Race Report: XPEL Grand Prix at Road America

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (June 21, 2026) -- Driving the No. 14 Homes For Our Troops Chevrolet, Santino Ferrucci battled through several setbacks in the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America to claim another top-10 at the four-mile road course in the Wisconsin countryside.

Ferrucci qualified seventh, barely missing out on the Firestone Fast 6, but incurred a six spot grid penalty due to an unapproved engine change, which was done as precautionary measure by Chevrolet.

Starting 13th, Ferrucci quickly moved into 11th and coming up on his first pit stop, the unfortunate timing of cautions and pit lane closures began. On the first stop, he was committed to pit lane when the pits were closed due to a caution for Romain Grosjean, so Ferrucci drove through pit lane without stopping. However, he had to pit again to get fuel or run out of it on track; he was told to restart at the back of the field--along with seven other cars--because he had to get fuel when pits were closed.

The second caution was just a matter of track position and timing of the caution as he dropped to 24th by the time he crossed the line after getting service. However when the pit stops cycled out, he was in 14th...due in part to a quick stop.

With just five laps to go in the 55-lap event, Ferrucci was running 12th. He gained three spots by the time the checkered fell and finished ninth. On lap 52, race leader Marcus Armstrong looking for his first win, suffered an engine failure giving the lead to Christian Lundgaard who would go on to win.

However, with two laps to go, Graham Rahal and Will Power made contact battling for third with Rahal getting knocked out of the race. Rahal was cited for blocking and Power went on to finish third behind David Malukas. Tenth running Josef Newgarden was cited for avoidable contact after hitting Nolan Siegel, who was running ninth, when he got knocked out of the race. Hence, Ferrucci earned his third top-10 of the season.

“Incredibly long day in the car," Ferrucci said afterwards. "Had a shin splint and the medical team got me right so it didn’t bother me. But then we got screwed on both the first and the second cautions (due to timing). Honestly, the fact we made it back around to take emergency service was a miracle. We were inside the top 10, dropped back, then inside the top 10 again, dropped back to like P 22. So, had to come back and drive through the field twice. Hats off to the crew on both yellow stops cause we picked up spots both times, two if not three positions. Then we passed a bunch of cars in the final stint, stayed clean, and just to finish in the top-10 today is phenomenal. I'm really proud of our Homes For Our Troops/AJ Foyt Racing team.”

Caio Collet, who qualified ninth but started eighth when his teammate had to start 13th, was fighting for sixth in the No. 4 Combitrans Amazonia Chevy.  He pitted just before the first caution but the fueling rig malfunctioned resulting in an extra long pit stop, dropping him back to 22nd. Because of the malfunction, race engineer Mike Armbrester told him to pit again to try to figure out the exact issue while under caution, and the stop went off without a hitch-- except that Collet was now 19th instead of seventh. The next stop wasn't a refueling issue but the caution came out when Collet was about to pit and he had to nurse the car around for two laps. When he did pit, it took longer than normal because the car was running on fumes. Fortunately, he didn't stall it. He had one more stop which was uneventful. He climbed back to 16th which is where he finished.

“The first stint was the best, and maybe the only one, but it was really good," the young Brazilian said.

"Pace was strong, fighting for p6, p7 and then unfortunately we had a fueling issue on the first stop. Also ,on the other stop as well (due to tank being nearly empty), which was a shame, because the Combitrans Chevy was quick all weekend long. Obviously, in the first stint fighting for p6 and p7, I think we could have finished there with just a normal race, so that's a bit frustrating. But I think the past two race weekends, we've shown really good speed overall. We just need to put a weekend together, that’s what we're missing. Let's see if we can at Mid-Ohio."

Trailing Lundgaard at the finish were Malukas, Power, Kyffin Simpson and pole winner Alex Palou.

In INDY NXT competition, Alessandro de Tullio was stripped of his victory in Race 2 held earlier today. Teammate Nicholas Monteiro, who started 22nd and finished 15th, was also disqualified.

During post-race inspection of car Nos. 4 and 14, INDYCAR Officiating discovered that in Race 2, Car No. 14’s tires from Saturday’s qualifying session were installed on Car No. 4 and Car No. 4’s tires from qualifying were installed on Car No. 14.

As part of the discovery, neither car started either race of the weekend doubleheader on the same set of tires the car used during qualifying.

INDYCAR Officiating considers this a Level 3 infraction based on the published Penalty Guidelines. As the highest infraction level, both cars have been disqualified and neither is eligible for driver or entrant points from Race 2.

The teams head to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio in two weeks where they will celebrate the Fourth of July. The NTT INDYCAR Series race will be broadcast on FOX on Sunday, July 5 starting at 12:30 p.m. ET. The INDY NXT by Firestone doubleheader will be broadcast on FS1 with Race 1 on Saturday, July 4 starting at 1 p.m. ET and Race 2 on Sunday starting at 10 a.m. ET.