Herta paces Long Beach practice as Palou gets comfortable
By JENNA FRYER
AP Auto Racing Writer
LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Endless hours on iRacing trying to familiarize himself with the downtown city street course in Long Beach paid off Friday when IndyCar points leader sailed through his first career laps on the circuit. Palou takes a 35-point lead into Sunday’s title-deciding season finale. The Spaniard has been wary all along of this season finale because he’d never seen the prestigious circuit until he arrived for the championship round. The Grand Prix of Long Beach was canceled last year at the start of the pandemic so Palou had to do all his prep work on simulators.