DETROIT, June 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ Taking advantage of a late-race mechanical problem for Will Power, Chip Ganassi Racing s Marcus Ericsson leapt to the front of the field following the
Alex Palou still felt the sting from his second-place finish in the Indianapolis 500 when he saw Helio Castroneves at the victory dinner and begged the winner to tell him how he made the decisive final pass. “I asked him a couple of questions because I was in doubt if he was actually managing that pass or not, and he didn’t answer me, he just said ‘Hey, I have more experience than you,’” Palou said. The Spaniard opened his first season with Chip Ganassi Racing — it is his second season in IndyCar — with his first career victory.
Rahal Undaunted by Indy Letdown, Raring To Reset in Detroit
By Curt Cavin | Published: Jun 10, 2021
Graham Rahal can’t deny that the sequence of events that ended his Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge on May 30 gnaws at him.
How could it not?
Through fuel conservation, experience and sufficient speed, the driver who finished third in last year’s race felt poised to win his first “500.” At a minimum, Rahal felt he and eventual winner Helio Castroneves were the drivers to beat in the late going.
Then disaster struck. On Rahal’s final pit stop, the left rear wheel didn’t attach properly. While Rahal stopped short of explaining why the No. 15 United Rentals Honda left the pit box amid trouble, the fact of the matter is it did, and more trouble awaited. Just as Rahal rounded the curve on the warmup lane approaching Turn 2, the wheel slid off, pitching the car into the S