While generally held in September (season finale), this year’s INDYCAR Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey was moved to June. With over a third of the country suffering from a heat wave, the cool coastal weather on the Monterey peninsula was a welcome setting for this year’s open-wheel showdown.
The “surgeon” prevails
Alex Palou earned his second victory in three years at the West Coast’s crown jewel of circuits, Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca, moving into the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship lead with his second win of the season driving the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Two-time and reigning series champion Palou, who started from the pole, beat Colton Herta (who has also won twice at Laguna Seca) in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda of Andretti Global by a relatively scant 1.9780 seconds.
Palou comments: “It was a chaotic race, man! We didn’t do a very good job on the starts and those restarts at the beginning. The strategy was a bit risky for the position we were in, but we knew we had the pace, and we just had to execute.”
Palou’s victory continued an impressive string of results at this track. Besides the victory today and in 2022, Palou finished second in 2021 and third in 2023. Alexander Rossi finished a season-best third in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. Romain Grosjean placed fourth in the No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet, the best NTT INDYCAR SERIES finish ever for that team.
Pre-race rumblings
Coming into the weekend, it’s no surprise that the frontrunners were the “usual suspects,” led by Scott Dixon, who won last year’s race. Chip Ganassi Racing’s six-time season champion beat Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin in the 2023 season finale by 7.3180 seconds, and both of their teams are the jugernauts of the series. The other driver on the podium last year was Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou, who earned his second title in three years with his third-place finish. He entered Sunday’s race five points behind Team Penske’s Will Power for the series lead. Lastly, while suffering from some bad luck in the recent Detroit street race, Colton Herta has won twice here in the last 5 years, so it was anybody’s guess what Sunday would bring.
Big news from Arrow McLaren
Just days before the race, Arrow McLaren announced that it signed the young Nolan Siegel to a multiyear contract to drive its No. 6 Chevrolet starting this weekend. Siegel, 19, from Palo Alto, CA, will be the teammate to hot shoes Pato O’Ward and Alexander Rossi. Upon the team’s announcement, Siegal commented, “I’m looking forward to jumping right in with the Arrow McLaren team this week and confirming my place in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES in papaya (orange) moving forward. This is an unexpected jump, but I’m thrilled to be in this position after a rewarding run in the Indy NXT by Firestone series with HMD Motorsports. I am looking forward to this new journey and learning alongside the entire team starting this weekend in my home state.”
Qualifying
2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Alex Palou maintained the pressure in his quest for a third title by winning the NTT P1 Award for the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey on Saturday at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Palou earned his second pole of the season and fifth of his career with a best lap of 1 minute, 7.1465 seconds in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Palou is second in the championship standings, five points behind Will Power, who qualified 15th in the No. 12 Verizon Business Team Penske Chevrolet.
“It was really tough, really tight all qualifying to get to the Fast 12 and then the Fast Six,” Palou said. “It was really tricky with track conditions. As soon as there was some wind, you couldn’t really finish the lap because there was no grip. The car was on rails today, so the best starting position for tomorrow.”
The pole continued an impressive history for Palou at this picturesque Northern California road course, an 11-turn, 2.238-mile layout that includes the famous “Corkscrew” complex of turns. Palou won this race in 2022 and finished second in 2021 and third in 2023.
Top drivers close behind
Kyle Kirkwood joined Palou on the front row after a best lap of 1:07.2204 in the No. 27 AutoNation Honda of Andretti Global. The second starting spot was Kirkwood’s best performance in qualifying since winning the pole and the race in April 2023 at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Felix Rosenqvist continued his reinvigoration with Meyer Shank Racing, qualifying third at 1:07.2917 in the No. 60 AutoNation/SiriusXM Honda. Colton Herta, who led practice Saturday morning, qualified fourth at 1:07.2972 in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda of Andretti Global with Curb-Agajanian. Herta won this race in 2019 and 2021.
Alexander Rossi qualified fifth at 1:07.3594 in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. Christian Lundgaard rounded out the Firestone Fast Six and Row 3 at 1:07.5112 in the No. 45 Hy-Vee Honda fielded by Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.
Race strategy
Two distinct tire strategies emerged early in the 95-lap race, as there was no clear consensus up and down pit lane about whether primary or alternate Firestone Firehawk tires were the fastest and preferred rubber over the length of a fuel stint. Fuel and tire strategies first diverged in stark fashion on Lap 36. The first of five caution periods was triggered when rookie Luca Ghiotto went off track into the tire barrier in Turn 4 in the No. 51 GAV Air Technology Honda of Dale Coyne Racing. Rossi was leading during that incident and pulled a train of leading cars down pit lane under yellow on Lap 37. That pack of early-pitting cars included Herta, early leader Kyle Kirkwood, Scott Dixon, and Power. But 13 drivers, including Palou, decided to stay out.
The right decision?
Palou discussed that call over the radio with strategist Barry Wanser during the caution period, wondering if it was the right move. “At that time, I doubted (the strategy) a little bit,” Palou said. “I didn’t know if my radio was working or not. But everything was fine. I’m sorry I didn’t have that trust, that belief in his call during those 10 or 20 seconds, but overall, an amazing job for the Ganassi team.”
Palou stayed out front until he made his second pit stop on Lap 56, handing the lead to Herta and taking Firestone’s alternate, red-sidewall tires for the first time, deeper into the race than any other driver. Herta made his final stop on Lap 67, along with Rossi. Once again, Wanser instructed Palou to stay on track on the fast Firestone alternate tires, trying to build upon his lead of nearly three seconds. Palou made his last stop on Lap 70, along with Grosjean, and took on used Firestone primary tires. Josef Newgarden cycled to the lead in the No. 2 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet. But Palou took the lead for good when Newgarden made his final stop on Lap 75.
Three restarts
Still, the last 20 laps were not a stroll through the picturesque, 11-turn, 2.238-mile circuit, as Palou had to endure restarts after three caution periods during that span. “Too intense there at the end with those restarts, but an amazing win for the No. 10 DHL car,” Palou said. Palou pulled away cleanly on each restart, building a lead as large as four seconds over Herta when Jack Harvey pulled his No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda off track near the start-finish line with a mechanical problem, triggering the penultimate caution.
On the ensuing restart on Lap 85, Palou built a gap of 1.6 seconds by Lap 87 when Agustin Canapino’s contact with Kyffin Simpson’s No. 4 Journie Rewards Chip Ganassi Racing Honda cut Simpson’s rear tire exiting Turn 5, forcing him into a spin. The trailing No. 15 Mobil 1 Honda driven by Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Graham Rahal had nowhere to go in thick traffic and made contact with Simpson. Both cars ended up in the gravel, with Rahal making contact with the wall. Both drivers were unhurt, and Canapino was penalized for avoidable contact.
Two-time winner Colton Herta
Herta had one final shot at Palou on the restart on Lap 91, but once again, Palou pulled away, building a gap of 1.1 seconds after one lap. “It’s a good result,” California native Herta said. “We chose the strategy that we did, and we did a really good job with what we chose. It hurts not to win here, but we have to be happy with second place here.”
Championship points
After yesterday’s win, Palou gained a 23-point lead in the series standings over Will Power, who finished seventh in the No. 12 Verizon Business Team Penske Chevrolet. Power led Palou by five points entering this race, the eighth of 17 on the 2024 schedule.
- All photos © 2024 Rex McAfee
- Above text © 2024 INDYCAR reviewed and edited by Rex Mcafee
Gallery
