LEEDS, AL. – Andretti Autosport’s Romain Grosjean led the way for Honda today in the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix, scoring his fifth-career—and second consecutive—second place finish, just shy of achieving his first NTT INDYCAR SERIES win.
Grosjean led a race-high 57 laps before losing the lead to Scott McLaughlin in the final stint. Fighting tire wear and without push-to-pass at the end of the race, Grosjean was able to hold off a charging reigning champion, Will Power, to cross the line second.
“It was a tough race for sure, trying to make the two-stop [pit strategy] work. It wasn’t a lot of fun in the car, trying to make the fuel [mileage] number work. The car was incredible in terms of pace. We just got unlucky with [the timing] of that yellow, and that’s something we could not control. But Grosjean is coming!” said Grosjean.
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Alex Palou scored a top-five finish for Honda aboard the #10 Chip Ganassi Racing machine, while his teammate, six-time champion Scott Dixon, finished seventh.
Rahal Letterman Lanigan driver Christian Lundgaard shone today at Barber, making daring passes throughout the race to score a sixth-place finish—his best result of the year thus far.
Despite only finishing tenth today at Barber, Marcus Ericsson retains the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship point lead, while Honda maintains a 13-point edge in the manufacturers’ standings.
Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix Honda Race Results
| 2nd Romain Grosjean | Andretti Autosport Honda |
| 5th Alex Palou | Chip Ganassi Racing Honda |
| 6th Christian Lundgaard | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda |
| 7th Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing Honda |
| 10th Marcus Ericsson | Chip Ganassi Racing Honda |
| 11th Marcus Armstrong-R | Chip Ganassi Racing Honda |
| 12th Kyle Kirkwood | Andretti Autosport Honda |
| 14th Colton Herta | Andretti Autosport Honda |
| 17th Graham Rahal | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda |
| 18th Simon Pagenaud | Meyer Shank Racing Honda |
| 19th David Malukas | Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Honda |
| 21st Helio Castroneves | Meyer Shank Racing Honda |
| 23rd Devlin DeFrancesco | Andretti Autosport Honda |
| 24th Jack Harvey | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda |
| 27th Sting Ray Robb-R | Dale Coyne Racing with RWR Honda Did not finish [mechanical] |
R – Rookie
NTT INDYCAR SERIES Manufacturers’ Championship (unofficial, after 4 of 17 rounds)
| Honda | 325points |
| Chevrolet | 312 points |
NTT INDYCAR SERIES Drivers’ Championship Standings (unofficial, after 4 of 17 rounds)
| 1. Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda | 130 points |
| 2. Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren | -3 |
| 3. Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda | -9 |
| 4. Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske | -11 |
| 5. Romain Grosjean, Andretti Autosport Honda | -15 |
Fast Fact
- Honda holds the early-season lead in the 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES Manufacturers’ Championship, with two victories and three poles in the first four races this season. Honda leaves Barber Motorsports Park with a 13-point advantage (325-312) over rival Chevrolet. The company is seeking its fifth NTT INDYCAR SERIES Manufacturers’ Championship in the last six years in 2023.
Next
The NTT INDYCAR SERIES now takes a week off before resuming May 12-13 with the GMR Grand Prix of Indianapolis, on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
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