Alex Palou Wins His First Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach
Felix Rosenqvist was on his way to his second career IndyCar victory and a sweep for Meyer Shank at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach when one caution changed everything, as Rosenqvist's pit team fumbled on the final stop, Palou grabbed the lead and didn't look back.
Alex Palou Wins Jake Galstad - Getty Images Alex Palou missed the final corner in qualifying for the 2026 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, locking up and narrowly missing the pole, setting him up to chase Meyer Shank Racing's Felix Rosenqvist during Sunday's feature race. A late caution and a small misstep from the leader created the narrow runway that Palou needed to take the lead and win his first Grand Prix of Long Beach. With Palou a step behind, Rosenqvist was able to lead the first 51 laps of the 90-lap race as it ran caution-free through the first two-thirds of the race.
With Rosenqvist continuing to build distance between him and Palou, it appeared that IndyCar's third street race of the season may go caution-free. Instead, a piece of carbon fiber that was first run over by Alexander Rossi and then again by Josef Newgarden after the caution came out changed the dynamics of the race. The majority of the field committed to a two-stop strategy to avoid losing time on the circuit's long pit road.
The caution sent every entrant down pit road for fresh tires for the sprint to the finish. A slightly slow stop for the No. 60 MSR team saw Palou eke out ahead of the Swede.
Palou controlled his lead on the restart and drove away to his third win of the season, taking sole ownership of the championship lead with it. Long Beach was one of the few remaining circuits that Palou had not won at, finishing in the top five in all four of his visits. He was very close.