IndyCar: The scary statistic Alex Palou’s rivals can’t afford to ignore

IndyCar: The scary statistic Alex Palou's rivals can't afford to ignore

As a seasoned IndyCar enthusiast who has witnessed the rollercoaster ride that is this series, I must say that Alex Palou’s championship run this year is nothing short of impressive. His consistent performances and resilience on oval tracks have been nothing short of astounding.

Following Josef Newgarden’s historic back-to-back victories at the Indy 500, similar to Helio Castroneves’ wins in 2001 and 2002, Alex Palou from Chip Ganassi Racing is striving to be the first driver to clinch two consecutive IndyCar titles since Dario Franchitti’s three straight championships from 2009 to 2011.

The two-time series title holder currently has a 59-point advantage over Colton Herta from Andretti Global, with only four races left in the season: one at Portland International Raceway, two races at Milwaukee Mile after a six-year hiatus (last held in 2015), and the first race at Nashville Superspeedway since 2008, which will take place two weeks later.

Among Palou’s main title contenders, within a margin of 100 points, are his teammate Scott Dixon, Team Penske duo Will Power and Scott McLaughlin, and Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward. The standings place them 65, 66, 73, and 98 points behind the 27-year-old Spaniard in that order.

There’s been a lot of discussion about how powerful some of these Team Penske drivers are on oval tracks compared to Palou, who, after five years in IndyCar, has yet to win an oval race. However, it’s important to note that he has managed 11 victories on road and street courses instead.

As three of the last four races this season are on ovals, there’s a growing sense that the championship title could go to any driver yet.

Maybe that is true; it’s never over until it’s over, and anything can happen in a series as competitive as IndyCar is.

However, it should be noted that Palou isn’t an underperformer on oval tracks; quite the contrary. This season alone, he has secured three top-five finishes and a DNF in just four oval races. If not for the mishap at Iowa Speedway due to an unfavorable pit stop resulting in a crash, Palou would likely have five top-five results, placing him third in the oval standings behind McLaughlin and Josef Newgarden from Team Penske.

In any four-race sequence throughout this season, he hasn’t dropped more than 32 points to any other driver. This specific four-race span, starting from the Iowa race and ending at the World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway on Saturday night, consisted of three oval events. Even with a DNF (Did Not Finish), he earned 114 points, which is 32 points less than McLaughlin’s 146.

McLaughlin faced a DNF too, but he also secured a win and two additional podium finishes to close the gap with Palou. Interestingly, during that period, the driver of car No. 10 Honda was outperformed by Herta by 21 points, Dixon by six points, and Newgarden by 17 points.

In fact, Palou hasn’t lost more than 59 points to any single driver over the course of a four-race stretch in two years.

In the last part of last season, his less successful four-race span compared to another competitor occurred. During this period, Dixon surpassed him by 46 points in the last four races of the season.

To win the title again, the six-time series champion required three victories and one additional top-three placement. Remarkably, Palou achieved this feat and completed the season without a single finish below eighth position, an accomplishment unmatched by any driver over a full 17-race season in over a century.

From the second event held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course up until the race at Portland International Raceway in 2022, Scott McLaughlin surpassed Palou by a total of 67 points. To achieve this, he required finishes in the top four positions, including first place on four separate occasions.

That season, I found myself trailing my teammate Marcus Ericsson by a significant 79 points from the opening race at the Indy road course up until Road America. Interestingly, it was at Road America where he, ironically, took me out while en route to securing a second-place finish for himself. However, during this period, I managed to claim victory at the Indy 500.

In our calculations, we chose not to consider the 2022 Indianapolis 500 as a race awarding double points. This decision was made because modern Indy 500s are no longer scored with double points and there are currently no such races on the schedule, especially during the final four events of the 2024 season.

In 2021, my heart skipped a beat when Palou clinched his first championship, but there was a challenging four-race period where he was outshined – Ericsson surpassed him by 60 points, and Newgarden added another 76. This tough stretch started from the event at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and extended to Gateway. During this time, Palou experienced an engine failure that took him out of the Indy road course race, followed by a wreck at Gateway, orchestrated by Rinus VeeKay from Ed Carpenter Racing.

As a gamer navigating through the world of Palou’s racing career with Chip Ganassi’s team, we’ve clocked over 63 different races and nearly four seasons, yet there have been just three instances where I’ve been outscored by more than 59 points in a stretch of four races since joining Chip Ganassi Racing. Each of these instances required some extraordinary circumstances to occur.

Since Palou took control of the No. 10 Honda in 2021, no driver currently within reach has managed to close his gap to Palou during any four consecutive races.

Since the 2021 season kicked off, neither Herta, Dixon, Power, McLaughlin nor O’Ward have managed to overtake Palou in a four-race run of ours. (First person perspective)

There’s a possibility it could happen, but achieving another IndyCar championship for Palou this year would require an enormous amount of effort, possibly even some bad luck for team No. 10. And, to clarify, he hasn’t won three titles since Dixon achieved his third in 2013.

Tune in to USA Network at 3:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, August 25 for the live broadcast of the BitNile.com Grand Prix of Portland from Portland International Raceway, where Palou is a two-time and reigning winner. Begin a free trial of FuboTV now and don’t miss any of the action!

2024-08-25 13:32