Alex Palou Cruises to Second Detroit Victory

Detroit, MI – Alex Palou has done it again in 2026, taking home the trophy on the top step of the podium as he’s won the 2026 Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix.  

Palou cruised to his fourth victory of 2026, his second win at Detroit, and his 23^rd career victory, leading 71 of the 100 laps from Pole Position. 

He was challenged late by Kyle Kirkwood but was able to pull away in the closing laps and after a multitude of cautions.  

Honda was able to sweep the podium in Chevrolet’s backyard of Detroit, with Kirkwood finishing second and Graham Rahal rounding out the podium in third after a spin caused by Kyffin Simpson.  

Ryan Myrehn of IndyCar Radio talked to Palou post-race on the challenges he faced from Kirkwood and getting the win. “Big fights. Kyle (Kirkwood) and (Will) Power, they were incredible on the restarts. I think Kyle had the advantage on the restarts with the tires, but kind of had it on the long run. But yeah, it was tough. I didn’t know if we were going to have it or not especially with so many restarts, not having enough push-to-ass at the end either. I think everyone was on the same page. Yeah, incredible win for the #10 HRC Honda and incredible work by everybody at CGR once again.”  

Christian Rasmussen brought out the first caution on lap 9 after he made contact with the wall. The race did see an incredible four-way battle for the lead between Palou, Power, Scott McLaughlin, and Christian Lundgaard. Caution was brought out on lap 64 after Santino Ferrucci made contact with Rinus VeeKay. The caution was timely for Palou who had pitted beforehand, while everyone else had not 

Just when racing went back to green, rookie Mick Schumacher and David Malukas ran each other off the road. With 22 laps to go, Ferrucci had a mechanical problem. At the same time, Power retired his car after hefty contact with McLaughlin, ending his day in disappointment after a very strong start. The final caution came around with 10 laps to go after Alexander Rossi misjudged a corner and punted Romain Grosjean into the wall.  

Newly crowned Indy 500 champion just finished outside the top 5 in 6^th in his new Eminem-themed livery, while Dennis Hauger was the highest finishing rookie in 13^th. Josef Newgarden was the biggest mover of the race finishing 10^th after starting 21^st.  

The official results of the 2026 Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix: 

1. #10 Alex Palou (Chip Ganassi Racing – Honda) 

2. #27 Kyle Kirkwood (Andretti Global – Honda) 

3. #15 Graham Rahal (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing – Honda) 

4. #5 Pato O’Ward (Arrow McLaren – Chevrolet) 

5. #7 Christian Lundgaard (Arrow McLaren – Chevrolet) 

6. #60 Felix Rosenqvist (Meyer Shank Racing – Honda) 

7. #45 Louis Foster (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing – Honda) 

8. #28 Marcus Ericsson (Andretti Global – Honda) 

9. #8 Kyffin Simpson (Chip Ganassi Racing – Honda) 

10. #2 Josef Newgarden (Team Penske – Chevrolet) 

11. #66 Marcus Armstrong (Meyer Shank Racing – Honda) 

12. #76 Rinus VeeKay (Juncos Hollinger Racing – Chevrolet) 

13. #19 Dennis Hauger (Dale Coyne Racing – Honda) 

14. #77 Sting Ray Robb (Juncos Hollinger Racing – Chevrolet) 

15. #6 Nolan Siegel (Arrow McLaren – Chevrolet) 

16. #4 Caio Collet (A.J. Foyt Racing – Chevrolet) 

17. #20 Alexander Rossi (Ed Carpenter Racing – Chevrolet) 

18. #12 David Malukas (Team Penske – Chevrolet) 

19. #3 Scott McLaughlin (Team Penske – Chevrolet) 

20. #18 Romain Grosjean (Dale Coyne Racing – Honda) 

21. #47 Mick Schumacher (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing – Honda) 

22. #26 Will Power (Andretti Global – Honda) 

23. #14 Santino Ferrucci (A.J. Foyt Racing – Chevrolet) 

24. #9 Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi Racing – Honda) 

25. #21 Christian Rasmussen (Ed Carpenter Racing – Chevrolet) 

Palou now holds a 62-point lead over Kirkwood in the championship hunt.  

Round 9 of the 2026 NTT IndyCar Series is the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 from World Wide Technology Raceway on Sunday 6/7 at 9:00 PM E.T.