qualify and practice. Tomorrow’s attendance may shatter the record for IndyCar here.

Results

Note Santino Ferrucci and Alexander Rossi will be assessed six grid positions each. Official starting lineup will post tomorrow morning.

O’Ward Tops Eventful Second Practice

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Pato O’Ward led Practice 2 for the EXPEL Grand Prix at Road America in a disjointed session interrupted twice for incidents. Friday’s leader, Marcus Armstrong, was just a tenth of a second behind O’Ward’s 1:44.0029 lap.

Will Power went off course and had a long ATV excursion, taking out a sign and causing bthe first red flag of the session. Later, Louis Foster’s car slowed and pulled off course, stopping the action a second time.

\David Malukas and Caio Collet traded the top spot several times before O’Ward took the fast lap. Maluks finished fourth and Collet was just behind in fifth.

Points leader Alex Palou ended practice in sixth, while Felix Rosenqvist, who was second on Friday, fell to 20th this morning

Scott McLaughlin improved the most between the two rounds, from 18th yesterday to third today.

WE qualify in about 30 minutes. Marcus Armstrong is my pick for pole.

Results

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Saturday at Road America

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Today’s schedule: Central times

Friday practice results:

Yesterday’s practice saw most cars sitting on pitlane for almost 10 minutes after an installation lap when the green flag waved. Was the wait to save tires? Fans didn’t pay to watch cars sit on pit lane.

Maybe The series should allow everyone an extra set of tires for practice or shorten the session length. Because of the length of the track, Friday’s practice was a straight session with no group running the final m30m minutes.

Personally, I thin Friday should have 2 45 minutes sessions with alternate tires allowed in the second session only.

More Chevy Engine Woes

The No. 5 (O’Ward), No. 6 (Siegel), No. 14 (Ferrucci) and No. 20 (Rossi) have undergone precautionary engine changes after Friday’s practice due to the same supplier quality issue experienced at the Detroit event. (From InydCar media)

The 14 and the 20 will serve grid penalties this weekend.

Grid Penalties

Some photos from yesterday in turn 5.

Armstrong Leads MSR 1-2 Punch in Practice 1

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Marcus Armstrong had the fastest lap in IndyCar’s opening practice for the XPEL Grand Prix this afternoon. Armstrong’s lap of 1:44.2714 edge his teammate , Felix Rosenqvist, by 0.0787 seconds.

Pato O’Warsd led the first part of the session before points leader Alwx Palou took the top spot. Arnstrong had been in the top five the entire session and turned his fastest lap late in practice after switching to the alternate tires.

Practice ran under overcast skies and cool, windy conditions. Rain is expec ted overnight but is not expected to be an issue during tomorrow’s activities.

Sting Ray Robb had the only incident of the session, spinning on the exit of turn 14 with about 28 minutes left.

I spent the afternoon driving around to various points on the track. I spent the IndyNXT practice mainly in Canada Corner. I then discovered a new to me spot called the bluffs on the inside of the track. It overlooks the straight between turns 9 and 10. It was fun looking through the trees to watch the cars. It was not a great phot spot, however.

I ended That practice in the carousel. This area used to be pretty empty, but it is now filled with campers. Urban development has come to Road America. Kind sad, but I get that the track needs more space.

One thing I did like was at the top of the turn 5 hill, golf cart parking has been restricted to the outer edge of the area. The place used to be a tangled jungle of lawn chairs, golf carts, even an occasional larger vehicle.

I will work pon getting some photos posted tomorrow. Thanks for following along today.

Road America Weekend Begins

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Good afternoon from a breezy, cool Road America. The IndyCar and Indy NXT schedule for Friday:

Indy NXT Practice 1 3 pm Eastern

IndyCar Practice 1 4 pm Eastern

Both sessions are on FS2.

In USF 2000 qualifying this morning, Sebastian Wheldon qualified third, the only rookie in the top eight qualifiers.

As usual, the fans have turned out for the weekend. There was already a line at the gate when I arrived a little before 9 am this morning.

Silly season rumors are swirling through the paddock today after an article by Marshall Pruett. A recent Indianapolis 500 winner is at the center of the storm. 2027 might be a season of learning which driver is in which car.

Right now, I am moire anxious to see the 2028 car and to see it undergo an on-track test. It may happen during Mid Ohio weekend, simply because I will not be there.

I’ll be back after IndyCar practice with results.

Here are a couple of pics from the USF 200 qualifying session.

Road America Preview

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Photo from Road America Facebook page

As you are reading this post, I am on y way to Milwaukee to catch the Brewers’ game this afternoon before I head up to Elkhart Lake as the second half of the IndyCar season begins.

IndyCar has made a change to the hybrid for the rest of 2026, reducing the power from 10-25%, depending on the track. I’m not su if the reduction will be announced before each race.

The reduction was deemed necessary to lessen the load on the hybrid system in order to preserve it. The system has had several failures this season, and they have created a parts shortage. It sounds to me that of more issues may cause the supplier to not have parts available towards the end of the season.

I think the situation calls for a reevaluation of the hybrid system. If there is any question about the availability of replacement parts, which could affect the final standings, maybe the series should consider shutting the units down entirely for the final nine races. That may be the only fair solution.

Crucial Weekend for Kirkwood and Malukas

Alex Palou leads Kyle Kirkwood by 49 points, and he is 68 points ahead of David Malukas. Both drivers need to gain some ground this weekend. With two street race left on the schedule, both of which should favor Kirkwood, and three ovals remaining, of which I think Malukas wins one, nay narro2wing of the gap on Sunday will help them.

Palou won this race last year, and Chip Ganassi racing has won seven times at Road America, so it is a daunting task facing the challengers. We are seeing a few chinks in Palou’s armor, however, another result outside the top 5 or top could provide an opening.

Qualifying is Key

In the past 11 races at Road America, no driver has won from further back than ninth. The winner this weekend will likely come from the first two rows. There is the added element of weather with rain possible both Saturday and Sunday. It seems rain has followed the series since mid-May.

Drivers to Watch

In addition to Palou, Kirkwood, and Malukas, Three drivers I will be watching with a lot of interest are Pato O’Ward, Graham Rahal, and Scott McLaughlin.

O’Ward has hung around the top five all season, but he has yet to get on the podium. His teammate, Christian Lundgaard, is ahead of him in the points. O’Ward has not seemed to have the pace he has shown in previous seasons. Perhaps this wekend we see O’Ward break through.\

Graham Rahal has been on the podium three times in 2026, the most podiums he has earned in four years. I look for him to get another one for RLL.

Scott McLaughlin is hungry for a win. He last saw Victory Circle in 2024. Road Americas is his strongest type of track, and Team Penske has made a very good rebound this year.

In the end, Alex Palou should put more distance between himself and his closest pursuers as he gets his fifth victory of the season. The good news is I think he only wins one more after in 2026 after Sunday.

I’ll be back Friday morning with a weather update and any other news tidbits that pop up.

XPEL Grand Prix at Road America Presented by AMR Fast Facts 

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From IndyCar. My preview will be up Thursday morning.

 Race weekend: Friday, June 19 – Sunday, June 21
Track: Road America, a 4.014-mile, 14-turn permanent road course (clockwise), in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
Race distance: NTT INDYCAR SERIES: 55 laps / 220.77 miles | INDY NXT by Firestone: Race 1 – 20 laps / 80.28 miles or 55 minutes; Race 2- 18 laps / 72.25 miles or 50 minutes
Push-to-pass parameters: NTT INDYCAR SERIES: 200 seconds of total time with a maximum time of 20 seconds per activation. | INDY NXT by Firestone: 65 seconds of total time.
Hybrid energy deployment parameters: Unlimited activation, with a maximum deployment of 600 kilojoules (kj) per lap
Firestone tire allotment: Six sets primary (hard/black sidewall) and five sets alternate (soft/red sidewall) to be used during the event weekend. Teams fielding a rookie driver may use one additional set of primary tires. Teams must use one set of primary and one set of new (sticker) alternate tires for at least two laps in the race. 
INDY NXT by Firestone: Three new sets to be used during the race weekend. Teams are permitted to use one set of carryover tires from their saved sets allotment during the first 15 minutes of practice and must start one of the two races on the set of tires used in qualifying.
X: @RoadAmerica, @INDYCAR, @INDYNXT, #XPELGP, #INDYCAR #ROADAMERICA
Instagram: @RoadAmerica, @INDYCAR, @INDYNXT, #XPELGP, #INDYCAR #ROADAMERICA
Threads: @INDYCAR, @INDYNXT
Facebook: @Road America, @INDYCAR, @INDYNXT, #XPELGP, #INDYCAR #ROADAMERICA
TikTok: @INDYCAR, @INDYNXT, #INDYCARYouTube: @RaceRoadAmerica, @INDYCAR
Event website: www.roadamerica.com
INDYCAR website: www.indycar.com

2025 race winners:NTT INDYCAR SERIESAlex Palou (No. 10 SOLO Cup Chip Ganassi Racing Honda)INDY NXT by FirestoneCaio Collet (No. 76 HMD Motorsports)
2025 NTT P1 Award winner:Louis Foster (No. 45 Droplight / Desnuda Tequila Honda) 1:44.5141, 138.263 mph
2025 INDY NXT by Firestone pole winner:Dennis Hauger (No. 28 Andretti Global) 1:52.3301, 128.642 mph
Qualifying lap record:NTT INDYCAR SERIESDario Franchitti, 1:39.866, 145.924 mph, Aug. 19, 2000INDY NXT by FirestoneKyffin Simpson, 1:49.1028, 132.448 mph, June 17, 2023
FOX Sports telecasts:
NTT INDYCAR SERIES:
 Practice 1, 4 p.m. ET Friday, FS2 (live);
Practice 2, 11 a.m. ET Saturday, FS1 (live);
Qualifying, 2 p.m. ET Saturday, FS1 (live);
Warmup, 11 a.m. ET Sunday, FS1 (live);
Race, 2 p.m. ET Sunday, FOX (live).
Will Buxton is the play-by-play announcer for FOX’s coverage of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, alongside analysts Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe. Georgia Henneberry, Kevin Lee and Jack Harvey are the pit reporters. A Spanish-language telecast will be available on FOX Deportes. |
 INDY NXT by Firestone:
 Practice 1, 3 p.m. ET Friday, FS1 (live);
Qualifying, 11 a.m. ET Saturday, FS1 (live);
Race 1, 12:30 p.m. ET Saturday, FS1 (live);
Race 2, Noon ET Sunday, FS1.
Kevin Lee is the play-by-play announcer for FOX Sports’ coverage of INDY NXT by Firestone alongside analyst Jack Harvey. Georgia Henneberry is the pit reporter

.INDYCAR Radio Powered by OnlyBulls broadcasts: Mark Jaynes is the anchor alongside driver analyst Davey Hamilton. Nick Yeoman, Jake Query and Michael Young are the turn announcers. Alex Wollf, Joel Sebastianelli and DJ Clark are the pit reporters.The XPEL Grand Prix at Road America Presented by AMR race (1:30 p.m. ET Sunday),
INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix at Road America doubleheader (12:25 p.m. Saturday and 11:55 a.m. Sunday) and all NTT INDYCAR SERIES and INDY NXT by Firestone practices and qualifying sessions air live on network affiliates, SiriusXM INDYCAR Nation 218, indycar.com/leaderboard and the INDYCAR App powered by NTT DATA.
At-track schedule (all times Central Time):
Friday, June 19
2-2:45 p.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone Practice 1, FS1 (live)
3:05-4:20 p.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES Practice 1, FS2 (live)
Saturday, June 20
9-9:30 a.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone Qualifying (two groups/12 minutes each), FS1 (live)
10:05-10:55 a.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES Practice 2, FS1 (live)
11:31 a.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix at Road America Race 1 Command to Start Engines
11:36 a.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix at Road America Race 1 (20 laps/55 minutes), FS1 (live)
1:05-2:30 p.m. – Qualifying for the NTT P1 Award (Three rounds of knockout qualifying), FS1 (live)
Sunday, June 21
10:05-10:35 a.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES Warmup, FS1 (live)
11:01 a.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix at Road America Race 2 Command to Start Engines
11:06 a.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix at Road America Race 2 (18 laps/50 minutes), FS1 (live)
12:30 p.m. — Driver introductions1 p.m. – FOX on air
1:20 p.m. –  XPEL Grand Prix at Road America Command to Start Engines
1:27 p.m. –  XPEL Grand Prix at Road America (55 laps/220.77 miles), FOX (live)

NTT INDYCAR SERIES Notes:There have been five winners in the first nine NTT INDYCAR SERIES races this season. Alex Palou (Streets of St. Petersburg, Barber Motorsports Park, Streets of Long Beach and Streets of Detroit), Josef Newgarden (Phoenix Raceway, World Wide Technology Raceway), Kyle Kirkwood (Streets of Arlington), Christian Lundgaard (Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course) and Felix Rosenqvist (Indianapolis 500).
The XPEL Grand Prix at Road America Presented by AMR will be the 37th INDYCAR SERIES event conducted at Road America since it hosted its first INDYCAR event in 1982. Mario Andretti, Michael Andretti, Emerson Fittipaldi and Alex Palou have three wins, the most by an INDYCAR SERIES driver at the track.
Alex Palou’s three wins are the most by an active driver at Road America. Scott Dixon, Josef Newgarden and Will Power have each won twice at Road America. Other previous Road America winners entered include Alexander Rossi and Felix Rosenqvist.
The driver who has gone on to win the championship has won at Road America 10 times: Mario Andretti (1984), Michael Andretti (1991), Jacques Villeneuve (1995), Alex Zanardi (1997), Cristiano da Matta (2002), Sebastien Bourdais (2007), Scott Dixon (2020) and Alex Palou (2021, 2023, 2025).Scott Dixon and Will Power have competed in 13 previous races at Road America, most of any driver.
Sixteen entered drivers have led laps at the track: Josef Newgarden 159, Will Power 76, Scott Dixon 70, Alexander Rossi 70, Pato O’Ward 43, Scott McLaughlin 26, Alex Palou 24, Felix Rosenqvist 20, Marcus Armstrong 5, Christian Lundgaard 5, Graham Rahal 5, Kyle Kirkwood 4, Marcus Ericsson 4, Louis Foster 3, David Malukas 2 and Kyffin Simpson 2.
Chip Ganassi Racing has won eight times at Road America (1997, 2001, 2017, a sweep of the 2020 doubleheader, 2021, 2023 and 2025), including five of the last seven INDYCAR SERIES races at “America’s National Park of Speed.” CGR is one of three current teams with wins at the track. Team Penske has won seven times at Road America (1989, 1992, 1993, 2016, 2018, 2022 and 2024) while Andretti Global won in 2019.
Rookies Caio Collet, Dennis Hauger and Mick Schumacher will race an NTT INDYCAR SERIES car at Road America for the first time this weekend. Collet won the INDY NXT race at the track in 2025.

INDY NXT by Firestone Notes:
The ultra-competitive INDY NXT by Firestone season continues with a doubleheader visit to Road America. Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR’s Nikita Johnson leads the point standings by just two points over HMD Motorsports’ Enzo Fittipaldi with HMD’s Tymek Kucharczyk five points back. It’s the closest margin between the top three after eight races since Linus Lundqvist, David Malukas and Kyle Kirkwood were separated by four points in 2021.Group qualifying will decide the starting grid for both races at America’s National Park of Speed. Based on the best lap times from the practice session immediately preceding qualifying, the fastest driver in that session will choose which group will compete in the first of the two qualifying sessions. With 12 minutes allotted for each group (with a guarantee of one timed lap), the fastest driver between the two sessions will be awarded Race 1 pole position with the drivers who finished behind that driver, in order and in that group, occupying the odd-numbered starting positions (3, 5, 7, etc.) for the race and the drivers who finished in order from the other group occupying the even-numbered starting positions (2, 4, 6, etc.). A driver’s second best lap will be determine the pole position for Race 2. One driver and entrant championship point will be awarded to the fastest car in each qualifying group for each race.