There was a final restart with one lap to go, but Lundgaard felt no pressure, and took an unlikely victory, one that still feels absurd to achieve.
Even after the first caution for Romain Grosjean's loose tire, Lundgaard was only 18th. Even after Christian Rasmussen stopped on course and brought out a caution, Lundgaard was still 14th.
The race turned in the penultimate stint where Lundgaard was able to run hard and it put him in a position where he made his final stop and had a shorter stint than the leaders on the alternate tire. Lundgaard was over a second faster a lap than the rest of the field, and he made his final stop with ten laps remaining, setting up a game of cat and mouse.
Lundgaard was eating away time from Armstrong in the final stint, but it was going to be close in an on-track battle. Lundgaard then received a gift. Armstrong sputtered and Lundgaard swooped into the lead. All Lundgaard had to do was survive one restart, and with the better tires that was not going to be a problem.
This was still a staggeringly good drive from Lundgaard, and maybe Lundgaard was always going to win this race. Maybe the pace was always on his side and with two laps to go or on the final lap Lundgaard was going to take the lead, but he didn't have to do that extra work to do. He had done plenty to put him in that position.
Maybe it was a miracle it worked out this way. All the cautions. All the pit stops. All the strategy fell in place for Lundgaard to be on such a charge that he could be second and be the opportunistic driver to scoop up a victory when the leader broke down with fewer than five laps remaining.
It could have been a miracle, but Lundgaard worked for it. He had nothing to lose after the opening lap, and a flat-out strategy led to a victory seemingly out of nowhere.
2. Second was probably a spot better than David Malukas deserved in this race, but he ran at the front again. This isn't a heart-breaking second like we saw in the Indianapolis 500. He is in the picture, but outside of Phoenix and Indianapolis, Malukas hasn't been the main artist. He is good on road and street courses, but he has yet to be a driver to beat.
Malukas was not close to Armstrong in the closing stages. Then Lundgaard emerged from the pit lane ahead of Malukas. Malukas got the spot back for a moment, but the tires were on Lundgaard's side and there was nothing Malukas could do to defend that position.
Piling up top five finishes are great. At some point, Malukas must find a way to be the man to beat in one of these races. There are far more road and street courses on the schedule than ovals.
3. Will Power got third even after contact with Graham Rahal on the final lap as Rahal spun himself drifting to the left and into Power. Power had nowhere to go. Race control ruled it a block from Rahal. It is a shame Rahal threw away a result like that.
As for Power, he stopped in front of the first two cautions, and stopping before Christian Rasmussen's car ground to a halt put Power in a battle for a podium position. He was pushing Rahal on the final restart. I don't see what Power could have done differently in that incident.
For Power, it is a positive result. The pit strategy played a large factor in it. There is still room for improvement.
4. Kyffin Simpson was one of many drivers to benefit significantly from Rasmussen's misfortune, and Simpson held on to get a fourth-place finish. Simpson can do things well. I am not saying he does it great, but if he is in a car running seventh, he can finish seventh. He is good. If every year Simpson is going to have one or two results are down to sheer good timing, more power to him, but let's not confuse this for remarkable pace.
5. A pit lane speeding penalty likely cost Alex Palou a victory, or at least a podium finish, but Palou shuffled quickly back into the top ten as Rasmussen stopped after Palou served his penalty and over half the grid still had to make a pit stop. Palou didn't lose that much ground after that happened. He had to make a few passes. The speeding penalty likely cost Palou some points today, but Palou's championship lead is now 11 points greater than it was prior to this weekend.
Nobody meaningful pounced. Malukas gained eight points on Palou. That isn't nothing, but Malukas is still 60 points back with eight races to go. Is Malukas going to score eight points or more than Palou in each of the final eight races? No.
Speeding happens, and even when it happens, Palou can still finish in the top five. Good luck to the competition.
6. Alexander Rossi's slump is over, though the cautions played a significant hand into this result. The Grosjean caution got Rossi out of the cellar and on the cusp of the top ten. The Christian Rasmussen caution put Rossi into a fight for the top five. It wasn't the greatest day from Rossi. It isn't like he passed 15 cars to get here. The cautions certainly helped. You take a good result anyway you can get them.
7. Scott McLaughlin showed good pace and made some good moves in the top ten. The cautions didn't ruin McLaughlins' race too much, but it did keep him in the middle of the top ten, and he could not be a podium contender.
8. Marcus Armstrong had the worst day of the Meyer Shank Racing drivers, but Felix Rosenqvist was hard done with the Rasmussen's caution. Rosenqvist was about five seconds from entering the pit lane. Maybe it was ten seconds. Give Rosenqvist ten more seconds and he gets the stop in before Rasmussen breaks down, Rosenqvist probably wins this race. The Swede looked exceptionally strong today. Unfortunately, the cautions shuffled him back to eighth.
9. Santino Ferrucci gets ninth. Ferrucci didn't do anything notable. He benefitted a little bit from the cautions and some of the late incidents to get a top ten. Take them however you can get them.
10. Kyle Kirkwood was probably a little fortunate to finish in tenth. Kirkwood made up a few spots early, but he never quite had the speed to be a factor. If it wasn't for the Graham Rahal accident on the final lap while battling for third, Kirkwood is likely 11th, which is about where he was all day. This wasn't a good day for Kirkwood. He was not a factor all weekend. He cannot have these weekends and be a championship contender, not against Alex Palou.
11. Scott Dixon was shuffled back and then served a drive-through penalty for making a pit stop after repositioning the cars under the first caution. That is not a penalty we see all that often. Either way, it was extra work for Dixon. He ended up getting back to 11th, but this is now four consecutive races without a top ten finish. Not good.
12. Patricio O'Ward and Marcus Ericsson both looked competitive and should have been finishing in the top five. Instead, O'Ward was 12th and Ericsson was 13th. O'Ward had to take emergency service and was moved to the rear. After the Rasmussen caution, Ericsson had a pair of off-track excursions.
13. We are going to breeze through the rest of the field because as you can tell by the time this was posted it is late.
Louis Foster wound up 14th. It is a nine-spot improvement. Foster did stop on the right side of the Rasmussen caution, but he was shuffled back. Consider this a missed opportunity.
Romain Grosjean overcame the loose wheel to finish 15th. Eh. Dale Coyne Racing does have an abundance of loose tires. This should be looked at.
Caio Collet started well and he looked good, but the Rasmussen caution shuffled him outside the top ten. Collet was better than 16th.
Mick Schumacher is just going to finish 17th every race. It isn't great. It isn't good. It is 17th.
If you have any clue what happened with Juncos Hollinger Racing, you are likely the only one because Rinus VeeKay was 18th and Sting Ray Robb was 19th, and I don't think either was mentioned.
Dennis Hauger had a tire puncture right after the first restart and he never recovered from that setback.
Nolan Siegel was in a position for top ten finish and then he was spun off the front wing of Josef Newgarden. Siegel dropped to 21st and lost a pretty good result. Newgarden was handed a 30-second penalty for the contact and it dropped him to 22nd. Newgarden had another tough day. A 12th-place finish would have been decent. An unforced error cost Newgarden mightily.
14. This one is painful for Marcus Armstrong. His first career victory was in his hand, and the engine let him down. It was going to be close on Lundgaard passing Armstrong before the checkered flag. Lundgaard's pace had fallen off just enough where it felt like Armstrong was going to hold on.
For the last three years, Armstrong has been a solid driver, and this was the first time it felt like he was a true contender for a race victory. The talent has been there. With how Meyer Shank Racing has been running, victory felt possible. It felt like this was going to be Armstrong's day. It should have been. He made the stops at the right time, he had good pace and made no mistakes. The only real challenger he had was Lundgaard, and it felt like Armstrong had done enough to hold on.
This one stings. Hopefully, it doesn't break Armstrong down. MSR has good cars. They can recover from today. It will get a chance at home in the next race.
15. We get a break, a week off before Mid-Ohio. How will Mid-Ohio top what we just saw?
