Alex Palou wins at Long Beach – IndyCar Photo
LONG BEACH, Calif. (Sunday, April 19, 2026) – Alex Palou got the break
he needed and fast work from his Chip Ganassi Racing pit crew, and then
he ran away with a victory Sunday in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Palou earned his third victory in five races this season, the 22nd
victory of his career and his first win at prestigious Long Beach in the
No. 10 OpenAI Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, beating the No. 60
SiriusXM/Acura Honda of NTT P1 Award winner Felix Rosenqvist to the
finish by 3.9663 seconds. Palou also took the series lead by 17 points
over Kyle Kirkwood as he aims for his fifth series championship and
series record-tying fourth in a row.
“It’s huge,” Palou said. “Super proud of everybody’s job but
especially this crew. Incredible to finally win here at Long Beach.”
Six-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Scott Dixon rounded out the podium
with his best result of the season in the No. 9 PNC Chip Ganassi Racing
Honda, as CGR produced two of the top three finishers.
Kirkwood finished fourth in the No. 27 JM Bullion / Gold.com Honda of
Andretti Global, with Pato O’Ward placing fifth in the No. 5 Arrow
McLaren Chevrolet.
Pole sitter Rosenqvist controlled the race from the green flag. He led
the first 31 laps, with Palou climbing from his third starting spot to
second by passing O’Ward on Lap 2. Rosenqvist and Palou pitted for the
first time in tandem at the end of Lap 31, with the MSR crew helping
Rosenqvist win the race out of the pits after both drivers started their
second fuel stint with their mandatory second set of Firestone alternate
tires.
Rosenqvist had built a three-second lead over Palou, who admitted he
struggled a bit on the softer Firestone alternate tire. But Palou got
the break he needed on Lap 57 when a large piece of debris was spotted
on track, triggering the only caution period of the 90-lap race.
The entire field pitted on Lap 59, led by Rosenqvist and Palou as a
showdown loomed between the MSR and CGR crews. Rosenqvist and Palou each
took four primary Firestone tires and fuel on their last stop, but Palou
escaped his pit box ahead of Rosenqvist to take the lead for the first
time. CGR serviced Palou’s car in 7.3 seconds on the final stop, while
MSR needed 8.4 seconds for Rosenqvist’s stop.
Palou rocketed away from the field on the restart on Lap 61. It was
checkout time, as he never trailed from that point.
“The OpenAI car was super, super fast, but it was that yellow, that
pit stop with all the pressure that these boys were able to do it and
execute it perfectly,” Palou said. “From there, it was just managing
the tires. We didn’t know how the primaries were going to be.”
The primary tire suited Palou just fine. The Spaniard expanded his lead
to 2.4 seconds on Lap 68, with the gap mushrooming to 5.5 seconds with
12 laps remaining. Palou played it safe during the final two trips
around the 11-turn, 1.968-mile temporary street circuit, but Rosenqvist
never got close. Still, the Swede, who led a race-high 51 laps, earned
his first podium finish since placing second in June 2025 at Road
America.
“A little bit of a bittersweet race,” Rosenqvist said. “I lost a
little bit on the stop. Alex is obviously going to be 10 out of 10
almost every stop, so I don’t think it was necessarily that our one
was slow, but they probably had a great one, as well. That’s how it
goes.
“At the end of the day, we’ve got to celebrate this one. P2, plus
the points and podium – that’s where I want to be.”
The next race is the Sonsio Grand Prix on Saturday, May 9, kicking off
the Month of May at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on the facility’s
14-turn, 2.439-mile road course.