IndyCar
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou wins the GMR Grand Prix at Indianapolis
INDIANAPOLIS, IN (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – Chip Ganassi Racing and Alex Palou are starting the Month of May at Indianapolis right where they want – in victory lane.
Palou started third in the No. 10 American Legion Honda and drove to a dominating win, beating Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward by 16.8006-seconds in Saturday’s GMR Grand Prix on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
“We knew we had a fast car, honestly since practice,” explained Palou. “Since we pulled the car off the trailer it was really, really good. I was comfortable. We just missed a little bit on pole yesterday.”
Palou started the race on the grippier but wear quicker alternate Firestone tires, while pole sitter Christian Lundgaard and the rest of the Top 7 started on the harder, longer-lasting primary Firestone tires. Palou knew he needed to take advantage early because the team didn’t want to keep those tires on for long.
“In the warm-up we found that were struggling a little bit more than others on the alternate tires so that’s why we went red (Firestone alternate tires), black (primary), black, black at the end to try to get the best of what we had,” explained Palou. “We knew with the alternate tires it was a lot easier to get temperature in and I knew it was only for the first couple of laps so I had to go for it.”
Strategist Barry Wanser and the Ricky Davis led crew installed the primary Firestone tires the rest of the way and the strategy worked pefect for Palou, who led a race-high 52-laps.
O’Ward worked the undercut strategy in the second-half of the race, pitting early to ditch the alternate Firestones for primaries on Lap 39, and his final pit stop on lap 62.
“Super-stoked for the team,” said O’Ward. “We put three cars in the Top 5, which is fricking hard to do in this series with how competitive it is. We just made our strategy really work. I just think Palou and Ganassi were very, very strong. We just couldn’t get them in the end.”
O’Ward’s Arrow McLaren teammate Alexander Rossi finished third as all three Arrow McLaren cars finished in the Top 5.
“To get three cars in the Top 5 is near impossible these days,” said Rossi. “Everyone at McLaren has done a phenomenal job this year. We’ve had a really strong pace on Sunday’s, we just haven’t gotten the results we feel like we deserve.”
Lundgaard walked away feeling like he didn’t get the result he deserved after starting on the pole position and finishing fourth.
“The HyVee car has been great all weekend,” said Lundgaard. “We just didn’t have the pace we needed at the end.”
Felix Rosenqvist rounded out the Top 5 in the No. 6 Arrow Chevy.
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon rallied to a sixth place finish after dropping down into the teens after the start of the race. Dixon’s CGR teammates Marcus Ericsson finished eighth and rookie Marcus Armstrong finished 15th.
Now the focus shifts to preparations for the 107th running of the Indianapolis 500 which begins with practice on Tuesday.
MARKHAM, ONTARIO (August 15, 2026) – The NTT IndyCar Series is making it’s first visit to a new street circuit in Markham, Ontario but a familiar face topped the speed charts after the first practice.
Four-time Series Champion Alex Palou turned the fastest lap around the 12-turn, 2.19-mile temporary street course, a 1-minute, 14.9915-seconds (100.811 mph) lap in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
A.J. Foyt Racing rookie Caio Collett was second quick with a 1-minute, 15.0454-seconds (100.739) in the No. 4 Chevrolet.
Louis Foster was third quick in the No. 45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda at 1:15.0278 (100.702) followed by Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin 1:15.2981 (100.401). Will Power rounded out the Top 5 at 1:15.3152 (100.378).
Palou’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammates were not as strong. Six-time Series Champion Scott Dixon was 20th at 1:16.4583 (98.877) in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda. Kyffin Simpson was 24th at 1.17.3893 (97.688) in the No. 8 Sunoco Honda. Simpson made contact with the wall at Turn 6, causing damage to the rear suspension. Simpson limped to pits for repair and returned to action later in the session.
Practice 2 is set for 2:30 p.m. as delayed track construction forced officials to cancel Friday’s activities and condense Saturday’s schedule. NTT P1 Pole Qualifying is set for 6:30 p.m. ET
MARKHAM, ONTARIO (August 14, 2026) – Issues with the completion of the temporary street circuit in Markham Ontario has forced the NTT INDYCAR SERIES first practice to be moved to Saturday as all of Friday’s on-track activity had to be scrubbed from the schedule.
“INDYCAR is incredibly disappointed that our promoter was not able to complete the track build on time, despite significant support from our team on site,” INDYCAR President J. Douglas Boles said. “Ontario has always been a magnificent market for our sport and the number of spectators that attended today is a shining example of that. New events can always pose logistical challenges and we join in the frustration of our loyal fans and apologize.”
Green Savoree Promotions also issued a statement.
“Ensuring the safety of the drivers and the completion of the certification process of competing on a brand-new racetrack delayed all on-track activities today. Today’s sessions have been rescheduled to Saturday, August 15, to allow for further track preparations.”
“We greatly appreciate all the fans who made it out to the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham today and chose to spend the day with us. The attendance and support were overwhelming.”
The revamped schedule calls for the first practice to take place at 10:00 a.m. followed by a second practice at 2:30 p.m. and P1 Pole Qualifying at 6:30 p.m.
PORTLAND, OR (August 9, 2026) – Alex Palou and Chip Ganassi Racing are closing in on another NTT IndyCar Series Championship after winning Sunday’s Only Bulls Portland Grand Prix.
Palou started second and passed Felix Rosenqvist during the first round of pit stops by staying out an extra lap and using the ‘overcut’ to get the lead and then dominated, leading 60 of 110-laps to grab his sixth victory of 2026.
“Everybody at CGR and Honda did an incredible job,” said Palou, who started second. “I had an absolute rocket ship today. It was very, very nice to drive every single lap.”
“We had to do something different than Felix,” said Barry Wanser, team manager for the No. 10 Honda. “We had to go longer than him. It takes a lot of performance by Alex and certainly the Honda engine to give us the fuel mileage to jump in one more and do the overcut. That helped us. We had a pretty smooth pit stop and got the jump there.”
Rosenqvist, who started on the pole in the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Grateful Dead Honda, closed to within a second late but couldn’t get back to the front.
“He got us in a sequence,” said Rosenqvist, the 2026 Indianapolis 500 winner. “I got kind of twisted up leaving my box because I was so close to the Schumacher crew. I think between the overcut and that, we kind of lost the position. From there on we just sat in second.”
Andretti Global’s Will Power finished third in the No. 26 TWG Honda to lockout the podium for the manufacturer.
“Great day for us,” said Power. “Great day for Andretti. Didn’t quite have the pace I think the top two guys. Probably about a tenth off. Just seriously fast pace all day. Qualifying laps, really good quality. Such a quality field now.”
The victory for Palou increased his Championship lead to 110 points over Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti Global, a gap of more than two races with just five races remaining this season.
“Chip puts the best guys around me, but then also everybody is just executing,” said Palou. “That car is a rocket ship, and I’m just lucky enough to drive it.”
The next NTT IndyCar Series race is the inaugural Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham on Sunday, Aug. 16 on the streets of Markham, Ontario.
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