Alex Palou continued his march toward history and immortality by winning the Sonsio Grand Prix on Saturday on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, his fourth victory in five NTT INDYCAR SERIES races this season.
It was the Spaniard’s third consecutive victory in this race, an event record, and he became the first driver since Sebastien Bourdais in 2006 to win four of the first five races of an INDYCAR SERIES season.
SEE: Race Results
“I cannot describe the amazing season we’ve had so far,” Palou said. “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.”
NTT P1 Award winner Palou drove his No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda to a 5.4840-second victory over the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet of Pato O’Ward. That margin may have been considerably larger if not for a late caution period – the first in the series since Lap 1 of the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding – bunching the field before Palou ran away again.
Two-time series champion Will Power finished a season-best third in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, 8.4529 seconds behind Palou. His teammate Scott McLaughlin was fourth in the No. 3 Sonsio Vehicle Protection Chevrolet.
Six-time series champion Scott Dixon rounded out the top five in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
After this victory, Palou’s report card this season reads four victories (St. Petersburg, Thermal, Barber, Indianapolis road course) and one second-place finish (Long Beach). He leads the standings by 97 points – nearly two races’ worth of points – over Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti Global after just five of 17 races this season.
“We need to do something to stop this 10 car,” O’Ward said. “These guys are really, really on a roll. I don’t think I’ve seen anything like it, especially in INDYCAR.”
Future targets are coming into clear focus for Palou after this win. The first is victory in the next event, the biggest of them all, the 109th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge on Sunday, May 25 at IMS. Palou has never won the “500” or on an oval, about his only remaining mountains to climb in this series.
“Hopefully we get to stay here (Victory Podium) again in a couple of weeks for the biggest race of the year,” Palou said.
Then, the focus could shift to a fourth Astor Challenge Cup as series champion in five years, a feat last achieved by Bourdais when he won four straight titles from 2004-07. It’s also not a stretch in this moment of dominance with 12 races remaining to conceive of Palou threatening the all-time series record for victories in a season, 10 by legends A.J. Foyt in 1964 and Al Unser in 1970.
This was another victory in which strategy and patience were the successful blueprint for Palou. He led 29 laps, second to Graham Rahal’s 49. But that’s a familiar tactic for Palou, who has been the overall lap leader in only one of his victories this season, last Sunday at Barber Motorsports Park.
Palou started from the pole, but Rahal dove under him in Turn 1 on Lap 2. Rahal stayed out front in the No. 15 Fifth Third Bank Honda of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing past the halfway point of the 85-lap race except for pit cycles. But Palou never let Rahal get away, staying within a second or closer nearly that entire time.
While Rahal and Palou marched in lockstep around the 14-turn, 2.439-mile circuit, there was a key strategic difference between the two drivers.
New INDYCAR rules for this event mandated that every driver use two sets each of Firestone primary and alternate tires. Palou used scuffed alternate and primary tires during his first two stints, while Rahal used new alternate and primary tires.
Rahal and Palou entered the pits together for their second stops in a dramatic moment at the end of Lap 41. Rahal’s crew switched to scuffed alternate tires, while Palou’s team mounted new primary tires.
Better grip from the softer alternate tire helped Rahal keep the lead over Palou after that stop. But the better durability of the primary tire – plus considerably more Push to Pass overtake assist available to use – helped Palou reel in Rahal.
Palou’s patience ran out on Lap 58. He tried to pass Rahal in Turns 1 and 2, but Rahal parried the move. But Palou dove inside Rahal in Turn 7 on the same lap and never trailed thereafter.
Once in the lead, Palou pulled away at an astonishing rate. His lead grew to 4.1075 seconds just four laps after he got out front, and it appeared he could canter to the checkered flag.
But the first full-course yellow in 408 laps of competition dating back to the season opener March 2 bunched the field on Lap 70 when the No. 4 AJ FOYT RACING Chevrolet driven by David Malukas stopped in the grass in Turn 10.
On the restart on Lap 72, Palou held off O’Ward entering Turn 1 and again pulled away. Palou’s gap was 2.4781 seconds by Lap 76, and he was never threatened the rest of the way.
Practice for the 109th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge starts at noon ET Tuesday.
