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Fox Sports
05-07-2025
- Automotive
- Fox Sports
Paddock Buzz: Will Power Beefs About Alex Palou's Traffic Manners
INDYCAR Chip Ganassi Racing's Alex Palou was the fastest NTT INDYCAR SERIES qualifier Saturday at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, but he also drew the ire of Team Penske's Will Power. Power thought three-time and defending series champion Palou should have been more polite to him during the morning practice. To make his point, Power, a two-time series champion, six times directed one of the big curse words at Palou, and he pointed his finger at the Spaniard at least that many times. Later, Power argued that it was as much the fault of Palou's strategist Barry Wanser for sending Palou into his path, but he was just as angry that Palou didn't yield the track to his No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet. 'I went out on new tires, and he came out a lap later in front of me and then stayed there,' Power told FS1. '(He) then spent four laps just going slow, so I had to keep backing up, backing up, backing up, which was frustrating. 'Then, I came in (to the pits), made a change, went out, (was) on a money lap (and CGR) sent him out of the pits again right in front of me – and he didn't move. He just kept going, and I had to back off again.' Power noted that not only did Palou didn't have traffic ahead of him on the 13-turn, 2.258-mile road course, no cars were behind him. One resolution would have been for Power to slow down to give himself a gap to Palou, but he didn't choose that path. 'He could have backed off, which I always do for him and anyone else if I'm in that position,' Power said. Palou said he anticipated what Power wanted to say to him – and likely how he was going to say it – as he approached him on pit lane after the session. 'Yeah, I knew, I knew,' Palou said. 'Look, I think if you look at (either) practice, everybody is complaining about traffic, and we're all angry that we don't get clear laps. But maybe he thought we did something personal to him. For sure, that was not the intention. 'I don't know if you saw, but I was always like a second or two seconds in front of him. He was just having to back off. I never tried to defend or anything. I think he was just a little upset, and that's OK. 'But, yeah, I knew what he was coming (to discuss) – I just didn't want to start to get into an argument. Yeah, it happens. It wasn't my first time with him, so it's good.' Power, Teammates Fail To Advance Power's day didn't get any better in qualifying. He and Team Penske teammates Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin did not turn laps in Round 1 that were fast enough to have them advance to the second round. Newgarden will start Sunday's Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the All-New 2026 Passport from the 18th position (of 27 cars). McLaughlin and Power will start together on the 11th row, qualifying 21st and 22nd, respectively. McLaughlin blamed traffic for preventing him from having a faster lap in qualifying. All three Penske drivers are former series race winners at this track, so they must be accounted for in this race. McLaughlin has been particularly strong in recent years, finishing first, fourth and third in the past three races, an average finish of 2.66. Newgarden has won two series races here. Power and McLaughlin have won one each. Keep an Eye on Turn 4 This popular section of the Mid-Ohio circuit is the first corner the field will encounter at the start of Sunday's race. Cars will be two-wide – at least – as they approach the hard right-hander. Trouble awaits, especially for those positioned in the left lane. That portion of the track has been redefined since last year's race, and it is flatter now to lessen the drop-off from asphalt to the gravel trap known as 'China Beach.' Several cars drifted wide in practice, dropping left-side tires in the new grass. But that's not the primary issue. There now is a bump at a popular braking point, and the bump seems to be more prominent on the left side. McLaughlin hit it at a bad time Saturday, and it pushed his car off the track. He wasn't the only one, and he won't be the last. If another car is alongside when the bump bites, more than one car could get chewed up. Longer Race Changes Pit Strategy This will be the first INDYCAR SERIES race at this track since 2019 that's 90 laps in length, and the 10-lap increase will change strategies. For the past four years, 80 laps were the norm, but that was an easy two-stop strategy with tight pit windows. The result was conservative racing and few options. This year, three stops will be necessary, and there should be some flexibility in when to make them. Fuel should last between 26 and 28 laps, but look for some competitors to pit early to get track position in the event of an early caution. INDYCAR staged 90-lap races here from 2013-19. Odds and Ends McLaughlin is one of six drivers who won series races last year but are winless this year, and each of them won multiple races. Power and Arrow McLaren's Pato O'Ward joined McLaughlin as three-time winners; Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon, Newgarden and Colton Herta of Andretti Global w/Curb-Agajanian won two each. This year, Palou (six) and Andretti Global's Kyle Kirkwood (three) are the only winners through nine races. Kirkwood qualified seventh but like McLaughlin thought he was impacted by traffic ahead of him in the second round of qualifying. As a consolation, the driver who stands second in the standings (93 points behind Palou) will be one of the highest qualifiers with two sets of new Firestone Firehawk alternate tires for the race, and that should be an advantage. Santino Ferrucci has been the hottest non-winner in the field the past four races. Despite having an average starting position of 18.25, the driver of the No. 14 Sexton Properties/AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet has finished fifth, second, fifth and third, an average finish of 3.75, helping him climb to ninth in the standings. He qualified 17th for Sunday's race. Marcus Ericsson's season continues to be a struggle. Twenty-first in the standings, the driver of the No. 28 FOX INDYCAR Honda of Andretti Global saw the front of his car slam the right-side barrier at Turn 14 in practice. Repairs were made, but Ericsson could only manage to qualify in the 11th position. Ed Carpenter Racing's Christian Rasmussen qualified 10th, but the No. 21 ECR Splenda Chevrolet will move back six positions for the start of the race due to an unapproved engine change following last week's test at Iowa Speedway. recommended
Newsweek
22-06-2025
- Automotive
- Newsweek
How to Watch XPEL Grand Prix at Road America: Live Stream IndyCar Racing, TV Channel
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The NTT IndyCar series is in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, on Sunday for the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America. Last year, Will Power drove to victory in this race. Can he repeat in 2025? Tune in to FOX on Sunday afternoon to find out. Will Power, driver of the #12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet poses during INDYCAR Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg during on February 28, 2025 in St Petersburg, Florida. Will Power, driver of the #12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet poses during INDYCAR Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg during on February 28, 2025 in St Petersburg, Florida. Photo by Miguel to Watch XPEL Grand Prix at Road America Date: Sunday, June 22, 2025 Time: 1:30 PM EDT Channel: FOX, FOX Deportes Stream: Fubo (Try for free) Power's win was his second at Road America after the track joined the IndyCar circuit in 2016. Power won that inaugural race from the pole. Last year, he started fifth. Josef Newgarden, Scott McLaughlin, Alex Palou and Kyle Kirkwood rounded out the top five in last year's race, while polesitter Linus Lundqvist finished 12th. Last weekend, IndyCar was in St. Louis for the Bommarito Automotive Group 500, which Kirkwood won. It was the second win in a row and the third overall this season for Kirkwood. He and Palou have been dominant in 2025, winning every race thus far. That's created a strong lead for Palou at the top of the standings as he's 73 points ahead of Pato O'Ward, while Kirkwood has struggled a bit outside of his wins and sits in third, 75 points behind Palou. You can watch the entire NTT IndyCar season on FOX, which is available to stream via Fubo. Start your free trial now so you don't miss out on any more of the racing action in 2025. Live stream the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America on Fubo: Start your free trial now! Regional restrictions may apply. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation.
Fox Sports
11-05-2025
- Automotive
- Fox Sports
Podium Finishers Pato O'Ward, Will Power Search for Path To Stop Palou
INDYCAR Pato O'Ward finished second at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the fourth time in his career Saturday, with two such finishes each on the road course and the oval. He wanted to celebrate such excellence following Saturday's Sonsio Grand Prix but couldn't. Will Power was similarly conflicted about his third-place finish in this event. Getting beat again by three-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Alex Palou sapped some of the fun out of it. 'I've yet to finish ahead of (him),' Power said of this season's results. O'Ward and Power thought they had a chance at victory when a rare restart came on Lap 72. That was their chance to pounce on Palou, who lost a 10.2-second lead. But those hopes were quickly dashed as Palou left them behind in the laps that followed. They were resigned to what Palou keeps doing to the field. 'We fought hard today,' said O'Ward of the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. 'I was pretty happy with the balance of my car – I just missed it there in qualifying (he started eighth) with the issues that we had in the straight line. But the team fixed it, and it was good to have good pace.' Power started seventh in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet. He scored his 106th career top-three finish – that ranks fourth in history. Still, it wasn't enough. 'It was just a solid day,' Power said. 'Good pit stop strategy and speed. (Otherwise), it was a very uneventful day.' Both O'Ward and Power enjoyed INDYCAR's new rule requiring each car to use two sets each of Firestone's primary and alternate tire compounds. That mixed up the race strategy, although the top-three finishers saved a new set of alternates for the final segment. 'I think we went into it with a lot of unknowns,' O'Ward said of the order tires were used. 'I think a lot of people (thought), 'Ah, it's going to be a red race,' and some guys said, 'Oh, no, they're going to (degrade fast).' I think the (primary compound) was a lot better than what we thought, or at least from our camp. 'I think here it obviously puts some uncertainty in people's decisions, so to kind of see how aggressive you wanted to be with it. I really think in our street course compounds, if this rule would have been in effect in (St. Petersburg) and Long Beach, everything would have looked completely different. I think that would have made even better racing – more passes because now you're forced to do the (alternates).' Like O'Ward, Power wants INDYCAR to apply that rule for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear on Sunday, June 1. 'Honestly, if you started in the 20s and everyone in front of you were on (the degrading alternates), you would drive to the front,' Power said. 'You actually would drive to the front. 'I know you're going to have to take your medicine at some point – yeah, that would be a very interesting scenario.' That was the essence of what O'Ward and Power had to say about the 85-lap race that ended the way three of the other four races have ended this season. Palou has been too good too often, so others need to take note and improve. 'You're definitely taking a very close look at what he's doing, what the team is doing,' Power said of Palou and the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. 'I would say the last four races have been absolutely solid for me, if he hadn't been winning. Like, they're all top-five (finishes), basically – all finishes that make up for a great championship. 'But it makes everyone work harder, it really does.' recommended
