- Palou captured third victory at Long Beach, reclaiming championship lead by 17 points.
- Swift late-race pit stop by Chip Ganassi Racing allowed Palou to leapfrog Rosenqvist.
- Finishing top two in four of five rounds, Palou enters May as the championship favorite.
Heading into Long Beach, the storylines were stacked up. Kyle Kirkwood was chasing a three-peat, while Felix Rosenqvist finally appeared to convert pace into a long-awaited second career win.
For much of Sunday’s 90-lap contest, it seemed like that script would hold. Rosenqvist controlled the race from the front, setting the tempo in his No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda.
But a late caution flipped the race on its head, and Alex Palou did what he does best. Capitalizing when it mattered most, the reigning champion secured his third win of the season and reclaimed control of the championship in style heading into the Month of May.
Palou sets the IndyCar order at Long Beach as title race takes shape
With five rounds in the books, the standings are beginning to take shape, and Palou is right where one would expect the Spaniard to be, on top.
The reigning champion’s victory in Long Beach, his third win of the season, has pushed him back into the championship lead, opening up a 17-point advantage over Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood, who finished P4 on Sunday.
All in all, Palou has now led 168 laps this season, turning his five starts into three wins, four top-5s, four top-10s while clinching a pole.
Meanwhile, drivers like Scott Dixon and Kirkwood remain firmly in the mix, consistently hovering near the front and capitalizing on strong weekends. Dixon’s podium (P3) at Long Beach is another reminder that experience still counts, while Kirkwood continues to show flashes of race-winning pace, particularly on street circuits.
Further back, drivers like Pato O’Ward and Josef Newgarden have had moments, but not enough of them strung together to mount a sustained challenge just yet.
Now, coming to the standings, Kirkwood sits second with 188 points, emerging as one of the early-season standouts. While he hasn’t matched Palou’s win tally, his ability to stay in the mix with regular top finishes has kept him firmly in the title conversation.
The gap widens from there. David Malukas rounds out the top three with 142 points, but already sits 63 points off the lead. Just behind him, Arrow McLaren’s O’Ward (136 points) and Christian Lundgaard (131 points) complete a tightly packed midfield battle.
Two-time IndyCar champion Newgarden (130 points) sits sixth, followed closely by teammate Scott McLaughlin (127 points).
Further down, Dixon sits eighth on 120 points. Meanwhile, Rosenqvist, despite a strong showing at Long Beach, is ninth with 109 points, needing more results like that to climb into contention.
Overall, while the midfield remains tightly contested, the early narrative is clear: Palou has laid down the marker.
That’s ultimately what makes Palou’s start to the season so impressive. Even when he isn’t the outright fastest car, he’s always there or thereabouts. In fact, except for the Good Ranchers 250 at Phoenix Raceway, Palou has yet to finish outside the top 2.
And with the Month of May looming, that consistency could prove decisive. If the 29-year-old carries this form into Indianapolis, the rest of the field may already be playing catch-up before the championship fight truly hits its stride.
Race Recap: Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach
Rosenqvist was in control for much of the race, converting pole position into a commanding early lead and managing the opening stints with precision.
For large stretches, it looked like a near-perfect drive. The Swede built a gap, kept things tidy through traffic, and executed the first round of pit stops without issue. Even as strategies began to diverge across the field, he remained the benchmark out front, with a race-high 51 laps led.
Palou, starting from third, wasted little time making his intentions clear. An early move into Turn 1 to get past O’Ward put him into second place, and from there, it became a game of patience. He knew chasing Rosenqvist outright wasn’t wise.
“I knew that was probably one of our only chances to get the pass,” Palou said of his opening-lap aggression. “But as soon as I saw I couldn’t get Felix because he was very fast, not defending (and) was pulling a bit away, it was all about patience trying to keep the track under control, the fuel and wait for the right time.”
That moment arrived courtesy of a caution period late in the race, on Lap 57. A piece of debris on track bunched the field back together just as teams were preparing for the final round of pit stops, effectively resetting the race.
With the entire field diving into the pit lane, execution became everything. And this is where Chip Ganassi Racing once again proved why it’s the gold standard in the series. A clean, rapid stop, combined with Palou’s advantageous pit position, allowed the four-time champion to edge out ahead of Rosenqvist as they rejoined the track.
“My team… yeah, my team,” Palou said afterward. “The pit stop, that was everything. I was trying to do the best job I could on track to give us our best chances on fuel and on tyres (but) I know without that pit stop I would probably not be here now.”
Once in clean air, the No. 10 managed the final stint with trademark composure, gradually stretching his advantage while those behind struggled to respond.
He crossed the line with a comfortable margin of 3.9663 seconds, leading 32 laps to seal not just another victory, but another statement. For Rosenqvist, it was a tough one to swallow. After leading the majority of the race, a slight delay during the final pit sequence proved costly.
Still, a second-place finish marked a strong turnaround and a much-needed boost for him and MSR. “It’s a bit bittersweet,” Rosenqvist admitted. “But we can be proud of the performance.”
Behind the leading duo, Dixon surged into third with a well-timed strategy, while Kirkwood and O’Ward rounded out the top five in a race where track position and execution mattered more than outright pace.
