Defending series champion Alex Palou won the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey from the pole position, taking over the NTT IndyCar Series championship points lead while maintaining his podium streak at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
Colton Herta finished second by 1.9780 seconds, followed by Alexander Rossi, Romain Grosjean and Kyle Kirkwood.
It’s the second victory at Laguna Seca for Palou, who started from the pole position in his No. 10 Dallara-Honda for the second time this season but lost the lead to Kirkwood on the opening lap. Kirkwood led the first 24 laps before yielding the point to Palou, who led a race-high 48 of 95 laps.
RACE RESULTS: Where everyone finished at Laguna Seca
“It was a chaotic race, man,” Palou told NBC Sports’ Dillon Welch. “Didn’t do a really good job on the start and those restarts at the beginning. We’ve been working so hard in qualifying to get that first position, but (the team) did a tremendous job.
“Strategy was a bit risky for the position we were in, but we knew we had the pace and just had to execute. Was fun, too much intense at the end with those restarts, but overall an amazing week for the 10 DHL car.”
Scott Dixon was sixth as Hondas took four of the top six spots.
Will Power, who entered the race with a five-point lead over Palou, finished seventh after the Team Penske driver had a late-race incident with teammate Scott McLaughlin. Pato O’Ward, Santino Ferrucci and Marcus Ericsson rounded out the top 10.
With nine races remaining, Palou leads by 23 points over Power in the standings.
In four starts at Laguna Seca, Palou has finishes of second, first, third and first.
Herta tied a season best with his runner-up showing.
“It’s a good result,” the Andretti Global driver told NBC Sports’ Georgia Henneberry. “We chose the strategy we did, and we did a really good job with what we chose.
“I’m happy the Gainbrdige Honda was super fast and whether fuel-saving or not, we had a lot of pace. Sucks not to win here but have to be happy with second place for sure.”
