NEWTON, Iowa — Alex Palou continues to enjoy tremendous fortune, scoring his seventh IndyCar Series victory of the season in Sunday’s Farm to Finish 275 at Iowa Speedway.
It also included bad timing for Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden, who pitted under green twice just before two cautions, dooming his bid at victory.
It was Palou’s first victory on a short oval and moves him even closer to winning the NTT IndyCar Series Championship.
The driver from Barcelona, Spain, has now won a race on every type of circuit on the NTT IndyCar Series schedule including street course, road course, Speedway and short oval.
“I’m officially an IndyCar driver now, finally,” Palou said. “It feels great. It feels amazing.
“It’s tough. That’s why it is so fun, the different challenges, the different tracks. It’s super fun. It keeps you awake and having to push every single weekend.
“To be able to get our first short oval win here. It’s a super great day. It’s super fun.”
It was also his seventh win of the season, the 17th of his IndyCar Series career and gives him a 129-point lead over Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward, who finished fifth in the No. 5 Chevrolet.
Palou’s seven wins are the most for an IndyCar driver since Sebastien Bourdais won eight times in 2007. It’s also the best 12-race start to a second since Al Unser, Jr. won eight of the first 12 races in 1994.
Palou led 194 of the 275 laps.
Palou defeated teammate Scott Dixon by 0.532 seconds. Marcus Armstrong of Meyer-Shank Racing was third as Honda swept the podium.
“It was an interesting weekend for us,” Dixon said. “A lot of cars weren’t working well on the high line but today we threw the kitchen sink at it.
“Once we got it dialed in, it was pretty good.
“Today, it was about caching the caution and going as long as possible. I think we worked on the car all day, but it pretty good and another stint, we could have had a run on the 10.
“But congrats to Alex, he’s having a massive year.
“Anything they do just roll their way. They are just doing a better job than everyone else.”
David Malukas was fourth in a Chevrolet.
The race included major wear on the Firestone Tires as the cord was visible on old tires removed during late-race pit stops.
Newgarden finished 10th after he was caught not once but twice by making a pit stop just before a caution period.
Newgarden, who had an ill-timed pit stop earlier in the race that sent him out of the top 10, had battled back to third place on Lap 225. But he was 3 seconds behind the front tandem of leader Palou and second-place Malukas.
Newgarden closed the gap to under one second on the lead with 43 laps left. He passed Malukas for second place with 40 to go and pulled up to the rear of Palou’s Honda.
With 35 to go, Newgarden dove low on the front straight and passed Palou to take the lead.
But he had one more pit stop to go and came down pit lane on Lap 248 for one last stop. It was new tires and a splash of fuel, putting Palou back in the lead.
There was a bobble and a slow getaway for Newgarden followed by Colton Herta’s front-right tire failing and the No. 26 Honda hitting the wall for another yellow.
“This Honda stuff is a joke,” Malukas radioed to his team. “Every Honda blocks you like crazy.”
For the second time in the race, Newgarden was the victim of terrible timing in the pits just before caution.
That was a major advantage for the Honda teams, who waited to pit with 19 to go during the caution period, giving them a major advantage.
Palou was the leader when the green flag waved with 12 laps remaining followed by Scott Dixon and Marcus Armstong.
He sailed to victory for the seventh time in 2025.
Shortly after 12 noon Central Time, the green flag waved to start the race. And it didn’t take long for the yellow flag to wave when Scott McLaughlin of Team Penske and Devlin DeFrancesco of Rahal Letterman Lanigan crashed at the back of the pack in Turn 4.
It wasn’t any better for teammate Will Power, who dropped out of the race on Lap 21.
“It was an engine issue during the race and made the decision to retire the car as a precaution to avoid further damage,” said Chevrolet Motorsports IndyCar Program Manager Andrew Schutter. “We’ll conduct a full inspection to better understand the cause and see what we can learn moving forward.”
Sting Ray Robb had a huge impact on Lap 50 when he slammed hard into the Turn 2 wall.
Palou was the leader on the restart on Lap 64 but one-lap later, Newgarden passed him for the lead.
On Lap 100, Newgarden led Palou by 1.3585 seconds. The top five were Newgarden, Palou, Malukas, O’Ward and Rosenqvist. By Lap 120, Newgarden built a 3.4314-second lead.
Despite a vibration, Malukas went side-by-side with Palou in a battle for second place on Lap 120, creating some thrilling wheel-to-wheel action.
Newgarden’s lead was 4.0633 seconds on Lap 125 and Newgarden pitted on Lap 130.
Marcus Ericsson crashed on Lap 131 as the No. 28 Andretti Global Honda hit the Turn 4 wall, drifted across the track and slid through the trioval grass.
That was bad news for Newgarden, who had just pitted before the yellow light came on. Because of that, it was a major disadvantage for the Team Penske driver because all other cars on track could pit under yellow and Newgarden was at the tail-end of the lead lap.
The restart was on Lap 143 and Palou was the leader ahead of Malukas. Two laps later, Herta brushed the wall in Turn 2 and Herta radioed to his team he had a huge vibration.
Newgarden restarted in 11th place after falling victim to bad timing by pitting just before the yellow flag waved.
Callum Ilott crashed for the second day in a row, this time in the Turn 4 SAFER Barrier on Lap 177.
That set up a strategic decision for teams who were on the edge of the fuel window. Teams up and down pit road were set up for pit stops, waiting for pit road to open.
The pits opened on Lap 184 and nearly every car made pit stops. Palou was the leader at the time and was first off pit road.
Newgarden made up some of his lost positions as he was eighth after pit stops.
Kirkwood, however, did not stop and was scored as the leader ahead of Palou and Malukas. Kirkwood last pitted on Lap 148.
The green flag waved on Lap 191, and it didn’t take Palou long to race past Kirkwood and regain the lead. The two engaged in a side-by-side battle for three laps before Palou took the advantage on Lap 194.
One lap later, Malukas passed Kirkwood for second place.
On lap 197, Marcus Armstrong clipped Scott Dixon’s front wing, breaking the wing on the No. 9 Honda. It must not have affected Dixon’s performance, as he went on to finish second.
At Lap 200, Palou led Malukas by 0.3836-of-a-second.
Santino Ferrucci and Colton Herta banged wheels and that send Herta’s Honda up the track but didn’t make contact with the wall.
Malukas began to reel in Palou, setting up a battle for the win over the final 64 laps.
