Palou Scores Podium Finish at Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama
Barber Motorsports Park
・Alex Palou moves to the Drivers’ Championship points lead with second-place finish at Barber Motorsports Park
・Scott Dixon runs fifth as Honda drivers claim six of the top-10 finishing positions
Defending NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Alex Palou moved to the top of the 2022 drivers’ championship battle with a second-place finish at today’s Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama.
Palou battled eventual race winner Pato O’Ward throughout the final third of the 90-lap event, at times closing to within one second of the leader as both pulled away from the rest of the 26-car starting field. Although Palou was never quite close enough to attempt a pass for the victory, the second-place result was enough to give the Chip Ganassi Racing Honda driver a three-point championship lead after four of 17 races.
Behind the leaders, the racing was intense throughout the top 10, with Scott Dixon emerging from the various duels to claim fifth with his Ganassi Honda at the finish. Romain Grosjean and Graham Rahal made contact while fighting for position, with Grosjean prevailing after Rahal slowed with a fuel issue on the final lap. Andretti Autosport teammates Alexander Rossi and Colton rounded out the top 10 for Honda today.
Fast Facts
・Honda-powered drivers and teams have won the two most recent NTT INDYCAR SERIES races at Barber Motorsports Park. Driving for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Takuma Sato dominated the race in 2019; starting from the pole and leading 74 or the 90-lap contest to score the victory. Honda drivers swept the victory podium that year, with Scott Dixon finishing second, and Sebastien Bourdais third.
・The Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama was not run in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic; but opened the 2021 season, with Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou scoring his career-first Indy car win. Palou went on to win the 2021 INDYCAR Drivers’ title as Honda recorded its fourth consecutive INDYCAR Manufacturers’ Championship.
・Other Honda-powered winners at Barber Motorsports Park include Helio Castroneves, who won the inaugural INDYCAR race here in 2010; Will Power in 2011; and Ryan Hunter-Reay in 2014.
We had a good day overall, I’m super happy with the #10 The American Legion Honda car, it was a fast car. We were fighting for the win. Unfortunately, we couldn’t make it today, but we’ll try again at the next one. We’ve had a great start to the season, really, and the ‘Month of May’ is here now and I can hardly wait, it’s such a special time for us, starting with the Indy road course and then of course the Indy 500.
It looked like our three-stop strategy was going to work. We definitely had the speed to make it work, the Gainbridge car was really fast, the Honda’s were fast again. We were going to come out ahead of all the ‘two- stoppers’ with the pace we were running. But the timing of the caution [the only full-course caution of the race] just didn’t work for us today.
It was great to see a sellout crowd here at Barber Motorsports Park, including so many of our associates from our nearby manufacturing facilities. It’s a shame we weren’t able to give them a win for Honda, but Alex Palou’s second- place finish puts him in the championship lead, and now we head to Indianapolis for the ‘Month of May’ and the upcoming Indianapolis 500.
