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Alex Palou bags $500,000 in Thermal Club Challenge race

Alex Palou cruised to victory Sunday morning in IndyCar’s Thermal Club $1 Million Dollar Challenge exhibition race at The Thermal Club, a private motorsports club in Palm Springs, California, bagging himself half a million dollars.

Alex Palou’s Chip Ganassi Racing Team celebrate winning the Thermal Club $1 Million Dollar Challenge race in victory lane (Photo by Chris Owens/Penske Entertainment)
  • Palou becomes half a million dollars richer
  • Empty pockets
  • Heat results
  • Main race results

3 min read

Palou becomes a half a million dollars richer

The Chip Ganassi Racing driver and reigning two-time IndyCar champion had been in control of his destiny all weekend long, qualifying on the pole, and then comfortably winning his heat race to start on pole for the main 20-lap 12 car feature race where victory never looked in doubt, leading all 20 laps, and taking the checkered flag with over five seconds over second place Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin, who still won $350,000 for being runner-up.

The final race was divided into two ten-lap segments with a ten minute halftime break, with teams having to keep the same set of tyres on for the whole race.

Drivers like Colton Herta chose not to push for the first 10-lap segment and instead hanged back of the pack and sought to save his tyres for the second 10-lap segment.

Herta was able to go from tenth to fourth but still bagged himself $500,000 of the $1.7 million total purse, but was not able to reach Palou, who was out front in clean air all race long.

Palou said: “I was a bit surprised how the competitors did the first 10 laps, saving tires. I was like: ‘All right, that’s our game. I like it.”

When asked by NBC how he was going to spend his winnings he replied: “I need to buy a lot of diapers and pyjamas.”

Heat one runner up Scott McLaughlin was Alex Palou’s nearest competitor on track in the main race but two laps in, Palou had pulled a 1.7 second gap, and despite the halftime reset, Palou only extended the gap over McLaughlin further by over five seconds come the end of the race.

Alex Palou leads the Thermal Club main race with Scott McLaughlin in second (second), and Felix Rosenqvist in third (third) (Photo by Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment)

Colton Herta only just made it into the main race in heat one by holding off rookie and fellow California native Nolan Siegel who was making his IndyCar Series debut, Ferrucci, and Will Power for sixth place, with only the top six out of the 14 drivers in heat one advancing to the main race.

Herta said: “Our strategy worked in the second half. Yeah I didn’t care. I went to feast in the second half.”

Heat one polesitter and Meyer Shank Racing driver Felix Rosenqvist had an impressive outing again, leading right where he left off in St. Pete, by holding off McLaughlin for the heat one win, and was able to bring the car home third and secure himself $250,000.

Empty pockets

Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Romain Grosjean did not share in the fortunes of Palou’s dominant display or his ex-Andretti teammates’ fourth place, nor did Palou’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon, after he collided with Grosjean in the heat one race start in the turn one braking zone, sending Grosjean out of control into the pack as they went through the turn one hairpin, collecting innocent bystander Rinus VeeKay in the process, taking them both out of the race.

Romain Grosjean goes skidding across the sand in turn one moments before he collides with Rinus VeeKay in the start of heat 1 (Photo by Joe Skibinksi/Penske Entertainment)

Dixon was given a drive through penalty under green conditions following the restart for avoidance contact.

Grosjean said: “It’s not what I signed up to IndyCar for.”

It was intense heat two battle for Arrow McLaren with their drivers Callum Ilott, Alexander Rossi, and Pato O’Ward as they fought over seventh, with Rossi and O’Ward finding a way past Ilott, who was standing in for David Malukas and is not scheduled to compete in any more races, with Rossi managing to get past Meyer Shank Racing driver Tom Blomqvist for the final transfer spot.

Callum Ilott (front), Alexander Rossi (second), and Pato O’Ward (third) battle over seventh place in heat 2 (Photp by Chris Jones/Penske Entertainment)

Rossi then scrapped with two-time IndyCar champion Josef Newgarden following the halftime break in the main race, making contact on lap 12 and driving both wide off track, allowing Lundqvist and Herta to sneak by for fifth and sixth place respectively.

Rossi finally finished ahead of Newgarden in seventh after finding a cleaner way past by the end of the lap. Newgarden finished eighth.

Pietro Fittipaldi, who had finished in fifth place in heat one, was disqualified from the main race come the halftime break due to the team not getting the car full of fuel for the race, as required by IndyCar.

The next IndyCar Series race is the prestigious Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 21st with the race starting 3pm ET time.

Heat 1 results 

  1. Felix Rosenqvist
  2. Scott McLaughlin
  3. Josef Newgarden
  4. Christian Lundgaard
  5. Agustin Canapino
  6. Colton Herta
  7. Nolan Siegel
  8. Santino Ferrucci
  9. Will Power
  10. Kyle Kirkwood
  11. Sting Ray Robb
  12. Scott Dixon
  13. Rinus VeeKay
  14. Romain Grosjean

Heat 2 results 

  1. Alex Palou
  2. Marcus Armstrong
  3. Graham Rahal
  4. Linus Lundqvist
  5. Pietro Fittipaldi
  6. Alexander Rossi
  7. Pato O’Ward
  8. Tom Blomqvist
  9. Callum Ilott
  10. Christian Rasmussen
  11. Kyffin Simpson
  12. Marcus Ericsson
  13. Colin Braun

Main race results 

  1. Alex Palou
  2. Scott McLaughlin
  3. Felix Rosenqvist
  4. Colton Herta
  5. Marcus Armstrong
  6. Linus Lundqvist
  7. Alexander Rossi
  8. Josef Newgarden
  9. Christian Lundgaard
  10. Agustin Canapino
  11. Graham Rahal
  12. Pietro Fittipaldi

Featured Image:  Alex Palou celebrates winning the Thermal Club $1 Million Dollar Challenge Race (Photo by Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment)

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Thermal Club $1 Million Challenge race preview

The NTT IndyCar Series are getting set to race for $1 million plus dollars near Palm Springs, California at the 17-turn three mile Thermal Club circuit, in a non-points paying exhibition race, the first of it’s kind since IndyCar’s Nikon 300 at Surfers Paradise in 2008.

The Thermal Club logo printed on the straight of the Thermal Club circuit (Photo by Chris Jones/Penske Entertainment)
  • Race day breakdown
  • Qualifying 
  • Full qualifying results 

5 min read

There is a $1.7 million total purse for the race, with the winning driver being awarded $500,000.

The race event will consist of two 10 lap/20 minute heat races on Sunday starting 8:45am PT/3:45pm UK time with the main race starting 9:30am PT/4:30pm UK time.

Full course yellow laps will not count towards the lap total during the heat races but the time will, the first that’s completed, either 10 laps or 20 minutes, will end each heat race.

Drivers will only be granted one set of tyres for their heat races.

The top six finishers from each heat race will advance to the main race to have a chance of winning the $500,000, with even second and third winning $350,000 and $250,000 respectively.

Callum Ilott (front), Pato O’Ward (middle), and Christian Lundgaard (rear) race around the Thermal Club circuit (Photo by Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment)

The starting order for the heats was decided by two eight minute heat qualifying sessions, one for each of the two groups, Saturday afternoon that saw Felix Rosenqvist and Alex Palou take pole for each heat respectively.

The main race, the Sprint for the Purse, will be a 20-lap race broken down into two 10 lap segments, with a 10-minute halftime break after lap 10.

There will only be one set of tyres made available for the main race and will have no time limit for but will finish by all 20 laps being completed.

During the 10-minute halftime break, drivers will come pit road, and be able to take fuel and make adjustments.

Due to both groups of drivers only merging together for the main race with the top six from each groups’ heat races, group two have been awarded priority spots for equivalent starting positions for the main race due to Palou, who is in group two, laying down a faster pole time compared to Rosenqvist’s group one pole time.

There is a strong likelihood of teams infighting for the top six advancement through to the main race in both heats due to all three Team Penske cars being in group one, and all three Arrow Mclaren cars being in group two, three of the four Chip Ganassi Racing cars in heat two, as well as both Juncos Hollinger Racing cars of Romain Grosjean and Agustin Canapino starting next to each for heat one.

It is not the first time IndyCar have tried out heat racing, last doing so at the Iowa Speedway oval in 2012 and 2013, with current drivers Graham Rahal and Scott Dixon winning heat races in those events.

Current Indy NXT championship points leader and California native Nolan Siegel, is making his IndyCar Series debut at the event and qualified 12th for his heat one race.

Siegel was the 2023 IndyCar development series’ Rookie of the Year, and the 19-year-old is scheduled to also make IndyCar Series starts at the Grand Prix of Long Beach, the Indianapolis 500, and the Grand Prix of Toronto.

Nolan Siegel (front) and Christian Lundgaard (rear) race around the Thermal Club circuit (Photo by Chris Jones/Penske Entertainment)

Push to pass for the drivers is being made available for a total time of 40 seconds, for each qualifying session, the heat races and both 10-lap segments of the main race.

Qualifying

Qualifying consisted of two eight minute sessions, with the two group makeups being decided by a random draw, and only had one set of tires to lay down their qualifying laps.

Group 1 qualifying saw Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist bag a consecutive pole with a lap time of 1.38.5831, after grabbing pole two weeks ago in the season opener at St. Pete.

Rosenqvist talking to NBC said: “It’s so tricky out there, wind and dirt on the track. Felt confident. The speed is there.”

Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin, who qualified third in group one, speaking to NBC said: “That was awesome, it was like an old-school Supercars shootout, you go out there, and bam bam bam.”

Andretti Global’s and California native Colton Herta struggled to put a fast lap together, lacking grip at the end of the session, and will start 11th out of 14th for heat one.

Group 2 qualifying saw a dramatic change in weather conditions after a late session red flag brought out by Marcus Ericsson, that saw Palou shoot to the top with a lap time of 1.38.5675, to secure pole for heat two.

Palou, who was quickest in both test sessions on Friday, speaking to NBC said: “Amazing, looking forward to tomorrow, happy with that. Had 14 seconds of push to pass, car was good.”

Palou’s pole lap came following the 10-minute red flag, that had been brought out by Andretti Global’s Marcus Ericsson after he lost his car over the bumps in turn eight as engaged push to pass, and went backwards into the tyre wall.

When the red flag was lifted, wind gusts had eased, creating more favourable conditions for the drivers.

Both Arrow McLaren teams of Callum Ilott and Pato O’Ward, who were sat one two on the timesheet at the time of the red flag, did not go out to do one final lap, unlike the other 11 drivers in group two, and ended up eighth and ninth for qualifying, over half a second down to Palou.

O’Ward speaking to NBC during the red flag said that the “track is very sensitive to heat and wind. I could never get the car to set, it was going in the opposite direction to where I wanted to go. It’s just really gusty and feels icy out there.”

Graham Rahal qualified third for heat two in his final lap attempt following the red flag.

Speaking to NBC Rahal described his attempt as “the old fashioned pull it out.”

Don’t miss the Thermal Club $1 Million Challenge race beginning 8:45am PT Sunday.

Full qualifying results

Group 1 qualifying results for Heat 1 

  1. Felix Rosenqvist
  2. Scott McLaughlin
  3. Rinus VeeKay
  4. Christian Lundgaard
  5. Josef Newgarden
  6. Will Power
  7. Romain Grosjean
  8. Agustin Canapino
  9. Scott Dixon
  10. Santino Ferrucci
  11. Colton Herta
  12. Nolan Siegel
  13. Kyle Kirkwood
  14. Sting Ray Robb

Group 2 qualifying results for Heat 2

  1. Alex Palou
  2. Marcus Armstrong
  3. Graham Rahal
  4. Linus Lundqvist
  5. Tom Blomqvist
  6. Pietro Fittipaldi
  7. Alexander Rossi
  8. Callum Ilott
  9. Pato O’Ward
  10. Kyffin Simpson
  11. Christian Rasmussen
  12. Colin Braun
  13. Marcus Ericsson

Featured Image: Colton Herta practices around the Thermal Club circuit in Friday’s test session (Photo by Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment)

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Will Power surges to second IndyCar championship; Palou wins Firestone GP in dominant display

Will Power ran an intelligent race allowing title rival and teammate Josef Newgarden past on lap 46, settling for third place in the race to ensure locking up the championship by 16 points while Álex Palou stormed out to a 30 second lead over Newgarden by the end to win the Firestone Grand Prix at Laguna Seca.

Will Power managing his race (Photo by Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment)

Will Power led the opening 14 laps before a roulette of strategies began playing out on pit road. Palou took the lead away from Power on lap 27 while Newgarden squeezed past Power for second heading into the corkscrew on lap 46.

In the closing stages a train of cars threatened to undo Power’s championship hopes with Arrow McLaren SP’s Felix Rosenqvist leading it but Power held on and created enough distance to ward off any threat and take the last spot on the podium and earn his second IndyCar championship.

Will Power (front) running 2nd trying to hold off Felix Rosenqvist, Pato O’Ward and Josef Newgarden in the corkscrew (Photo by James Black/Penske Entertainment)

Power post-race said: “I just knew I had to absolutely get the most out of those stints and not lose any more positions.”

The 41-year-old Australian won just one race this season, that being the final Detroit Grand Prix at Belle Isle compared with championship runner up Josef Newgarden’s five wins but his 12 top-five finishes, being three more than any other driver, bolstered him to his second NTT IndyCar Series championship, giving Team Penske their 17th IndyCar championship. 

Roger Penske (left) and Will Power (right) celebrating Team Penske’s 17th IndyCar Championship and Power’s 2nd (Photo by Chris Owens/Penske Entertainment)

Power speaking to NBC said: “I had to drive the thing today. It was on the edge, very loose. Man, what a relief. What a relief to get that done.”

Will Power won his first championship in 2014 also with Team Penske. 

Will Power celebrating his second NTT IndyCar Series Championship with the Astor Cup trophy (Photo by James Black/Penske Entertainment)

Newgarden did nearly all he could to steal the championship away from Power on the final weekend but a crash in qualifying saw him start 25th compared to Power taking his 68th pole position, gaining a bonus championship point, and surpassing Mario Andretti’s record for all-time poles.

Newgarden started off aggressive gaining five positions on the opening lap before going long and switching to the softer red tyre that saw him move all the way up to seventh by lap 34. On pit strategy, Newgarden briefly took the lead for a few laps on lap 69 when Palou pitted but could not match Palou’s overall pace.

Post-race Newgarden said: “Even yesterday, with the heartache there, we came back, we fought, and we nearly got there. I’m proud of the effort. We’re going to come back stronger next year.”

Josef Newgarden racing in the Firestone Grand Prix at Laguna Seca (Photo by James Black/Penske Entertainment)

Palou had blistering pace all race long but narrowly escaped trouble when leaving his pit box on his second stop as he scraped the rear of Rosenqvist’s car as  he left his pit box.

IndyCar, despite it appearing to be an unsafe release, declared no action would be taken. This otherwise would have led to a penalty that could have unraveled Palou’s race. He had already overcome a six-place grid penalty for an unapproved engine change that saw him start the race 11th.

Apart from making contact with Rosenqvist on pit road, Palou seem unfazed that he was still being sued by his own team owner, unsure where he will be racing next year.

Palou had a 20 second lead over Newgarden with 20 laps to go and led 67 of the 95 laps in total to earn his fourth career win and first win of the season for Chip Ganassi Racing.

Álex Palou out front in the Firestone Grand Prix at Laguna Seca (Photo by Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment)

Palou said: “Today was awesome. Strategy was on point. It’s good to finish a season with a win. We had some power there and good fuel mileage.”

Álex Palou celebrating in victory lane with his team (Photo by Travis Hinkle/Penske Entertainment)

Palou’s and Power’s teammates and remaining championship contenders did not appear to have anything for them and Newgarden.

Dixon and Ericsson struggled to keep from dropping out of the top 15 and attempted to work their way up the order by going off strategy but Dixon found himself down in 23rd after pitting while Ericsson came out 15th just past the 30 lap mark.

Scott Dixon racing in the Firestone Grand Prix at Laguna Seca (Photo by Chris Owens/Penske Entertainment)

The same can be said for Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin as he found himself in 20th after pitting on lap 53 while Dixon was 24th.

Their strategy and pace did come to some fruition as McLaughlin, Ericsson, and Dixon found themselves nose to tail by lap 63 with McLaughlin playing defence for his Penske teammates up front.

Scott McLaughlin (left) keeping Scott Dixon (right) at bay (Photo by Travis Hinkle/Penske Entertainment)

By the end, McLaughlin impressively worked all his way up to finish sixth but not before having multiple scraps with Ericsson that saw the Swede take to the sand on multiple occasions. Ericsson also made an incredible save in the corkscrew after contact with Colton Herta. Ericsson finished ninth while Dixon finished 13th.

Dixon, McLaughlin, and Ericsson would finish third, fourth, and sixth respectively in the championship.

Dixon will have to wait to another year to attempt to become a seven-time IndyCar champion tying A.J. Foyt for the most championships, while McLaughlin has excelled in just his second season with three wins this year while Marcus Ericsson won this year’s Indianapolis 500, an outstanding achievement that has changed his life forever.

Scott McLaughlin travelling down the hill at the corkscrew (Photo by Travis Hinkle/Penske Entertainment)

Away from the championship battle, it was a bittersweet day for British rookie Callum Ilott who had qualified second for the race and for the opening laps held his position. He was still running inside the top 10 after the first stint but as he was leaving the pit exit he a mechanical failure and stopped just past the Andretti hairpin, ending his day and brought out the only full course yellow of the race on lap 39.

Will Power (front) and Callum Ilott (left behind Power) lead the field to green for the Firestone Grand Prix at Laguna Seca

It would be Denmark’s Christian Lundgaard who would be the highest finishing rookie in fifth. Lundgaard also wins the Rookie Of The Year competition finishing on 323 points, beating David Malukas by 18 points who finished 13th in the race.

Christian Lundgaard entering the corkscrew during the Firestone Grand Prix (Photo by Travis Hinkle/Penske Entertainment)

Jimmie Johnson had a breakout day for his IndyCar road course programme being competitive all race-long, including making aggressive passes in the corkscrew and would finish 16th.

Jimmie Johnson racing in the Firestone Grand Prix at Laguna Seca (Photo by Chris Owens/Penske Entertainment)

Full race results: 1st Álex Palou, 2nd Josef Newgarden, 3rd Will Power, 4th Felix Rosenqvist, 5th Christian Lundgaard, 6th Scott McLaughlin, 7th Romain Grosjean, 8th Pato O’Ward, 9th Marcus Ericsson, 10th Alexander Rossi, 11th Colton Herta, 12th Scott Dixon, 13th David Malukas, 14th Rinus VeeKay, 15th Devlin DeFrancesco, 16th Jimmie Johnson, 17th Simon Pagenaud, 18th Graham Rahal, 19th Helio Castroneves, 20th Jack Harvey, 21st Kyle Kirkwood, 22nd Simona de Silvestro, 23rd Takuma Sato, 24th Conor Daly, 25th Dalton Kellett, 26th Callum Ilott.

Top 10 in championship standings: 1st Will Power (560), 2nd Josef Newgarden (544), 3rd Scott Dixon (521), 4th Scott McLaughlin (510), 5th Álex Palou (510), 6th Marcus Ericsson (506), 7th Pato O’Ward (480), 8th Felix Rosenqvist (393), 9th Alexander Rossi (381), 10th Colton Herta (381).

Featured Image: Will Power and his No. 12 Team Penske celebrating the championship title with the Astor Cup trophy (Photo by Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment

 

 

 

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Josef Newgarden outsmarts competitors to win his first Long Beach Grand Prix

Josef Newgarden, after leapfrogging the leaders during the final pit cycle, held off Romain Grosjean and Álex Palou for the final 15 laps to finally win his first Long Beach Grand Prix after two previous runner-up finishes.

A three car battle for the lead, Newgarden, Grosjean and Palou, inside 15 to go (Photo by Chris Jones/IndyCar Media)

On lap 59 Newgarden who had ran inside the top three all race long, came out of pit road squeezing just ahead of Palou, holding onto the lead after staying out an extra lap. Palou went side by side with Newgarden in turns four and five, but Newgarden prevailed on the inside.

Simon Pagenaud attempted some mid-race landscaping when he drove into the dolphin fountain garden and got stuck facing the wrong way, bringing out the caution inside of 25 to go 

Grosjean then joined the battle for the lead overtaking Palou inside of 20 laps to down the front straightaway. Newgarden had to fend off Grosjean again on another restart with five to go going two-wide on the inside into turn one. Newgarden led Grosjean single file into the fountain turn and despite Grosjean sticking with Newgarden on the softer red tyre, he would not find a way past running out of push to pass while Newgarden had four seconds to spare and would finish the race in first after a yellow ended the race early with half a lap to go due to Takuma Sato crashing into the turn eight tyre wall.

From left to right: Romain Grosjean, Josef Newgarden, and Alex Palou on the podium (Photo by Chris Jones/IndyCar Media)

Talking to NBC in victory lane, Newgarden said “I’ve been trying to win here for 11 years so I’m so glad to finally get it done.”

From hometown hero to hometown horror, it was Colton Herta who should have been up at the front and had been leading the first half of the race comfortably over Newgarden and Palou.

Instead while pushing hard on what appeared to be his in-lap for his final pit stop, Herta bounced over the turn nine curb and under-steered into the wall breaking his front wing and suspension putting an immediate end to his quest for consecutive Long Beach Grand Prix wins.

The terminal damage to Colton Herta’s Andretti Honda (Photo by Chris Jones/IndyCar Media)

Herta had led the first 30 laps or so controlling the pace of the race, maintaining a consistent two second gap over Newgarden and Palou, the three of which had checked out from the rest of the field. Palou did the overcut during the first cycle of pit stops, going from third to first after his Chip Ganassi Racing pit crew did a fast pit stop of 7.5 seconds compared with Herta’s 9.1 and Newgarden’s eight.

Colton Herta leading the field to green (Photo by Joe Skibinski/IndyCar Media)

Palou came out with a 2.7 second lead over Newgarden who had successfully done the overcut on Herta. Herta’s crash at the end of his second stint, after a determined effort to gain time on his in-lap like Palou did over Newgarden, was reminiscent of his crash at last year’s Nashville race where he was trying to hunt down leader Marcus Ericsson in the closing laps, before carrying too much speed off the bridge and ended up slamming into the tyre wall.

Second place Romain Grosjean had a phenomenal race weekend and was laps away from potentially winning his first IndyCar race. Grosjean had been on course to take pole away from Andretti teammate Herta on Saturday before overdriving the car into the turn five tyre wall.

Starting from sixth on the grid, he had battled through the field and joined the leaders inside the final 20 lap but Jimmie Johnson’s crash with eight to go put a huge dent in his plans to overtake Newgarden and would instead only have five laps left to do so on worn softer tyres with no push to pass. Grosjean came to the checkered flag in Newgarden’s mirrors.

Romain Grosjean racing in the Long Beach Grand Prix (Photo by Chris Owens/IndyCar Media)

Some early front runners faced issues that saw them end up around the bottom end of the top 10. Felix Rosenqvist started fourth but on lap 21 Alexander Rossi came steaming into turn one and hip checked Rosenqvist. Both appeared to have just gotten away with the collision but Rosenqvist’s fast pace would drop off following the coming together and would drop to as low to 14th place but ended up finishing 11th. Rossi would also quickly lose places to Marcus Ericsson and Grosjean and would finish eighth.

From right to left: Felix Rosenqvist, Alexander Rossi, Marcus Ericsson and Romain Grosjean racing around the dolphin fountain (Photo by Chris Jones/IndyCar Media)

Will Power along with Rosenqvist’s teammate Pato O’Ward while having no answer for the top three, would quietly make their way up the field to finish fourth and fifth due to a consistently fast race pace and staying out of trouble. Scott Dixon through the use of an aggressive undercut pit-stop strategy, would work his way to sixth after starting 16th. Dixon would be the first to pit on lap 22 as well as for his second stop, spending the most time in clean air during the race, and cycled to fifth after the first set of pit stops.

A.J. Foyt Enterprises’ cars would prove to have a very respectable race through consistency and staying out of trouble. Kyle Kirkwood would finish 10th, making him the highest finishing rookie, while Tatiana Calderón would finish an impressive 16th after starting 26th in just her second IndyCar start.

Tatiana Calderón racing in the Long Beach Grand Prix (Photo by Chris Jones/IndyCar Media)

For much of the field, the race proved to be a race of attrition, with spins and collisions on a track that had the largest marbles seen at an IndyCar race for years. This was believed to be down to the significantly softer tyre that Firestone had brought to the IndyCar series this year compared with previous seasons that the street course devoured as the laps went by.

Dalton Kellett would retire early from the race after ending up in the turn one tyre wall on lap six. On lap 34, championship points leader Scott McLaughlin would clip the inside wall of turn 11 with his sidepod but completed an amazing spin around in front of the blind corner. He continued on to finish 14th but consequently lost the points lead to Newgarden.

Scott McLaughlin racing in the Long Beach Grand Prix (Photo by Joe Skibinski/IndyCar Media)

Devlin DeFrancesco would not be so fortunate as he too like Herta would drive into the turn nine wall but on his out-lap at the end of his second stint before spinning in turn 11 with terminal damage after attempting to get back to pit road. With 19 to go, Ericsson would collide with the turn four wall and spin across the track, getting collected by teammate Dixon who had nowhere to go. Ericsson would be forced to retire immediately while Dixon managed to keep going with no repairs needed.

Full finishing order: (1st) Josef Newgarden, (2nd) Romain Grosjean, (3rd) Álex Palou, (4th) Will Power, (5th) Pato O’Ward, (6th) Scott Dixon, (7th) Graham Rahal, (8th) Alexander Rossi, (9th) Hélio Castroneves, (10th) Kyle Kirkwood, (11th) Felix Rosenqvist, (12th) Conor Daly, (13th) Rinus Veekay, (14th) Scott McLaughlin, (15th) Jack Harvey, (16th) Tatiana Calderón, (17th) Takuma Sato, (18th) Christian Lundgaard, (19th) Simon Pagenaud, (20th) Jimmie Johnson, (21st) David Malukas, (22nd) Marcus Ericsson, (23rd) Colton Herta, (24th) Callum Ilott, (25th) Devlin DeFrancesco, (26th) Dalton Kellett.

Top 10 in points standings: 1st Josef Newgarden (118), 2nd Scott McLaughlin (113), 3rd Álex Palou (103), 4th Will Power (102), 5th Scott Dixon (83), 6th Romain Grosjean (75), 7th Rinus VeeKay (67), 8th Marcus Ericsson (66), 9th Pato O’Ward (63), 10th Graham Rahal (60).

Featured Image: Josef Newgarden celebrating in victory lane (Photo by Chris Jones/IndyCar Media)

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