The second half of the season gets underway this weekend as INDYCAR prepares to race at Road America for the tenth race of the year. After a chaotic night race in St. Louis where Josef Newgarden took home his second win of the season, luck can be on anyone’s side at Road America. Newgarden will be looking to maintain his momentum and get another win at a track where he’s won twice before.
Álex Palou will also be hunting down another win. He’s won at the track three times within the past nine years. Palou has taken the top step at Road America in nearly every season where he’s won the championship.
Coming to Road America
Road America is a 4.048 miles (6.515 km) long circuit featuring 14 turns. The long straights allow for top speeds up to 200mph, making it one of the fastest permanent road courses globally.
There’s a handful of challenging sections at Road America. Turn 5 is a known heavy braking zone at the end of the downhill straight and is one of the best spots for overtaking. Turn 12 is another major overtake zone, while Turn 9 and Turn 10 make up one long sweeping right-hand corner known at The Carousel.
The track’s combination of high speed, technical corners and elevation changes makes it one of the most challenging circuits on the calendar.
In a press conference ahead of the race weekend, Scott MacLaughlin shared that the track’s length will play a big role in strategy over the weekend.
“Look, it’s a long, long lap for sure. We’ve seen in the past the overcut be a long strategic thing instead of the undercut, that’s a little bit in the warm-up procedure.
If you can stay in touch with the leaders, save a little bit more fueld, it has worked in the past. I’m not sure that’s going to happen this year. Especially the way the yellows have been falling at Detroit, a little bit more abruptly, I think that’s going to be interesting how much risk people take in that regard.”
Current Championship Picture
As previously mentioned, this race will mark the start of the second half of the season. There’s been plenty of ups and downs throughout a very busy first few months of the season. Álex Palou is in the lead of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES Championship with 342 points going into this weekend. He has four wins in nine starts and five pole positions.
Right behind Palou is Andretti Global’s own Kyle Kirkwood. He’s won one race so far this season but has managed to get six finishes in the top five. If he’s able to slightly close the gap, Kirkwood has the potential to challenge Palou as we get to the later stages of the season for the championship win.
Third in the standings is David Malukas. He’s had quite an eventful season during his first year with Team Penske. From a second-place finish at the Indy 500 to six top 10 finishes, he proves to be a strong contender for the championship battle. Malukas is still hunting down his first INDYCAR win. However, his performance this season has been a strong indicator that a win is coming his way.
Road America Schedule
The schedule for the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America is as follows. Please note that all times are in CEST.
As we enter the second half of the season there will be plenty to watch out for. Will Palou be able to extend his lead or will this be the year someone else takes home the championship win?