Palou drives No. 10 American Legion Honda to third-place finish in Texas

On a day when Josef Newgarden and Pato O’Ward combined to lead 214 of the race’s 250 laps, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou nearly stole the show.

Driving the No. 10 American Legion Honda with the Legion’s “Be the One” suicide-prevention initiative featured on his livery, Palou took the lead in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES PPG 375 at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday with 48 laps to go, led as late as lap 242 and battled Newgarden and O’Ward the rest of the race on his way to a third-place finish.

Newgarden would take the lead on lap 249 from O’Ward just seconds before Romain Grosjean crashed in Turn 2 to end race on a yellow caution flag.

Palou, who was a lap down at one point in the race, said Sunday’s finish felt bigger than third.

“We finished (third) and it feels like a win today,” Palou said via Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR) media. “The No. 10 The American Legion car was really fast and I felt very comfortable all weekend, but especially today. It was allowing me to overtake when I wanted and be super racey.

“It was a shame at the end because we were super close to the win. I can't wait for the next one and we'll be ready trying to get our first win of the season in Long Beach."

The third-place finish was the 15th time Palou – who turned 26 on April 2 – has secured a top-three finish for CGR. Palou teammates Scott Dixon (fifth) and Marcus Ericsson (eighth) gave CGR three top-10 finishes. Ericsson is second in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES point standings, while Dixon in third and Palou fifth.

CGR’s Takuma Sato qualified seventh but was forced to retire from the race on the 46th lap after spinning in Turn Two and making contact with the wall. 

The NTT INDYCAR SERIES next heads to California for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on Sunday, April 16.