Latest news with #FastSix
Yahoo
7 days ago
- 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.
Indianapolis Star
23-06-2025
- Automotive
- Indianapolis Star
Pre-race decision left Alex Palou 'looking really bad.' How the IndyCar leader pulled off his 6th win
ELKHART LAKE, Wis. — In his half-dozen IndyCar victories nine races this season, Alex Palou and the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing crew have won just about every way you could imagine and yet, Sunday's was something new. The two-time-defending series champion has eked ahead off a final pit exchange (St. Pete), pulled off a late-race pass for the win (Thermal and the Indy 500), dominated from pole (Barber) and lost the lead early, only to race his way back to a relatively comfortable victory (IMS road course). As the season reached its halfway point Sunday afternoon at Road America, perhaps it was only fitting Palou and Barry Wanser put on a strategy masterclass on a day where the possible forks in the road were many and any attempt to try and actively keep track of all the road maps at play was certain to leave one with a migraine. 'It was tough. It was a crazy race. It just felt like there was a lot going on. Lots of yellows, obviously, that were shaking how we were looking,' Palou said. 'We were looking really bad at the beginning, then really good, then terrible, then really good again. 'It was tough to be up there, but we just had to stay focused on battling against the people that were on our strategy.' That first battle in the No. 10 camp took place before the race even started, during the 30-minute window following Sunday's morning warmup when teams must declare the tires they'll start on, a call that, depending on how the opening stages of a race go, whether it been caution-crazy or caution-free, could play an outsized role in the drivers and teams who'll find themselves in contention for a win later on. As Wanser, Palou's strategist, explained, the duo declared primaries, but further intervention within the CGR camp got Palou waffling. With the deadline looming, Palou decided he wanted to flip, but by the time they attempted to put the call in to IndyCar to switch, it was a few minutes too late. So start on the slower, harder, more durable primary tires they did — largely surrounded on the grid by a sea of alternate-tire-clad rivals who swallowed up the No. 10 car on Lap 1 even before a caution for a stranded David Malukas fell before the lap was complete. By that point, Palou was down from second on the grid to seventh on the ensuing restart. But as Wanser explained, though the choice to start on primaries was illogical, given what they'd learn about their competitors pre-race, it proved to be the best choice in the long run. The day prior, Palou, Wanser and Co. had made a major push to take pole, opting to use a third set of new alternates during the Fast Six to try and seal the deal, while fellow title contenders and serious threats for the race win Scott McLaughlin and Christian Lundgaard saved a set to use for the race instead. Had they used that lone set of new alternates for the race start, Palou might not have dropped any spots to start with, but the disjointed race start meant any value gained by running alternates over primaries was minimal. In response, Palou had them in his back pocket to use later, even though Wasner said he made a tire strategy call mid-race on using that new alternate set on stint No. 2 that was earlier than he'd discussed with Palou pre-race. A rare occurrence on the radio, Palou let his displeasure with the mid-race switch-a-roo known. 'I got to be grumpy for a couple laps, and then I saw it was worked out, and I started saying 'thank you' again,' Palou joked. 'It was interesting, but for sure, we got the win because of the team that we had on both pit stops and strategy. 'I knew (using alternates on the second stint) was going to help us there, but it was going to hurt us a lot on the last stint, but honestly, the pace we had today in the No. 10 car was amazing, and we were able to save fuel even on primaries to be quite fast.' In a race with so many strategies at play, and seemingly even more splintering off every pit exchange, Palou was forced to manage chunks of laps where he'd be battling at the front, followed by stops that left him buried in 13th or 14th behind cars that, according to how the race would finish up, weren't really his true competition. But by Lap 22, as the yellow flags flew for Conor Daly's off-track excursion, Palou could've inherited the lead had Wanser opted for him to stay out, rather than pit at a time where the team wasn't sorely in need for fuel. With it being the race's fourth caution, Palou's second stint only ran 12 laps, several of them under caution, and Palou said he still could've run five laps more before diving in, similar to what Felix Rosenqvist (runner-up) and Kyle Kirkwood (fourth) opted to do. But pitting there ultimately gave him track position at the end of the race, a roll of the dice that he felt made the difference in the win that fell into his lap with Scott Dixon forced to pit late and Rosenqvist still a couple seconds back by the checkered flag. 'That was the moment that I would say gave us the win,' Palou said of Wanser's call on when to make his second of three stops. But Wanser and Palou didn't feel comfortable until a ways later. Though they knew Dixon had pitted two laps before them on his second stop, the No. 10 stand continued to watch late in the race as the six-time champ rolled off competitive lap times again and again. By their math, Palou was going to be cutting it close on fuel as is, ultimately enough post-race to run a cooldown lap, but not fire off any celebratory donuts. So how was Dixon holding onto his gap on his teammate, they kept wondering? 'I even said to all the engineers on the stand, 'Are we missing something here? Because Dixon is running (fuel) numbers and lap times that (Palou's) not going to be able to get, based on the number we gave him,'' Wanser said. 'They double checked everything, triple checked, but we were pretty confident we were going to be fine.' Had Dixon lucked into a late-race yellow, Palou said he wasn't sure he had enough speed in the car to swoop around the outside for what would've needed to be a pass for the win on his teammate. 'When I was following Scott, I could see that he wasn't saving as much as I was. I was like, 'This guy is crazy. How is he going to do it?'' Palou said. 'If it was another driver, I would have probably just focused on myself, but I know that Scott can make crazy stuff happen. 'If he gets a yellow and he's still P1, we're not going to be able to pass him. We were still trying to get that first-place position on track, just in case there was a four-lap yellow at the end, and he would've still been leading and maybe ended up with a win.' In all, the chaos kept things interesting, and Palou's Sunday kept him longing for something else the next time out, too. 'We couldn't do donuts,' he joked. 'I would've liked that, but at least (we had) enough to make it to Victory Lane.'
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Detroit Grand Prix: Cooler temperatures could force IndyCar drivers to adjust
Fans during morning practice laps at the Detroit Grand Prix course in downtown Detroit on Saturday, May 31, were seen wearing jackets and keeping their hands in their pockets as drivers zoomed around the track. In short — it was cold. Not frigid, but certainly a lot colder than Detroiters are used to in late May. Advertisement By the time Indy NXT qualification kicked off, around 10:30 a.m., the outside temperature was in the mid-to-high 50s. But winds gusting over 20 miles per hour brought it to a 41-degree "feels like" temperature, which seemed to have a noticeable effect on the race. For the second consecutive year, Colton Herta snagged pole for IndyCar's Detroit Grand Prix, the Andretti Global driver's first IndyCar pole of 2025. THE FIELD: 2025 Detroit Grand Prix: Full list of drivers for IndyCar and Indy NXT races That's far from the typical temperature this time of year, which according to Weather Spark averages around 74 degrees. And as many regular drivers will tell you, the cold can have a big impact on how a car drives. The same goes for IndyCar vehicles — especially their tires. Advertisement "It seems like the tires are kind of slow to come in with how low of a temperature it is and how cold it is today," said Christian Rasmussen, who qualified 12th for Sunday's Detroit Grand Prix. When temperatures are low, it takes longer for tires to warm up, which makes for slower lap times and potential grip issues around the track. That sounds like bad news, but there is a flip side to low temps. If tires take longer to warm up, drivers can potentially drive on them for more laps, which in turn could lead to better overall times even if they're slower on each lap. "It's like, I could stay out for five more laps, but I might lose 6 or 7 seconds here," said Colton Herta, who won the Grand Prix's pole position for the second straight year. Advertisement "So with it being cooler, you could see, I mean, I don't want to put a number on it, but you could see a lot more laps than we have in the past." With cooler temperatures than expected during qualifying, Herta (and the rest of his Fast Six competitors racing in the final round of qualifying) used the new alternate softer tires to try to get a faster qualifying time. It worked out especially well for Herta, who set a track record with a 1:00.48 track time (beating his own record from 2024). Andretti Global/Curb-Agajanian's Colton Herta enters Turn 3 as NTT IndyCar Series drivers compete during Detroit Grand Prix in downtown Detroit on Sunday, June 2, 2024. REVVED AND READY: Detroit Grand Prix: 5 narratives to watch during 2025 race downtown "I think this is probably the most difficult street circuit, and maybe the most difficult circuit to create tire temp," Herta said. "Like I said, this race is crazy. Like, you just never know what's gonna happen." Advertisement Herta is looking to avoid a repeat of the 2024 Grand Prix — last year he also entered in the pole position but finished in the back half of the field during a caution-filled race. As for 2025 circuit leader Álex Palou, he seemed to take it easier during the practice rounds than the rest of his competitors, but turned it up to a sixth-place finish during a challenging qualifying round. "It was tough for everybody," he said after his morning practice laps. "The good thing is that hopefully it's going to make it a bit better tomorrow with the conditions we're going to have." The "conditions" he's referring to is the weather, currently forecasted at sunny and 62 degrees when the race starts. If the wind dies down, it should create a more optimal environment for racing (and for fans). Advertisement And for a race that for years had the reputation of being oppressively hot, cooler temps might create some more intrigue on Sunday. You can reach Christian at cromo@ This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Grand Prix: Strategies may get tweaks with cooler weather
Indianapolis Star
22-05-2025
- Automotive
- Indianapolis Star
Indianapolis 500 2025 rookies include one driver bumped from 2024 starting grid
Regardless of what happens in the 2025 Indianapolis 500, the rookie class has made a surprisingly strong impression. Robert Shwartzman, driving for first-year IndyCar Series team Prema Racing, stunned the series by earning the pole position with a 232.790 mph run over four laps on the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval in Fast Six qualifying. Louis Foster of Rahal Letterman Lanigan and Nolan Siegel of Arrow McLaren join Shwartzman on the 33-car starting grid. IndyCar rookie Jacob Abel was bumped from the field. The 2024 Indy NXT champion qualified 3rd and finished 11th in Indianapolis road course race on May 10. Shwartzman, who competed in the World Endurance Championship in 2024, has two 18th-place finishes this year. Siegel competed in 12 IndyCar Series races in 2024, and has a best finish of 9th this year.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Newgarden, Team Penske teammate Power fail Indy 500 qualifying inspection. What we know
Editor's note: Additional information became available late Sunday night. Here's a full story on what happened with Penske and unrest in the paddock. INDIANAPOLIS — As discontent continues to swirl throughout corners of the IndyCar paddock regarding Roger Penske's perceived conflict of interest in owning Team Penske, long the most dominant team in IndyCar and in the Indianapolis 500, as well as IndyCar, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Ilmor, which manufacturers engines for Chevrolet, his team was dealt a seismic blow Sunday moments before the kickoff to the Fast 12 for Indy 500 qualifying. Advertisement There remain pivotal questions unanswered and details that remain opaque, but what we do know is this: After 2024 Indy 500 polesitter Scott McLaughlin crashed during early afternoon practice for the Fast 12, rendering him and his team eliminated from the run for pole, both his sister entries at Team Penske, the No. 2 of Josef Newgarden and the No. 12 of Will Power, found themselves enveloped in a technical inspection snafu that led to at least one heated exchange on pit lane among a Penske Corp. executive and the owner of Team Penske's fiercest rivals. According to IndyCar's statements on the matter, both the Nos. 2 and 12 cars failed pre-qualifying technical inspection, forfeiting their guaranteed attempts for a shot at the Fast Six and ultimately the pole. The issue at hand: an unapproved body fit on the rear attenuator on both cars, where Team Penske employees filled two different pieces of the attenuator with something akin to glue or putty, which could potentially serve as an aerodynamic advantage. But ahead of the Fast 12, Power's passed inspection without issue, and it wasn't until Newgarden's car rolled through afterwards that IndyCar's tech inspection crew raised a red flag. Upon further review, Power's car had been prepared the same way as Newgarden's, leaving Team Penske IndyCar president Tim Cindric with a decision to make. Though IndyCar's verbiage is that Power passed inspection and could freely make his Fast 12 attempt, Cindric and Co. were of the belief that the violation on Power's car would be caught in post-qualifying inspection, and so they went to work on both cars on pit lane with a variety of tools — blow torches and grinders among them — to try and remedy the issue. Advertisement Sunday's eventful action: Rookie Robert Shwartzman wins pole for Prema Racing Fixing that issue is not permitted after tech inspection, as opposed to wing adjustments and tire pressure changes. How Newgarden's car made it to pit lane despite having failed inspection, and why IndyCar has referred to Power's car as having failed its tech inspection, despite Cindric saying it passed and rolled onto pitlane, is unclear. "At the end of the day, we didn't do it right," Cindric said. McLaughlin, who won the 2024 pole position, was second fastest in Saturday's qualifying; two-time defending race champ Newgarden was third, and Power 10th. Advertisement They will start the race on Row 4, lined up by Saturday's qualifying speeds. Josef Newgarden goes for a run Newgarden couldn't drive his car, but he kept moving. This story will be updated. Get IndyStar's motorsports coverage sent directly to your inbox with the Motorsports newsletter. This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Why Will Power, Josef Newgarden failed Indy 500 qualifying tech inspection
