'Lonely' Palou cruises to win at IndyCar Alabama Grand Prix
Spain's Alex Palou won the Alabama Indy Grand Prix for his third win in four races to open the IndyCar season (TOM PENNINGTON)
Spanish pole-sitter Alex Palou dominated from start to finish to win Sunday's Alabama Indy Grand Prix and stretch his IndyCar points lead in quest of a third consecutive season title.
Palou won for the third time in four races this season with Denmark's Christian Lundgaard second and New Zealand's Scott McLaughlin third.
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It was the 14th IndyCar career victory for Palou after 90 laps over the 2.3-mile, 17-turn road course at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama.
Not since New Zealand's Scott Dixon had a driver won three of the first four races in an IndyCar campaign.
Palou cruised to victory in 16.26 seconds.
"It was a perfect day, I would say a perfect weekend," Palou said. "The car was amazing, super fast, and I just had a ton of fun. I was a bit lonely there but I loved it. It was an amazing day."
Dutchman Rinus Veekay was fourth with Australia's Will Power fifth.
Palou, chasing a fourth series crown in five campaigns, won this year's first two races at St. Petersburg and Thermal and captured his latest on the same Alabama track where he took his first IndyCar triumph in 2021.
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"We've always been really good here. I love this place," Palou said. "Every lap here feels good. It's going to be special from now on."
Palou surged ahead at the start and cycled back to the front quickly after the first two sets of pit stops. He refueled for the last time on lap 65 and three laps later was back in front to the finish.
Palou, 28, advanced his points edge with Lundgaard moving past Long Beach winner Kyle Kirkwood of the United States into second.
"It's awesome. Everything we could have hoped for and much better," Lundgaard said.
The fifth race of the season will be contested Saturday on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as teams prepare for the series' signature event, the Indianapolis 500 oval classic on May 25.
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Currently, IndyCar has experienced growth on the grid as 27 full-time entries competing in the series this season. IndyCar and IMS President Doug Boles during the public drivers' meeting prior to the NTT IndyCar ... More Series 109th Running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (Photo by Michael L. Levitt/Lumen via Getty Images) Brown also has tremendous respect for IndyCar President and Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Doug Boles, and how he has served two major roles simultaneously. 'I like Doug,' Brown said. 'I think Doug, and I said to him in the team on our meeting, 'He's just been given a (bleep) sandwich for dinner.' 'I like Doug. He is fronted up to it in a big way like he's leaning in which is what you want. Instead of 'everything is great' Doug knows there have been some issues. 'I'm a Doug fan he's leaning in he's direct. He owns the issue and wants to solve them.' Brown would like to see IndyCar put on display the items that fail technical inspection. NASCAR does that with its 'Show and Tell' table outside of the NASCAR transporter in the garage area so that other teams can learn, what won't be accepted. 'If there's an infringement, I think we should all know what it is,' Brown said. 'I think we should just have total transparency in what we do. 'I know what happened on the Andretti car based on what my team has told me. 'But I think it'd be good to go see what it is. 'Doug was in agreement with that. I think Doug works hard, so I'm a fan of Doug. He's a few weeks into the job and having to deal with some issues, but I feel like he's a guy who is going to recognize the issues, tackle the issues and be transparent about it. 'I just think in general, the more transparent, the better. You can never go wrong with transparent.' 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