ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – Alex Palou isn’t taking anything for granted and his competitors aren’t conceding a thing.
But someone’s going to have to make a heck of a charge in the second half of the season to prevent Palou from winning his second IndyCar Series championship in three years.
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Palou has won three of the last four IndyCar events and owns a 74-point lead over Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Marcus Ericsson as the season approaches its midway point. That’s the biggest advantage anyone’s had eight races into the season since 2020, when Scott Dixon led the rest of the field by 117 points at this stage.
“Yeah, I’m glad that we have those points in our camp and we don’t have to catch other people, but I’m not relaxed by the points gap at all because it’s IndyCar,” Palou said after winning Sunday at Road America. “If it was another series, yeah, maybe I would be a bit more relaxed. In IndyCar, you can’t.”
The 2020 season provides evidence of that.
Dixon seemed ready to breeze to the championship that year after finishing first or second in six of the first eight races, but he couldn’t keep up that torrid pace. Dixon ended up winning his sixth title by only 16 points over Josef Newgarden.
That season should offer some encouragement for all the drivers currently chasing Palou in vain.
As big as Palou’s lead is, it could have been even bigger.
His Road America triumph followed victories on the Indianapolis road course and at Detroit. He very easily could have a four-race winning streak right now if circumstances had gone just a little bit differently in the Indy 500.
Palou had the pole position at the Indy 500 and dominated for much of the race before he was spun on pit road during routine stops. He still managed to finish fourth.
That Indy 500 performance reflects his ability to produce plenty of points even when he doesn’t win. Palou was eighth in the season opener at St. Petersburg and hasn’t finished below fifth in any of the seven races since.
“They’ve not had a bad race,” said Newgarden, who finished second at Road America. “I think that’s to be expected. We had an engine pop on us in the very first round. Everybody has a different story. If you look at their story, they’ve not had one bad race yet. When you have eight races in a row without a bad one, this is what happens points-wise.
"What’s going to happen on the final nine, it’s impossible to say. There’s so much season still that he’s got a good cushion at this point, they’ve done a great job, but I don’t think that guarantees anything in IndyCar.”
Newgarden is third in the standings and trails Palou by 81 points.
Now that he has such a big lead, Palou was asked Sunday if he might act more conservatively the rest of the season and worry about picking up plenty of points each event rather than going for wins all the time.
Palou said it’s too early to think that way. Nine events remain in the 17-race season, which resumes July 2 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio.
“We’re going to keep pushing and trying to go for wins," Palou said. “Focus on the championship the last couple races.”
Palou understands the challenges of winning a series championship.
Two years ago, Palou became the first Spaniard to win an IndyCar Series title when he beat out Newgarden by 38 points.
Palou settled for fifth place during a tumultuous 2022 season in which he was dealing with distractions surrounding his future.
He had attempted to leave Chip Ganassi Racing for Arrow McLaren, but Ganassi sued and mediation determined he remained contractually bound to the team through 2023. Palou still plans to move to Arrow McLaren in IndyCar next season and already is one of McLaren’s reserve Formula One drivers.
With that settled, Palou says he’s now solely thinking about the task at hand. He’s not looking ahead to next year. He’s not even looking ahead to the end of this season and a potential title.
“We’re going to focus on each weekend,” Palou said. “Each weekend is different. It’s like the work starts from zero. We’re taking that mentality this year. I think it’s working. It’s paying off.”
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