Chaos right at the start
After the green flag waved, the entire field made it through the first corner without issue. Alex Palou maintained the lead, while Pato O’Ward lost second place to Colton Herta.
In Turn 3, however, things went wrong between Conor Daly and Robert Shwartzman. Daly moved into a part of the track where Shwartzman was already driving. Both cars spun into the gravel but were able to continue on their own.
Later in the opening lap, things completely unraveled under braking at the Corkscrew. Kyffin Simpson spun and collided with Felix Rosenqvist's car. Simpson then crashed into the wall on the right side of the track, while Rosenqvist went straight into the tire barriers. Remarkably, Rosenqvist was able to continue the race, albeit three laps down.
After eleven laps, the race had to be neutralized again. Jacob Abel had gone straight in Turn 1, likely due to a brake issue. During this caution period, the leaders stayed out, while drivers like Rinus VeeKay, Scott Dixon, Nolan Siegel, and Kyle Kirkwood opted for an alternative strategy by making an early pit stop.
Issues for the Dale Coyne Racing drivers
It wasn’t until lap 26 that the pace car returned to the track, once again due to a Dale Coyne Racing car in the gravel. This time, it was VeeKay who had spun off after being hit from behind by Kirkwood. Kirkwood received a stop-and-go penalty for the incident. VeeKay was able to continue, now two laps down.
Race control waited until the leaders had made their pit stops before throwing the yellow flag for VeeKay’s incident. Palou, however, didn’t have quite enough of a gap to retain the lead and rejoined the track in second place behind Siegel after his stop.
Following the restart, the race ran green for an extended period. Palou, on hard tires, initially stayed behind leader Siegel. Once Siegel’s tires were completely worn out, Palou made a spectacular move around the outside in Turn 3 to retake the lead.
Behind Palou, Christian Lundgaard put together a strong charge. The Dane first passed teammate O’Ward, and after Herta’s second pit stop, he took second place from him as well. Up front, Palou controlled the race with an eight-second lead over Lundgaard. The Spaniard also made his final pit stop three laps later than Lundgaard, giving him a significant tire advantage.
Spin by Marcus Ericsson breathes new life into the race
The race looked set to run to the finish without further cautions, until Marcus Ericsson went wide in Turn 6, ran into the gravel, and spun. Race control waited unusually long to see if Ericsson could restart his engine, but ultimately had to throw the caution. Just seconds later, Ericsson did manage to fire up the engine and made his way to the pits, where he retired from the race.
On the restart, Palou easily retained the lead, while fierce battles unfolded further down the field. A few laps later, the pace car had to come out again, this time after Santino Ferrucci spun under braking for the Corkscrew and got stuck in the gravel trap. Alexander Rossi was incredibly lucky during the spin, as he narrowly avoided contact with Ferrucci.
Even after this restart, Palou maintained his lead, while O’Ward overtook Dixon in Turn 1 for fourth place. Christian Rasmussen seemed on course for a strong seventh-place finish but went off the track the lap after the restart and dropped back to ninth.
At the front, no one had an answer for Palou, who after the late restart pulled out a gap of almost 4 seconds over Lundgaard. This allowed the No. 10 driver to claim his eighth win of the season and his third victory at Laguna Seca in the past four years.
Full results of the race on Laguna Seca
PhotographyPenske Entertainment
