Alex Palou sang the Red Solo Cup song in honour of his new sponsor as he crossed the Start/Finish line first, having survived an extremely hot and aggressive NTT INDYCAR series race at Road America. Felix Rosenqvist followed in second and Santino Ferrucci finished third in the 55-lap event on the 4.014-mile, 14-turn permanent road course.
The track offers long straightaways for passing and a roller coaster feel, with its 160’ elevation change, and is located in Elkhart Lake, WI.
“It was tough and a crazy race,” said Palou, driving the red No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. “There was a lot going on and lot of yellow laps. We were looking really bad at the beginning, then really good, then terrible, then really good. We just had to stay focused on battling against the people that were on our strategy.
“I didn’t agree with Barry (Wanser)’s strategy call,” continued Palou. “I was grumpy for a couple of laps until I saw it was working out. Then I started saying thank you again. We got that win on team strategy and great pit stops. HRC (Honda Racing Corporation) gave us the mileage we needed to gamble to make it.”
Palou, who started second, experienced an up-and-down race by pitting under yellow on Lap 11, falling from fourth to 14th. He then pitted again on Lap 23, under yellow, falling from second to 13th. His third and final pit stop came on Lap 40, under green, when he forfeited the lead, dropping to 13th again. But his teammate Scott Dixon, having pitted two laps earlier (Lap 38), had to relinquish the lead for a splash of fuel with three laps to go.
“We didn’t know we were on the right strategy until there were ten laps to go,” explained Wanser, Palou’s race strategist. “Alex doesn’t get grumpy. So when he is grumpy, I know he’s really mad and questioning what we’re doing. We made some strategy changes on the tires during the race that went against what we all agreed on before the race. He wasn’t very happy about that. It was hard because there were several different strategies going on. Today it was just luck to be on the right strategy.”
Grand Prix. CREDIT: Penske Entertainment/Chris Owens
Rosenqvist, who pitted two laps after Palou and had more fuel and fresher tires, tried his best to chase the leader down, reducing the gap to 2.17 seconds.
“I had my first win here and some good results in the past,” stated Rosenqvist, who started 12th for Meyer Shank Racing. “We had good pace but messed up qualifying by trying to do the carousel flat. I lost it. In the race, my car was just on rails.
“There were a lot of strategies going on,” continued Rosenqvist. “We did two black (primary tires) stints in the beginning and we held on pretty good, especially during restarts. It seemed like the blacks were pretty good but they faded a bit when you got up to speed. We capitalized on all those yellows (five cautions for a total of 12 laps). At the end of the race, we didn’t have to save any fuel and we had two new reds (softer alternate tire sets). We were just doing qually laps every lap. Proud of all the guys. It was a hot day and tough for everyone, pit crew, engineering, and computers – everything was running hot. Happy we made it to the finish.”
Driving for AJ Foyt Racing, Ferrucci started 18th in the Sexton Properties car, with new signage: “In honor of Marlyne Sexton,” a long-time friend and supporter of the team, who passed away a week earlier.
“I had a really fast race car,” explained Ferrucci, earning his second podium of the season. “During the Warm-up session, the car was awesome after some small changes made overnight. We used three sets of reds and one black (set of tires).
“Unlike my usual self, I was trying to be super patient and not make mistakes or get into too many people as we came through the field,” continued Ferrucci. “It was mayhem out there. I stalled in the pits on one of the stops. I’m thankful for the hybrid so I could fire back up and only lose four or five spots. We had a massive fuel target for the last two stints, so kudos to Chevrolet for giving me the tools to do that and to my engineering team for giving me a car that can fuel save.”
America. CREDIT: Penske Entertainment/Joe Skibinski
Fans were well entertained, witnessing a new track record of nine different leaders during the race, which was completed in 1:53.31, with an average speed of 116.696 mph (187.8 km/hr). There were 345 passes for position. Three drivers were penalized for blocking and three others were penalized for avoidable contact.
Ambient temperatures rose to 95°F (35°C) (normally in the 70s/24°C), with track temperature above 130°F (54°C+), and the drivers’ tempers rose as well. Even teammates ran each other off the racing surface (Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin in Turn 5).
car in background) bringing out a caution on the first lap. CREDIT: Penske Entertainment/Chris Owens
Toronto’s Devlin DeFrancesco demonstrated that he had the speed to join his teammates in Qualifying’s Fast Six, but he was impeded by Scott Dixon on his final and fastest lap. Although Dixon was penalized, DeFrancesco started 19th in the 27-car field, while his Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing teammates were near the front, with Louis Foster on pole and Graham Rahal starting sixth.
“With the speed that we had, we were easily just as fast as my teammates,” revealed DeFrancesco, who finished 19th. “We seemed to be a little stronger in both practice sessions and on both (tire) compounds. It was a huge missed opportunity for us because we should have been fighting Louis to be on pole. The race was genuine chaos. We had a decent start but we just seemed to struggle with straight-line speed and an over boost at the end, which caused us to lose a lot of positions.”
Palou, who earned his sixth win in nine races this season, on his quest for a fourth NTT INDYCAR title, contributed to Honda’s ninth consecutive win. The Spaniard has 386 points, a 93-point lead over Kyle Kirkwood (finished fourth), who has 293 points. Pato O’Ward drops to third, at 285 points, with eight races remaining (432 points possible).
Next up is the Honda Indy 200 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, OH on Sunday, July 6.
