Alex Palou fends off Colton Herta to win at Laguna Seca

“It was a tough race,” Palou said. “Lots of ups and downs. It went down on the first corner when I lost the lead, then the first pit sequence. I wasn’t happy with myself and the team had to do a really risky strategy, but it worked out. Glad to get the last win of this era (current engine formula), and excited for Mid-Ohio”. 

Palou exits Laguna Seca as the new championship points leader, now 23 points ahead of Team Penske’s Will Power.

Fellow California-born driver Alexander Rossi showed a strong pace as well. After being the highest-finishing Arrow McLaren driver, Rossi led 10 laps at the midpoint of the race. 

Rossi fended off Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Romain Grosjean to earn his first podium since the 2023 Indianapolis 500. 

“It was a good day for the organization,” Rossi said. “We’ll take a lot of positives from this weekend and build on it going into Mid-Ohio where we’re starting a whole new wild, crazy unknown era of hybrids.”

All eyes were on Nolan Siegel this weekend. In a bombshell announcement last Tuesday, Arrow McLaren announced the 19-year-old as the new full-time driver of the No. 6 Chevrolet, relieving Theo Pourchaire of his duties.

Siegel’s debut in papaya colors got off to a shaky start after the rookie spun when he dropped a wheel exiting Turn 2, bringing out the second caution of the race. With three more cautions still to come and Siegel staying on the lead lap, he was able to return to the middle of the field. 

The native of Palo Alto, California finished 12th in his home race.

“All done with my first race at Arrow McLaren. P23 to P12, securing the biggest mover of the race, so overall, I think it was a successful day,” Siegel said. “It wasn’t without its challenges, but everyone pushed through and kept at it all race long. We were able to make up a ton of spots at the end there. I’m really happy with the No. 6 NTT DATA Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. 

“The car was truly the best it’s been all weekend, and it was really fast all day. A lot of this was because of the pit stops that the crew did and the strategy that was called. I’m grateful for my crew and can’t wait to work with them more in the future.”

It was ups and downs for the return of David Malukas to IndyCar competition for the first time in 2024. Trading Papaya colors for pink, the new driver of the No. 66 AutoNation/Arctic Wolf Honda qualified in the Fast 12 for Meyer Shank Racing on debut with the team. 

Running as high as third during the race, a lengthy strategy call forced a late pit stop which ultimately put him out of contention. However, in a race where Malukas simply wanted to finish, a 16th-place finish is more than enough for his maiden race of 2024.

“Definitely a bummer to finish where we did especially with the pace we had, I think we were tracking to be about eight,” Malukas said. “But I guess for us to be sad about this result is OK when we really just set out to finish. I know, know for me I just wanted to get across the line.

“But overall it was a great first outing with a new team and a new hand especially coming into MSR which has been in mid-season form. Hopefully, we can just keep progressing and move onto Mid-Ohio.”

While Romain Grosjean did not lead a single lap, the Frenchman showed strong speed and consistency all day. He finished in fourth place, which is the best result of the year so far for “The Phoenix.” 

It was also the best finish in the history of Juncos Hollinger Racing in IndyCar.

“A great result for all of us,” Grosjean said. “I think yesterday in qualifying. I think we had a lot more than we could show and I think today, we also had a bit more we wanted. One set of tires was a bit strange in the middle stint that cost us quite a bit of time. On the last stint, sadly there were too many safety cars. I knew the deg was on our side, and we didn’t have much problem with that.”