Alex Palou wins frantic, fuel-saving IndyCar battle at Road America

Several drivers looked like they were in a position to win on Sunday, but Alex Palou had avoided incidents and timed strategy calls perfectly.

It was a hot, chaotic weekend for the NTT IndyCar Series field in a challenging trip to Road America.

That did little to stop Alex Palou and the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing team from returning to form.

Palou kept his No. 10 Honda clean as drivers around him found trouble and managed fuel in a strategy-filled conclusion to claim Sunday’s XPEL Grand Prix. It was the Spaniard’s sixth win, bringing the championship dominator back to the front of the field after two atypical results at Detroit and World Wide Technology Raceway.

“It was a crazy race for us,” Palou admitted. “At moments I thought we were losing a ton of positions, then we were making (spots). It was a tough race for everybody.

“Kudos to the team for the amazing strategy. And Honda, man. HRC. Being able to give us the fuel mileage we needed to make it.”

Don’t let the result fool you: Palou was rarely up front in Sunday’s race. He qualified second but was sent outside of the top-five after bold three-wide moves from the drivers around him. When he passed Will Power back on the ensuing restart, Power paid him back in the next corner.

Hit with that early setback, Palou steadily marched forward. When Power and Kyle Kirkwood got into a pair of intense run-ins, Palou used the occasion to sneak past them. When Josef Newgarden was too late on the brakes and went wide under teammate Scott McLaughlin in turn 5, Palou snuck past him and used the slowdown to catch and pass McLaughlin a few corners later.

Timing also played a role. Christian Lundgaard looked poised to take his first win on the year, but a timely caution for a crashed Newgarden with 25 to go came after Lundgaard and others had pitted, allowing Palou and others to stretch fuel into the window needed to make it to the end on one more stop.

Even then, Palou didn’t hold the front spot. Teammate Scott Dixon took over the lead and paced Palou into the closing laps. But the Kiwi had to pit with 17 to go and needed another caution if he hoped to make it to the end. That caution never flew, forcing Dixon to pit with two to go.

From there it was all Palou. The three-time IndyCar champion took the checkered flag 2.1725s clear of Felix Rosenqvist to return to his winning ways.