The result was inevitable. Ale4x Palou took the lead with 32 laps to go with a lightning quick pit stop to come out ahead of Felix Rosenqvist and won his third race of 2026. After a promising start to the year, which saw three different winners in three races and Palou second in the standings, we are back to 2025. Perhaps the month of May can salvage the season for the rest of the grid.

The processional race saw pole sitter Felix Rosenqvist jump to the lead and hold it except for five laps during the first pit stop round. When he shuffled back to the top, Rosenqvist maintained a 1.5 to 2 second lead over Palou until the pit stops under the day’s only caution flag.

When Palou exited the pits in first on the primary tires, it was game over. Palou is back in the points lead by 17 points over Kyle Kirkwood.

Awful Start: Long Beach is not known for great starts as the last rows are generally just rounding the hairpin when the green flies, but yesterday saw the worst start I’ve ever seen for this race. The first three rows were in formation followed by a large gap to an unorganized row four. The rest of the field wasn’t even in view. I don’t know why the star wasn’t waved off.

Either move the start line down the front straight a bit or have a standing start. The finish line can return to its current position. Another possibility is to start the race on Pine Street.

Soft tires too hard? The alternate tires lasted a full 30 laps. While the blistering was severe, the tire did not cause a big enough drop off to allow for any real racing. If the series wants the red tire used twice in a race, it has to force different strategies. The cars who made three stops didn’t have a chance.

Another Bad Break for Power: Will Power was enjoying his cleanest weekend of 2026. He did not contact anything on Friday or Saturday. He started seventh and spent the day in the top 10, even getting into the lead during pit stop shuffles. On the final stop, however, while exiting his pit box he made contact with a crew member of Caio Collet’s car. The drive through penalty sent him to the rear of the field. he recovered to finish 19th.

Good Days: Nolan Siegel finished 12th, his best result of the year. Siegel started last and rove a steady race.

Dennis Hauger improved to 11th from his 19th starting spot.

Alexander Rossi came home 9th after starting18th.

Obsession: Why FOX became so enamored with Josef Newgarden and spent innumerable laps showing him drive alone on a clear track is beyond me. Newgarden made an early pit stop and did cycle to the lead when the rest of the field made their first stops. It was clear that Newgarden would need two more stops while the leaders had a good chance to only need one more trip to the pits. His lead and chance for victory was ephemeral, but FOX kept up the narrative.

The more compelling story was how Rosenqvist could hold off Palou.

Final Thoughts: The Fast Six shootout was the highlight of the weekend. It was dramatic thanks to the tweaks in format that IndyCar implemented.

While racing at Long Beach has never been great, yesterday’s contest was devoid of drama and action. Palou’s pass of Pato O’Ward on lap two was the only significant pass of the race.

The good news is that a week from tomorrow, the circus moves to IMS for an entire month. I can’t wait.