Red-hot Palou taking No. 10 American Legion Honda to Road America
An impressive May has carried over into June for Chip Ganassi Racing’s (CGR) Alex Palou.
After a month that saw Palou drive the No. 10 American Legion Honda to a win in the GMR Grand Prix, and then follow up with the pole and then a fourth-place finish in the Indianapolis 500 – the NTT INDYCAR SERIES points leader opened June winning the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix in another dominating performance.
Palou has finished in the top 10 in all seven INDYCAR races this season and has the series’ best average finishing position (3.86) – the second lowest through seven races since 2008. He and the rest of INDYCAR now head to Elkhart Lake, Wis., for this weekend’s four-turn, 14-mile Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America – a race Palou won in 2021 when he was the INDYCAR SERIES points champion.
"It's been a good start to the season so far and it feels like the No. 10 car has been on a roll,” Palou said via CGR media. “We've had really good races since the month of May, and we want to continue that. We're going to my favorite road course of the year with that brand new pavement that we haven't tried, just like the other teams. We've been working hard with the simulator and back at the shop to make sure we're ready."
Fellow CGR drivers Marcus Ericsson and Marcus Armstrong will feature American Legion branding this weekend. Ericsson, driving the No. 8 Huski Chocolate Honda, is 51 points behind Palou in the series standings. He’s nabbed seven top-10 finishes as well; his three top fives include a win in the series opener and a second in the Indianapolis 500.
"Road America this weekend, and it is one of my absolute favorites. It's the best road course of the season, no doubt,” Ericsson said. “It's a track where we finished second last year, so good memories from there. Obviously, we want to make the top step this weekend, though. We're coming into the race with a really good feeling. We've had a good start to the season with all seven races in the top-10 and sitting second in the championship.
“It will be interesting this weekend with the new surface laid down at Road America and it'll be something to follow. The atmosphere is always amazing with so many people and it being such a beautiful place to go race at. I'm really looking forward to the weekend."
Armstrong, who leads the NTT INDYCAR SERIES rookie standings despite not driving in this season’s two oval races, also will include The American Legion on his No. 11 Honda’s livery. Armstrong has four top-11 finishes this season and holds a 24-point lead over fellow series rookie Agustin Canapino.
"This is a great track, which has obviously been resurfaced, and it should make a big difference to the car set-up and philosophy,” Armstrong said. “I think it'll be a good advantage to have tested there last week. I enjoyed the track and I feel like it reminded me of a lot of racing in Spain with the nature of the circuit, the layout and the style of driving. I'm looking forward to it and feel like it'll be a great weekend, as well."
Also this weekend, CGR developmental driver Kyffin Simpson will carry “Be the One” messaging on his No. 21 American Legion / Ridgeline Lubricants car during Sunday’s INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix at Road America. In his first year with Chip Ganassi Racing, Simpson currently is 16th in the INDY NXT points standings.
Throughout the weekend at The American Legion’s “Be the One” activation trailer, an accredited American Legion service officer will be on hand to assist veterans with benefits claims questions they may have.
This weekend’s broadcast schedule (all times ET):
· Friday, June 16 – 3-4:15 p.m., NTT INDYCAR SERIES Practice 1 (Peacock)
· Saturday, June 17 – 9:50 a.m., NTT INDYCAR SERIES Practice 2 (Peacock); 1:55 p.m. – Qualifying for the NTT P1 Award (Peacock)
· Sunday, June 18 – 10:15 a.m., NTT INDYCAR SERIES Final Practice (Peacock); 11:05 a.m., INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix at Road America (Peacock); 1 p.m., Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America presented by AMR (USA Network)
NTT INDYCAR SERIES Notes (via INDYCAR)
· There have been five different winners in seven NTT INDYCAR SERIES races in the 2023 season. Marcus Ericsson (Streets of St. Petersburg), Josef Newgarden (Texas Motor Speedway and Indianapolis 500), Kyle Kirkwood (Streets of Long Beach), Scott McLaughlin, (Barber Motorsports Park) and Alex Palou (Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course-1 and Streets of Detroit) have all won in this season. The record for most different winners in a season is 11 in 2000, 2001 and 2014.
· There have been five different winners in the last 10 NTT INDYCAR SERIES races (Josef Newgarden, Scott McLaughlin, Alex Palou, Marcus Ericsson and Kyle Kirkwood). Newgarden (WWT Raceway 2022, Texas 2023 and Indianapolis 500 2023), Palou (Laguna Seca 2022, Indianapolis GP-1 2023 and Detroit 2023) and McLaughlin (Portland 2022 and Barber 2023) have won multiple races over that stretch.
· The Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America presented by AMR will be the 34th INDYCAR SERIES event conducted at Road America since it hosted its first INDYCAR event in 1982. Mario Andretti, Michael Andretti and Emerson Fittipaldi have three wins, the most by an INDYCAR SERIES driver at the track.
· Scott Dixon and Josef Newgarden have won twice at Road America – most among active drivers. Other previous Road America winners entered include Will Power, Alexander Rossi, Felix Rosenqvist and Alex Palou.
· Eight drivers have won the Road America race from the pole: Mario Andretti (1983, 1984,1987), Danny Sullivan (1989), Paul Tracy (1993), Jacques Villeneuve (1995), Bruno Junqueira (2003), Sebastien Bourdais (2007), Will Power (2016) and Josef Newgarden (2018).
· The driver who has gone on to win the championship has won at Road America six times: Mario Andretti (1984), Michael Andretti (1991), Jacques Villeneuve (1995), Alex Zanardi (1997), Cristiano da Matta (2002), Sebastien Bourdais (2007) and Scott Dixon (2020).
· Scott Dixon and Will Power have competed in 10 previous races at Road America, most of any driver. Thirteen entered drivers have led laps at the track (Josef Newgarden 149, Alexander Rossi 70, Will Power 60, Pato O’Ward 43, Scott Dixon 43, Helio Castroneves 41, Felix Rosenqvist 15, Alex Palou 5, Graham Rahal 5, Marcus Ericsson 4, Simon Pagenaud 2, Romain Grosjean 1 and Christian Lundgaard 1.
· Chip Ganassi Racing has won three of the last four INDYCAR SERIES races at Road America and is one of three current teams with wins at the track. Overall, Chip Ganassi Racing has won six times at Road America (1997, 2001, 2017, a sweep of the 2020 doubleheader and 2021). Team Penske has also won six times at Road America (1989, 1992, 1993, 2016, 2018 and 2022) while Andretti Autosport won its first in 2019.
· Rookies Marcus Armstrong, Agustin Canapino, Benjamin Pedersen and Sting Ray Robb will race an NTT INDYCAR SERIES car at Road America for the first time this weekend.
· Milestones: Scott Dixon will attempt to make his 313th consecutive start, the second-longest streak in INDYCAR SERIES history.