2026 Indy Grand Prix of Alabama

Charlie Spencer said:
Power straight into the fence in Q. He's okay. Trying to make turn 5 / 6 lefthand hairpin. Front brakes worked but rears apparently didn't; rear wheels still turning under power across the gravel trap.
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Not the first time he’s had brake issues in this early portion of the season with Andretti.

Pole for Palou but he took a new set of softs for the Fast 6. Graham (P3) and Kirkwood (P5) both saved an additional set for the race.
 
Doc Austin said:
You can bet Power pulled his feet back.
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I think we all know the drivers take their hands off the wheel in situations when it might snap around and injure a hand or wrist. With both Scott and Will, I noticed a detail I hadn't before. Both put their hands all the way up and crossed over to their shoulders.
 
When was the last time Rahal was this quick on a road course outside of the IMS RC? Has to be close to a decade perhaps.
 
Andretti won pretty much in spite of themselves in Arlington and McLaren fumbled even worse today. Execution is where CGR and Penske have routinely had the field covered for many years now. You can have a great driver with a great car but it’s tough to overcome regularly losing time on pit road.
 
It sucks about the last pit stop because Lundgaard no doubt had something for Palou at the end on fresher tires. Fortunately he was at least able to recover P2.

Graham getting the last step on the podium is huge for he and that team. For sure his best road/street performance in a good long while. I wonder if Malukas was low on fuel because he held a lot of P2P in reserve at the finish.

Not a bad race, and it’s a very good result for Kirkwood as well considering how much Andretti struggle here as a whole, but I want to see these teams tidy up so they can take a stronger fight to the Perfect 10s.
 
dirtfan said:
I turned the race on only to see that Palou was on the pole. Decided right then that an afternoon on the bike sounded much better. Rode 200 miles through Ozark mountain country instead. Looks like I was correct, lol
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It honestly probably should’ve been a Lundgaard win. Dude drove his ass off all the way from P10 to 2 or 3 seconds behind Palou when the final pit cycle began, and Palou had been balked by traffic enough on his first few laps out of the pit that it would’ve been a dead heat if McLaren pulled off a competent stop. They just choked.

But that’s the thing about Palou and the 10 team - they have zero weaknesses since Alex unlocked ovals and qualifying speed last year. They’re the complete package right now.

Newgarden is an oval merchant at this stage in his career. Lundgaard sucks on ovals and doesn’t qualify well enough on road/street courses to make up for it all with excellent race pace. Malukas isn’t quite fully developed yet. Kirkwood and Andretti are excellent on street courses but are still developing speed on road courses and ovals, and are inconsistent with pit stops. Pato can’t seem to take the next step. Dixon is finally slowing down. Scotty Mac is lightning quick but has been on the back foot after throwing away his primary car in qualifying or practice each of the past two weekends.

You can go down the entire grid and find at least one or two elements missing from each driver’s or team’s package, and that just isn’t the case for Palou. I do think if anyone can do it it’s probably Kirkwood, as Phoenix and Barber were huge steps in that team unlocking some short oval and road course pace, but they’re not all the way there yet.
 
FLRacingFan said:
Newgarden is an oval merchant at this stage in his career. Lundgaard sucks on ovals and doesn’t qualify well enough on road/street courses to make up for it all with excellent race pace. Malukas isn’t quite fully developed yet. Kirkwood and Andretti are excellent on street courses but are still developing speed on road courses and ovals, and are inconsistent with pit stops. Pato can’t seem to take the next step. Dixon is finally slowing down. Scotty Mac is lightning quick but has been on the back foot after throwing away his primary car in qualifying or practice each of the past two weekends.
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You missed the weekly threat that is Sting Ray Robb.
 
FLRacingFan said:
It honestly probably should’ve been a Lundgaard win. Dude drove his ass off all the way from P10 to 2 or 3 seconds behind Palou when the final pit cycle began, and Palou had been balked by traffic enough on his first few laps out of the pit that it would’ve been a dead heat if McLaren pulled off a competent stop. They just choked.

But that’s the thing about Palou and the 10 team - they have zero weaknesses since Alex unlocked ovals and qualifying speed last year. They’re the complete package right now.

Newgarden is an oval merchant at this stage in his career. Lundgaard sucks on ovals and doesn’t qualify well enough on road/street courses to make up for it all with excellent race pace. Malukas isn’t quite fully developed yet. Kirkwood and Andretti are excellent on street courses but are still developing speed on road courses and ovals, and are inconsistent with pit stops. Pato can’t seem to take the next step. Dixon is finally slowing down. Scotty Mac is lightning quick but has been on the back foot after throwing away his primary car in qualifying or practice each of the past two weekends.

You can go down the entire grid and find at least one or two elements missing from each driver’s or team’s package, and that just isn’t the case for Palou. I do think if anyone can do it it’s probably Kirkwood, as Phoenix and Barber were huge steps in that team unlocking some short oval and road course pace, but they’re not all the way there yet.
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I ended up catching the race last night once I settled on.
To be clear, I have no issues with Palou whatsoever. I just quickly realized that I could enjoy my afternoon and watch the inevitable happen later on
 
dirtfan said:
I ended up catching the race last night once I settled on.
To be clear, I have no issues with Palou whatsoever. I just quickly realized that I could enjoy my afternoon and watch the inevitable happen later on
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Heck, I still have half of IMSA at Sebring left to watch.
 
dirtfan said:
I turned the race on only to see that Palou was on the pole. Decided right then that an afternoon on the bike sounded much better. Rode 200 miles through Ozark mountain country instead. Looks like I was correct, lol
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Jesus. I’m whooped after 20 miles lol!
 
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