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The 2026 edition of the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America is now in the books. It was the most intriguing IndyCar race held here since the series returned to this massive 4.088-mile track in 2016. There have been wild finishes, like the year Josef Newgarden lost power on the last lap while leading. There have been a few affected by rain. Last year had very oppressive heat for the first time since we’ve been coming here. Some years, the temperature never broke 60° for the weekend. This year, the weather was about perfect. It would have been rated a little on the cooler side, but compared to what most of the country is experiencing – who’s complaining?

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We just witnessed our eleventh straight IndyCar race (twelfth, if you count the 2020 double-header), and I can honestly say I’ve never seen a wilder race at Road America than the one we saw this afternoon. Christian Lundgaard won a whacky race that saw him fall back to dead last after contact with Scott Dixon on Lap One. We were in Turn One at the start of the race, so I didn’t see it happen. But when I heard over the PA that Lundgaard was limping back to the pits, I figured his day was done. It wasn’t.

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Good morning from a partly cloudy Road America. After two days of brilliant sunshine each morning, it is currently partly cloudy with a forecast of complete overcast later in the day. The forecast also calls for cooler temperatures, with a high of 65° and breezy. I dressed accordingly and wore a sweatshirt. I am re-thinking that decision as it is already 70°. It felt rather warm getting out of the car. I’m still betting it cools off before the race. Anything will be better than last year’s race, with its uncharacteristic high temps. This weekend has been much more representative of the weather here.

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While IndyCar qualifying featured some interesting twists and storylines, in the end it was Alex Palou on the pole for tomorrow’s XPEL Grand Prix at Road America. If that sounds familiar, this was Palou’s fifth straight pole, and the sixth out of ten poles. In case you’re wondering, Palou still has a way to go in order to surpass Bobby Unser’s record of eight consecutive poles set between 1971 and 1972. Still it’s an impressive feat. But if you are suffering from Palou fatigue, you weren’t happy to know that Palou added another point and extended his lead over Kyle Kirkwood to exactly fifty points.

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Good afternoon from the beautiful grounds of Road America! We have actually been here for a while, but it was just before Practice Two started. We immediately grabbed the golf cart and went out to watch from a few different vantage points; including Canada Corner, Turn Five and the Carousel – after watching Friday’s Practice One from the pits.

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Practice One for the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America is now in the books. I spoke to more than a few people this morning who thought that Marcus Armstrong was going to break through with his first career IndyCar win this weekend. He got off to a nice start by leading the first practice, with a time of 1:44.2714. Armstrong was about a tenth of a second quicker that his teammate, Indianapolis 500 winner Felix Rosenqvist. Don’t forget, Rosenqvist got his only other career IndyCar win right here at Road America in 2020.

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Good morning from a cool, sunny and energetic Road America. We actually got here around 7:30 this morning, because Susan decided she wanted a photo vest for the weekend. That will give her access to photo holes, pit lane and victory lane. But we had to be here at 7:30 when they give away the photo vests for the weekend. Surprisingly, there was a lot of energy here at that hour.

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