By David Morgan, Associate Editor
INDIANAPOLIS – It’s Alex Palou’s world and we’re just living in it.
Fresh off winning his third championship in the last four years last season, the driver of the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda has taken things to a whole new level in 2025.
With wins in all but one race thus far this season entering Sunday’s 109th running of the Indianapolis 500, the 28-year-old Spaniard had one glaring hole in his ever-growing resume – a win in the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.
Driving like a man on a mission, Palou took things into his own hands in the closing stages of Sunday’s race, powering past former teammate Marcus Ericsson with 14 laps to go and riding off into the sunset as a seemingly unstoppable force in the NTT IndyCar Series paddock.
“It’s amazing. It’s amazing to win this race,” said Palou. “This race means so much for me, for my family, for the INDYCAR community, our fans, and I would say motorsports in general. To be an Indy 500 championship, it’s amazing.”
Before Sunday’s win, Palou had expressed his thoughts that without an Indy 500 win, his career would not be complete – even as illustrious as it has been. But now that he’s won it, he’s not planning on settling for just one.
“It means that we checked that box and we need another one now,” Palou said.
https://twitter.com/IndyCar/status/1926777398156046410
Team owner Chip Ganassi, who has had some of the best drivers in the sport in his employ over the years, noted after Palou’s win that he is definitely making his case to be among those storied names.
“I think he’s one of the greats. It’s that simple,” said Ganassi. “Certainly we’ve had some great drivers on our team, and he’s right there, at worst, shoulder to shoulder with all the rest of them.
“You’ve got to talk about Franchitti and Montoya and Dixon and all the champions we’ve had, Vasser and Zanardi, and it just adds to it, Ericsson won here with us. It’s just a great thing. He’s clearly in that group now, clearly.”
Both driver and owner noted after the win that the ride the No. 10 team has been on this season has been nothing short of spectacular and they’re more than content to keep riding the wave as far as it will take them.
“It’s incredible,” Palou said. “Honestly, I think I get a lot of credit because you see that I’m the only one driving the car. But there’s a huge team behind that is making me look very good on track. We have fast cars every single weekend, and that’s really tough to do here in INDYCAR, especially nowadays.
“I was just taking the chances that we’ve had so far this season. Whenever we’ve had the chance to win, we’ve been able to execute. And that’s taking into account not only the setup, but the strategies, the pit stops that they did today as well.
“It’s incredible. And I know, I’ve been telling you guys that I know that this is not normal. But I’m glad that it didn’t end today and that we got the wave until the 500 at least.”
Heading into the summer stretch of the season, Palou carries such a vast points lead – now sitting 115 points ahead of his next closest competitor in the standings. If you ask Ganassi, that’s not such a bad thing, despite what some may say.
“You hear all kind of things. When there’s a superstar that comes along in any sport and starts to win, people say, well, maybe we should change the way the championship is done or something,” Ganassi opined.
“Do they say that about Caitlin Clark when she shows up and starts changing the WNBA? Do they say, well, let’s change the rules around her, then, or something?
“I think they should embrace a champion like that. The guy is a great guy and he’s a great champion, and he’s a great ambassador to the sport. They should embrace it.”
Be the first to comment