After starting eighth in the No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet, the 38-year-old Swiss-born Frenchman quietly lurked among the top 10, with the move forward coming through working the overcut of pit strategy on two of his three pit stops.
The significant play to press up the grid came after the caution on lap 36 of 95, only 10 laps after Grosjean’s first pit stop. He was elevated from eighth to third as the field split in half, which saw the likes of frontrunners Alexander Rossi (Arrow McLaren) and Colton Herta (Andretti Global) dive to pit road.
Grosjean stayed on a similar strategy as eventual race winner Alex Palou (Chip Ganassi Racing). He found himself trailing all three of the aforementioned drivers as the two strategies clashed through the mayhem of three cautions over the final 20 laps. In the end, though, he collected his first top five of the season and the best-ever result for Juncos Hollinger Racing.
JHR’s previous best result was fifth, which was scored twice by Callum Ilott (St. Petersburg, 2023; Laguna Seca, 2023).
“Quite a good race,” Grosjean said. “I knew we had a fast race car. It was a tough race. I think we saw a lot of people going off; I went off myself a few times. It was very physical, very hard. I think we did an amazing job with the team, with Chevy, the whole weekend. Very proud of everyone. Yeah, it was close to the podium.”
Grosjean noted the trio of cautions near the end of the race, which made up nine of the final 20 laps and negated his tire strategy and with it, a chance to push for the podium.
“A little bit too many safety car at the end because I was on blacks (harder primary tires) and knew I didn’t have much deg (tire degradation),” Grosjean said.
“I was coming for Alex Rossi, now we’re friends so it’s all good, but anyway, a fantastic job by everyone. We keep working, keep getting better. I think that’s just good for all of us. I think we scored the first point for Chevy today, so (I'm) really happy with that.”
