Lundgaard wins dramatic Grand Prix of Road America after last lap crash

Credit: Joe Skibinski

Christian Lundgaard took his second win of 2026 and his second win for Arrow McLaren after an activity-filled Grand Prix of Road America. David Malukas secured second place for Team Penske, while Will Power survived a last lap crash to finish third for Andretti Global.

How it happened

The championship leader Álex Palou led the field to green ahead of Malukas and Marcus Armstrong. Armstrong edged out Malukas going into Turn 1 and took second place, as Scott McLaughlin elbowed past Marcus Ericsson to take fifth place.

But out in front Palou held the lead, and by Lap 2 was over a second ahead of Armstrong behind. Further down the field Santino Ferrucci moved up to 11th after starting lower down due to a grid penalty for an engine change. Lundgaard's weekend went from bad to worse as the Arrow McLaren driver had to pit with front wing damage after making contact with Scott Dixon and dropped down to the back of the field.

On Lap 5, Malukas came under pressure from the Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) driver behind him. While the Swedish driver was unable to get past for third place, it allowed his MSR teammate Armstrong to pull ahead in second place.

Meanwhile, Pato O'Ward managed to get ahead of his McLaren teammate Nolan Siegel, who was the highest starting McLaren before falling down to ninth place. O'Ward had rookie driver Caio Collet ahead of him in seventh.

On Lap 12, Malukas wasn't able to hold Rosenqvist back any longer, and Rosenqvist took third place to put both MSR cars in the podium places. Further back, Collet was battling with Scott McLaughlin in sixth, and was able to get the move done on Lap 13 before McLaughlin gained the place back shortly after.

Palou came into the pits on Lap 14, coming back out in 11th place. Armstrong made a pitstop as well, giving the lead to Rosenqvist over Ericsson and O'Ward. The first major drama of the day came when Romain Grosjean lost a wheel on track after his pitstop, bringing out the caution on Lap 15. Despite missing his rear left wheel, Hauger was able to continue driving and dragged his Dale Coyne Racing (DCR) car back to pit lane. The team was able to service his car and send him back out on track.

Rosenqvist had made a pitstop right before the pitlane was closed and was able to retain the race lead. Palou cycled back up to second place, with Ericsson, Armstrong and O'Ward completing the top five. Those five drivers led the field back to green on Lap 20 and maintained their positions as they got going again.

Credit: Paul Hurley

Grosjean's DCR teammate and rookie Dennis Hauger suffered a tyre puncture and had to come into the pits, coming back out behind Grosjean in last place. Out in front, Rosenqvist was unable to pull away as Palou had done, and was under pressure from the championship leader behind him.

Right behind O'Ward, Siegel was running in sixth and looking set for a strong result as he maintained his position. A few places further down, Power battled with Christian Rasmussen for ninth place. Palou made another pitstop on Lap 29, coming back out in fifth on a set of the black hard tyres.

Unfortunately, Palou picked up a penalty for speeding in the pitlane. He came back in the following lap to serve the drive-through penalty, which dropped him down to 20th in the running. Right after, the caution came back out as Rasmussen stopped on the start/finish line. With the pitlane closed, no one was able to pit at the start of the caution.

Rosenqvist came in as soon as the pits were opened on Lap 32 along with much of the rest of the grid, and he came back out in the lead ahead of Ericsson and Siegel. McLaughlin and Lundgaard completed the top five as they ran under caution.

Rosenqvist dropped out of the lead to pit before the restart on Lap 33, and his teammate Armstrong took the lead over Malukas and Alex Rossi. Rosenqvist brought out the caution later that lap, as debris from his car was out on track, the MSR driver now down in 18th. Power was running fourth and Graham Rahal completed the top five.

Credit: Paul Hurley

Armstrong now led the field back to racing on Lap 36, and maintained his lead over Malukas heading into Turn 1. Further down the field, Kyffin Simpson got past Power for sixth place, as Palou slowly made his way back up the field to seventh. Power and Palou battled for seventh, and the pair traded places several times throughout Lap 38 before Palou was able to hold onto the position.

Rossi and Palou both came into the pits with 14 laps to go, Palou coming out ahead of the driver who had been running third. Armstrong came in on the following lap as did Malukas, as out on the track Palou went wide trying to get ahead of Siegel coming out of the pits.

Lundgaard was leading the race but came in for his final pitstop with 10 laps to go, putting on a set of soft tyres and coming out ahead of Malukas. The Team Penske driver went into the grass trying to make the overtake for net second place, but got it done and was able to stay ahead.

Josef Newgarden and O'Ward battled out front as the laps ticked down, but both still needed to make a pitstop before the end of the race. The pair came in with seven laps to go and came out in the same order, now down in 11th and 12th. Not long after, Lundgaard made the move on Malukas for second place.

Lundgaard tried to close in on Armstrong out ahead in the closing laps, the Danish driver on the softer tyres and eating into the leader's almost 3 second lead. With four laps to go, Armstrong slowed down dramatically and Lundgaard swooped in to take the lead, Armstrong dropping down to second with Malukas closing in.

The back of Armstrong's MSR car started smoking and the caution came out as Malukas jumped up to second place. Armstrong pulled off the track in a heartbreaking end to what would have been his maiden IndyCar win.

With Armstrong's car safely out of the way, the race was able to restart for one more lap of racing, Lundgaard leading Malukas, Rahal, Power and Simpson. Lundgaard was able to maintain his lead into Turn 1 as Power jumped up into the podium places past Rahal. Siegel, who had been running close to the front all weekend, was spun and was dropped to the back of the field.

The fight for the final podium places became too much as Rahal and Power battled and Rahal hit the wall after the pair made contact. Power dropped a few places and it was Simpson who inherited third.

The race ended with the caution flags flying, as Lundgaard claimed his second victory of the year over Malukas. Power completed the podium after surviving the crash with Rahal, while Simpson came fourth. Polesitter Palou completed the top five ahead of Rossi, McLaughlin, Rosenqvist, Newgarden and Ferrucci.