IndyCar
Palou Reaches Sweet Six After Strategic Win at Hot Road America
By INDYCAR Communications:
ELKHART LAKE, WI. (June 22, 2025) – After 55 laps of ferocious, frantic uncertainty, about the only certain thing in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES happened again Sunday at Road America – Alex Palou and his Chip Ganassi Racing crew standing in victory lane.
Palou stretched the available fuel in his No. 10 SOLO Cup Chip Ganassi Racing Honda at the end to earn his sixth victory in nine starts this season in the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America Presented by AMR, becoming the first INDYCAR SERIES driver to take the checkered flag at least six times in a season since Will Power in 2011.
“It was a crazy race,” Palou said. “There were moments I thought we were losing a ton of positions. It was a tough race for everybody. Kudos to the team for the amazing strategy and Honda for giving us the fuel mileage we needed at the end to make it.”
Three-time series champion Palou expanded his lead to 93 points over Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood with the victory in a race of varying fuel and tire strategies as the season passed its halfway point, with eight races remaining on the 17-race schedule.
Felix Rosenqvist was unshackled from a fuel-saving strategy over the closing laps in the No. 60 SiriusXM Honda of Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian but fell 2.1725 seconds short to finish second. Santino Ferrucci had just enough Shell 100% Renewable Race Fuel to hang on to third in the No. 14 Sexton Properties/AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet, his fourth straight top-five finish this season.
Kirkwood, winner of the last two races entering this event, stayed almost as hot as the air temperatures in the mid-90s by finishing fourth in the No. 27 Siemens Honda of Andretti Global. Marcus Armstrong recorded a season-best result of fifth in the No. 66 SiriusXM/Root Insurance Honda, as Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian placed both its cars in the top five.
There were a race-record nine leaders today, with Palou taking the top spot for good on Lap 53 of the 55-lap race when teammate and leader Scott Dixon couldn’t pull off another miraculous fuel save and was forced to pit in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
Dixon previously had pitted at the end of Lap 38, with about 15 laps maximum between stops unless there was a caution period to reduce speeds and save fuel. Dixon’s gamble didn’t pay off, as there were no cautions in the last 24 laps despite yellow flags flying five times in the first 30 laps.
Two-time reigning series champion Palou made his final stop at the end of Lap 40. Those two fewer laps on his final tank of fuel than Dixon – and saving fuel by running second in leader Dixon’s aerodynamic draft – proved pivotal in Palou making it to the finish with authority.
Rosenqvist made his final stop at the end of Lap 42 and pushed at his maximum toward leaders Dixon, Palou and Alexander Rossi in the No. 20 ECR Java House Chevrolet. Rossi, sipping fuel like Dixon, also was forced to stop at the end of Lap 51, creating more clean air and open space for Rosenqvist to charge.
But Rosenqvist – who showed his speed by leading the morning warmup – was nearly four seconds back when Rossi pitted. Rosenqvist turned the quickest lap of the race on the final trip around the 14-turn, 4.014-mile circuit, but it wasn’t enough to trim the margin and challenge Palou at the front.
“It was going back and forth there, comers and goers through the race,” Rosenqvist said. “We had great speed, had really good pace. We’ve had bad luck the last few races, haven’t really had a good go. Good comeback now. It’s been a while since I’ve been on the podium.”
It was Rosenqvist’s first podium finish in a points-paying race since finishing second in September 2023 at Portland International Raceway.
NTT P1 Award winner Louis Foster finished 11th to tie his career best set in May in the Sonsio Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
The spate of caution periods in the first half of the race led to divergent strategies up and down the pit lane. It also bred intense competition on a scorching day in central Wisconsin. There were 348 on-track passes (including 345 for position), 96 passes in the top 10 and 29 passes in the top five – all those numbers second all-time among INDYCAR SERIES races at this beloved facility.
Palou’s win also continued a historic duopoly this season in the series. Palou (six wins) and Kirkwood (three wins) are the only victorious drivers in 2025, and the last time two drivers so dominated the first half of an INDYCAR SERIES season came in 1980, when Bobby Unser and Johnny Rutherford were the only winners through nine races.
Honda also stayed perfect, as its engines have powered all nine race winners this season.
The next race is The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the all-new 2026 Passport on Sunday, July 6 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio.
LEBANON, TN (July 18, 2026) – Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood is sitting atop the speed chart after the first NTT IndyCar Series practice at Nashville Superspeedway.
Kirkwood’s No. 27 Sam’s Club Honda turned a fast lap of 23.7447 (197.097 mph) around the 1.33 mile oval to best Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou, who turned a fast lap of 23.7605 (196.996) in the No. 10 DHL Honda.
Team Penske’s David Malukas was third quick with a 23.8362 (196.340) in the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet. Malukas’ car however got loose in Turn 2 and slammed backwards into the wall.
Malukas exited the vehicle under his own power and walked to the AMR Safety Vehicle. Malukas was taken to the infield care center. NTT IndyCar Series officials issued an update a short time later saying he was being taken to a local hospital by private vehicle for further testing. He has not been cleared to return to the cockpit at this point.
Malukas was also assessed a nine-place grid penalty for an unapproved engine change entering this weekend.
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon rounded out the Top 10 with a quick time of 23.9932 (195.055) in the No. PNC Bank Honda. Palou and Dixon’s CGR teammate Kyffin Simpson was 20th at 193.346.
Qualifying takes place at 3:00 p.m. on Fox and the IndyCar Radio Network.
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.
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