Palou Runs Second for Honda to Complete Iowa Speedway Doubleheader

• Alex Palou rebounds from Saturday night race 1 disappointment to finish second in Sunday's Hy-Vee 250 at Iowa Speedway
• Palou continues to hold solid championship lead after 10 of 17 races
• Scott Dixon runs fourth in both races of NTT INDYCAR SERIES two-race weekend

Rebounding from a disappointing opening race on Saturday night, NTT INDYCAR SERIES defending champion – and current points leader – Alex Palou led the way for Honda Sunday at Iowa Speedway with a strong second-place finish in the closer to the first doubleheader race weekend of the season.

Palou, who crashed out of last night's 250-lap weekend opener in his Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, led a race high 103 laps of today's race en route to a second-place finish and a 35-point lead in the Drivers' Championship after 10 of 17 races.

This weekend's race also marked the oval track debut of INDYCAR's new hybrid Energy Recovery System, fitted to the full 27-car field for the first time last weekend at the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio.

Six-time series champion Scott Dixon repeated his Saturday night result with another fourth-place finish today in his Ganassi Honda; while Colton Herta brought his Andretti Global Honda home fifth.

Hy-Vee One-Step 250 Honda Race Results

R – Rookie

NTT INDYCAR SERIES Manufacturers' Championship (unofficial, after 11 of 17 rounds)
Chevrolet                      904 points
Honda                          845 points

NTT INDYCAR SERIES Drivers' Championship Standings (unofficial, after 11 of 17 rounds)
1. Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing                            379 points (2 wins)
2. Will Power, Team Penske                                          -35 (2 wins)
3. Pato O'Ward, Arrow McLaren                         -52 (2 wins)
4. Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing               -57 (2 wins)  

Quotes
Alex Palou (#10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) finished 2nd, leads championship by 35 points after 10 of 17 races: "Today was a successful day, and that was good. Yesterday was a terrible day for us. I made too many mistakes, but we rebounded today. It was still really tough to pass, and Scott [McLaughlin] got us in the pits, but a solid P2 for us and we're looking forward to Toronto next weekend.”

Scott Dixon (#10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) finished 4th in both Iowa races: "A pair of fourths is kinda what we had this weekend. Everyone on the PNC Bank #9 Honda did a heck of a job. This track has historically been multi-lane, and hopefully we can figure something out next year to get that second lane to come back for us.”

Graham Rahal (#15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda) finished 8th: “Yesterday was a bummer with a broken wheel. Of all the eight spokes, only one was left holding on, so I'm thankful for that one! But today the boys did a solid job and the car was very fast all weekend. We were the fastest of our team, and that showed today. The team did a great job in the pits and we are just refining things. We're still learning things about the hybrid, how it interacts with things like the fuel mixture; the best way to regenerate power, and more. I got some good runs on guys, but it's tough sledding. Still, today was a much better race for us.”

Kelvin Fu (Vice President, Honda Racing Corporation USA) on this weekend's doubleheader INDYCAR weekend at Iowa Speedway: “First of all, we want to express our best wishes to Sting Ray [Robb] and hope that he's back with us at Toronto. We had strong qualifying runs from many of our Honda teams this weekend. In the races, I think our pace was there, but things just didn't fall our way and the end results were disappointing. Thanks to all of our partner teams and everyone at HRC for focusing on our short oval pace this offseason. We have made progress, and with the number of short ovals coming up [on the schedule], that has been a goal of ours. Congrats to Alex Palou and the Chip Ganassi organization for our podium finish this weekend, and on to Toronto.”

Fast Fact

• With a lap distance of just 0.89 miles, the banked Iowa Speedway oval is the shortest circuit on the INDYCAR schedule, and features repaving in the corners for 2024.

Next
The NTT INDYCAR SERIES completes its run of consecutive five races over four weekends with the July 19-21 Honda Indy Grand Prix of Toronto, the fourth and final temporary street circuit event on the 2024 schedule.

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