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05/09 20:02 CDT Christian Lundgaard wins the Indianapolis Grand Prix and hopes to carry momentum into Indy 500 Christian Lundgaard wins the Indianapolis Grand Prix and hopes to carry momentum into Indy 500 By MICHAEL MAROT AP Sports Writer INDIANAPOLIS (AP) --- Christian Lundgaard made all the right moves Saturday. He waited for the perfect moment to set up a daring outside move with 18 laps to go, then nudged his way past David Malukas through three sweeping turns on Indianapolis Motor Speedway's road course and sped away from the field to win the Indianapolis Grand Prix. Now he's going to find out if it helps him in the Indianapolis 500. The Danish driver snapped a 47-race winless streak, beating Malukas to the yard of bricks by 4.763 seconds for the second win of his career and first in nearly three years. It gives the Arrow McLaren team a boost of confidence heading into IndyCar's biggest race of the season. "At the end of the day, I had nothing to lose," Lundgaard said. "I had so much unfinished business here. For me, it wasn't that I wanted to win. I have enough second places in the past year and a half, I wanted to win and I was kind of willing to do whatever it took." Lundgaard drove like it, though he won't be celebrating long with the Indy 500 looming. There's still a plenty to fine-tune before Tuesday's first practice session. Each of the 33 drivers will receive an extra boost of horsepower Friday, with four-lap qualifications set for next Saturday and Sunday. The race is May 24, Lundgaard's mother's birthday. While success on Indy's 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course doesn't usually translate into success on the Brickyard's more famous 2.5-mile oval, Lundgaard thinks this win helped him turn the corner. "I know I can beat anyone and I'm sure 95% of the field will say the same thing," he said. "To finally get it, I think we've come close many, many times, and I think we've unlocked the door now and am pretty confident there will be many more." Four-time series champ Alex Palou knows exactly what it takes to pull off the May sweep. The Spaniard won both Indy races last year and despite failing to join seven-time world champ Michael Schumacher as the only drivers in Brickyard history to win the same event four consecutive years, he still managed to extend his points lead over Kyle Kirkwood to 27 points. Schumacher won Formula 1's U.S. Grand Prix each year from 2003-06. Palou finished fifth, more than 14 seconds behind Lundgaard, because of a poorly timed caution period that prevented him from cycling back up the leaderboard. He's won three of the first six races and finished second at Arlington, Texas. A handful of other drivers also are looking forward to the 500 after strong results Saturday. Malukas led a race-high 27 laps and remains third in the standings. Third-place finisher Graham Rahal reached the podium for the second time in three races as he resumes the quest to join his father, Bobby, in the 500 winners club. But the biggest moment came as Malukas and Lundgaard ran side by side through the middle of the road course, battling for the lead. The difference came down to a minor hiccup. "We were having some moments, and I could see him trying to set up the undercut and we ended up having some little issue and he managed to stick it around the outside," Malukas said. "I probably could have been a little bit more aggressive, but I thought it was fair racing and it was a proper move, a very good move." Lundgaard had shown signs he was about to make a move after finishing third at St. Petersburg, seventh at Arlington and second at Alabama. But now the question is whether he can keep it up on the oval when Palou tries to become the seventh driver to claim back-to-back 500 titles. Palou has been almost untouchable since the start of last season, winning eight of 17 races with four runner-up finishes in 2025. He's continued to dominate this year. But perhaps that's about to change. Lundgaard is coming off a career-best seventh in last year's 500, his first with Arrow McLaren, after failing to crack the top 13 in his three previous starts on the oval, all with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. The hopes for Arrow McLaren are soaring after Pato O'Ward, the Mexican who is Lundgaard's current teammate, qualified second for the grand prix. "In many, many ways, I live to win races," Lundgaard said. "I don't live to finish second. I don't live just to be in this race, and I think that's how I was always taught, growing up, that I don't just compete to compete. I compete to win." ___ AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

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