First Impressions: 12th Grand Prix of Indianapolis

1. Ladies and gentlemen, what else can we say about Álex Palou has not been said already? 

The man is brilliant. He is the best in the IndyCar. He has been the best driver to enter the series in quite some time. There is a chance he is already greater than his teammate Scott Dixon, a man who is second all-time in victories and second all-time in championships. Dixon never had a run like this. 

We are living in a world where Palou locked up a championship with a race to spare two years ago, something that had never happened since reunification and had not happened in the series whose roots are the Indy Racing League since 2005. Last year, Palou nearly had the title locked up a race early. Now, Palou has won four of the first five races, his championship lead is 97 points and the Catalan driver effectively has his fourth title in five years wrapped up and we haven't even made it to Memorial Day weekend. 

Palou plays with his food every race. It never looked like this race was not going to be his even as Graham Rahal led nearly the entire first half of the event. Palou was constantly in Rahal's mirrors. If Palou remained in touching distance going into the final stop, he was going to have a shot at victory until the checkered flag. 

Palou didn't need to wait until the final pit stop. Rahal's team deciding to run its final set of alternate tires on the penultimate stint instead of waiting to run them on the final stint was costly. The one thing the Rahal team likely didn't count on was Palou maintaining ground on the primary tire while Rahal was on the alternate. Palou was quicker than Rahal despite the perceived disadvantage in rubber. Rahal's alternate tires wore out beyond the wear of Palou's primary tires, and Palou flashed into the lead before they even made it to the final round of pit stops. In four laps, Palou was up to a 6.1-second lead. 

The late caution for David Malukas breaking down opened the door for an upset. Palou's lead was over ten seconds at that point over Patricio O'Ward. O'Ward never made Palou sweat on that restart. Palou just resumed his beatdown, and in the final dash to the finish, Palou said goodnight, leaving the competition with a meal of his dust, as he claimed his third consecutive Grand Prix of Indianapolis victory. 

Nothing lasts forever, but no one has been able to come close to Palou and the #10 Ganassi team in 2025. It has been a long time since we have entered an Indianapolis 500 feeling there is a clear favorite. Palou is the man. It will be his race and everyone else will be running for second.

2. Patricio O'Ward ended up second and he was probably the fourth-best driver today. O'Ward got to second with a timely final stop and he leaped ahead of Scott McLaughlin, who had spent most of the race in third. I don't think O'Ward did anything special beyond he made the final stint at the right time and he took advantage of McLaughlin coming out in traffic behind the lapped car of Colton Herta.

O'Ward did nothing special and he finished second. Good for him.

3. Will Power ended up third and he was probably the sixth-best driver today. Power did what O'Ward did. He benefitted when McLaughlin was caught in traffic and when Graham Rahal's race unravelled. After a boneheaded start to the season, Power had driven four quiet races, finishing in the top six in all of them. This was his first podium finish of the season.

Good for him.

4. It felt like Scott McLaughlin could have been set to sneak in and steal a victory at one point when Graham Rahal and Álex Palou were caught behind the back-marker of Jacob Abel. McLaughlin dove into the pit lane and sought to take advantage of the traffic. It didn't quite work out as Rahal and Palou came in the following lap. The positions remained unchanged with McLaughlin in third. 

Then McLaughlin was burned on his final stop to come out behind the lapped car of Colton Herta. What was looking to be second ended up as fourth. McLaughlin should have been on the podium today. The only bad thing to happen was catching Herta after that stop. McLaughlin made no mistakes today. He ended up finishing where he started, but he was better than that for this entire race.

5. Scott Dixon went from 16th to fifth. It started with a good opening stint on the primary tire followed by a second stint on the alternate tire where he could pick off a few more positions. Then a third stint of consistent pace on the primary tire got him more ground and he was able to end all-out on the alternate tire. 

If Dixon only could find some qualifying pace, he might be able to compete with Palou. Just when you start to worry about Dixon, he has a day like this. It makes us nervous, but then he impresses us once again. 

6. Oh Graham Rahal, how I waited to talk about your day! 

It was always going to be a task to defeat Palou, but Rahal got the jump at the start, taking the lead from the pole-sitter Palou, and Rahal was able to hold the point through the first round of pit stops. Despite being caught behind Jacob Abel, Rahal still held onto the lead. On the second round of stops, he and Palou stopped together, but Rahal held on. The critical error was the Rahal team made the choice to take the alternate tire, his second set of the race, meaning he would have to finish on the primary tire. 

The hopes of victory ended there. 

It possibly could have worked out, but Rahal needed to drive away from the competition. He was unable to do that and Palou was able to take the lead before the final round of pit stops even began. Rahal's tires were shot and he slid backward. He was over six seconds behind Palou when he made his final stop. To add insult to injury, the team had a long stop and then held him for a moment to avoid an unsafe pit release into the path of Kyle Kirkwood. 

Rahal came out in fifth but essentially a million miles from he had spent most of this race. 

Regardless of how a team broke up the race today, the only logical choice was to end on the alternate tire. It was the best tire and it would give the teams the most speed on the run to the checkered flag. The Rahal team rolled the dice but unnecessarily so. The team gave Álex Palou an empty net for him to slam home the easiest goal of his life. 

I can understand the Rahal team thinking it had to do something special to beat Palou in a one-on-one fight, but it took Rahal out of the fight before we could even get to the final round. If Rahal was on primary tires in that penultimate stint, the same as Palou, I don't think Palou passes him prior to the final stop. Rahal's tires would not have fallen off that much to where Palou could pounce. It would have come down to the final pit stop and final stint. Could Palou leapfrog Rahal or could Palou beat Rahal in a fight to the finish? Rahal made it easy by taking itself out of the battle altogether. 

Even if Palou ended up as the better of the two drivers in a battle to the finish, Rahal likely would have still finished second today. Instead, Rahal dropped back to fifth, but he was a sitting duck on that restart. Dixon took fifth immediately and Rahal salvaged sixth from a day where he could have been second.

This is all on the RLLR team. Graham Rahal did all he could and he probably should have won this race. He definitely should have been on the podium, but he wasn't even put on a strategy to give him a shot at getting the most out of this race, which sucks because we don't know if RLLR is going to come this close to a podium again. The only track this team can seem to excel at is the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. It blew its one chance.

It has been a rough season for this team. Considering RLLR entered this weekend with zero top ten finishes across its three cars, it is unthinkable to believe its worst result of the season would be sixth, but with how this race played out, this is the most painful result so far.

7. Marcus Armstrong was the only driver to go primary-primary-alternate-alternate in this race and it paid off with Armstrong going from 15th to seventh. I liked the call to end on two stints with the alternate tire. 

This race was starting almost split 50/50 on the tire selection. It actually leaned 15-12 in favor of the primary tire. Armstrong was following the group. By taking the primary on the next stint, he wasn't losing that much group. When you factor in Kyffin Simpson didn't start the race, Marcus Ericsson broke down and Callum Ilott and Colton Herta each fell off the lead lap due to unscheduled pit stops early, Armstrong was not taking a gamble as 13 cars were on alternate tires and 11 cars were on the primaries. 

It allowed Armstrong to take advantage of those on the primary tire for the third stint and then he was even with the field on the final stint. Entering that final stop, Armstrong was in the top ten. If we do this again, I wonder how many more teams will employ this strategy where it gets the least desirable tire out of the way in the first two stints. It surely worked for Armstrong. Hopefully, others noticed.

8. Kyle Kirkwood started 21st and he had to do something different to get track position. Kirkwood went primary-alternate-alternate-primary. Kirkwood likely knew he had to take advantage of those who would run the middle two stints on the primary tire to get track position and then live with the hand he was dealt on the final stint. 

It worked. It got him into the top ten. He was seventh after that final stop, but that was the best his day was going to be though. There was no way he could make up ground on the primary tire when the top five were all on the alternate. He lost seventh spot to Armstrong after the restart, but Kirkwood still managed eighth. It is as good as it was going to be after starting 21st.

9. Rinus VeeKay went primary-alternate-primary-alternate, but stopping on lap 14 to get off the primary tire paid dividends. He was able to carve through the middle of the final on that second stint, and it got him into a top ten position. This is the kind of strategy Dale Coyne Racing was once exceptional at, turning a start outside the top twenty into a top ten finish. Even better is they have a driver who can execute such a strategy. It has been a good year for VeeKay and DCR.

10. It was a scrap for tenth, and Felix Rosenqvist came out with the spot. Rosenqvist had a few lockups and a few bumps in this race. Qualifying did not go Meyer Shank Racing's way, but the team and both drivers did a sensational job to turn this into a double top ten day.

11. Louis Foster suffered at the end of his first stint. Foster didn't lose that much ground, but ending on used alternate tires left him with a battle to the finish, and it cost him a top ten result. This was still a good day for Foster. Should the team have set him up to end on new alternate tires? Probably. This is a rookie. In race #5 of his career, I wouldn't believe he would have the comfort to sprint to the finish on used tires. It was a good day, but it could have been better. That will be the story of Rahal Letterman Lanigan's 2025 Grand Prix of Indianapolis. 

To wrap up the RLLR day, the only team to run a dumber strategy than the #15 RLLR team is the #30 RLLR team. I cannot figure out who thought it would be smart to run alternate-alternate-primary-primary. Devlin DeFrancesco was done with the alternate tire halfway through the race, and DeFrancesco fumbled out of the gate when switching to the primary tire when he stalled on that second stop. That took him out of the top ten, but he was always likely to tumble that far. It was only made worse when he still had a second stint to go on the primary tire. DeFrancesco ended up 17th. Without that stall, DeFrancesco might finish 14th, but again RLLR took a car out of the top ten. 

I understand with three cars splitting strategies. With three cars starting in the top five, you cannot be that crazy! 

Kyle Kirkwood can finish on the primary because he started 21st. If you were starting outside the top fifteen that was the only way that gamble was acceptable. RLLR had three cars starting in the top five! Split the strategy with one car starting on the primary. Hell, run the Armstrong strategy and run the first two stints on the primary compound. 

Ending on the alternate tire is where the planning should have started. Then you build the rest of the strategy from there. I don't understand how RLLR missed that on TWO CARS STARTING IN THE TOP FIVE! 

12. Josef Newgarden is 12th but he had an impressive day because he had an MGU issue that caused him to drop from his grid position to essentially last because his car was being worked on during the parade laps. I don't understand how Newgarden and his team continue to stumble. Seatbelt issue, driver error, MGU issues. I don't know how this keeps happening to this team. 

Remember when Newgarden decided ahead of the 2024 to focus himself on his career and eliminate distractions? I have been saying this for a while, it is time to go back to the drawing board. All that work has been for nothing.

13. Nolan Siegel had a positive day driving up to 13th. Siegel wasn't in the mix that much. Christian Lundgaard had a pit lane penalty when he went over the blend line exiting after his second stop. This killed Lundgaard's race. He was looking poised to fight for a top ten result. The Dane went primary-alternate-alternate-primary. He likely would have been around Kirkwood and in a battle for those spots at the back of the top ten. Instead, Lundgaard was 16th.

14. Alexander Rossi did the primary-alternate-alternate-primary strategy. It didn't work. Rossi was 14th after starting ninth. That battle for tenth was likely tighter than expected, and Rossi lost out with the number of cars in that fight. I wonder how Rossi would have fared on the primary-primary-alternate-alternate strategy that Armstrong ran. It netted Armstrong seven spots from the start. I am not saying it would have put Rossi on the podium, but I think he could have pushed for a top five.

Christian Rasmussen started 19th and finished 19th. This seems to be the story of Rasmussen's career. He has a lot of races where he is anonymous. I know Ed Carpenter Racing hasn't been the bellwether team over Rasmussen's season-plus in IndyCar, but I also don't think Rasmussen has shown much to think he is someone who can make waves in IndyCar. With how competitive teams are for the Leaders' Circle funding, especially after last season when a number made changes with the prize money in mind, ECR might be making a change if the results don't improve. 

15. Conor Daly was 15th and Sting Ray Robb was 21st. That is Juncos Hollinger Racing for you. Daly did spin on the opening lap. Not the way you want to start the race, so I guess 15th isn't that bad in that context.

16. Robert Shwartzman ended up on the lead lap and in 18th, a nine-spot improvement. Callum Ilott was spun when the final stacked up early exiting turn 12, and Ilott battled some mechanical issues afterward to finish 22nd. Prema are going through those growing pains. 

17. Not a great day for A.J. Foyt Racing. 

Santino Ferrucci lost an engine in the warm-up, and he didn't benefit from starting in 11th on the primary tire. Ferrucci was shuffled back quickly. He actually rolled the dice when his teammate David Malukas broke down and brought out a caution. He switched to a third set of alternate tire after running nine laps on his second primary set. Ferrucci sacrificed track position in hopes to charge through the field. Ferrucci then immediately locked up his tires entering turn one, lost spots and that gamble backfired. 

Even before breaking down, David Malukas was outside the top fifteen and wasn't competitive in this race. A.J. Foyt Racing will be happy about oval activity beginning Tuesday. 

18. Jacob Abel's highlight of the race was being traffic to balk Graham Rahal and Álex Palou. Again, I don't think Abel is that bad. We can see Dale Coyne Racing has picked up form. However, in five races Abel has yet to finish better than 23rd and I don't think he has spent a lap in the top twenty that wasn't during a pit cycle. Something must give. 

19. Kyle Kirkwood salvaged Andretti Global's day because the team had numerous mechanical issues in the warm up. In the race, Colton Herta damaged his front wing on lap two and fell off the lead lap. Then seven laps into the race, Marcus Ericsson lost drive and was spun for good measure. 

This was a nightmare day for Andretti Global, but at no point this season has it felt Andretti was due for a day to go this poorly. Herta has had his pit stop mishaps, but that isn't a sign that everything would break on this team at once. The team has won and probably could have two victories this season. I guess it is better for this to happen in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis than the Indianapolis 500, but this does feel like a team that gets in its own way more often than it should.

20. Kyffin Simpson did not start this race. Simpson could not get the car in gear on the grid and he never took part. I do find it fascinating that the teams can run a morning warm-up, look over the cars in the few hours before the race and when it is time for the race to begin, there is a problem that keeps the car from running. 

I do wonder if IndyCar should be like Formula One and allow reconnaissance laps prior to the cars lining up on the pit lane. We can still have the warm-up, but like an hour before the race allow the teams to run one or two laps to check everything over and then line up on the grid. 

We don't need driver introductions. Scrap the driver introductions. Have the cars do reconnaissance laps and then when the drivers are done have all 27 of the get on a flatbed and do a fan lap. IndyCar and American motorsports must get into the 21st century with the pre-race festivities. Driver introductions are slow and out-dated. 

21. I have been a proponent of having the teams regulated to use both tire compounds multiple times in a race for a while now. I thought it played out well. There is always going to be a limit to strategy. If the alternate tire is the best tire, it is the best tire and teams (except RLLR) will work to end on that tire. But I think this opened the door today, and for the first attempt, I think we only scratched the surface of what is possible. 

The alternate tire was the one to end on. That set up two logical strategies:

Alternate-Primary-Primary-Alternate

Primary-Alternate-Primary-Alternate

However, we saw Marcus Armstrong make up big ground going primary-primary-alternate-alternate. If we do this again, maybe more teams decide to finish on the preferred tire in consecutive stints. 

You could say this does nothing and doesn't fix anything if the strategies are limited to two options, but it was already limited to two options. Under the normal rules where the teams only have to use each compound once the strategies are either....

Alternate-Primary-Alternate-Alternate

Primary-Alternate-Alternate-Alternate

Racing is pretty straight-forward. There are a few good options that are proven to work and then there are plenty of dumb options that will end in failure. 

I think running two stints on each added a little more variety to the race. I hope we try this at more races, especially street races where those are more on the fence over whether it will be two stops or three stops based on fuel. The IMS road course is always a three-stop race. It wasn't going to revolutionize today's event, but I hope we see it for the rest of the season. 

We mind as well try stuff, and this isn't a costly experiment. All the teams have the tires anyway. They aren't being charged more nor are they being told to buy or develop something new. This seems like an easy change to hope and mix things up. 

22. I do have one suggestion about how to take this a step further, and I will admit the most infamous moment in IMS road course history is what brought this to mind: IndyCar should have a race where the teams are limited to two sets of tires for the entire race. One primary set and one alternate set. That is it. 

I want to see a race where the teams have to take the tires further than they have ever gone before. The Firestone tire does seem to last forever. It feels like at the end of a stint the tire could probably go for another 20 or 30 laps before there will be failures. It will not be quick but it will still work.

I want to see one race where the teams can only change tires once. I want to see who decides to push early to get positions and who decides to save and have speed at the end. I want to see what teams change early and I want to see what teams change late and go all-out in a sprint to the finish. 

Again, let's try stuff. The one-tire change limit would actually improve the entire weekend. There would be two sets for the race and eight sets available for practice and qualifying. All we hear about is how the teams never have enough tires and that is why 40% of practice is nothing happening. They couldn't complain if 80% of their tire allotment cannot be used in the race. They would have no choice but to practice more. The fans would win on Friday that is for sure. 

If we are trying two stints for each compound in a race, IndyCar should also try limiting tire changes to once per race. It might be good and fun to watch. Again, what else does IndyCar have to lose? Not a damn thing!

23. Fun hypotheticals aside, we are through with the Grand Prix of Indianapolis and, in less than 64 hours, Indianapolis 500 practice will begin and we are practically 14 days away from Álex Palo winning the Indianapolis 500. 

Morning Warm-Up: 12th Grand Prix of Indianapolis

Álex Palou took his second consecutive pole position of the season as Palou ran a lap at 69.3417 seconds in the final round of qualifying for the Grand Prix of Indianapolis from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. This is Palou's eighth career pole position and he has won from pole position in five of his first seven starts. He has never finished worse than fourth when starting on pole position. He could become the first driver to win consecutive races from pole position since Simon Pagenaud did it at Barber and at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis in 2016. Palou could tie Will Power and Pagenaud for most Grand Prix of Indianapolis victories on three. 

Graham Rahal was 0.4099 seconds slower than Palou's pole position time, but Rahal's lap was good enough for second, his best starting position of the season, and his best starting spot since he was on pole position for Portland in 2023. For the second consecutive season, Rahal has opened a season with no top ten finishes in the first four races. The last time he did not have a top ten in the first five events was in 2014. Rahal has finished in the top ten in four consecutive IMS road course races and in 14 of the last 15 races here. It has been 128 starts since Rahal's most recent victory.

Louis Foster will start a career-best of third as the Briton was 0.5384 seconds off Palou's time. For Foster, this was the third time he has made it out of the first round of qualifying this season, but this was his first appearance in the Fast Six. In four Indy Lights starts on the IMS road course, Foster had two podium finishes, including a victory last year. This will be Foster's fifth career start. The most recent driver to have their first career victory come in their fifth career start was Al Unser at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb on July 4, 1965

Scott McLaughlin takes on fourth on the grid as he was 0.5493 seconds off the fastest lap in the final round. This is McLaughlin's best career starting position on the IMS road course. His previous best came in his first start at the track when he started fifth in the 2021 Grand Prix of Indianapolis. In seven starts at this track, McLaughlin's only top five finish was fourth from 15th on the grid in July 2022.

Devlin DeFrancesco makes his first appearance at the IMS road course since August 2023 and, like August 2023, DeFrancesco is starting fifth. The Canadian was 0.6015 seconds off the top. Fifth matches his career-best starting spot, and this is his third time starting in the top ten in his career. In four starts on the IMS road course, DeFrancesco has an average finish of 18.75 with his best finish being 17th. This will be DeFrancesco's 39th start and he is still looking for his first top ten finish.

Josef Newgarden starts on the outside of row three. Newgarden was 0.6412 seconds from pole position. When it comes to the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, Newgarden has only one top five finish and three top ten finishes in 11 starts with an average finish of 14.0909 in the May race. This is his best starting position of the season, but Newgarden has never won a race from sixth on the grid before, the lowest starting postion he has yet to win from. 

Will Power was 0.0199 seconds short of advancing to the Fast Six, leaving Power seventh on the grid. After finishing fifth in the last two races, Power is looking for his third consecutive top five finish. He has not had three consecutive top five finishes since a three-race stretch of podiums in 2022 at the Iowa doubleheader and on the IMS road course.

Patricio O'Ward missed out on the final round of qualifying by 0.0309 seconds and O'Ward will start eighth. O'Ward was sixth at Barber Motorsports Park but he has not had consecutive top ten finishes since a seven-race from that stretch from the Indianapolis 500 through the Iowa doubleheader last season. In the last five IMS road course races, O'Ward has finished on the podium twice and outside the top ten three times.

Alexander Rossi fell 0.091 seconds from advancing to the final round of qualifying, and this leaves Rossi ninth on the grid. Rossi has four consecutive top ten finishes on the IMS road course. He started inside the top ten for all four of those races. Rossi is aiming to have four top ten finishes in the first five races for the second consecutive season and for the fourth time in his career.

For the second consecutive race, Kyffin Simpson is starting tenth, matching his career-best starting spot, which was set last week at Barber Motorsports Park. Simpson is coming off his worst finish of the season despite having his best starting position of his career. Simpson dropped from tenth to 21st after a slow first pit stop.

Santino Ferrucci has his best starting position of the season in 11th. In the last three IMS road course races, Ferrucci has finished outside the top twenty. After finishing in the top ten in his first two starts on this course, he has finished outside the top ten in the last five. He was 18th last week at Barber. He has not had consecutive finishes outside the top fifteen since the final two races of 2023.

Felix Rosenqvist had an off well on his final qualifying lap in the second round, and this relegated Rosenqvist to 12th on the grid. Rosenqvist has finished in the top ten in the last three May IMS road course races. The Swede has not finished better than his starting position in the last five IMS road course races. He has finished better than his starting spot in two of 11 races here, seventh to fifth in the first Harvest Grand Prix races in 2020 and 19th to 13th in the August 2021 race.

Colton Herta missed out on advancing from the first round of qualifying for the first time this season, and for the first time in 2025, Herta is starting worse than fourth. He takes 13th spot after being 0.1810 seconds off advancing. Herta has finished worse than his starting position in three of four races this season, and in the other, Herta finished where he started, which was fourth at Thermal. 

Christian Lundgaard came 0.0332 seconds shy of advancing from group two, and Lundgaard will start 14th, his worst starting position on the IMS road course. For the first time in his IndyCar career, Lundgaard has finished in the top ten of four consecutive races. He is 28 races removed from his only career victory, which came at Toronto in 2023. 

Marcus Armstrong takes 15th on the grid, his worst starting position of the season, and this is his worst starting spot for an IMS road course race. His previous worst was 11th in his first race at this track. Armstorng was fifth in last year's Grand Prix of Indianapolis, his first career top five finish, after starting eighth.

Scott Dixon makes its an all-New Zealander row eight as Dixon was 0.0541 seconds from advancing from the second group. Dixon has outside the top ten in four consecutive race after this qualifying result, a first for him since 2022 when he had a four-race run of starting outside the top ten over the Iowa doubleheader, IMS road course and Nashville street race. Dixon won that Nashville race. This race makes the 407th start in Scott Dixon's IndyCar career, tying Mario Andretti for most starts in IndyCar history.

Sting Ray Robb starts 17th, a career-best starting position for Robb, His previous best came two races ago when he started 19th at Long Beach. He ended that race matching his career-best finish of ninth. In three IMS road course starts, Robb has an average finish of 23.667, and his best result was 22nd, which has come in the last two IMS road course races.

Nolan Siegel starts on the outside of row nine, and 18th is Siegel's worst starting position of the season.  Siegel is coming off his best finish of the season when he was ninth at Barber Motorsports Park. He was second and fifth in the Indy Lights races held on the IMS road course last season. Siegel has finshed worse than his starting position in all four races this season.

Christian Rasmussen put car #21 into 19th on the grid. This is Rasmussen's fourth consecutive race starting on either row nine or ten. Dating back to last season, this is his eight consecutive race starting outside the top fifteen. Though he has started outside the top fifteen in the first four races this season, Rasmussen has finished inside the top fifteen in three events.

Marcus Ericsson will start 20th, his second consecutive race starting 20th or worse after opening the season with three consecutive starts inside the top seven. Ericsson enters the Grand Prix of Indianapolis having not finished in the top ten in his last three starts. He has not gone four consecutive starts without a top ten result since an eight-race stretch over the 2019 and 2020 seasons. 

After starting in the top ten for the first three races of the season, Kyle Kirkwood is starting outside the top fifteen for the second consecutive race, as Kirkwood will take 21st on the grid. This is his worst starting spot since he started 22nd at Gateway in 2023. In five IMS road course starts, Kirkwood's best finish is ninth and his average finish of 16.6.

Conor Daly rounds out an all-American row 11. This is the third time Daly has started on row 11 this season. He went from 22nd to 17th at St. Petersburg, but he went from 21st to 25th at Long Beach. Daly has failed to finish on the lead lap in the last two races. Daly has finished outside the top fifteen in five of ten starts at the IMS road course.

Callum Ilott will occupy 23rd on the grid, the fourth time this season Ilott is starting outside the top twenty. Ilott is coming off finishing outside the top twenty for a third consecutive race after ending up 23rd at Barber. The only other time Ilott has had three consecutive finishes outside the toptwenty were the first three races of his career at the end of the 2022 season.

One week after starting in the top six, Rinus VeeKay starts in the bottom six, specifically 24th position. Since winning the 2021 Grand Prix of Indianapolis, VeeKay has finished outside the top ten in the last three May IMS road course races. VeeKay was fourth at Barber and he could become the first Dale Coyne Racing driver with consecutive top five finishes since Santino Ferrucci at Pocono and Gateway in 2019.

Jacob Abel starts 25th for the third time in five races this season, and for the second time in six days. Over four races, Abel's finish has gotten worse since the season opener. It hit rock-bottom with a last-place finish at Barber Motorsports Park. He is still looking for his first lead lap finish.

David Malukas will start 26th, his worst starting position since he started 27th in the August 2023 IMS road course race. Malukas did recover to finish 16th in that race. The Illinois-native has not had a top ten finish in his last six natural-terrain road course starts. His last was eighth at Portland in 2023.

Robert Shwartzman rounds out the grid in 27th position for his inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis appearance. Shwartzman missed part of the second practice session ahead of qualifying. This is the fourth consecutive race he is starting 24th or worse.

Fox's coverage of the 12th Grand Prix of Indianapolis begins at 4:30 p.m. ET with green flag scheduled for 4:52 p.m. The race is scheduled for 85 laps.

Track Walk: 12th Grand Prix of Indianapolis

The fifth round of the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series season is at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, as the festivities begin in Speedway, Indiana. Since 2014, the 2.439-mile road course hosts the opening weekend of action from the Speedway with the Grand Prix of Indianapolis taking place a fortnight before the Indianapolis 500. Only twice previously has the Grand Prix of Indianapolis winner gone on to win the "500" two weeks later. Six drivers have split the first 11 editions of this race. The first seven editions were won by drivers born in 1984 or earlier, but the last four races have been won by drivers born in 1997 or earlier.

Coverage

Time: Coverage begins at 4:30 p.m. ET on Saturday May 10 with green flag scheduled for 4:52 p.m. ET.
Channel: Fox
Announcers: Will Buxton, Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe will be in the booth. Kevin Lee, Georgia Henneberry and Jack Harvey will work pit lane.

IndyCar Weekend Schedule

Friday:

First Practice: 9:30 a.m. ET (75 minutes)

Second Practice: 1:00 p.m. ET (60 minutes)
Qualifying: 4:30 p.m. ET 

Saturday:

Warm-up: 11:32 a.m. ET (25 minutes)
Race: 4:52 p.m. ET (85 laps)

* - FS2 will have coverage of first two practice sessions. FS1 will have coverage of qualifying and the morning warm-up. 

Palou's Roll

There is only one place to start entering any IndyCar weekend at this point. That is with Álex Palou. 

At Barber Motorsports Park last week, Palou took his third victory in the first four races of the season. He has not finished worse than second in 2025. With 81 laps led at Barber, Palou cleared 1,000 laps led in his career and it only took him 85 starts to get there. Out of the 10,586 laps run in his career, Palou has led 9.843% of them. 

The Grand Prix of Indianapolis could not have come at a worse time for the competition. Palou has won the last two races on the IMS road course, and he has started in the top seven in the last eight races here. Last year, he won from pole position. 

This season, not only has Palou not finished worse than second, but his worst starting position is eighth. He has started on third twice, and his Barber victory was from pole position. He has won from pole position in five of his seven times starting on the point. This is only the second time in Palou's career where he has had four consecutive podium finishes.

The Catalan driver is already out to a 60-point lead in the championship after four races. This is the largest a championship lead has been after four races since reunification in 2008. 

Palou will have a little more history to chase in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. He will be looking to become the first driver with five consecutive podium finishes to open a season since Simon Pagenaud in 2016. In that season, Pagenaud's championship lead after five races was 76 points. Palou is looking for a fourth victory in five races. The last driver to open with four victories in five races was Sébastien Bourdais, who won the first four races in the 2006 Champ Car season before finishing third in the fifth round at Portland. Palou could also become the first driver to win consecutive races at multiple times in a single season since Will Power in 2010. 

It might seem hard to believe, but Palou is already mixing his name with some of the most famous in IndyCar history. His victory at barer was the 14th of Palou's career. That moved him to 35th all-time, breaking a tie with Tom Sneva. Palou is now one victory away from tying Alex Zanardi, Juan Pablo Montoya and Simon Pagenaud for 32nd, and he is two away from tying Dan Wheldon for 31st. 

Not only is Palou winning often, but he is coming rather close on the days he doesn't win. His runner-up finish at Long Beach last month was the tenth in his career, making him only of 35 drivers to have at least ten runner-up finishes in an IndyCar career. His 47 top five finishes put him three away from becoming the 34th driver with 50 top five finishes in an IndyCar career. Palou has had 13 top five finishes in each of the last two seasons. 

For all that Palou has accomplished, the missing jewel in his crown comes at the end of the month. He already has one victory in the month of May. Only four drivers previous have won a race in the month of May and then won the Indianapolis 500 later that month. No driver has ever won three races in a single month of May. That possibility remains alive for Palou to chase over the next few weeks.

Who Could Slow Palou's Roll?

As inevitable as a Palou victory might feel, he will not win forever. Someone will best him even if Palou is still finishing at the front. In all likelihood, someone new will win this weekend at Indianapolis. 

The biggest challenger through four races has been Christian Lundgaard. The Arrow McLaren driver continued his tear at his new team when Lundgaard raced to a second-place finish at Barber. It was his third consecutive podium finish, and prior to this season Lundgaard had never had multiple podium finishes in a season. Off the back of three consecutive podium finishes, the Dane is one top five finish away from matching his most in a single season.

While IndyCar is heading to a favorable track for Palou, it is also a wonderful track for Lundgaard. Among drivers with at least three starts on the IMS road course, Lundgaard has the best average finish. In six starts, he has an average finish of 5.667, and he has finished in the top five of the last four races. He has never started worse than eighth on this course and he has started on the front row in each of the last three IMS road course races. 

Lundgaard would be a new winner on the IMS road course, but there are six other past winners at the track entered for this weekend's race who look to knock off Palou. 

Will Power is the wizard of the IMS road course. In 16 races on the circuit, Power has won five of them, three being the Grand Prix of Indianapolis in May. At no other track has the Australian won more than three times. Power has completed all 1,326 laps run in the 16 IMS road course races. Half of his results here have been top five finishes and 75% have been top ten finishes. 

Form has improved for Power over the last three races. He has finished sixth, fifth and fifth. He shook some of the qualifying ills at Barber Motorsports Park, starting fourth after having failed to make it out of the first row of qualifying in the first three races. Power has six pole positions on the IMS road course. 

There is always competition from within the Chip Ganassi Racing organization. Scott Dixon is a two-time winner on the IMS road course. He won in 2020 when the Grand Prix of Indianapolis was moved to July 4 and run alongside the NASCAR weekend. Dixon won the 2023 race held during the Brickyard weekend with NASCAR as well. The New Zealander has 14 top ten finishes in 16 IMS road course races and, like Power, Dixon has completed all 1,326 laps in these 16 races.

Though he was runner-up at St. Petersburg, Dixon has not finished in the top five of the last three races. His starting position has dropped over each of the first four races. After starting sixth at St. Petersburg, Dixon has rolled off from 11th, 14th and 26th starting positions over the last three races. 

Josef Newgarden's only victory here was the first race of the 2020 Harvest Grand Prix weekend held in October 2020. At that time, Newgarden had one top ten finishes on the IMS road course in his first seven starts. In his eight starts since the victory, Newgarden has three top five finishes and five top ten finishes. The bad things is his other three results have been finishes of 25th, 25th and 17th. Those last two results have been his last two finishes on the IMS road course.

Newgarden has not won on a natural-terrain road course since Road America in 2022. Last year, he did have two podium finishes on natural-terrain road courses, a second at Road America and a third at Portland. The Tennesseean has not been able to get on a good run of form. He has not had three consecutive top ten finishes since 2023. 

Colton Herta is looking for another rebound this season. A stall in the pit lane dropped Herta from a likely podium finish at Barber to seventh. For the third time in the last four seasons, Herta does not have a podium finish through the first four races. The good news is in one of those seasons Herta won the fifth race of the season and it was the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. 

Since he won the 2022 Grand Prix of Indianapolis, Herta has not finished better than seventh at circuit in five races. That 2022 Grand Prix of Indianapolis victory remains Herta's most recent victory on a natural-terrain road course.

Alexander Rossi won on the IMS road course in July 2022, and Rossi has four consecutive top ten finishes at the circuit. He has six top five finishes in his last nine starts on the IMS road course. Rossi has started on a good note with three top ten finishes in the first four races, and eighth at Barber was his best finish of the season. 

Rossi's top ten conversion rate is the best for an Ed Carpenter Racing driver through four races since Rinus VeeKay had three top ten finishes in the same span in 2022. The 2021 Grand Prix of Indianapolis winner returns to Indiana on cloud nine. VeeKay was fourth at Barber Motorsports Park, his best finish since fourth in the first race of the 2022 Iowa doubleheader. This was Dale Coyne Racing's first top five finish on a road/street course since Romain Grosjean was third at Laguna Seca in 2021. 

Past IMS road course winners and Lundgaard aside, the sleeper for the weekend is Graham Rahal. For all the struggles Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing has had over the past few seasons, the IMS road course has been the one place where it has been competitive regardless of pace elsewhere.

On top of Lundgaard's impressive form at RLLR, Graham Rahal has the fourth-best average finish all-time on the IMS road course. Rahal's average is 7.6875. He has three runner-up finishes, five top five finishes and 14 top ten finishes in 16 starts. Rahal was on pole position for the August 2023 race, and RLLR has had a top five finisher in four consecutive IMS road course races. 

You can never count out Patricio O'Ward at any race, but the IMS road course is the one place where O'Ward has yet to find consistent success. While having finished on the podium in two of the last three IMS road course races, he has finished outside the top ten in six of 11 starts all-time at the circuit. That is despite starting in the top five in six consecutive races here and in seven of the last eight.

Arrow McLaren is still looking for its first IMS road course victory. Chip Ganassi Racing, Team Penske and Andretti Global have combined to win 14 of 16 races on the circuit with Simon Pagenaud's inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis victory with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports in 2024 and VeeKay's victory with Ed Carpenter Racing in 2021 as the only exceptions. 

Living in the Green, Waiting for Yellow

When the checkered flag waved at the finish of the Barber round IndyCar had officially completed three consecutive races without a caution flag. It is a first since the 1986 season when Portland, Meadowlands and Cleveland were all run without interruption. In this case, nearly 39 years later, IndyCar hasn't seen a caution period since the first six laps of the season. Entering this weekend's Grand Prix of Indianapolis, IndyCar has run 349 laps without a caution period.

It hasn't been without a share of incidents. 

At Thermal Club, Devlin DeFrancesco collided with Scott McLaughlin before the race even began. The two cars spun off in the final corners as the field took the green flag, but both McLaughlin and DeFrancesco restarted before anyone else in the field knew they had a problem. On the opening lap at Thermal, Callum Ilott made contact with another car and suffered damage, slowing on circuit. Ilott was able to continue and the debris was not great enough to warrant a caution flag. 

The Long Beach round ran without any incidents that came close to warranting a caution. At Barber Motorsports Park, the only incident of note was Louis Foster having a bobble in the final corner and driving off course. Foster kept it out of the barrier but he struggled to trudge through the wet grass. When he re-entered the racetrack, Foster was in front of the oncoming leading Álex Palou. Fortunately, Foster caused no issues and was able to return to racing speed.

IndyCar has the onboard starting capabilities of the hybrid system to thank for this lengthy green flag period, preventing some cars that could have stalled from drawing a full course caution. There has also been some good behavior and respect from the competitors. 

Moving onto the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, it is a circuit that lends itself to an incident, but not many. If it comes, expect it early. 

For the first handful of years, the Grand Prix of Indianapolis was noted for its opening lap accidents. The inaugural year didn't get further than the starting grid as Sebastián Saavedra stalled from pole position and was then hit from behind as IndyCar used standing starts that season. There was an opening lap accident in four of the first five IMS road course races. All-time, six of 16 races have had an opening lap caution. 

Nine IMS road course races have had the first caution come within the first six laps. In ten races has the first caution come within the first 11 laps. 

There have been three caution-free races on the IMS road course, and there have been a few times where the race has played out before the first interruption. In 2019, the first caution was on lap 36. The August 2021 race did not have a slow period until lap 68 when Álex Palou lost an engine. Last year's race went 66 laps before the caution was thrown when Luca Ghiotto spun and stalled in turn 11. 

On average, the first caution lap in the IMS road course race has come on 15.2307, but the median of the first caution lap is lap two. 

The Tire Tango

There has been a regulation change ahead of the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, though it is only a temporary change for this race.

In the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, each team must use each tire compound, the primary and the alternate, at least twice during the race. IndyCar regulations called for at least one set of each the primary and alternate compounds to be used during a road/street course race prior to this weekend. This regulation is only in effect for dry races. 

With the tire allocation change, every team will need to make at least three pit stops to satisfy the regulation. However, the IMS road course has always been a three-stop race. Outside of the second race of the 2020 Harvest Grand Prix weekend, which was 75 laps in length, every winner at the IMS road course has made at least three stops. The only time a winner has made more than three stops was Colton Herta in the wet in May 2022 when Herta made four stops. The one difference between this race and the three-stoppers before is every driver will now need to use both sets of compounds twice during the race.

On average, an IMS road course race winner has made his first pit stop on lap 17.375 with the next two stops on average coming around lap 40.125 and lap 59.9333. 

The alternate tire has generally been the tire of choice for an IMS road course race. An IMS road course winner has started on the alternate tire in ten of 16 races, though the primary tire has been the starting tire for four of the last seven winners. However, on all five occasions where a IMS road course winner started on the primary tire, that driver used the alternate compound on every subsequent stint.

If you remove the second race of the Harvest Grand Prix weekend and the two races that were held in mixed conditions, 11 IMS road course winners in 13 races have used the alternate compound on three of four stints. In May 2023, Álex Palou because the only IMS road course winner to use the primary tire on three stints. The only winner on the IMS road course to used both tire compounds multiple times in a race was Josef Newgarden in the first race of the Harvest Grand Prix weekend in 2020. That was an 85-lap race held in cooler conditions in October.

Through the first four races of the 2025 season, the primary compound has been the one of choice in the street races. At St. Petersburg, 16 drivers used the alternate tire for four laps or fewer. Twenty-one drivers started on the alternate tire at Long Beach and all 21 of those drivers disposed of the compound within the first ten laps. Of the six drivers to use the alternate compound mid-race, no one used for more than 12 laps. 

On permanent road courses, the alternate compound has reigned supreme. At Thermal Club, the alternate tire was the preferred tire to end on, but Palou won after using the primary compound on his middle two stints before his final stint on the alternates. Nineteen drivers ended on the alternate tire at Thermal and 14 of those drivers were able to use the alternate compound on three stints. Last week at Barber, the alternate tire was the clear tire of choice. No one used the primary compound for more than one stint and 24 of 27 drivers finished on the alternate compound. 

Road to Indy

For the first time since St. Petersburg, all the three series of the Road to Indy system are back together competing on the same weekend. There are a pair of doubleheaders and a triple-header on the docket for this weekend.

Dennis Hauger has opened the Indy Lights season with two victories from two races and both have come from pole position. Hauger has led all 79 lap this season and with two fastest laps to boot, the Norwegian has two grand slams to open his Indy Lights' career.

Hauger has a 32-point lead over Andretti Global teammate Lochie Hughes, who has finished second and third in the first two races. Myles Rowe has a pair of fourth-place finishes and he is third in the championship on 64 points, 44 points off the top spot. Josh Pierson sits on 52 points with Salvador de Alba rounding out the top five on 49 points. 

Throttle issues ended a promising run for Caio Collet at Barber, and it dropped Collet to sixth on 47 points, one ahead of Jordan Missing and five ahead of Ricardo Escotto. 

Evagoras Papasavvas made an unexpected debut at Barber and Papasavvas was second in his first start. The Washington-native will be back for the IMS road course doubleheader. Papasavvas' second place finish has him on 40 points and tied with Liam Sceats.

We will have another debut this weekend in Indy Lights. American Juan Manuel Correa will drive the #39 Dallara for HMD Motorsports. Correa plans on running seven race weekends this season while also participating in two oval tests. 

Correa was a regular in Formula Two from 2019 through last year. After breaking both legs and suffering a minor spinal injury in an accident at Spa-Francorchamps in 2019, Correa did not return to competition until 2021 in Formula Three, where he spent two seasons. Correa has also run for Prema Racing in LMP2 competition in the European Le Mans Series and FIA World Endurance Championship. He won the 2022 ELMS season finale at Portimão with Prema.

The first Indy Lights race will be at 7:00 p.m. on Friday May 9 The second race will be at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday May 10. Both races are scheduled for 35 laps.

This will be the third round for the USF Pro 2000 Series, as it competed at NOLA Motorsports Park last month with a triple-header round. 

Alessandro de Tullio won two races in Louisiana and Max Garcia won the other. De Tullio and Garcia split the St. Petersburg weekend, but Garcia has finished second in the other three races this season, and he leads the championship on 141 points. De Tullio was second in the final race from NOLA Motorsports Park, but 18th in the second St. Petersburg race sets him back and he has 125 points from the first five races.

Max Taylor has four top five finishes from seven races, and his worst finish is seventh. Taylor had 89 points, eight clear of Jacob Douglas, who has four consecutive top five finishes entering this weekend. Mac Clark opened the season with three consecutive top five results, but finishes of 17th and 18th to close the NOLA weekend has Clark in fifth on 73 points.

Michael Costello sits on 68 points, four ahead of Jace Denmark. Ariel Elkin's three top five finishes in NOLA has him on 60 points, seven ahead of Owen Tangavelou. Jorge Garciarce rounds out the top ten on 49 points.

USF Pro 2000 will race once on Friday at 3:20 p.m. ET. Its two races on Saturday all be at 9:30 a.m. and at 2:20 p.m. All three races are scheduled for 25 laps or 45 minutes.

U.S. F2000 was also at NOLA Motorsports Park last month, and Liam McNeilly swept the triple-header. With five victories from five races, McNeilly has 163 points and he is 51 points clear of Jack Jeffers in the championship. Jeffers was runner-up in the first three races and then finished fifth and fourth. Thomas Schrage has finished runner-up in the last two races, and Schrage had 95 points in the championship. 

Evan Cooley takes fourth on 85 points and then there is a 17-point gap to G3 Argyros in fifth. Teddy Musella is on 65 points, one ahead of Caleb Gafrarar and Sebastián Garzón. Jeshua Alianeli has 60 points and Cristian Cameron is in tenth on 55 points.

U.S. F2000 will race a pair of 15-laps races, the first at 12:10 p.m. ET on Friday and the second at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday.

Fast Facts

This will be the fifth IndyCar race to take place on May 10, and the first since Simon Pagenaud won the inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis in 2014. 

Four of the 25 starters from the inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis are entered in this year's race (Will Power, Scott Dixon, Josef Newgarden, Graham Rahal).

Hélio Castroneves will turn 50 years old on Saturday.

Nine drivers have won on both the oval and road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. They are Alex Lloyd, Jack Harvey, Dean Stoneman, Colton Herta, Will Power, Simon Pagenaud, Scott Dixon, Josef Newgarden and Alexander Rossi.

Marcus Ericsson could become the tenth driver to win on both the oval and road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend.

Rinus VeeKay, Josef Newgarden and Colton Herta are the only drivers to win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indy Lights and IndyCar. VeeKay and Herta are the only driver to win on the IMS road course in both Indy Lights and IndyCar. David Malukas, Jacob Abel or Louis Foster could join VeeKay and Herta as drivers to win on the IMS road course in Indy Lights and IndyCar.

Rinus VeeKay is the only driver to have a first career IndyCar victory occur on the IMS road course. 

Patricio O'Ward, Sting Ray Robb, Christian Rasmussen or Louis Foster could become the first driver to win on the IMS road course in Indy Pro 2000 and IndyCar. 

Kyle Kirkwood could become the first driver to win on the IMS road course in U.S. F2000 and IndyCar.

The average starting position for a winner on the IMS road course is 4.375 with a median of second. 

Scott Dixon's victory from 15th in the August 2023 race was the furthest back an IMS road course race winner has started. 

Two of the last five IMS road course winners have started outside the top ten. Colton Herta won from 14th in May 2022.

The average number of lead changes in an IMS road course race is 8.85 with a median of ten. 

Last year's race had a record 13 lead changes.

Only three of 16 IMS road course races have had fewer than eight lead changes. Will Power has won two of those races (2017 Grand Prix of Indianapolis and the second Harvest Grand Prix race in 2020). 

Power's victory in the second Harvest Grand Prix race is the only time a driver has led all the laps in an IMS road course race, and it is the most recent time a driver has led every lap in an IndyCar race. 

The average number of cautions in an IMS road course race is 1.8125 with a median of one. The average number of caution laps is 6.875 with a median of 4.5. 

Nine of 16 IMS road course races have featured one caution or fewer.

The most cautions in an IMS road course race was eight in the 2022 Grand Prix of Indianapolis, which ran to a time limit due to rain.

Predictions

Now is when Christian Lundgaard gets his first victory with McLaren and he takes some points out of Álex Palou's championship lead, but Palou is still in the top five and the best finishing Chip Ganassi Racing driver. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing does have a top ten finisher. Six teams have a top ten representative. Colton Herta has three clean pit stops. There will be at least eight drivers who end the race on the primary tire, but the preferred tire strategy will be alternate-primary-primary-alternate. At least one driver makes his first appearance in the final round of qualifying. Sleeper: Graham Rahal.

First Impressions: 11th Grand Prix of Indianapolis

1. Not many times does a driver win from pole position and it was a strategic bit of driving that got him the victory, but Álex Palou is not most drivers. Palou lost the lead at the start when Christian Lundgaard made a strong move in the opening sequence of corners. Palou settled in and ended up dropping to third after the first round of pit stops, but Palou remained in touching distance, and what decided this race was the second round of pit stops.

Lundgaard had Kyle Kirkwood and Felix Rosenqvist ahead of him as Kirkwood and Rosenqvist made their second stops early. Lundgaard lost time. Kirkwood and Rosenqvist were on fresh tires. Though Lundgaard may have been quicker, he wasn't going to lap those two cars. Trapped behind them, all of a sudden, Will Power and Palou closed in. 

Power made the second stop first and Lundgaard responded coming in the next lap, but Palou did not get the disruption of the back-markers and the clean in and out laps allowed Palou to go from behind Lundgaard and Power to ahead of both on lap 41. 

What backfired on Lundgaard was the Dane was on primary tires for that stint. Palou was on used alternate tires, but it had shaken out for both drivers to end on a new set of alternate tires. It was game over there. Palou could stretch a lead in the third stint and then they would be on the same tire compound for the final stint. All Palou had to do was keep it on the road, and he is a driver that practical never makes a mistake.

It is hard not to call this a comfortable victory, but for the first half of the race, it wasn't Palou's. We have seen this plenty of times. He doesn't panic. His team doesn't panic. They methodically find a way to win and the pieces fell in place today. This was always going to be a great day for Palou. Even if Lundgaard doesn't hit the back-markers, at worst Palou is third. 

This is the dangerous thing for the rest of the field. Palou is due for a bad day, but are they going to pile up? Probably not, and he is bound to repeat this performance three more times before he has a finish outside the top twenty. He is already the championship leader and we haven't even got to the Indianapolis 500, a race Palou has done exceptionally well in and a race he is highly motivated to win.

2. Will Power must be frustrated because he drove smart all day and couldn't get to first. Power thought he made the right play stopping before Lundgaard for the second stop, but Power caught Marcus Ericsson exiting the pit lane and that was the difference. Behind Ericsson, Lundgaard got out ahead of Power, and there was nothing Power could do about Palou from that spot. 

I don't know if it would have made a difference with Palou, but about a second and a half could have been the difference between Palou taking over control of this race and Power taking control around the halfway point. 

It has still be a stout start to the season for Power, not too different from 2022, his second championship season.

3. Christian Lundgaard lost this race in the second stint, but what I do not get is with how large the pit windows are in this race, and with everyone committing to a three-stop strategy after the first stop, why didn't Lundgaard's team bring him in as soon as Rosenqvist emerged on his front wing?

Lundgaard was never going to overtake a driver on 15-lap fresher tires, but Lundgaard was in the window to make it on two stops at that point. Instead, Lundgaard rode the rear wing of Rosenqvist for about four laps. If Lundgaard comes in on lap 38, a lap before Power actually stopped, Lundgaard might have been able to get into clean air and keep Palou behind. 

I understand not letting the tail wag the dog and not letting back-markers decide your strategy, but clean air should have decided the strategy, and once in range to make it on two stops, take the clean air. 

Lundgaard drove well today, but this feels like the crew beat itself trying to show might instead of showing brains.

4. I was surprised when Lundgaard hit traffic that Scott Dixon did not immediately come in for his second pit stop. Dixon was about six seconds back. Dixon could come in three laps earlier than everyone and make up time while also saving fuel. Dixon still finished fourth. I was surprised that team wasn't a little more aggressive when it saw Lundgaard being backed up.

5. Marcus Armstrong drove great today. He was in the top five for majority of this race. Prior to Luca Ghiotto's caution, it felt like Armstrong had spent about 35 laps running about ten seconds behind Dixon and yet six seconds ahead of the car behind him. Great run. First career top five finish for Armstrong. Chip Ganassi Racing has a good crop of drivers. Shocking how that works out.

6. Scott McLaughlin went from poised to finish about 14th to finishing sixth because he was on pit lane when Ghiotto spun and stalled in turn 11. Sixth was much more favorable than McLaughlin actually ran today. He may have been able to drive into the top ten, but after winning at Barber and going from 29th in points to ninth, ending up sixth today when he likely wasn't going to finish in the top ten is a second gifts in as many races. McLaughlin enters the Indianapolis 500 sixth in points.

7. Colton Herta was racy today and if his team had the car filled with enough fuel for a proper qualifying run, he likely doesn't finish seventh running an aggressive three-stop strategy because he started 24th. Also, he probably finishes a little better if Marcus Ericsson doesn't knocked him off the road at the start. Herta already had an arm tied behind his back, being punted through the gravel and onto Hulman Boulevard didn't help, and yet, he still flew up to seventh. 

Without the caution, McLaughlin is definitely behind Herta, but there is a slim chance Herta could have chased down Armstrong and made the top five. About halfway through this race, sixth or seventh was about as good as it was going to get for Herta. Not a great day but it is a recovery and an important day when taking into consideration the championship. Herta doesn't retain the championship lead after this result, but he is 25 points back, tied for third. Herta is still in the fight.

8. Alexander Rossi spent the entire race in the top ten, and this still feels like a disappointing day. Is this the best Rossi and Arrow McLaren can do? They were nowhere close to contention in this race. Eighth is good, but if this is the tip of the iceberg, that isn't great. Rossi ran the best of the McLaren drivers today, but for a team that had all three cars in the top five of this race last year, and took two of the top five in last summer's IMS road course race, McLaren wasn't a threat for the top five today.  

9. Graham Rahal got his first top ten finish of the year in ninth. Rahal likely wishes he was closer to his teammate Lundgaard on the podium, but Rahal did well and was competitive in the top ten. Rahal got shuffled behind Herta and Rossi. Rahal lost time on the primary tire during the third stint of the race. Rahal needed a top ten finish. He got it today. Hopefully the team can build off this.

10. I am pretty sure Felix Rosenqvist was 27th at the end of lap one after being sandwiched in turn one, but this team stopped on lap ten, got off the primary tire and started clawing positions back to end up where they started at the checkered flag. Finishing tenth after starting tenth doesn't draw much attention, but this result should.

Meyer Shank Racing couldn't have done this last year. Rosenqvist might not have been able to do this last year. Both these parties came together at the right time. And Rosenqvist is still in the top five of the championship. Only positives should be drawn from this result.

11. I am going to run through the rest of the field in team pairs. Andretti Autosport looked in trouble on about lap eight when Kyle Kirkwood was its top driver and Kirkwood was 17th. The team reset for the most part and Kirkwood made up ground, not at the same rate as Herta, but Kirkwood was knocking on the door for the top ten. This was a rougher weekend than Andretti Global expected. It salvaged something...

For the most part because Marcus Ericsson was 16th, and he wasn't close to competitive today. The Herta contact was bad on Ericsson's part. That was a questionable move into turn four. Either way, Ericsson was not moving forward. That is a little bit of a concern.

12. Romain Grosjean quietly finished 12th. Juncos Hollinger Racing showed good pace in practice, had no pace in qualifying, and was somewhat good in the race. Not a bad day for Grosjean. 

Remember when Agustín Canapino was second in opening practice? Well, Canapino ended up qualifying 15th and finished 21st. Can't always take practice as gospel. Let's comeback to Canapino after Road America to get a sense of how his sophomore season is going.

13. When a day is going poorly for Patricio O'Ward, his attitude is abysmal. The Ghiotto caution put O'Ward in a bad spot because the team was finishing on the primary tire. That isn't a great strategy choice to begin with, but if the race had remained green, it wouldn't have been as bad as being mauled at the restart. O'Ward ended up falling out of the top ten. He was distraught on the radio with the team, but the emotion getting the better of O'Ward when the going gets tough happens too often. It is something he must work on. 

Théo Pourchaire is learning. Pourchaire was shuffled back at the start. He came in blind to this seat. He is behind the field in terms of seat time (except for Ghiotto). Results will be better than 19th, but at the moment Pourchaire is going through the growing pains. He knows he has a dozen more races this season. Things will improve

14. The only Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver outside the top ten was Pietro Fittipaldi in 14th, but after a pair of weekends where Fittipaldi was a magnet to issues, he will be happy with today. Fittipaldi was in the top ten for a portion of this race. RLLR still cannot get all three cars in the top ten, but over the last two seasons this has been its best day top to bottom.

15. Kyffin Simpson drove smart again and finished 15th. Simpson didn't drive like a dope. He didn't throw the car off the road. Pretty much everyone behind did something stupid today. That earned him a ten-spot improvement from his starting position. Good for him.

We never saw what happened to Linus Lundqvist, but he was running a position ahead of Herta for the middle section of the race as those two were on the same strategy, and then all of a sudden Lundqvist wasn't there and he was a lap down. I don't know if it was just a long stop or a bigger problem. We will find out soon enough, but this could have been a top ten for Lundqvist. Instead, he was 24th.

16. Josef Newgarden had the primary tire stint from hell because he was in position for a top five until his second stint of the race and he fell from middle of the top ten to 14th in no time. Newgarden was running laps in the 74-second range while everyone else was in the 72-second range. I don't know if there was a bigger problem, but this was a costly day for Newgarden to finish 17th, his sixth result outside the top fifteen in the last eight races. Oh boy!

17. I don't know what we should expect from Dale Coyne Racing, but Jack Harvey finishing 18th and Luca Ghiotto ending up 25th after a spin and stall is likely as good as we can hope for. Harvey started 17th. How much further up should we expect him to finish? Ghiotto was a last-minute call-up for Barber and I cannot imagine he had simulator time ahead of this race. This is as good as we can hope for for DCR at the moment. 

If anything, I wish we saw the strategically aggressive Dale Coyne Racing that earned it good results in the latter years of Champ Car and with Conor Daly in 2016. Why did Harvey go 16 laps to open the race on the primary tires? Why did Ghiotto go 22 laps to open the race on the primary tire? This team isn't beating anyone with pace. Stop on lap ten! Get those tires out of the way! That is the team's best option at the moment and it is unfathomable why it isn't the most aggressive team on strategy every race. Come on, Dale! Get it together!

18. Brutal day for Ed Carpenter Racing. Christian Rasmussen was run off the road when Newgarden and Harvey was battling. Rasmussen ended up 20th. Rinus VeeKay had a few rough moments, a slow pit stop, and a drive-through penalty to end up a lap down in 26th. I am sure this group is glad to turn its attention to the oval.

19. I am going to cover Tom Blomqvist in 23rd right here because he just had a bad day but a day that shouldn't surprise us considering he is still adapting to IndyCar after moving from sports cars. This was his worst day of the season. Blomqvist has looked good, but he still has work to day.

20. Which brings us to the king of stupid for the day because if Santino Ferrucci is going to run his mouth before a race the one thing he better not do is not finish dead last after looking like a dope for running another driver off course. Oh! That's what he did! 

Ferrucci might say he isn't taking any garbage from Romain Grosjean, but when you run him off course, lose two positions in the process of running Grosjean off course, and damage your own car in this incident and completely fall out of any competitive position, that is Grade A stupidity. 

This has been a much better start to the season than anyone expected for A.J. Foyt Racing. It isn't going to finish in the top ten in every race, but Ferrucci had the car in a spot to at least finish in the top half of the field. Instead, he couldn't see the forest from the trees, focused on a getting one over on Grosjean after a run-in during the morning warm-up, and that led to Sting Ray Robb being the dimmest of bright spots anyone could ever ask for with a 22nd-place finish. 

But that is what you get when your best driver is more interested in being a bullhorn. I hope you enjoyed the attention for the noise, but now here comes the attention for where you finished. 

21. I will write this every year but I was wrong about the Grand Prix of Indianapolis a decade. I was wrong. This was another great crowd. This race has grown pretty much every year since 2014. This is an outstanding why to open the month of May and the festivities at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. You aren't getting close to 10% this many people for a practice day. 

A proper race with a healthy undercard in support races is what brings the people out. The hillsides were filled. There were more people spread out in the turn four oval grandstand than we have ever seen for this race. The weather was gorgeous. This is one of those cases where you can take tradition and shove it because tradition wasn't bringing out this many people for a significantly higher average ticket price. 

Oh! And the IMS road course has turned out to be a pretty damn racy track! Got that one wrong as well. 

22. We get two days off and then Indianapolis 500 practice begins. The days are disappearing rapidly. Our annual date with history will be here soon enough.

Morning Warm-Up: 11th Grand Prix of Indianapolis

Álex Palou won pole position for the Grand Prix of Indianapolis at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course with a lap of 69.0004 seconds in the final round of qualifying. It is Palou's first pole position of the season and his first pole position since Detroit last year, a race he won. The Catalan driver has won from two of his first three career pole positions. Palou has five consecutive top five finishes dating back to last season. Last year, Palou had a run of nine consecutive top five results from the second race of the 2023 season at Texas through the tenth race of the season at Toronto. Palou is looking to become the second driver to win consecutive Grand Prix of Indianapolis joining Will Power.

Christian Lundgaard fell 0.0917 seconds short of starting on pole position for the second consecutive year at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, but Lundgaard will start second, his third consecutive IMS road course race starting on the front row. The Dane has never started worse than eighth at this track, and his average starting position of 3.833 is the best among drivers with at least three starts at this track. Lundgaard also has the best average finish on the IMS road course among drivers with at least three starts at 6.2.

Will Power was 0.1632 seconds off Palou's best time and Power will start third. This is Power's third consecutive top five start. Last season, Power started in the top five twice over 17 races, and those were pole positions in both Iowa races. Power did not lead a lap in either IMS road course race last year. This is the first time Power has not led in consecutive races at this track.

Josef Newgarden makes it an all-Team Penske row two. Newgarden was 0.2524 seconds slower than Palou. Last year, Newgarden failed to make it out of the first round of qualifying in both IMS road course races. He has been classified outside the top fifteen in five of the last seven IndyCar races. He has only one top five finish in the last five IMS road course races.

Patricio O'Ward starts fifth in car #5. This is the sixth consecutive IMS road course race O'Ward has started in the top five. He has started in the top five in three of four races this season. O'Ward has finished in the top five in the fourth race of the season the last four years. That includes two victories, at Texas in 2021 and at Barber in 2022. 

Scott Dixon will start sixth, his best starting position of the season. This is Dixon's best starting position on the IMS road course since the 2019 Grand Prix of Indianapolis when he started second, nine IMS road course races ago. Dixon's last five victories have come from starting positions of eighth or worse. He has won four times from sixth starting spot, most recently the second race of the 2019 Belle Isle doubleheader. The only time Dixon has won the fourth race of the season was his first career victory at Nazareth in the 2001 CART season.

Alexander Rossi qualified seventh after coming up 0.0185 seconds short of advancing to the final round of qualifying. This is Rossi's best start of the season. Rossi has three consecutive top five finishes on the IMS road course. His most recent podium finish was in last year's Grand Prix of Indianapolis. Rossi's most recent victory was the July 2022 IMS road course race.

Marcus Armstrong takes eighth on the grid, his third consecutive top ten start of the season. The New Zealander was 0.0559 seconds off making the Fast Six. Armstrong has finished worse than his starting position in all three races this season. In 12 starts last season, Armstrong finished worse than his starting position in only four races. 

Graham Rahal overcame clutch issues and an engine failure in practice to qualify ninth, 0.0875 seconds from the final round of qualifying. Rahal is 110 races removed from his most recent victory. Rahal has not finished in the top ten in his last six starts, not since he was second in last August's IMS road course race.

Felix Rosenqvist rounds out the top ten, his worst starting position of the season. Rosenqvist has two top five finishes through the first three races, the first time he has ever multiple top five finishes within the first three races of a season. Previously, the earliest Rosenqvist has had two top five finishes in a season was through seven races.

Pietro Fittipaldi qualified 11th, his best starting position since his IndyCar debut on April 7, 2018 at Phoenix. Fittipaldi qualified tenth in that Phoenix race. The Brazilian has finished outside the top twenty in the last two races. In 12 career starts, Fittipaldi has finished outside the top twenty in seven of those races.

Rinus VeeKay starts on the outside of row six. Since finishing in the top five in three of his first four IMS road course starts, VeeKay has one top ten finish in his last five starts at this track and his average finish over those five races is 15.4.

Scott McLaughlin was 0.0048 seconds shy of advancing from group one in round one qualifying, and he will start 13th. McLaughlin won last year at Barber Motorsports Park and then finished 16th in the next race at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. McLaughlin has finished outside the top fifteen the last two years in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. 

Kyle Kirkwood fell 0.0182 seconds short of making the second round of qualifying, and that leaves Kirkwood in 14th. Kirkwood is one of two Andretti Global drivers in this race going for four consecutive top ten finishes. Andretti Global has not had a driver finish in the top ten in four consecutive races since Colton Herta had a stretch covering the final three races of 2021 and the 2022 season opener. The team has not had a driver open a season with four consecutive top ten finishes since Alexander Rossi in 2019.

Agustín Canapino finds himself 15th on the grid, the best starting position of Canapinos' IndyCar career. His previous best was 18th at Toronto last year. He had started 20th in all three races this season. The Argentine driver has finished in the top twenty in four consecutive races dating back to last season. Prior to this streak, Canapino had never finished in the top twenty in more than two consecutive races. 

Santino Ferrucci was 0.1107 seconds off advancing and Ferrucci will start 16th. A.J. Foyt Racing has not had a top ten finisher in the last nine IMS road course races. The team's most recent top ten result at this track was Matheus Leist finishing fourth in the changing conditions of the 2019 Grand Prix of Indianapolis.

Jack Harvey takes 17th on the grid, his best starting position of the season and the best starting spot for a Dale Coyne Racing driver in 2024. Harvey was 13th at Barber Motorsports Park last month. Harvey has not had consecutive top fifteen finishes since 2022 at Belle Isle and Road America. He was 15th and 13th in those races respectively.

Théo Pourchaire will start on the outside of row nine. Eighteenth is Pourchaire's best starting position of his IndyCar career. It was announced earlier this week that Pourchaire will run the remainder of the season in the #6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, except for the Indianapolis 500 in two weeks. 

Linus Lundqvist occupies 19th starting spot. Lundqvist is coming off his first career podium finish, a third at Barber. This will be Lundqvist's seventh career start. The most recent driver to have a first career victory come in a seventh career start was Teo Fabi at Pocono in 1983. The only other driver to have a first career victory come in a seventh career start since the end of World War II was Art Bisch at Milwaukee in 1958.

Christian Rasmussen put car #20 in 20th. Rasmussen has yet to finish inside the top twenty this season. With an average finish of 24th, this is the worst start for an Ed Carpenter Racing driver through the first three races of a season.

Marcus Ericsson is starting 21st, Ericsson's worst starting position since he started 25th for the July 2022 IMS road course race. That was 24 races ago. Ericsson has not finished on the podium for a natural-terrain road course since he was second at Road America in 2022. There have been 12 natural-terrain road courses since that race. 

Luca Ghiotto will make his second IndyCar start from 22nd. At Barber Motorsports Park, Ghiotto became the seventh Italian driver to race for Dale Coyne Racing joining Guido Daccò, Fulvio Ballabio, Alessandro Zampedri, Mauro Baldi, Francesco Dracone and Luca Filippi. 

Romain Grosjean will be in 23rd position at the start. This is Grosjean's first time starting outside the top twenty since the July 2022 IMS road course race, 24 races ago. Grosjean has two top ten finishes in his last 16 starts. He has not finished in the top five over that timespan. 

Colton Herta ran out of fuel on his final qualifying run in group two, meaning Herta will start 24th. The American enters this race as the championship leader for the first time in his IndyCar career. There has been a different championship leader after each of the first three races this season.

Kyffin Simpson qualified 25th. Simpson has started 23rd or worse in every race this season, however he has finished better than his starting position in all three races this season. Simpson was third and fifth in the two Indy Lights races held on the IMS road course last year. 

Tom Blomqvist will make his IMS road course debut in 26th starting position. This is Blomqvist's worst starting position of the season. He had started in the top twenty of all three races entering this weekend, including inside the top fifteen in the last two races. Blomqvist was sixth in last year's IMSA race on the IMS road course driving an Acura for Meyer Shank Racing.

Sting Ray Robb rounds out the grid in 27th. This is the 21st consecutive race Robb has started outside the top twenty. This is his worst starting position since he started 27th for the first Iowa race last year. This is Robb's worst starting spot on a road/street course. The Idahoan was 27th and 22nd in the two IMS road course races last year. 

NBC's coverage of the Grand Prix of Indianapolis begins at 3:00 p.m. ET with green flag scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET. The race is scheduled for 85 laps.

Track Walk: 11th Grand Prix of Indianapolis

The fourth round of the 2024 NTT IndyCar Series season has the series at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, running on the road course for the 11th Grand Prix of Indianapolis. Entering the second decade of the lead-off event for the month of May, the Grand Prix of Indianapolis has only twice produced the eventual Indianapolis 500 winner, but last year was the third time the Grand Prix of Indianapolis winner went on to win the series championship, as Álex Palou won from third on the grid, and it was Palou's first victory of his second championship season. Palou has won this season, but in a non-championship race, as there have been three different winners from the opening three championship races.

Coverage

Time: Coverage begins at 3:00 p.m. ET on Saturday May 11 with green flag scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET.
Channel: NBC
Announcers: Leigh Diffey, Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe will be in the booth. Marty Snider and Kevin Lee will work pit lane.

IndyCar Weekend Schedule

Friday:

First Practice: 9:30 p.m. ET (75 minutes)

Second Practice: 1:10 p.m. ET (60 minutes)
Qualifying: 4:20 p.m. ET 

Saturday:

Warm-up: 11:15 a.m. ET (30 minutes)
Race: 3:30 p.m. ET (85 laps)

* - All sessions will be available live on Peacock

Penske Suspensions

The aftershock from Team Penske's technical infringement of manipulating push-to-pass at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg are still being felt in the buildup to the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, as Team Penske has announced the suspension of four team members on Tuesday. 

Team president and race strategist for the #2 Chevrolet Tim Cindric, managing director and race strategist for the #12 Chevrolet Ron Ruzewski, the #2 Chevrolet's engineer Luke Mason, and assistant engineer and data specialist for the #12 Chevrolet Robbie Atkinson have been suspended for the next two races, this weekend's Grand Prix of Indianapolis and the Indianapolis 500. 

This suspension was issued from Team Penske and not the NTT IndyCar Series. 

These suspensions cause a significant shakeup for the teams of Josef Newgarden and Will Power, as each lose members from their timing stands. Cindric and Mason will be replaced by Jon Bouslog and Raul Prados respectively on Newgarden’s timing stand while David Faustino, the current race engineer for Power, will add strategist duties to his plate from Ruzewski, with Paulo Trentini Filho filling Atkinson's spot.

Power does sit second in the championship as the Australian was not disqualified from the St. Petersburg race and was elevated to second after the expulsion of Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin from the season opener. The ten-point deduction combined with the eight-point increase from Power moving up two spots shook up to a net-loss of two points. 

As for Newgarden, the 53 points lost puts him in a hole, especially after he finished 16th at Barber Motorsports Park. On 48 points, Newgarden is in a three-way tie for 15th in the championship with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing drivers Christian Lundgaard and Graham Rahal. Newgarden is 53 points off the championship lead.

Going For Seven

The Grand Prix of Indianapolis began with a period of dominance between Simon Pagenaud and Will Power. Entering 2024, six different drivers have won the last six editions of this race, and we are looking at a potential seventh different winner in the last seven years of this race.

Power and Pagenaud begin this streak of different winners. Power won his third Grand Prix of Indianapolis in 2018 while Pagenaud followed with his third in 2019. In 2020, Scott Dixon broke the stranglehold the two drivers had and Dixon's victory was also the first non-Team Penske victory in the event since 2014. 

Rinus VeeKay took a surprise first career victory in 2021 before Colton Herta won in mixed conditions after a timely pit stop and incredible displays of skills over a timed race. Last year, Palou won in convincing fashion and led the most laps. 

There will be 21 drivers entered in this race looking to make it seven consecutive. 

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing poses perhaps the best chance of that seventh consecutive different winner. Last year, Christian Lundgaard started on pole position for this race, but ended up sliding off the podium and finishing fourth. In the summer race on the IMS road course, Graham Rahal started on pole position and he led the most laps, but the fuel conservation from Scott Dixon meant Dixon held off a charging Rahal by 0.4779 seconds at the checkered flag. Lundgaard finished fourth again in the summer race, and the Dane led seven laps as well. 

In five starts on the IMS road course, Lundgaard has three consecutive top five finishes, including a second in the summer race in 2022. He has four consecutive top ten finishes with his worst result being 12th, which was his IndyCar debut in August 2021. In 15 starts on the IMS road course, Rahal has 13 top ten finishes. He has three runner-up finishes on this track, two of them have been to Scott Dixon. 

RLLR was close to victory at this track last year. Arrow McLaren was not far off either. In the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, Patricio O'Ward and Alexander Rossi took second and third for the team. Felix Rosenqvist made it three McLaren cars in the top five finishing fifth. In the summer race, O'Ward was third and Rossi was fifth. This organization won the inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis a decade ago under different ownership, but the team has not won here since. 

O'Ward has been hit or miss at the IMS road course, four top five finishes and five top ten finishes in ten starts, but he has had three finished of 19th or worse. Rossi's most recent victory was the summer IMS road course race in 2022. In 13 starts, Rossi has four podium finishes, seven top five finishes and ten top ten finishes. 

As much as we make this a team thing, two-thirds of the Team Penske organization can extend this streak to seven consecutive different winners. Josef Newgarden has won on the IMS road course, but that was the first race of the Harvest Grand Prix doubleheader held in October 2020. In ten Grand Prix of Indianapolis starts, Newgarden has one top five finish, a fourth in 2021. Scott McLaughlin has one top five finish in six starts on the IMS road course. 

Felix Rosenqvist is the top driver in the 2024 championship who has not won the Grand Prix of Indianapolis in his career. Fifth in points, Rosenqvist has finished fifth, ninth and fourth in three races this year, and he has started on the front row twice. The Swede was also third in The Thermal Challenge held at the end of March. Rosenqvist has two pole positions on the IMS road course, but he has never stood on the podium with his best finish being fifth on two occasions.

First-Time Winners

While there are plenty of veterans who could extend the Grand Prix of Indianapolis streak, there are also a number of drivers looking for their first career victory that could also make it seven consecutive different winners. Thirteen drivers entered this weekend have yet to win in their IndyCar career. 

One of those drivers was on the most recent podium. Linus Lundqvist had strategy go in his favor at Barber Motorsports Park, and Lundqvist ended up finishing third with a slightly unconventional strategy. It was the Swede's first career podium finish in IndyCar in his sixth career. Lundqvist is the leading rookie in the championship in eighth. He won twice in his four career starts on the IMS road course in Indy Lights competition. 

Lundqvist isn't the only driver in the top ten of the championship without an IndyCar victory, though you are likely surprised to see Santino Ferrucci is that other driver. Ferrucci has finished ninth and seventh in two of the first three races this season, giving the Connecticut-native more top ten finishes in the first three races of 2024 than he had over the entire 2023 season. Ferrucci was in the top ten in his first two starts on the IMS road course, but he has finished outside the top ten in his last four starts here, and he was 23rd in each IMS road course race in 2023. 

Romain Grosjean has been closer than most at winning on the IMS road course, but Grosjean remains winless not only at this track, but every venue on the IndyCar schedule. Grosjean was runner-up in hs first two appearances at the IMS road course. In 2021, he started on pole position for the Grand Prix of Indianapolis and led 44 laps, but the Frenchman lost the lead in traffic and wound up second to VeeKay. That August, Grosjean was a quiet second. He has not finished in the top ten since at this track.

Marcus Armstrong is almost a quarter of the way through his sophomore season, and Armstrong had a few impressive drives as a rookie. In year two, he has only one top ten finish, a ninth at Barber Motorsports Park, but he spent a fair amount of that race in the top five before fuel conservation cost him spots in the closing stint. In 15 career starts, Armstrong is still looking for that first career top five finish let alone victory, but he has six top ten finishes. The IMS road course was not one of the kinder places to the New Zealander. He was 11th here last May and caught in an opening lap incident in August, which saw him take 24th classification.

Jack Harvey scored his first career podium finish on the IMS road course in the 2019 Grand Prix of Indianapolis. Harvey started and finished third that day. He has four top ten finishes on the circuit, and he has started in the top ten eight times in ten starts, but Harvey has finished outside the top ten in his last four trips to the track. It will be his 83rd start, and Dale Coyne Racing enters on a 100-race winless streak. 

The Pivotal Fourth Race

History tells us that by the fourth race of the season, we should know who has a shot at the IndyCar championship and who is out of it. 

For example, all 92 champions since the 1947 American Automobile Association season had at least one top ten finish within the first four races of the season. Seventy-two of those champions were top ten finishers in the first race of the season. Ninety-one of the 92 champions had at least one top ten finish within the first three races. The only champion that did not get his first top ten finish until the fourth race was Danny Sullivan in 1988. Sullivan cracked the top ten with a runner-up finish at Milwaukee that year.

The last eight IndyCar champions had finished in the top ten in the season opener. Only twice since reunification has the champion not finished in the top ten of the season opener. Dario Franchitti's first top ten result was the second race in 2009. Scott Dixon didn't crack the top ten until the third race in 2015.

Of the drivers sitting without a top ten finish through the first three races in 2024, Graham Rahal is the best in the championship in 17th, but the others are Kyffin Simpson, Agustín Canapino, Jack Harvey, Tom Blomqvist, Pietro Fittipaldi, Sting Ray Robb and Christian Rasmussen amongst the regular drivers. Théo Pourchaire has not finished in the top ten in his first two starts this season. 

Going a step farther, 91 of the 92 champions since 1947 have had at least one top five finish within the first four races of the season. Gil de Ferran is the lone exception. De Ferran's first top five result in the 2000 season was his victory at Nazareth, the fifth race of that season. Only one champion since reunification did not finish in the top five in one of the first two races. That would be Dixon in 2015. 

Of the drivers without top five finishes this season, you can add Kyle Kirkwood, Santino Ferrucci, Alexander Rossi, Rinus VeeKay, Romain Grosjean, Christian Lundgaard, and Marcus Armstrong to that list. 

Eighty-seven of 92 champions since 1947 stood on the podium after one of the first four races that season. Jimmy Bryan went the longest before standing on a podium in an eventual championship season. Bryan's first podium result in his 1956 championship year was in the sixth race, a victory in Springfield. The other four drivers, Chuck Stevenson in 1952, Al Unser in 1985, de Ferran in 2000 and Dixon in 2018, all didn't get on the podium until the fifth race of the season. 

Drivers who have fill the first two criteria but to have yet to stand on a podium are Felix Rosenqvist, Marcus Ericsson and Josef Newgarden. 

The first victory is a little more forgiving. Sixty-three of 92 champions won one of the first four races that year. Ten champions did not win until the fifth race with three not winning until race six, seven not winning until race seven, two not winning until race eight, and one not winning until race ten. 

Three champions did not win for the first time until after the tenth race of that season. Scott Dixon won in race 11 of 2013. Al Unser did not win until race 14 of 15 in 1985. Gil de Ferran's first victory in 2001 was race #17. There have also been three winless champions: Tony Bettenhausen in 1958, Tom Sneva in 1978 and Scott Sharp, who was the inaugural Indy Racing League co-champion with Buzz Calkins in 1996. 

The remaining drivers with at least a podium through three races but no victory include Colton Herta, Will Power, Álex Palou and Linus Lundqvist.

Of the 16 champions since reunification, ten of them won one of the first three races, which bodes well for Patricio O'Ward, Scott Dixon and Scott McLaughlin entering this weekend. However, of the six champions that did not win one of the first three races, five of them did not pick up their first victory until race six or later.

It Has Only Been Three Races, But...

Colton Herta leads the IndyCar championship after finishes of third, second and eighth. Herta's 101 points has him a point ahead of Will Power, but it is the first time Herta has led the championship in his IndyCar career. Not only is it the first time Herta has led the championship, but it is the first time an Andretti Global driver has led the championship since Alexander Rossi led after the first Belle Isle race in 2018. It had been 94 races since an Andretti driver led the championship. 

It has only been three races, but Will Power has two podium finishes, two runner-up finishes to be specific. It is the first time Power has had multiple podium finishes within the first three races of the season since 2014 when he opened with a victory and a second. That was Power's first championship season. 

Álex Palou has finished in the top five of all three races, and he has five consecutive top five finishes dating back to last season. Three of those results have been podium finishes. His top ten streak is now up to 21 races and dates back to his victory in the 2022 Laguna Seca season finale. 

Kyle Kirkwood has finished tenth, seventh and tenth in the first three races. It is the first time Kirkwood has finished in the top ten in three consecutive races in his IndyCar career. He still has only two career top five finishes, both of those being his only two career victories at Long Beach and Nashville last year.

Santino Ferrucci has two top ten finishes. It is the first time an A.J. Foyt Racing driver has had two top ten finishes in the first three races since Sébastien Bourdais did it in 2021. It is the sixth time a Foyt driver has done it since reunification. Vitor Meira did it in 2011, Takuma Sato did it in 2013 and 2016, and Tony Kanaan did it in 2018. 

Marcus Ericsson has opened with two finishes outside the top fifteen. Ericsson was fifth at Long Beach, but his mechanical issue at St. Petersburg and rough drive at Barber has the Swede down in 14th in the championship. Prior to the start of the season, he had only finished outside the top fifteen in two of the previous 32 races.

Josef Newgarden has opened with two classifications outside the top fifteen after his disqualification from St. Petersburg. Newgarden was fourth at Long Beach, but he is down in 15th in the championship. Dating back to last season, Newgarden has been classified outside the top fifteen in five of the last seven races.

Kyffin Simpson has finished 12th, 19th and 14th. Simpson was the top rookie finisher at St. Petersburg and the second-best rookie finisher at Barber. He has made up positions from his starting spot in every race this season, including making up 11 spots at St. Petersburg and nine spots at Barber. 

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing's top driver in the championship is Christian Lundgaard in 16th. Graham Rahal is a position behind Lundgaard in 17th. Pietro Fittipaldi is 23rd, and Fittipaldi has finished outside the top twenty in the last two races. Rahal doesn't have a top ten finish yet, the first time he has not had a top ten finish in one of the first three races since 2014.

Road to Indy

For the first time since St. Petersburg, all the Road to Indy series are competing together at the same weekend.

We have a tie at the top of the Indy Lights championship as Nolan Siegel and Jacob Abel have split the first two races of the season, each winning from pole position and leading the most laps while finishing second in the other race. Siegel and Abel are tied on 94 points. They are 29 points ahead of Louis Foster, who went from 21st to fifth at Barber. Michael d'Orlando and Caio Collet are tied on 58 points after each driver has finished fourth and seventh this year.

Myles Rowe sits on 52 points, three points ahead of James Roe, Jr., who was third at Barber, and Reece Gold. Jonathan Browne and Salvador de Alba round out the top ten on 44 points and 42 points respectively.

Indy Lights will race at 6:20 p.m. ET on Friday May 10 and the second race will be at 1:10 p.m. ET on Saturday May 11. Each race is scheduled for 35 laps.

Nikita Johnson has won three of five races this season, including two of three races at NOLA Motorsports Park last month. Johnson has the championship lead on 141 points as the IMS road course is the second of three triple-header weekends on the USF Pro 2000 schedule. 

Hunter Yeany was on the podium of all three NOLA races, and Yeany won the first race that weekend. He sits 39 points behind Johnson while Christian Brooks and Mac Clark are tied on 80 points. Jace Denmark is on 77 points, two ahead of Lochie Hughes, who was first and second at St. Petersburg but finished 19th, 18th and tenth at NOLA.

Frankie Mossman has 66 points, three more than Simon Sikes, who closed out the NOLA weekend with finishes of third and fourth. Liam Sceats is also on 63 points while Danny Dyszelski rounds out the top ten on 58 points.

The first 25-lap race for USF Pro 2000 will be at 3:15 p.m. ET on Friday May 10. There will be two races on Saturday May 11, the first at 7:55 a.m. with the final USF Pro 2000 race of the weekend at noon.

Max Garcia opened the U.S. F2000 season with three consecutive victories and he has not finished worst than fourth this season. Garcia holds the championship lead on 139 points, 16 points ahead of Evagoras Papasavvas, who has finished second in four races and third in the other. Sam Corry has 111 points after he won the second NOLA race. Nico Christodoulou rounds out the top five in the championship on 83 points after he won the third NOLA race.

Joey Brienza was in the top five of all three NOLA races and, on 81 points, Brienza is sixth in the championship. There is 17-point gap to Quinn Armstrong in seventh while Max Taylor and Hudson Schwantz are tied on 63 points. Elliot Cox has 61 points while Ayrton Houk is in tenth on 47 points.

U.S. F2000 will race at 12:10 p.m. on Friday May 10 and at 8:55 a.m. on Saturday May 11. Each race is scheduled for 15 laps.

Fast Facts

This will be the fifth IndyCar race to take place on May 11, and the first since Simon Pagenaud won the 2019 Grand Prix of Indianapolis. 

This year's race falls on the 21st anniversary of Sébastien Bourdais' second career victory at the Lausitzring.

Nine drivers have won on both the oval and road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. They are Alex Lloyd, Jack Harvey, Dean Stoneman, Colton Herta, Will Power, Simon Pagenaud, Scott Dixon, Josef Newgarden and Alexander Rossi.

Marcus Ericsson could become the tenth driver to win on both the oval and road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend.

Rinus VeeKay, Josef Newgarden and Colton Herta are the only drivers to win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indy Lights and IndyCar. VeeKay and Herta are the only driver to win on the IMS road course in both Indy Lights and IndyCar. Jack Harvey or Linus Lundqvist could join VeeKay and Herta as drivers to win on the IMS road course in Indy Lights and IndyCar.

Rinus VeeKay is the only driver to have a first career IndyCar victory occur on the IMS road course. 

Patricio O'Ward, Sting Ray Robb or Christian Rasmussen could become the first driver to win on the IMS road course in Indy Pro 2000 and IndyCar. 

Kyle Kirkwood could become the first driver to win on the IMS road course in U.S. F2000 and IndyCar.

The average starting position for a winner on the IMS road course is 4.6 with a median of second. 

Scott Dixon's victory from 15th in last August's race was the furthest back an IMS road course race winner has started. 

Two of the last four IMS road course winners have started outside the top ten. Colton Herta won from 14th in May 2022.

The average number of lead changes in an IMS road course race is 8.6 with a median of ten. 

Only three of 15 IMS road course races have had fewer than eight lead changes. Will Power has won two of those races (2017 Grand Prix of Indianapolis and the second Harvest Grand Prix race in 2020). 

Power's victory in the second Harvest Grand Prix race is the only time a driver has led all the laps in an IMS road course race, and it is the most recent time a driver has led every lap in an IndyCar race. 

The average number of cautions in an IMS road course race is 1.8667 with a median of one. The average number of caution laps is 7.615 with a median of five. 

Eight of 15 IMS road course races have featured one caution or fewer.

The most cautions in an IMS road course race was eight in the 2022 Grand Prix of Indianapolis, which ran to a time limit due to rain.

Predictions

Álex Palou makes it two consecutive Grand Prix of Indianapolis victories. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing has a good day, but not a great day. Arrow McLaren's woes continue. People will continue being mad at Team Penske, but one of those cars finish on the podium. Scott Dixon does not cause an accident on lap one. Scott Dixon will not have a stint last 34 laps on fuel. At least two drivers get their first top ten finish of the season. There will be a new championship leader after this race and it will be a driver that has not led the championship yet this season. Sleeper: Romain Grosjean.