IndyCar
Alex Palou wins Sonsio Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
INDIANAPOLIS, IN (May 10, 2025) Alex Palou is etching his name in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES record book after winning Saturday’s Sonsio Grand Prix on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The victory was Palou’s fourth in five races in 2025, coupled with a 2nd place finish at Long Beach, is the best start to a season since 1964, when AJ Foyt won 10 of 13 races.
“I cannot describe the amazing season we have had so far,” said Palou. “I owe everything to team, Chip Ganassi Racing, my teammates and everyone who is working behind the scenes to make me look so fast on track.”
Palou’s No. 10 DHL Honda beat Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward No. 5 Chevy by 5.4840-seconds.
“We’ve just got to keep working,” said O’Ward, when asked what the field needs to do to beat Palou. “We need to do something to stop this 10-car. These guys are really, really on a roll. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it, especially in IndyCar.”
Team Penske’s Will Power finished third in the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet with teammate Scott McLaughlin following behind in fourth.
“It was just a solid day,” explained Power, a two-time series Champion. “Didn’t pass a single car. Just spent the whole day sort of like in a good pit stop strategy and speed and sort of overcut there at the end. Got us a couple of positions.”
Palou’s teammate Scott Dixon came home fifth in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda after starting 16th.
Palou started on the pole position but was passed by Graham Rahal as the pair entered Turn 1 on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course.
Tire strategy played a big part in how the race played out as a new rule for this race forced teams to use two sets of the Firestone Primary black sidewall tires and two sets for the Firestone Alternate red sidewall tires. Palou started on used reds and Rahal started on new reds.
“We started on the used softer tires, the alternates,” said Barry Wanser, the team manger for the No. 10 car. “Graham started on the stickers, so he had a big advantage on us over the start, which he got us. Then we had to settle in and try to get as far as we could on the used.”
The first pit stop saw Palou switch to the Firestone Primary tires and Rahal put on a set of used reds. The softer tires allowed Rahal to keep the lead until Lap 58 when Rahal’s used reds began to wear out, allowing Palou to make the pass in Turn 7.
“We were fortunate enough to be really strong on the primary tires, get 23, 24 laps out of them,” explained Wanser. “That reduced the amount of laps we had to do on our sticker alternates for the end. That gave us a huge advantage.”
Another huge advantage is having a talent like Palou behind the wheel.
“Alex’s ability certainly to go fast, take care of the tires, and get the fuel number, you know, it’s second to none,” said Wanser.
Rahal had to close out the race on the black sidewall tire so despite leading a race-high 49-laps, the No. 15 Honda faded to sixth at the end as the front runners saved the quicker alternate tires for the last stint.
Palou and the No. 10 team lead the Championship standings by 97 points – nearly two races’ worth of points – over Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti Global.
Next up for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES is practice for the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge. Practice opens Tuesday eat Noon and continues the rest of the week leading up to qualifying weekend Saturday May 17 with the battle for the pole position on Sunday May 18.
INDIANAPOLIS, IN (July 2, 2026) – Six-time Series Champion Scott Dixon is leaving Chip Ganassi Racing following the conclusion of the 2026 NTT IndyCar Series Season the team announced in a statement Thursday before the series races at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Complex this weekend.
MADISON, IL (Sunday, June 7, 2026) – The king of World Wide Technology Raceway has returned to his throne.
Josef Newgarden won for the sixth time in 11 starts at the 1.25-mile oval just across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, enduring two rain delays during the race Sunday night to win a feverish, fascinating Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline. The victory was Newgarden’s second this season, as he also won in March at the 1-mile Phoenix Raceway oval.
SEE: Race Results
The two-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion has captured 15 of his 34 career victories on ovals shorter than 1.5 miles. This win came as he was still recovering from a lower leg injury suffered two weeks ago in the 110th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.
“Great job to the group,” Newgarden said. “Just a methodical night. We had a good car to start. It wasn’t perfect, but it really came to us just when we needed it. It was a track position day.”
Newgarden, who started eighth, drove his No. 2 Astemo Team Penske Chevrolet to victory by .6613 of a second over the No. 28 Delaware Life Honda of fellow Indianapolis 500 winner Marcus Ericsson, who still managed a season-best finish. Christian Rasmussen finished a season-best third in the No. 21 Splenda Chevrolet of ECR.
Rinus VeeKay continued the trend of season-best finishes by ending up fourth in the No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet, with Scott McLaughlin rounding out the top five in the No. 3 DEX Team Penske Chevrolet that featured a throwback livery honoring the 2009 Indianapolis 500-winning car driven by Helio Castroneves.
Newgarden took the lead for good on Lap 221 after a spirited duel with Rasmussen that began almost immediately after a restart on Lap 212. Rasmussen dove under Newgarden in Turn 1 for the lead on Lap 215, but Newgarden drove past Rasmussen in Turn 3 for the top spot on Lap 219.
One lap later, Rasmussen again drove under Newgarden for the lead in Turn 1, one of his race-high 38 on-track passes. But Newgarden countered again in Turn 3 one lap later for a lead he would not surrender. It was the most decisive of an event-record 268 passes for position in this frantic race.
Ericsson sped under Rasmussen for second in Turn 3 on Lap 225 and set his sights on Newgarden. But one lap later, a plume of smoke trailed from the No. 4 Combitrans Amazonia Chevrolet fielded by A.J. Foyt Enterprises for Caio Collet, who was enjoying the best race of his rookie season by leading seven laps and running consistently in the top five in the second half of the race.
That triggered the last of four caution periods, with another wrinkle to concern Newgarden and the lead pack. A host of trailing cars entered the pits for fresh Firestone Firehawk tires, while the top eight cars stayed out.
McLaughlin made a spirited charge toward the front on the restart on Lap 234, climbing from ninth to fifth in just four laps. But the Kiwi and the other cars that pitted for tires didn’t have enough traction from the fresher rubber or speed to challenge the top four down the stretch.
Meanwhile, Newgarden maintained a gap of around one-half of a second over Ericsson over the closing 10 laps and never was threatened.
“You’ve got to give a lot of credit to Marcus,” Newgarden said. “I thought he was incredibly strong. I don’t really think there was much between us, so it was a matter of who was going to get position on each other, and that was going to seal the deal. He drove a great race.”
Said Ericsson, seeking his first win since March 2023 at St. Petersburg: “I’m very proud of our performance, but at the same time it’s tough to lead that many laps … I thought we had it at some points, but Josef is the best in the business on these short ovals.”
Two red-flag periods totaling 50 minutes kept strategists’ heads spinning on the pit wall as various permutations and fuel options were considered.
Chip Ganassi Racing rolled the dice earlier in the race by calling NTT P1 Award winner Alex Palou and his teammate Scott Dixon to the pits to top off fuel as soon as the pits opened after the first red flag period, which lasted 38 minutes. The hope was to get enough caution to need one fewer fuel stop than rivals or be out front when a race-ending rain shower arrived.
But neither happened, and Palou paid the price dearly.
The four-time series champion entered the pits on Lap 203, two laps after Dixon had to enter a closed pit for emergency service as his No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda was running out of fuel. Palou’s No. 10 HRC Chip Ganassi Racing Honda sputtered when it entered the pit lane and ran out of fuel, and he was forced to coast to his pit box for a stop made even longer when his engine wouldn’t refire.
Palou’s car restarted, and he returned to the track to finish 17th. The two short oval races this season have been Palou’s Achilles’ heel. He finished 24th after contact in March at Phoenix, and that result and tonight’s disappointing showing are his only finishes outside of the top seven all season.
Reigning series champion Palou’s lead in the standings was trimmed to 49 points over Kyle Kirkwood, who finished sixth in the No. 27 Sam’s Club Honda of Andretti Global.
The next NTT INDYCAR SERIES race is the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America on Sunday, June 21 at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.
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).
Say it ain’t so Scott – Dixon leaving Chip Ganassi Racing
Macri Romps At Hagerstown
Dietz and Shultz Get Dramatic Wins at Port Royal
Macri and Pauch Get Grandview Glory
Dietz Doubles Down Speedweek Style; Adam Edkin Scores First Career Sportsman Win
Alex Palou wins fourth straight pole position at World Wide Technology Raceway
Rough day for Wright at Michigan
Denny Hamlin grabs the NASCAR Cup pole at Pocono Raceway
Heim holds off Honeycutt to win Truck race at Michigan
