The IndyCar paddock travelled over 2700 miles from the event last weekend, setting up shop at Laguna Seca for a tilt at the historic course.
From the outset, Alex Palou showed that his pace was not matched by anyone else in the field.
He pulled away at the green flag, and quickly built a gap after every restart throughout the day. The few laps he did not lead were on account of pit strategy only, and there was no doubt he was the best driver of the day.
READ MORE: IndyCar Laguna Seca – Full Race Results
Palou’s win gives him three of the last four at Laguna Seca and he now has an incredible eight victories on the season.
He did not yet clinch the championship, but he is now well over 100 points ahead of Pato O’Ward with only three rounds remaining.
Christian Lundgaard was a man on a mission, making impressive passes all throughout the event, 15 in total over the 95 laps.
He worked his way from seventh up to second by the end of the event, giving him five podiums in 2025.
Colton Herta secured the final step on the podium, hanging around the front of the field all afternoon as he logged a respectable finish in the #26 entry.
Pato O’Ward finished in fourth, doing his best to keep the championship fight alive through a couple impressive passes of his own.
Finishing fifth was Scott Dixon, who climbed from 19th up to the top five with a strong tire strategy.
Earning PREMA’s best result since joining IndyCar at the start of the season was Callum Ilott.
The Briton rose from 24th up to sixth, mimicking Dixon’s tire strategy and gaining the most positions of any driver in the field.
Early chaos
The race was barely under way before there was chaos, with Conor Daly and Robert Shwartzman spinning off in the gravel in Turn 3.
Both drivers were able to get going again on their own, but at Turn 6 there was a more damaging incident.
Felix Rosenqvist came together with Kyffin Simpson, with both driver sliding hard into the barriers. Rosenqvist was able to continue with a slightly damaged car, but Simpson was out of the race before the first lap was over.
A few laps later Jacob Abel had a brake issue in the first hairpin turn, causing him to go long through the gravel and into the tires.
Kyle Kirkwood and Rinus VeeKay came together on lap 25, sending the Dutchman into the gravel and bringing out the third caution of the day.
Even though the two had been battling hard leading up the incident, Kirkwood was given a stop and go penalty for avoidable contact. He finished all the way down in 16th
Late in the event, Marcus Ericsson got caught straddling a curb at the exit of Turn 6. He spun up the hill towards the Corkscrew and stopped on track.
Race control thought he could get going again and delayed a full course yellow, but finally, after waiting for nearly a full lap with drivers screaming past, the caution was thrown to slow the field to a safe speed.
Nolan Siegel was not involved in any incidents, but he used them to jump into the top spot for a time on an alternate pit strategy.
The advantage did not last, however, and he fell back down to 18th by the end of the race.
After competing in an incredibly busy month, drivers have one week off before reconvening on the West Coast once more in Portland.
