Alex Palou maintained his torrid hot streak in the NTT IndyCar Series with his third consecutive victory by winning at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
The Chip Ganassi Racing driver led the final 24 laps to win the Honda Indy 200 by 5.0242 seconds over teammate Scott Dixon.
Palou, 26, has won four of the past five races and finished fourth in the Indy 500, which he started from the pole position. The 2021 IndyCar champion said this is the best stretch he ever has enjoyed in racing.
“I don’t think I had three big wins in a row and always being up there,” Palou said. “So, no, it’s the best moment of my career so far.”
Will Power finished third, followed by Christian Lundgaard and Scott McLaughlin.
Through nine of 17 races, Palou has built a 110-point lead over Dixon, a points cushion of more than two races. But the six-time series champion isn’t giving up, noting he made up a similar deficit on Juan Pablo Montoya in 2015.
Anything’s possible,” Dixon said. “Like we’ve always seen, you’re never out of it until you’re out of it. So, we’ll keep trying as hard as possible. But you’ve got to give them credit, they’re doing a hell of a job.”
Does Palou feel as if he has become a bigger target for the rest of the field?
“I would say it’s the same target if you are 10 points or 50 points in front,” Palou said. “So, yeah, obviously everybody is seeing what we’re doing. We’ve got three wins in a row. We can keep it going because I know we have good cars and a great team. So, yeah, I don’t think it’s getting larger.”
For the second consecutive race, Colton Herta started from the pole position but faltered from the lead. After his team botched his pit strategy at Road America last month, Herta led 26 laps but finished 11th after a penalty for speeding in the pits.
Here are the IndyCar results and points standings Sunday after the Honda Indy 200 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course:
RESULTS
Click here for the box score from the 80-lap race on the 13-turn, 2.258-mile road course at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. Click here for the official posting.
Here is the finishing order in the Honda Indy 200 with starting position in parentheses, driver, engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):
1. (4) Alex Palou, Honda, 80, Running
2. (6) Scott Dixon, Honda, 80, Running
3. (7) Will Power, Chevrolet, 80, Running
4. (5) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 80, Running
5. (8) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 80, Running
6. (12) David Malukas, Honda, 80, Running
7. (2) Graham Rahal, Honda, 80, Running
8. (25) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 80, Running
9. (18) Marcus Armstrong, Honda, 80, Running
10. (13) Alexander Rossi, Chevrolet, 80, Running
11. (1) Colton Herta, Honda, 80, Running
12. (15) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 80, Running
13. (14) Romain Grosjean, Honda, 80, Running
14. (24) Devlin DeFrancesco, Honda, 80, Running
15. (16) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 80, Running
16. (20) Callum Ilott, Chevrolet, 80, Running
17. (3) Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, 80, Running
18. (11) Jack Harvey, Honda, 80, Running
19. (17) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Chevrolet, 80, Running
20. (27) Conor Daly, Honda, 80, Running
21. (19) Helio Castroneves, Honda, 79, Running
22. (22) Sting Ray Robb, Honda, 79, Running
23. (21) Agustin Canapino, Chevrolet, 79, Running
24. (26) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 79, Running
25. (10) Felix Rosenqvist, Chevrolet, 79, Running
26. (23) Benjamin Pedersen, Chevrolet, 79, Running
27. (9) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 5, Contact
Winners average speed: 111.125 mph; Time of race: 1 hours, 37 minutes, 31.9887 seconds; Margin of victory: 5.0242 seconds; Cautions: One for four laps; Lead changes: Seven among five drivers; Lap Leaders: Herta 1-26; Rahal 27; Palou 28; Dixon 29-30; Palou 31-53; Power 54; Rahal 55-56; Palou 57-80.
POINTS
Click here for the points tally in Sunday’s race.
Here are the points standings after the ninth race of the season for:
Top 10 in points: Palou 377, Dixon 267, Newgarden 261, Ericsson 255, O’Ward 250, McLaughlin 229, Power 226, Rossi 216, Herta 204, Lundgaard 194.
Rest of the standings: Kirkwood 177, Grosjean 167, Rosenqvist 163, Rahal 145, Ilott 142, VeeKay 141, Armstrong 130, Ferrucci 125, Malukas 124, Castroneves 104, DeFrancesco 104, Conor Daly 98, Canapino 95,Harvey 95, Pagenaud 88, Pedersen 75, Robb 71, Hunter-Reay 44, Takuma Sato 37, Ed Carpenter 27, Tony Kanaan 18, Marco Andretti 13, Katherine Legge 5, RC Enerson 5.
NEXT: The NTT IndyCar Series will race July 16 on the streets of Toronto. Broadcast coverage will begin at 1:30 p.m. ET on Peacock.
HOW TO WATCH INDYCAR IN 2023: Full NBC Sports schedule
