IndyCar
CGR’s Alex Palou grabs podium finish at the Firestone Grand Prix as Scott Dixon and Marcus Ericsson score Top 10’s
ST. PETERSBURG, FL (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou scored a second place finish at the NTT INDYCAR SERIES season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
“When you look at the result here today and where we started the weekend, I think all of the team did an amazing job of coming back and scoring the first podium of the year,” said Palou, the defending series Champion.
Palou started the weekend 17th after the first practice session and followed that up on Saturday by hitting the wall during the second practice before qualifying 10th for the race.
Palou was the highest finishing driver for the CGR brigade, which saw Scott Dixon bring the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda home in eighth place, Marcus Ericsson finish ninth in the No. 8 Huski Chocolate Honda and Jimmie Johnson finished 23rd in the No. 48 Carvana Honda.
Dixon started the race in seventh place on the red Firestone alternate tires and was one of the first cars to pit and change to the Firestone primary tires. The strategy put Dixon on a 3-stop strategy, which ultimately didn’t play out in the end as race-winner Scott McLaughlin, Palou and everyone who finished ahead of him were on a 2-stop strategy.
“Definitely a rough day,” said Dixon. “Not sure why we went with the strategy that we did, it kind of put us in a big hole. The car felt really good, especially on the reds (Firestone alternate tires) early on. We were just kind of looking after it maintaining pace and then every time we needed clear track we caught lap cars or traffic or whatever, so no real flow to it. Definitely a bummer and not where the car should’ve finished I think.”
Ericsson started 8th and was running in the Top 5 when the first caution came out. Ericsson was called to pit road for service and coming out of the pits Ericsson, Graham Rahal and Romain Grosjean were three-wide. The back end of Ericsson’s car made slight contact with Rahal’s car resulting in a penalty for ‘avoidable contact’. Ericsson restarted at the tail end of the field.
“We got a really harsh penalty in my opinion,” said Ericsson. “It was really tight on pit lane, like it always is, and we had a bit of a touch. We got sent to the back but drove our way back into the Top 10 and finished P9. Overall a good effort, we had the pace to be on the podium. We take the positives and try again in Texas.”
Jimmie Johnson had an up and down day in the No. 48 Carvana Honda. Johnson started 26th, on the black Firestone primary tires, and worked his up to as high as 12th when the caution flag came out on Lap 25. Johnson pitted for tires and the team elected to run the red Firestone alternate tires. Johnson paid the price for that decision as he dropped numerous positions as those tires wore out.
“I know the result doesn’t show it, 23rd, but I think that is a result of the poor qualifying effort I had,” said Johnson after the race. “Race pace was in the high-teens to the mid-teens and ran there at one point in the race, but by far the most comfortable I have felt in the car.”
The next race for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES is the Xpel 375 at Texas Motor Speedway, March 20, 2022.
MADISON, IL (June 6, 2026) – Alex Palou and the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing team are continuing to lay down fast laps when it counts with Palou earning the pole position for Sunday’s NTT IndyCar Series Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway. The pole position is Palou’s fourth straight NTT P1 Pole award.
“It was incredible and so much fun, especially that first lap,” said Palou, who turned a two-lap average speed of 174.353 mph in the No. 10 HRC Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. “The #10 Honda Honda had so much speed. The team I have around me is incredible. My car was on rails today; it was incredible.”
David Malukas starts second in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet after a two-lap average of 173.244 mph. Malukas could only look on in disbelief as Palou knocked him off the pole.
Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood starts third in the No. 27 Sam’s Club Honda following a two-lap average of 173.206 mph.
“ It was a good run for us,” said Kirkwood, the 2025 WWWT Raceway winner. “P3 is a really good starting spot and we can definitely do some great things from there. Last year we won from 10th, so it’s nice to be able to be at the front.”
2026 Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge winner Felix Rosenqvist starts fourth in the No. 60 SiriusXM Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian Honda.
Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin will start 5th in the No. 3 Dex Imaging Chevrolet.
Palou’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon starts 7th in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda and CGR’s Kyffin Simpson will start 14th in the No. 8 Sunoco Honda.
Television coverage of Sunday’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 begins at 8 PM CT / 9 PM ET on Fox. Complete, flag-to-flag race coverage also will be available on the INDYCAR Radio Network, and SiriusXM INDYCAR Nation (Channel 160).
DETROIT, MI (May 31, 2026) – Alex Palou is back in victory lane after winning Sunday’s NTT IndyCar Series Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix, his fourth win of 2026 and 12th win in his past 25-races.
“It was a tough one,” said Palou. “The team did an incredible job one again with the strategy. Pit stops were incredible. The number 10 Honda Honda looked really good and I think every time it has been on track it’s had a win.”
Palou and the No. 10 HRC Chip Ganassi Racing Honda fought off Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood on two late-race restarts as Palou was on the harder Firestone Primary tire and Kirkwood was on the softer Firestone alternate tire.
“It was very tough with the temperature on the tires,” explained Palou. “On the restarts I couldn’t really be at the level of Kirkwood, Power and some of the guys who were able to get a little more tire temp than I Wass able to.”
“The Sam’s Club Honda was really fast,” said Kirkwood, who is second to Palou in the Championship. “We took a little bit of a gamble on tires there being the only guy on reds (alternate) at the end. It nearly paid off. It was so, so, close. They’re a great team and he’s a great driver.”
Rahal Letterman Lanigan’s Graham Rahal finished third in the No. 15 Fifth Third Bank Honda, tying Rahal’s best finish of the year.
“We had a lot of pace when we needed it,” explained Rahal. “We go lucky a little bit with the yellow.”
IndyCar
Alex Palou wins Detroit IndyCar Pole; Scott Dixon earns 4th starting spot; Honda sweeps front row
DETROIT, MI (May 30, 2026) – Alex Palou is starting on the pole position for the third consecutive NTT IndyCar Series Race, winning the number 1 starting spot for Sunday’s Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear.
Palou’s fast lap of 1-minute, 1.9017-seconds (95.668 mph) in the No. 10 Honda Racing Corporation Chip Ganassi Racing Honda was 0.005542-seconds ahead Will Power, who will start second in the No. 26 TWG AI Honda of Andretti Global. This is Power’s best starting position since switching to Andretti in the offseason.
“I’m super happy that we got the pole position,” said Palou. “The Fast Six was very exciting, especially with only getting one lap. The tires were not up to temperature, but this #10 Honda Honda car was on rails.”
“It was really nice to get into the Fast Six,” said Power, IndyCar’s all-time pole winner. “It’s my second time in the one lap shootout this year. It’s very difficult to beat Alex, so heading into the race I think we just have to put our heads down and see what we can do. The Honda is very good and I’ve been really enjoying running with Honda power all year.”
The front row Honda sweep on Chevrolet’s doorstep may bode well for the manufacturer as Honda has won every race at Detroit since the series switched to the downtown street circuit beginning in 2023.
Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin spoiled the Honda party, locking down the third starting spot with a lap of 1:02.4559 in the No. 3 Clarience Technologies Chevrolet.
Six-time series Champion Scott Dixon qualified a season-best fourth at 1:02.6085 in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda to give Chip Ganassi Racing two of the top 4 starting spots.
“I was just a little too aggressive going for it,” said Dixon. “The No. 9 PNC Bank Honda has speed and it’s good to be starting up front.”
Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard will line up fifth after a fast lap of 1:02.7870 in the No. 7 Chevrolet, despite losing an engine in the morning practice.
Kyle Kirkwood continued the Firestone Fast Six Honda party qualifying sixth in the No. 27 Sam’s Club Honda despite locking his tires up at one point and two power slides during his quick lap.
David Malukas will start last in the field after bringing out a red flag during his qualifying run. Malukas smacked the wall in turn 7 causing heavy damage to the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet.
Sunday starts with a 30-minute morning warmup at 9:30 a.m. followed by the 100-lap race at 12:30 p.m. on Fox and the IndyCar Radio Network.
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