• Chip Ganassi Racing rookie Linus Lundqvist scores first career NTT INDYCAR SERIES podium at the Children's of Alabama Indy Grand Prix
• Colton Herta takes over the championship point lead
• Honda powers eight of top 11 finishers 

In a race that was fraught with contact and incidents—including a mannequin named 'Georgina' falling on the track surface from a bridge—the driver of the #8 Honda-powered machine started P19 and used a combination of strategy and decisive moves to work his way through the field to a third place finish, and his first career podium. 

Meyer Shank Racing's Felix Rosenqvist finished fourth, keeping his streak of top-10 finishes to start the 2024 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season alive. While reigning champion Alex Palou finished fifth aboard his #10 Chip Ganassi Racing machine.

Colton Herta assumes the championship point lead after a daring pass on the restart following a late-race yellow flag to finish eighth in his #26 Andretti Global Honda.

Other Honda finishers in the top 10 include Christian Lundgaard (sixth), Marcus Armstrong (ninth) and Kyle Kirkwood (10th).

R – Rookie

NTT INDYCAR SERIES Manufacturers' Championship (unofficial, after 3 of 17 rounds)
Chevrolet                      242 points
Honda                          230 points

NTT INDYCAR SERIES Drivers' Championship Standings (unofficial, after 3 of 17 rounds)
                         

1. Colton Herta, Andretti Global	101 points
2. Will Power, Team Penske	-1
3. Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing	-3
4. Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing	-7
5. Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank Racing	-14

Quotes
Linus Lundqvist (#8 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) finished third, career-best INDYCAR finish and first podium: 'We just finished third at the race today! Man, I feel amazing. My first podium in IndyCar and what a race! I had to be super patient in the beginning and just hit my numbers. I basically just listened to the team, they said to be patient now and the reward would come at the end and that it definitely did. I was able to push in the last stint, make some moves. I think for the first time ever I actually passed somebody! That felt very nice. Big big thank you to the whole team. This is basically all down to them, I just drove the car. Super super happy.'

Colton Herta (#26 Andretti Global Honda) finished eighth, takes over early-season INDYCAR SERIES Drivers' Championship points lead: 'Overall, a solid day from where we started. You always want more, but in order to do that we have to start qualifying a little bit better. I think we achieved pretty close to the maximum of what we could do today and overall the Gainbridge Honda was fast today. We just had to pass a lot of cars to get up there and show our speed.'

Felix Rosenqvist (#60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda) finished fourth: 'There were definitely two, or even three, strategies at play. I think we were the first of the 'big-fuel-save-two-stoppers', so we made that work thanks to Honda. We finished fourth, one spot ahead of where we started. I have to say we were not the favorites going into this weekend, but we kept getting better and better through qualifying and the race, and had a pretty good car at the end. We're in good shape now, and will continue fighting.'

Alex Palou (#10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) finished fifth, remains third in the Drivers' Championship standings: 'Yeah, it was a roller coaster race. We started 10th and went aggressive with our pit strategy. We made up some spots, but the last yellow just killed us. I'm still happy that we're fast. I think we could've fought for the win on pure speed, and we got the mileages we needed to make it on two stops, so happy with finishing fifth after starting 10th.'

David Salters (President, Honda Racing Corporation USA) on today's race at Barber Motorsports Park: 'I think we had some reasonable race cars today, but then it came down to pit strategies and when the cautions happened to fall today. But that's racing, we'll keep working. Thanks to all the hardworking men and women at HRC and our teams, and on to Indianapolis.'

Next
The NTT INDYCAR SERIES now heads home for the month of May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, starting with the May 10-11 Sonsio Grand Prix on the IMS road course. 

Photo credit: Honda
posted on conceptcarz.com

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