Alex Palou overcut Felix Rosenqvist in the pits and pulled away to a commanding victory at the 2026 IndyCar Grand Prix of Portland.
Starting second in the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, Palou used precise pit-stop timing, strong tire strategy and consistent race pace to finish 4.1167 seconds clear of Felix Rosenqvist, while Will Power completed the podium in third.
This marked Palou’s sixth IndyCar win of the season and 25th of his career, cementing his grip on the 2026 championship with just five races to go.
“I had an absolute rocket ship today,” said Palou. “Once again, everybody did an incredible job on the 10 car, and yeah, incredible to get our fifth win of the season, or six, whatever. Yeah, it’s been great.”
Felix Rosenqvist made the cleanest launch in the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda and held the lead into Turn 1, while Alex Palou attempted to challenge around the outside but was unable to complete the move and settled into second.
Marcus Ericsson, however, mounted an aggressive charge after starting on the softer alternate tires, allowing him to attack Palou and move into second place with a pass into Turn 1 on Lap 4.
The first and only caution of the race came on Lap 7 when Graham Rahal ran wide at Turn 11 and lost control of his Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda, barely missing the tire barrier at Turn 12.
By Lap 17, Rosenqvist’s lead stood at approximately 0.8 seconds over Ericsson while Palou was around 1.8 seconds behind the leader. Will Power was almost four seconds behind the trio, followed by Rinus VeeKay in fifth.
Tire strategy reshapes the race
The first major sequence of green-flag pit stops began as the softer alternate tires started to lose performance. Ericsson’s pace faded by Lap 24 and was forced to pit along with Kyle Kirkwood, Scott Dixon and Romain Grosjean.
Christian Lundgaard, meanwhile, charged through the field to P7 after starting at the back of the grid.
Rosenqvist and Power extended their opening stints until Lap 32, while Palou remained on track for one additional lap. That decision saw Palou complete an effective overcut and emerged ahead of Rosenqvist, as Josef Newgarden took the lead.
Shortly after, Marcus Armstrong was forced to retire the No. 66 Meyer Shank Racing Honda after an engine issue.
Palou moved into the lead after Newgarden’s first stop on Lap 38, and went on open an advantage of more than six seconds over Rosenqvist, who had recovered second place.
The second major strategic phase began when Palou stopped on Lap 56. Rosenqvist stayed on track and inherited the lead for the next four laps before making his own pit stop.
Newgarden controlled the race for the next seven laps before handing over the lead to Palou again on Lap 67 with Rosenqvist in second.
Rosenqvist used the additional grip of the softer alternate tires to close on Palou who was on the harder primary tires. However, Rosenqvist eventually made his final pit stop with 29 laps remaining, and Palou responded by pitting one lap later, both drivers switching to primary tires for the final stint.
With Rosenqvist’s earlier compound advantage out of the picture, Palou went on to stretch his advantage to over four seconds and ultimately claim Portland IndyCar victory.
