INDYCAR officials threw the series’ 11 teams a curve ball with an unpopular tire rule change implemented at the 14-turn Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, in a race that saw Alex Palou continue a stretch of dominance. The road course, which utilizes part of the world-famous Indianapolis oval and the interior roads through its infield, kicked off a busy month of May in the sport’s backyard.
Although drivers voted against the tire rule change idea, they were required to use two sets each of primary black tires (the harder compound) and alternate red tires (the softer compound) in the 85-lap race, forcing teams and drivers to make three pit stops (eliminating a two-stop strategy).
Because drivers were allotted only four sets of alternates and five sets of primaries for two practice sessions, qualifying, and the race, some saved their red tires for knock-out qualifying, utilizing two sets in hopes of advancing to the next tier. Without any red tire behavior reference from practice, some drivers failed to advance.
No surprise was the pole going to Palou, three-time INDYCAR champion (2021, 2023, 2024) and winner of three of the first four races this season.
Surprisingly though, all three drivers of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing advanced to the Fast Six, with Rahal starting on the front row, rookie Louis Foster third, and Toronto’s Devlin DeFrancesco fifth.
Entering the first turn of Lap 1, Rahal, who started on new alternates, overtook Palou, who started on used alternate tires. Rahal led 49 laps but saw his lead over Palou diminish behind drivers not wanting to be lapped, causing him to use up his tires and overtake. Both front runners pitted for their second stop on Lap 41. And, although Rahal maintained the lead initially on used reds, Palou, on new blacks, passed the American on Lap 58.
“I cannot describe the amazing season we’ve had so far,” said Palou, who has now won four of five races, winning three races (all consecutive) on the IMS road course, and taking a 97-point lead (with 248 points) over Kyle Kirkwood (151 points). “I owe everything to the team, Chip Ganassi Racing, my teammates, everybody who is working behind the scenes to make me look so fast on track. It’s amazing. It’s unbelievable.”
Crossing the finish line behind Palou was Pato O’Ward, Will Power, Scott McLaughlin, Scott Dixon, and Rahal in sixth.
“I’m genuinely proud of the effort,” described Rahal, who remains winless through the last seven-plus seasons. “I don’t think I locked up once nor put one wheel wrong. I defended as best I could, but the Ganassi cars are in a league of their own. The grip they have; their ability to follow so close. I tried to drive as flawlessly as I could because I knew that was the only way to beat them. But, unfortunately, we weren’t able to do that. We’ll keep working hard.
“Hope we can solve the Palou problem,” continued Rahal, sharing the sentiments of many drivers. “I don’t know what we have to do to beat him. I don’t know if anybody does.”
O’Ward, who finished second, was asked what he thought it will take to beat Palou.
“I have to go faster,” answered the Mexican driver. “It’s a great points day. I was happy with the car balance. The team fixed the straight-line speed issue we had in qualifying (qualified eighth). I enjoyed the race because we were able to push and not have to save fuel. We need something to stop the ten car (Palou). It’s on a roll. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Power was the highest-finishing Penske driver, rounding out the podium.
“It was a solid day to finish third (started seventh),” said Power. “I didn’t pass anyone all day on track. Had good pit stops and speed in the car. Well executed race by the Verizon crew. Definitely didn’t have the pace for Alex (Palou) but we’ll get him here at some point. It’s just a very stout field. Even last place doesn’t make mistakes.”
Scott McLaughlin, entering Turn 1 at the start of the Sonsio GP. CREDIT: Penske Entertainment/Joe Skibinski
DeFrancesco made an aggressive start from fifth to third going into Turn 1. Unfortunately, on his second pit stop, he had a fueling issue and stalled. And, during his final stint, on black primary tires, he was passed by drivers using the red alternates to finish 17th.
“We had a really good first 40 laps,” revealed DeFrancesco. “All the executing and speed was really good. For some reason when I dropped the clutch on the second pit stop, the car stalled. We need to look into that. We had a slow plug in (fuel) as well, which hurts (fell to 11th). We had such a competitive car this weekend and I’m frustrated for myself and for the team because we deserved more than that. We were pressuring Palou in the first stint. They all had to pit early because they were starting to drown and we were solid. It hurts after being so strong this weekend.”
On Lap 69, when the No. 4 car of David Malukas, driving for AJ Foyt Racing, pulled off course on the grass in Turn 8, the yellow flags finally waved to cheering fans. There had been 408 laps without a caution since the first-lap accident at St. Petersburg. Because all pit stops were completed, the caution did not really have any effect on the race other than to bring drivers nose to tail. On the Lap 72 restart, Palou just pulled away from O’Ward, generating a 5.5 second lead by the checkered flag.
“We were fortunate enough to be really strong on the primary tires, getting 23 to 24 laps out of them,” explained Barry Wanser, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Team Manger and Palou’s race strategist. “That reduced the laps we had to do on our sticker alternates for the end, which gave us a huge advantage. Alex’s ability certainly to go fast, take care of the tires, and get the fuel number, is second to none. He stays focused.
“As far as the strategy with the tires and choosing those,” Wanser continued, “you just really don’t know how far the tires will go. There’s nothing you can do in practice, qualifying, and rerunning the tires in the warmup. You just don’t get enough time on the tires to understand how far they’re really going to go in the race. Our goal was to run alternate used reds, blacks, blacks, and then finish on the sticker reds. But if we were closely battling somebody, we could have easily run our sticker reds in the second or the third stint, not saving them for the fourth.”
Drivers hope to carry their momentum into practice for the 109th Indianapolis 500, with qualifying on May 17 and 18, followed by the race on May 25. With 34 entries, one driver/team will go home.
