Palou spent most of the race running in third place, sometimes 11 seconds behind Pato O’Ward. On lap 56, Palou passed O’Ward for the lead and held it for the last nine laps of the race. It punctuated a caution-free and mostly incident-free 65-lap race at Thermal Club.

If you missed the IndyCar Series Race 2 at The Thermal Club Grand Prix, here’s a quick look at the takeaways of interest from the 65-lap contest. WHO WON? Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing. It was

Alex Palou has a comfortable lead in the NTT IndyCar Series championship standings Monday after winning the inaugural Thermal Club Grand Prix in the Coachella Valley. Palou took the lead in Sunday’s race on lap 56 and crossed the finish line 10 seconds ahead of Pato O’Ward,