By David Morgan, Associate Editor
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Alex Palou went full Darth Vader in Sunday’s Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park, destroying the NTT IndyCar Series field en route to his third win of the season in the first four races.
From the drop of the green flag, the driver of the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda was not to be deterred, leading all but nine laps on the day and crossing the line just over 16 seconds ahead of second-place driver Christian Lundgaard.
“It was the perfect day,” said Palou. “I would say a perfect weekend. First time we’re rocking that No. 10 HRC livery. Super proud of everybody that has been working on the 10 car at Chip Ganassi Racing and HRC as well.
“Honestly, it’s been just a perfect day. The car was amazing. Super-fast and I just had a ton of fun. I was a bit lonely there, but it was an amazing day.”
For Lundgaard, it’s a continuation of the strong start to his season in his first with Arrow McLaren, having finished in the top-10 in all four races thus far in 2025, including three straight podium finishes.
“I think the progression we made since the Sebring test earlier this year, it’s been moving forward and going in the right direction. The team has been doing an awesome job,” said Lundgaard.
“The pace in the car is there, and it’s just about execution. We didn’t really execute in qualifying yesterday, so we were frustrated and wanted to make up for it. We did today.”
Scott McLaughlin came up short of three Barber wins in a row as he rounded out the podium finishers.
“I think we were just third place today. Didn’t quite have the pace from the get-go really. From lap two I tried to push Alex. He just had a lot of speed,” said McLaughlin.
“Yeah, I just didn’t feel I had much grip. But the car was still okay. It was still pretty fast. Just wasn’t as quick as the front guys, front two.”
As the series heads back to Indianapolis, it is quickly becoming a runaway for Palou atop the standings as he now carries a 60-point lead over Lundgaard into the Month of May.
“When the guy’s on top of his game, you just can do the best you can in that regard,” said McLaughlin of trying to challenge Palou’s dominance.
“I feel like week in, week out we can challenge him, but if he keeps executing, all we can do is execute as well. Props to his team. But it’s a long season and it’s way too early to be worrying about points. We’ve just got to keep being there and if we’re there, we’ll be OK.”
Rinus VeeKay finished just off the podium in fourth, delivering on his sixth-place start to bring Dale Coyne Racing its best finish since David Malukas finished fourth at Texas in 2023. The finish is also the best for VeeKay since the first race of the Iowa doubleheader in 2022.
“It was a great race. I had a lot of fun out there. Showed a lot of strength in a car that was really allowing me to be strong,” said VeeKay.
Will Power equaled his best finish of the season with a fifth-place showing, followed by Pato O’Ward, Colton Herta, Alexander Rossi, Nolan Siegel, and Josef Newgarden.
After a tough outing in qualifying, Scott Dixon made the most of his day charging from 26th at the start of the race to finish in 12th.
“It was definitely frustrating starting back in 26th. I think when you’ve got a field that is so strong right now, to pass 14 cars is really, really tough,” said Dixon. “We would have loved a caution at some point. Kudos obviously to Palou for getting another one. Three out of the first four races is pretty epic. Huge for the team.”
Next up for the NTT IndyCar Series will be the Sonsio Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, followed up by the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500.
Be the first to comment