RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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WASHINGTON – Alex Palou and Chip Ganassi Racing's 'Perfect 10s' were far from flawless in IndyCar's Freedom 250 Grand Prix.
Palou started on the pole but on his first pit stop of the day, the four-time IndyCar champion ran into one of Mick Schumacher's new tires on his way out of the pit box – which led to a drive-through penalty. On Palou's next full stop, the crew on his No. 10 CGR Honda struggled to secure the front left tire. Then on Lap 126, Palou hit the Turn 4 wall on the 7-turn, 1.7-mile street circuit.
The string of errors led to Palou finishing 20th and three laps behind the lead lap. In the meantime, Andretti Global's Kyle Kirkwood won the race, which shrank Palou's 133-point lead in the championship to 91 points. After the race, Palou found some silver lining in the disappointing result.
"It was one of those days where I did a couple mistakes, we had a bad stop – we had everything happening to us today," Palou said. "I prefer this than having (the mistakes) spread out in different races. I prefer to concentrate on one."
Palou felt like the first pit stop mistake led he and the team to press harder than they otherwise would have. Rather than catch back up to the front of the field, Palou and CGR dug a deeper hole as the day went on.
"One of those bad days that as soon as you're in a bad situation, you kind of put yourself in a worse, worse, worse, worse one," Palou said.
Entering Sunday, Palou had a chance to seal his fourth straight championship and fifth overall on the national stage had he won and got help from others. With three races left (two at the Milwaukee Mile and one at Laguna Seca), Palou's lead shrunk significantly Sunday. Although the Spaniard said he's "never super comfortable until it's done," he was more upset to not win the one-time event than to lose championship points.
"Today sucks more for this race than the championship," he said. "I think the good amount of points that we had (over Kirkwood) was great to have (for) days like today, just so we can now focus on Milwaukee and try to win it."
Palou's quest to join A.J. Foyt and Scott Dixon as the only drivers to win five IndyCar championships will have to wait at least six more days. The Freedom 250 Grand Prix served as his second-worst result of the season, behind only Phoenix Raceway, where he didn't finish the race after a crash with Rinus VeeKay.
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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Alex Palou has mistake-filled day in IndyCar's Freedom 250: 'Worse, worse, worse, worse'
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