Alex Palou wins Road America, reclaims IndyCar points lead

Spain’s Alex Palou won the REV Group Grand Pix at Road America on Sunday, after passing Josef Newgarden with just two laps left to regain the championship points lead. Chip Ganassi driver Palou led five of 55 laps on the 14-turn 4.01-mile track in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Palou cruised to victory over Colton Herta, Will Power, Scott Dixon and Roman Grosjean rounded out the top five.

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While Newgarden’s Team Penske Chevrolet suffered mechanical problems on the day’s final restart and he limped the final two laps to the finish. For Newgarden it was the second straight heartbreaking finish, as he ended up finishing a disappointing 21st. He led for a race-high 32 laps and appeared to be headed to his first win of the season after a restart at the end of the 53rd lap.

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Newgarden was overtaken by Pato O’Ward last Sunday for the lead with the three laps remaining in Detroit and ended up finishing second after leading 67 of 70 laps. Whereas, Palou averaged 119.424 mph to finish just 1.9106secs ahead of Colton Herta. The race was slowed by four caution periods, 2014 series champion Will Power finished third.

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It was all smiles for Palou, who took a 28-point lead over O’Ward in the series standings with his second victory of the season. He also won the season opener on April 18 at Barber Motorsports Park.