Christian Lundgaard earns his first INDYCAR win at McLaren

SPEEDWAY, Ind. — Christian Lundgaard earned his first NTT INDYCAR Series win at McLaren after his bold pass on David Malukas paid off at the IMS Road Course.

This is his second career series win and the first for the organization this season.

This win had been coming for Lundgaard. His raw pace at the team was never in question but today he had everything break his way and it did today.

Lundgaard dodged the turn-one chaos and caught his first break when Alexander Rossi triggered a full-course caution mid-pit cycle.

He stayed on the primary strategy while the top two championship contenders got buried in traffic. He knifed past Graham Rahal, who podiumed in third after his steady day, to set his sights on David Malukas.

After the penultimate stops, Malukas looked to have the gap he needed. But Lundgaard timed his final pit perfectly, undercutting the rookie Team Penske standout and emerged just behind him on warmer rubber.

He hunted Malukas down in the ensuing corners and made the move of the race from a brave pass around the outside of Turn 10.

From there, he was gone. Malukas, chasing his first series win, will have to wait another day.

Josef Newgarden ran a composed race to fourth. Polesitter Alex Palou couldn’t defend his victory from a year ago after the untimely caution dropped him out of contention to finish fifth.

He crucially heads into the Indianapolis 500 still holding the points lead. Scott Dixon was a steady sixth.

The back half of the top ten belonged to drivers who needed a big day and delivered. Louis Foster and Dennis Hauger grabbed seventh and eighth respectively, with Hauger notching a career-best finish.

Nolan Siegel rounded out the top ten for his first of the season as did the aforementioned Foster.

Notable Events

The Sonsio Grand Prix exploded off the start. Felix Rosenqvist launched from fourth and drilled Pato O’Ward on the apex of Turn 1 which collected several cars in the process.

INDYCAR handed Rosenqvist a drive-through penalty, while the rest of the carnage victims spent the opening laps buried in traffic after making repairs.

Scott McLaughlin shed a significant chunk of bodywork soon after and dropped a lap in the pits. He salvaged 16th, just one spot better than where he qualified in the morning.

When the dust settled, Kyle Kirkwood had rocketed from ninth to second, with the top three championship drivers slotting into that same order for much of the early running.

Kirkwood briefly held the net lead over Palou midway through, but a botched front-right tire change handed the spot back. He finished ninth in the end.

Ed Carpenter Racing’s Alexander Rossi became the team’s latest Honda engine casualty after lap 20.

INDYCAR drew criticism for initially opting to localize the yellow while Rossi sat stranded just beyond the bricks on the front stretch. They apparently hoped to complete the active pit cycle. But Rossi eventually climbed from the car and forced their hand, triggering a full-course caution.

Christian Rasmussen suffered terminal gearbox damage from the lap one sequence, though he rejoined and turned a handful of laps before his day effectively ended.

He gained just one position on his teammate as ECR closed out a miserable afternoon by occupying the final two spots in the finishing order.

Below is the full results of the Sonsio Grand Prix from the IMS Road Course.

Full Results