It was a relatively quiet day for the Team Penske trio. Power started fifth but was overhauled by Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon who aced his strategy to surge from 19th to fifth. Prema Racing’s Callum Ilott was another surprise packet from 24th, finishing sixth.

McLaughlin started 13th and couldn’t make much headway in the race. Teammate Josef Newgarden started strong in fourth but fell to 11th.

Palou, meanwhile, led 84 laps of the 95-lap distance from pole position to take a step closer to clinching the IndyCar Series title.

With victory, the Spaniard moved to 589 points to go 120 points clear of nearest rival Pato O’Ward.

Just three races remain in the series across Portland, Milwaukee, and Nashville. There’s every chance the Chip Ganassi Racing driver takes the title with two races to spare.

Palou’s success accounts for more than half of the race wins this year. Victory in Laguna Seca marked his eighth win from 14 races.

The record for the most wins in a season stands at 10, which is shared by AJ Foyt (1964) and All Unser (1970). Mario Andretti has the second-most with nine wins in 1969.

The race was a trouble-free one for Palou, who only lost the lead when he came to the pits.

“It’s been an awesome weekend, an awesome year. Today was something else,” Palou said.

“It’s super fun to be here – one of my favorite tracks for sure. I couldn’t be happier right now.”

“It was not easy. We had to push; we had to try to be ready for those (late caution periods).

“We knew that we were not on the (freshest) of tyres … but luckily we had enough pace to open a small gap and get the win.”

Christian Lundgaard was second in the leading McLaren ahead of Andretti Global’s Colton Herta.

Despite a controlled effort by Palou, the race wasn’t without drama.

Early trouble for Kyffin Simpson and Felix Rosenqvist. pic.twitter.com/ahX7affKEm

— INDYCAR on FOX (@IndyCarOnFOX) July 27, 2025

Conor Daly and Robert Shwartzman speared off at Turn 3 on the first lap. The race stayed green as they recovered, but just moments later there was carnage when Kyffin Simpson rear-ended Felix Rosenqvist.

Simpson speared into the concrete wall while Rosenqvist went spinning through the gravel trap. Simpson’s #8 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda was retired while Rosenqvist returned to the race, albeit several laps down in the #60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda.

Racing resumed on Lap 6 with Palou ahead of Herta, O’Ward, Josef Newgarden and Will Power. Scott McLaughlin, meanwhile, was 12th.

The second Safety Car was drawn on Lap 11 when Dale Coyne Racing’s Jacob Abel suffered a brake failure and parked in the tyres at Turn 1.

The incident between Kyle Kirkwood and Rinus VeeKay. pic.twitter.com/ahBOF9B6DN

— INDYCAR on FOX (@IndyCarOnFOX) July 27, 2025

Kyle Kirkwood ended whatever slim hopes he had of winning the title when he rear-ended Rinus VeeKay in the #18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda on Lap 25 and speared him into the Turn 2 gravel trap. The #27 Andretti Global driver was given a drive-through penalty for the incident and wound up finishing 16th while VeeKay was 23rd.

There was a lengthy green flag run until Lap 77 when Marcus Ericsson spun between Turn 6 and Turn 7 up the Rahal Straight and parked. There was a lengthy wait before the yellow flag was drawn for the stranded #28 Andretti Global machine.

The yellow cut Palou’s sizeable advantage to just a car length, but he need not worry with so much more pace than his nearest rivals.

Under caution for Marcus Ericsson. pic.twitter.com/kCltpsG5md

— INDYCAR on FOX (@IndyCarOnFOX) July 27, 2025

Santino Ferrucci brought out the final caution with 11 laps to go when he spun into the Corkscrew in the #14 AJ Foyt Racing car.

All told, Palou won by 3.7s over Lundgaard while Herta completed the podium.

IndyCar takes a one-week break before returning for three rounds in a row, beginning at Portland on Monday, August 11 (AEST).

Results: IndyCar Series Grand Prix of Monterey, Laguna Seca