Runner-up Romain: Grosjean Runs Second for Honda in Alabama
Barber Motorsports Park
・Romain Grosjean notches his fifth-career runner-up finish, after pole position start, at Barber Motorsports Park
・Ganassi Honda duo Alex Palou and Scott Dixon run fifth and seventh
・Sophomore star for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Christian Lundgaard, finishes sixth
Andretti Autosport’s Romain Grosjean led the way for Honda today in the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix, scoring his fifth-career—and second consecutive—second place finish, just shy of achieving his first NTT INDYCAR SERIES win.
Grosjean led a race-high 57 laps before losing the lead to Scott McLaughlin in the final stint. Fighting tire wear and without push-to-pass at the end of the race, Grosjean was able to hold off a charging reigning champion, Will Power, to cross the line second.
Alex Palou scored a top-five finish for Honda aboard the #10 Chip Ganassi Racing machine, while his teammate, six-time champion Scott Dixon, finished seventh.
Rahal Letterman Lanigan driver Christian Lundgaard shone today at Barber, making daring passes throughout the race to score a sixth-place finish—his best result of the year thus far.
Despite only finishing tenth today at Barber, Marcus Ericsson retains the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship point lead, while Honda maintains a 13-point edge in the manufacturers’ standings.
Fast Facts
・Honda holds the early-season lead in the 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES Manufacturers’ Championship, with two victories and three poles in the first four races this season. Honda leaves Barber Motorsports Park with a 13-point advantage (325-312) over rival Chevrolet. The company is seeking its fifth NTT INDYCAR SERIES Manufacturers’ Championship in the last six years in 2023.
It was a tough race for sure, trying to make the two-stop [pit strategy] work. It wasn’t a lot of fun in the car, trying to make the fuel [mileage] number work. The car was incredible in terms of pace. We just got unlucky with [the timing] of that yellow, and that’s something we could not control. But Grosjean is coming!
We finished P5, which isn’t too bad. It wasn’t a perfect day, we went on a two-stop strategy and I had to save a lot of fuel. But the car was very strong all day and the crew once again gave me some amazing pit stops. So it’s another top-five result. Now we go on to Indy and the Month of May. I can’t wait.
We had a very good start and opening stint in the race [running as high as fourth], but then it went a little downhill after that. The #45 HyVee Honda crew did an amazing job today. I think the pit stops we had today were the best we’ve had all season. So, we’re going to take the positives we had today. We started sixth and finished sixth. The team took a big step forward today.
As has happened in previous races here, this was a strategy race, but the results really depended on when, or if, a caution flag waved. As it happened today, the timing of the only yellow flag we had today worked out to help those on a three-stop strategy, and most of our teams were two-stopping today’s race. But that’s racing. It was a great weekend overall in terms of the large crowd and beautiful weather, so it’s on to Indianapolis for all of the men and women at HPD.
