There was a bit of tension when Palou made his final pit stop at the end of Lap 67 with a 14-second lead on McLaughlin. Palou had used the required two sets of Firestone alternate tires in his first two stints and longtime strategist Barry Wanser opted for the harder, but slower, Firestone primary tires for his final run to the finish.

Kirkwood and McLaughlin made their final stops at the end of Laps 65 and 68, respectively, both taking the softer but faster Firestone Firehawk alternate tires. That tire choice assumed that Palou could be caught after he took the lead on Lap 70, but Kirkwood never got closer than 5.5 seconds in his pursuit. However all was not grim for the other engine supplier, five of the top ten finishers used Chevrolet engines. As Palou noted “It’s a long season in front of us.”

The next NTT IndyCar Series race is the Good Ranchers 250 on Saturday, March 7 at Phoenix Raceway, part of the “Desert Double” weekend at the 1-mile oval that also features a NASCAR Cup Series race Sunday.