Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou says Sunday’s Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio presented by the All-New 2026 Passport is going to be a great day for sure after the Spaniard scored his ninth career NTT P1 Award and third of the season. The result means that the three-time INDYCAR SERIES champion now has a 94-point lead in the championship over Kyle Kirkwood in second.
Speaking following the action, Palou said:
Ever since I started with CGR, we’ve had great cars. “But we’ve always struggled with qualifying up front. So, this year it has been phenomenal. The speed we have in the cars at every single racetrack we show up at is amazing.
“It’s all the work that everybody at Chip Ganassi Racing is doing, all our partners. Super happy. Tomorrow is going to be a great day, for sure.
The NTT P1 Award is the ninth of his career, and he went on to say:
“We could have saved the last set of new soft tires here in the Fast Six to try and have an advantage tomorrow, but we were like, ‘Man, we really think that starting up front, top three, is always going to benefit us more. We know there are some cars that are going to save those tires, so they’re going to be a big threat tomorrow. But happy with our car and our starting position.”
It was an excellent day for Kyffin Simpson in the No.8 Journie Rewards Honda as he scored his career-best qualifying result with fourth on the grid for Sunday’s race.
Six-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Scott Dixon in the No.9 PNC Bank Honda starts the race from ninth place.