Late passes secures second podium for Lundqvist
Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR) rookie Linus Lundqvist has shown his promise this season, earning a third-place finish in Alabama and capturing his first NTT INDYCAR SERIES pole in Wisconsin.
But on Saturday at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Ill., Lundqvist took another step with his best performance on an INDYCAR oval track.
Moving up five spots over the final 35 laps – including from fourth to third with just laps to go – Lundqvist took third in the Bommarito Automotive Group 500. Making the finish even more impressive was the fact he moved up 15 spots from his 18th-place position on the starting grid.
Afterward, Lundqvist had praise for his primary sponsor. “I want to give a big shoutout to The American Legion,” he said after the race. “Obviously, they’ve stuck with me this year. We’ve had our ups and downs, but obviously moments like this make it all worth it. I know they have a heavy presence with all the Legionnaires here, so I’m very happy to be able to stand on the podium. I love these moments. Hopefully one day we’ll be on the top step.”
Lundqvist passed teammate Alex Palou on Lap 254 following a red flag restart and then later made an impressive pass on Colton Herta, fourth in the INDYCAR points standings, and gradually pulled away from him. His finish helped him build a 71-point lead in the INDYCAR Rookie of the Year standings.
“For me [the last pass] was pretty straightforward,” Lundqvist said. “We got a run in turns one and two, I tried to come down and [Herta] squeezed us, and we made the move going into turn three.
“But what a race for us. We started from the back, we stayed out of trouble. That last red flag as well, we were very close to not making it through that. I’m happy to get another podium.”
CGR teammate Marcus Armstrong, who debuted the red No. 11 American Legion Honda livery over the weekend, recorded his 11th top-10 finish of his career with a P8 after starting the race 11th.
“It was a strong race for us,” Armstrong said. “We were there from the beginning, and the No. 11 American Legion car felt really good in traffic. Unfortunately, the last yellow helped a few other people out on strategy and that put us back a couple positions. But nevertheless, we worked hard for our eighth-place finish. The team did a great job in pitlane as well with very fast pit stops, that was great. I’m happy considering it was my first time here at Gateway.”
Meanwhile, Palou – the INDYCAR SERIES points leader and defending champ had qualified seventh but was given a nine-spot grid penalty because of an engine change in the previous race and had to battle from the 16th spot.
But the driver of the No. 10 Samaritan Purse Honda featuring American Legion branding was able to work his way up the pack once again, this time recording a fourth to pad his points lead to 59 with just four races to go.
“I’m pretty happy. We had to do some extra work today with the engine change penalty that put us 16th on the starting grid,” Palou said. “It could have been a little bit better, as always. It was tough to pass on track and we were lacking a little bit of speed to battle up front, but we made the most of it. A podium for Linus and the team, and I’m looking forward to Portland next week.”
The INDYCAR SERIES heads west this weekend for the Bitnile.Com Grand Prix of Portland at Portland International Raceway.
To learn more about The American Legion’s Be the One veteran suicide prevention program, click here.