While the NTT IndyCar Series has become known for its close competition at any given race track, Alex Palou continues to surge away from the rest of the field.
After winning for the third time in four races on Sunday at Wisconsin’s Road America, Palou extended his points lead to 74 markers over second-place Marcus Ericsson.
Though it was far from an easy weekend for Palou and his Chip Ganassi Racing team.
During Saturday’s second practice session, Palou missed the braking zone in turn 14, sending the 2021 IndyCar champion hard into the tire barrier. His Honda-powered Indy car was badly damaged.
“Practice two I made a huge mistake,” Palou said. “I had a lot of speed again, but crashed it very hard. Yeah, we almost had no time to rebuild the car. They did.”
Remarkably, Palou made Saturday’s Fast Six, placing the No. 10 Honda in third after the crew repaired the car in less than 90 minutes.
“They not only got the car back on track, but it was fast,” Palou recalled. “Almost got the pole. Fought for it. Yeah, it’s been a good weekend.”
The Winning Move
At the green flag for the Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America, Palou ran consistently inside the top five with Andretti Autosport’s Colton Herta setting the pace early on.
Though with Herta on a different pit cycle, Palou made his final pit stop one lap after Herta. Taking on the lengthy 14-turn, 4.014-mile road course, one lap made a major difference in fuel economy.
With Herta forced to save fuel, it allowed Palou to drive full throttle the rest of the way. Palou caught Herta with 10 laps to go and grabbed the lead three laps later.
“Once my tires were up to temperature, I was able to catch him,” Palou said. “I saw that he was struggling a little bit more. He had to save more fuel than us because he pitted one lap early. We were just a little bit better on tire deg, as well.”
From there, the 26-year-old Spaniard cruised to his seventh IndyCar Series victory by 4.5610 seconds over Josef Newgarden, giving team owner Chip Ganassi his 250th win across all forms of motorsports.
Points Outlook
As Palou continues to put on a clinic in the series, only nine races remain in the season.
While he feels racing for points isn’t an option at this part of the year, winning is the easiest way to shape Palou’s destiny.
“I would understand racing for points on the last two races, but it’s too early,” Palou admitted. “We did eight races. There are still nine left. Yeah, I mean, somebody else can do the same amount of points that we did, or even more, with the races that we have left.
“We’re going to focus on scoring wins because that’s the way we can score more points,” Palou continued. “That’s the best way.
“Honestly, there’s some races coming up now that are still really good for us and we know we’re going to have a car and my confidence to fight for wins.”