The NTT IndyCar Series ran 95 laps around Laguna Seca late Sunday afternoon, giving Californian fans a rare June race around the historic track.
All throughout the weekend, Alex Palou has had one of the fastest cars on the grid, and he put it to good use on Sunday.
The Spaniard calls Laguna Seca one of his favorite tracks on the calendar, and that view was reinforced this weekend as he stomped the field to take his second win of the season.
READ MORE: IndyCar Laguna Seca – Full Race Results
Palou’s path was not completely straightforward, and he actually lost the lead at the start of the race when Kyle Kirkwood was able to get the better of him in the first set of corners. He lost even more ground on the overcut during the first set of pit stops.
But from that point on, Palou was on a mission and stormed back to the front. He held the lead through a couple late restarts, and achieved a resounding win that boosted him into the points lead.
There were two main tire strategies in play, with the field nearly split in half over whether or not to come into the pits and take fresh tires during the first caution on lap 35.
Those that stayed out ended up with the advantage, and were able to pull away due to having no fuel or tire restrictions through to the end of the race.
The front running Andretti Global drivers of Colton Herta and Kyle Kirkwood were bitten by this decision, and slipped from the front of the field down outside the top five.
They recovered as best they could, and still had a lot of pace despite having to conserve a bit in the latter half.
Herta in particular was able to use the multiple late caution periods to work his way up to second place, giving him his third podium of the season.
His team-mate Kirkwood was not quite able to gain as many positions, and ended his day in fifth.
On the final step of the podium was Alexander Rossi, who earned his first podium in over a year.
Romain Grosjean was fourth on the day, putting together a solid run that he desperately needed after a run of mediocre results.
Luca Ghiotto was the cause of the first caution that ended up splitting the field, with the rookie running wide and making hard contact with the tire barriers.
His Dale Coyne Racing Honda spun and was destroyed on all sides before he came to a rest outside Turn 4. He was able to walk away, but his car will need extensive repairs.
There were a couple other cautions that interrupted the running, and it seemed as if the final third of the race turned the aggression up to 11.
Marcus Armstrong was shoved off the track by Christian Lundgaard, and the Kiwi spun through the gravel and needed assistance to get going again.
On the next restart, Lundgaard found himself flying down the Corkscrew in the gravel himself. He achieved a decent bit of air while speeding down the hill, then had to serve his penalty immediately after for the previous incident.
There was also a late crash between Kyffin Simpson and Graham Rahal. Simpson had a cut tire from light contact with Agustin Canapino, then spun across the track suddenly.
Rahal had nowhere to go, and the two had a heavy collision that knocked both out of the race with less than ten laps remaining.
The next time IndyCar hits the track will be at Mid-Ohio, and the long-awaited hybrid power units will be installed during a race weekend for the first time.
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