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Fox Sports
a day ago
- Automotive
- Fox Sports
Gearing Up: Victory Lane Variety Creates Suspense at Mid-Ohio
INDYCAR The next stop for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES is the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, the unofficial home of Graham Rahal, who was born and raised not far from the facility where his father often won races. Rahal also happens to be a former race winner at this 13-turn, 2.258-mile road course. So, yeah, Rahal feels a special connection. But he's not the only one. Scott Dixon has dominated Mid-Ohio races in this series like no other driver. He has won six of the 19 races held in this iteration of the sport. He also has finished second and third once each and netted a pair of poles. When it comes to this series, Dixon is the undisputed king of Mid-Ohio. SEE: Mid-Ohio Event Details Reigning series champion Alex Palou has recently staked a fitting claim to this track, as well, winning the 2023 race and standing on the podium in each of the four races in which he has driven for Chip Ganassi Racing. It's fair to say he, too, feels right at home at Mid-Ohio. Want other series drivers who are particularly fond of this place? Try Pato O'Ward, who won last year's race and added a pole in 2022, along with Josef Newgarden (two wins and a pole) and one-time winners Alexander Rossi (one pole), Will Power (five poles), Colton Herta (two poles) and Scott McLaughlin. They all love racing on this track. Give all of this, it's not a surprise that Mid-Ohio lays claim to a surprising fact: Eight different drivers have won the past eight races, and each of them will compete in this weekend's Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the All-New 2026 Passport. Add in a few other drivers who have had podium finishes at this track – Marcus Ericsson and Felix Rosenqvist come to mind – and it's easy to see why nearly half of this weekend's field will be optimistic when the green flag drops Sunday shortly after 1 p.m. ET (FOX, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network). The competition has been just as strong among teams at this track north of Columbus, with Chip Ganassi Racing and Team Penske sharing the record for most wins (12 each). Arrow McLaren earned its first Mid-Ohio win last year. Andretti Global and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing also have won races in recent years. Palou brings a 93-point series lead over Andretti Global's Kyle Kirkwood into this event, and it could be another opportunity to tighten his grip before the schedule turns to a pair of oval races at Iowa Speedway (July 12-13). At Mid-Ohio, Palou's average finish with Chip Ganassi's team is 2.0; Kirkwood's average finish in two races with Andretti Global is 12.5. O'Ward could use a productive weekend to close his wide gap to Palou. He stands 111 points in arrears with eight races left this season. Again, O'Ward might consider this a good track for him, but so does Palou. So does Dixon, Newgarden, Rossi, Power, Herta, McLaughlin, Ericsson, Rosenqvist and of course Rahal. You get the idea. There will be many eager for this annual return to Mid-Ohio. The action begins Friday with the weekend's first practice at 4:30 p.m. (FS2, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network).
Fox Sports
5 days ago
- Automotive
- Fox Sports
Fans Can Vote for Alex Palou To Win ESPY as Best Driver
INDYCAR Three-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Alex Palou was one of four competitors nominated in the Best Driver category of the annual ESPYS, and fans can vote for the Chip Ganassi Racing driver now. Palou earned his second consecutive series championship last season, adding to his crown in 2021 during his first season with CGR. He won two races and recorded 13 top-five finishes in 17 starts. The good times have continued to roll this season for Palou, who has won six of the first nine races. He earned his first oval victory in the 109th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge on May 25 in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Fans can click here to vote for Palou, who leads the series standings again this season. Voting is open until 5 p.m. ET Wednesday, July 16, three hours before the ESPYS will air at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. Other nominees in the Best Driver category are NASCAR Cup Series driver Joey Logano and Formula One drivers Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri. in this topic
Forbes
6 days ago
- Automotive
- Forbes
Inside Alex Palou's Strategy For His Latest IndyCar Series Victory
Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing Honda celebrates after winning the NTT IndyCar Series XPEL Grand ... More Prix at Road America on June 22, 2025 in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. (Photo by Gavin Baker/Lumen via Getty Images) Lumen via Getty Images Alex Palou is normally one of the most level-headed drivers in INDYCAR. But he admitted after winning his sixth race of the season in the June 22 XPEL Grand Prix at Road America he wondered if Chip Ganassi Racing team manager Barry Wanser's strategy was going to work. Two of the three Chip Ganassi Racing drivers were using a fuel saving strategy including Scott Dixon and Palou. Dixon, however, was two laps short of making it to the finish because Palou's final pit stop was two laps after Dixon took fuel on Lap 38 of the 55-lap race. The maximum laps a car could run on the 4.028-mile, 14 turn Road America road course is 15 laps, unless there is a caution period, which would allow this fuel strategy to work to reduce speeds and save fuel. Palou pitted on Lap 40 and made it to the distance. 'It was tough,' said Palou after his sixth IndyCar Series win of the season, including the 109th Indianapolis 500 on May 25. 'It was a crazy race. I don't know about how it looked from the outside, but from inside, it just felt like there was a lot going on. Lots of yellows, obviously, that were shaking how we were looking. 'We were looking really bad at the beginning, then really good, then terrible, then really good. It was tough to be up there. But yeah, we just had to stay focused on battling against the people that were on our strategy.' But it was a strategy Palou didn't think was going to work and the driver from Spain who is usually affable and cooperative, became downright 'Grumpy.' 'I didn't agree with Barry's strategy called. 'I got to be grumpy for a couple of laps, and then I saw it was working out, and I started saying thank you again,' Palou continued as he looked at Wanser. 'It was interesting, but for sure, we got the win because of the team that we had on both pit stops and strategy. They made it look really good, and HRC that gave us the mileage we needed to gamble and to make it with that stop that we did.' 'Grumpy Palou' Wanser indicated that Palou's general attitude is pleasant and cooperative, so when he heard that his driver was 'grumpy' it got his attention. 'Well, he doesn't get grumpy, so when he is grumpy, I know he's really mad and questioning what we're doing,' Wanser said. 'But I don't know if you were following that race, we didn't know we were on the right strategy until like 10 to go. We're reacting based on what we think is happening. Chip Ganassi Racing Honda team manager Barry Wanser. (Photo by Geoff MIller/Lumen via Getty Images) Lumen via Getty Images 'There was obviously a lot of cautions this race. But we made some strategy changes on the tires during the race that we went against what we all agreed on before the race, so he wasn't very happy about that, but we saw what our competitors were doing and who we were racing, so we had to make that change to be able to stay with them and then beat them. And it worked out. 'Look, today was luck to be on the right strategy because it was hard. There were several different strategies going on.' The pivotal moment the team realized it made the right call came during a caution when the team had to decide to pit, or not to pit. 'I would say just that yellow that we were leading, we were leading, and we pitted, and some people stayed out,' Palou said. 'That was the moment that I would say gave us the win. I mean, we pitted from first. We were leading. 'We had still I would say five laps of fuel to make it, but it was not enough: in case there's another yellow, you're done. So that was a great call. 'I would say the only one that I was a bit like, oh, no, it was just when we went on the second stint on reds. That was only our set of alternates because yesterday I was pushing to try and get the pole, which we didn't get, and kind of put us on the back foot against Christian Lundgaard, Scott McLaughlin and everybody else that was not in the Fast Six. 'I knew it was going to help us during that stint, but it was going to hurt us a lot on the last stint. But honestly, the pace we had today in the 10 car was amazing, and we were able to save fuel even on primaries to be quite fast.' Wanser Questioned His Tire Strategy At The Beginning Wanser admitted one error in strategy was starting the race on Firestone Blacks instead of the Reds, which proved to be ideal for the hotter conditions at Road America despite being a softer compound. Firestone "Red" IndyCar Tires. (Photo by) Getty Images 'I'd say one of the pivotal moments is we should have never started on the Blacks,' Wanser said. 'It worked against us. Quite a few cars around us picked us off. But it ended up being the right call in the end. But if we were to do the race again, not knowing what we know, we probably should have started on the Reds. 'We actually declared primaries, and then other people got involved outside the 10 car stand. We thought about it. We were like, no, we're going to stay with primaries, and then last minute he decided again, maybe we're not making the right decision. 'Alex is a big part of the tire strategy; he's the one driving the car. He was like, all right, I think we need to start on the alternates, and when we set it in, it was like 10:01 but the window had closed at 9:56 or whatever, the 30-minute window. So even it accepted it, we knew, no way, it's not going to happen.' Wanser Knew It All Along As the laps were dwindling, and teammate Scott Dixon remained in the lead trying to stretch his final tank of fuel for 17-18 laps when 15 is the maximum without a caution period, Wanser assured Palou that Dixon would have to pit. Palou had made his final stop two laps after the Dixon, and although he needed to conserve fuel, his fuel number was much more doable. 'We really needed a yellow because we gave him a big fuel number,' Wanser explained. 'We kind of needed a yellow to help us. We got that yellow, but it wasn't enough for Scott and Alexander Rossi because they pitted two laps before us. So, we were already looking at a big number two laps after them, so you could imagine they needed a much bigger number than we did, so even the short yellow didn't help them.' Who Do You Trust? It all came down to a matter of trust between Palou and Wanser. 'He has more information than me, and when I was following Scott, I could see that he was not saving as much as I was,' Palou recalled. 'I was like, 'This guy is crazy; how is he going to do it?' 'But I didn't know. Like I don't have a lot of information. Alex Palou (#10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) driver holds his daughter Lucia and raises a finger as ... More the team lifts their Red Solo cups after winning the NTT IndyCar Series XPEL Grand Prix, Sunday, June 22, 2025, at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. (Photo by David Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) Icon Sportswire via Getty Images "If it was another driver, I would have probably just focused on myself, but I know that Scott can make crazy stuff happen. 'I trusted Barry, but I was like, 'Man, if he gets a yellow, he's still P1 and we're not going to be able to pass him. We were still trying to get that first position on track just in case there was a four-lap yellow at the end and then he was still leading and ending up with a win.' With three different race strategies playing out during the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America, second-place finisher Felix Rosenqvist was one of the few drivers at the end of the race that had plenty of fuel and could run full throttle. Second-Place Rosenqvist Had Plenty Of Fuel But Palou's fuel-saving strategy was too much to overcome, and Rosenqvist finished second, 2.1725 seconds behind the race winner. It was Rosenqvist's first podium finish in a points-paying race since finishing second in September 2023 at Portland International Raceway. 'Yeah, good memories from here,' Rosenqvist said afterward. 'I had my first win here. It's been a couple of good results here in the past. I felt the whole weekend we had good pace and in practice we were rolling well. Kind of messed up qualifying. Tried to do the carousel flat and I lost it, and I started P12. 'It wasn't ideal, but I knew we had good pace in the car. My Meyer Shank Sirius XM Honda was just on rails. There was a lot of strategies going on. We did two black stints in the beginning, and we held on pretty good, and especially in the restarts, it seemed like the blacks were pretty good, and they faded a bit when you got up to speed. But we capitalized on all those yellows, and I think that was to our advantage. 'Then at the end of the race we didn't have to save any fuel, and we had two new reds, and we were just doing qually laps every lap, and that's kind of when we ended where we ended. So, it was really good, and super proud of all the guys. 'It's a hot day out there. It was tough for everyone, pit crew, engineering, and computers and all that kind of stuff. Everything is running hot. Happy we made it to the finish.' But in this race, Palou had the right strategy because his fuel tank was good to the last drop. Alex Palou celebrates his Road America on June 22, 2025 in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. (Photo by Gavin ... More Baker/Lumen via Getty Images) Lumen via Getty Images
Forbes
7 days ago
- Automotive
- Forbes
IndyCar TV Rating Drops Below 1 Million But Continue Overall Gains
Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda celebrates in Victory Lane during the NTT IndyCar Series XPEL ... More Grand Prix at Road America on June 22, 2025 in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. (Photo by Michael L. Levitt/Lumen via Getty Images) Lumen via Getty Images The IndyCar television rating for the FOX telecast of the XPEL Grand Prix At Road America may have dropped below 1 million viewers for the first time in four races, but the overall increase in viewers over last season remains substantial. The year-to-year increase is now 33 percent more viewers watching IndyCar on FOX than last year on average. This comes despite FOX's IndyCar Series coverage from Road America posted 781,000 viewers in an early afternoon starting time on June 22. That was down 10 percent from last year's 863,000 viewers for the Road America Race in 2024. The race peaked with 934,000 viewers from 3:30-3:45 p.m. Eastern Time. There are some differences, however. Last year's Road America IndyCar race was one week closer to the Indianapolis 500. Road America was on June 9, and the 2024 Indy 500 was May 26. In the TV world, the additional viewers in 2024 could have been aided by momentum from the 500 that was still fresh. In 2024, the IndyCar schedule did not have any breaks after the Indy 500 as the schedule went straight to the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix the following weekend and one week after that, Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. But there remain some positive and impressive trends. Sunday's race viewership is up 25 percent over last year's 626,000 viewers for the IndyCar 2024 non-Indy 500 race average on NBC/USA/CNBC. Through the first nine races of the season, IndyCar on FOX is averaging 1,882,000 viewers, up 33 percent from last year's 1,420,000 viewers through the first nine races on NBC/USA/CNBC. IndyCar's greatest television competition on Sunday, June 22 didn't come from a competing sport, but from the major news developments with the United States bombing raid of nuclear facilities in Iran. Ratings for news coverage on CNN, FOX News, MSNBC and NewsMax were more than double last year's ratings for those networks one year ago. On Sunday, June 25, those four news networks had a combined average of 4.214 million. On the corresponding Sunday in 2024 (June 23) the viewership average was 1.862 million. On the actual Road America race date in 2024 (June 9), the four TV cable news channels had 1.99 million viewers. This year's Indianapolis 500 drew 7.01 million viewers and was the most watched Indy 500 telecast in 17 years. The viewership peaked at 8.5 million for the final 15 minutes of the Indy 500. It was the first time the Indy 500 was televised on FOX. Television ratings momentum continued with more 1.061 million viewers for the June 1 Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix and the June 15 Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway, which drew 1 million, 12 thousand viewers for a prime-time Sunday night telecast. This is the first season IndyCar has been televised exclusively by FOX with all races on the major FOX network.
Yahoo
23-06-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
How a 'grumpy' Alex Palou ended up thankful for his winning strategy at Road America
Alex Palou led just six laps, including the final three of the 55-lap race, but that was all he needed to reach Victory Lane at Sunday's XPEL Grand Prix at Road America. It marked the shortest time the driver of the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing car has spent out front in any of his six wins during the 2025 IndyCar season so far. In a race that featured two cautions in the first six laps and another two before the halfway mark, strategists across the paddock were deep in calculations, analyzing fuel targets and optimal pit windows in order to maximize both track position and efficiency toward the end. Like most of the field, Palou made his first pit stop on Lap 11 under yellow, triggered by Sting Ray Robb's crash in Turn 5. He pitted again on Lap 23 after a separate incident involving Robb's teammate in Juncos Hollinger Racing, Conor Daly, also in Turn 5, which brought out the fourth caution of the race. At that point, Palou's second stint had lasted just 12 laps, so he could have stayed out —like contenders Christian Lundgaard, Felix Rosenqvist, and Kyle Kirkwood did. Instead, he rejoined in 13th place, having fitted his only set of new alternate (softer) tires —ones he had originally planned to use later in the race. Palou didn't agree with the strategy call Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing 'I didn't agree with Barry's strategy call,' Palou admitted afterward. 'I got to be grumpy for a couple of laps, and then I saw it was working out, and I started saying 'thank you' again.' 'That was our only set of alternates because yesterday I was pushing to try and get the pole -which we didn't get- and that kind of put us on the back foot against Lundgaard, [Scott] McLaughlin, and everybody else who made the Fast Six.' 'I knew having the alternate tires for the second stint was going to help us then, but would hurt us a lot in the final stint. But honestly, the pace we had today in the 10 car was amazing, and we were able to save fuel even on primaries while still being pretty quick.' Wanser explained the thinking behind his decision: 'We made some strategy changes on the tires during the race that went against what we had agreed on pre-race, so he wasn't very happy about that. But we saw what our competitors were doing and who we were racing, so we had to make that change to stay with them—and then beat them. And it worked out.' Still, he acknowledged the element of chance: 'Look, today was luck to be on the right strategy because it was hard. There were several different strategies going on'. Palou credited Wanser's call on when to make the second of three stops as the defining moment of the race. 'That was the moment that gave us the win,' he said. 'We still had about five laps of fuel left, but that wouldn't have been enough. If there's another yellow, you're done. So that was a great call.' The Dixon factor Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing In the final stint, Palou found himself running second behind teammate Scott Dixon. The driver of the No. 9 Ganassi car had pitted on Lap 38 —two laps earlier than Palou's final stop. But Dixon is famous for his almost miraculous fuel-saving abilities. 'I was following Scott and could see that he wasn't saving as much as I was. I thought, 'This guy is crazy. How's he going to make it?' But I didn't know. I don't have all the data. If it were another driver, I probably would've just focused on myself, but I know Scott can make crazy stuff happen,' Palou said. The No. 10 pit crew was equally concerned about engaging Dixon in a fuel-saving duel to the checkered flag. 'We were equally concerned,' Wanser admitted. 'I even said to all of the engineers on the stand: are we missing something here? Because Dixon is running (fuel) numbers, lap times, he's not going to be able to get it, based on the number we gave him. They double-checked everything, triple-checked, but we were pretty confident we were going to be fine.' When asked if he could have passed Dixon with help from a late-race yellow, Palou responded: 'It depends. If it's only a one-lap yellow, yes, I think we would have been able. But if it was like a back-to-back yellow and then ends up being like four laps, he's going to make it on a good number and we're going to be like on the same number almost. So you never know' 'I thought we were at a disadvantage on tires, obviously. He was on the faster tire, and he was able to get out of the corners so well. I was struggling a lot to try and catch him. I think a very big yellow or two yellows in a row would have made it really tough for us. But you never know. It was a crazy race'. In the end, Dixon had to pit with just two laps to go for a splash of fuel, handing the lead—and eventually the win—to Palou. 'It was tough. A crazy race. I don't know how it looked from the outside, but from inside the car, it felt like there was a lot going on. Lots of yellows that shook everything up,' Palou said. 'We looked really bad at the beginning, then really good, then terrible, then really good again. It was tough to stay up there. But yeah, we just had to stay focused on racing the people who were on our same strategy.' To read more articles visit our website.
