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Fox Sports
2 hours ago
- Automotive
- Fox Sports
Instant Recall: WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca
INDYCAR If there was any doubt about Alex Palou on Sunday at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, he erased it early in and throughout the Java House Grand Prix of Monterey. Get used to it, folks. Palou not only has set the standard for this sport; he is the standard. Palou would have led all 95 laps from the pole if there wasn't that pesky business of needing to stop for fuel. Nolan Siegel had pitted much earlier in the race, on Lap 12, and that's why his Arrow McLaren machine was a few paces ahead of Palou for 11 laps. After that? Well, it was all Palou. Again. The driver of Chip Ganassi Racing's No. 10 DHL Honda has now won three of the past four races on the Monterey Peninsula, and he finished third last year. Palou has competed there five times. His average finish is a ridiculous 1.6. And, he has won the past two poles. Palou gapped fellow front-row starter Pato O'Ward so quickly Sunday that it might have seemed the Arrow McLaren driver had an issue. He did, of course. His name is Alex Palou. The Spaniard now has eight wins in 14 races this season, and guess what: His second-best track is next on the schedule. Palou has won two of the past four races at Portland International Raceway, site of the Grand Prix of Portland on Sunday, Aug. 10 at 3 p.m. ET (FOX, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network). He finished second to Team Penske's Will Power there a year ago. He might have another absurd average finish at that track had he not finished 12th there in 2022. By now, Palou's third consecutive series championship and fourth in five years is virtually a foregone conclusion. We can save that analyzation for another day, but his lead is 121 points with only 162 points available the rest of the way. He should officially be handed the Astor Challenge Cup on Sunday, Aug. 31 at Nashville Superspeedway. While everything at Laguna Seca featured Palou, there were other shining drives. Arrow McLaren's Christian Lundgaard drove from seventh to finish second. That's now five podium finishes for the Danish driver who had only three in his first three full seasons. Lundgaard and Colton Herta of Andretti Global w/ Curb-Agajanian had a spirited battle, and Lundgaard used a mid-race shoulder to uproot Herta for the position mid-race. Herta continued his family's run of Laguna Seca success, but Palou's dominance makes it seem like forever ago that a Herta was the talk of this track. O'Ward finished fourth, but he never seemed in the game. Yet, that added to his career year, already the ninth top-five finish which includes two wins. Barring unforeseen circumstances, the Mexican will finish a career-best second in the standings. (It should be noted that O'Ward trails Palou by 121 points, but he leads Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon by 77 points, so it's unlikely he moves out of the second position.) Dixon gained 14 positions in Sunday's race to finish fifth, and that enabled him to overtake Andretti Global's Kyle Kirkwood for third in the standings. Assuming Dixon holds the position, he will finish in the top three in points for the 16th time in his Hall-of-Fame career. Kirkwood, meanwhile, had a July to forget. There were five races, and he posted an average finish of 14.8. Sunday, he finished 16th with a drive-through penalty for contact with Dale Coyne Racing's Rinus VeeKay. He has lost 120 points to Palou this month. PREMA Racing's Callum Ilott had another strong weekend at Laguna Seca. The only front-row qualifying effort of his career in this series came in 2022. In 2023, he tied his career-best finish by coming home fifth. Sunday, he drove from 24th to finish sixth. One more performance to single out: Ed Carpenter Racing's Christian Rasmussen finished ninth, his third top-10 result in the past four races. This has been a breakout season for the second-year driver who won the INDY NXT by Firestone championship in 2023. Beyond that it was all Palou as it has been all season. He is poised to go wire to wire in this historic season. recommended Item 1 of 2
Fox Sports
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Fox Sports
Pato O'Ward Still Fast, Leads First Practice at Laguna Seca
INDYCAR Arrow McLaren's Pato O'Ward is still on the gas in pursuit of his first NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship. The winner of two of the past three races delivered a strong first step toward winning at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca by turning the fastest lap of the first day of practice (1 minute, 9.20269 of a second on the 11-turn, 2.248-mile circuit). SEE: Practice Results O'Ward, who earlier this month won an oval race at Iowa Speedway and the street race in Toronto, will try to add a road course victory to his hot streak in Sunday's Java House Grand Prix of Monterey (3 p.m. ET, FOX, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network). O'Ward enters the weekend with a 99-point deficit to three-time series champion Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing. Realistically, O'Ward still has a significant points hill to climb, but he vowed to keep charging as long as he remains mathematically eligible for his first career series title. 'We need to keep winning races because that guy (Palou) wins races, and he has won a lot more races than we have this year,' O'Ward said. Palou has won seven of the first 13 races this season. O'Ward has won two. Palou was fourth on the Day 1 charts, trailing two-time event winner Colton Herta of Andretti Global w/ Curb-Agajanian and Marcus Armstrong of Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian. Herta and Armstrong posted nearly identical times -- 1:09.3173 and 1:09.3174 – with Palou at 1:09.3679. Statistically, this has been Palou's best track, with four consecutive top-three finishes, including race wins in 2022 and 2024. The driver of the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda is bidding for his third consecutive series championship and fourth title in five years. O'Ward is one of four drivers mathematically still eligible to win the Astor Challenge Cup, although Andretti Global's Kyle Kirkwood (minus-173 points) and Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon (minus-174) are hanging on by a thread. The four title hopefuls are the only four drivers to have won a race this season. Herta is the only two-time Laguna Seca race winner in this 27-car field. He won in 2019 and 2021. Dixon won the 2023 race. Palou won last year's race from the pole, something Herta did twice. Friday's practice saw several drivers push the track limits too far, and it began with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing's Devlin DeFrancesco bouncing through the gravel at the exit of Turn 4 and hitting the barrier. The impact of the No. 30 Mi-Jack Honda with the left side, the same side that Ed Carpenter Racing's Alexander Rossi hit in Turn 6 with the No. 20 ECR Java House Chevrolet. 'We just lost it out of (Turn 4),' DeFrancesco said. 'The grip's super low, and I think the track is slipping away quite quickly. There are some patches that are quite grippy, so conditions change quite a bit. Conditions are tricky.' Herta noted that Northern California's wind and dust leads to the asphalt getting 'chewed up and beat up' – thus the low grip for the racing tires. Dixon spun the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda exiting Turn 5, and rookie Jacob Abel did likewise in Turn 3 in the No. 51 Abel Construction Honda of Dale Coyne Racing. Later, Rinus VeeKay and his No. 18 askROI Honda of Dale Coyne Racing spun off Turn 11 with Ed Carpenter Racing's Christian Rasmussen nearly doing the same thing trailing him in the No. 21 Liquid Science Chevrolet. 'We're trying to find the limit out here,' Rasmussen said with a smile. The last of the incidents saw Team Penske's Josef Newgarden lock his rear tires approaching the famous Corkscrew – that's Turn 8 – and his No. 2 Astemo Team Penske Chevrolet slid off the track and got stuck in the gravel. The weekend's second practice will be held at 11:30 a.m. ET Saturday followed by NTT P1 Award qualifying at 2:30 p.m. ET. Both sessions will air live on FS1, the FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network. Sunday's action begins with the warmup practice at noon ET on FS2, the FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network. recommended Item 1 of 1
USA Today
4 days ago
- Automotive
- USA Today
IndyCar odds: Favorites to win in Laguna Seca in July 2025
The NTT IndyCar Series is ready to compete in the Java House Grand Prix of Monterey for the 14th race of the 2025 season. In 2024, Laguna Seca represented the eighth race of the campaign, marking a significant difference as IndyCar moved it down the schedule. Alex Palou entered victory lane in last year's race in Laguna Seca, with Colton Herta and Alexander Rossi rounding out the top three spots. It was Palou's second and final victory during the 2024 season. However, who are the favorites to win this weekend? Below, you can check out the IndyCar odds via BetMGM for the Java House Grand Prix of Monterey as of Wednesday, July 23! IndyCar odds for Laguna Seca (July 2025) Gambling involves risk. Please only gamble with funds that you can comfortably afford to lose. While we do our utmost to offer good advice and information we cannot be held responsible for any loss that may be incurred as a result of gambling. We do our best to make sure all the information that we provide on this site is correct. However, from time to time mistakes will be made and we will not be held liable. Please check any stats or information if you are unsure how accurate they are. No guarantees are made with regards to results or financial gain. All forms of betting carry financial risk and it is up to the individual to make bets with or without the assistance of information provided on this site and we cannot be held responsible for any loss that may be incurred as a result of following the betting tips provided on this site. Past performances do not guarantee success in the future and betting odds fluctuate from one minute to the next. The material contained on this site is intended to inform, entertain and educate the reader and in no way represents an inducement to gamble legally or illegally or any sort of professional advice. Gannett may earn revenue from sports betting operators for audience referrals to betting services. Sports betting operators have no influence over nor are any such revenues in any way dependent on or linked to the newsrooms or news coverage. Terms apply, see operator site for Terms and Conditions. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, help is available. Call the National Council on Problem Gambling 24/7 at 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ, OH), 1-800-522-4700 (CO), 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN). Must be 21 or older to gamble. Sports betting and gambling are not legal in all locations. Be sure to comply with laws applicable where you reside. It is your sole responsibility to act in accordance with your local laws.
