Palou On The Verge Of Wrapping Up INDYCAR Title
Photo by Paul Hurley/Penske Entertainment
By Dennis Krause
Alex Palou heads back to Portland International Raceway this weekend eyeing a third straight NTT INDYCAR Series championship. Currently up 121 points on Pato O’Ward. if Palou finishes Sunday's race up 108 or more, he will clinch yet another championship - his fourth in five years.
A two-time winner at Portland, Palou is excited about the possibility of wrapping up the championship this weekend.
“I'm excited. I'm very excited. I mean, I think there's loads of reasons to be excited, but first of all, it's a place that I love, that we've done really well in the past. It just feels like with such a magical season, we can still finish even better.
“I'm excited to go there and see how our car feels. It's been feeling amazing this year everywhere we've been, especially road courses. Yeah, I'm excited to go there.”
Palou could take a conservative approach into Sunday’s BITNILE.com Grand Prix of Portland presented by askROI. But the driver of the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda says that’s not part of his mindset.
“(My) mindset is always to obviously win, win the championship, win races. If we have the chance to win it, we're going to try and do everything we can.
“But at the same time, the goal is to win the championship this year, like not to go crazy and be like, oh, we need to do it at Portland. I'll be super happy if we get it at the end of the year in Nashville. I'll be so happy. But obviously if it comes earlier because we've done a great job and we can still do a good job at Portland and otherwise Milwaukee, I would be super excited.”
With three races remaining on the schedule, there’s still a possibility Palou can break the record of ten race wins in a single season. But Palou claims that’s not something he’s thinking about going into Portland.
“No. I mean, obviously I'm aware, and I know that the chance is still there, although it's very low, just because we would need to win three or at least two to match it, and that's a lot. Although it's been a really good year, I think it's pretty tough to do that.
“I know that the best way to try and get there is to win Portland and get one more and then just be one closer. That's what I'm going to try and do, try and win Portland and then see if we can win another race.
“I don't really think about it. Although I would love it, I cannot really change it. The only way I can change it is by just focusing on Portland and taking it step by step like we've been doing all year.”
Photo by Chris Owens/Penske Entertainment
In his brief INDYCAR career, Palou is already 25th on the list of all-time race winners at 19, putting him into the conversation of where he stands with some of the legends and all-time greats of the sport - all at the age of 28.
“I don't really know how to answer that or how to explain how I feel about that. For me, I feel like somebody has took me from my place and then just put me here, and it's like, what is going on. I don't know if that makes sense, but I just don't feel or I cannot really comprehend everything that's happening, not only this year, but if I look back at ever since I started in INDYCAR, my dream was just to be a professional race car driver, and I never thought about records or anything like that.
“It's not that I think about it, but whenever I get asked these questions, it's amazing. Like to be in the position I am today, it's amazing.
“I never thought that I would be around those names,” Palou continued, “and I think obviously this season in particular has been a little bit crazy. I almost matched the wins that I had in three years, or in four years actually.
“It's amazing to be there. I cannot really comprehend. I owe everything to my team and everybody that is behind me, like my personal team and my racing team, but it's amazing. I'm enjoying a lot. I'm enjoying every single moment.
“It's not that I'm not conscious about what's going on. It's just that I cannot really believe it, and I'm just riding the wave and enjoying every single second of it and having fun.”
Dennis Krause has spent decades covering all forms of motorsports, including over 40 Indianapolis 500s, with stints at WIBA Radio, PIT PASS - Radio’s Premier Motorsports Magazine and Motorsports Minute. Follow him on X @DennisKrause500 or motorsportsminute.bluesky.social or motorsportsminute on Threads or MotorsportsMinute+ on Facebook.