Palou returns to site of first INDYCAR win in No. 10 American Legion Honda

This weekend Alex Palou returns to the road course where he started a dominant stretch that has turned into a dominant 2023 INDYCAR SERIES. And four races to go, he’ll look to strengthen an already strong hold on the series points race in Saturday's Gallagher Grand Prix.

On May 13, Palou led 52 of 85 laps and closed out the race nearly 17 seconds ahead of his closest competitor in winning the GMR Grand Prix. It was Palou’s first win in the No. 10 American Legion, a feat he would repeat with wins in the Sonsio Grand Prix and the Honda INDY 200 – all while sharing the Legion’s Be the One message.

Overall, Palou has four wins, eight podium finishes – including a third in last weekend’s Music City Grand Prix – and top-10 finishes in all 13 races this season for Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR). He’s built up an 84-point lead in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES standings over second-place Josef Newgarden and is looking to win his fourth road race this season.

"I'm very excited to get back to racing in Indianapolis,” Palou said via CGR media. “We obviously won at this course back in May, and it was an awesome weekend that led to us having a good month of May and the races afterward with Detroit, Road America and Mid-Ohio. Nashville was a very tough and stressful race, but we made it work and got to the podium.

“We'll try to get everything on point with it being just a two-day race weekend. But with all the information that we have since May and as comfortable as we are with the car, we'll try to repeat and bring that American Legion Honda to victory lane.”

CGR teammate Marcus Ericsson, who also carries American Legion branding on his No. 8 Huski Ice Spritz Honda, won the series season opener and currently sits in fifth place in the points races – just 30 points out of third. He has four top-five finishes and has 11 times finished in the top 10, including an eighth in the GMR Grand Prix.

"It's always a special feeling going back to Indianapolis Motor Speedway,” said Ericsson, who has finished first and second in the past two Indianapolis 500s. “We'll return after what I believe was our best showing at the IMS Road Course this past May, where I qualified seventh and finished eighth. We took some positive steps as a team there and obviously with Alex winning the race. So, we have something to build on. Looking forward to getting to the track and seeing all of the Indianapolis fans."

Also this weekend, CGR developmental driver Kyffin Simpson returns to the site of his first podium finish of the season. On May 13, Simpson finished third in the INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix. He’ll compete in Friday’s INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix.

Simpson, who carries American Legion branding, currently sits in ninth place in the series points race.

The 2.439-mile, 14-turn Indy road course includes a section of the superspeedway oval, with competitors going clockwise down 2,869 feet of the front straight before hitting the rest of the interior circuit. The track remains relatively flat throughout, with up to 9 degrees of banking making up a small portion of the layout.

This weekend’s broadcast schedule (all times ET):

·         Friday, Aug. 11 – NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice, 9-10:30 a.m.; NTT INDYCAR SERIES qualifications, 12:30-2 p.m.; NTT INDYCAR SERIES final practice, 4-4:30 p.m.; INDY NXT race, 4:50-6 p.m. (all Peacock).

·         Saturday, Aug. 12 – Gallagher Grand Prix race. 2-5 p.m. (USA and Peacock).