Palou pulls off spectacular fuel save strategy to win at Road America

Evan Roberts
Jun 22
5 min read

Written by Evan Roberts

Following a subpar couple of races, championship leader Alex Palou went back to winning ways in Road America following a chaotic race which featured five cautions, more than ten different lead changes and a nail biting finish, eventually decided by fuel strategy.

The remainder of the podium would be two drivers on another two separate strategies in the form of Felix Rosenqvist and Santino Ferrucci.

Race Report

Beneath the blazing sun on a warm Wisconsin afternoon, rookie Louis Foster took his place at the front of the grid, leading the field to green for the first time in his IndyCar career.

Despite it being his first attempt, he would manage to hold onto the lead after a chaotic opening lap that would see David Malukas take a trip into the turn two gravel trap from sixth. He would manage to stay on the lead lap thanks to some assistance from the safety team and the length of the Road America track.

Amongst the mess, Palou who started on the front row would tumble down the field as the harder tyre he had opted for from the start did not have the same grip as those who started on the softs.

When the green flag was eventually waived at the end of lap three it would be Scott McLaughlin who would get the jump on polesitter Foster going into the turn one braking zone.

Other movers throughout the field would be Christian Lundgaard and Will Power who would be making moved up the inside of Kyle Kirkwood and Alex Palou who both started on the harder tyre.

The saying cautions breed cautions would once again be apparent however as we would have our second of the race courtesy of Robert Shwartzman in the No.83 Prema, who would have a major moment going into Canada corner and end up losing the rear, eventually ending up backwards into the barrier.

When we once again got going on lap eight McLauglin would once again get a better restart than Foster who would find himself under attack by the Arrow McLaren of Lundgaard who managed to make a move on the Brit going into the first corner on the following lap.

Some of the bigger name drivers who would pit under the first two cautions included Pato O'Ward and Scott Dixon who made the choice to change off the harder tyres from their lowly positions to go off-strategy.

Just as it looked as if we would start to get into a rhythm for the first time in the race there would be the third caution of the race as Sting-Ray Robb out-broke himself behind Marcus Armstrong going into turn three, firing himself into the concrete wall on the right hand side of the track before eventually coming to a stop in the tyre barriers at the end of the run-off.

What this would give an opportunity for was pit-stops under caution, and virtually the whole field would take that chance. In the midst of the organised chaos that is pit road, Lundgaard would manage to emerge from the pits ahead of McLauglin.

What this meant was the aforementioned drivers who made early stops would lead the field back to green on lap 14, Dixon ahead of O'Ward and Rossi.

On the restart it would be all attack from the drivers who had made their stops, the most aggressive of which would be the Penske pair of McLaughlin and Power. In their case however the fighting would be a bit too fierce, especially in the case of Power who had a huge moment going through the kink, losing multiple positions as a result.

Having started on the hard tyre, Palou on the softs would make a number of positions in the laps that followed. One of which coming after a big moment from Josef Newgarden who went deep into turn three in his attempt at getting past his teammate McLaughlin., who in turn would fall further back as he fulfilled his required stint on the slower hard tyre.

Just after all those who had stopped earlier eventually made their second stops, it would be the fourth caution of the race as Conor Daly, who was part of the pack, would lock up on cold tyres. This caused a split strategy from those who were in the net lead as Lundgaard and Kirkwood stayed out where others such as Palou and McLaughlin made stops.

Despite a lunge from Kirkwood on the restart, around the outside of turn 1, Lundgaard would manage to regain the lead going into the second corner as the Floridian went way too deep, compromising his exit.

In the mid-pack there would be further incident as Rinus Veekay would be a bit too friendly behind Graham Rahal, pushing him wide into turn three, the Rahal Letterman Lanigan driver losing multiple positions.

More pit stops jus past the half way mark, this time for the drivers who decided to stay out on the fourth caution would mean Dixon would once again cycle to the front ahead of Newgarden and surprisingly Malukas, a long way from when he found himself stationary in the gravel trap on the opening lap.

For a second race in a row, the camera would once again cut to the Penske of Newgarden in the wall. This time all due to his own mistake coming out of the final corner, ruining yet another promising race for the American. This would bring out the fifth caution of the race.

For what felt like the first time all race, when the green flag would once again be waived on lap 34, a restart would go without major incident. Dixon scampering off into the distance as he led Rossi and Palou.

As had been the case for the entire race, the lull did not last for long as Lundgaard, who was the leader on the alternate strategy, found himself facing the wrong direction in Canada corner after an overtake attempt on Colton Herta went awry. This time we managed to stay caution-free as the Dane steered clear of the wall.

This would prove critical in the state of play as a few laps later, on lap 38, race leader Dixon would have to bail for the pits. Fuel strategy would be in a state of limbo as the drivers on the alternate strategy were touch and go whether they would be able to make it to the end of the race without making another stop.

Once everyone made what they hoped would be their final stops, Dixon would once again lead the race ahead of Palou, and Rossi. The question mark would be whether he, along with a plethora of drivers who were forced to pit earlier, would be able to make their fuel last.

Someone who did not have the same concern was Rosenqvist in fourth. The swede having run a brilliant race would find himself on the charge and in prime position.

With two laps to go, we got our answer. Dixon would be forced to bail from the lead of the race, the fuel save master unable to pull off his usual magic.

What this meant was Palou would take the lead, with only two laps to go, having stopped two laps later than his teammate. By some miracle, in what was arguably the most chaotic, up-in-the-air race of the season so far, we would end up with a result that has become all so familiar, a win for Alex Palou.

Joining him on the podium would be Rosenqvist and Ferrucci, who was one of a collection of drivers to stop on track as soon as the race had finished having ran out of fuel.

Other notable results included Malukas who went from the gravel on the opening lap to seventh at the chequered flag, as well as Kyffin Simpson who clawed his way up to sixth after a lowly qualifying result.