Palou steals Road America win in dramatic finish

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou scored his second win of the IndyCar Series in a dramatic end to Round 9 at Road America.

Team Penske pilot Josef Newgarden was dominant in the 55-lap affair, but fell short of his first win this season after a mechanical gremlin snuck in with just two laps to go.

It marked the second race in a row that the two-time series winner came up shy of the win, McLaren SP driver Pato O’Ward denying him a win last time out in Detroit.

“Yeah, it was amazing, we had a really good car during the race,” said Palou.

“I’m super happy, super proud of the Chip Ganassi Racing team. I can’t believe it.”

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Newgarden got the holeshot into Turn 1 from pole position with Jack Harvey (Meyer Shank Racing) getting a quick getaway from third to steal second.

Newgarden led the first lap with Harvey, Colton Herta (Andretti Autosport), Palou, Will Power (Team Penske), Romain Grosjean (Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing) Andretti Autosport duo Ryan Hunter-Reay and Alexander Rossi, Pato O’Ward (McLaren SP), and Simon Pagenaud (Team Penske) the top 10.

There was a hair raising moment for IndyCar Series debutant Kevin Magnussen early on as he bowled a wide at the penultimate corner, his McLaren SP entry going for a wild ride across the grass.

Having lost out to Palou on Lap 5, Herta ceded another position to Grosjean come Lap 11 as he struggled for speed on the soft compound tyre.

Pit stops began on Lap 11 as Power led Grosjean, Herta, O’Ward, Pagenaud, Oliver Askew (Ed Carpenter Racing), and Max Chilton (Carlin) to the lane.

Power made quick work of Harvey after his pit stop, passing the Brit who had only just returned to the race on cold tyres.

Come Lap 13, Newgarden pitted from the lead with a sizeable lead.

Dixon finally pitted from Lap 15 after going the longest of anyone.

With the first round of pit stops completed it was Newgarden from Palou, Power, Harvey, Herta, Grosjean, Hunter-Reay, O’Ward, Rossi, and Ed Jones (Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser Sullivan).

Shortly thereafter, the first Safety Car was bought out after Chip Ganassi Racing’s Jimmie Johnson got wide out of Turn 7 and spun.

A high-speed spin into the infield resulted in light contact with the inside wall. With his car stalled, the race was neutralised to recover his car.

Racing resumed on Lap 19 with Newgarden heading the field.

Down in 16th, Scott McLaughlin (Team Penske) was engaged in a fierce fight with Conor Daly (Ed Carpenter Racing). The pair slid their way through Turn 5, the Kiwi holding sway on Lap 21.

The second Safety Car intervention came on Lap 23 when Marcus Ericsson, another of the Chip Ganassi Racing entries, spun at Turn 3.

At that time, it was still Newgarden who led Palou, Power, Harvey, and Grosjean while Herta had team-mates Rossi and Hunter-Reay in tow. O’Ward and Jones completed the 10.

Newgarden came to the pits followed by the lion’s share of the field. Magnussen and Sato opted to stay out, dropping Newgarden to third.

It was a frenetic period after the restart that saw Newgarden fight hard to keep Palou at bay for the effective lead of the race.

Meanwhile, Magnussen was struggling out in front, making a few mistakes that allowed Sato to take top spot come Lap 31.

Soon enough, Magnussen came to the pit lane for his second and final pit stop. Sato followed suit a few laps later.

Magnussen then pulled off to the side of the road on Lap 34, the Dane reporting a loss of power.

That brought out another Safety Car intermission.

Harvey effectively took himself out of contention when he pitted under the yellow flag, being the only drive inside the top 10 to do so.

Shortly after the race restarted, Dixon pitted on Lap 39 with race leader Newgarden coming in a lap later.

While Askew went long, Newgarden had the effective lead of the race after the pit stops with Palou behind him. Herta sat five seconds back from that pair with Power in his mirrors.

Dixon was the big benefactor of the pit stop sequence, the undercut launching him from ninth to fifth.

Yet another Safety Car came out with four laps to go after a left rear issue for Jones resulted in the Ed Carpenter Racing driver spinning and stalling.

That set up a two-lap dash to the chequered flag.

Newgarden stretched his legs as the field came to green, but his race soon came undone as the car popped and spluttered across the start/finish line.

With a massive run up to Turn 1, Palou blew around the outside to take the lead.

It soon emerged Newgarden had a problem as he began haemorrhaging positions hand over fist.

By the chequered flag, Newgarden had fallen from first to 21st. Meanwhile, Palou eased to the win with Herta second and Power third.

Dixon was an impressive fourth on a day of damage limitation while Grosjean, Ericsson, Rossi, Sato, O’Ward, and Chilton completed the top 10.

It was a quiet day for McLaughlin in 14th.

Palou’s win takes him to the top of the drivers’ points, dropping O’Ward to second while Dixon still maintains third.

The IndyCar Series returns on July 4 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

Results: REV Group Grand Prix, Road America

Pos	Num	Name	Laps	Diff	Gap	Engine	Team
1	10	Alex Palou	55			Honda	Chip Ganassi Racing
2	26	Colton Herta	55	1.9106	1.9106	Honda	Andretti Autosport
3	12	Will Power	55	2.9853	1.0747	Chevy	Team Penske
4	9	Scott Dixon	55	3.9048	0.9195	Honda	Chip Ganassi Racing
5	51	Romain Grosjean	55	4.7136	0.8088	Honda	Dale Coyne Racing w/Rick Ware Racing
6	8	Marcus Ericsson	55	5.1806	0.467	Honda	Chip Ganassi Racing
7	27	Alexander Rossi	55	7.7219	2.5413	Honda	Andretti Autosport
8	30	Takuma Sato	55	7.9145	0.1926	Honda	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
9	5	Pato O’Ward	55	9.0243	1.1098	Chevy	Arrow McLaren SP
10	59	Max Chilton	55	9.3733	0.349	Chevy	Carlin
11	15	Graham Rahal	55	9.8027	0.4294	Honda	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
12	21	Oliver Askew	55	11.3019	1.4992	Chevy	Ed Carpenter Racing
13	28	Ryan Hunter-Reay	55	11.9378	0.6359	Honda	Andretti Autosport
14	3	Scott McLaughlin	55	12.1930	0.2552	Chevy	Team Penske
15	29	James Hinchcliffe	55	13.9479	1.7549	Honda	Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport
16	14	Sebastien Bourdais	55	14.1169	0.1690	Chevy	AJ Foyt Enterprises
17	60	Jack Harvey	55	15.5945	1.4776	Honda	Meyer Shank Racing
18	22	Simon Pagenaud	55	16.4614	0.8669	Chevy	Team Penske
19	52	Cody Ware	55	16.9933	0.5319	Honda	Dale Coyne Racing w/Rick Ware Racing
20	20	Conor Daly	55	17.5558	0.5625	Chevy	Ed Carpenter Racing
21	2	Josef Newgarden	55	90.7894	73.2336	Chevy	Team Penske
22	48	Jimmie Johnson	54	1 lap	91.8143	Honda	Chip Ganassi Racing
23	18	Ed Jones	50			Honda	Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser Sullivan
24	7	Kevin Magnussen	33			Chevy	Arrow McLaren SP
25	4	Dalton Kellett	19			Chevy	AJ Foyt Enterprises