Palou Leads Honda 1-2 at Road America

• Alex Palou reclaims the championship points lead with Road America victory
• Andretti Autosport’s Colton Herta takes second place
• Honda powers seven of top eight finishers, leads Manufacturers’ Title chase

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (June 20, 2021) – Honda’s Alex Palou claimed his second victory of the year today in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES’ visit to the National Park of Speed, Road America.

Palou, driving for Chip Ganassi Racing, started on the outside of the front row and led the final two laps en route to victory. The win puts Palou back in command of the Drivers’ Championship standings, with an 28-point lead over Pato O’Ward, and 53 points over teammate Scott Dixon.

Andretti Autosport’s Colton Herta finished second, giving Honda their second 1-2 finish of 2021 and an unofficial 29-point lead in the manufacturers’ standings.

Palou’s teammates Dixon and Marcus Ericsson, Dale Coyne Racing with RWR’s Romain Grosjean, Andretti Autosport’s Alexander Rossi and Rahal Letterman Lanigan’s Takuma Sato also all finished in the top eight with Honda power.

REV Group Grand Prix of Road America Honda Results

•   1^st Alex Palou                         Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
•   2^ndColton Herta                   Andretti Autosport Honda
•   4^th Scott Dixon                                   Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
•   5^th Romain Grosjean-R                      Dale Coyne Racing with RWR Honda
•   6^th Marcus Ericsson                Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
•   7^th Alexander Rossi                Andretti Autosport Honda
•   8^th Takuma Sato                    Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
• 11^th Graham Rahal                 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
• 13^th Ryan Hunter-Reay            Andretti Autosport Honda
• 15^th James Hinchcliffe             Andretti Autosport Honda 
• 17^th Jack Harvey                     Meyer Shank Racing Honda
• 19^th Cody Ware-R                   Dale Coyne Racing with RWR Honda   
• 22^nd Jimmie Johnson-R                       Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
• 23^rd Ed Jones                           Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan Honda

NTT INDYCAR SERIES Manufacturers’ Championship (unofficial, after 9 rounds)

Honda                  738 points

Chevrolet             709

NTT INDYCAR SERIES Drivers’ Championship (unofficial, after 9 rounds)

1. Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda                    349 points [2 race wins]

2. Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP                               321 [2 wins]

3. Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda                   296 [1 win]

Quotes

Alex Palou (#10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) Winner REV Group Grand Prix of Road America, Championship leader: “Oh man, I don’t know what to say. Thank you to all the #10 car crew and team.  It was amazing.  We had a really good car all through the race, right from the start.  Honda and HPD did an amazing job, because we were able to overtake where we needed.  Super happy, and super proud of this Chip Ganassi Racing Team.  I can’t believe it.  Mid-Ohio’s next, right? Let’s get a win there as well!”

Colton Herta (#26 Andretti Autosport Honda) Finished Second: “We were just lacking a little bit of everything today, and that kept us from challenging for the win.  We were going to finish where we deserved.  I think we had third-place pace today, but caught a break with Josef’s [Newgarden] problem.  But the podium is nice, and happy for Gainbridge, and always happy to be powered by Honda.  Big ‘thank you’ to them, and a Honda 1-2, so that’s awesome.”

Romain Grosjean (#51 Dale Coyne Racing with RWR Honda) Finished Fifth: “I think we gained more positions on track [17 passes for position] than anyone else.  We lost some positions on our pit stops, but the car was great.  We found something from yesterday and it was just ‘go for it, right, left, center’ all day long.  It was so cool. I had great fun and enjoyed it a lot, it was a good weekend for us.”

Rebecca Johnson (Director of Production, Honda Performance Development) on today’s

Honda win at Road America: “Alex [Palou, race winner] was strong all day long, and was in a

position to capitalize at the end when opportunity presented itself, so it was great to see him

score a second win this year. It looks like he could have a great future with us in INDYCAR

racing. Colton [Herta] had another strong run today, and fully earned his podium finish, while

Romain Grojean also featured today, with three Honda teams – Chip Ganassi Racing, Andretti

Autosport and Dale Coyne Racing – all getting top-five results here. Now it’s on to Mid-Ohio

and hopefully another win on our ‘home ground’.”

Fast Facts

• Four of the five Honda partner teams in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES finished in the top eight at today’s REV Group Grand Prix of Road America.

• After sweeping the double header weekend in 2020, Palou’s victory today marks the third consecutive win for Chip Ganssi Racing at Road America and fourth consecutive for Honda at the track.

• Honda has scored victories in six of the nine races so far in the 2021 NTT INDYCAR SERIES. Palou previously scored at the season-opening Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park. Scott Dixon, Colton Herta, Marcus Ericsson, Helio Castroneves have also won for Honda in 2021.

• Honda drivers led in on-track passes today, with Ericsson, Grosjean, Sato, Dixon and Graham Rahal combining for passes for position.  

Next

The NTT INDYCAR SERIES is back racing at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course July 2-4 for the Honda Indy 200, Presented by The HPD Ridgeline. Honda Racing social media content and video links from Detroit can be found on Instagram