Alex Palou won the 2026 Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix by a mile, but it wasn’t a drive in the park.
The Ganassi Racing driver picked up his second win of the season and second-straight win at Barber Motorsports Park on Sunday.
Palou led 79 of 90 laps and crossed the finish line a distant 13 seconds ahead of Christian Lundgaard, but only because Lundgaard’s last pit stop lasted 17.8-second due to a bad tire change that added about nine seconds to the stop. Lundgaard thinks he would’ve had a shot if things had gone differently.
“We know the pace that we had and just how we were catching him. It’s unfortunate. The guys have done an amazing job, and I don’t think that’s ever really happened. One in almost 100 starts, I think it’s
OK,” Lundgaard said.
Instead, he got tied up battling Graham Rahal, who he passed with five laps to go. Rahal then had to hold off David Malukas in a faster car to claim third for his first podium finish since 2023.
“I felt like this was coming,” Rahal said after the race. “We’re pretty pleased with this. Feels good.”
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Kyle Kirkwood came home in fifth to grab enough points to keep him at the top of the standings by two points ahead of Palou after four races as the series heads into a two-weekend break before the Long Beach Grand Prix on April 19.
