Defending series champion Alex Palou will roll into the 108th Indy 500 on a charge that seems nearly as unstoppable as his run to the 2023 title.
The Chip Ganassi Racing star won the Sonsio Grand Prix from the pole position Saturday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. With his second consecutive victory in the event and the 10th of his career, Palou took the championship lead by 12 points over Will Power (who finished second to Palou in his second consecutive runner-up finish).
If he also can repeat as the Indy 500 pole-sitter next week, Palou has a chance to make history and become the first IndyCar driver to sweep the pole position and wins for the series’ two races at the Brickyard in May.
“Man, if we’re able to pull that off, I think it’s going to be some crazy weeks after the Indy 500,” Palou said. “We’re working towards that. We know we have a fast car. Obviously we got the pole here last year. But the competition is tight. They never give you anything.
“Yeah, the focus now is on qualifying, trying to get the pole. But we want to win the Indy 500. In a couple of hours I’ll switch to Indy 500 mode. But I don’t know what (winning) it would mean. It would mean everything.”
Here are the IndyCar results and points standings after the Sonsio Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course:
RESULTS
Click here for the box score from the 85-lap race on the 14-turn, 2.39-mile road course in Indianapolis.
Event summary
Lap leader summary
Lap chart
Section results
Best section times
Pit stop summary
Here is the finishing order in the Sonsio Grand Prix with starting position in parentheses, driver, engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):
1. (1) Alex Palou, Honda, 85, Running
2. (3) Will Power, Chevrolet, 85, Running
3. (2) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 85, Running
4. (6) Scott Dixon, Honda, 85, Running
5. (8) Marcus Armstrong, Honda, 85, Running
6. (13) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 85, Running
7. (24) Colton Herta, Honda, 85, Running
8. (7) Alexander Rossi, Chevrolet, 85, Running
9. (9) Graham Rahal, Honda, 85, Running
10. (10) Felix Rosenqvist, Honda, 85, Running
11. (14) Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, 85, Running
12. (23) Romain Grosjean, Chevrolet, 85, Running
13. (5) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 85, Running
14. (11) Pietro Fittipaldi, Honda, 85, Running
15. (25) Kyffin Simpson, Honda, 85, Running
16. (21) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 85, Running
17. (4) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 85, Running
18. (17) Jack Harvey, Honda, 85, Running
19. (18) Theo Pourchaire, Chevrolet, 85, Running
20. (20) Christian Rasmussen, Chevrolet, 85, Running
21. (15) Agustin Canapino, Chevrolet, 84, Running
22. (27) Sting Ray Robb, Chevrolet, 84, Running
23. (26) Tom Blomqvist, Honda, 84, Running
24. (19) Linus Lundqvist, Honda, 84, Running
25. (22) Luca Ghiotto, Honda, 84, Running
26. (12) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 84, Running
27. (16) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 54, Mechanical
Winner’s average speed: 117.956 mph; Time of race: 1 hour, 45 minutes, 27.2320 seconds; Margin of victory: 6.6106 seconds; Cautions: One for two laps; Lead changes: 13 among 8 drivers; Lap Leaders: Lundgaard 1-18; Armstrong 19; Rahal 20-21; Fittipaldi 22; Lundgaard 23-39; Palou 40; Dixon 41; Rossi 42; Fittipaldi 43; McLaughlin 44; Palou 45-61; Armstrong 62-63; McLaughlin 64; Palou 65-85
POINTS
With his 10th career victory, Alex Palo moved 12 points ahead of Will Power as Colton Herta dropped from the lead into a tie for third with teammate Scott Dixon.
Click here for the points tally in the Sonsio GP.
Here are the points standings after the fourth race for:
Drivers
Engine manufacturers
Entrants
Pit stop performance
Top 10 in points: Palou 152, Power 140, Dixon 127, Herta 127, Rosenqvist 107, McLaughlin 88, O’Ward 88, Kirkwood 86, Lundgaard 84, Rossi 78.
Rest of the standings: Armstrong 76, Rahal 71, Lundqvist 68, Grosjean 68, Ericsson 63, Ferrucci 63, Newgarden 61, Simpson 60, VeeKay 58, Canapino 48, Harvey 47, Fittipaldi 45, Blomqvist 41, Pourchaire 38, Rasmussen 32, Robb 31, Ilott 19, Ghiotto 14, Braun 10, Siegel 10.
PAST RESULTS
Round 1, St. Petersburg
$1 Million Challenge at The Thermal Club
Round 2, Long Beach
Round 3, Barber Motorsports Park
NEXT
The NTT IndyCar Series will hold the 108th running of the Indy 500 on May 26 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (11 a.m. ET, NBC and Peacock). Click here for the full IndyCar on NBC schedule in 2024.
