- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,170,330
- Reaction score
- 59
There’s no one better in IndyCar right now than Álex Palou, and the Spanish driver demonstrated that once again on Sunday.
Starting from the pole position, Palou won the 2026 Detroit Grand Prix, marking his fourth victory of the season and his second win in Detroit, after winning in 2023. The four-time IndyCar champion extended his large lead in the 2026 overall standings in his quest to win a fourth-straight championship.
2025 Grand Prix winner Kyle Kirkwood finished second after challenging Palou for much of the second half of the race. But despite a few attempts to overtake the leader, Kirkwood couldn't quite finish on top. Rahal Letterman Lanigan's Robert Rahal finished in third place.
Palou led for the first 15 laps Sunday before being overtaken by Andretti Global's Will Power, a multi-time winner in Detroit, on Lap 16. However, Palou stayed close and pitted one lap before Power at Lap 35 (and at least one lap before most of the other drivers).
HISTORY: Detroit Grand Prix: A quick history from F1 to Belle Isle to downtown
As a result, Palou re-took the lead at Lap 41 and created a big lead over Kirkwood midway through the race. Kirkwood had a chance to put himself in a winning position two-thirds of the way through the race after a Palou pit stop, but a crash between Junco Hollinger's Rinus Veekay and A.J. Foyt's Santino Ferrucci on Lap 66 brought all the cars back together for caution laps, allowing Palou to re-take the lead after Kirkwood's pit stop.
Kirkwood caught up with Palou again on Lap 80, but another caution prevented the Andretti Global driver from attempting a pass. Kirkwood was trying to become the first driver to win in back-to-back years in Detroit, since Sebastien Bourdais did so at Belle Isle in 2015 and 2016.
Team Penske's David Malukas, who entered the day second in the overall standings while looking for his first IndyCar win, started the race in the back, but challenged for a podium position late in the race. A crash with rookie Mick Schumacher on lap 72, however, ended both racers' chances of a top-3 finish.
Chip Ganassi's Scott Dixon, who has a record four IndyCar wins in Detroit, suffered a mechanical issue on Lap 68 and did not finish the race. Ferrucci also crashed out on Lap 78 and did not finish, as did Power one lap later.
HMD’s Enzo Fittipaldi won Sunday morning's Indy NXT race and took the lead in the circuit's overall standings as a result of the win.
His teammate, HMD’s Tymek Kucharczyk, led for much of the race following a Lap 1 pileup, but a passing attempt from Abel Motorsports’ Miles Rowe on Turn 4 midway through the race gave Fittipaldi room to pass both Kucharczyk and Rowe. And once Andretti Global’s Max Taylor crashed into the wall on Turn 9 shortly before the end of the race, Fittipaldi cruised under caution until time ran out.
A crash occurred on Turn 3 immediately after the first green flag waved, with Andretti Global’s Lochie Hughes running into A.J. Foyt’s Alessandro de Tullio and causing a pileup similar to that of the start of the 2024 Grand Prix. That led to the first eight laps being raced under caution, with the final five minutes also raced under caution after Taylor’s crash.
Fittipaldi won despite suffering damage to his front wing on an earlier collision, saying a hole on the underside of his car affected his speed on the straightaways.
“It was a super-crazy race,” Fittipaldi said. “I was a bit worried at the time because my front wing looked pretty messed up and I could feel it as well in the corners, so I was a bit worried to hang on and stay in the race.”
Fittipaldi’s grandfather, Emerson Fittipaldi, is a two-time winner of the Detroit Grand Prix, winning the downtown race in 1989 and 1991, as part of the CART series.
Need to catch up on the news during your lunch break? Sign up for our Sports Briefing newsletter to get daily summaries of Detroit sports!
You can reach Christian at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Álex Palou crushes field for second Detroit Grand Prix victory
Continue reading...
Starting from the pole position, Palou won the 2026 Detroit Grand Prix, marking his fourth victory of the season and his second win in Detroit, after winning in 2023. The four-time IndyCar champion extended his large lead in the 2026 overall standings in his quest to win a fourth-straight championship.
2025 Grand Prix winner Kyle Kirkwood finished second after challenging Palou for much of the second half of the race. But despite a few attempts to overtake the leader, Kirkwood couldn't quite finish on top. Rahal Letterman Lanigan's Robert Rahal finished in third place.
Palou led for the first 15 laps Sunday before being overtaken by Andretti Global's Will Power, a multi-time winner in Detroit, on Lap 16. However, Palou stayed close and pitted one lap before Power at Lap 35 (and at least one lap before most of the other drivers).
HISTORY: Detroit Grand Prix: A quick history from F1 to Belle Isle to downtown
As a result, Palou re-took the lead at Lap 41 and created a big lead over Kirkwood midway through the race. Kirkwood had a chance to put himself in a winning position two-thirds of the way through the race after a Palou pit stop, but a crash between Junco Hollinger's Rinus Veekay and A.J. Foyt's Santino Ferrucci on Lap 66 brought all the cars back together for caution laps, allowing Palou to re-take the lead after Kirkwood's pit stop.
Kirkwood caught up with Palou again on Lap 80, but another caution prevented the Andretti Global driver from attempting a pass. Kirkwood was trying to become the first driver to win in back-to-back years in Detroit, since Sebastien Bourdais did so at Belle Isle in 2015 and 2016.
Team Penske's David Malukas, who entered the day second in the overall standings while looking for his first IndyCar win, started the race in the back, but challenged for a podium position late in the race. A crash with rookie Mick Schumacher on lap 72, however, ended both racers' chances of a top-3 finish.
Chip Ganassi's Scott Dixon, who has a record four IndyCar wins in Detroit, suffered a mechanical issue on Lap 68 and did not finish the race. Ferrucci also crashed out on Lap 78 and did not finish, as did Power one lap later.
Grandson of former Grand Prix winner takes Indy NXT race
HMD’s Enzo Fittipaldi won Sunday morning's Indy NXT race and took the lead in the circuit's overall standings as a result of the win.
His teammate, HMD’s Tymek Kucharczyk, led for much of the race following a Lap 1 pileup, but a passing attempt from Abel Motorsports’ Miles Rowe on Turn 4 midway through the race gave Fittipaldi room to pass both Kucharczyk and Rowe. And once Andretti Global’s Max Taylor crashed into the wall on Turn 9 shortly before the end of the race, Fittipaldi cruised under caution until time ran out.
A crash occurred on Turn 3 immediately after the first green flag waved, with Andretti Global’s Lochie Hughes running into A.J. Foyt’s Alessandro de Tullio and causing a pileup similar to that of the start of the 2024 Grand Prix. That led to the first eight laps being raced under caution, with the final five minutes also raced under caution after Taylor’s crash.
Fittipaldi won despite suffering damage to his front wing on an earlier collision, saying a hole on the underside of his car affected his speed on the straightaways.
“It was a super-crazy race,” Fittipaldi said. “I was a bit worried at the time because my front wing looked pretty messed up and I could feel it as well in the corners, so I was a bit worried to hang on and stay in the race.”
Fittipaldi’s grandfather, Emerson Fittipaldi, is a two-time winner of the Detroit Grand Prix, winning the downtown race in 1989 and 1991, as part of the CART series.
Need to catch up on the news during your lunch break? Sign up for our Sports Briefing newsletter to get daily summaries of Detroit sports!
You can reach Christian at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Álex Palou crushes field for second Detroit Grand Prix victory
Continue reading...
