Alex Palou almost made it look easy with a steady drive to win the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
The reigning and four-time IndyCar Series champion, Palou leaned on his pit crew to overtake pole-sitter Felix Rosenqvist, who led a race-high 51 of 90 laps, during final pit stops, then set sail after a late restart. In the end, Palou led 32 laps wheeled his #10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda to win by 4.198s over the Swede at the iconic 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary street circuit.
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon took third to make it a Honda sweep of the podium, with Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood fourth. Pato O'Ward, who started second in the #5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, finished fifth.
Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin was sixth, ahead of teammate David Malukas in seventh. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Graham Rahal took eighth, with Ed Carpenter Racing’s Alexander Rossi, who started 18th, surging to ninth. Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyffin Simpson took the final spot in the top 10 in 10th.
The Race
It was a disjointed start as Rosenqvist led the field to the green flag in the #60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda, with the top six bunched up but with a sizable gap back to Power in seventh and the rest of the field. And it only took until the next lap entering Turn 1 for Palou to jump O’Ward and take over second.
Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden opted to begin his three-stop strategy by pitting from 12th on Lap 12, switching off the harder primary tires to the softer alternates and going out with clear track to make significant headway.
The front runners remained unchanged through the opening 18 laps, with Rosenqvist holding an 1.5s lead over Palou, with O’Ward and Kirkwood in third and fourth, respectively. The top four were on the softer alternate tires. Malukas was the first on the harder compound in fifth.
Rosenqvist’s gap dropped to 0.7s by Lap 30 as Palou clawed back into view. O’Ward was the first among the top five to dive to pit lane on the next lap, relinquishing third.
The rest of the top five pitted on Lap 32, with Rosenqvist winning the race off pit road over Palou as both opted to stay on the softer alternate compound.
The rotation of stop vaulted Newgarden to the race lead by Lap 33, and with a 13s advantage over Rosenqvist, who was on a two-stop strategy. The gap widened to 16.5s by Lap 37 before Newgarden dove to pit lane and received a fresh set of alternates.
Rosenqvist assumed the race lead, 1.9s ahead of Palou, with Kirkwood in third. Malukas was fourth. O’Ward, who was third prior to his initial stop, dropped to fifth.
Marcus Ericsson endured a hybrid issue and attempted to fight through it, but ended up on pit lane on Lap 44. He got out of his #28 Andretti Global Honda and became the first retirement of the race.
The gap between Rosenqvist and Palou grew to 2.5s by Lap 50 of 90. Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard had a tire going down and was forced to pit from 11th.
Rosenqvist’s 3s advantage came to an end after the caution waved on Lap 58 for debris at the exit of Turn 3.
Pit stops on Lap 60 saw Palou beat Rosenqvist off pit lane, Dixon up to third ahead of Kirkwood.
The restart came with 29 laps to go as Palou got a clean getaway, with Dixon, on softer alternates, holding close to Rosenqvist in third.
Race Control hit Will Power with drive-thru penalty for hitting a pit crew member during the recent pit stop, with replays showing the Aussie making contact with the left-rear tire changer for AJ Foyt Racing rookie Caio Collet.
Palou extended his gap to over 5s on Rosenqvist by Lap 74.
With 10 laps to go, Palou held a 5.5s lead ahead of Rosenqvist. Dixon, Kirkwood, and O’Ward made up the top five.
Palou claimed his first win at Long Beach, 4.198s ahead of Rosenqvist.
Photos from Long Beach - Sunday
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Long Beach - Sunday, in photos
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Long Beach - Sunday, in photos
Long Beach - Sunday, in photos
Long Beach - Sunday, in photos
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Long Beach - Sunday, in photos
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Long Beach - Sunday, in photos
Long Beach - Sunday, in photos
Long Beach - Sunday, in photos
