By Austin Lawton, Staff Writer
Alex Palou returned to victory lane on an oval, this time at Nashville Superspeedway in a postponed race on Monday afternoon.
The Spaniard led 97 laps on the day for his fifth win of the season and extends his points lead to 83 over Team Penske’s David Malukas, as a fifth IndyCar title beckons for Palou. Palou and the No.10 Chip Ganassi Racing crew executed a four stop and was aided by a Lap 130 caution between Alexander Rossi and Scott Dixon.
Palou was running fourth at the time of caution and dived into the pit lane just in time before the yellow flag flew. When the race restarted on Lap 140, Palou cycled out in the lead and never looked back, fending off a hard-charging Josef Newgarden, who settled for second.
Despite what the results sheets may say, Palou knew Newgarden could strike at any moment, especially when the leaders were in the midst of lapped traffic.
“I was struggling a little bit at the beginning of the race,” Palou said. “At the end I was so comfortable, especially once we got into the lead. I was a bit nervous to get into traffic because I know that’s when Josef kind of shines. He’s been the best the last few seasons. I was like, ‘Please, Alex, you need to do it’. I was committed. I wanted to try and give my best. Yeah, I’m just so happy that everything worked.”
For Newgarden, the second place finish could have been more. The No.2 had Palou within five-tenths of a second, but the lapped car of Louis Foster exited Turn 2 ahead of Newgarden in the racing line. The gap to Palou when the checkered flag flew was eight-tenths of a second.
The 2025 winner in Nashville was visibly upset post-race but did not take issue with Foster in his post-race comments.
“I didn’t have an issue with that,” Newgarden said. “Like I said, we just needed more laps.”
David Malukas gave Team Penske a double podium as the young driver drove from last to third. It was a long weekend for Malukas, as he did not qualify due to potential checks regarding a crash in practice on Saturday morning.
Malukas credits the third place finish as the best race he’s ever performed in and now sits second in the championship standings.
“Man, this whole week, what an incredible weekend,” Malukas said. “This is definitely not going to be one I’m going to forget for a very long time. Just super, super happy. Obviously exhausted. But I’m just so happy. That was the best race that I think I’ve ever performed in. I was trying so hard with everything going on. Just kept asking for one more. My body kept giving it to me till the end.”
The third Team Penske car of Scott McLaughlin finished fourth after leading 32 laps and was strong all afternoon. The No.3 crew managed to do three stints on red, alternate tires at the end of the race, but McLaughlin was satisfied with the result.
“I just felt better on the reds,” McLaughlin said. “I told the guys ‘Let’s go on reds at the end’ and we went for it. It was a solid, but frustrating day. I think we had the car to beat today. We were two laps down there and we came through the field, so I’m good.”
Indianapolis 500 winner Felix Rosenqvist brought home his No.60 Meyer Shank Racing car home in fifth. Much like McLaughlin, Rosenqvist was comfortable on the red tire, while other drivers and teams saw their red tires with heavy blistering and even cording on some occasions.
“We had a good race,” Rosenqvist said. “Our car wasn’t really good on the green track in the beginning. I kind of struggled to just hang onto it, but it got better lap by lap. Mid-race we put on the reds and we really felt the car come alive. We were able to go longer on the reds as well as we continue to work on stuff with the short ovals. Really happy we were able to contend there at the end in the final stint. I didn’t really have anything for the guys in front of me. They kind of drove away a little bit. I just blew my tires in the last 20 laps or so and I cruised to the finish. After the second-to-last stint, I thought we had a shot to win, but we were better today, so we’ll keep working on it.”
Mick Schumacher would finish eighth on Monday afternoon, marking his best result on an oval and in his short IndyCar career just far. The German was the best out of the three Rahal Letterman Lanigan cars. When speaking with the media post-race, Schumacher was very positive about his banner day.
“The pace has always been there and good enough for a top 10,” Schumacher said. “ To actually put it out on track, I think it’s a great achievement, but I knew it was possible. It’s not like it happened over night. We’re consistent on the communication, no issues in the pits. Just a nice solid race. That’s the kind of result you can expect from us.”
SEE: Bourchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix Results
The series has three weeks off until the next race at Portland International Raceway on August 9, but CGR and Juncos Hollinger Racing will be testing at the northeast track next week. For Palou, an opportunity to test is crucial ahead of another important race to grow his points lead.
“Yeah, you never know with testing,” Palou said. “Like, we’ve seen some teams testing at Road America while we didn’t. I think we had the best car there at Road America to win. But it’s going to be great. We haven’t had a test in a road course since I don’t know when. Probably we haven’t had any this year. It’s going to be huge for us to try and get a test there.”