“A very different kind of screaming meal.”
And we’re back for another backend of the DRR double-header, and this time around it’s IndyCar entering the second half of their season (Already? Jezzus), as they headed to one of my favourite races on the entire calendar – The XPEL Grand Prix at Road America. It’s a big, fast, free-flowing circuit, one of the few places that IndyCar has multiple overtaking opportunities and it’s a big race for strategic twists because of how long a lap is and how difficult it can be to save tyres and fuel.
And this year, we got Option D: All of the Above. Let’s talk about it.
Back To Front
First of all, Alex Palou. I know you’re shocked. But we have to mention he now has five straight pole positions after another brilliant display on Saturday. Palou has now been on pole at time of writing, for 40 consecutive days. And the last driver to have five straight pole positions in major American open wheel? Alex Zanardi back in CART in 1997.
A messy start too, as Christian Lundgaard damages his front wing in an early pinch, driving into the rear of Scott Dixon and having to pit on the opening lap for damage. There’s no other good reason I’d mention this.
At the front, we got a classic Alex Palou lead off. His new opponent at the front, Marcus Armstrong, had overtaken David Malukas off the start and was now second. But in classic Palou fashion, he pushed out an early lead in clean air, peaking at around 4.5 seconds. But as the first round of stops take place, Romain Grosjean brings out the first caution for having a wheel fall off his car post-stop. Shades of his days at Haas. Felix Rosenqvist was the big winner as he was in pit road taking his service literally seconds before the caution flag dropped, while a third of the field was hosed for entering a closed pit directly after committing to pit road. So just like that, seven cars drop to the rear for emergency service.
Despite only just coming up to third by the end of his black tyre stint, because of the field slowing under full course yellow, he beat Palou out of the pits to take the net lead. Once the race got going again, it was shades of Long Beach instead. Rosenqvist on the red tyre holding off Palou in second on the black tyre, his ace weapon of choice. But Felix, like Long Beach was able to hold Alex off and keep a one-second lead until lap 27, where the #10 rolled the dice on the undercut. But, Alex Palou is actually human and made a catastrophic error. He turned his pit limiter off early by accident and went over the limit. The result, a drive-through penalty?
Now, small tangent here – And I am by no means a Palou sympathiser, but this is an example as to why the series needs to incorporate more over major series race controls and institute time penalties. MotoGP used to have a rule where if you jumped the start, you’d be given a ride-through penalty. They were done at 36mph because of safety reasons. It was a race ender. Call me crazy, but I don’t think a DTP is a fair punishment for the crime, because the penalty for a minor infraction being the equivalent of 30 seconds doesn’t sit right with me.
Anyway, Palou serves his penalty, and then immediately gets a lucky break, as for the second time this season, an ECR car suffers a hybrid failure and dies on the finish line of a race track. Only this time, the caution drops immediately. Palou’s back in the game because the fast majority of the field were about to come in for their second of three stops anyway.
Armstrong led the third stint ahead of Malukas and Alex Rossi in third, with Palou trying and failing to get back to the front of the queue, burning a huge amount of push to pass to clear Will Power. With 13 laps to go, the leaders came in for their final stop, and with a full head of steam, was Christian Lundgaard, who had a pair of sticker reds saved for the final stint and a shorter fill. He came in with 10 laps to go, and jumped everyone including Malukas to now sit in P2.
Lundgaard was four seconds behind Armstrong for the win, and was closing in by half a second a lap, but it looked like he may have just be running out of road as he’d taken the best out of his alternate tyres… but then Armstrong’s engine dies in a puff of smoke with just four laps left! Honestly, this was devastating. Armstrong for me has become the most under-appreciated driver in IndyCar. I don’t think he gets anywhere near enough flowers for his consistency, vast improvement on Ovals, and I think it’s because Meyer Shank gets Ganassi support and well… Palou and Dixon are a thing. Nevertheless, an exceptional race, easily Armstrong’s best in the series and proof he has the speed to win a race outright.
With Armstrong cleared, we got a good ol’ fashioned IndyCar one-lap shootout, and Lundgaard was able to hold off Malukas for the win, while Graham Rahal decided to be a crazy fool and turn under braking in the back stretch and turn into Will Power’s Andretti, putting him in the wall and ending the race under caution.
Another look at what happened between Will Power and Graham Rahal at Road America. pic.twitter.com/aRwDRxFzkO
— INDYCAR on FOX (@IndyCarOnFOX) June 21, 2026
I genuinely think Rahal should be forced to start Mid-Ohio from the rear. The fact he was doubling down after the race and admitting he was intentionally blocking via doing that is… wild. And ignorant. No Graham, it’s not legal to block, especially in a friggin’ braking zone. For a 20-year veteran of the highest level of American single-seaters it’s unacceptable to think this is a fair way to race someone. Ridiculous.
But it was an incredible win for Christian Lundgaard, his second of the season and for me, cements his status as the #2 road and street drivers in the series. Yes, IndyCar races and having a closed pit when running these races means you’re never truly out of it when the timing of the caution drops, even more so now that leaders strategies are no longer on the table. But you have to hand it to Lundgaard and McLaren for a strategic blinder in finding a way of making the 4-stopper work.
And because IndyCar called the race at the point of Rahal’s caution, it meant Power got on the podium in third ahead of Kyffin Simpson in fourth, who showed immense pace in the back half of the race to keep Palou at bay, who somehow ended up fifth despite the pit lane violation. Because of Kirkwood being 11th, it extended his Championship lead to 60 points, with Malukas now 61 back, and Lundgaard back in the title picture at -77. Time is ticking for the field, with another strong Palou race at Mid-Ohio due next.
The Lightning Round
Fun Fact: That’s David Malukas’ fifth runner-up finish as an IndyCar driver. But if you see IndyCar’s social media pages, his name is everywhere – We are witnessing the American superstar that the series has always wanted in real time. Which is amazing given we’ve had prime Josef Newgarden and Alexander Rossi in the last decade. (Santino Ferrucci was an industrial plant, literally.)
Graham Rahal’s recent tweets in framing Indianapolis as a dump because of the framing of a shooter being black was also… a choice.
I know I’ve been harsh on him in recent times, but Josef Newgarden’s spin of Nolan Siegel on the final lap wasn’t worthy of a 30-second penalty (Converted drive-through). As said, if we have the technology to stop a race and declare a result based on time of caution, the tech is there to implement more appropriate time-based penalties. There’s no reason for the series to be this archaic.
I will say before that result, 9th might just be enough to justify Newgarden’s status in the team, but with it leaking out Josef’s had surgery on his broken foot and him looking molasses slow across the race, I ask… is this worth it? Felipe Nasr is on standby, and I think he’d be more than capable if given the chance… the vibes out of the #2 camp are weird right now.
So as a quiet story, IndyCar had to announce that hybrid deployment has gone down by 25% because of reliability issues, and Christian Rasmussen’s hybrid still died during the race. How many more issues do we have to have before we call this one a write-off?!
Barring Gateway which was a bit more of his own making, I’m actually starting to feel bad for Nolan Siegel who does look like he’s taken a step forward. Do fear it may already be too late mind you. Similar vibes for Marcus Ericsson, who again is quietly driving very well at the moment.
The Verdict: 8.5/10 (Excellent) – The best non-500 IndyCar race all season. This was an excellent race, with good passing, drama, strategy, surprise and a very exciting finish to boot. No-one had Lundgaard winning this one but he found a way, and while Armstrong’s DNF was crushing, storytelling wise, it was wild. Happily recommended. See you in Ohio.