Alex Palou lost the lead on the first lap of the Sonsio Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course on Saturday, but led the most important one.
The Chip Ganassi Racing driver dominated the closing laps of the 85-lap race and cruised to an easy 6.6106-second win over Team Penske’s Will Power.
Palou won the race last year. The victory was the two-time defending IndyCar Series champion’s first in a points race this season and 10th of his career.
Christian Lundgaard, who started alongside Palou on the front row and took the lead on the first lap when Palou went wide into turn one, finished third.
Power now has three second-place finishes in four races.
The win moved Palou into first place in the season standings with 153 points, 12 ahead of Power and 25 ahead of Scott Dixon as the series gets ready to move to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval for the Indy 500.
After the race, Palou said he’l lbe taking it easy on the celebration tonight so he can keep is weight down for the Indy 500.
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