Today’s question: Chip Ganassi Racing has won the last four races on the IMS road course. What team is best poised to end that streak this Saturday in the Sonsio Grand Prix?
Curt Cavin: I’m ready to forecast a thrilling two-man pursuit of the Astor Challenge Cup, and it takes root with Kyle Kirkwood (photo, above) swiping the series points lead from Alex Palou with a win in Saturday’s Sonsio Grand Prix. No, the IMS road course hasn’t been kind to Kirkwood – he has an average finish of 10.5 in his four races with Andretti Global – but this can be his first official road course victory. The other Palou stopper could be Will Power (photo, top) in the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge. Like Kirkwood on this road course, Power has not fared well in recent events on the historic oval, but this feels like the year of the rise-up for Andretti Global.
Eric Smith: I’ll take Arrow McLaren to end CGR’s reign. Pato O’Ward has finished runner-up twice in the last three years, and his teammate Christian Lundgaard (photo, above) is another strong contender. This is arguably Lundgaard’s best track. While he missed the setup in his first year with Arrow McLaren last season, he never started worse than eighth in six attempts with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. The Dane qualified on the front row in three straight IMS road course races prior to last May, including the 2023 Sonsio Grand Prix pole, a race he finished second. He was fourth, fourth and third in his three previous IMS road course start before last season. On his lone natural road course start this season, Lundgaard was in position to challenge Alex Palou for the win at Barber Motorsports Park before a lengthy final pit stop dropped him to second. Their teammate, Nolan Siegel, climbed from 18th to 13th in last year’s race and enters with momentum from Long Beach. Arrow McLaren looks strong this weekend.
Arni Sribhen: It’s fitting that Roger Penske owns Indianapolis Motor Speedway, because IMS has long been a Team Penske playground. Team Penske’s Indy dominance, which includes 20 wins in the Indianapolis 500, also carries over to races on the 2.439-mile road course. Will Power scored five of Team Penske’s eight wins on the road course, with the other wins coming with Simon Pagenaud (2016, 2019) and Josef Newgarden (2020). Team Penske is poised to start off another Month of May with Newgarden, Scott McLaughlin and David Malukas (photo, above). Any is capable of stopping the CGR win streak this weekend.
Paul Kelly: The IMS road course periodically throws some surprises, and I’m predicting the same this weekend. Let’s take a look: Sebastian Saavedra earned his only series pole at the inaugural edition of this event in 2014. Rinus VeeKay earned his only victory so far in his NTT INDYCAR SERIES career with a masterful drive in this race in 2021. Romain Grosjean also won the pole for that race in just the fifth race of his INDYCAR career. So, I’m going with Graham Rahal (photo, above) and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing breaking through this weekend for the driver’s first win since 2017 in Detroit and the team’s first since Christian Lundgaard won in 2023 in Toronto. Eric noted how the 14-turn, 2.439-mile IMS road course is Lundgaard’s best track. The same can be said for RLL, especially recently. Rahal qualified second and finished sixth in this race last season, and he won the pole and fell just .4779 of a second shy of Scott Dixon and victory in the Gallagher Grand Prix on this circuit in August 2023. Give me Graham and RLL as another surprise – sort of – this Saturday.