Here’s what’s happening this week Inside The Garage:
Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Speedway, Ind.) — Alex Palou left Indianapolis Motor Speedway without another Borg Warner Trophy but still remains the INDYCAR points leader.
His lead could have been more, though, as Palou was docked five points for a postrace technical infraction following Sunday’s Indianapolis 500.
It was another punch on a day when the defending race winner wound up in seventh place despite leading a race-high 59 laps. The Chip Ganassi driver, who has four series titles (including the last three) still has a 37-point lead in the standings over David Malukas, who finished second Sunday to winner Felix Rosenqvist by 0.0233 seconds in the closest finish in race history.
That lead could have been 42 points but after the race, technical inspectors found Palou’s front wing violated the rule that says it must not measure less than 8.3 inches when set at any angle.
The team was fined $10,000.
Alex Palou was unable to repeat at the Indy 500 despite starting on the pole.
“INDYCAR Officiating has determined that the non-compliance was the result of an assembly error and not an intentional modification,” the INDYCAR Officiating Board said in a statement.
Chip Ganassi Racing said it would not appeal the penalty and it had no intention of trying to gain an advantage.
“During technical inspection following Sunday’s Indianapolis 500, a part failure was discovered in the front wing assembly of the No. 10 car,” the CGR statement said. “The failure caused the wing to fall out of compliance with INDYCAR’s technical parameters.”
It isn’t rare for racing teams to potentially design a part to meet inspection parameters before an event but then it fails in a way to give them a performance advantage. Racing series typically won’t take intent into account if it is a competitive advantage.
[INDY 500 TAKEAWAYS: Wild, Historic Final Lap Of Felix Rosenqvist’s Win]
Palou told me and other reporters after his seventh-place finish that he didn’t have the track position (based on strategy) nor the speed at the end to make a run at the leaders.
“This place, you know the only important lap is lap 200,” Palou said. “I knew that although we were leading so much at the beginning of the race, the race was going to be at the end.
“It was a little bit of a shame that we were not on the optimal strategy, but I’m super happy for the month we had.”
With 11 races left in the 18-race schedule, there is plenty of time for the championship to be decided.
Currently, there are six drivers within 100 points of Palou — Malukas (37 points behind), Kyle Kirkwood (minus-49), Christian Lundgaard (minus-78), Pato O’Ward (minus-85), Scott McLaughlin (minus-92), and Indy 500 winner Felix Rosenqvist (minus-97).
Another Shot At Indy 500 Glory?
Helio Castroneves (Meyer Shank), Takuma Sato (Rahal Letterman Lanigan) and Ryan Hunter-Reay (Arrow McLaren) all did one-off rides for the 2026 Indy 500 looking for another Borg Warner Trophy to add to their collection.
Castroneves already owns four wins, Sato two and Hunter-Reay one.
Sato finished 10th Sunday, Castroneves 25th and Hunter-Reay 32nd.
The one driver who certainly would want another shot is Hunter-Reay, whose car spun out from underneath him just 17 laps into the race.
“I re-evaluate the situation every year,” Hunter-Reay told me and other reporters outside the care center. “I’m only 15 minutes after I got out of the car. I’ll absolutely want another shot at it, but we’ll reassess that at the right time.”
Castroneves had a quick reply: “Who knows? We’ll see.”
Will Helio Castroneves return for a shot at a fifth Indy 500 crown in 2027?
In The News
–NASCAR has made its damaged vehicle policy in the O’Reilly and truck series the same as Cup, where teams will have a designated work area in the garage. Once they go back to the track, they get three laps to meet minimum speed.
— Dayton International Speedway is replacing its lighting system with new lights that should make the oval much brighter and also the road course brighter. It will be the first time Musco (lighting company) has used these bulbs/technology in the United States; they have used it in Saudi Arabia. It won’t be ready for August but will be done before January.
Not Just A Road Course Guy
Shane van Gisbergen had an 11th-place finish at Charlotte on Sunday, lifting him to 14th in the Cup standings. He’s currently the only Trackhouse driver in the top 16 of the standings.
Big Day On The Big Day
Romain Grosjean is outside the top 20 in the INDYCAR standings, but he was top-10 on Sunday with a ninth-place finish in the Indianapolis 500.
They Said It
“Kyle Busch, to me, is an American badass” — NASCAR CEO Steve O’Donnell.
In Inside The Garage, Bob Pockrass takes us behind the scenes of the motorsports world the way only he can.
