Christian Lundgaard pulled off what almost seemed like an impossible victory in Elkhart Lake. (Photo: Charlotte Delowery | @lottie.motorsports)
ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard took his second NTT IndyCar Series win of the 2026 season after contact with Chip Ganassi Racing driver Scott Dixon on the opening lap of the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America dropped him to last place.
Lundgaard ran into the back of Dixon’s No. 9 Honda on Lap 1, causing a left-front tire puncture and damage to the front wing. As a result, he brought the No. 7 Chevrolet to the pits for a tire and wing change.
The 24-year-old shared that he was “on the struggle bus” after qualifying at the 4.014-mile-long track in Elkhart Lake. However, Lundgaard and his No. 7 team utilized on-the-fly strategy calls, cautions and on-track overtakes to go from last to first.
With the Danish driver qualifying 13th at Road America, Lundgaard shared during the post-race press conference that he did not expect to end the weekend in the Victory Lane.
“I don’t know,” Lundgaard answered when asked how he ended on top. “It was a very eventful day, very long day. Not quite what I had on my bingo card waking up this morning. Obviously, this is what you hope for. I know on road courses, didn’t really matter where we would start, we would always get good results.
“I think we produced very good race cars. We need to still figure out how to qualify better. Obviously, this weekend has been a little bit of an outlier for me. Not felt comfortable, not had the pace in Practice 1 or Practice 2, even though we tested here two weeks ago. A confusing weekend. To end with a win I would say confuses me even more. Maybe I just need to be confused (smiling).”
Green flag at Road America
Alex Palou led the field to green as Marcus Armstrong moved to the inside of David Malukas. Armstrong took second from Malukas as his Meyer Shank Racing teammate, Felix Rosenqvist, eyed Malukas in third place.
At the back of the grid, Christian Lundgaard sustained damage to his front wing as the Arrow McLaren driver expected more room from Scott Dixon.
Malukas and Rosenqvist battled for third place as the MSR driver took the position on the inside of the Team Penske driver. However, at the next turn, Malukas took third from Rosenqvist again.
Marcus Ericsson made a move on rookie Caio Collet for sixth place.
The battle for third continued as Rosenqvist and Malukas drove side by side before the No. 60 Honda moved ahead. Pato O’Ward made a move on his Arrow McLaren teammate, Nolan Siegel, to take eighth place.
Santino Ferrucci and Christian Rasmussen battled while Rinus VeeKay passed Josef Newgarden for 21st place. Then, Collet caught Ericsson as the rookie eyed sixth place.
After that, Lundgaard headed to the pits to replace his front wing.
Christian Lundgaard limps around Road America with damage. (Photo: Charlotte Delowery | @lottie.motorsports)
First pit window
As the pit window opened, Will Power and Louis Foster pitted for hard tires. Alex Palou built a four-second lead over Marcus Armstrong in second place.
Scott McLaughlin defended against Caio Collet as the Brazilian driver attempted a move on the New Zealander. On Lap 13, Collet took sixth place from McLaughlin.
However, the driver of the No. 3 Chevrolet reclaimed the position as Pato O’Ward joined the battle. O’Ward closed on Collet and took seventh place from the rookie at Canada Corner.
At the start of Lap 14, Palou pitted from the lead alongside Armstrong, David Malukas, McLaughlin and Collet, who all ran in the top 10. Palou switched to hard tires and exited the pits first.
No. 18 tire mishaps
Romain Grosjean exited the pits slowly, forcing his Dale Coyne Racing teammate, Dennis Hauger, into race traffic. Grosjean’s slow exit was caused by a loose tire that came off on Lap 15.
A full-course caution was issued as the No. 18 Honda returned to the pits without a tire. The French driver continued the race, then Scott Dixon and Santino Ferrucci pitted, but could not be serviced because of the caution.
The AMR Safety Team arrives on the scene after Romain Grosjean loses a wheel. (Photo: Charlotte Delowery | @lottie.motorsports)
Felix Rosenqvist led the field under yellow as he crossed the line first while exiting the pits ahead of Alex Palou. Rosenqvist restarted the race on Lap 19 as Alexander Rossi made contact with Graham Rahal. Grosjean moved up to 18th place.
Palou pitted from second place on Lap 29 for a new set of hard tires. The four-time IndyCar champion ran side-by-side with Grosjean as he served a drive-through penalty for speeding on the pit lane. The French and Spanish drivers battled, but both returned to the pits, Grosjean for service and Palou for the penalty.
Another hybrid failure for Ed Carpenter Racing
Felix Rosenqvist built a four-second lead over Marcus Ericsson. As the most recent Indianapolis 500 champion prepared to pit, Ed Carpenter Racing’s Christian Rasmussen suffered a hybrid failure on the start/finish straight, causing another full-course caution on Lap 30.
Marcus Armstrong brought the field back to green on Lap 32 with David Malukas in second and Alexander Rossi in third. Mick Schumacher locked up and nearly made contact with Romain Grosjean. Then, Grosjean and Ericsson battled for 11th place as the Dale Coyne Racing driver forced the Andretti Global driver into the grass.
The two later made contact, and Ericsson appeared to sustain damage. Schumacher took ninth place from Rosenqvist, as the Swedish driver slid into the tire marbles while attempting to reclaim the position. The loose marbles caused Rosenqvist to lose several positions. Another full-course caution was issued for debris on the track.
Armstrong again led the field back to green on Lap 35 as Graham Rahal attempted a move on Will Power for fourth place. Palou began a battle for sixth place with his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, Kyffin Simpson, who ended up holding the position.
Final pit window open
On Lap 37, Alex Palou attempted a move around the outside of Will Power, and the two drivers made contact. Palou later completed the pass for sixth place. Alexander Rossi, Kyffin Simpson and Palou made their final pit stops on Lap 40. Simpson exited first, but after a slow stop for the No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing crew, Palou and Rossi exited side-by-side. Palou took the inside line as Rossi ran wide.
With 13 laps remaining, Marcus Armstrong pitted from the lead, followed by David Malukas and Graham Rahal. Armstrong exited the pits first, with Malukas behind him. Simpson avoided Nolan Siegel as the No. 6 Arrow McLaren driver exited the pits, but Palou went wide to make room for Siegel. Palou kept 15th place, with Siegel and Simpson behind him.
Christian Lundgaard pitted from the lead with 11 laps remaining. The No. 7 pit crew fitted the car with soft Firestone tires. The Danish driver returned to the track in sixth place and net second as Malukas attempted to pass him. Malukas put two wheels on the grass while moving to the inside of Lundgaard to take sixth place. With seven laps remaining, Lundgaard passed Malukas for second place and set his sights on Armstrong for the lead.
Battle for the lead ending with engine failure
Three laps later, Christian Lundgaard caught Marcus Armstrong as the No. 66 Honda began to slow. Lundgaard seized the opportunity to take the lead as smoke emerged from the rear of the Meyer Shank Racing entry. A full-course caution was issued for the disabled car.
The XPEL Grand Prix at Road America ended in a one-lap shootout as Lundgaard led the field back to green. Graham Rahal briefly slid, allowing Will Power to take third from the No. 15 Honda driver.
Nolan Siegel spun as drivers avoided the No. 6 Chevrolet. The race remained green as Power ran wide, allowing Rahal to retake third place. The Australian driver used his remaining push-to-pass to catch Rahal before spinning the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver into a gravel trap at Canada Corner, which brought out the yellow flag.
Under full-course caution, Lundgaard earned his second victory of the 2026 season at Road America after dropping to the back of the field following Lap 1.
Christian Lundgard celebrates his third career IndyCar win at Road America. (Photo: Charlotte Delowery | @lottie.motorsports)
The NTT IndyCar Series returns on the Fourth of July weekend for the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Coverage begins at 12:30 p.m ET on FOX.
Results: 2026 XPEL Grand Prix at Road America
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 12 IndyCar drivers:
| DRIVER | OLD RATING | PREVIOUS RANKING | MOST RECENT FINISH | NEW RATING | NEW RANKING |
| Alex Palou | 16.11 | 5th | 5th | 15.60 | 3rd |
| Kyle Kirkwood | 13.33 | 9th | 10th | 12.50 | T-12th |
| Christian Lundgaard | 10.67 | 17th | 1st | 12.50 | T-12th |
| David Malukas | 9.44 | 26th | 2nd | 10.30 | 20th |
| Josef Newgarden | 9.78 | 22nd | 22nd | 8.80 | 29th |