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Chip Ganassi Racing star Alex Palou won the 2025 XPEL IndyCar Grand Prix at Road America after finishing the last couple of races away from the podium. The #10 CGR dominance resumed at Road America following 5 wins in the first six races.
Felix Rosenqvist finished the race in P2, followed by Santino Ferrucci, rounding out the Road America podium positions. Neither of the three Team Penske drivers finished inside the top 10.
The drivers took to the ninth round of the 2025 IndyCar series at the Road America circuit in Wisconsin on Sunday, June 22. Louis Foster started the race in pole position after beating Alex Palou to it and finished just outside the top 10.
Kyle Kirkwood started the race in P3. Two Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing cars made it to the Fast 6 in the form of Foster and Graham Rahal. Let's have a look at the highlights and results from the 2025 XPEL IndyCar Grand Prix at Road America.
Race highlights for the 2025 XPEL IndyCar Grand Prix at Road America
The IndyCars took to the circuit with the track temperature reaching 91⁰F and only increasing with every passing minute. Louis Foster maintained his lead on race start as he defended into Turn 1. Scott McLaughlin, who started P4, took advantage of Foster's defensive position and passed Palou and Kirkwood, who were stuck behind the RLL.
Palou lost multiple positions after a poor start and was struggling at P7 at one time. David Malukas crashed out on the first lap and brought out the caution after his car was beached in the gravel trap. The AJ Foyt Racing IndyCar driver was up into P6 before he outbraked himself going into Turn 3, hit Christian Lundgaard, and spun into the gravel. Fortunately, Malukas was able to recover out of the gravel trap and rejoined at the back of the grid.
Multiple drivers, including Scott Dixon, made their first pitstop under caution on Lap 3 in hopes of getting a strategic tire advantage. However, no one from the Top 10 pitted. The race restarted on Lap 4 as Foster took the field to the green flag.
Scott McLaughlin made the move on Louis Foster going into Turn 1 and took the lead of the race. Meanwhile, Alex Palou and Will Power fought for P6 behind the lead pack. Josef Newgarden, who started in mid-pack, made early moves and was up into P8.
Palou was on the move to regain the positions he lost at the race start and was up to P4 as both Power and the Spaniard made a move on Kyle Kirkwood. Unfortunately, Palou's advances were halted as Robert Shwartzman crashed out on Lap 5.
With the Prema IndyCar driver bringing out another caution, multiple drivers pitted for new sets of tires. The race restarted on Lap 8 with McLaughlin pulling out a one-second lead within a few corners. Josef Newgarden made a move on Rosenqvist to get up into P7.
Near the back end of the grid, Pato O'Ward complained of not having any power. Christian Lundgaard passed the pole sitter, Foster, on Lap 9 down the main straight to get up into P2. Palou tried to make a move on Foster in Turn 5, but the RLL IndyCar driver covered the inside line.
Sting Ray Robb crashed out in the #77 Juncos Hollinger Racing and brought out another caution. Marcus Armstrong brakes earlier than expected as Sting Ray Robb followed the MSR and was stunned by the same, and an attempt to avoid a collision with Armstrong led to the JHR IndyCar driver crashing into the barrier.
Race leader Scott McLaughlin made his first pitstop under caution as he started on the alternate tire. Almost everyone followed the race leader into the pits, except for the ones who pitted earlier. Christian Lundgaard passed McLaughlin in the pits and came out in the effective race lead.
Scott Dixon, who pitted under the first caution, took the lead of the race. The race restarted on Lap 14 with Christian Lundgaard making the move on Rinus VeeKay, and Scott McLaughlin followed the McLaren. Lundgaard pushed McLaughlin on the grass on the back straight.
Kirkwood and Will Power were fighting further back on the grid and pushed each other off the track. Newgarden and Palou passed Jacob Abel on the main straight with the Spaniard putting pressure on the #2 Team Penske driver.
Newgarden tried making a move on his teammate McLaughlin as the two drivers raced wide, with Alex Palou passing the duo following the off-track excursion. Within a lap's time, the Spaniard made the move on Lundgaard to take the effective lead of the race. Scott Dixon, Pato O'Ward, and other drivers on the alternate strategy pitted to give Simpson the lead of the race.
Conor Daly tried making a move on Malukas but outbraked himself and ended up in the barrier, bringing out another caution on Lap 23. Daly's car was recovered by the AMR safety team, and the JHR driver took off with the rope attached to his car.
Will Power spun with 27 laps to go but was able to recover from it. Josef Newgarden lost the car out of the final turn and crashed into the tire barrier. The #2 Penske broke the rear wing and the suspension after the crash. Newgarden seemed to be in the run for the race lead when he crashed.
The #2 Chevrolet’s crash brought out another caution with a flurry of drivers pitting in for a new set of tires. The race restarted with Scott Dixon leading, followed by Alexander Rossi and Alex Palou.
Christian Lundgaard and Colton Herta went side by side, and the Andretti Global driver forced the McLaren wide with Lundgaard hitting a bump and spinning around. Alexander Rossi pitted on Lap 38 from P2 with Dixon pitting on the very next lap from the lead of the race, handing the lead over to Palou.
Most drivers in the Top 10 on the alternate strategy pitted on Lap 40 with the hopes of making it to the end of the race. Palou pitted on the very next lap, handing the lead over to Felix Rosenqvist.
The #60 MSR pitted on Lap 42 and was followed by Kyle Kirkwood in the pit lane. Felix Rosenqvist came out 6 seconds behind Palou, but the Spaniard had to save fuel to get to the end of the race. Alexander Rossi pitted with five laps to go, pushing Rosenqvist in P3.
Scott Dixon pitted with two laps to go, giving Alex Palou the lead for the race as Felix Rosenqvist followed the IndyCar championship leader for the race win. Palou went into the final lap with a 3-second buffer to Rosenqvist, but was uncertain over whether he would make it to the chequered flag on fuel.
The #10 CGR driver was able to make it to the chequered flag and took the sixth win of the season. Felix Rosenqvist finished in P2, and Santino Ferrucci on the final step of the podium. Multiple IndyCar drivers crossed the chequered flag and stopped outside the pit lane as they were running on fumes in the final lap.
Alex Palou wins the 2025 IndyCar XPEL Grand Prix at Road America
Alex Palou started the race in P2 but lost multiple positions on the opening lap as he started on the harder primary tire. It was an eventful race, and following the flurry of cautions, no clear leader emerged. In the final 15 laps, Alex Palou, Scott Dixon, and Felix Rosenqvist emerged as the IndyCar race leaders.
Palou saved enough fuel and finished the race in P1 to resume his dominance. Speaking after the race, Alex Palou said (via IndyCar on Fox):
“It was a crazy race. It was a crazy race for us. At moments, I thought, we were losing so many positions and we were making. It was a tough race for everybody. But yeah, kudos to the team for the amazing strategy and to HRC, being able to give us the fuel mileage that we needed at the end to make it.”Full Result from the 2025 IndyCar XPEL Grand Prix at Road America
P1 #10 Alex Palou: Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
P2 #60 Felix Rosenqvist: Meyer Shank Racing Honda
P3 #14 Santino Ferrucci: AJ Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet
P4 #27 Kyle Kirkwood: Andretti Global Honda
P5 #66 Marcus Armstrong: Meyer Shank Racing Honda
P6 #8 Kyffin Simpson: Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
P7 #4 David Malukas: AJ Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet
P8 #6 Nolan Siegel: Arrow McLaren Chevrolet
P9 #9 Scott Dixon: Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
P10 #18 Rinus VeeKay: Dale Coyne Racing Honda
P11 #45 Louis Foster: Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda
P12 #3 Scott McLaughlin: Team Penske Chevrolet
P13 #20 Alexander Rossi: Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet
P14 #12 Will Power: Team Penske Chevrolet
P15 #90 Callum Ilott: PREMA Racing Chevrolet
P16 #26 Colton Herta: Andretti Global Honda
P17 #5 Pato O'Ward: Arrow McLaren Chevrolet
P18 #21 Christian Rasmussen: Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet
P19 #30 Devlin DeFrancesco: Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda
P20 #15 Graham Rahal: Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda
P21 #28 Marcus Ericsson: Andretti Global Honda
P22 #76 Conor Daly: Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet
P23 #51 Jacob Abel: Dale Coyne Racing Honda
P24 #7 Christian Lundgaard: Arrow McLaren Chevrolet
P25 #2 Josef Newgarden: Team Penske Chevrolet
P26 #77: Sting Ray Robb: Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet
P27 #83 Robert Shwartzman: PREMA Racing Chevrolet
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Edited by Sumeet Kavthale
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