Scott Dixon finished as the top Kiwi in today’s IndyCar Grand Prix of Monterey at Laguna Seca, coming home sixth in a race won by teammate Alex Palou.
Scott McLaughlin and Marcus Armstrong were involved in separate incidents and finished two laps off the pace in 21st and 22nd, respectively.
Palou, the reigning IndyCar Series Champion, led home Colton Herta by 1.978 seconds, with Alexander Rossi completing the podium.
“It was a chaotic race, man,” Palou said. “We didn’t do a very good job on the starts and those restarts at the beginning. The strategy was a bit risky for the position we were in, but we knew we had the pace, and we just had to execute.”
Palou’s victory continued an impressive string of results at this track. Besides the victory today and in 2022, he finished second at Laguna Seca in 2021 and third in 2023.
He jumped to a 23-point lead in the series standings over Will Power, who finished seventh in the No. 12 Team Penske Chevrolet. Power led Palou by five points entering this race, the eighth of 17 on the 2024 schedule.
Two distinct tyre strategies emerged early in the 95-lap race, as there was no clear consensus up and down pit lane about whether primary or alternate tyres were the fastest and preferred rubber over the length of a fuel stint.
These strategies first diverged in stark fashion on Lap 36. The first of five caution periods was triggered when rookie Luca Ghiotto went off track into the tyre barrier in Turn 4 in the No. 51 Honda of Dale Coyne Racing.
Rossi was leading during that incident and pulled a train of leading cars down pit lane under yellow on Lap 37, that pack of early-pitting cars including Herta, early leader Kirkwood, Dixon and Power. But 13 drivers, including Palou, decided to stay out.
Dixon clipped the curbing entering the pits, which resulted in him being lightly tagged from behind by McLaughlin.
Palou discussed that call over the radio with strategist Barry Wanser during the caution period, wondering if it was the right move.
“At that time, I doubted (the strategy) a little bit,” Palou said. “I didn’t know if my radio was working or not. But everything was fine. I’m sorry I didn’t have that trust, that belief in his call during those 10 or 20 seconds, but overall, an amazing job for the Ganassi team.”
Palou stayed out front from that point until he made his second pit stop on Lap 56, handing the lead to Herta and taking Firestone’s alternate, red-sidewall tyres for the first time, deeper into the race than any other driver.
Herta and Rossi made their final stop on Lap 67. Once again, Wanser instructed Palou to stay on track on the fast Firestone alternate tyres, trying to build upon his lead of nearly three seconds.
Palou made his last stop on Lap 70, along with Grosjean, and took on used primary tyres. Josef Newgarden cycled to the lead at that point in the No. 2 Penske Chevrolet.
Armstrong was dropped from contention shortly after when he was hit by Linus Lundgaard, which sent the Kiwi into a spin. He was almost collected by Graham Rahal as he attempted to save it before he ended up stalled on the inside of Turn 4.
Palou took the lead for good when Newgarden made his final stop on Lap 75.
Still, the last 20 laps were not a stroll through the picturesque, 11-turn, 2.238-mile circuit, as Palou had to endure restarts after three caution periods during that span.
McLaughlin came together with teammate Power with 17 laps remaining, and the Kiwi spun from the contact as he attempted to pass the Australian. He lost two laps when he came into the pits with damage.
Palou pulled away cleanly on each restart, building a lead as large as four seconds over Herta when Jack Harvey pulled his No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda off track near the start-finish line with a mechanical problem, triggering the penultimate caution.
On the ensuing restart on Lap 85, Palou built a gap of 1.6 seconds by Lap 87 when Agustin Canapino’s contact with Kyffin Simpson’s No. 4 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda cut Simpson’s rear tyre exiting Turn 5, forcing him into a spin. The trailing No. 15 Honda driven by Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Graham Rahal had nowhere to go in thick traffic and made contact with Simpson. Both cars ended up in the gravel, with Rahal making contact with the concrete wall. Both drivers were unhurt, and Canapino was penalized for avoidable contact.
Herta had one final shot at Palou on the restart on Lap 91, but once again Palou pulled away, building a gap of 1.1 seconds after one lap.
“It’s a good result,” California native Herta said. “We chose the strategy that we did, and we did a really good job with what we chose. It hurts not to win here, but we have to be happy with second place here.”
IndyCar returns on July 7 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
Header Image: Penske Entertainment: James Black
