Arrow McLaren’s Christain Lundgaard was victorious in an XPEL Grand Prix at Road America was about as manic as anyone could possibly have fathomed.
The Danish driver went from a broken front wing and tire puncture at the start of the opening lap, took the lead with four laps to go from the mechanically wounded #66 Meyer Shank Racing Honda of Marcus Armstrong, and then had to fend off Team Penske’s David Malukas on a final lap restart en route to the win.
It was Lundgaard’s second win of the 2026 IndyCar season, helping his cause in the championship fight where he sits fourth, 77 points behind leader Alex Palou (374-297).
Without further delay, here are the winners and losers from a wild one in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.
Winner: Christian Lundgaard
Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. Lundgaard was a bit of both on Sunday. What could have been complete devastation on the opening lap, which could have delivered a massive hit to any remaining championship hopes, flipped courtesy of a race that featured five cautions. A couple of pivotal points was that he made it around to pit lane for a new front wing and new tires – swapping from damaged harder primaries to a fresh set of softer alternates – and made it out ahead of then-race leader Palou.
Race strategist Kyle Moyer pivoted brilliantly and was able to lean into the next four cautions to put Lundgaard, who started 12th, in a podium spot. Then, when Armstrong’s issue showed up, Lundgaard was in the perfect position to pounce before it brought out the caution.
Loser: Pato O’Ward / Nolan Siegel
Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren
Photo by: Penske Entertainment
For all that Lundgaard did positively, his Arrow McLaren teammates Pato O’Ward and Nolan Siegel ended up on the wrong end of the spectrum. From that standpoint, perhaps there should be some credit to Arrow McLaren for covering all strategies in what became a complex race that had many. Despite the fact that both Siegel and O’Ward qualified in the top 10, starting seventh and ninth, respectively, neither converted it into a top 10.
Considering the issues Lundgaard battled back from, it’s a curious case why O’Ward, in particular, was unable to capitalize. While this race could be viewed as an outlier, in many ways it summarized the season for both, with Lundgaard now holding two wins and four podiums on the season, while the Mexican has yet to find a single step on the podium. O’Ward finished 12th after being on the wrong end of the strategy.
As for Siegel, it’s admittedly harsh to put him on this list considering he was enjoying his best overall weekend in IndyCar to date, having qualified fastest among his teammates, showing consistent pace in practice and was fighting for a top 10 before being punted by Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden on the final lap. A lot of this comes down to the result, which was 21st for Siegel. If Siegel can block out the result and focus on the performance – and not put himself into a position to get punted late – then there’s some positivity he can string together some strong results on the back half of a critical contract season.
Winner: Alexander Rossi
Alexander Rossi, Ed Carpenter Racing
Photo by: Gavin Baker / Lumen via Getty Images
There was little thought of how strong ECR or Alexander Rossi would be at the 4.014-mile, 14-turn natural terrain road course, especially considering he qualified 25th and they had yet to snag a top 10 finish on the specific track disciple. And that was furthered a bit during the race when teammate Christian Rasmussen suffered a mechanical issue and was parked on the frontstetch after just 28 laps.
However, Rossi didn’t succumb to a similar fate and was able to fight through a demanding afternoon to finish sixth – matching his best finish of the season and ending a run of four consecutive results of 17th or worse.
Loser: Marcus Armstrong
If Armstrong didn’t have bad luck, he might be sitting on two wins this year, including the 110th Running of the Indianapolis 500 that was won by teammate Felix Rosenqvist. Instead, he’s still searching for his maiden victory in North America’s premier open-wheel championship.
There has to be a sense of pride, though, in that New Zealand native Armstrong continues to put himself in position to win. He executed a near-flawless weekend: strong in practices (leading Friday’s opening trial), qualifying third, and was four laps away from the win before the mechanical failure, which Honda Racing Corporation US (HRC US) boss David Salters took blame for and issued an apology.
It’s another harsh call to put Amrstrong on this list as, similar to Siegel, the result was ultimately something out of his control. After such a promising weekend and on the cusp of not only his first-ever win but also first podium of 2026, finishing 24th hurts enough that he fell out of the top 10 of the overall standings; he sits 11th.
The Golden Horseshoe: Alex Palou
Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Lumen via Getty Images
Until further notice, Palou is the owner of the golden horseshoe.
There were some ominous thoughts the race was over before it began after the Spaniard captured the pole – something that hasn’t happened since the late Alex Zanardi captured six straight (four at the end of 1996 and two to start the 1997 season) – by more than two-tenths of a second over Maluakas. The #10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda of Palou was solidly out front for the opening 13 laps and looked to be en route to another masterclass before the cautions struck. And even then, he was on a sequence that appeared to have him in the fight for the win.
Everything appeared to change when Palou pitted on Lap 29 and received a drive-thru penalty for speeding, but that moment of opportunity for his rivals was brief when the caution came out the next lap when Rasmussen was stranded on the frontstretch.
Even with the mistake, Palou was able to play damage control and rally to finish fifth and still gapping top five title rivals Kyle Kirkwood, who finished 12th, and O’Ward, while Lundgaard and Malukas gained minimal ground.
