Defending NTT IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou for Chip Ganassi Racing scored his second win of the season. He dominated the ‘Children’s of Alabama Grand Prix’ at Barber Motorsports Park by 11 seconds over the No.7 of Christian Lundgaard for Arrow McLaren.
Not only does it mark Palou’s third win overall at the circuit, but it’s his 10th victory in the last 21 races. An even wilder stat? This means that 48% of the 28-year-old’s starts have resulted in him going to victory lane.
“In qualifying, it was one of the best cars I’ve ever had,” Palou said post-race. “Incredible, love this place, love the fans, just another great day.”
The 90-lap race would begin with the the four-time series champion on the pole. In Palou fashion, the N0.10 DHL Honda would be red-hot, leading 79 of those laps.
In the midst of the dominance, other drivers were making moves for position to get near the podium. One unique name was the No.15 of Graham Rahal of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL), who would make daring moves throughout the complexity of the race to earn himself a podium finish in third.
The race also was one without any major incidents, aside from the scary Scott McLaughlin crash on Saturday, the only spin came at lap 35, where the No.76 of Rinus Veekay of Juncos Hollinger Racing was turned sideways, but the field would stay green.
Less than 25 laps remaining was when the battle for the win was starting to heat up, with Lundgaard displaying some of the fastest lap times of the race and would head to pit lane for his final stop, but a slow stop due to the right rear tire not getting installed would end Lundgaard’s chance of stealing the win late.
Official Results:
| 1 | 10 | Alex Palou | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 2 | 12 | David Malukas | Team Penske |
| 3 | 15 | Graham Rahal | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing |
| 4 | 66 | Marcus Armstrong | Meyer Shank w/ Curb-Agajanian |
| 5 | 27 | Kyle Kirkwood | Andretti Global w/ Curb-Agajanian |
| 6 | 18 | Romain Grosjean | Dale Coyne Racing |
| 7 | 14 | Santino Ferrucci | A.J. Foyt Enterprises |
| 8 | 28 | Marcus Ericsson | Andretti Global |
| 9 | 2 | Josef Newgarden | Team Penske |
| 10 | 7 | Christian Lundgaard | Arrow McLaren |
| 11 | 20 | Alexander Rossi | ECR |
| 12 | 5 | Pato O’Ward | Arrow McLaren |
| 13 | 9 | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 14 | 3 | Scott McLaughlin | Team Penske |
| 15 | 6 | Nolan Siegel | Arrow McLaren |
| 16 | 76 | Rinus VeeKay | Juncos Hollinger Racing |
| 17 | 21 | Christian Rasmussen | ECR |
| 18 | 60 | Felix Rosenqvist | Meyer Shank w/ Curb-Agajanian |
| 19 | 8 | Kyffin Simpson | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 20 | 47 | Mick Schumacher | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing |
| 21 | 4 | Caio Collet | A.J. Foyt Enterprises |
| 22 | 45 | Louis Foster | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing |
| 23 | 26 | Will Power | Andretti Global |
| 24 | 19 | Dennis Hauger | Dale Coyne Racing |
| 25 | 77 | Sting Ray Robb | Juncos Hollinger Racing |
