Alex Palou wins frantic, fuel-saving IndyCar battle at Road America
It was a hot, chaotic weekend for the NTT IndyCar Series field in a challenging trip to Road America.
That did little to stop Alex Palou and the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing team from returning to form.
Palou kept his No. 10 Honda clean as drivers around him found trouble and managed fuel in a strategy-filled conclusion to claim Sunday's XPEL Grand Prix. It was the Spaniard's sixth win, bringing the championship dominator back to the front of the field after two atypical results at Detroit and World Wide Technology Raceway.
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'It was a crazy race for us,' Palou admitted. 'At moments I thought we were losing a ton of positions, then we were making (spots). It was a tough race for everybody.
'Kudos to the team for the amazing strategy. And Honda, man. HRC. Being able to give us the fuel mileage we needed to make it.'
As the race unfolded…
Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global
Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global
Don't let the result fool you: Palou was rarely up front in Sunday's race. He qualified second but was sent outside of the top-five after bold three-wide moves from the drivers around him. When he passed Will Power back on the ensuing restart, Power paid him back in the next corner.
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Hit with that early setback, Palou steadily marched forward. When Power and Kyle Kirkwood got into a pair of intense run-ins, Palou used the occasion to sneak past them. When Josef Newgarden was too late on the brakes and went wide under teammate Scott McLaughlin in turn 5, Palou snuck past him and used the slowdown to catch and pass McLaughlin a few corners later.
Timing also played a role. Christian Lundgaard looked poised to take his first win on the year, but a timely caution for a crashed Newgarden with 25 to go came after Lundgaard and others had pitted, allowing Palou and others to stretch fuel into the window needed to make it to the end on one more stop.
Even then, Palou didn't hold the front spot. Teammate Scott Dixon took over the lead and paced Palou into the closing laps. But the Kiwi had to pit with 17 to go and needed another caution if he hoped to make it to the end. That caution never flew, forcing Dixon to pit with two to go.
From there it was all Palou. The three-time IndyCar champion took the checkered flag 2.1725s clear of Felix Rosenqvist to return to his winning ways.
Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank Racing
Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank Racing
Rosenqvist's runner-up result was his best finish since 2023. Santino Ferrucci followed in third, giving A.J. Foyt Racing another feel-good podium. Ferrucci rightfully celebrated with a Miller Lite tossed his way by a fan after he stopped by turn 1, his car out of fuel.
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Kirkwood and Marcus Armstrong capped off the top five, with Kyffin Simpson, David Malukas, Nolan Siegel, Dixon and Rinus VeeKay completing the top-10.
It was an action-packed day from the opening corners at America's National Park of Speed. Three cautions flew in the opening 10 laps, including a yellow just two corners into the race when David Malukas was late on the brakes and ran into Christian Lundgaard in a top-five battle on the race start, sending Malukas spinning into the gravel trap.
The race got back underway three laps later, with fierce battles for position throughout the field. But the caution flew again for a Robert Shwartzman crash in Canada Corner before the end of the lap. It took until lap 8 for the field to complete a full lap, and the yellow flag was displayed again just two laps later when Sting Ray Robb nearly crashed into a braking Marcus Armstrong and slammed into the concrete barrier on driver's right before sliding into the tire barrier.
Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing
Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing
More chaos followed in the mid-section of the event. Conor Daly wound out sliding into the barrier after a similar late braking mistake into turn 5. Power spun in Canada Corner with 28 to go. Newgarden did the same at the exit of the final corner to bring out the final caution on lap 30. Lundgaard wound up going for a spin after catching a bump in a runoff area while battling Colton Herta.
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Given all the incidents, there was a real chance that Dixon would catch the caution he needed in the closing stretch. But in the end, it never came. Instead IndyCar's status quo returned. Palou marched back to victory lane, continued Honda's undefeated streak and stretched the number of races he and Kirkwood have combined to sweep to nine events.
The IndyCar field will return to action on July 6 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
To read more Motorsport.com articles visit our website.
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Position: Running BackSchool: LSUClass: SophomoreLast season: 140 carries for 753 yards and 6 TDs in 335 snaps Based on team statistics alone, the fact that LSU finished the 2024 season ranked 107th nationally in rushing yards per game (116.4) would seem to suggest the Tigers lacked an explosive lead back to pair with the passing exploits of quarterback Garrett Nussmeier. But the production that Durham put forth as both a runner and a receiving threat during his true freshman campaign has created plenty of excitement for a program with legitimate national championship aspirations this fall. Durham, who starred at Duncanville High School in the Dallas suburbs, was a four-star prospect and the No. 5 tailback in the country behind Taylor Tatum (Oklahoma), Nate Frazier (Georgia), Kevin Riley (Alabama) and Jordan Marshall (Michigan). He committed to the Tigers over strong recruiting interest from Oklahoma, where his mother ran track for the Sooners, and Texas A&M. 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Position: Wide ReceiverSchool: WashingtonClass: Redshirt juniorLast season: 63 catches for 834 yards and nine TDs in 767 snaps During Boston's freshman year at Washington in 2022, which happened to be the debut season for aerially inclined head coach Kalen DeBoer, the Huskies led the nation in passing at 369.8 yards per game. During Boston's sophomore year in 2023, which ended with a trip to the national championship game, Washington finished second in the country in passing at 343.7 yards per game as quarterback Michael Penix Jr. became a Heisman Trophy finalist after throwing for 4,903 yards and 36 touchdowns. But despite the gaudy numbers his team was producing across those record-setting campaigns, Boston, a former three-star recruit, only caught seven passes for 66 yards combined. The reason? A host of NFL draft picks ahead of him on the wide receiver depth chart: Rome Odunze went No. 9 overall to the Chicago Bears, Ja'Lynn Polk went No. 37 overall to the New England Patriots and Jalen McMillan went No. 92 overall to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the spring of 2024. The deck finally cleared last fall under first-year head coach Jedd Fisch, formerly of Arizona, and Boston responded by leading the Huskies in receiving yards and receiving touchdowns during the regular season. He was particularly effective over the first half of the year, with all nine of his touchdowns coming on or before Oct. 12 and both of his 100-yard games coming in late September against Big Ten opponents: seven catches for 121 yards and two scores against Northwestern; six catches for 125 yards and two touchdowns against Rutgers the following week. He went on to set a new career high with nine receptions for 99 yards in a 26-21 win over USC in early November. Part of what makes Boston's outlook in 2025 so exciting is the transition at quarterback from former Mississippi State transfer Will Rogers, who was benched before the end of last season, to pulsating sophomore Demond Williams Jr., a true dual-threat prospect. Williams made the first start of his career in a blowout loss to Oregon in the regular-season finale before electrifying the fan base by throwing for 374 yards and four touchdowns in a one-point loss to Louisville in the Sun Bowl. Moving forward, Williams and Boston could form one of the more exciting tandems in the Big Ten this fall. Position: Tight EndSchool: Penn StateClass: SophomoreLast season: Nine catches for 111 yards and one TD in 267 snaps More than any other offensive player on this list, Reynolds' inclusion is rooted almost exclusively in projection and anecdotal evidence rather than on-field production given his limited role last fall. The ubiquitous presence of All-American tight end Tyler Warren, who caught 104 passes for 1,233 yards and eight touchdowns to lead Penn State in all three categories, not to mention his 26 carries for 218 yards and four rushing scores as a wildcat quarterback, meant that additional opportunities for Reynolds and position mate Khalil Dinkins (14 catches, 122 yards, 2 TDs) were difficult to find last fall. Though Reynolds appeared in all 16 games as the Nittany Lions reached the College Football Playoff semifinals, he only caught passes in five of them and, at one point, went more than a month between receptions from Sept. 28 against then-No. 19 Illinois to Nov. 16 against Purdue, when he hauled in his only touchdown. Most of his contributions while averaging 16.7 snaps per game came as a run blocker for an offense that led the Big Ten in rushing and ranked 17th in that category. But Reynolds arrived at Penn State with quite the pedigree after earning a five-star ranking from 247Sports and finishing as the top player at his position in the 2024 cycle. His stock began to soar the previous summer, in 2023, when Reynolds traveled to California for the Elite 11 Finals, where he had the chance to catch passes from some of the best quarterbacks in the country. He had barely cracked the top 1,000 prospects in the country when that competition began but would end the summer in the top 50 nationally — a meteoric rise given the time span. Originally a high school quarterback himself, Reynolds had decided to make a full-time transition to tight end ahead of his senior season at Cheshire Academy in Connecticut. He went on to catch 48 passes for 754 yards and eight touchdowns while flashing the kind of speed and overall athleticism generally reserved for wide receivers. 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That the Buckeyes went on to have 15 players selected in the 2025 NFL Draft, including seven in the first two rounds alone, offered even more proof of how skilled the team's nucleus really was. No position group housed more future pros than the defensive line, which saw all four starters drafted: Tyleik Williams at No. 28 overall, JT Tuimoloau at No. 45 overall, Jack Sawyer at No. 123 overall and Ty Hamilton at No. 148 overall. Their collective stranglehold on available snaps last season is why most college football fans probably aren't familiar with Houston. But those in and around the Ohio State program believe Houston, a former five-star prospect and the No. 26 overall player in the 2024 recruiting cycle, might be the program's next great defensive lineman. 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Position: EdgeSchool: South CarolinaClass: SophomoreLast season: 23 tackles (including 11 for loss and 6.5 sacks), 51 QB pressures, three forced fumbles and two fumbles recovered in 538 snaps For South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer, who took over the program ahead of the 2021 campaign, his first few years with the Gamecocks represented something of a contradiction between on-field results and off-field recruiting. When it came to the former, Beamer put forth a modest 20-18 overall record during his initial three seasons, none of which included a winning record in the SEC. But in terms of the latter, Beamer has orchestrated an incredible jolt that elevated South Carolina from the 80th-best class in 2021 to three consecutive classes ranked among the top 25 in the country. No recruit personifies those efforts more than Stewart, a five-star prospect and the No. 15 overall player in the 2024 cycle. 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The only FBS freshmen with more sacks were Texas' Colin Simmons (nine) and UTEP's Kyran Duhon (seven), though Stewart eclipsed both in total pressures. There's little question that he'll be among the most productive, and most feared, pass rushers in the country this fall. Position: SafetySchool: Notre DameClass: Redshirt sophomoreLast season: 59 tackles, five passes defended, three INTs (including one returned for a TD) in 768 snaps Even though Notre Dame ran into the offensive buzz saw that was Ohio State during last year's national championship game, surrendering more than 30 points for just the second time all season, there's no denying how dominant the Fighting Irish's defense was across an otherwise remarkable campaign. Under the direction of defensive coordinator Al Golden, who has since been poached by the Cincinnati Bengals for the same position, Notre Dame finished 11th in total defense (307.4 yards per game), tied for fourth in scoring defense (15.5 points per game) and fourth in passing defense (169.4 yards per game). The driving force behind such dominance was an exceptional secondary that consisted of cornerbacks Christian Gray, Leonard Moore and Jordan Clark along with safeties Xavier Watts and Shuler, a first-year starter and former four-star prospect in the 2023 cycle. With Watts and Clark now gone to the NFL — the former was a third-round pick by the Atlanta Falcons; the latter signed with the New York Jets as an undrafted free agent — Shuler is expected to be a leading figure for new defensive coordinator Chris Ash, who previously served as the head coach at Rutgers from 2016-19 before spending the last few years in the pros. Shuler logged the third-most snaps (768) of any defender last season, behind Watts (970) and Gray (796), and he finished fourth on the team in tackles with 59. He also tied for second on the Fighting Irish with three interceptions, one of which he returned for a 36-yard touchdown in a win over Georgia Tech. His missed tackle rate of 20.9% will need improvement between now and Notre Dame's high-profile season-opener against Miami (Fla.) on Aug. 31, especially without the All-American Watts alongside him, but Shuler should be the anchor for a secondary that still expects to be among the best in the country for 2025. Position: Punt ReturnerSchool: ArkansasClass: Redshirt sophomoreLast season: 20.6 yards per punt return, two punt return touchdowns; 62 receptions for 656 yards and six TDs in 431 snaps from scrimmage Special teams additions don't often receive much publicity in a transfer portal era dominated by high-priced quarterbacks and skill players, but Shanks deserves some recognition here. Shanks led the nation in punt return average (20.6 yards per attempt) and tied for the national lead in punt return touchdowns (two) in 2024 while also starring as an undersized wide receiver at UAB. He led the Blazers with 62 receptions for 656 yards and six touchdowns to earn third-team All-AAC honors on offense in addition to his first-team All-AAC recognition as a returner. There's a good chance he'll flip the field a time or two for Arkansas this fall. Michael Cohen covers college football and college basketball for FOX Sports. Follow him at @Michael_Cohen13. Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily.
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