By David Morgan, Associate Editor
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – It was the Alex Palou Show…again.
For the second year in a row, the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda led from the pole and was an unstoppable force over the course of Sunday’s Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park, leading 79 of 90 laps and winning by a margin of more than 13 seconds.
It was reminiscent of the shellacking he put on the field a year ago when he also won from pole in dominating fashion, though Palou would discount the dominance he showed on Sunday.
“Incredible day for the 10 DHL Honda car. I told you qualifying was one of the best cars, car balances I’ve ever drove,” said Palou.
“Today in the race, it was really good in the beginning, really good at the end, but we suffered for a little bit on the used blacks that we had to use. It was just a decision that we took on strategy.
“But yeah, incredible, incredible, another win here. Love this place, love the fans. It’s been a great day.”
The one driver that seemed to be in position to challenge Palou as the race wound down was runner-up finisher Christian Lundgaard, who charged from a 10th place start to lead 10 laps on the day before a pit road miscue on his final pit stop derailed his hopes of his first win since 2023.
“I feel like it would have been a very close battle, and maybe would have been a race that Lundgaard could have won,” Palou said. “If you look at the result and you don’t follow the race, the timings, maybe then you look like you were so much faster than everybody else. That was not the truth.
“We had an amazing car. We had an amazing race. But it was not easy. It was tough.”
After his issues on pit road, Lundgaard fell to third in the running order before climbing back into the runner-up spot over Graham Rahal in the waning laps.
“The pace we had and the way we were catching him, I think so,” Lundgaard said of his chances to challenge Palou had everything gone right for him on pit road.
“It’s unfortunate. I think there was a bobble on the pit stop, I don’t know if it was my fault or the car went down too fast. But at the end of the day, I wanted to go out there and re-pass Graham just to make up for that and make a statement too. We got it.
“The guys have done an amazing job and I don’t think that’s ever really happened. One in almost 100 starts, I think it’s OK.”
Rahal would round out the podium finishers for his first finish on the podium since a second-place result in the 2023 Indianapolis Motor Speedway Grand Prix.
“It was a great day for the Fifth Third Bank No. 15 and Honda did a great job today. Our guys, just all weekend, I felt like this was coming,” said Rahal. “Just got too loose, man, on the reds. The first set of primes felt great, but the last set of primes from the get go, the rears just never felt there.
“Trying to fend off Christian was quite hard and, in the end, he just got me. Dude, we’re pretty pleased with this, obviously, it feels good.”
David Malukas finished the day in fourth place, giving Rahal a run for his money late as he was heavy on the Push to Pass button, but couldn’t get past the veteran, settling for his second top-five finish in his maiden season with Team Penske.
The remainder of the top-10 went to Kyle Kirkwood, who hangs onto the points lead by two points over Palou, followed by Marcus Armstrong, Scott Dixon, Santino Ferrucci, Marcus Ericsson, and Josef Newgarden.
Next up for the NTT IndyCar Series will be a trip to Southern California for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, which will take place on April 19 (5:30 pm ET, FOX). Kirkwood is the defending winner.
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