Alex Palou Tops IndyCar Practice at Road America as Colton Herta Falls Short

Alex Palou led the times in the first IndyCar practice session of the weekend at Road America. Driving for Chip Ganassi Racing, Palou completed a lap in 1:43.1709, with his last lap being the fastest. Colton Herta held the top spot for most of the session, but was ultimately surpassed in the final minutes, finishing just 0.0797 seconds behind Palou. Santino Ferrucci was the first Chevy-powered driver on the list, securing third place in his #14 entry for AJ Foyt. Josef Newgarden and Christian Lundgaard rounded out the top five, representing five different teams. Despite the beautiful but windy conditions, all 27 drivers managed to stay on track, although some misjudged the speed and ended up in the grass or gravel. Romain Grosjean had the worst impact of the session, sliding through the gravel and hitting the tire barriers. However, all drivers were able to continue, except for one red flag interruption. Another interesting story was the last-minute inclusion of 19-year-old Nolan Siegel, who replaced Agustin Canapino at Juncos Hollinger Racing. Siegel, who normally competes in the IndyNXT campaign, finished the session in 26th place and will have more time to familiarize himself with his team during the rest of the weekend. The next practice session is scheduled for Saturday morning, followed by qualifying in the afternoon.