LEBANON, Tenn. — Alex Palou continued Spain’s celebration of winning the FIFA World Cup on Sunday as the Spaniard won Monday’s rain-delayed Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway.
Palou had some tremendous timing, committing to pit lane just before a caution earlier in the race, that gave the four-time NTT IndyCar Series Champion a strategic edge over his competition.
But in the end, he had to hold off all three Team Penske drivers including Nashville’s own Josef Newgarden, David Malukas and Scott McLaughlin.
The Chip Ganassi Racing driver in the No. 10 Honda defeated Newgarden’s No. 2 Astemo Chevrolet by 0.8731 seconds.
“That’s a pretty cool weekend for Spain with the World Cup and to top it off with a win on Monday,” Palou said. “That’s my first ever win on a Monday.”
So, how did he do it?
“Teamwork man, that’s how we won this race,” Palou said. “Saturday, I was not comfortable with the car but (engineer) Julian Robertson and everybody on the 10 car prepared a good car for today. The last two stints, I was super comfortable. It was a battle at end with Newgarden. It seemed like he had so much speed. It’s awesome to win here and incredible to get another win.”
Newgarden had an impressive race, considering he still has an injured left foot.
“It’s just what we had today, we finished second and move on to the next one,” Newgarden said.
Malukas capped a back to the front race as the driver that started 24th in the 25-car field finished third in the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet.
“That was a team effort,” Malukas said. “I never drove so hard in my life. I needed a proper recovery after what I did to the team with the crash on Saturday. Big thank you to everyone that worked so hard to have these people won on a collective project and see it come to fruition.
“That was the hardest race of my life. I worked so hard. It was so hot, and that is one I’m going to remember.”
McLaughlin finished fourth in the No. 3 Chevrolet with 110th Indianapolis 500 winner Felix Rosenqvist rounding out the top five.
It was Palou’s fifth IndyCar Series win of the season, his third career oval win, first in Nashville and 24th IndyCar Series win overall. It was Palou’s 13th IndyCar win in his last 29 starts.
It was Chip Ganassi Racing’s 150th IndyCar victory.
Palou led 97 laps in the 225-lap race, which was shortened from its schedule 300-lap distance after it was postpone to Monday. Malukas led 59 laps and McLaughlin 32.
Palou increased his lead in the NTT IndyCar Series points to 83 over Malukas, who moved into second place over Kyle Kirkwood, now 88 points behind. Christian Lundgaard is fourth 104 points out, and Pato O’Ward is fifth, 121 points out.
On Lap 18, Caio Collett of AJ Foyt Racing got offline in Turn 4 and hit the SAFER Barrier, out of the race. The leader at the time was Kirkwood, followed by Newgarden, Palou, McLaughlin and Alexander Rossi.
According to Dr. Angi Fiege, IndyCar Deputy Medical Director, Collet was seen and released from the IndyCar Medical Unit.
The pits opened on Lap 23 and many in the field pitted and McLaughlin’s Team Penske crew was able to get the No. 3 off pit road first, placing him fourth on the timing screen behind Louie Foster, David Malukas and Christian Lundgaard, who chose to stay out on track.
Dennis Hauger was penalized for improper pit entry and ordered to serve a Drive Through penalty after the green flag is waved to restart the race.
The green flag waved at the end of Lap 31 with Foster in the lead. McLaughlin attempted to go to the outside of Christian Lundgaard and was successful.
But David Malukas, who started 24th, on a set of used tires took the lead on Lap 33, a remarkable drive through the field in a short period of time.
Malukas was one of the drivers that did not pit, which aided his back to front effort.
Malukas pitted, as the leader, on Lap 61 for four tires and fuel. That moved teammate McLaughlin into the lead.
At that point in the race, rookie Mick Schumacher was the fastest driver on the track and moved into ninth place. Newgarden took the high side and swept past Palou for third place, just behind Kirkwood.
On Lap 75, McLaughlin led Kirkwood by 1.3256 seconds.
McLaughlin pitted, as the leader after 83 laps. Malukas was on the back straightaway when McLaughlin left to the pits and was way ahead of his teammate once he returned to the track.
Palou and other contenders pitted on Lap 86 in a lengthy green-flag run. During that stretch, Will Power was the leader ahead of Malukas and McLaughlin. Power pitted as the leader on Lap 88 for four tires and fuel. That returned Malukas to the lead.
On Lap 95, Malukas led McLaughlin by 1.7220 seconds. At Lap 100, the lead was 1.4765 seconds.
Marcus Armstrong reported engine troubles on Lap 108 when he made an unscheduled pit stop.
At the halfway point of the race on Lap 113, Malukas led McLaughlin by 2.0760 seconds.
One lap later, Rasmussen brushed the wall after getting into the marbles on the high line of the track. The ECR Chevrolet had a broken toe link.
Malukas pitted on Lap 119, which was guaranteed to drop him back in the field. That guaranteed him just one more stop before the end of the race, which would potentially work in his strategic favor.
But that strategy was foiled when Alexander Rossi and Scott Dixon both crashed to bring out the second caution period of the race. McLaughlin was the leader and Malukas was 15th.
Rossi’s car had suddenly slowed down, and Dixon’s No. 9 Honda did not have a chance to avoid the No. 20 Chevrolet.
Rossi’s viewpoint, however, was dramatically different.
“I was just coming in, and he didn’t know I was pitting and blindsided me into the attenuator, and that was it,” Rossi said.
Palou was able to make it onto pit lane in the commit lane before the yellow flag came out.
The pits opened on Lap 130, McLaughlin won the race off pit road, but Palou was the leader by perfectly timing his pit stop before the yellow flag waved showing an uncanny sense that has made him a four-time champion.
The race resumed on Lap 139 with Palou leading McLaughlin and Kirkwood. One lap later, Kirkwood went into the inside of McLaughlin to take over second place. McLaughlin regained the position and Newgarden was putting pressure on Kirkwood for third place.
That was before Rinus VeeKay drove from behind to apply pressure to Newgarden. Malukas continued his charge and raced his way into 10thplace.
Up front, Palou continued to lead McLaughlin, Kirkwood and Newgarden.
On Lap 177, McLaughlin pitted for the final time, triggering the final round of pit stops.
But again, a yellow flag cast its shadow on the remainder of the pit sequence as Dennis Hauger spun out, midway through the cycle. Palou had yet to pit, but his strategy was still in play.
With 40 to go, pit lane opened in time for those running late on fuel to make final stops and Palou was the first off pit lane out of that group.
As the field lined up for the restart on Lap194, Malukas had moved up to fourth place and was back in the thick of the battle. Palou pulled away in the lead head of Newgarden and Marcus Ericsson. Mick Schumacher was sixth before he was passed by Pato O’Ward.
At Lap 200, Palou led Newgarden by 0.2070 seconds with 25 laps to go. With 16 laps to go, McLaughlin passed Felix Rosenqvist to put all three Team Penske entries in the top four.
With 10 laps to go, Palou led by 0.422 seconds and appeared in control.
