Quick Thoughts- Children’s of Alabama Grand Prix

Lets’ start with the positives.

Alex Palou put on a clinic today. He drove a masterful race, aided by great pit strategy, and perfect pit execution. Palou has won three of the first four races and finished second in the fourth. He enters the IMS races with a 61 point lead over Christian Lundgaard.

Lundgaard has suddenly become the leader at Arrow McLaren. His second place today is his third straight podium finish. I would not count him out of standing on the top step of the platform one time before June. Lundgaard is the only driver with a shot at possibly catching Palou.

If Rinus VeeKay isn’t a unanimous pick for Driver of the Day, there just wasn’t a winner today. The Netherlands driver backed up his Fast Six from Saturday with a fourth place finish, one spot higher than where he started the race. He has done well at Barber, but to drive a Dale Coyne Racing machine to such heights is an accomplishment.

VeeKay finished just 0.33 of a second behind third place Scott McLaughlin.

Today’s race saw some of the best racing of the year with some battles in the top 10.

The best news of the weekend- I heard that Barber will be run in April in 2026, where it rightly belongs.

Now for the rest of the day:

FOX showed more improvement during the broadcast, but some key items are still lacking. I don’t know why there is still no pit timer. There were several bad pit stops, which they covered, but how much time was lost? I would like to know. This information will be essential during the Indianapolis 500 in three weeks.

Once again there was no pass for the lead, or even a fight for the top spot. While there were some great battles, it was evident that passing is very difficult. Is the hybrid really holding back the racing that much? I would hate to see a processional 500 like we had in the late 2000s.

All four races in 2025 have had a sameness to them. They have been mostly processional with pit strategies being the one intriguing thing about them. That is great for the hard core fan, but it isn’t going to lure new fans in. Perhaps it’s the lack of yellows, 339 consecutive laps of green flag, which is another thing altogether, or perhaps it is the drag of the hybrid.

Thanks for following along this weekend. Tomorrow I start covering the month of May. It’s hard to believe there is another race in just six days.

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