The overcut came during the second pit stop sequence, and Alex Palou found himself up by nearly a whole straight away, well ahead of Marcus Ericsson and Scott McLaughlin, who led most of the first half of the race. Palou never looked back. The defending champion picked right up where he left off with the 20th win of his career. Palou was just unstoppable and was nearly a second faster nearly every lap. He came across the finish line nearly 13 seconds ahead. He led for 59 laps. Alex Palou was just dominating. From top to bottom. “We’re back,” Palou shouted into his radio as he crossed the finish line. No, Alex. The four-time champ never left. The Spaniard who dominated last season continues to befuddle his opponents with just masterclasses in racing. Also finishing on the podium in second place was pole sitter Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin and in third place, Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard.
The race started off with a crash as Sting Ray Robb came too hard into turn three and crashed into the wall, leaving no room for Santino Ferrucci and rookie Mick Schumacher, ending both of their days. Robb was able to continue, but he suffered a drive-through penalty. Will Power scraped a wall, sending him in for repairs. He was able to come back out and race, but was down several more laps before officially having to prematurely end his race. Scott Dixon lost a wheel nut, which sent his rear wheel flying and ended his day.
On the last sequence of pit stops, and with a 14-second lead, Palou pitted with a 14-second lead as Ericsson, Marcus Armstrong, Pato O’Ward, and McLaughlin battled for position. Kyle Kirkwood was able to sneak past McLaughlin in a move reminiscent of a pass that DIDN’T happen back in 2023 near the last lap for Scottie Mac and Romain Grosjean that cost them both the race and led to a win by Marcus Ericsson, who snuck by both of them. Kirkwood this time was able to get by him, although the initial speculation was that there was a puncture. A rough pitstop dropped Marcus Ericsson down to sixth place.
With 7 laps to go McLaughlin was able to get around Kyle Kirkwood for 2nd place. Christian Lundgaard was also able to get around Kyle Kirkwood. McLaughlin and Lundgaard battled neck and neck the last 3 laps with
A great day for Dale Coyne Racing as Romain Grosjean (started 6th) and Rookie Dennis Hauger (started 3rd) finished 8th and 10th. Josef Newgarden was the biggest mover, moving from 23rd to 7th. Hauger was the best rookie with that 10th place finish. O’Ward ran over a hose in the pit lane, which historically has been a penalty, but a recent rule change only makes it a penalty when it impedes another person or another team, and this incident was NOT deemed a penalty.
This win was Alex Palou’s 20th win in 99 races. The next race is on March 7th at Phoenix at 3 PM ET on Fox. It’s the first time that IndyCar has been at Phoenix since 2018, when Josef Newgarden won.
Unofficial results:
Finish Order Car # Started
1. Alex Palou #10 4
2. Scott McLaughlin #3 1
3. Christian Lundgaard #7 12
4. Kyle Kirkwood #27 15
5. Pato O’Ward #5 8
6. Marcus Ericsson #28 2
7. Josef Newgarden #2 23
8. Romain Grosjean #18 6
9. Rinus Veekay #76 19
10. Dennis Hauger (R) #19 3
11. Marcus Armstrong # 66 7
12. Felix Rosenqvist #60 11
13. David Malukas #12 5
14. Louis Foster #45 9
15. Kyffin Simpson #8 10
16. Alex Rossi #20 25
17. Caio Collet #4 24
18. Graham Rahal #15 18
19. Christian Rasmussen #21 14
20. Nolan Siegel #6 22
21. Sting Ray Robb #77 20
22. Will Power #26 13
23. Scott Dixon #9 16
24. Santino Ferrucci #14 17
25. Mick Schumacher #47 21
Image Credit: Penske Entertainment/ James Black
