Indianapolis, IN – Fighting for momentum in the month of May, with the Indianapolis 500 on the horizon, Christian Lundgaard won the sixth event of the NTT INDYCAR season, contested on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s permanent road course. The Dane made a daring but clean pass of David Malukas as they fought for the lead through two turns. Graham Rahal finished third, followed by Joseph Newgarden and Alex Palou.
“I’m very happy,” revealed Lundgaard, driving for Arrow McLaren, who ended a 47-race drought by winning for the first time since his maiden victory at the 2023 Honda Indy Toronto. “I didn’t expect this today but hoped for it. It was a long wait for this win, especially at this place. I’ve always been fast around here and it’s just been time after time, disappointment. It was a wild race and a long day. We had a really good plan on how to attack and our strategy played out.”
Malukas, driving for Team Penske, started fifth and led the most laps, with 27. But on Lap 68, Lundgaard caught Malukas after a round of pit stops. The two went side-by-side through Turn 3 and again through Turn 4. Once ahead, Lundgaard stretched his lead to a 4.67-second margin of victory.
“I knew my only chance to pass Malukas was as soon as possible (one lap after both pitted for their third and final stops),” continued Lundgaard. “I was shocked to get that close. We did it. Good start to May.”
At the start, Palou led from the pole, with Pato O’Ward falling in behind on the half mile long front straightaway. But at the first turn, where drivers drop in speed from 180 to 40 mph, O’Ward did a backwards spin, making contact with Felix Rosenqvist, Scott Dixon and Caio Collet. Luckily, Lundgaard and Malukas escaped the chaos.
“It was just a matter of attrition,” explained Malukas, earning his best result of the season and fifth career podium. “Lundgaard was just so fast. We were burning push to pass to keep the gap up. I was trying everything I could – sideways pretty much 50% of those laps. It was just a matter of time before he would get us.
“We were having so much luck,” continued Malukas, who expected the Sonsio Grand Prix to be his toughest of the 18-race season. “The start took out a lot of fast guys. Then lapped cars got out of the way and we actually got some clean air, which we so desperately needed with the way our setup was. We were very strong in the middle stint, but towards the end, we made the wrong decision on the wing (adjustment). We were just falling apart. I was doing everything I could just to survive as Rahal was coming from behind. We went into this weekend knowing it was going to be a struggle for us, and here we are on the podium. Overall, it’s a fantastic result for us and really good momentum going into the 500.”
The Rahal Letterman Lanigan team typically has speed on the IMS road course, even though they admit they cannot explain why. Louis Foster advanced to the Fast Six, Graham started seventh and Mick Schumacher managed to lead one of the practice sessions.
“That was a very physical race,” said Rahal. “I was trying to catch Malukas, but I struggled with the rear of my car a lot today. I’m sure everybody probably was similar, but I was really loose today. All around, it’s good to see Louis get his best series finish and Mick have a strong race. We’re not there yet, but we’re making strides. We’ll get there. I’m proud of this team. Everybody has worked awfully hard to have two podiums this early in the year. We’ve just got to carry this momentum into the Indy 500.”
Qualifying was rained out late Friday afternoon as there was steady light rain between the INDY NXT race and the scheduled INDYCAR Qualifying session. That allowed for standing water to accumulate on the front straightaway. By postponing Qualifying to Saturday morning, officials eliminated the normal 30-minute pre-race Warm-Up, preventing teams from determining how long the alternate, softer red tires would last. Six of the 25 drivers started on reds. Three pit stops were expected during the 85-lap race on the 2.439-mile, 14-turn circuit.
An unusual team strategy decision turned the running order upside down. On Lap 22, Alexander Rossi brought his mechanically compromised car to a stop near the Start/Finish line. Officials initially called for a local yellow during which a number of cars pitted. Then, the pits were closed under the full-course yellow that followed. It wasn’t until three laps later that the leaders, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Palou followed by Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood, pitted for their first stop, only to join the field in 19th and 20th, respectively.
Did the best strategists in the paddock, Barry Wanser (Palou) and Bryan Herta (Kirkwood), make a mistake by not pitting their drivers? It certainly looked that way. But both were on the harder, black primary tires and were trying to extend their first pit stop another six to eight laps, not knowing how long the softer red tires would last.
Palou salvaged a fifth-place finish. Kirkwood, who started ninth, having worked his way up to second, had a slow second pit stop (over 15 seconds due to a right-front wheel nut issue) and fought back to finish ninth.
The championship battle tightens up as Palou still leads with 237 points, Kirkwood trailing with 210, Malukas 185, Lundgaard 182 and Newgarden with 162 points in fifth. The field expands to 33 with the 110th running of the Indianapolis 500 on May 24th.
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