Palou Claims Victory at The Thermal Club After Late-Race Charge

After winning the season opener on the streets of St. Petersburg, Alex Palou has now added another victory to his name at The Thermal Club. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver remained patient in third place for much of the race before making his move in the final stint, overtaking Pato O’Ward to take the win. O’Ward finished second, ahead of his teammate Christian Lundgaard.

At the start, polesitter O’Ward managed to hold onto the lead, while Palou made a move on Lundgaard in the first corner. However, the reigning champion couldn’t hold onto second place for long, as Lundgaard soon reclaimed the position.

The entire field made it through the first turn without major issues, but later in the opening lap, a few incidents occurred: Scott McLaughlin was spun around by Devlin DeFrancesco, and Callum Ilott damaged his front wing. However, neither incident resulted in a caution.

Up front, O’Ward was able to build a solid lead, aided by his choice to start on a fresh set of softer alternate tires, whereas Lundgaard and Palou were on sets that had already been used during qualifying.

O’Ward appeared to be cruising toward a comfortable victory, with his lead growing to as much as 11 seconds before the second round of pit stops. However, Palou began closing the gap, reducing it to seven seconds before getting stuck behind Lundgaard. This worked to O’Ward’s advantage, as he was able to extend his lead back to over 10 seconds.

For Team Penske, the race didn’t go much better than their disappointing qualifying session. After his early collision, McLaughlin became the race’s only retirement due to hybrid system issues. Josef Newgarden never looked like a contender for a top-10 finish, while Will Power was the only Penske driver to break into the top 10.

As the final stint approached, tire selection became crucial. The McLaren drivers, O’Ward and Lundgaard, opted for fresh sets of harder tires, while Palou had a fresh set of soft tires still available. This gave Palou a significant pace advantage over the leading duo, and on Lap 48, he overtook Lundgaard for second place.

Palou then set his sights on O’Ward, who was losing valuable time in traffic. The Ganassi Racing driver quickly closed the gap, setting up a tense multi-lap battle for the lead. Eventually, on the long back straight, Palou found his opportunity and surged past O’Ward, immediately pulling away from his Mexican rival.

By the time he took the checkered flag, Palou’s lead had grown to 10 seconds, sealing an emphatic victory.

Full results of the race on The Termal Club