It’s another strong showing for Chip Ganassi Racing

It was another strong showing across the board by Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR) in Sunday’s 40th running of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES’ Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, placing two drivers on the podium and four in the top 13.

Scott Dixon drove the last 34 laps of the 85-lap street race on one tank of Shell 100% Renewable Race Fuel to edge second-place Colton Herta by .9798 of a second. Driving the No. 9 PNC Honda, Dixon moved into second place in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship points race.

Dixon’s CGR teammate, Alex Palou, finished third in the No. 10 DHL Honda that featured American Legion branding. Marcus Armstrong was 12th, while CGR rookie Linus Lundqvist – behind the wheel of the No. 8 American Legion Honda that featured a special livery promoting Jerry Seinfeld’s upcoming Netflix movie “Unfrosted” – finished 13th.

Lundqvist rose to as high as eighth during Sunday’s race before settling in at 13th – 10 spots higher than his finish in the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. He currently sits three points behind CGR teammate Kyffin Simpson in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES Rookie of the Year points race.

“Pretty good race for us honestly,” Lundqvist said via CGR media. “Obviously, you’re never really happy with P13, but I think considering the weekend we’ve had, we were actually pretty good. I felt pretty strong in the race. We decided on a strategy and tried to maximize it, and I think from the guys on the same strategy we looked quite strong.

“Overall, I’m happy, very happy for the team. Congrats to the 9 crew on the win and the 10 crew on the podium. It’s good to see those guys up there.”

Palou, the defending series champion, moved up to fourth in the championship points standings with his third-place finish.

“It was tough man,” Palou said. “The 9 car did an amazing job, especially Scott. That strategy was open for everybody, and he made it work.  So very impressive! Congrats to them. For me, it was good. We didn’t really have the speed to match the 9 or (Herta). But very proud of our first podium with DHL.”

It's a short break for INDYCAR, as the series heads south to Birmingham, Ala., for this weekend’s Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix powered by AmFirst at Barber Motorsports Park.