For the fifth weekend in a row, Álex Palou led the field to green. Once again, the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America brought an action-packed raced with plenty of penalties and cautions. As the chequered flag fell, it was Christian Lundgaard who became victorious for the second time this year.
Split Strategy To Start
With new black tyres, both compounds were an unknown this weekend as teams planned their stints. Consequently, the tyre strategy was split at the start of the race. Front runners Palou, David Malukas and Marcus Armstrong opted for the red, softer tyres, whereas Felix Rosenqvist and Marcus Ericsson behind opted for the black, harder compound.
The soft starters had the better start as the track went green. Palou was able to keep first whilst Armstrong challenged Malukas for P2. Armstrong ultimately won out, pushing Malukas to battle with the second Meyer Shank Racing of Rosenqvist behind. Also on the softer tyre, Team Penske driver Scott McLaughlin also made up places. However, the third Penske, Josef Newgarden, locked up into Turn 1 and dropped to P23.
For most of the grid, it was a clean start. However, that wasn’t the case for Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard. After a disappointing qualifying, Lundgaard faced starting the race from P12. Attempting an overtake on Scott Dixon, he misjudged the braking and broke his front wing. As a result, he had to pit on Lap 3, putting him last and facing a recovery drive.
A Loose Tyre Switches The Grid
With the softs not lasting, drivers opted to pit as soon as the window opened. Will Power and Louis Foster were the first to pit on Lap 12. Two laps later, the front runners all followed Palou into pit lane. Romain Grosjean came in to change his tyres, and was slow as he exited. His Dale Coyne Racing teammate, Dennis Hauger, had to take avoiding action as he came past. This allowed Christian Rasmussen and Power to both pass Hauger.
Just a few corners later, Grosjean’s tyre came loose, bringing out a full course caution. Moments before, most of the hard runners came down pit lane to make their stops. Already being in as the FCY came out benefitted them, but Dixon was the big loser. Coming in just as yellows were shown, he was unable to make his stop and had to drive through pit lane.
With the first round of pit stops complete, Grosjean’s FCY switched the grid up. Having to slow on track, this saw Palou concede the lead of the race to Rosenqvist. Newgarden separated the two, but was yet to pit. Marcus Ericsson was another to benefit, jumping up to third ahead of Armstrong. In contrast, Malukas dropped back as a result, finding himself in P7 at the restart.
For speeding in the pit lane, Mick Schumacher was handed a back of the grid penalty. As they went around Road America behind the safety car, Schumacher took this penalty, dropping to the rear of the pack. On the restart, it was Rosenqvist’s time to use the soft tyre’s grip, keeping the lead over Palou. Like the initial start, the first restart was clean. Pato O’Ward, up to fifth, was challenging Armstrong, who was able to defend.
Penalties Across The Grid
Alexander Rossi had a moment at Turn 5, bumping into the side of Graham Rahal. Both cars were undamaged. Hauger had to pit due to a tyre going down, whereas his teammate received a stop and go penalty. This saw both Dale Coyne drivers head to the pits as the field went green, and consequently both fell to the back of the grid. The penalties weren’t over, with both Dixon and Schumacher receiving drive through penalties for pitting after repositioning. Louis Foster was also handed a two-place grid drop for blocking.
After Ericsson won out in the pit stops, Armstrong was coming back at him for P3. The pair were battling, which brought O’Ward into the fight too. With the battle for third coming alive, the top two drivers were creating a gap. However, Palou opted to undercut Rosenqvist, coming in on Lap 29. A rare mistake from the No. 10 occured. Speeding in the pit lane, Palou received a drive through penalty. Before he could take the penalty, he found himself in a battle with Grosjean, costing him more time.
A Repeat Of The Indy GP
Just after Palou served his penalty, Armstrong opted to take his second pit. Following that, Rasmussen started to slow on the front straight. In a moment similar to that of his teammate’s at the Sonsio GP at IMS, the ECR car stopped and brought out a full course caution. This prevented the front runners, Rosenqvist, Ericsson, and O’Ward, from making their stops.
Consequently, Armstrong inherited the lead of the race. Malukas and Rossi both benefitted from pitting early, taking P2 and P3 respectively. Despite being held up by Grosjean and serving a penalty, Palou was P8 for the restart. Armstrong nailed the restart but Schumacher locked up, bumping Grosjean and sending him wide. Grosjean then collided with Ericsson. The No. 28 went wide and took damage.
Also struggling with the restart was previous leader, Rosenqvist. Struggling to find grip on his new tyres, he had some moments, consequently dropping back to P18. Another FCY was called for debris on track. When the grid went back to green, Armstrong had another great start.
Heartbreak For Armstrong
With 15 laps remaining, Ericsson was the first to make his final pitstop. Armstrong was building a gap out front but the question of when to pit arose. Wait more laps and have more fuel, or come in sooner and hope for another yellow. Rossi and Palou opted to come in early, with Palou making it out ahead of Rossi. A lap later, the leading duo of Armstrong and Malukas pitted. Armstrong was able to maintain the net lead.
Lundgaard inherited the lead when the lead group pitted. Being the fastest on track, the No. 7 opted to stretch his stint to go long. He ultimately pitted with 10 laps remaining, and came out behind Armstrong and ahead of Malukas. However, with warmer tyres, Malukas was able to retake net second.
Once everyone had made their final stop, Armstrong was once again in the lead, with a 3.7 gap back to Malukas. On the alternate strategy and on the softer compound tyre, Lundgaard was lapping faster than anyone else. As he chased down Armstrong, the leader had more push-to-pass to use to defend.
With four laps remaining, Armstrong suffered an engine issue and started to lose speed. This allowed Lundgaard to overtake for first and as they crossed the line, Armstrong’s car started to smoke. This brought out a caution with only three laps remaining. Because of this, Malukas reclaimed P2 and Rahal, once again, found himself looking at another podium finish.
Lundgaard Wins The XPEL Grand Prix
The track went green for the final lap. Malukas followed Lundgaard as they went running again, and Power took P3 from Rahal. However, Power ran wide, allowing Rahal back through. Trying to retake position, the pair collided, sending Rahal into the barriers. The race ended under a full course caution, bringing Lundgaard his second win of the year. The top 10 is as follows:
“You know, I made a bunch of mistakes there that spun ourselves around last year and I wanted to make up for that and we’ve just been on the struggle bus all weekend, so to turn this around, I’ve got to thank the team for that.“
~ Lundgaard post-race.
After a less than ideal qualifying and being last at the end of the first lap, Lundgaard had to do a recovery race. Not only did he manage to recover, he was able to utilise the alternate strategy and win. From last to first, Lundgaard’s patience and strategy shone at Road America. For the second time in 2026, he stands on the top step, bringing Arrow McLaren another trophy.