Alex Palou loses lead, storms back for resounding win on IMS road course to kick off May
INDIANAPOLIS – It wasn’t his 16.8-second thumping of the field from a year ago that sparked a five-race run that included four victories and an Indianapolis 500 pole, but Alex Palou looked no less unstoppable in Saturday’s Sonsio Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
After a late-race restart with 17 laps to go, the Chip Ganassi Racing driver drove away from the field for a 6.6-second pad by the checkered flag, securing his first points-paying victory of 2024 and second overall race-win (including the $1 Million Challenge) to take a 12-point lead in the championship as part of his early title defense.
Here’s how he did it.
Palou loses lead on Lap 1, doesn't panic
Palou’s race-winning move, in essence, came off the racing surface in his second of three pitstops on the day. Just short of the halfway point, Saturday’s polesitter was running in 3rd-place behind the pair of drivers who started just behind him as the green flag fell Saturday afternoon.
Christian Lundgaard, who qualified 2nd and snatched the lead from Palou three turns into the 85-lap race Saturday, held a 1.4-second cushion on Will Power (who started 3rd) by Lap 36 as the leaders began thinking about making their second stops. As the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver crept up onto nearly-lapped traffic, Palou’s gap to the front sat at 3.4 seconds.
With Lundgaard slowed as he navigated slower cars in front, Power’s deficit dipped to just a half-second. His stand-in strategist and full-time race engineer David Faustino gave Power a last-minute call into the pits on Lap 39, in hopes of being able to find clean air on his out lap and eventually jump Lundgaard in the pit sequence.
Lundgaard dove in the following lap, but not without giving up more of his advantage to Palou first. The Ganassi driver followed suit and pitted the lap after Lundgaard (Lap 41). The RLL driver maintained his advantage on Power on the pair’s blend on-track coming out of Turn 1, with the help of Marcus Ericsson running just ahead of Power to give Lundgaard a buffer.
Palou then popped out ahead of them both after his stop to take the lead of the race back after losing it on Lap 1 from pole.
Palou survives late-race restart
Lundgaard and Power both keyed off the front-running Palou for their final pitstops, diving in just as the Ganassi driver did at the end of Lap 62 facing five-plus second deficits to the No. 10 Honda. Power managed to leapfrog Lundgaard in the pits to eventually secure 2nd-place.
“We took what was available to us today, but you do get sick of (not winning),” said Power, who failed to pick up a win for the first time in well over a decade in 2023. “I’m racing very tough people, and if you aren’t exactly perfect, you won’t win. I wasn’t exactly perfect in qualifying, and we didn’t win.
“But I’m driving really well, and my crew is the best on pitlane. Every time we stop, we have a chance to jump someone, and that’s what happened to get us 2nd.”
And then, a potential saving grace nearly came for both he and Lundgaard.
With 20 laps to go, Dale Coyne Racing’s Luca Ghiotto stalled just off-track, forcing the race’s only full-course caution.
With 17 laps to go, though, any hope of Power and Lundgaard making a move on the eventual race-winner was erased. One lap after the green flag restart, Palou had already built a 1.1-second lead on Power, one that would only grow from there.
“I made a mistake on that start and lost that lead we fought so hard for in qualifying, but everyone on the crew did an amazing job in the pits to give me the lead back, and then we held onto it,” Palou said on Peacock post-race. “That’s an amazing win to repeat back-to-back after last year, and we’re going to try and continue this May.
His focus, though, shifts quickly to Indy 500 practice that starts Tuesday.
“This afternoon,” he said of his attention shift. “As soon as we get some champagne.”
Though he admitted the No. 45 Honda crew in general lacked what it would’ve taken to battle for Saturday’s win, Lundgaard came away frustrated in yet another race that had him fighting near the front that included costly time lost on pitlane.
“We needed a lot today. I think we did everything we could on the first two stints to make sure we had a shot,” he said. “But we struggled a bit (on pitlane) when we’re head-to-head (like he was with Power on the final stop). But at the same time, I don’t want to overstep too much. It was a good day for the team, and we need to be proud of our first podium in May.”
Herta puts together 'Driver of the Day' performance
The drive of the day went to Colton Herta, who made up 17 spots by the checkered flag after his No. 26 Andretti Global team failed him during Friday’s qualifying session. For Round 1, his crew didn’t manage to get enough fuel in the tank for Herta to run two full flying laps on the red alternate tires at the end. Midway through that second lap, Herta, who held the points lead coming into Saturday’s race, slowed rapidly.
Herta eventually stopped in a runoff and was hilariously picked up by good friend Conor Daly in the 500-only driver’s golf cart and driven back to pitlane.
Starting 24th, things initially went from bad to worse on Lap 1, when Herta got into the side of his teammate after having started just ahead in 21st. The wheel-to-wheel contact nearly jostled the wheel loose from Herta’s hands, as he slid into the sand-filled runoff and drifted toward the back.
With astute strategy calls from Rob Edwards on his timing stand and relatively smooth stops on pitlane, Herta fought his way back to 7th by the checkered flag. Though he only fell back to 3rd in the championship as the series’ focus shifts to the 500, the young Andretti driver had some choice words for his teammate – noting they would share more privately soon.
“Your teammate is leading the championship, and you race him like an (expletive) like that?” Herta said on Peacock. “I don’t know what you’re thinking. You’ve got to be smarter than that, man. So dumb.
“I’ll let him know what I think.”
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Alex Palou fends off Power, Lundgaard to defend IMS road course win
