Winners and Losers: Grand Prix of Road America
- Morgan Holiday
- 2 hours ago
- 6 min read
Christian Lundgaard won a chaotic race at Road America, which left him confused how he'd managed the feat after dropping to last place on the first lap.
On a day where many drivers gained places, and many left disappointed, DIVEBOMB takes a look at the winners and losers from IndyCar's trip to Road America.
Winner - Alex Rossi
Alex Rossi came through from last place on the grid to equal his best result of the year with a sixth place finish at Road America.
Coming into the weekend, IndyCar announced that Rossi, along with AJ Foyt Racing’s Santino Ferrucci, would be receiving a six-place grid penalty due to unapproved engine changes made on Friday. Rossi qualified 21st on Saturday after getting knocked out in the first round of qualifying, but started 25th due to the penalty.
But despite a poor qualifying, Rossi had the pace on Sunday to make his way through the field, jumping up to contend in the midfield. By the end of the first caution of the race, he was running in 14th place, already up 11 places from where he started less than halfway through the day. By the end of the race, Rossi was able to avoid the chaos that had ensued and made his way up 19 places to sixth, equaling his best result of the year and adding a fourth top 10 finish to his 2026 resume.
It’s been a tough few years for Rossi, and a foot injury at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway has only hindered his progress, so a result like this one is a huge win for Rossi and the Ed Carpenter Racing team.
Winner - Kyffin Simpson
Simpson narrowly missed out on a podium which will sting for the Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR) driver, but picking up his first top five result of the year is still a win.
After a tough rookie season, Simpson ended his sophomore year with a bang when he picked up his maiden podium and then a fourth-place finish in the final race of 2025. But coming into 2026, it doesn’t seem like Simpson has been able to carry the momentum into his third IndyCar season, and in the first half of the year he only scored three top 10 finishes.
It didn’t seem like Road America was going to be Simpson’s weekend after he qualified 19th on Saturday, but like other drivers he was able to capitalise on the chaos of the race to come forward to fourth place in the closing laps. Running behind Graham Rahal and Will Power, Simpson was primed for a podium finish when the pair collided on the final lap, but Power held on and was able to retain third place, leaving Simpson to settle for a fourth place finish, higher than either of his Chip Ganassi Racing teammates.
On a day when a second career podium was definitely possible, this result may sting for Simpson but overall it’s a big positive in terms of where he could go from here.
Winner - Caio Collet
Rookie driver Caio Collet may not have had the on-paper results he was looking for at Road America, but the pace he showed all weekend certainly caught the paddock’s attention.
In Practice 1, Collet ran near the top all session before finishing sixth. He followed the performance up on Saturday by finishing fifth in Practice 2. Practice times aren’t necessarily a fair indicator of speed, but Collet continued to be fast in qualifying, where he finished in second right behind David Malukas in Group 1. In the Fast 12, he wasn’t quite fast enough to transfer to the Fast 6, but a ninth place finish secured a top 10 starting position for the race.
Speaking to DIVEBOMB ahead of the weekend, Collet mentioned that race day has been the hardest part for him when it comes to adapting from Indy NXT to IndyCar.
“I would say adapting a little bit to the race day, when it comes to race day with the strategy and decision making, what you can do with the strategy, that’s something that I need to improve and understand a little bit better,” he said. “But hopefully I think we can do something that is good.”
Unfortunately, race day didn’t pan out the way that Collet was hoping for, and he was only able to manage a 16th place finish, equalling his second best career IndyCar result. But it was certainly a positive step forward for the rookie in terms of competition and speed. He’s now just 30 points behind Dennis Hauger in the Rookie of the Year fight.
Loser - Marcus Armstrong
Through no fault of his own, Marcus Armstrong lost out on a maiden IndyCar race win this weekend, and everyone knows it.
Even Lundgaard, the eventual race winner, told DIVEBOMB after the race: “I think Marcus should have won this race. Again, it is racing. We've all had that. It happened to me in Nashville last year, which cost me P3 in the championship. I've been there. Most of us have.”
Still, that doesn’t make the result sting any less for the New Zealander, who has been chasing his first win in his fourth IndyCar season. Armstrong qualified a strong third ahead of his Meyer Shank Racing teammate Felix Rosenqvist, and was in the hunt for the win all day. He took second place from Malukas going into Turn 1 at the start of the race and was in prime position to take the lead when Álex Palou was penalised for speeding in the pitlane.
From there, Armstrong led comfortably until the closing laps. Just when it seemed like Lundgaard running in second wouldn’t be able to close the gap, Armstrong’s car lost power and began to smoke. He lost places rapidly and eventually retired from the race, losing what would have been a comprehensive win.
There are plenty of positives for Armstrong to take away from this weekend, but it’s a devastating result for a driver so close to his first win, and he’ll walk away with nothing to show for it.
Loser - Graham Rahal
Graham Rahal has been having what could be labeled as his best IndyCar season in years. After going two full seasons without a podium, he’s scored three third place finishes in the first half of 2026. He was on for a fourth one in Road America before a last lap tangle with Power put him out of the race.
Rahal qualified down in 20th, ahead of both of his teammates, but was able to move forward in the race to fight in the top five. By the second to last caution of the race he was running in third, with Power behind him. On the last lap restart, their battle turned ugly.
The pair traded places several times on the final lap before Power, coming from behind, made contact with the back of Rahal’s car which caused him to spin and go off into the gravel before hitting the wall. Power was able to continue and was not penalised for the incident, maintaining the podium as Rahal retired from the race.
On what could have been another weekend that proves Rahal still has something left for IndyCar, a disappointing result saw him lose out on a podium and finish at the back of the pack.
Loser - Dale Coyne Racing
IndyCar fans who enjoyed the chaotic race at Road America will be thanking Dale Coyne Racing (DCR) for providing a good amount of the excitement.
Romain Grosjean and his rookie teammate Hauger qualified 14th and 17th respectively, where they started Sunday’s race from. But early on, things didn’t go as planned. Grosjean brought out the first caution of the day as he lost a wheel that wasn’t screwed on properly on Lap 15, which dropped him to the back of the field as he was able to limp back to the pits and continue.
Things went from bad to worse for the team as Hauger suffered a puncture which put him behind Grosjean, the pair now stuck at the back of the pack.
Throughout the rest of the chaotic race, Grosjean was able to recover to 15th and Hauger to 20th, but the day was overall a mess for the DCR team as they lost out on the opportunity to capitalise on the rest of the day.
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