By: Spencer Neff
June 18,2023

Sonsio Grand Prix Results

Following a crash in opening practice, Alex Palou and the No.10 team faced an uphill battle to begin the Sonsio Grand Prix weekend at Road America.

In qualifying, the driver of the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing entry would place third on the grid.

After hanging up front most of the afternoon, the Spaniard passed Andretti Autosport’s Colton Herta with seven laps remaining on the 4.048-mile, 14-turn road course in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.

Palou would hang on to win for a series-leading third time in 2023, all within the last four events. It is the seventh win of his NTT INDYCAR SERIES career and first repeat win at a track, he won during his 2021 championship season. Six of his seven career victories have been on permanent road courses, with his June 4 win on the temporary street circuit in Detroit being the exception.

Finishing 4.561 seconds back, Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden was short of becoming the first repeat winner at Road America since Jacques Villeneuve (1994-95). After two consecutive DNFs (Did not Finish), Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward rebounded to finish third.

Palou’s teammate Scott Dixon rebounded from a practice crash and 23rd-place start to finish fourth ahead of Herta. Teammate Marcus Ericsson finished sixth behind Herta and now trails Palou by 74 in the standings, the largest points lead by any driver since 2020.

Herta, who started on the pole, faded to fifth after leading 33 of 55 laps. Palou would lead 10 laps, including the final seven.

Slowed by four cautions for 10 laps, the average speed was 120.335 mph. The lead changed hands on nine occasions among four drivers.

Race Recap

On the start, Kyle Kirkwood made contact in Turn 1 with O’Ward. The AMR Safety Team was able to get Herta refired but the caution waved before the first lap was completed. After the Lap 4 restart, O’Ward was forced by Race Control to cede two positions following opening-lap contact with Santino Ferrucci.

Up front, Herta maintained a second-plus lead as the battling continued behind him. On Lap 13, his Andretti Autosport teammate Romain Grosjean spun in Turn 3. Following the second caution of the afternoon, the first major cycle of pit stops were brought on.

Herta and Palou would maintain the front two spots, with Newgarden clipping Armstrong for third. Armstrong was forced to cede fifth after his team was penalized for an unsafe release, nearly making contact with Meyer Shank Racing’s Simon Pagenaud.

Just as the field was set to get the green flag on Lap 16, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Jack Harvey went off-track and made contact with the tire barrier in Turn 14. Before the field crossed the start-finish line, the caution was out again.

Newgarden was able to find his way around Palou for second and began cutting into Herta’s lead. On Lap 24, David Malukas stalled in Turn 8 and the fourth caution flag of the afternoon would fly in order to give the No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsport entry a tow-in.

During the Lap 29 restart, Armstrong stayed out and inherited the race lead while Herta, Palou, O’Ward and Newgarden battled in waiting for Armstrong to make his fuel stop. after Team Penske’s Will Power made his pit stop, Herta was back up from with 22 laps remaining. Pit stops cycled through, allowing Power (40-42) and Palou (42-46) to lead as the field made their final stop.

Despite having the preferred Firestone tire (primary), Herta was unable to make the advantage last for the remainder of the race. Palou would make his pass on the outside heading into Turn 1 and did not look back.

Among other notable finishers today were Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Agustin Canapino, the best among the four rookies in 19th. Following a qualifying crash, Ryan Hunter-Reay marched from 27th to finish 17th in his debut with Ed Carpenter Racing in the No. 20 car.

Up Next

Following another week off, the NTT INDYCAR SERIES will head to another famed permanent road course.

Practice for the Honda Indy 200 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio begins on June 30 at 3:05-4:20 p.m. EDT. Second Practice will be July 1 at 9:45-10:45 a.m. and qualifying at 2:45 p.m.

The 30-minute final warmup is scheduled for 10:30-11 a.m. on Sunday, July 2.

The 85-lap race will air on USA Network at 1;30 p.m.. All on-track pre-race sessions will be aired on peacock. Look for continued updates on the NTT INDYCAR SERIES from IndyCar1909 and our social media platforms.

Header Image By JamesBlack/INDYCAR