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Honda Racing Gallagher Grand Prix weekend preview

Posted on by Patrick Stephan

Gallagher Grand Prix
Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, Speedway, IN
2 p.m. EDT Saturday, August 12
USA Network and NBC Peacock
IndyCar Radio Network and SiriusXM

Honda at Indianapolis

  • The NTT INDYCAR SERIES returns to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend for the Gallagher Grand Prix, the second race of the 2023 season to be held on the 2.439-mile infield road course at IMS.
  • Honda’s most recent win on the IMS road course came in May, as Alex Palou scored the first of his four wins to date this season; as the Chip Ganassi Honda driver seeks his second NTT INDYCAR SERIES Drivers’ Championship in 2023.
  • In 2022, Colton Herta bested the field despite constantly changing weather conditions and a wet/dry/wet track to win the GMR Grand Prix in May; and Marcus Ericsson won the Indianapolis 500. In July, Alexander Rossi completed a Honda sweep of IndyCar race victories at IMS last year as he and Christian Lundgaard finished 1-2 in the Gallagher Grand Prix.
  • In 2020, Scott Dixon and Graham Rahal scored a 1-2 finish for Honda, with Colton Herta finishing fourth. Honda drivers went on to win the Indianapolis 500 in both 2020 (Takuma Sato, his second ‘500’ victory) and 2021 (Helio Castroneves, for his record-tying fourth win at the Brickyard).

Manufacturer Competition

  • After winning five of the seven most recent 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES evens, Honda continues to lead the Manufacturers’ Championship standings, with eight victories and nine poles in 13 races this season.
  • Honda comes to Nashville with an 82-point advantage (1,108-1,016) over rival Chevrolet. Honda is seeking its fifth NTT INDYCAR SERIES Manufacturers’ Championship in the last six years.
  • Honda drivers currently are ranked first, third and fifth in the INDYCAR Drivers’ Championship. With four wins this season, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou holds an 84-point lead over Josef Newgarden (513-429). Teammate, and six-time INDYCAR champion Scott Dixon is third with 387 points; while 2022 Indianapolis 500 winner Marcus Ericsson is fifth in his Chip Ganassi Honda with 357 points.
  • Palou’s four wins this season include the GMR Grand Prix of Indianapolis in May; and a three-in-a-row streak that started at the Grand Prix of Detroit, then continued through Road America and the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio, Presented by the Accord Hybrid.
  • Other Honda-powered winners this season include Kyle Kirkwood last weekend at Nashville and at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach; Ericsson, at the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg; and Christian Lundgaard at the Honda Indy Toronto.
  • While Simon Pagenaud continues to recover from his crash last month at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, his place in the #60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda will again be taken this weekend by 2022 Indy NXT champion Linus Lundqvist. Lundqvist made his NTT INDYCAR SERIES debut last weekend for MSR in Nashville.

Where to Watch