Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix: Palou takes fourth win of ’26 in the Motor City

DETROIT — In dominant fashion, Chip Ganassi Racing driver Alex Palou took his fourth NTT IndyCar Series win of the 2026 season in the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix on the Streets of Detroit.

The four-time IndyCar champion fended off Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood, who finished in second place, with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Graham Rahal rounding out the podium in the Motor City.

Palou led 71 of 100 laps in downtown Detroit. However, with tricky restarts, tire struggles and battles for the lead, the championship leader noted that he had to earn this victory and complimented his No. 10 team on their quick decision-making, which helped him win the race.

“Tough,” Palou said on the challenge of winning at Detroit. “Very tough today. It didn’t really feel like we were leading that much. I know that we were leading, but man, it was a lot of work with the restarts, and got myself into trouble on the first stint. We kind of started losing pace on the alternates. Will [Power] was struggling a little bit more.

“Tried to overtake him but made a bad decision and put myself in a bad scenario and lost two or three places instead of gaining one. That was not great, but the team reacted super quick. We went for the undercut, and not only the undercut was going to work, but on top of that we were better for the yellow when it came out.”

“It was good; it was not an easy day at all,” Palou added, “It was not like a straight — there’s races where it’s just straightforward and whatever it looks like it’s going to be, it is. But today was plenty of action, struggling a lot on restarts, and didn’t know if we were going to make it with Kyle [Kirkwood] or not because he was on alternates and kind of — I think he had a small advantage on the first two restarts, but then at the end I think he just didn’t have enough grip on the tires.”

Drivers headed to the track

Alexander Rossi skimmed the edge of the wall during the warm-up laps in his No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet. Alex Palou started the race and maintained his lead as Scott McLaughlin overtook Will Power for second.

110th Indianapolis 500 champion Felix Rosenqvist tried to overtake Dennis Hauger on Lap 2 for 15th place; however, Rosenqvist eventually got by Hauger on Lap 3. The driver of the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda kept climbing as Rosenqvist got by Rossi for 14th.

Josef Newgarden fell to last place as he nursed an injured left foot from last week’s Indy 500. Juncos Hollinger Racing drivers Rinus VeeKay and Sting Ray Robb were the first to pit on Lap 9 and 10, respectively. 

Rasmussen out

Christian Rasmussen hit the wall at the exit of Turn 1, causing the first retirement and caution of the race. Felix Rosenqvist, Dennis Hauger, Josef Newgarden and David Malukas pitted under caution. 

Alex Palou restarted the race on Lap 15 as the Spanish driver maintained his lead. Will Power moved back to second as he got ahead of Scott McLaughlin. Kyle Kirkwood battled for fifth place with Christian Lundgaard but was unsuccessful. 

Power took the lead from Palou. Soon afterward, Power briefly slid on track as Palou gained on the No. 26 Andretti Global Honda. Power extended his gap after his small mistake.

Louis Foster made contact with Marcus Armstrong as the British driver tried to overtake the Meyer Shank Racing driver aggressively. Lundgaard passed Scott Dixon for fourth place.

Then, Palou gained on Power for the lead, and Power took the lead from Palou as he made the move from the inside. 

Four-way battle for the lead

The battle for the lead intensified on Lap 32 as Scott McLaughlin entered the fight for the top spot and took second place from Alex Palou as he tried to overtake Will Power from the outside. Christian Lundgaard came in to take third from Palou on the inside. 

McLaughlin was able to fend off Lundgaard as the Arrow McLaren driver tried to make a move on the inside on Lap 33. McLaughlin looked to the outside as Power briefly slid; however, the Andretti Global driver was able to maintain his lead. 

Palou pitted on Lap 35 as McLaughlin and Lundgaard moved around the outside, leaving Power in third. McLaughlin and Power entered the pits on Lap 36, with Power exiting the pits first. 

Lundgaard took the lead as Pato O’Ward successfully made a move on Scott Dixon, with the Mexican driver moving up to second place. Lundgaard, O’Ward, Louis Foster, Graham Rahal and Mick Schumacher entered the pits on Lap 38.

The driver of the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet headed back to the track first, slotting into seventh, and O’Ward sliding into ninth place

Contact with Simpson and Rahal

Kyffin Simpson hit Graham Rahal from behind in Turn 3 as the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver spun 90 degrees, causing the second caution. Simpson and Rahal were able to rejoin the race safely.

However, the driver of the No. 8 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda was hit with a drive-through penalty for avoidable contact. Marcus Armstrong entered a closed pit under caution and was forced to restart at the back of the field.

Alex Palou led the back back to green as Josef Newgarden made light contact with Felix Rosenqvist’s front wing. Rinus VeeKay made a move on the inside of Santino Ferrucci, making the Connecticut native give room to the No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet. 

Rahal got by Romain Grosjean for 19th place. Soon afterward, Caio Collet had a piece of his front wing hanging on by a thread. Rosenqvist successfully made a move on VeeKay for 13th. Kyle Kirkwood took the lead of the race as Palou covered the No. 27 Andretti Global Honda on strategy. 

Ferrucci caused a full-course caution after hitting the back of VeeKay, causing the No. 76 Chevrolet to spin in Turn 5. Both drivers were able to rejoin the race safely. Palou lucked out by pitting before the third caution as Kirkwood stayed out. 

Once pit road opened under caution, Kirkwood exited the pit ahead of Scott McLaughlin, with Will Power, Christian Lundgaard, Pato O’Ward, Louis Foster, Marcus Ericsson and Roseqvist following. 

Schumacher and Malukas make contact

Once again, Alex Palou led the field back to green as David Malukas tried to overtake Mick Schumacher. Then, Malukas and Schumacher made brief contact side-by-side with the Team Penske driver on the outside.

However, Schumacher hit the barrier in Turn 5, with Malukas evading near the run-off area, causing another caution.

During the caution, Scott Dixon returned to the pit lane to retire from the race with a hybrid failure. Alexander Rossi and Schumacher were hit with a drive-through penalty after servicing the car during a closed pit.

Palou led during the restart as Pato O’Ward successfully made a move on his Arrow McLaren teammate Christian Lundgaard. Then, Scott McLaughlin moved up the inside of Graham Rahal. O’Ward got by Josef Newgarden as Will Power overtook Rahal near the pit entrance. Louis Foster also passed Newgarden. 

Former Penske teammates battle it out

Ex-Team Penske teammates Will Power and Scott McLaughlin made contact as the No. 3 Chevrolet pushed Power’s No. 26 Andretti Global Honda into the wall. 

“I didn’t want to do that to him,” McLaughlin said. “I didn’t want to do that to my day. We’ll talk about it. I have so much respect for Will Power, he’s been my teammate for so many years, and helped me so much. I regard him as a guy with a lot of respect. Today, I felt like he gave me no option and I really didn’t want to see that happen with either of us. I’m super frustrated. We had a great car, and I don’t know what else I could have done.”

Power entered the pits to retire after the contact with McLaughlin. Mick Schumacher also pitted after he lost radio communications with his team.

Kyle Kirkwood caught up to Alex Palou with 21 laps to go as Santino Ferrucci stopped in the middle of the track, causing another caution.

Palou led the pack to green with Kirkwood in second and Graham Rahal in third. The No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing driver maintained his lead; however, Palou was struggling to control his car as Kirkwood tried to close the gap.

Palou got his car under control and created a bigger gap between himself and Kirkwood. McLaughlin also made contact with the wall, causing him to lose spots.

Second penalty for Rossi

Soon afterward, another caution on track occurred as Alexander Rossi made contact with Romain Grosjean in Turn 3, as the No. 20 Chevrolet clipped Grosjean’s rear as he was crossing over. Rossi was hit with a stop-and-hold penalty for avoidable contact, the second penalty of the race for the Ed Carpenter Racing driver.

Palou restarted the race with seven laps to go as Kirkwood tried to catch up with the points leader. Graham Rahal defended as Pato O’Ward tried to get onto the podium. Then, Palou created a 3.058-second gap between himself and Kyle Kirkwood to take the checkered flag in downtown Detroit.

The NTT IndyCar Series returns on Sunday, June 7, for the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at the World Wide Technology Raceway. Coverage begins at 9 p.m. ET on FOX.

Results: 2026 Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix at Detroit Street Circuit

GRID Ranking

The 2026 GRID Ranking is the 10th year of the world’s premier motorsports ranking system, which was initially released on Sunday, April 5.

The official ranking includes drivers participating in seven racing series (NASCAR, IndyCar, Formula 1, Formula E, WRC, Supercars, MotoGP). Each driver earns GRID Ratings, which help determine their seeding in the GRID Ranking.

GRID Ranking Week 9 IndyCar drivers:

DRIVER	OLD RATING	PREVIOUS RANKING	MOST RECENT FINISH	NEW RATING	NEW RANKING
Alex Palou	16.71	4th	1st	18.13	4th
Kyle Kirkwood	13.00	10th	2nd	14.00	7th
Christian Lundgaard	11.57	16th	5th	11.38	17th
David Malukas	11.29	19th	18th	9.88	23rd
Pato O’Ward	7.86	31st	4th	8.63	29th