Scott McLaughlin’s No. 3 Good Ranchers Team Penske Chevrolet dominated the headlines this weekend with his pole and win at Barber Motorsports Park, but Chip Ganassi Racing’s Linus Lundqvist was one of the biggest stars of the show in Sunday’s Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix powered by AmFirst.

The rookie charged from the 19th starting position to finish third in his No. 8 American Legion Honda fielded by Chip Ganassi Racing – his first career podium finish in five starts. The 16 spots gained across 90 laps of racing earned Lundqvist the hard charger of the race distinction among 27 starters.

2022 INDY NXT by Firestone champion Lundqvist finished behind McLaughlin and Will Power, who brought his No. 12 Verizon Business Team Penske Chevrolet home second for his 100th career podium result.

Lundqvist made three starts with Meyer Shank Racing in 2023 in a relief role for injured driver Simon Pagenaud. His best result was 12th last August on the 2.439-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

Following finishes of 21st at St. Petersburg and 13th in Long Beach this season, Lundqvist finished 2.4421 seconds away from a win.

“I don't really like the expression, ‘This is like a win for us,’ but I'm extremely happy with the podium,” Lundqvist said. “It’s been a little bit rough for me the first couple of races and even struggled a little bit this weekend. But what can I say? The team did an amazing job, the American Legion car today was super fast, and I basically just listened to whatever they told me to do.”

With varying mixes of strategy involved Sunday, Lundqvist began building a book of knowledge on how to deal with each scenario. Having teammates like six-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Scott Dixon and two-time and defending champion Alex Palou allows Lundqvist plenty of data to scour in preparation for each race weekend.

“Just looking back at last weekend with Scott Dixon and the fuel saving that he did, obviously I took a hard dive into the data,” Lundqvist said. “I'm not there yet, but I think I learned a bit of a lesson, and I think that that kind of paid off in the first three-quarters of the race.”

Lundqvist led his first INDYCAR SERIES laps when Santino Ferrucci, who also was on a different strategy in his No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing/Sexton Properties Chevrolet, entered pit lane on Lap 66. That handed the lead to Lundqvist, who held onto the top spot for four laps before pitting for his final time on Lap 70.

With 20 laps to the checkered flag, Lundqvist was able to sprint to the finish when several other drivers were in fuel conservation mode. He passed veterans he’s not used to battling, an unreal moment for him.

“When the guys came on the radio and said I was third, I couldn't believe it,” he said. “At the same time, I was passing people like Palou. They're usually high up; we can't be doing too bad.”

Racing up front changed Lundqvist’s view of the car and how it handles massively different than it does running midpack.

“As soon as we got some clean air, it was like, ‘Holy sh*t, we can go fast,’” he said. “I was surprised when I got some clean laps. Damn, the car kind of comes alive.”

Rosenqvist Happy Team Didn’t Alter Plan

Felix Rosenqvist thought, “Here we go again.”

Riding in the top five of Sunday’s 90-lap race, Rosenqvist was passed by a few cars while ensuring his No. 60 AutoNation/SiriusXM Honda was hitting the fuel number to complete the race on two pit stops instead of three.

Was this going to be a repeat of the first two races of the 2024 season where Rosenqvist started on the front row and faded? He lost five spots from the second starting position in the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding (later scored two spots higher due to Team Penske penalty). Then, after suffering a brake problem from the pole in last Sunday’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, losing eight spots to finish ninth, was Sunday’s race at Barber going to see a parade of cars speeding past?

Meyer Shank Racing driver Rosenqvist started fifth and elected to go with a two-stop, fuel-saving strategy. The first pit stop was Lap 31. The final pit stop was Lap 56. With a mixture of strategies through the 27-car field, Rosenqvist thought while being passed he could be on the wrong plan.

He wasn’t. Rosenqvist finished fourth.

While Rosenqvist questioned the strategy at one point, the debrief after the race allowed him to realize two stops was the right call.

“I'm happy we just stuck to our program because it is so easy to get persuaded into pushing more when everyone's around you in a different strategy,” he said.

Rosenqvist is fifth in points heading to the Month of May and thinks MSR is getting stronger by the race during his initial season with the team.

“We’re up there with the big boys,” Rosenqvist said. “It's exciting.”

Palou Enters Month of May in Familiar Spot

Alex Palou charged from a 10th-place starting position to fourth by the first round of pit stops Sunday. He finished fifth in the No. 10 Ridgeline Lubricants Honda.

“It was a roller coaster today,” he said. “There were points we thought we're going to win it by seconds, then others where we were just screwed. It is what it is. It’s INDYCAR. Some days it falls our way, some days it doesn’t.”

Palou ushered his way into the lead when McLaughlin pitted on Lap 27. With track position from the first stint, Palou’s strategy changed from a three-stop to a two-stop plan to get to the finish. His Chip Ganassi Racing strategy team thought racing with the leaders and starting on the softer Firestone alternate tires, compared to McLaughlin and Power electing to start on the harder Firestone primary tires, left the advantage in their hands.

However, with the two-stop plan firmly in place and how the cautions fell, Palou ended up on the wrong end of the strategy calls.

“It was frustrating just because you want to defend, but I couldn’t,” he said. “We had to save so much fuel that he was impossible. But, from 10th to fifth, so it was a good day.”

Palou is third in points coming into the Month of May. That’s the exact spot he entered May in his dominant, championship-winning season last year.

Instead of being nine points behind, this time he’s three.

Palou has 21 consecutive top-eight finishes dating back to the 2022 season finale at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. He’s finished fourth, third and fifth this season.

Power Feeling Weight of Dry Spell

Power enters the Month of May riding a career-long 31 race winless drought. The weight of no NTT INDYCAR SERIES victories since June 2022 at Detroit is starting to add up, he said.

Sunday was Power’s second runner-up finish in three races this season.

“We're there knocking on the door each week,” two-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Power said. “Just got to win a couple. That's the thing. I just want to win a couple bloody races.”

Power thinks like a win eventually will come, as he has the same vibes as his 2022 championship season. He recorded five top-four finishes in the six races to begin the season before his Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix victory at Belle Isle. He never won again but had six top-three finishes over the final 10 races.

“I know I'm going to be quick everywhere,” he said. “Just like '22, I feel like we got very good cars, good engines. I'm in very good form. It's very difficult to win multiple races in a season. If you keep knocking on the door and getting podiums week in, week out, you'll certainly be in the hunt for the championship.”

In the last 31 races, Power has six runner-ups and six more third-place results. He trails leader Colton Herta by one point in the standings.

Strong Road Performance for Ferrucci

Ferrucci’s 14 laps led Sunday for AJ Foyt Racing were as many as he led (21) on all of his previous road and street course starts in his NTT INDYCAR SERIES career, which started in 2018.

Ferrucci led 20 laps in the second race of the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix doubleheader in 2019, when he was driving for Dale Coyne Racing. The other lap led was in the 2020 Harvest Grand Prix opening race on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

The rest of Ferrucci’s laps led all transpired on ovals, with 97 circuits out front at World Wide Technology Raceway in 2019, two more in the opening race of the doubleheader weekend at the track in 2020 and 14 laps led in the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.

Ferrucci led 11 laps in last year’s “500,” his first with AJ Foyt Racing. Following an impressive drive from 17th at the start of Sunday’s race at Barber Motorsports Park to seventh in the end, Ferrucci comes to the Month of May overjoyed with confidence.

This was the first top-10 finish on a natural road course for AJ Foyt Racing since Sebastien Bourdais finished fifth in the 2021 season opener at Barber Motorsports Park. The top 10 also was only the fourth overall for the Foyt team since the start of 2021, with Bourdais finishing eighth in the 2021 season finale at Long Beach and Ferrucci credited with a ninth-place result in the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding.

Odds and Ends

• There 289 on-track passes in this race, including 281 for position. Both are NTT INDYCAR SERIES records at Barber Motorsports Park.

• The four caution periods Sunday were the most in nine years at this event, ending a streak of eight straight Barber Motorsports Park races with two or fewer yellow flag stoppages.

• Sunday was McLaughlin's 53rd career Team Penske win (48 Australian Supercars, five NTT INDYCAR SERIES) trailing only NASCAR Cup Series driver Brad Keselowski (67) and Mark Donohue (59). On Saturday, McLaughlin broke a tie with Power for most all-time poles (65) in Team Penske history.

• Twelve of the previous 13 Barber Motorsports Park races featured the race winner finishing in the top seven of the final points standings that season. Ten of the 13 featured the runner-up finisher coming home in the top five of points at season’s end. That’s great news for winner McLaughlin and runner-up Power.

• Near the midway mark of Sunday’s 90-lap race, Georgina the mannequin that hangs under the crosswalk bridge over the straight between Turns 7 and 8 abruptly fell and landed in the grass just off the racing line. It created a lot of laughs in the paddock, including AJ Foyt Racing Team President Larry Foyt sharing a moment of giggles caught by NBC cameras.

• Herta is the points leader entering the Month of May. This is the first time he’s ever led the points standings in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. Herta has finished third, second and eighth this season in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda fielded by Andretti Global w/ Curb-Agajanian.