It’s a warm welcome to Wisconsin, as IndyCar returns to the 4-mile Road America circuit. It’s a fan and driver favourite characterized by iconic corners like the carousel and Canada corner! Additionally, the unique pit straight that rises up the hill presents a lot of unique challenges along what is the longest circuit on the calendar.
Alex Palou has won 3 of the last 5 races here, winning this race one year ago en route to his history making 4th championship. This year things are a little different as he comes off a terrible finish in St. Louis, where he was classified just 17th after being ran out of fuel. That will likely fuel the reigning champion though and as we head to his bread and butter style of circuit it’d be no surprise to see another sunday of perfect Palou. Many others had great days in St. Louis, with Newgarden, Ericsson and Rasmussen sharing the podium, highlight drives for all in the silly season development!
The Championship Narrative
We are now halfway through the season, and it’s looking like a 3 way fight for this championship. Palou still leads, but Andretti’s Kyle Kirkwood sits within a race’s worth of points at -49. Penske’s David Malukas is also just 68 points back, still all the play for as the summer stretch heats up! The McLaren duo of Lundgaard and O’Ward sit 4th and 5th, admittedly almost 100 points off Palou but it does show just how competitive this championship is to have 4 different teams represented in the top 4 positions!
My Pick to Win: Scott Dixon
Picking Palou is boring, we know he’ll probably dominate and out class the field as he so often does on these races. Dixon is definitely a left field choice but hear me out; this race often comes down to fuel saving and no one is better at that game than the 6-time champion. The kiwi also has 2 wins at Road America, so knows the way to victory lane.
Steer Clear: Christian Lundgaard
I was a bit surprised to see his name top of my Road Course only standings, although his win at the Indy Grand Prix should have told me all I needed to know. But i’m still worried, Lundgaard has just 2 top 10 starts and finishes in 4 visits, it seems very hot and cold which I don’t trust.
The pressure is on: David Malukas
Lil Dave, Gateway was supposed to be your crowning moment but now two poor showings in a row leaves the Chicago native in search for a spark to reignite his championship bid. Penske has won a lot here, Malukas did finish 2nd at the Indy GP, he needs a big weekend here.
Two Dark Horses: Graham Rahal & Alexander Rossi
It’s a tossup for me this weekend, Rahal has been on a career resurgence this year with 3 podiums on the year including at Barber. RLL seems to have really turned a corner on the road courses, we know the pace is there from Foster’s shock pole last year. I can see Rahal ending the weekend with a top 5 finish
Meanwhile to shine a light on Rossi. The ECR crew has been struggling along for a few weeks say for the Rasmussen podium last time out. But this is also one of Rossi’s best tracks winning in dominant fashion in 2019, and post Andretti Global he has a podium, 3 top 10s and a pole positon to his name.
written by Carlos Faria // Media Credit: Penske Entertainment
