IndyCar: The two legends Alex Palou credits for his meteoric rise

As a racing enthusiast with a penchant for history and a soft spot for underdog stories, I can’t help but be captivated by Alex Palou’s meteoric rise in IndyCar. Four seasons ago, he was an unassuming rookie with Dale Coyne Racing w/Team Goh, now he stands shoulder-to-shoulder with legends like Scott Dixon and Chip Ganassi themselves.

In four seasons, Alex Palou went from being an obscure talent with Dale Coyne Racing w/Team Goh to a three-time IndyCar champion at Chip Ganassi Racing, having won his first championship so quickly.

Originally, Chip Ganassi Racing intended to keep Felix Rosenqvist, who was named Rookie of the Year in 2019 and won a race at Road America in 2020, but they switched to Palou when it was confirmed that Rosenqvist would be leaving for Arrow McLaren.

In the year 2021, Palou climbed aboard car number 10, a Honda, following his podium finish as a rookie during only his second completed race. Impressively, he secured victory in his inaugural race at Barber Motorsports Park. He subsequently accumulated two further wins and ultimately clinched the championship title.

2022 saw contract-related stories taking center stage in news headlines. Alex Palou, himself, attempted to switch from Chip Ganassi’s team to McLaren in 2023, but his performance fell short of what it was in the previous year. Despite this, he managed fifth place in the championship standings and ended the season with a historic victory exceeding 30 seconds at Laguna Seca. This win would serve as a preview for the upcoming 2023 season.

In the year 2023, Palou clinched the title of IndyCar’s five-win champion for the first time since Simon Pagenaud achieved it in 2016. Additionally, by placing no lower than eighth in a single race, a feat not accomplished by any driver in over a century, Palou became the first driver to secure a championship before the season finale since Sebastien Bourdais in 2007 (with Dan Wheldon being the last one if we exclude Champ Car).

Last year, despite only winning two races, it didn’t affect Palou’s championship win. Similar to 2021 and 2023, even if all of his race wins were converted into second places and the runners-up became winners instead, his consistent performance throughout the season would have still earned him the title of champion.

Among current racers, the 27-year-old Spaniard is just behind his teammate Scott Dixon in terms of championships won, and he has outperformed the six-time champion in three out of four recent years. Notably, Dixon’s last title came in 2020, a year when Palou was still a novice driver racing for Dale Coyne.

Among all racers, only A.J. Foyt boasts more victories and titles than Dixon, and given that a significant portion of Dixon’s accomplishments transpired during what many deem as the most competitive era in American open-wheel racing, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest drivers ever.

It makes Palou’s run even more impressive, and he gives Dixon a lot of credit for it.

He shared with “Beyond the Flag” that he has learned a lot from the 57-time race winner since joining the team about four years ago, stating, “He’s a vital part of our team’s success and my own. I wouldn’t be where I am today without Scott Dixon on our team.

He reiterated that point.

What have I picked up so far? Basically everything, like understanding thought processes, car preparation, accelerating, decelerating, adjusting speed when necessary, performing tasks – I’m continuously learning from him on the track, and vice versa. He remains the head of our team.

Apart from his own achievements, Palou also acknowledges Dario Franchitti, who held the title of the last back-to-back IndyCar champion prior to his victory at Nashville Superspeedway. Between 2009 and 2011, Franchitti drove Ganassi’s No. 10 Honda to win three consecutive titles.

Indeed, he plays a significant role in our team’s victories, according to Palou. He has not only clinched numerous race wins and titles in IndyCar but also serves as a bridge between the engineering and driving teams.

As a dedicated fan, I’d say he’s quite adept at bridging the gap between what drivers desire and what engineers require, making him exceptionally skillful in this area. He has a knack for discerning various driving styles or spotting interesting off-track details that many might miss. To put it simply, he stands out as a towering figure in his ability to analyze and compare.

Between 2007 and 2024, twelve out of eighteen IndyCar championships were claimed by Palou, Dixon, or Franchitti. While it’s premature to label Palou as the greatest of all time with eleven victories over four seasons, his latest title definitely sparks intrigue in that debate. Just five drivers have amassed more titles than him, and interestingly, two of those champions are on his team.

Winning the Indy 500 would undeniably strengthen his argument, yet after nearly claiming victory in each of the past four years, he wouldn’t give up an IndyCar championship for a single win at this stage of his career.

Palou stated, “Negative, nope. I yearn deeply for the Indy 500, but its time will come. I wouldn’t swap a single championship title for that race. The Indy 500 is our grandest event; it’s spectacular. It’s incredibly tough to win. But it lasts just one week, one day, and 200 laps.

“To win a championship, it takes 17 races, with the 500 included, so yeah, I wouldn’t exchange one for the other.”

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2024-09-19 18:32