Palou Leads CGR with P5 at Barber

Source: Team PR

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou finished P5 today in the Alabama Indy Grand Prix. The driver of the No. 10 Ridgeline Lubricants Honda vaulted up the IndyCar championship standings to P3 while Marcus Ericsson maintained his championship lead in the No. 8 Huski Chocolate Honda thanks to a P10 finish. 

Scott Dixon followed up a strong qualifying performance with a P7 finish for the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda while rookie Marcus Armstrong impressed in the No. 11 American Legion Honda throughout the race, making up 15 positions to claim P11, making him the day’s biggest mover.

Next up for the team is the GMR Grand Prix on Saturday, May 13, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. 

Alex Palou
No. 10 Ridgeline Lubricants Honda
“Finished P5 which is not a bad result. It wasn’t a perfect day. Had to save a lot of fuel and we went on a two-stop strategy. It wasn’t the best but we tried because it’s what we thought was the best heading into the race. The No.10 Ridgeline Lubricants car has been amazing all weekend. The crew did an amazing job on the pit stops. It’s awesome to be back here in Alabama and I cannot wait for the month of May.”

Scott Dixon
No. 9 PNC Bank Honda“Today was an okay day. We were at the back of the two-stoppers so we were getting hammered and attacked by the other two-stoppers all day so we ended up using a lot of overtake and a lot of fuel at the same time. Just a frustrating day where we didn’t really make up anything, we lost a couple positions and ended up seventh. Not where we want to be that’s for sure.”

Marcus Ericsson
No. 8 Huski Chocolate Honda
“It was a tough race I would say. We tried to go for the two-stopper and worked on our fuel mileage for most of the race. I think the Honda fuel mileage was really good. It was tough with the caution that came at a bad time for us so that sort of reset everything and then we lost some positions there. In the end, we got the chance to push a bit more and we could put in some good lap times and catch some guys and overtake some people. 10th was not what we wanted but it was still a solid day for us and still in the points lead going into the month of May which feels great so I’m looking forward to that.”

Marcus Armstrong
No. 11 American Legion Honda
“Race was great, car was great, we made our way forward. I enjoyed it. The car was really good. We didn’t have to adjust much throughout the race. We took a gamble with the reds on the last stint and it paid off.”