Story and photos by Tim Adams
IndyCar at Road America. For teams, drivers, and spectators alike, this is always one of the most anticipated stops on the IndyCar calendar. Joining IndyCar this weekend was the Road to Indy support series racers in USF2000, USF Pro 2000, and Indy NXT. Radical Cup North America and Vintage Indy were also on hand to add to the on-track action.
Everyone was greeted with amazing weather for the three days with temperatures in the low 70’s. This was a welcome relief from the stifling heat and humidity that we all had to endure in 2025.
Unfortunately, the majority of the support series races were marred by numerous incidents, and yellow flag laps. The support series races are always short to begin with, so the yellow flag laps did not let the races get any kind of flow going. They often struggled to complete two full laps under green.
As for the star of the show IndyCar, it is another year of the Alex Palou show. Reading fan’s comments on social media it is starting to become the “Anyone but Palou” attitude for many. Coming into the Road America race Palou had won four of the nine races and had sat on the pole five times. Palou did not disappoint his fans in qualifying, once again setting the pole winning time, clear of the field by over three tenths of a second. This was Palou’s fifth straight pole. He remains an unbelievable driver at setting the quick lap.
Road America made several improvements once again during the off season. One that stands out is the rebuilding of the false grid. This will really come into play during the upcoming 6-hour IMSA endurance race with over fifty entries expected.
The second change was the addition of Grasscrete at several corners throughout the track. Grasscrete is steel reinforced concrete that allows grass to grow through its voids. The idea is to limit the dust and debris that often gets on the track when drivers push the limit of the track boundaries. Large ruts were often formed when drivers went off track, and this works to eliminate these also. As can be seen below the drivers were exploring the limits of the Grasscrete at turn fourteen.
The race went as expected the first fourteen laps, you guessed it, Alex Palou in the lead. The opening lap was not without drama, however. Christian Lundgaard contacted the back of Scott Dixon’s car damaging his front wing and flattening his left front tire. Coming into turn five on the opening lap Lundgaard was dead last. On lap fifteen the first caution waved, Romain Grosjean’s car managed to lose a rear wheel. After the pit stops the 2026 Indy 500 winner Felix Rosenqvist took the lead and was able to stay in front of Palou for a number of laps. When Palou did pit again, he ended up speeding in the pit lane and had to serve a drive through penalty. This would cost Palou his chance to win the race, so the “Anyone but Palou” crowd was very happy.
Just after the midway point, the dreaded hybrid system failure strikes again. The hybrid system added to the cars a couple of years ago has not gone well. They added weight to the cars that were not designed for it, and the system has been far from reliable. Drivers Scott Dixon and Alexander Rossi have been very vocal; they are not big fans of the hybrid. This time the hybrid demons struck Christian Rasmussen. Before the race at Road America, IndyCar reduced the hybrid system power output to try to help with reliability, and to not be faced with the possibility of running out of the hybrid units before the end of the season. It looks like they still have a lot of room for improvement.
After the pit stop cycle for the hybrid failure caution, Marcus Armstrong was able to capture the lead. It was starting to look like Armstrong might be able to capture the first win in his IndyCar career. All was good until there were only three laps to go, the Honda engine in Armstrong’s car expired. That first IndyCar win would have to wait until another time.
Meanwhile, Lundgaard, the guy who was dead last not even halfway through the opening lap, had been charging through the field and was all the way up to second place when Armstong’s engine let go! This set up a one lap dash to finish. Lundgaard was able to hold off David Malukus and take the win. A remarkable team win after the horrible luck to start the race. This is Lundgaard’s second win of the season, leaving him in fourth place in the season long standings, and the top Arrow McLaren driver. The last lap shoot out was not without drama. Will Power ran into the back of Graham Rahal coming into Canada corner fighting for the third place on the podium. Rahal was penalized for blocking and finished 23rd, while Will Power was able to capture third place.
Leaving Road America Alex Palou still holds a very commanding 60-point lead over David Malukus, and 61-point lead over Kyle Kirkwood. It is going to take quite an effort to overtake Palou at this point.
Once again Road America delivered. Tickets are already on sale on Road America’s website at a discount for the weekend in 2027. While the exact date has not been announced, you can expect it to be near, or once again on Father’s Day in 2027. See you next year.
