Ganassi Racing brings home four top-11 finishes in Alabama
All four Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR) drivers finished in the top 11 in Sunday’s Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park, including three that included American Legion branding.
Alex Palou scored his third top-finish with a third-place showing Sunday, while teammate Marcus Ericsson was 10th. Ericsson maintained his top spot in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES points standings, while Palou stayed in third place.
Meanwhile, INDYCAR rookie Marcus Armstrong – driving the No. 11 American Legion Honda – overcome adversity during qualifications to finish 11th in the race. Armstrong originally qualified 14th for the race, but INDYCAR race control docked him his two fastest laps for interfering on Christian Lundgaard after both drivers had exited the pits to run their final couple laps of the session on alternate tires.
That dropped Armstrong to 26th in the starting grid, but he was able to make up 15 spots during the race, earning him the race’s “Biggest Mover” award. With his finish, Armstrong maintained his top spot in INDYCAR’s rookie standings, holding a 15-point lead over Agustin Canapino.
"Race was great, car was great, we made our way forward,” Armstrong said via CGR media. “I enjoyed it. The car was really good. We didn't have to adjust much throughout the race.”
Driving the No. 10 Ridgeline Lubricants Honda, which featured American Legion “Be the One” messaging, Palou consistently ran in the top five all day.
"Finished P5, which is not a bad result,” Palou said. “It wasn't a perfect day. Had to save a lot of fuel and we went on a two-stop strategy. It wasn't the best, but we tried because it's what we thought was the best heading into the race. The No.10 Ridgeline Lubricants car has been amazing all weekend. The crew did an amazing job on the pit stops. It's awesome to be back here in Alabama and I cannot wait for the month of May."
Ericsson maintained his series points lead with a 10-place showing in the No. 8 Huski Chocolate Honda. ”It was a tough race, I would say,” Ericsson said. “(Tenth) was not what we wanted but it was still a solid day for us and still in the points lead going into the month of May which feels great, so I'm looking forward to that."
CGR teammate Scott Dixon finished seventh Sunday, which saw Scott McLaughlin take the checkered flag. The entire INDYCAR SERIES next heads to Indianapolis for the month of May, which will include the GMR Grand Prix May 13 and the Indianapolis 500 on May 28 – both at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.