2026 XPEL Grand Prix

Lundgaard Recovers From Lap 1 Puncture to Win Chaotic Road America Race

Christian Lundgaard lost a tire before the opening lap was over and ran dead last in the early going. He still ended the afternoon in Victory Lane.

The No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet driver turned a Lap 1 puncture into one of the season's most improbable victories Sunday, inheriting the lead when Marcus Armstrong's engine let go on Lap 52 and holding on through a caution-strewn finish to win the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America presented by AMR. Lundgaard, who started 12th, edged David Malukas by 0.6241 of a second as the race ended under yellow — his second NTT IndyCar Series win of 2026 and his first at Road America.

It nearly went the other way at the first corner. Lundgaard made contact at the start — he suspected he had run into the back of Scott Dixon — damaging his left-front wing and picking up a flat that forced him onto pit road after the opening lap for fresh alternate tires. The early stop buried him at the back of the field, but it also handed him an off-sequence strategy that the day's relentless cautions would reward. "When you're driving on three wheels, I rather want to just get it to the pit lane than anything else," Lundgaard said.

What followed was one of the wildest races of the year. Five cautions slowed the 55-lap event for 11 laps as IndyCar's quick yellow flags repeatedly closed pit road and scrambled the order on single-file restarts — a wave of cars dropped to the back for servicing in a closed pit. Six lead changes were split among five drivers, and the race produced 240 passes, all of them for position.

Pole sitter Alex Palou led the first 13 laps in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda before the opening round of stops cycled him back, and his afternoon unraveled on Lap 29 when officials handed him a drive-through penalty for speeding on pit entry. He climbed back to fifth.

Armstrong looked the class of the field once the strategy settled. The No. 66 Meyer Shank Racing Honda led 14 laps and was running up front when its engine expired on the frontstretch on Lap 52, moments after Lundgaard had moved by for the lead — the failure bringing out the caution that effectively decided the race. "I feel like this one today is a little bit of a cheat code. I think Marcus should have won this race," Lundgaard said.

Lundgaard's winning move was as much patience as pace. Rather than pit again on the final sequence, Arrow McLaren left him out — a gamble that exposed him to exactly the sort of late yellow that arrived. "Staying out on that last pit sequence is what really gained us the win. But that's also the riskiest thing we could do because we're exposing ourselves to yellow," he said.

Malukas, who lined up on the front row, brought the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet home second for his third runner-up result of 2026. "It was a crazy race," he said. "I didn't even know what was going on. Next thing you know we're P2." A final-lap restart offered no real opening, with Malukas on primary tires against Lundgaard's alternates. "You're going against alternates versus primary tires. It's not really going to be a competition," he said.

Will Power completed the podium in the No. 26 TWG AI Andretti Global Honda, his best finish of a difficult season. Power made contact with Graham Rahal's No. 15 MSC Industrial Supply Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda in Turn 12 on the last lap, sending Rahal into the barrier and triggering the race-ending caution. Officials judged Rahal to have blocked but issued no further penalty, his spin into the wall deemed self-penalizing, and Power kept third. Rahal was seen and released. "I was braking, he was braking. I don't understand why that was," Power said. "It took me by surprise obviously. That's what caused that."

Power, who has led laps in five races this year without a win to show for it, traced the chaos to the officiating. "Now we're sort of back to completely inverting the field at times, which I'm not a massive fan of," he said. He had only praise for the winner: "He's been incredibly quick in a couple of these road courses. His race pace has been amazing. I think people are happy to see someone else win to be honest."

The biggest mover was Alexander Rossi, who charged from 25th to sixth in the No. 20 Java House Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet after a six-position grid penalty for an unapproved engine change had left him at the rear. Scott McLaughlin, Felix Rosenqvist, Santino Ferrucci and Kyle Kirkwood rounded out the top 10.

Lundgaard set the fastest lap of the race, a 1:45.5659 on Lap 50. Palou's championship lead held firm at 60 points over Malukas, who climbed back to second. Kirkwood, 10th after an off day, slipped to third a single point behind Malukas, while Lundgaard remained fourth.

Cloudy skies hung over Elkhart Lake throughout, the ambient temperature at 71 degrees and the track at 97 degrees at the green.

Dixon Tops Road America Warm-Up as Grid Goes Official

Scott Dixon was quickest in the final tune-up before the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America, leading Sunday morning's warm-up at 1:44.8508 in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. The 30-minute session sent the 25-car field out one last time before the green flag, the running order bearing little resemblance to the afternoon's grid, as is typical of a pre-race warm-up.

Meyer Shank Racing again ran near the front, with Marcus Armstrong second in the No. 66 Meyer Shank Racing Honda and Felix Rosenqvist third in the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda, echoing the team's pace all weekend. Nolan Siegel was fourth in the No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, and Caio Collet again led the rookies, fifth in the No. 4 Combitrans Amazonia AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet, ahead of Josef Newgarden in the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet. Among Sunday's front-row starters, pole sitter Alex Palou placed 20th and David Malukas 16th. The field combined for 322 laps.

The session's lone penalty went to Santino Ferrucci, who drew a drive-through for a pit lane speed violation, clocked at 45.817 mph at pit in, in the No. 14 Homes for Our Troops AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet.

With warm-up complete, the grid is official. Palou will lead the field to green in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, alongside Malukas in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet. The two engine-change penalties announced Saturday stand, dropping Ferrucci to 13th and Alexander Rossi to 25th in the No. 20 Java House Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet. The top three starters — Palou, Malukas and Armstrong — are set to begin on the alternate tire, with Rosenqvist and fifth-place starter Marcus Ericsson, in the No. 28 Delaware Life Andretti Global Honda, lined up on the primary.

The 55-lap race closes out the weekend Sunday afternoon, with rain still in the forecast. Palou will bid for a fourth Road America victory from the pole, while Malukas chases a maiden IndyCar win from the outside of the front row.

Palou Seizes First Road America Pole, Extends Streak to Five

Alex Palou will start the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America from the top, claiming the NTT P1 Award on Saturday with a Firestone Fast Six lap of 1:43.6615 in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. It is the series points leader's first pole at the 4.014-mile road course, his sixth of 2026 and the 18th of his NTT IndyCar Series career — and it came only after a qualifying he admitted he never quite had under control.

The pole was also Palou's fifth in succession, a run that ties him with Indy car greats Mario Andretti and Danny Sullivan, who each reeled off five straight (Andretti in 1984, Sullivan in 1988). A sixth consecutive pole at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course next weekend would match Alex Zanardi's Indy car record of six in a row, set across 1996 and 1997.

"Q1 I felt great. Q2 I struggled a ton. Yesterday I felt great, but this morning I struggled, as well," Palou said. He traced the turnaround to a decision to abandon the setup direction Chip Ganassi Racing had chased in Friday's practice and revert to its earlier baseline. "We thought we were going one direction ... It was the opposite. We just went back. Luckily it was good," he said. The result still caught him off guard. "It's always surprising. It's always so fun and so tough to get it right," he said.

David Malukas joins him on the front row, lapping at 1:43.9542 to take second in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, his best qualifying effort at Road America. Malukas said the lap capped a wholesale change after a difficult opening day. "Going from practice yesterday to today, we flipped this car upside down overnight. It was not in the window yesterday. Coming into today, so much better," he said. He, too, pointed to the challenge of the circuit's length. "This track is so long, it is so hard to put a lap together," he said.

Malukas had been the man to beat through much of the session, topping both his Round 1 group and the Top 12 segment, while Palou posted the quickest single lap of the opening round, a 1:43.4984 in Group 2. Scott McLaughlin gave Team Penske two cars in the Fast Six, qualifying sixth in the No. 3 XPEL Team Penske Chevrolet to cap a steady climb from 19th in Friday's opener. Meyer Shank Racing again showed the road-course pace it carried all weekend, with Marcus Armstrong third in the No. 66 Meyer Shank Racing Honda and Felix Rosenqvist fourth in the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda. Marcus Ericsson completed the Fast Six, fifth in the No. 28 Delaware Life Andretti Global Honda.

The Firestone alternate tire, fickle and hit-or-miss through both practices, finally delivered when it counted. "Today it was pretty clear that the alternates were better," Palou said, noting that even Pato O'Ward had topped Practice 2 on the primary tire. Malukas saw the same swing. "Massive gain going from primaries to alternates," he said.

The knockout format claimed several heavy hitters in Round 1. Championship runner-up Kyle Kirkwood qualified 18th in the No. 27 Sam's Club Andretti Global Honda, two-time Road America winner Josef Newgarden 15th in the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet and Christian Lundgaard, fourth in the standings, 13th in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. Louis Foster, who took the NTT P1 Award here a year ago, qualified 24th in the No. 45 Droplight Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda. Caio Collet again led the rookies, reaching the Top 12 to qualify ninth in the No. 4 Combitrans Amazonia AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet.

Two drivers drew drive-through penalties during the segments themselves. Alexander Rossi was penalized for a pit lane speed violation, clocked at 46.599 mph, in the No. 20 Java House Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet and qualified 21st, while Romain Grosjean's No. 18 BMax Dale Coyne Racing Honda was penalized for his crew hitting personnel on a pit stop; he qualified 14th.

Rossi's weekend carried a further cost. INDYCAR Officiating issued six-position grid penalties to both his entry and Santino Ferrucci's No. 14 Homes for Our Troops AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet for unapproved engine changes made after Friday's practice, to be served in Sunday's race. The sanctions drop Ferrucci, who qualified seventh, to 13th on the grid and send Rossi to the rear of the 25-car field. The official starting lineup will be confirmed after Sunday morning's warm-up.

Conditions were cool for the session, 68 degrees ambient under partly cloudy skies, with the track surface at 106.7 degrees. Rain remains in Sunday's forecast for the 55-lap race, when Palou will chase a fourth Road America victory from the pole and Malukas, still seeking his first IndyCar win, lines up alongside. "I know the time will come," Malukas said. "If this race is going to be the one, we'll go for it."

O'Ward Tops Practice 2 and the Combined Road America Order

Pato O'Ward turned a frustrating Friday into the fastest lap of the weekend, pacing Practice 2 for the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America on Saturday morning in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. His best of 1:44.0029 not only led the 50-minute session but stood as the quickest time across both practices, lifting him to the top of the combined order ahead of qualifying.

It marked a sharp turnaround for O'Ward, who had ended the opening session fourth and unsettled by the behavior of the Firestone alternate tire. Speaking after Friday's practice, he framed the early running as a fact-finding exercise. "Just guidance of where we want to go for qualifying. Just kind of getting a read on what the alternate's going to do," he said, adding that the series rarely runs to script. "The nature of IndyCar is you get surprised. You get surprised."

Marcus Armstrong, the Practice 1 pacesetter, again ran near the front and was second in the No. 66 Meyer Shank Racing Honda, 0.1068 behind. He also held second in the combined order, underscoring the road-course pace he had flagged a day earlier. "I feel like the car has been extremely strong on road courses this year," Armstrong said Friday. "I think we have a good, strong package this weekend." Teammate Felix Rosenqvist, 20th in Practice 2 in the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda, held fourth in the combined order on the strength of his Friday lap.

Scott McLaughlin made the biggest climb of the morning, jumping from 19th in the opener to third in Practice 2 in the No. 3 XPEL Team Penske Chevrolet, a result that also placed him third in the combined order. The New Zealander had talked up Road America's strategic demands earlier in the week, pointing to the length of its lap. "It's a long, long lap for sure. We've seen in the past the overcut be a long strategic thing instead of the undercut," he said. Penske stablemate David Malukas was fourth in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, with Alex Palou sixth in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. The combined top five read O'Ward, Armstrong, McLaughlin, Rosenqvist and Palou.

Caio Collet again led the rookies, placing fifth in Practice 2 in the No. 4 Combitrans Amazonia AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet and sitting seventh in the combined order, the best of the three first-time Road America starters across the two sessions.

The session was a choppy one, broken up by two red flags. The first flew at 10:21 a.m. for debris in Turn 14. Will Power, in the No. 26 TWG AI Andretti Global Honda, was assessed a five-minute time penalty for causing a red flag, and Scott Dixon drew a drive-through penalty for a pit lane speed violation, clocked at 45.460 mph through the pit center in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Green-flag running resumed at 10:26 before a second stoppage at 10:30, when Louis Foster's No. 45 Droplight Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda stopped at the exit of Turn 8, drawing Foster a five-minute time penalty for causing the red flag. The session went back to green at 10:35 and ran to its 10:56 checkered, with the field combining for 336 laps in Practice 2 and 755 across both sessions.

Attention now turns to qualifying, set for 1:05 p.m. CT Saturday across three rounds of knockout running for the NTT P1 Award, with the read on the alternate tire — O'Ward's stated priority — shaping each team's approach. Rain remains in the forecast for Sunday's race.

Armstrong Leads a Meyer Shank 1-2 to Open Road America Weekend

Marcus Armstrong set the early benchmark for the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America, pacing opening practice in the No. 66 Meyer Shank Racing Honda with a best lap of 1:44.2714 and leading teammate Felix Rosenqvist to a Meyer Shank Racing 1-2 in Friday's NTT IndyCar Series session. Rosenqvist, in the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda, ended up 0.0787 of a second behind in a session so tightly bunched that the top four were covered by less than a tenth of a second.

It was a comfortable start for Armstrong at a circuit he counts among his favorites. "It reminds me a bit of Spa in Europe, this circuit. Somewhere that I'm very well familiar with," he said. The New Zealander, who makes his fourth Road America start Sunday, felt quick from the outset even without a clean lap to show for it. "We were fast right out the gate. That's the main thing. I don't think we strung together a perfect lap," he said.

Alex Palou kept Chip Ganassi Racing in the conversation, slotting the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda into third, with Pato O'Ward fourth in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. Armstrong sensed strength across the road-course package. "I feel like the car has been extremely strong on road courses this year," he said. "I think we have a good, strong package this weekend."

O'Ward, by contrast, walked away searching for answers despite his top-four time. "Had a very good first run today, then everything else from there kind of went downhill," he said. "We didn't really change much, apart from tires. That seemed to be pretty unhappy for us." The Firestone alternate, he said, proved fickle across the field. "I feel like it was very hit or miss for people. Some people were much faster on the black. I was one of those."

How the tires behave over a longer stint remains an open question, with cool conditions clouding the picture and no team logging meaningful race-run mileage. "It seems pretty deggy out there, to be honest," Armstrong said. "Doesn't seem like it's going to be so straightforward."

The rookies announced themselves. Caio Collet, who won last year's Indy NXT race at the track, was sixth in the No. 4 Combitrans Amazonia AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet, and Mick Schumacher placed eighth in the No. 47 ENVE Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda — both inside the top eight in their first IndyCar laps at the circuit. Dennis Hauger, the third of the first-timers, wound up 21st in the No. 19 Ault Block Chain Dale Coyne Racing Honda.

Unlike road and street practices earlier this season, the session ran without a group format, leaving the 4.014-mile course open to all 25 cars for its full length. The green flew at 3:05 p.m. and the checkered fell at 4:22, two minutes beyond the scheduled finish. In between, the field combined for 419 laps.

Two penalties dotted the timesheet. Armstrong drew a drive-through for a pit lane speed violation, clocked at 95.857 mph through the high-speed pit center. The session's lone stoppage came at 3:55 p.m. when Sting Ray Robb spun into the Turn 14 barrier in the No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet, bringing out the red flag. Robb was assessed a five-minute time penalty for causing the stoppage and was later seen and released from the INDYCAR Medical Unit. Green-flag running resumed at 4:01 p.m.

The reduced hybrid deployment limit for the weekend, meanwhile, registered as a non-event for both frontrunners. "I don't think it really does anything," O'Ward said. Armstrong agreed: "Tiny, tiny difference."

Conditions were cool and clear for the opener, with rain in the forecast for Sunday's race. The series returns to the track Saturday for a second practice at 10:05 a.m. CT, followed by three rounds of knockout qualifying for the NTT P1 Award. For Armstrong, riding a strong recent run and grading his season so far "Maybe a C," the prescription for a higher mark is uncomplicated. "Win a race," he said. "That would be pretty cool."