Champ Alex palou keeps foot on gas to lead Laguna Seca practice

Here's the thing about : he just does not slow down. Fresh off clinching his fifth series championship last weekend, the Spaniard wasted zero time making his presence felt at , topping the opening practice Friday for the Mission Foods Grand Prix of Monterey with a best lap of 1 minute, 9.8994 seconds.

He was piloting the No. 10 DHL Lightning Bolt Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing, sporting a striking livery that serves as an ode to Alex Zanardi, who won two INDYCAR SERIES titles for CGR in a car with a similar livery. Zanardi died in May. "Super cool to be here at Laguna, my favorite road course of the year and especially this weekend," Palou said. "We don’t need to think about points; we can focus on winning. First-ever session I’ve run the bolt, the lightning bolt, with the No. 10 car. It was good. It was fast. I cannot wait for the rest of the weekend."

Palou's record at this 11-turn, 2.238-mile road course is simply wild. Since his first start here in 2021, he has never finished worse than third in five starts, boasting three victories including the last two years, alongside poles in the last two events. His average finish sits at a mind-melting 1.6, and he has led 250 laps on the iconic circuit—which features the newly renamed Zanardi Corkscrew turn complex—including 84 of 95 last year. Naturally, he enters Saturday's NTT P1 Award qualifying and Sunday's 95-lap race as the overwhelming favorite.

kept the pace hot right behind him, ending up second at 1:09.9907 in the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian Honda, which features a special livery highlighting hard rock superstars Nickelback. Meanwhile, Pato O’Ward slotted into third at 1:10.1764 in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. O’Ward arrives fresh off sweeping both races of the Milwaukee doubleheader last Sunday and sits right in the middle of a very tight fight for second place in the championship standings in this season-ending round. He currently stands fourth, just two points behind third-place of Andretti Global and four points behind teammate in second.