Alex Palou's dominant stretch undone by restart shunt in Detroit GP: video
Alex Palou, the two-time defending champion, was restarting seventh with 28 laps to go in Sunday's Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix when he was hit from behind the trailing David Malukas heading into the street circuit's opening corner, nudging Palou's No. 10 Honda into the tire barrier on the outside wall.
Unable to get his car refired and out of the barrier, Palou's day came to a shocking, immediate end. He'd already had a comparatively human weekend, finding himself fourth on pace before the prior caution shifted up the running order. But the three-time IndyCar champion was still positioned to make the most of a challenging race.
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Instead he was relegated to 25th at race's end, ending a stretch of unprecedented dominance in the modern era of the series. Malukas was issued a drive-through penalty for avoidable contact.
'I haven't seen it yet, but for sure somebody hit me from behind,' Palou said of the incident. 'Very unfortunate. We did an amazing recovery this weekend. Didn't really have much pace at the beginning and I felt we were running good to try and sneak into the podium at the end.
'Doesn't feel great. But nothing we could have done there, I think.'
Palou had entered Detroit looking to continue what had been a year of sheer dominance. Through six races, the Spaniard had secured five wins and a runner-up finish, including his first victory in the Indianapolis 500. His 1.17 average finish had him set up with an untouchable championship lead and dreaming of the first victory for an Indy 500 winner in the ensuing race since Juan Pablo Montoya in 2000.
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Instead, Palou left the Motor City with the second-worst finish for an Indy 500 winner in the next race over the past decade, better only than 2024 winner Josef Newgarden's 26th-place result at the same track.
The result marked Palou's first DNF since the first leg of the Iowa Speedway doubleheader in July 2024. It was just the third race the 28-year-old's failed to finish dating back to the start of the 2022 season.
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