Palou hit with adversity for the first time in Detroit

Alex Palou’s nearly perfect season came to an end on Sunday at the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix when he was hit from behind on a restart and driven into the barriers.

Palou’s No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda wasn’t looking like it was capable of adding another win after capturing five victories from six races and a second in the one he didn’t win, but a top six was in sight as the 100-lap contest reached its 73rd lap.

AJ Foyt Racing’s David Malukas, however, ended the championship leader’s day after hitting the rear of Palou’s car on the return to green, and with the incident, Palou fell to 25th.

“I haven't seen it yet, but for sure somebody hit me from behind,” Palou said. “Yeah, very unfortunate. We did an amazing recovery this weekend. Didn't really have much space at the beginning, and I thought 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.”

Malukas was handed a drive-through penalty which erased his strong run all weekend and left him 14th at the finish. The Ganassi driver’s stellar start to the year was unprecedented among his closest rivals, all of whom suffered at least one bad finish prior to Detroit which aided Palou’s runaway lead.

Entering Detroit, Palou had 112 points over Pato O’Ward in the Drivers’ standings. O’Ward held onto second, thanks to improving from 18th to seventh, but it only drew the deficit down to 90 points. With Kyle Kirkwood’s victory, the Andretti Global driver moved to third in the championship and needs 102 points to match Palou.