Alex Palou can't wait for family reunion after 4 months following Long Beach GP podium

Chip Ganassi Racing's Alex Palou finished P2 at the 2025 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach after starting P3 on the grid. As Kyle Kirkwood took the win, he broke Palou's streak of consecutive wins. Nonetheless, the Spaniard was content with the podium finish and celebrated it with his family.

Palou is a Barcelona native who moved to the US to race in the IndyCar series after participating in junior Formula categories. However, his parents continued to live in Spain as he moved across the Atlantic Ocean. The CGR driver's parents were at the Long Beach Grand Prix to cheer their son along.

After the race, the three-time IndyCar champion spoke with Jack Harvey, who asked the Spaniard what it was like for him to celebrate the podium with his family. The 28-year-old replied:

“I don't get to see them very, very often, living in the States and they're still in Spain, but, yeah, it's amazing. It's been four months since I've seen them and for me to get them a podium, it's good. And I cannot wait for them to meet my daughter on Monday.”

Alex Palou and his wife, Esther Valle, have been together for over 10 years and welcomed their first child, Lucia, into the world in December 2023. The Spaniard revealed how he met his family after four months, adding that he is excited for his parents to travel with him to Indiana and meet his daughter.

The 28-year-old came into the Long Beach Grand Prix with back-to-back wins in the first two races of the 2025 IndyCar season - St. Pete and Thermal Club. He started the race in P3 on Sunday, April 13, as he did at Thermal, but couldn't convert it into a win because of Kyle Kirkwood's excellent drive.

“Did the best we could”: Alex Palou on P2 finish at Long Beach

Alex Palou started the race in P3 but dropped to P5 in the first lap as Felix Rosenqvist and Scott McLaughlin edged past him. However, after the first round of pitstops, which came around lap 5 as everyone got rid of the alternate tires, Palou ended up effective P2 behind Kirkwood.

The Spaniard spent the rest of the race behind the Andretti Global driver as Palou failed to overtake him. The overcut strategy in the pits worked like a charm for Kyle Kirkwood, who won the race by over two seconds.

“I mean, you never feel amazing when you finish second, but honestly, the 27 car, Kyle, they were amazing all weekend. I tried, I tried my chances, but we couldn't really make it work. Had a really bad start on my side and that kind of put us in the back foot. But anyway, I think we did the best we could. Amazing to be here second, but hopefully next year we can just improve one step,” Palou told Jack Harvey about the P2 finish.

Alex Palou continues to lead the IndyCar championship with 142 points. Kirkwood's win jumps him to P2 in the standings with 108 points.