On Saturday, Alex Palou scored his first win with American Legion as the primary sponsor of the No.10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
The Spaniard, who started the race from third place, dominated the event, leading 52 of the 85-lap race, and in doing so, has taken the lead in the championship heading to the Indianapolis 500, which takes place on Sunday, May 28. Speaking following the race, Palou commented saying:
“Finally, first win of the 2023. I’m super happy, super proud. It was an amazing race and we won by a big margin. A win is a win, but if you have a big margin, it feels even better. It was our first win with The American Legion and that feels super special being here at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It fills everybody with energy; all the crews, the engineers and myself for the big race.”
Palou went on to say:
We honestly knew we had a fast car since P1 (first practice) yesterday. “The car has been amazing all weekend. Once we knew we were starting on reds (Firestone alternate tires), I think we knew we were going to fight for the win.
“Amazing work by these guys. I just had to execute.”
Scott Dixon in the No.9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda started the race from ninth place and came home in sixth place and speaking following the race the Iceman commented saying:
“It was a pretty rough day, going all the way back to 16th or so after getting caught up with contact in turn one and turn seven, and then turns four and five later on. The car was very fast and we got through the traffic. I think if we had another stint, we could have definitely made it to a podium so it’s just a shame that the No. 9 PNC Bank was so fast but we didn’t quite get what we could today.”
Defending Indianapolis 500 winner Marcus Ericsson, driver of the No.8 Huski Chocolate Honda went into the race on Saturday leading the championship but came home in eighth place, having started the race from seventh place. Speaking following the race he commented saying:
“It was a pretty tough day for us. We had a good start, a good first stint but then we just couldn’t get our red tires to work well. It was another top-10 for the Chip Ganassi Racing Huski Chocolate Honda and we’re okay with that. Now, we’re ready for the big show. Congrats to Alex and the 10 crew; they did a tremendous job today.”
Marcus Armstrong in the No.11 Ridgeline Lubricants Honda started the race from 11th and came home in 15th and speaking following the action he commented saying:
“I don’t think it was an ideal day for us, but nevertheless, we still got some points and some good mileage. Let’s go back, look at everything and come back fighting.”
Next up for CHip Ganassi Racing is practice for the Indianapolis 500 which gets underway on Tuesday where Takuma Sato will take over running the No.11 Honda.