Alex Palou overcomes early electrical issue to take IndyCar points lead into season finale
Alex Palou overcomes early electrical issue to take IndyCar points lead into season finale
WEST ALLIS, Wis. (AP) — Alex Palou somehow recovered from a nearly catastrophic electrical issue to salvage his championship hopes Sunday in a chaotic race with IndyCar title implications at the Milwaukee Mile.
Palou, who started the day with a 43-point lead over Will Power in the season standings, was in trouble before the race even began. His car simply didn’t go during the warmup and he was disabled at the end of pit lane as the race was set to begin.
IndyCar waved off the start as Palou was towed back to his pit stall and then to the Chip Ganassi Racing garage. The Spaniard was out of his car as the race began without him.
Power had cut Palou’s lead to three points and even moved ahead of Palou in the standings at one point in the race. But Palou eventually got back on track — 29 laps into the race — and attrition helped him to a 19th-place finish.
Scott McLaughlin won the race for Team Penske to remain mathematically eligible for the championship. He sits third in the standings, 50 points behind Palou
Power controlled the race as the leader for 64 laps, but he inexplicably spun by himself on a restart and fell off the lead lap.
“Long shot now,” Power said. “God gave us a chance. That’s a season, man, you can’t make those mistakes.”
Power’s spin ruined his race and he had to settle for a 10th-place finish.
It allowed Palou to leave the doubleheader at the Milwaukee Mile with a 33-point lead in the standings with only one race remaining. What could have been a dead-heat headed into the September finale at Nashville Superspeedway is still Palou’s championship to lose.
“Bit sad and disappointed today. It was out of my control and the team’s control,” Palou said. “It is a sport, it is what it is. We were getting happier and happier getting more points, one more point, one more point. On to Nashville.”
Palou is the reigning IndyCar champion and is seeking a third title in four years. Power is a two-time champion and winner in 2022, sandwiched between Palou’s two titles.
Scott Dixon, Palou’s teammate at Ganassi, finished second and was followed by Colton Herta of Andretti Global.
Santino Ferrucci finished fourth for the second day in a row as he continues to put A.J. Foyt Racing solidly in the standings that will earn the organization a critical end-of-season bonus.
Marcus Ericsson of Andretti was fifth and followed by Alexander Rossi of Arrow McLaren, Rinus VeeKay of Ed Carpenter Racing, Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti and Romain Grosjean of Juncos Hollinger Racing.
The Juncos team scored its first career IndyCar podium on Saturday with Conor Daly’s third-place finish. But Daly’s car had mechanical problems and he finished 17th on Sunday.
Pato O’Ward, winner Saturday, also had mechanical problems and failed to finish the race. Eight cars retired after Palou’s initial electrical issue, and that, combined with Power’s spin, kept Palou in control of the championship.
Newgarden’s start
Josef Newgarden was the pole-sitter but had to wait until the sixth lap to go green because of Palou’s early issue.
But there was confusion at the start as the green LED light showed that Newgarden could launch, but an official in the flagstand was clearly waving a yellow flag.
Newgarden thought the start had been called off and so he didn’t go. While some cars behind him also slowed, others didn’t and it created a pileup that crashed Newgarden out for the second consecutive day.
Up next
The Sept. 15 season finale at Nashville Superspeedway, which took the place on the IndyCar calendar of what was supposed to be a downtown street race. But the NFL’s Titans have both a home game that day, and construction on a new stadium made portions of downtown unusable and so IndyCar returns to the short track in Lebanon, Tennessee, for the first time since 2008. Scott Dixon won the final three races at the Nashville oval.
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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
By JENNA FRYER
AP Auto Racing Writer
