It was another successful weekend for Monaco Increase Management driver Alex Palou as he took third place in an action-packed Nashville Indycar Grand Prix. This results strengthens Palou’s overall standings position as he managed to finish ahead of direct rivals Josef Newgarden and Scott Dixon and now leads with 513 points to Newgarden’s 429 and Dixon’s 387 with four races to go in the series.
Yet, the Big Machine Music City event once again proved a difficult one and the 3.492 Km, 11-turn street course, albeit surprisingly uneventful for the first part, ultimately kept true to its ‘Crashville’ nickname as the race was red flagged and resumed with only three flying laps to go. Up to that point, Palou and CGR team had adopted a very marginal fuel strategy starting from P4 on the grid and then pitting for a set of Hard tires already on Lap 15, taking advantage of an early caution period. Palou’s race strategist Barry Wanser later admitted that the fuel strategy in particular was very marginal, with Alex pitting for the second time on Lap 46 and having to manage fuel consumption for the remaining 35 laps. Palou once again made the strategy stick to perfection without squandering his push-to-pass booty, and eventually the frequent race interruptions turned the Grand Prix into yet another sprint race in which fuel saving was no longer a factor.
“We thought about the strategy before the race and we expected more yellow flags”, said 26-years old Palou after the race “so it was not the right call, but we survived. We saved a ton of fuel throughout the race and eventually we made it work with podium, so I couldn’t be happier now”.
It’s not always so obvious how much effort and dedication must be put into a racing event to overcome all difficulties but once again Palou’s talent, CGR’s experience and MIM’s total support proved the key to success. There’s little time to celebrate though as the next event of the Indycar series is coming right up next weekend with the Gallagher Grand Prix that will see the Indycar circus visiting for the second time this year the Indianapolis road course, one that is home to Alex Palou and accounts for one of his four wins so far this season…
