Palou rallies late for P3, maintains lead in points standings 

It was a battle all weekend, but in the end, Chip Ganassi Racing’s (CGR) Alex Palou closed the INDYCAR SERIES doubleheader in Iowa doing what he does best: finishing strong in the No. 10 American Legion Honda.

After tying a season-low with an eight-place finish in Saturday’s Hy-Vee Homefront 250, Palou started Sunday’s Hy-Vee One Step 250 in the 12th spot. He ran between there and eighth most of the day but was able to move up to fifth before a late caution put the race under the yellow flag.

On the restart with four laps to go, Palou made a strong move and quickly pushed to third, where he finished to secure his seventh podium finish of the season while maintaining his lead in the series’ points race.

“I didn’t expect to be on the podium, honestly,” Palou said via INDYCAR. “This is a place where we struggle, we don’t really have the package that we would like and that I struggle also personally. We got a lot of confidence today, but there’s still a lot to improve.”

Palou went into the weekend with a 117-point lead over CGR teammate Scott Dixon and left the Iowa Speedway with an 80-point advantage over Josef Newgarden, who swept both races and has won all four oval races this season. Newgarden has won five oval races in a row, joining A.J. Foyt and Al Unser as the only drivers to win five consecutive oval races in the INDYCAR SERIES. Five races remain in the INDYCAR season – three road courses, a street course and an oval.

Palou credited his CGR for making third possible on Sunday.

“It was a really busy day, even making five pit stops,” he said. “We didn’t really have the pace at the beginning, but the team put me in a position to finish third after starting fifth on the restart with four laps to go. This was a great crowd here in Iowa, and I’m happy for The American Legion to be here on the podium in Iowa.”

Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Marcus Ericsson, who featured American Legion branding over the weekend on his No. 8 Huski Spritz Honda, stayed in the points race with his performance in Iowa. Ericsson finished fourth in Saturday’s race and followed with a ninth on Sunday. He’s in fourth in the series standings, 147 points behind Palou.  

“It was a bit of an up and down day,” Ericsson said of Sunday’s race. “I had a really good start to the race and for most of the day we were running in the top five. But things just didn’t fall our way in the second half of the race. It’s a bit disappointing and frustrating, but that’s short oval racing sometimes. Overall, though, it’s been a good weekend for us in the No. 8 car.”

In Saturday’s INDY NXT by Firestone at Iowa Speedway race, CGR developmental driver Kyffin Simpson finished 16th and currently sits in ninth in the series standings.

The next NTT INDYCAR SERIES race is the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix on Sunday, Aug. 6 on the streets of Nashville, Tenn.