NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Alex Palou had three words to describe his third-place finish in Sunday’s Big Machine Music City Grand Prix.
“Lucky. Lucky. Lucky.”
Meanwhile, his closest pursuer in the battle for the NTT IndyCar Series championship, Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden, just can’t get a break.
In the closing laps of Sunday’s race on the temporary street course in Nashville, Palou was going to have to pit because he did not have enough fuel to make it to the distance of the 80-lap race. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver entered the weekend with an 80-point lead over Newgarden with five races remaining in the battle for the championship.
Palou was running third at the time and was being hounded by Newgarden’s No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet. If the race had played out without a stoppage, a late-race pit stop by Palou would have allowed two-time IndyCar champion and this year’s Indianapolis 500 winner to take a huge chunk out of Palou’s lead.
It all turned upside-down on lap 71 when last year’s Indy NXT champion, Linus Lundqvist, crashed in turn 11 to bring out the yellow flag and slow the field for three laps around the 11-turn, 2.1-mile circuit.
That was all Palou needed to make it to the finish of the race.
He got a bonus on the restart lap when there was a multi-car incident at the back of the field involving Felix Rosenqvist, Augustin Canapino and Benjamin Pedersen to bring out another yellow flag, quickly followed by the red flag that stopped the race.
The course was cleaned up in 11 minutes and Palou remained in third in front of Newgarden.
Instead of chopping a significant number of points off Palou’s lead, the upside for Newgarden would have been minimal points gain if he could pass Palou in the final four laps.
Newgarden even “tapped” Palou’s No. 10 American Legion Honda on the restart, but Palou had the speed and the advantage to maintain third place.
Newgarden finished fourth and lost four more points to Palou, who leads by 84 points with just four races remaining heading into the Saturday’s Gallagher Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
Team Penske President and Newgarden’s race strategist Tim Cindric consoled a hot, sweaty, and exhausted Newgarden as he climbed out of his No. 2 Chevrolet after a very hot and humid day in Nashville.
Josef Newgarden (left) and Tim Cindric talk on pit lane in Nashville. (Bruce Martin photo)
“I knew the story,” Newgarden said of Palou’s fuel situation. “Look, when things are going your way, they are going your way. That’s the situation we are in this year. You can’t control that stuff. It didn’t play in our favor, the way we strategized.
“It’s impossible to predict these things. It played out the way it did.
“It is what it is. You can only do what you can do.”
Maximum points for each race are 54 and Newgarden trails by 84.
“I’m disappointed with fourth,” Newgarden said. “You are never happy unless you leave here with a win. I thought we ran a really good race. There was a little more opportunity that didn’t materialize at the beginning. Typical street course stuff. You get used up a little bit at times. It’s what we always see.
“It’s tight. But it was a really good day for our team. Everyone has done a great job. We can leave here happy, but wish we had a little more.”
One car up pit lane was Palou, who realized his great fortune this season is continuing.
“I feel good,” Palou told SPEED SPORT. “It could have been a lot worse of a day today. I’m really happy being here and it’s time to push a bit more. When I saw those cautions at the end, I was like, ‘Thank God.’ Honestly, we were a bit luck today. We have to say that.”
Barry Wanser is the Team Manager at Chip Ganassi Racing and is in charge of Palou’s race strategy in pit lane.
“We were 100 percent lucky,” Wanser told SPEED SPORT. “It had nothing to do with overall performance. We were lucky.”
Wanser’s focus is to continue to race to win and if Palou can’t win, then try to finish second. That is how championships are won.
But Sunday was a bit tense.
“We were still pretty nervous,” Wanser admitted. “It was great to see those last two cautions. Just prior to the caution, we told him to go full bore to close the gap in front of him to reduce the damage, having to make the splash and go to the cars we would be battling leaving the pits.
“Fortunately, the yellow came out right away and it helped us get to the end. When we made what we hoped was going to be our last stop, it’s hard to believe Alex is on the podium, let alone finish.”
Wanser said there was no way Palou could have made it to the end without one more stop before the yellow flag came. He gave Palou a 3.7 fuel savings number, which is hard to achieve while staying in front of his competitors.
“We wanted to continue the fight and that is what we did, and it paid off for us. Alex has it pretty much figured out, and he’s getting better every day. That’s great to see.”
Keyword: ‘Lucky’ Palou Still Commands Title Fight