Despite Best Lap Time, MIM Driver finishes “uneventful” weekend with P15 and P12 in St. Louis

MIM driver Alex Palou’s #55 Guaranteed Rate Honda was the quickest car on track, but in a race where passing was extremely limited, the rookie had to settle with a 12th place finish in Race 2 at World Wide Technology Raceway in St.Louis, Missouri on Sunday. In the previous event of the weekend, which was run on Saturday, the Spanish driver had finished 15th, after having to serve a questionable penalty for getting out of formation before taking the green flag, even if it was to avoid contact with slower cars ahead of him.

In Race 2, starting 14th, Palou lost a couple of positions at the beginning, but managed to gain one spot back to move into 15th place. With passing being very difficult for everyone on track, the Spaniard held his position for the majority of his first stint.

Once all cars on track had completed their first pit stops, Palou had moved into 14th, where once again he would remain until his second stop on Lap 92.

Shortly after completing his third and final pit stop that allowed him to gain a couple more spots, Palou registered the fastest race lap on Lap 147 with a time of 25.69 seconds around the 1.25-mile oval. Despite his speed, the rookie would take the checkered flag in 12th position.

“That was an uneventful race. It was super difficult to pass. I think the only passing that happened was at the start and with the pit strategy where we gained four or five positions. It was easy to follow other cars but just very hard to get a run on them, and that was the same for everyone on track. It ended up being about strategy and trying to make that work in our favor. It’s a shame because we had a really fast car, we had the fastest race lap and that shows how good our #55 Guaranteed Rate car is. I felt really comfortable with the car, it’s too bad we couldn’t finish any higher,” shared Palou.