Starting from 12th place Car 7 Christian Lundgaard won the 2026 XPEL Grand Prix at Road America for his 3rd NTT INDYCAR Win. This is his 2nd win & 3rd Top 5 of 2026. 2nd Place Car 12 David Malukas, started from 2nd place posted his 5th Top 5 of 2026. 3rd Place Car 26 Will Power, started from 10th place posted his 2nd Top 5 of 2026.
4th Place Car 8 Kyffin Simpson, started from 19th place followed by 5th place Car 10 Alex Palou, started from pole. 6th Place Car 20 Alexander Rossi, started from 25th place followed by 7th place Car 3 Scott McLaughlin, started from 6th place. 8th Place Car 60 Felix Rosenqvist, started from 4th place followed by 9th place Car 14 Santino Ferrucci, started from 13th place. Lastly in the Top 10 was Car 27 Kyle Kirkwood, in 10th place, started from 18th place.
The race had 5 Cautions for 11 laps: 1st Caution on lap 14 for Off Course: Car 18 in Turn 5. 2nd Caution on lap 30 for Tow-In: Car 21 on Front Straight. 3rd Caution on lap 33 for Debris. 4th Caution on lap 53 for Mechanical: Car 66 in Turn 5. 5th Caution on lap 55 for Contact: Cars 15 and 26 in Turn 12.
The race had 3 Lead Changes among 5 Drivers: 1 10 Palou, Alex. 14 60 Rosenqvist, Felix. 32 66 Armstrong, Marcus. 43 7 Lundgaard, Christian. 46 2 Newgarden, Josef. 49 66 Armstrong, Marcus. 52 7 Lundgaard, Christian. Leader Summary: 60 Rosenqvist, Felix 18. 66 Armstrong, Marcus 14. 10 Palou, Alex 13. 7 Lundgaard, Christian 7. 2 Newgarden, Josef 3.
NTT INDYCAR SERIES Statement:
Lundgaard Charges From Last to First To Win at Road America
ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (Sunday, June 21, 2026) – Christian Lundgaard asked his Arrow McLaren team over the radio what everyone else also wondered after the Dane took the checkered flag Sunday for the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America Presented by AMR.
“How did we do that?” Lundgaard asked incredulously to his pit box.
Lundgaard used strategy, speed and a bit of good fortune to climb from last in the 25-car field after contact on Lap 1 to earn his second victory of the season in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. The race ended under caution when Graham Rahal spun into the gravel trap outside Canada Corner after contact with Will Power while dueling for third place on a one-lap restart to the checkered flag.
The victory was the third of Lundgaard’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES career, joining his win in May on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course with Arrow McLaren and in 2023 on the streets of Toronto with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.
“I knew we had a chance,” Lundgaard said of the probability of winning after the early contact. “I knew how this race panned out last year, and I knew it was all about just sticking in the race. I did that last year. I made a bunch of mistakes last year that spun ourselves around last year, and I just wanted to make up for that.
“We’ve been on the struggle bus all weekend, so to turn this around, I have to thank the team for that.”
David Malukas finished second in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, his third runner-up finish of the season as he seeks his first career victory. Power held on to finish third in the No. 26 TWG AI Honda, matching his best finish of his first season with Andretti Global.
Kyffin Simpson finished a season-best fourth in the No. 8 Sunoco Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, with points leader and four-time series champion Alex Palou rounding out the top five in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
Lundgaard, who started 12th, took the lead for the second and final time on Lap 52 of the 55-lap race when the No. 66 Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian Honda of leader Marcus Armstrong slowed with a mechanical problem. Armstrong led by 2.787 seconds with five laps to go before mechanical fate cruelly robbed him of what may have been his first career victory.
Armstrong’s stricken machine finally lost power in Turn 5 on Lap 53, triggering a caution period and a one-lap race to the checkered flag.
Lundgaard never was challenged by Malukas on the final one-lap trip around the 14-turn, 4.014-mile road course, with most of the attention focused on the fierce duel for third between series veterans Power and Rahal. Power, holding a straight-line speed advantage, attempted to move to the outside of Rahal at the end of the back straightaway, with both cars making contact and Rahal’s No. 15 MSC Industrial Supply Honda spinning into the gravel, ending the race.
That was the climax to a thrilling race filled with varying tire strategies and fierce competition for nearly every position. But nothing was more exciting or improbable than Lundgaard’s charge to the front.
On the opening lap, Lundgaard made contact with Scott Dixon in Turn 1, damaging the left front wing on Lundgaard’s car and deflating one of his Firestone Firehawk tires. He pulled into the pits on Lap 2 for tires, fuel and a new front wing, with Arrow McLaren strategists devising new tactics on the fly.
Lundgaard cycled to the lead for the first time on Lap 43 when Armstrong, Malukas and Rahal made their final pit stops from the top three positions.
Danish driver Lundgaard led Rosenqvist by 11.720 seconds on Lap 45 when he made his final pit stop, with the Arrow McLaren team refilling his fuel and fastening four Firestone Firehawk alternate tires in a speedy 7.1 seconds.
The big cushion before the stop allowed Lundgaard to exit his final stop second behind Armstrong and just ahead of Malukas, who had hotter, stickier rubber on his wheels and passed Lundgaard for second on Lap 46.
Josef Newgarden made his final stop from the lead on Lap 49 in the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet, handing the lead back to Armstrong, who was 3.671 seconds ahead of Malukas.
Meanwhile, Lundgaard passed Malukas for second on Lap 49, with Armstrong nearly three seconds up the road. Then Armstrong’s bid for his first win evaporated as his power dwindled, letting Lundgaard pass for the lead on Lap 52.
“It was all smooth sailing,” a deflated Armstrong said. “I came out of Turn 6, and the engine just started sputtering like it was out of fuel. But clearly it wasn’t. And then it just completely died. There was no indication there was nothing wrong.”
Pole sitter Palou led 13 laps, but his chances for a fourth career Road America victory vanished when he was penalized for speeding in the pits on Lap 29. Palou fell to 22nd after his drive-through penalty on one of the longest pit roads in the series, but he was appointment viewing in his charge toward the front over the closing 25 laps.
Palou leads second-place Malukas by 60 points and third-place Kyle Kirkwood, who finished 10th, by 61 points in the standings. Lundgaard is fourth, 77 points behind Palou.
The next NTT INDYCAR SERIES event is The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the 2027 CR-V Hybrid on Sunday, July 5 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course near Columbus, Ohio.
XPEL Grand Prix at Road America Race Results
Road America June 21, 2026
Position Starting Position Car Driver Lap Status
1. 12. Car 7 Lundgaard, Christian D/C/F 55 Running
2. 2. Car 12 Malukas, David D/C/F 55 Running
3. 10. Car 26 Power, Will D/H/F 55 Running
4. 19. Car 8 Simpson, Kyffin D/H/F 55 Running
5. 1. Car 10 Palou, Alex D/H/F 55 Running
6. 25. Car 20 Rossi, Alexander D/C/F 55 Running
7. 6. Car 3 McLaughlin, Scott D/C/F 55 Running
8. 4. Car 60 Rosenqvist, Felix D/H/F 55 Running
9. 13. Car 14 Ferrucci, Santino D/C/F 55 Running
10. 18. Car 27 Kirkwood, Kyle D/H/F 55 Running
11. 11. Car 9 Dixon, Scott D/H/F 55 Running
12. 9. Car 5 O’Ward, Pato D/C/F 55 Running
13. 5. Car 28 Ericsson, Marcus D/H/F 55 Running
14. 23. Car 45 Foster, Louis D/H/F 55 Running
15. 14. Car 18 Grosjean, Romain D/H/F 55 Running
16. 8. Car 4 Collet, Caio (R) D/C/F 55 Running
17. 22. Car 47 Schumacher, Mick (R) D/H/F 55 Running
18. 21. Car 76 VeeKay, Rinus D/C/F 55 Running
19. 24. Car 77 Robb, Sting Ray D/C/F 55 Running
20. 17. Car 19 Hauger, Dennis (R) D/H/F 55 Running
21. 7. Car 6 Siegel, Nolan D/C/F 55 Running
22. 15. Car 2 Newgarden, Josef D/C/F 55 Running
23. 20. Car 15 Rahal, Graham D/H/F 54 Contact
24. 3. Car 66 Armstrong, Marcus D/H/F 52 Mechanical
25. 16. Car 21 Rasmussen, Christian D/C/F Mechanical
Stats:
Time of Race: 01:51:06.4432
Avg Speed: 119.220
Lead Changes: 6
Caution Laps: 11
Fastest Lap: 136.885 mph (105.5659 sec) on lap 50 by 7 – Christian Lundgaard
Next Event: Sunday, July 5 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course FOX 12:30 p.m.
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