Tag: Alex Palou

Quick Thoughts-Detroit Grand Prix

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In the end the race came down to pit strategy and how the cautions fell- just the way a race is supposed to play out. Alex Palou once again came out on the good side, and Kyle Kirkwood fell just short.

The Chevrolet Grand Prix of Detroit delivered an entertaining race, arguably the best race in the Motor City in a while. It was by far the best of the four races held at this edition of a downtown circuit.

Today’s race was the type of event that might keep the casual fan who tuned in today after watching last week’s Indianapolis 500 and saw plenty of action to maybe want to give Gateway a look next Sunday. It was not the post-500 buzzkill that we have often seen.

Here are my thoughts on seven topics from today’s race.

Yellows

IndyCar officiating has been criticized for not throwing yellows when warranted. Today the yellow flew frequently, perhaps a bit too much. Three cautions were called for cars that spun but were able to restart and keep going. Only once did I think the flag was justified as the car was in the middle of the track.

The officials overcorrected their previous reluctance to make a call. I can give the race director a bit of a pass since this was the new IOB’s first street course event.

Did the yellows hurt some drivers? yes, Kyle Kirkwood among them, but that’s racing. I’m sure a middle ground will eventually be reached for when to wave the yellow flag and when not to.

Hybrids

Scott Dixon dropped out of the race, losing a top 10 finish because of a hybrid failure. He was not complimentary about the unit afterwards.

After nearly three years, I’m still not sure how the hybrid adds anything to the sport. The street racing especially has not been great since the hybrid’s introduction to IndyCar. The added weight has slowed speeds, as we saw at IMS last week.

Perhaps it is time to ditch this experiment with the 2028 car.

Another Rahal Podium

Graham Rahal earned his third podium of the season, the first time since 2020 that he has been on the podium that often. Rahal is ninth in points, just one point behind Josef Newgarden.

I’m glad to see Rahal once again competing at the top of the grid. RLL seems to have their road and street packages figured out. I hope the team can find a solution to their oval issues.

A Gritty Duo

Josef Newgarden and Alexander Rossi raced despite their ailing lower extremities. For Rossi, it was his second race since his injury on May 18, and Newgarden was in his first race since hitting the wall last Sunday.

Newgarden started 21st, and Rossi rolled ff 14th. Rossi had made his way to second place near the end of the race before a penalty pushed him down to17th at the end.

Newgarden drove a steady race all day and finished 10th.

Two gutsy performances from these drivers. They should be in better shape for next Sunday’s oval race at Gateway.

The Chime

There is nothing more annoying during the FOX broadcast that the chime the network uses to tell the audience that a radio communication is imminent. It sounds to me like a doorbell or the sound at a sports league draft to announce the next pick.

Is it too difficult for Will Buxton to say to just say, “Here’s what Barry Wanser just told Alex?”

The chime is the most unnecessary prop I have ever seen or heard on a race broadcast.

Will Power

What does Will Power have to do to stay in a race and actually win? This morning I felt great about his chances to win today, and when he passed Palou for the lead during the first stint, I was sure it was his day.

He got behind on pit stops but was making his way back toward the front until co0ntact with Scott McLaughlin sidelined him. The New Zealander was not given a penalty, but he finished 19th after being in contention for the win, so justice was served.

I really hoped Power would win today, in a Honda, in Roger Penske’s backyard. what delicious irony that would have been.

ECR

No team will be happier to see the calendar turn to June 1 tomorrow than ECR. May has not been kind to them.

Both Christian Rasmussen and Alexander Rossi suffered machinal failures in the Sonsio Grand Prix, finishing 24th and 25th.

The highlight of May was rossi qualifying second for the Indianapolis 500. The joy was short lived as Rossi crashed hard in practice the following day, injuring his right ankle.

In the race Rasmussen fell out early with mechanical issues again, finishing 27th. Rossi led for a bit, but a pit fire dropped him the race and he ended the day in 30th place.

Today, in addition to Rossi’s late troubles, Rasmussen was the first car out with wall contact on lap 9.

It was good to see a decent race follow the 500 for once. Next Sunday’s Bommarito 500 should be another great show.

Thanks for following along this weekend.

Palou Tops Detroit Practice 1

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Alex Palou was fastest in Friday practice for the Detroit Grand Prix, just edging defending race winner Kyle Kirkwood by 19 hundredths of a second. Will Power was third quickest, 22 hundredths of a second behind Palou.

Palou is seeking his third pole in the month of May. He won the pole at the Sonsio Grand Prix, where he finished fifth, then took the coveted Indianapolis 500 pole position for the 110th running. Palou finished seventh last Sunday.

“Good start,” Palou said. “It’s just super tough to get a lap here when everything feels good. Although we looked very good, I think we need to work on the car and try to make it a little bit better because I think there was a ton of people that couldn’t really get a good lap.”

Indianapolis 500 winner Felix Rosenqvist was 11th fastest in today’s practice.

Tomorrow is a short, ,packed day with practice at 9 am Eastern and qualifying at 1 pm. IMSA then has the track for the rest of the day.

Results

Palou is Inevitable

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Pole position for Alex Palou seemed improbable, but inevitability beat improbability as Palou won the pole for next Sunday’s 100th running of the Indianapolis 500. Palou drew number 31 in the qualifying order, which may have resulted in a different outcome had qualifying gone off as scheduled on Saturday.

The 2025 winner ended the first round in 11th, then finished second in the Fast 12. Alexander Rossi went out first in nthe Fast Six and set down a time of 231.990 mph, which held until made his run. Palou finished with an average speed of 232.248 mph win his second Indianapolis pole in four years. Palou also started first in 2023.

Felix Rosenqvist, who dominated the first two qualifying rounds, had nothing for Palou. Rosenqvist will start fourth.

I will have the full lineup up in post late tonight.

Notes

Drivers battled sstrong winds all day on their runs.Tgere were several close calls, but no incidents.

Speeds were down from last year, as they have been all week.

It was another heavy attendance day today, with the crowd spread through the grounds.

Biggest surprises: Josef Newgarden in 24th; Takuma Sato in 13th.

I will have a more complete wrapup tomorrow. Thanks for following along this weekend.

Day 1 Complete; Palou Fastest, but Armstrong Close

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Alex Palou turned the fast lap of the at 225.937 to just beat out Marcus Armstrong for top lap of the day. Armstrong laid down a 225.895circuit early in the afternoon as practice for the 110th running of the Indianapolis 500 began.

On a sunny warm afternoon the 33 drivers turn a combined 1,996 laps.

“Yeah, it’s good; it’s good now,” Palou said. “We had a couple of issues, but we fixed them. It wasn’t a mechanical issue or anything. It was just balance, not being super happy with it. We found something that explained what I was feeling, and it was good to go back out today before we go to sleep so we can be a bit happier.”

“You always want to do a lot more,” Palou said. “We didn’t do a many laps today, but still we understood a lot of stuff. Feeling much better than (earlier this afternoon).”

Palou was 31st on the chart in the middle of the afternoon when the car went back to the garage. The defending 500 champion returned and took over his accustomed spot on the pylon.

Conor Daly was third fastest. His best lap was 225.839.

Kyle Kirkwood led the non-tow speed chart with a lap of 222.062 mph. Palou was 16th without a tow.

Results

Speed chart and non-tow charts

From earlier

Just Don’t Say Bumping

And Once Again, Pole for Palou

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It’s to the point where I can recycle the headline to my qualifications stories. Not only did Palou win the pole for this afternoon’s Sonsio Grand Prix, he won it by a half second over Pato O’Ward. Palou was the only driver to turn a lap under 1 minute 10 seconds.

Palou turned a blazing quick final lap in Rounf=d one to go from 13th to first. The next two rounds were justto make it official.

O’Ward expressed concern yesterday that he would end up in the lower half of the field. He was hoping qualifying would be in the rain yesterday to give his Arrow McLaren car a chance.

“We turned it around,” O’Ward said after aid after qualifying.

Felix Rosenqvist continued his strong qualifying efforts and will start third.

Five teams earned spots in the Fast Six while six different teams advanced from each first round group.

Most disappointing result has to be Kyle Kirkwood’s ninth place starting spot. It will be difficult for Kirkwood to keep with Palou in the points from there.

Notes

Will Power will start last in the 25 car field and Scott McLaughlin rolls off 18th.

Many cars began their rounds on the alternate tires. The starting tire selections will be interesting.

Results

From Earlier

A Decade of Drivel-The Pit Window Turns 10

Long Beach Wrap Up

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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.

Quick Thoughts- Children’s of Alabama Grand Prix

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Another race. another Alex Palou smackdown. Similar to his easy victory at St. Pete, Palou beat Christian Lundgaard to the line by 13 seconds. Despite the wide margin at the finish, the story was nearly different.

“Incredible day,” Palou said. “I told you qualifying was one of the best car balances I’ve ever driven. Today in the race, it was pretty good in the beginning, really good at the end, but we suffered a little bit on the used blacks (Firestone Firehawk primary tires) that we had to use.

“Another win here. Love this place, love the fans. What a great day.”

Christian Lundgaard took the lead when Palou made his final stop. He pushed to create a large enough gap to stay ahead when he had to pit and was nearly there. A slow right wheel tire exchange cost him nine extra seconds in the pits. It was enough to allow Palou to coast to the victory. Lundgaard recovered to take second, passing Graham Rahal with three laps to go.

Lundgaard said after the race that he believed he had the pace to get by Palou.

It was a great day for Rahal, who earned his first podium since August 2023 at the Indianapolis Road course. RLL has been making progress with the 15 car this season, and the podium signals more good things to come for this team.

Overall, today’s race was the first real clunker of the season. There was very little passing. The race ran caution free for the second straight year.

Kirkwood Keeps Points Lead

Kyle Kirkwood maintained his points lead, but just barely. He is ahead of Palou by only2 points with his fifth place at Barber. Kirkwood is the most consistent driver of 20206 with four finishes inion the top five, including a win and a second place.

Kirkw3ood has won Long Beach, the next race, twice, including last year from pole. We could have a real points battle this season.

Watch Out For

Christian Lundgaard is beginning to make some noise. He now sits in third in the standings, 35 points behind Kirkwood. Lundgaard has finishes of 2nd, 3rd, 13th, and 7th. He may end up as McLaren’s number one driver this year.

David Malukas continues to be the bright light for Team Penske. His fourth place today put5s him in fourth place, just five points behind Lundgaard. Josef Newgarden started ninth and finished 10th. Scott McLaughlin started 14th after his practice crash Saturday, but struggled to a 16th place result.

Streaks broken– The run of a different winner every race came to an end with Palou’s second win of 2026. Sting Ray Robb finished 22nd after coming home 21st in each of the first three races. So close.

The FOX Conundrum

The booth talent and pit reporters are outstanding. The features production is professional and interesting. Their tribute to George Barber was outstanding.

However, their coverage of the sport, the showcase of the broadcasts is still woefully behind the positive aspects, especially on race day.

A pass for second place was missed early in the race. At one it seemed if there was a commercial break just two laps after a break.

I don’t like the top of screen features during action, especially while pit stops take place. If you want to talk about a musician, do it in the pre-race.

In Friday’s IndyNXT practice, sector times were shown on screen for the first time, never to be seen again. Sector times will very much enhance qualifying.

End of rant.

After four races in five weeks, IndyCar returns to action in three weeks, April 19, at long Beach.

Palou Takes Pole on Crazy Day at Barber

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Scott McLaughlin’s morning accident set the tone for a wild day at Barber Motorsports Park. Prior to IndyCar qualifying, The IndyNXT race saw the two leaders crash while battling for first place, and Nikita Johnson winning his second race of the year.

In the first round of qualifying Will Power lost his brakes entering turn 5 and went nose first into the barrier. Power was not injured, but he will again start at the rear of field. Power has had a difficult beginning in phase two of his career. Since he joined Andretti, Power has had some form of contact every weekend.

In a fierce, competitive qualifying session, Alex Palou won the pole position. he edged David Malukas by 11 hundredths of a second. Points leader Kyle Kirkwood will start fifth.

“Honestly, one of the best cars I’ve driven,” Palou said. “This morning (in practice) I already felt the car was really, really good, really well balanced. We just wanted to start up front, capitalize on a really good car we had today and see for tomorrow. Really happy to get our first pole this year.”

Graham Rahal will start third, Marcus Armstrong rolls off fourth, and Romain Grosjean will start from sixth.

Grosjean had a great lap going in Round 1 until he was impeded by Sting Ray Robb. Grosjean still advanced, while Robb lost his two best laps to that point.

McLaughlin’s crew got his backup car ready. he finished seventh in his group and will start 14th tomorrow.

Notes

IndyCar’s competitiveness was on full display with six teams reaching the Fast Six, and a seventh team starting seventh.

Palou is the fourth different driver to take pole in four races in 2026.

It was a great day for the AMR Safety team and all who helped implement the safety innovations on these race cars. Two drivers escaped serious injuries this afternoon thanks to car’s design.

Of the seven different teams will grid in the first three and a half rows, McLaren is conspicuously missing.

Results