Palou Scores Podium Result for Honda at Iowa Speedway

• Alex Palou finishes third at second round of NTT INDYCAR SERIES doubleheader HY-VEE race weekend at Iowa Speedway
• Scott Dixon runs sixth for second consecutive day; Colton Herta finishes seventh

A closing-laps charge from Alex Palou netted the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship points leader a third-place finish today in the HY-VEE One Step 250, closing race in a double-header weekend at Iowa Speedway. 

As a result, Honda driver Palou continues to hold a strong, 80-point lead in the chase for the 2023 Drivers' Championship over Josef Newgarden, who swept both races this weekend.

Palou's Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, Scott Dixon, finished sixth for the second day in a row; just ahead of a Honda trio that included Andretti Autosport's Colton Herta; an impressive David Malukas for Dale Coyne Racing with HMD, eighth; and Marcus Ericsson in ninth.

HY-VEE One Step 250 Honda Race Results

R – Rookie

NTT INDYCAR SERIES Manufacturers' Championship (unofficial, after 12 of 17 rounds)
Honda                  978 points
Chevrolet             943 points

NTT INDYCAR SERIES Drivers' Championship Standings (unofficial, after 12 of 17 rounds)
1. Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda                 477 points
2. Josef Newgarden, Team Penske                             -  80
3. Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda                -120
4. Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda        -147
5. Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske                              -148

Quotes
Alex Palou (#10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) finished third, continues to lead the Drivers' Championship points standings after 11 of 17 races: "Honestly, we're very happy to finish on the podium here today.  We were struggling a lot the first couple of runs, and some issues with the balance of the car.  But we made changes that improved the car, had a good strategy and great pit stops.  All that, plus a good restart at the end, got us to the podium.  So super proud for everyone on the team.  There's still a lot for us to improve here, but we gained a lot of confidence this weekend."

Colton Herta (#27 Andretti Autosport Honda) finished seventh: "We didn't have the ultimate pace we needed today, but our strategy kept us in the hunt.  My Andretti Autosport team did a great job. Our car balance was better than yesterday, so we've made some slight improvements.  We just need to keep going with that.  Our car today was much better than yesterday, so a top-10 finish was a good reward for all the work we did this weekend."

Mark Crawford (Large Project Leader, Honda Performance Development) on today's race at Iowa Speedway: "We made some progress this weekend, thanks to everyone at HPD for their efforts, but still have quite a bit of work to do to improve our performance here.  Now we'll go on to Nashville and the rest of the remaining five races on the schedule, carry on doing our best every weekend for the rest of the season." 

Fast Fact

• Honda continues to lead the 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES Manufacturers' Championship, with seven victories and nine poles in 12 races this season. Honda currently has an unofficial 35-point advantage (978-943) over rival Chevrolet. The company is seeking its fifth NTT INDYCAR SERIES Manufacturers' Championship in the last six years in 2023.

Next
After a hectic run of five races over a six-week period, the 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES now takes a week off before resuming on the streets of Nashville, Tennessee, for the August 4-6 Big Machine Music City Grand Prix.

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