Christian Lundgaard produced an incredible comeback drive, charging from last place after the opening lap to claim victory. The Arrow McLaren driver opted for an aggressive strategy, while problems for Marcus Armstrong ultimately handed Lundgaard the lead. David Malukas finished second, with Will Power completing the podium in third.

A Clean Opening Lap

At the start of the race, polesitter Alex Palou managed to hold on to the lead, while third-place starter Marcus Armstrong moved past David Malukas for second. The entire field made it through the opening lap without incident, but Christian Lundgaard was forced to pit at the end of the lap with a puncture and a damaged front wing. The McLaren driver had made contact with Scott Dixon’s right-rear wheel while braking for Turn 1.

Palou then built a lead of as much as four seconds, while behind him, Felix Rosenqvist passed David Malukas for third place on Lap 12.

Grosjean Loses His Left-Rear Wheel

The first caution of the race came on Lap 15. Moments earlier, Romain Grosjean had made his first pit stop, but the #18 Dale Coyne Racing crew failed to properly secure the left-rear wheel. As Grosjean braked for Turn 5, the wheel came loose, sending him into a spin. Remarkably, he was still able to limp the car back to the pits on three wheels.

The caution coincided with Rosenqvist’s pit stop, while Palou had pitted one lap earlier. That gave Rosenqvist a significant advantage, as he exited pit lane first and was cycled into the race lead ahead of Palou. Palou rejoined in second, followed by Ericsson and Armstrong.

Palou was unable to find a way past Rosenqvist and elected to go on the offensive with an early second pit stop. However, the championship leader made a crucial mistake by exceeding the pit lane speed limit and was handed a drive-through penalty. Drivers such as Armstrong and Malukas also made an early second stop, while Palou served his penalty one lap later.

Second Caution Turns the Race Upside Down

Moments later, the race was turned upside down once again by another caution. Christian Rasmussen had stopped on the front straight, parking his car just before the start-finish line. Only a handful of drivers had pitted shortly before the yellow flag; the rest of the field was now forced to make their stops under caution, dropping them well down the running order.

This handed the lead to Armstrong, ahead of Malukas and last-place starter Alexander Rossi. Palou was running eighth at that stage, while Rosenqvist fell from the lead to 11th.

Shortly after the restart, another caution was triggered due to debris on the track. Armstrong once again managed to maintain his lead on the ensuing restart.

A Late Pit Stop Brings Lundgaard into the Lead Pack

Not long after the pit window opened for the final round of pit stops, the leaders headed to pit road for their last stops of the race. Lundgaard stayed out and inherited the lead. The Dane then posted a series of very fast laps, allowing him to rejoin in second place, just ahead of Malukas, after making his final stop. With the benefit of warmer tires, Malukas was able to reclaim second—partly by venturing onto the grass—but the aggressive strategy still elevated Lundgaard to third on track.

However, Lundgaard’s tires were three laps fresher than Malukas', and they were also the softer alternate compound. With seven laps remaining, Lundgaard launched his attack on Malukas in Turn 5 before completing the pass for second place in Turn 7.

Problems for Marcus Armstrong Spark Final-Lap Drama

At that point, Lundgaard trailed race leader Armstrong by four seconds—would he also be able to close that gap? Initially, Lundgaard was gaining roughly half a second per lap on Armstrong, until the race leader began experiencing Honda engine issues with four laps remaining and lost significant pace. Lundgaard quickly swept past Armstrong, and just a few corners later, a large plume of smoke emerged from the back of Armstrong's car.

Armstrong's troubles brought out a late caution, setting up a restart with just one lap remaining. On the restart, Will Power managed to pass Graham Rahal for third place in Turn 1, only for Rahal to reclaim the position later in the lap. Approaching Canada Corner, Power positioned his car around the outside, but Rahal moved toward him and the two cars made contact. Rahal spun into the wall, while Power ran wide and was passed by both Simpson and Palou.

At the front, Lundgaard cruised unchallenged to his second victory of the season, finishing ahead of Malukas. Kyffin Simpson crossed the finish line in third, ahead of Alex Palou and Will Power. However, Power was officially classified in third, presumably because Simpson and Palou had passed him under caution.

Following the race, Josef Newgarden was also penalized for a collision with Nolan Siegel on the final lap. Newgarden crossed the line in ninth but was handed a 30-second time penalty for the incident, dropping him to 22nd in the final standings.

Full results of the race on Road America