How Lundgaard emulated Tracy’s 2000 charge at Road America

Road America is renowned as one of the finest circuits in America, if not the world. Yet its IndyCar races have rarely fallen to the dominant driver of the day or the era, often skewing from the unexpected to the bizarre.

It started with the inaugural event back in 1982, when the CART stars all ran short of fuel in the closing laps, allowing Hector Rebaque to claim a surprise one-off win. Jacques Villeneuve Sr (brother to Gilles, uncle to CART and Formula 1 champion Jacques) and Alex Tagliani both also notched their first and only IndyCar victories at the majestic 4-mile track that winds through the woods and dales of Wisconsin’s Kettle Moraine district.

Road America has been the site of heartbreak. Al Unser Jr crashed while leading and broke his ankle when a sudden rainstorm swept through the ‘85 race that ended with the least heralded member of the Villenueve family in victory lane. Even more cruelly, Al Jr was leading on the last lap in 1996 when his Penske’s Mercedes-Benz engine blew up, handing the win to his old friend and generational arch-rival, Michael Andretti. Unser never won another Indy car race under CART sanction.

Maybe the craziest Road America IndyCar race came in 2000, when Paul Tracy’s engine cut out as the field took the green flag and by the time he recycled the primitive electronics of the time and got up to speed, he was at the back of the field. Without the benefit of a full course caution, Tracy drove from last to first, aided by heavy attrition that took out dominant frontrunners Juan Pablo Montoya and Tagliani.

“I came out of Turn 3 and couldn’t see anyone on the long straight,” Tracy said after his remarkable victory. “But I didn’t get angry and I didn’t get depressed. I just got going.”

Christian Lundgaard, who won this year’s IndyCar race at Road America, could relate to Tracy’s plight. Lundgaard bumped Scott Dixon in the first corner accordion at the start of the 55-lapper, sustaining a broken front wing and punctured left-front tyre that put him at the back of the 25-car field. But the Dane systematically worked his way forward, and when the cautions fell his way, found himself in position to pull away at the front to take his third career IndyCar race win, the second of the 2026 season.

Tracy pulls into the winners' circle after a last-to-first charge at Road America in 2000

Photo by: Tannen Maury / AFP via Getty Images

Lundgaard also benefitted from some good old-fashioned Road America bad luck; Marcus Armstrong held a three-second lead with three laps to go when his Honda engine lost power and subsequently blew up, creating a caution and a one-lap sprint to the chequered flag that Lundgaard was running away with before a clash between Will Power and Graham Rahal caused the race to end under yellow.

Already not in the best frame of mind after qualifying only 12th, Lundgaard blamed himself for running into Dixon in the Turn 1 funnel. But like Tracy more than a quarter of a century ago, he got down to work.

“I knew how long the race was, and staying on the lead lap was the main goal,” Lundgaard related. “From there on, it’s such a long race, and one caution brings you back in the game. You’ve just got to take it from there. I knew we had the pace to come back and fight in the top 10. I just didn’t expect it to be a win.

Malukas has strung together a series of second places but is yet to break through for his first IndyCar win, while Kirkwood and Lundgaard have experienced flashes of brilliance but have not shown the consistency needed to mount a serious championship challenge

“I feel like this one today is a little bit of a cheat code,” he added. “I think Marcus should have won this race. That’s racing. We've all had that.”

One thing Road America did not produce was another ho-hum Alex Palou victory. But his excellence was still on display. The Spaniard qualified on pole position for the fifth consecutive race, matching a streak last achieved by Danny Sullivan in 1988 and Alex Zanardi across six races spanning the 1997 and ’98 seasons.

Palou was jumped by Indianapolis 500 winner Felix Rosenqvist in the first round of pitstops, then got nicked for speeding in the pits during a green flag stop on lap 28. That earned the four-time IndyCar champion a drive-through penalty and he was only able to rebound to fifth place by the end.

Polesitter Palou had an off-day but still ended up fifth

Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Lumen via Getty Images

Rosenqvist’s race was ruined when Christian Rasmussen pulled off with a duff hybrid unit which brought out a caution that required the Meyer Shank driver to stop for emergency service while the pits were closed. That handed the lead to his team-mate Armstrong, a 25-year-old New Zealander viewed as the heir apparent to six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon in the top-tier Chip Ganassi Racing organisation.

But Armstrong felt his Honda engine start to tighten in the late stages, and within a lap or two, it let go in a cloud of smoke to create a dramatic final restart. There was little drama, as Lundgaard pulled away from David Malukas and was established far out front when Power and Rahal disputed third place into Canada Corner on the last lap. Rahal’s blatant block only got him dumped by Power, who was cleared of incident responsibility by IndyCar officiating.

Despite finishing fifth, Palou extended his championship lead from 49 points over Kyle Kirkwood to 60 points over Malukas, with Kirkwood close behind (-61) after a curiously uncompetitive weekend that netted a lowly 10th place. Lundgaard is up to fourth, 77 points off Palou’s pace.

Malukas has strung together a series of second places but is yet to break through for his first IndyCar win. Kirkwood and Lundgaard, meanwhile, have experienced flashes of brilliance but have not shown the consistency needed to mount a serious championship challenge to Palou, who even on his off days seems to have the ability to bring home a decent finish.

A lot can happen in the next eight races, but it’s going to take a lot to topple Palou from his customary perch at the top of the IndyCar standings.

Lundgaard celebrates his second win of the season but needs to find consistency to catch Palou

Photo by: Brandon Badraoui / Lumen via Getty Images