Paddock Buzz: Alex Palou Finds Small Silver Lining after Big Error

Fox Sports

06-07-2025

INDYCAR
Here is Alex Palou's consolation prize after making a massive late-race mistake that cost him a win in Sunday's Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the All-New 2026 Passport: His lead in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES standings has ballooned to 113 points.
Do the math. Fifty-four points is the maximum a driver can score in any race, which means two-time defending champion Palou's points lead is past two races. Only seven races remain.
Yeah, a third consecutive title and fourth in five years is still in his sights.
'That's why probably it's not going to take two days to recover (from throwing away Sunday's race),' Palou said. 'It's going to take just a couple of hours.
'It's still an amazing result, finishing second, running up front, (leading) 75 laps, getting the pole and just running really, really fast all weekend. It's been amazing and (extended) the points lead, as well.'
Still, the pain of what could have been couldn't hide behind Palou's ever-present smile. The driver of the No. 10 Open AI Chip Ganassi Racing Honda and his crew had done nearly everything right to that point. Oh, Palou had gone a bit wide in Turn 4 several laps earlier, but he had made amends for that bobble that cost him about two seconds and was comfortably headed for his seventh race win of the season.
But as Palou approached Turn 9 on Lap 85 of 90, he missed the entry to the corner, which caused him to push wide on exit. He was so far off course to the left that it took him several seconds to regain the ability to put the power down. By that point teammate Scott Dixon was alongside and on his way to the lead.
Christian Lundgaard was trailing the two CGR drivers, and he couldn't believe what was happening.
'We saw 'Mr. Perfect' make a mistake,' the Arrow McLaren driver said. 'You don't see that very often.'
Palou had a few laps to regain the position, but Dixon did enough to keep him at bay.
'Big mistake, man, big mistake,' Palou said. 'Yeah, nothing in particular happened -- just lost it a little bit. Then kind of got into the marbles and went out. Yeah, lost everything there.'
The Spaniard went on to quote what is attributed to legendary baseball player/manager Yogi Berra: 'It's not over until it's over,' Palou said. But it was on this day.
'It's not like we got beat, but we lost it – myself,' he said. 'Yeah, that's going to hurt a little bit. I'm hopefully going to learn from that.
'It hurts doing a big mistake like that when you could have just … it's easy now to just say, save a little bit there, you don't need to be on the limit. But when you're driving, you don't feel like you're that on the limit.'
Andretti Global's Kyle Kirkwood, who is second in the standings, finished eighth, which allowed Palou to settle for the ever-growing points lead. Palou can be confident knowing two of the remaining six tracks on the schedule – WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and Portland International Raceway – are tracks where he has twice won series races. This championship is still his lose.
Another Podium Finish for Lundgaard
Lundgaard added a fourth top-three finish to his season, bettering the three he had in the series combined from 2021-24. It allowed him to climb back to fifth in the standings.
Lundgaard said he and the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet crew wrestled with the decision to make two stops or three. Dixon went with two, Palou three. But Dixon also caught a couple of breaks with the timing (and length) of the caution periods.
'We were unsure what Alex was going to do, and we decided to kind of follow him, and I think if we would have stayed with our gut, we could have potentially come away with a better result,' Lundgaard said. 'But at the end of the day, we're on the podium.'
Lundgaard said he nearly went off track in Turn 9 on the same lap as Palou as he was watching the drama unfold in front of him.
Perhaps this is the most amazing part of Lundgaard's day: He raced without using a cooling vest, which most of the drivers wear, or a drink bottle. Ambient temperatures soared above 90 degrees on this hot and humid afternoon.
Another Tough Day for Team Penske
Team Penske's winless drought stretched to 11 races over two seasons, and this race couldn't have gone worse for the outfit.
Josef Newgarden had rear wheel lockup with the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet approaching Turn 4 just after taking the green flag, and the ensuing spin collected the No. 15 Fifth Third Bank Honda of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing's Graham Rahal in contact that sent them both into the gravel trap known as 'China Beach.'
'Just a weird, freak, massive rear lock, which is bizarre,' Newgarden said.
Will Power came to pit road twice during that initial caution and soon thereafter retired from the race with a fire in the left rear portion of the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet. Power finished 26th in the 27-car field with Newgarden finishing behind him.
Scott McLaughlin finished a lap off Palou's pace in 23th in the No. 3 Odyssey Batteries Team Penske Chevrolet.
Newgarden said the team has no choice but 'to go on to the next (race).' The team won both races last year at Iowa Speedway.
Odds and Ends Power went to Palou's pit box Sunday morning in advance of the warmup practice to make amends for the previous day's verbal confrontation. The championship-winning drivers playfully acted as if they were boxing before shaking hands. Palou notched his 39th career podium finish. Dixon leads the category all-time with 144. While Palou led 75 of the 90 laps, the race tied a series record for Mid-Ohio races with eight different leaders. Dixon delivered Chip Ganassi Racing's 13th Mid-Ohio victory. Dennis Hauger's victory in Sunday's INDY NXT by Firestone race gave Andretti Global its 300th victory across all motorsports categories. Eighty of those race wins, including three this year by Kirkwood, have come in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. The INDY NXT by Firestone race was red-flagged by a terrifying Lap 5 accident at the kink on the straightaway leading to Turn 4. Sebastian Murray's car hit the barrier and flipped after contact from Andretti – Cape Motorsport teammate Ricardo Escotto. Both escaped injury. There is no time for series competitors to rest as it's soon off to Iowa Speedway for next weekend's SUKUP INDYCAR Race Weekend doubleheader. The first practice is at 3:30 p.m. ET Friday (FS2, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network). Qualifying for both races is at noon ET Saturday with the Synk 275 powered by Sukup race following at 5 p.m. The Farm to Finish 275 powered by Sukup race is at 1 p.m. ET Sunday at 1 p.m. Both races will air live on FOX, the FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network.
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