Latest news with #ChipGanassiRacingHonda
Forbes
4 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
Fox Sports
6 days ago
- Automotive
- Fox Sports
Palou Reaches Sweet Six After Strategic Win at Hot Road America
INDYCAR Amid a race full of mystery from different strategies, the certainty known as Alex Palou emerged once again. Palou earned his sixth victory in nine NTT INDYCAR SERIES races this season, his torrid form matching the air temperatures in the mid-90s to win the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America Presented by AMR on Sunday. Two-time defending series champion Palou drove his No. 10 SOLO Cup Chip Ganassi Racing Honda to a 2.175-second victory over Felix Rosenqvist in the No. 60 SiriusXM Honda of Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian. Santino Ferrucci finished third in the No. 14 Sexton Properties/AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet. Stay tuned for a complete report. recommended
Fox Sports
13-06-2025
- Automotive
- Fox Sports
Favorites and Sleepers: World Wide Technology Raceway
INDYCAR Team Penske driver Josef Newgarden and Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing have combined to win the last six NTT INDYCAR SERIES races at World Wide Technology Raceway. Alex Palou (No. 10 Ridgeline Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) and Kyle Kirkwood (No. 27 Siemens Honda) have managed to win all seven races this season but have one oval victory between them, Palou's in the 109th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge. Kirkwood's best finish in three World Wide Technology Raceway starts is 15th in 2023. Palou has one top-five finish in six starts on the 1.25-mile oval just east of St. Louis. Who emerges on top in Sunday evening's Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline? Victory lane at the 1.25-mile oval is reserved for the best. The list of 11 NTT INDYCAR SERIES winners is filled with legends like Paul Tracy, Alex Zanardi, Michael Andretti, Juan Pablo Montoya, Al Unser Jr., Gil de Ferran, Helio Castroneves, Will Power and Takuma Sato joining Newgarden and Dixon as victors. Will someone new join the winners' fraternity in Sunday's 260-lap race airing at 8 p.m. ET on FOX, the FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network? Favorites Josef Newgarden (No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet) Newgarden has five wins in nine World Wide Technology Raceway starts. He also has led an astounding 599 laps. At a similar track at Iowa Speedway, Newgarden has tallied six victories in 16 starts. Newgarden won both NTT P1 Awards on another short oval at Milwaukee Mile last season and finished third in the 2024 season finale at Nashville Superspeedway with the same aerodynamic package. Scott McLaughlin (No. 3 DEX Imaging Team Penske Chevrolet) Between short ovals Iowa Speedway, Milwaukee Mile, Nashville Superspeedway and WWTR, McLaughlin has two victories and 11 top-five finishes in 13 starts. That includes results of fourth, third, fifth, and second, respectively, on the 1.25-mile St. Louis-area track and 2024 wins at Iowa and Milwaukee. Pato O'Ward (No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet) With 28 career oval starts, O'Ward has three wins, eight runner-up finishes and 20 top-five results. He finished 26th last year at WWTR, but before that, his worst finish among his previous five World Wide Technology Raceway starts was fourth. Half of his six WWTR finishes resulted in a runner-up. Scott Dixon (No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) Dixon snookered the field in 2023, making it to the finish line in at least one less pit stop than everyone else, scoring his second World Wide Technology Raceway victory. He lapped all but two cars that day, netting his third top-five finish in his last five starts around the 1.25-mile oval. He finished 11th last year but has nine top-six oval finishes in his last 13 attempts. Will Power (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet) Power has one career victory each at Iowa Speedway, Milwaukee Mile and World Wide Technology Raceway. Power also has four top-10 finishes in his last five WWTR starts, including two third-place finishes in the last four tries. He led a race-high 117 laps in last year's race before being collected in a late crash. Sleepers David Malukas (No. 4 Clarience Technologies Chevrolet) World Wide Technology Raceway is arguably Malukas' best track. He finished runner-up in 2022, third in 2023 and despite crashing with Power late in last year's race, he was in contention for the win after qualifying second and leading 11 laps. Malukas finished second in this year's '500.' Santino Ferrucci (No. 14 Bommarito Automotive Group Chevrolet) Ferrucci has two top-10 finishes in five World Wide Technology Raceway starts and has completed 1,165 of 1,168 possible laps. Ferrucci showed strength on ovals last season with five top-eight finishes in seven starts. He finished fifth in this year's Indianapolis 500 and enters this weekend after finishing second in the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear on June 1. Colton Herta (No. 26 Gainbridge Honda) Herta has six top-11 finishes in seven World Wide Technology Raceway starts. His best race was in 2021, when he led over 100 laps before a driveshaft failed while leading, relegating him to an 18th-place result. Herta finished sixth and fifth, respectively, in the last two years. Herta also won the season finale in 2024 on the Nashville oval. Marcus Ericsson (No. 28 Fresh Connect Central Honda) Ericsson qualified seventh last year, but a mechanical failure left him with an early exit and a 24th-place finish. Prior, Ericsson had four top-10 finishes in his previous five starts with a career-best WWTR finish of fifth in 2020. Conor Daly (No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet) Daly finished 13th with the team last year at WWTR but placed third at a similar-length oval in Milwaukee. In eight WWTR starts, he has four top-10 finishes, with a best result of fifth for AJ Foyt Racing in 2017. recommended
USA Today
26-05-2025
- Automotive
- USA Today
Q&A: Indy 500 champ Alex Palou seized his moment and his milk strategy
Q&A: Indy 500 champ Alex Palou seized his moment and his milk strategy Alex Palou made his winning move long before the 2025 Indianapolis 500 ended. Well, relatively long before. In recent years, the Indy 500 and its 200 laps around Indianapolis Motor Speedway often came down to super late or last-lap passes, but Palou saw his opportunity to steal the lead with 14 laps to go and took it. Behind the wheel of his No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, Palou darted out to the inside of then-leader Marcus Ericsson, the 2022 Indy 500 winner, and quickly overtook him. Lap 187 was the first time Palou had been the leader all race. At more than 200 miles per hour with Ericsson and the rest of the field chasing him, he just had to hold on. INDY 500 HISTORY: Every Indianapolis 500 champion since 2000 Palou won his first Indy 500, marking his fifth victory in the first six races of the IndyCar Series season. After three top-5 Indy 500 finishes, it was his first career victory on an oval, and the 28-year-old three-time IndyCar champion became the first Indy 500 winner from Spain. For The Win spoke with Palou a couple hours after his Indy 500 checkered flag Sunday to talk about his race-winning strategy, his milk celebration and what this monumental win means to him. This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity. Congratulations on the win! You had an emotional reaction in the car after you won the race, and then you abandoned the car and ran to your team. What were you feeling in that moment? It's amazing, honestly. It's been an incredible couple of hours since we've finished the race. I just wanted to celebrate. It was like a really long 10 laps when I was leading. Like, they were super long. It felt like 10 races, honestly. And I just wanted the race to end with us in P1, so whenever it ended, I was like, I just wanted to explode and share with everybody how happy I was. The car's in the Winner's Circle, you get that bottle of milk, team owner Chip Ganassi is right there with you. What was going through your mind? It's amazing. I had all my team there with me. They were crying, which shows how much effort they put in this race. In all the races, but especially this race, everybody just puts so much attention to it. So many hours, late nights just for us to be here today. Chip was super happy, obviously, and it's always good to have your boss happy. The Indy 500 winner always celebrates with a bottle of milk. How good did that milk taste, even after several hours of racing? I'm not a huge whole-milk guy, like, just plain milk. But it tastes amazing. I loved it. It was super sweet. It just felt amazing. I was the best drink ever. Why did you choose not to dump the Indy 500 milk on your head? There were a lot of fans and people in this paddock that have been here for so long, and they always told me not to do it because, for them, that was not the way to celebrate. And I was like, OK, I'm gonna try not to do it. On top of that, I thought that just drinking it and sharing it with the team was sweeter. What was the strategy that got you to the lead at the end of the race with your sneak-attack to pass Marcus Ericsson with 14 laps left? I knew I was on a tire and fuel disadvantage to him and to some other drivers. I knew that it was just going to get tougher for me to pass if I was going to wait. So as soon as I had the opportunity, I knew that I had to take it. It was on the limit, like it was very late. But I just had to go for it, and then hope that it was going to be enough. Did you think about waiting at all to do it a little bit closer to the finish of the race? I knew that waiting was going to be probably safer in a way. You always want to attack quite late so they cannot overreact. But at the same time, with the traffic that we had there, I knew that was just making it tougher and tougher to follow and to have an opportunity to overtake. So I was like, "You know what? If I have the opportunity to be first, I'll take it, and then we'll see what we can do from there." How do you view your career now as an Indy 500 champ and a three-time IndyCar Series champ? It's just going to be better. The introductions now are going to be a lot more fun, and my life is just going to be a bit more complete. But this doesn't change everything. We still want more — we want a second one, we want more championships, we want more wins and we want to keep on working towards those wins. After three previous top-5 finishes in the Indy 500 and that runner-up one in 2021, what was different about today for you and your team? My car was really fast, and we were lucky. Nothing went wrong for us. Everything went the way [it] had to be for me to be the champion today — the yellows and the pit stops, the strategy. It was just my day, honestly. What was your mindset going into this race? Did you wake up knowing that today was going to be your day? No, you always wake up feeling like you have a chance. But actually, when I was stepping into [the] car, I was like, "Man, this could be the last time that we step into the car without being a 500 champion." I had that feeling. But normally when I wake up, I just feel normal. I feel like we have a chance to win, but we need to earn it. Did you know you were going to win before the race ended? Was there a moment after you took the lead where you thought, I'm going to win this thing? Never. Never. You can have just a slight moment in the last lap, in the last corner, and suddenly, that's it. Your race is over. So I knew I had chances. I knew that we were in the best position, but — I didn't know that we're going to win until we crossed that start-finish line. It's your fifth win in the first six races of the IndyCar season. How are you so dominant this season on so many different tracks? It's been an incredible season so far. I owe everything to the team, to our partners that allow us to do what we do. But yeah, they just make me look good on track, honestly. We had winning cars every single race weekend that we show up this season so far. Has it sunk in yet? Not yet. I mean, a little bit, obviously. We've been celebrating and talking about it since we crossed that start-finish line, but yeah, I still cannot believe it.
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
'Easy mistake to make': Kyle Larson's Indy 500 run ends with a crash ahead of Coca-Cola 600
INDIANAPOLIS — Kyle Larson's effort to run the Indianapolis 500-NASCAR double got off to a bumpy start. Larson spun out in Turn 2 on a Lap 86 restart, collecting Sting Ray Robb and Kyffin Simpson and knocking them out of the race. Advertisement 'We were punched up on the restart and I was really pissed at Takuma (Sato) in front of me. I got tight behind him and as I peeked left, the nose crabbed and I spun,' Larson said. 'Made a mistake on pit road and it compounds from there. You feel like you need to catch up and that was probably the wrong thing to do and got a little too overzealous.' While the pack checked up following a hectic restart, Larson downshifted as he entered Turn 2 behind Sato. The No. 17 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet lost control and spun, hitting Simpson on his way to the Turn 2 wall. Simpson spun after his contact with Larson, sending the No. 8 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda to the wall. While Simpson's car spun, Robb ran out of race track and brushed the wall on the exit of Turn 2 as he tried to avoid the spinning Simpson. 'I hate that I caused that crash (and) that others got collected in it,' Larson said. 'I hate it for Arrow McLaren and Rick Hendrick.' Advertisement How to watch: NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 start time, where to watch, how to stream That wall contact damaged Robb's suspension, causing the No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet to spin multiple times before hitting the tire barrier at the start of the backstretch on the inside of the track. Robb empathized with Larson. 'It's an easy mistake to make. Cold track, long running stints, marbles on the inside, cold tires on a restart and mixed conditions to make it tough,' Robb said. 'I think that with him getting loose, I thought he saved it there for a second but these cars are tricky. The added weight of the hybrid here seems like it's put some hindrance in some of the driving abilities.' Larson was not a factor after starting 19th. He stalled the car on a Lap 25 pit stop. He finished 27th. Advertisement The 32-year-old Cup star was taking a second crack at the double — competing at Indy and in the NASCAR Cup Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte, North Carolina, on the same day. He raced on the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval in 2024, finishing 18th after a pit-road speeding penalty dropped him from fifth place. However, a 4-hour rain delay in Indianapolis made him late for Charlotte. The Cup race had already begun and, when he got there, rain had stopped that race, so he never got in the car. He qualified second for the Cup race on Saturday. Larson had an eventful couple of weeks at Indianapolis, narrowly avoiding a spinning car, crashing in practice and qualifying for the 19th starting spot. Advertisement Larson hopes Charlotte offers him solace after his disappointment at the Speedway. 'We put a lot into making this effort possible so (I'm) bummed out but we'll try to mentally move on from here quickly and get to Charlotte,' Larson said. 'The best therapy is to just get back behind the wheel, so thankfully I only have a few hours until I'll be back behind the wheel. Once we crank the engines up there, hopefully I'll forget about it.' Kyle Larson's Indy 500-NASCAR weekend schedule Today, May 25: Indy 500 starts at 12:45 p.m. ET; NASCAR Cup Coca-Cola 600 starts at 6 p.m. Now to watch NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 Watch the NASCAR Cup Coke 600 with a 30-day Amazon Prime trial Who raced in both Indy 500 and NASCAR on same day? Larson is the sixth driver to attempt the Double, though just four have driven in both on the same day: Advertisement John Andretti : 1994 , 10th at Indy, 36th in Cup. Robby Gordon : ' 97 , Indy was postponed by rain; 2000 , 6th at Indy, 35th in Cup; '02 : 8th at Indy, 16 in Cup; '03 , 22nd at Indy, 17th in Cup; '04 , stepped out of Indy during a rain delay in favor of Jaques Lazier, finished 20th in Cup. Tony Stewart : 1999 , 9th at Indy, 4th in Cup; 2001 , 6th at Indy, 3rd in Cup, becoming the first driver to complete 1,100 miles. Kurt Busch : 2014 , 6th at Indy, 18th in Cup. Davy Jones tried in 1995, but he failed to qualify for the Cup race. This story was updated to add a video. This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: 2025 Indy 500 results: Kyle Larson finishes 27th in Indy 500-porton of Double
