Starting third on the grid, Álex Palou once again demonstrated his mastery by winning on the Long Beach street circuit, during the fifth round of the 2026 IndyCar season.
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On this demanding circuit of just over 3 km, nestled in the Californian streets and historically linked to Formula 1 between 1976 and 1983, the Spaniard built his success intelligently, capitalizing on every opportunity without ever overdoing it, in his very “Prostian” style.
The race, however, seemed destined for Felix Rosenqvist, who took pole position for Meyer Shank Racing, and controlled the pace at the front during the first half of the event.
A Decisive Neutralization
Behind him, Pato O’Ward (McLaren) remained in ambush, while Palou had quickly settled into second position after an opportunistic start.
The strategic turning point came on lap 57, during the race’s only neutralization. All the leaders pitted, and that’s where Chip Ganassi Racing (better positioned in the pitlane) made the difference: a perfectly executed stop allowed Palou to emerge just ahead of Rosenqvist, by only a few centimeters.
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Once in the lead, the reigning champion left no chance for his rivals. On the restart, he immediately pulled away on hard tires to win authoritatively, thus securing his third victory of the season and the 22nd of his career in 103 starts. This success allows him to regain the championship lead, despite a disrupted start to the season due to his accident in Phoenix.
A Weekend to Forget for Grosjean
Behind him, Rosenqvist had to settle for second place, while his Ganassi teammate, Scott Dixon, completed the podium. Kyle Kirkwood (Andretti) continues his remarkable consistency with a fourth place, remaining in contention in the overall standings where Palou now has a 17-point lead. The rest of the top 10 is completed by O’Ward as well as the two Penske drivers, Scott McLaughlin and David Malukas, followed by Graham Rahal (RLL) who precedes Alex Rossi (ECR) and Kyffin Simpson (Ganassi).
While young Dennis Hauger (Coyne) finished 11th and best rookie ahead of Mick Schumacher (RLL) in 17th place, his teammate Romain Grosjean was stuck at the back of the pack throughout the race after a very penalizing crash in practice and a start from the last row.
After this iconic event, the series will head to another temple of motorsport, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where the next events will take place: the Indy GP in three weeks and, as the highlight, the legendary Indianapolis 500 Miles, a radically different challenge on an oval where speeds approach 400 km/h, on the last Sunday of May.
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