NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship leader Alex Palou driving the No.10 Journie Rewards Chip Ganassi Racing Honda finished second in Sunday’s Honda Indy Toronto and, in doing so has extended his championship leader over teammate Scott Dixon to 117 points as the series heads to Iowa next weekend for the doubleheader weekend.
Coming from 15th on the grid, Palou made contact with Helio Castroneves on the opening lap of the race and despite his front wing being damaged, he managed to make it through the field to finish the race in second, albeit 11s behind race winner Christian Lundgaard and speaking following the race he said:
“It was a tough day at the office but I’m really glad that we made it to P2. I didn’t know if we were going to make it with the front wing damage. Super happy that we got the No. 10 Journie Rewards Honda on the podium. P2 was like a win today so we’ll take it.”
It was Palou’s sixth podium finish in ten races. Scott Dixon in the No.9 PNC Bank Honda started the race in seventh place however, due to a difficult strategy call, Dixon went from the lead to 14th but managed to make his way back through the field to finish the race in fourth place.
Marcus Armstrong who started the race from tenth place finished the event in seventh and speaking following the action he commented saying:
“It was a long day in the office. It was a tough track to do 85 laps but it was a lot of fun. I think the team did a great job with strategy, choosing when to box and how far we can go on fuel and with the tires. I thought today was a race of attrition and I’ve always made the best of it.”
Armstrong will now step out of the No.11 Honda with Takuma Sato competing in Iowa next weekend.