Pole-sitter Alex Palou survived numerous restarts and captured his fourth win of the IndyCar season at the Detroit Grand Prix on Sunday.
The 29-year-old Spaniard won by 3.0584 seconds at the 1.645-mile, nine-turn street circuit.
Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood finished second and Graham Rahal (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing) captured third. Arrow McLaren teammates Pato O’Ward from Mexico and Christian Lundgaard of Denmark rounded out the top five.
Palou now has 23 victories in 106 Indy Car starts. He has tied Tommy Milton for 20th all-time as he seeks his fourth consecutive and fifth overall series championship.
The race featured six full-course cautions. Will Power, who would finish 22nd, took the lead on the Lap 18 and held it until Lap 35, when New Zealand’s Scott McLaughlin and Lundgaard briefly took turns as the race leader.
Moments later, on Lap 40, Rahal was spun in Turn 3 by Palou’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Kyffin Simpson, causing the second caution of the race. Rahal dropped to 23rd, while Palou re-claimed the lead.
On Lap 60, Palou held a 2.9-second lead over Kirkwood. He took a pit stop on Lap 63 — giving up the lead — but regained it when Kirkwood, McLaughlin and other frontrunners pitted on Lap 70.
Palou held on for the remainder of the race.
“It feels like the first time, honestly,” Palou said of his latest triumph. “It was a tough one, very tough one, but the team, they’ve done an incredible job once again with the strategy. Pit stops were incredible. … Incredible run, incredible start of the year.”
Indy 500 champion Felix Rosenqvist finished in sixth place.
After eight of ten races on the circuit, Palou has amassed 327 points, while second-place Kirkwood has 265. Team Penske’s David Malukas, who finished 18th, is third with 248 points.
–Field Level Media
