Palou was really fast last year at the Indy 500. He was in the best starting position, known as pole, leading the way for Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR). All four of their cars were in the top 10 for qualifying.
This year is a bit different. Palou is still with CGR, but he didn’t do as well in qualifying. He started in 14th place for the 200-lap race on Sunday. This is the first time since 2019 that CGR didn’t have a car in the top 12.
Palou said, “Yeah, big difference, obviously, to last year.” He led for 36 laps and finished fourth in the 2023 Indy 500. He thinks they lost some speed this year compared to last year.
“We thought we did all the work we had to do to try and be a little bit better than last year,” Palou said. But he thinks maybe the small changes IndyCar made with the gearboxes and housing didn’t help them improve.
But there’s some good news. Palou, who is the current and two-time IndyCar Series champion, feels that this year’s car is performing similarly to last year’s during the race. Last year, he made a big comeback after a mid-race incident with Rinus VeeKay from Ed Carpenter Racing.
“Last year we were super comfortable in the race, and I would say it was pretty easy to pass,” Palou said. “I think this year, we still are able to pass, but it’s not as easy. You need to work a lot more. You need to wait a lot more. So yeah, we’re struggling a little bit more. That doesn’t mean that we’re completely off, and especially at this race.”
So, even though they’re facing some challenges, Palou believes they can still do well with some more effort.
