After an excellent doubleheader event at Road America last week, Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh rookie Alex Palou is heading into unknown territory this weekend at Iowa Speedway for what will be his short track debut.

Palou is coming off third and seventh place finishes at the Elkhart Lake road course, where he also scored his best starting position of the season with a third place on the starting grid.

The rookie is carrying momentum to the 0.875-mile oval in Newton, Iowa, and while he is hopeful that he can have another strong doubleheader weekend, he’s well aware that there’s a lot of learning to be done.

“It’s going to be my first experience on a short oval, which means another completely new experience for me. I now have to switch my mind back to oval racing, it’s not a road course anymore, it’s not my specialty so it will be a lot of learning once again as a rookie. Everyone has told me that Iowa is going to be crazy, that it’s a difficult race with the bumps. We have two races again this weekend, so it will be demanding but it will also be good to help me gain as much experience as possible on that type of track,” expressed Palou.

The driver of the #55 Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh Honda only has one oval start on his resume with a best starting position of 16th and finish of 23rd at Texas Motor Speedway. He and his fellow rookies will get an additional 30 minutes of practice time on Friday, July 17 starting at 1:00pm local time.

All drivers will then get one hour of practice (1:30pm – 2:30pm local) with qualifying for both races taking place from 4:30pm to 5:30pm.

Each driver will get two qualifying laps. Lap 1 will determine their starting position for Race 1 and Lap 2 their starting position for Race 2.

Race 1 of the Iowa IndyCar 250s will go green on Friday, July 17 at 8:15pm local time (9:15pm ET) and will be broadcast live on NBCSN from 8:30pm ET.

Race 2 will also be broadcast live on NBCSN from 8:30pm ET on Saturday, July 18. Drivers will also get an additional one-hour practice session on Saturday from 2:30pm.

Qualifying and practice will be streamed live on the NBC Sports Gold app.

After picking up his first podium finish of the season with a third place in race 1 on Saturday, Rookie Alex Palou capped off his weekend at the REV Group Grand Prix presented by AMR with another solid performance by placing seventh in Race 2 at Road America. Today’s result also puts him atop the Rookie of the Year standings with 79 points.

Earlier in the day, Palou scored his best starting position in the NTT IndyCar Series with a third place on the starting grid, after missing out on pole position by a mere two hundredths of a second.

Palou once again started strong, however due to multiple full course cautions in the opening laps, it wasn’t until the Lap 8 restart that the rookie was able to take over second place and build a gap to Scot Dixon in third.

Following his pit stop on Lap 13, Palou complained of a lack of grip which cost him valuable positions. Then upon exiting the pits on Lap 28, after his second stop, the rookie pushed too hard in order to maintain his track position but in doing so ended up falling back to 14th place.

However, the Spaniard continued to push to make his way back to sixth place before his final stop on Lap 41. The driver of the #55 Honda exited the pits in seventh place where he would take the checkered flag behind his teammate Santino Ferrucci in the Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser Sullivan entry.

“Our first stint was really good. I felt great. I think Pato (O’Ward) had more pace than us but we were really strong compared to others. Then we stopped and switched to the black tires and I don’t know what happened on that second stint, but we lost grip and didn’t have the pace to keep up with the others. So we lost a lot of track positions there. Unfortunately, I then made a mistake when I came out in traffic after our second stop. I pushed too hard to try to keep my position and instead I lost four places so that wasn’t great. But it was good that at the end of the day we came back from 11^th to finish seventh. It’s not ideal, but I’m happy to finish in the top 10,” shared Palou.

“It was fun, I learned a lot this weekend. Overall, I think we had an amazing weekend for Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh. Obviously, I would say that when you’re running second in the opening stint, you want to finish there, but still, I think we did a good job. We’re still learning, we’re only in our fourth race so I’m looking forward to what we can do with more race experience as we move forward.”

The NTT IndyCar Series will be back on track next weekend at Iowa Speedway for another doubleheader event, with races on Friday and Saturday night.

Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh rookie Alex Palou scored his first NTT IndyCar Series podium on Saturday during Race 1 of the REV Group Grand Prix presented by AMR with a third-place finish, thanks to a brilliant drive from his 14th place on the starting grid.

Right from the start Palou was a mission to move forward as he gained five places on the first lap to take over ninth place.  The Spaniard, who was making only his third start in the series, remained in that position holding off veteran driver Ryan Hunter-Reay until his first pit stop on Lap 12.

Following the first round of stops, Palou cycled back up to fourth and once again remained there until his second trip to pit lane on Lap 26. This time, the rookie made it up to sixth before his final stop on Lap 38, under a full course caution.

Palou was running fourth at the restart on Lap 45 and immediately overtook Hunter-Reay heading into Turn 1. However, with another caution flag coming out, the pass wasn’t allowed, and Palou was relegated back to fourth for the following restart.

The rookie didn’t give up and once again got by Hunter-Reay for third place at the restart. With eight laps remaining, he held off Hunter-Reay all while keeping in striking distance of Will Power to score his first podium finish.

“It’s amazing, it feels so good! That was an awesome race for us. It was my first time here at Road America and having practice, qualifying and the race all in the same day isn’t easy. It was tough starting 14th but we were lucky today because we had a really strong car. I could overtake some of the guys at the start and then we just had a really good pace, good enough to be overtaking when we had clean air,” said Palou.

“The crew did well on the pit stops and the last one was amazing as we got ahead of quite a few guys and we were P4 after that last stop. After the restart, I could easily follow Ryan (Hunter-Reay) and Will (Power) and I was able to overtake Ryan twice to get into third. It was a really nice race for us. I hope we can repeat our performance tomorrow, and hopefully do even better.”

Palou and his Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh squad will have the chance to do it again tomorrow in the second round of the doubleheader weekend. The green flag will drop at 11:42am local time and the race will be broadcast live on NBC from Noon ET.

Rookie Alex Palou will be making his first appearance at the picturesque Road America circuit this weekend as the NTT IndyCar Series heads to Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin for the REV Group Grand Prix presented by AMR.

The Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh driver will have not one, but two races around the 4.014-mile, 14-turn road course as he looks to improve on his promising performance at last weekend’s GMR Grand Prix.

“We’ve done some simulator work in preparation for Road America so that should help us heading into the weekend. It gives me a better idea of what to expect, but it’s still going to be tough because of the single practice session. Even if you’ve driven the track on the simulator, nothing beats driving on the real thing, so you still need some time to learn the track and get the car where you want it to be and that can be tough to do in just one 75-minute session,” expressed Palou, who will be making his third and fourth Indy car starts this weekend.

“That said, I’m confident we’ll be stronger there than at Indy. From what I’ve seen by watching on board videos and with the sim work, the track is really nice, it has a little bit of everything and I’m looking forward to not only one but two races there this weekend.”

Teams will get one 75-minute practice session on Saturday, July 11 starting at 10:00am local time. Qualifying for Race 1 is scheduled for 1:15pm local time with Round 1 of the doubleheader going green later that day at 4:15pm local time.

The green flag will fall on the second race of the REV Group Grand Prix presented by AMR on Sunday, July 12 at 11:42am local. Qualifying for Race 2 will take place earlier that day at 9:00am local time.

Race 1 will be broadcast live on NBCSN from 5pm ET with Race 2 being broadcast live on NBC from Noon ET. The lone practice session and both qualifying sessions will be streamed live on the NBC Sports Gold App.

Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh rookie Alex Palou completed his first full NTT IndyCar Series race on Saturday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. However, while it was a promising road course debut, it wasn’t an easy one for the driver who ended up placing 19th in the GMR Grand Prix.

Palou, who was starting 21st, managed to move up to 16th place before heading to pit lane for his first stop on Lap 11. Having elected for a three-stop strategy, the rookie returned to the track in 23rd place.

Despite moving back up to 11th prior to his second stop, the Spaniard would end up losing a lap having pitted only a couple of laps before a full course caution.

Palou ended up getting his lap back and gained a couple of positions following his final stop on lap 58 to take the checkered flag in 19th place.

“It was really tough today at the GMR Grand Prix. Our strategy didn’t work out how we would have hoped. We pit early when we were running on the Firestone Red tires and that ended up not playing in our favor. Then we didn’t have any luck with the caution because we lost a lap there, so it was kind of over at that point for us,” explained Palou. “However, the pace of our Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh Honda wasn’t bad, we improved from yesterday, which is good. We’ll need to analyze everything but I’m happy that we got all the laps in today. It will help us for Road America next weekend. I think we’ll be much better there.”

The Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh squad will be back in action next weekend, July 11 and 12, at Road America for the REV Group Grand Prix doubleheader event.

Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh driver Alex Palou was hoping for a better result for his maiden NTT IndyCar Series road course qualifying session on Friday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but the rookie had to settle for 21st on the starting grid for Saturday’s GMR Grand Prix.

Despite the end result, Palou impressed on his initial three-lap qualifying outing by placing third quickest with a lap time of 1:11.57 set on the primary Firestone ‘black’ tire. However, he was unable to get his alternate Firestone tires up to temperature for his final run in the 10-minute session. His fastest lap time of 1:11.1815 placed him 11th in his qualifying group.

“I’m disappointed with my qualifying result today,” expressed Palou. “When we first went out on the primary Firestone tire we were really good and were sitting P3 before going back out on the reds for our final lap. I had traffic on the out lap, like everybody, but I was not able to get the tires up to where they needed to be, so I didn’t have enough grip on my final lap and that’s why our result wasn’t so good. It’s all part of the learning experience, I guess. However, I’m happy with the first run we did, and I’m also encouraged for tomorrow because I believe we have a strong car for the race and that’s when it counts the most.”

Palou and his fellow NTT IndyCar Series drivers will get a final 30-minute warm up session tomorrow morning at 9:00am. The GMR Grand Prix will be broadcast live on NBC starting at Noon ET on Saturday, July 4.

Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh rookie Alex Palou sees this weekend’s GMR Grand Prix, the second round on the 2020 NTT IndyCar Series schedule, as the true start to his rookie season.

Palou made his official series debut at Texas Motor Speedway last month, where he gained valuable experience around the high-speed oval, despite a short lived race, through no fault of his own.

However, with this weekend’s event being held on the 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Spaniard will find himself in a familiar environment having competed his entire career on that style of race track.

“I’m really excited to get back to racing this weekend at the GMR Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Texas was my first official NTT IndyCar Series race, but it was on an oval, after three months off and I had never raced on an oval before, so this weekend feels more like an ‘unofficial’ first race for me,” shared Palou.

“I’m very happy to be heading to a road course, which is the type of track that I’m used to racing on in Europe and Japan. It’s an environment that I’m much more comfortable with so I’m looking forward to a good weekend in my Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh Honda. The team had good cars there last season and I’m confident we can be quick there this year. Hopefully we can come out of the weekend with a good result.”

Drivers will get 90 minutes of practice starting at 11:30am ET on Friday, July 3 ahead of that afternoon’s qualifying session. Practice from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway will be streamed live on the NBC Gold App with qualifying being broadcast live on NBCSN from 4:30pm ET.

The GMR Grand Prix will go green at 12:08pm ET on Saturday, July 4 and will be broadcast live on NBC starting at Noon ET.

Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh rookie Alex Palou’s NTT IndyCar Series debut was short lived when he got caught up in an on-track incident on Lap 37 of the Genesys 300 at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday evening.

Earlier in the day, Palou had done a good job by qualifying 16th in his first ever oval qualifying session after only two hours of practice on the 1.5-mile track.

Palou was looking forward to gaining as much experience as possible in what was his first oval race and was running 15^th when he entered pit lane on Lap 35 for his first pit stop.

Unfortunately, the Spaniard only got one more lap under his belt before he was collected by fellow rookie Rinus Veekay, who made contact with the wall and shot back down the track, clipping the left rear tire on the #55 Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh entry.

“I don’t think there was much I could have done. In hindsight, I should have gone high instead of going low, but that’s easy to say now. I have to watch the replay. Maybe I could have done something different, but not with the oval experience I have right now,” shared Palou.

“It’s a shame because the car was really good. I was getting comfortable and getting up to speed. Every lap I was getting better and better and keeping up with the cars in front. I was trying to get the car balanced right for the last stints. Unfortunately, we were not able to do that.”

Next up for Palou and the Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh team will be the GMR Grand Prix on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 4, 2020.

The NTT IndyCar Series is getting back on track this weekend and Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh rookie Alex Palou will be facing a day of firsts on Saturday at Texas Motor Speedway as he, finally, makes his official series debut.

Palou will not only be taking part in his first NTT IndyCar Series event, but it will also mark his first oval race and night race, all in a condensed one-day schedule on the high-speed oval that is the 1.5-mile track in Fort Worth, Texas. While Palou will be the only driver on the grid having never raced on an oval, in any category, he won’t be going in completely blind having at least tested at Texas Motor Speedway earlier this year.

“These last few weeks I was really worried about just getting back to the United States and now that I’m here, I’m even happier and more excited to go racing at Texas Motor Speedway this weekend. Not only did I make it, but I made it with enough time to prepare properly with the team and the engineers and to prepare myself. To be able to focus on racing and not always thinking about if I’m going to make it or not is a huge relief,” expressed Palou.

“This weekend will be my NTT IndyCar Series debut, which has been a dream of mine. It will also be my first oval, first night race and it’s in Texas. Everything to make it a difficult and challenging debut, but I’m looking forward to it. The team has had good cars there in the past so it’s going to be up to me to get up to speed and get comfortable with the car again after three months away. We have limited track time, so it won’t be easy for me and the other rookies, but we’ll try to make the best of it. I’ll be the only driver in the field that has never raced on an oval, in any type of car, but I’m ready for the challenge. It would be awesome for Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh if we could come out with a good result as we finally get the season started.”

Palou and his fellow rookies will get an additional 30 minutes of practice  prior to the full field taking to the track for the official practice session.

The season opening Genesys 300 will go green at 7:10pm local time and will be broadcast live on GAORA in Japan  from 8:30pm JP time.

An updated 2020 NTT INDYCAR SERIES schedule was released today, displaying calendar adjustments implemented due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Genesys 300 at Texas Motor Speedway remains the season opener with a night race on the 1.5-mile oval Saturday, June 6. The next race on the INDYCAR calendar will be the GMR Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course Saturday, July 4.

“Our teams and athletes are ready to get back on track and will deliver world-class action at Texas Motor Speedway and the Racing Capital of the World,” Penske Entertainment Corp. President & CEO Mark Miles said. “We appreciate the opportunity to begin our season during these unprecedented times, and I’m confident we’ll put on a great show.”

The REV Group Grand Prix at Road America has been rescheduled from June 21 to July 11-12, becoming a double-header with championship points races Saturday and Sunday on the iconic, 4-mile road course.

Two events have been canceled for 2020 due to local restrictions surrounding the pandemic: the Indy Richmond 300 on Saturday, June 27 at Richmond Raceway and the Honda Indy Toronto on Sunday, July 12 on the streets of Toronto.

The season finale will be the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on Sunday, Oct. 25, a new date recently announced after the originally scheduled season opener March 15 in St. Pete was postponed due to the global health crisis.

The 2020 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season will begin Saturday, June 6 with the Genesys 300 at Texas Motor Speedway. INDYCAR’s stars will take the green flag at 8:45 p.m. (ET).

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, INDYCAR will run a condensed schedule with practice, qualifying and the race taking place on the same day. The event also will be conducted without fans in attendance. This will be the 24th consecutive year in which INDYCAR has raced at the 1.5-mile oval in Fort Worth, Texas.

To accommodate the one-day schedule, the length for the race at Texas Motor Speedway has been adjusted to 200 laps rather than the previously announced 248 laps.

The remainder of the updated, 15-race INDYCAR calendar for 2020, announced April 6, remains on schedule for competition.

In the “real” racing world the month of May is famous for staging the Indianapolis 500 event and so at 2.30pm on Saturday, 2^nd May, to mark the culmination of the  the IndyCar iRacing Challenge the final round was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  As in the previous five rounds of the Challenge, the cars lined up two abreast for the rolling start, unlike the legendary Indy 500 event we are all familiar with which has a traditional start grid comprising three cars abreast.  It was a wild experience in the virtual world of iRacing which fully lived up to its category.

With eight of the participating drivers having won the real Indy 500, only three of the 33 drivers who took the start for the sixth and final round of the IndyCar iRacing Challenge had no previous experience on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval, and Alex Palou, from Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh, was one of the three.  Based on his five previous iRacing performances – where he finished fourth on 4^th April at the virtual Barber Motorsports Park; where he led four laps and finished tenth on 11^th April at Michigan; and where he led a lap and finished ninth the previous Saturday, 25th April, at the Circuit Of The Americas – Alex was considered to be a “dark horse” for a surprise victory, especially having won an iRacing practice session at the Indy Speedway oval two days prior to the race.

Palou started the race at Indianapolis on the fourth row of the grid in P8, but after five laps of battling for position, his car was squeezed against the wall.  He recovered, and even led the race for three laps, but by lap 55 when in sixth position it was necessary to pit for fuel.  He rejoined the race, but just three laps after his pit stop there was an incident in front of him on lap 58 which forced him into a spin and ultimately a crash causing a lot of damage to his car. He managed to overtake a few of the seriously damaged cars on track, but was finally classified P26 having only completed 59 laps of the 70 lap race.

The six rounds of the IndyCar iRacing Challenge having come to an end, we now await the start of the real 2020 IndyCar season.