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Jeffrey Hrunka - INDYCAR Contributor Riley Ogle (Motorsports Today, 2026) Alex Palou continued to extend his championship lead with a dominant victory in the OnlyBulls Grand Prix of Portland at Portland International Raceway on Sunday evening. The Spaniard out-strategized the field with an early overcut en route to his sixth victory this season. “Having Alex and his talent, like there's nothing that replaces that,” No.10 Chip Ganassi Racing Race Strategist Barry Wanser said.

Jeffrey Hrunka - INDYCAR Contributor Casey Shepherd (Motorsports Today, 2026) The right strategy at the right time. After running outside the podium places for the first half of the Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix, Alex Palou caught a caution to assume the lead and led 97 laps en route to his first career victory at Nashville Superspeedway. “I'm so happy. I knew we had a great car. It's one of those tracks that we've been struggling in the past. I know last year we w

Jeffrey Hrunka - INDYCAR Contributor Riley Ogle (Motorsports Today, 2026) After a promising weekend with top-ten pace, a hard hit in the opening laps of the Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix sends rookie Caio Collet out of the race. The incident marked his third DNF in four oval races. Collet saw his day end in the Turn 4 wall after losing the front end of his car and hitting the wall at a 45-degree angle into the barrier. Even after the hard hit, he exited the car and

Jeffrey Hrunka - INDYCAR Contributor Casey Shepherd (Motorsports Today, 2025) Even the World Cup buildup couldn’t stop the rain from delaying the Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix from its prime-time slot. NTT INDYCAR SERIES officials have moved the race to Monday, July 19th, at 3:00 pm EST on FOX. With the time change, drivers will have to deal with record temperatures and an excessive heat index of over 100 degrees. For the safety of the drivers, the race will revert

Jeffrey Hrunka - INDYCAR Contributor Riley Ogle (Motorsports Today, 2026) Kyle Kirkwood continues hot streak at Nashville Superspeedway with second career Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix pole. He nearly tops every timing sheet en route to an almost-perfect Saturday. “Quick in practice. Quick again in qualifying there,” Kirkwood said. “Happy that our pace has stayed true over the past three years that we've run around this place.” Although Kirkwood made noise in all t

Jeffrey Hrunka - INDYCAR Contributor Riley Ogle (Motorsports Today, 2026) Consistently in the conversation. Like clockwork, Rinus Veekay finds himself up front when INDYCAR takes to the oval. He continued his recent hot streak with a ninth-place qualifying effort ahead of the Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix. "Felt good. I think we got the car balanced very well from this morning, where it was a reasonable temperature to an absolute desert,” Veekay said. “I think we ba

Jeffrey Hrunka - INDYCAR Contributor Riley Ogle (Motorsports Today, 2026) Christian Lundgaard delivered a strategic masterclass to earn his second straight road-course win with Arrow McLaren. He rallied back from a broken front wing to take the lead from a dominant Marcus Armstrong and hold off the field on a one-lap shootout. “We've both [Car Chief Chris Lawerence and Lundgaard] been so confused this weekend. This is not where we expected to be,” Lundgaard said. ”The key tha

Jeffrey Hrunka - INDYCAR Contributor Riley Ogle (Motorsports Today, 2026) It’s never safe to bet against Josef Newgarden at WWT Raceway. He added a sixth victory to his all-time wins total at the racetrack, taking the lead from Christian Rasmussen with 24 laps to go and holding off a late charge from a dominant Marcus Ericsson. Ericsson and Rasmussen round out the podium positions. "Everything felt pretty good tonight. The car was fast, felt normal. It was great. I'm just hap

Jeffrey Hrunka - INDYCAR Contributor Riley Ogle (Motorsports Today, 2026) Incorrect adjustments plagued Pato O’Ward through Saturday’s qualifying session at World Wide Technology Raceway. After having the fastest car in opening practice, the Mexican will have to settle for a ninth-place starting spot ahead of the Bommarito Automotive Group 500. “We didn't have to change anything, just freaking leave the car the same,” O’Ward said. "I don't know how we f****d that up.” Through

Jeffrey Hrunka - INDYCAR Contributor Riley Ogle (Motorsports Today, 2026) Alex Palou continued to dominate on the timing sheets, earning his fourth straight NTT INDYCAR SERIES pole position. He outpaced championship adversaries David Maulkas and Kyle Kirkwood, who line up second and third for the Bommarito Automotive Group 500. Even with the pole, Palou remained hesitant on his pace for the Bommarito 500. Yet, it was his increased preparation and focus around the track that m

Jeffrey Hrunka - INDYCAR Contributor Casey Shepherd (Motorsports Today, 2026) Street courses are always a wildcard on the NTT INDYCAR SERIES schedule, as heavy braking zones and tight-knit racing are a recipe for trouble. This could not be truer in Sunday afternoon’s edition of the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix, as Palou stayed ahead of the chaos between cautions for his fourth victory of the season. "It was not an easy day at all. It was not like a straight -- there's races w

Jeffrey Hrunka - INDYCAR Contributor Casey Shepherd (Motorsports Today, 2026) A different strategy, one definite outcome for Felix Rosenqvist: an Indianapolis 500 victory. After bouncing from team to team over the last decade, Rosenqvist stands atop the motorsports world with the closest finish in the race's history, 0.233 seconds ahead of runner-up David Malukas. For Rosenqvist, it put an exclamation mark on an already dominant Month of May around the Indianapolis Motor Spe

Jeffrey Hrunka - INDYCAR Contributor Casey Shepherd (Motorsports Today, 2026) Alex Palou put on a dominant performance around Barber Motorsports Park for the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix, leading 79 laps en route to his second win of the season on Sunday. His perfect day was cemented by a significant gain in the point standings, as his 21st victory vaulted Palou two points behind championship leader Kyle Kirkwood. "I'm glad the 13th pole didn't affect the result. Th

Jeffrey Hrunka - INDYCAR Contributor Casey Shepherd (Motorsports Today, 2026) Alex Palou sweeps Saturday sessions with his second consecutive NTT INDYCAR SERIES pole position at Barber Motorsports Park on March 28. He cemented a dominant day for Honda, with all five of its teams represented in the Fast Six. " Very happy, obviously. I was very happy with the car this morning in practice two compared to yesterday," Palou said. "Feel like yesterday we were missing a little bit o

Jeffrey Hrunka - INDYCAR Contributor Casey Shepherd (Motorsports Today, 2026) A session filled with spins and destroyed racecars overshadowed a resurgence to the top of the timing sheets for Alex Palou in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES second practice session at Barber Motorsports Park. Palou leads championship foe Kyle Kirkwood, who remained in the runner-up position after both practice sessions. With temperatures about 40 degrees colder than Friday’s practice session, lap times on

Jeffrey Hrunka - INDYCAR Contributor Casey Shepherd (Motorsports Today, 2026) Championship favorites couldn’t top the board. After Team Penske’s difficult weekend in Arlington, the trio of Scott McLaughlin, David Malukas and Josef Newgarden dominated NTT INDYCAR SERIES’ first practice session at Barber Motorsports Park. The Chevrolet-powered team showed the most consistency between the two tire compounds, but were scattered through the top-10 once the field put on the altern

Jeffrey Hrunka - INDYCAR Contributo r Marvin Hernandez Jr. (Motorsports Today 2025) Once Kyle Kirkwood passed Alex Palou with 16 laps to go, he didn’t look back, holding the four-time champion for the inaugural Java House Grand Prix of Arlington Grand Prix victory. Kirkwood capped off a dominant weekend by Andretti Global, as the team led 47 laps with all cars finishing inside the top four. "I passed Palou, which is a very rare thing to say, in a race” Kirkwood said. “It was

Jeffrey Hrunka - INDYCAR Contributor Marvin Hernandez Jr. (Motorsports Today, 2026) Alex Palou remained untouchable on the Streets of St. Petersburg, leading 59 laps en route to his 20th career victory. After taking the lead by overcutting the field during the first set of green-flag pit stops, the Spaniard pulled out a 12.4-second lead on the rest of the field, the largest winning margin in Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg history. "I was sad last year that the season

Jeffrey Hrunka - INDYCAR Contributor Marvin Hernandez Jr. (Motorsports Today, 2026) Scott McLaughlin took pole in Fast Six qualifying on the Streets of St. Petersburg ahead of Marcus Ericsson and rookie Dennis Hauger. Not only was it the 12th pole of the New Zealander’s career, but it was also his back-to-back poles for the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. “Just really proud of the execution, because I felt like we nearly actually missed the [advancing past the first q

Jeffrey Hrunka - INDYCAR Contributor Marvin Hernandez Jr. (Motorsports Today, 2026) The INDY NXT SERIES wrapped both its practice sessions ahead of the series’ qualifying session on Saturday afternoon. Max Taylor led an Andretti Global 1-2-3 in the first practice session on Friday, Feb.27, and carried that momentum into the second session, topping the session as it timed out. After the last season’s INDY NXT champion Dennis Hauger swept every session at St. Petersburg last se