Instant Recall: Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix

If it’s better to be lucky than good, what happens when the factors align? Alex Palou happens in Sunday’s Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear.

Oh, sure, the four-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion has proven time and again that he’s performing on another level. A staggering 12th victory in the past 25 races against a generationally strong field is the best example of that. But Palou also catches his share of breaks, and he caught another one in the season’s eighth race.

Palou was in a fierce battle with Kyle Kirkwood, Scott McLaughlin, Will Power, Christian Lundgaard and others in the second half of the 100-lap race when he and his Chip Ganassi Racing crew strategized that an undercut was their best chance at victory. So, the No. 10 HRC Honda became the first of the lead group to make its final pit stop, on Lap 64.

With Palou’s car getting service, his challengers charged around the nine-turn, 1.645-mile street circuit in a bid to overtake him. Trying to go two laps longer than the champ was a risk, but as long as the race stayed green, they had a legitimate chance to execute an overcut. What happened? A mess in Turn 5, drawing the full-course yellow on Lap 66 that benefited Palou.

When the race restarted, the series points leader had the lead with other fast cars dropped in the order. Kirkwood, McLaughlin, Power and Lundgaard were second through fifth prior to the caution, and they restarted seventh through 10th, respectively. Soon after, McLaughlin and Power were bumping one another, and the rest of the race had enough fits and starts to let Palou get away.

That wasn’t the only factor that went Palou’s way. His group had chosen to finish the race on a set of Firestone’s primary Firehawk tires, something it often does. Again, that turned out to be the right decision as Kirkwood, on alternates to finish, couldn’t match him.

That’s often how it seems to go with Palou: He marries good fortune with elite driving, and it’s a championship combination. Palou led 71 laps, so he didn’t back into his fourth win in eight races this season and the 23rd race win of his career.

Until Power’s contact with McLaughlin, he was having his best weekend of the season. Power started on the front row for the first time, and he led 18 laps. Graham Rahal (photo, above) also had another strong performance, netting his third third-place finish in the past four races.

Kirkwood recovered to finish second. That performance, along with David Malukas’ difficult weekend, pushed him back to second in the standings. However, Palou expanded his series lead to 62 points, more than the number of points that can be gained in a single weekend.

Thus, Palou will reach the season’s midpoint this weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway with the series lead regardless of what happens in Sunday’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline (9 p.m. ET, FOX, FOX One, INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls).

The beat just rolls on.