The Ganassi driver had to recover positions after Rinus VeeKay made contact with him at the pitstop.
The No. 10 American Legion Chip Ganassi Racing driver Alex Palou was having a solid race at the front of the 107th running of the Indy 500, but on lap 95 Rinus VeeKay could not control his car on pit road and went straight into the side of the Spaniard.Alex Palou started his month of May on the right foot, achieving pole for the Indy 500, the fastest pole ever recorded. In the first half of the race, he was completely in control, changing the lead with VeeKay until the first round of stops. Then he kept his car at the front.But on lap 92, Sting Ray Robb caused a yellow, after his crash at turn 1. That stoppage made all the field head to the pits at the same time.Palou had the first box at the end of pit road, with VeeKay’s crew having the second based on qualifying. After a good stop, both were exiting the pits, but the Dutch could not keep control of this ECR and hit the Spaniard’s car.
Palou came to a stop at the exit of the pit lane, and his crew was able to recover his car. He had to change his front wing, but they were able to rejoin without losing a lap.The race restarted with Palou in 23rd place with arguably the fastest car. So he had to make a recovery drive. The Ganassi driver consistently gained positions. At the end of the race, he found himself in the top-5.
At the last restart, Ferrucci closed the door on Rossi for third and Palou took his chance. At the chequered flag, he was 4th.
An unbelievable comeback drive that could be a defining point in the championship at the moment end of September.“It was a tough day for myself and for the team,” said Palou. “But, anyway nothing we could have done differently there on Pit Lane. We had a really fast car as you guys saw, and from that point, we just switch our minds. We were starting from 30th again. And we had to start the race from scratch, so I tried to make the most of it. “I was a bit lucky with the restart there, that allowed me to push forward. But yeah anyway, it shows that we made it with 100 laps from 30th to 4th and we could have done a bit more.
“But it’s this place man, it’s tough. It’s tough for everybody. I will keep on knocking on that door and come back strong.”Nevertheless, that drive meant that he could extend his championship lead from 6 to 20 points. Pato O’Ward, who was 2nd in the standings heading into the race, crashed whilst fighting for the victory with 8 laps to go.“I’m very excited for Detroit after a really positive month for the whole team, but especially the 10 car. We just had really good results and we’ve been really competitive. I can’t wait to try and get the best result of the season on a street course. “Looking forward to the new track and it will be challenging for all the drivers and teams. Nobody has any information other than what we’ve learned from the simulator. It’s looking challenging, but we love challenges, and we’re looking forward to that.”
