By David Morgan, Associate Editor
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Can anyone stop Alex Palou?
Thus far in the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series season, the three-time and defending series champion is certainly making the case that it’s his championship to lose.
With three wins in the first four races of the year, and a second-place result in the other, Palou now has an astounding 60-point lead in the standings over his closest challenger, Christian Lundgaard, as the series returns to Indianapolis for the Month of May.
If the trend continues, the championship will be long over with by the time we get to the season finale at Nashville on Labor Day weekend.
Palou noted after Sunday’s win at Barber Motorsports Park that he is cognizant of the rarified air that he and his team find themselves in right now.
“I don’t think that I’m in a normal position. I’m aware that I’m very lucky to be in the position I am today, to be surrounded by a great team, being able to fight for wins every single weekend,” said Palou.
“Yeah, I don’t know how long is that going to continue, but hopefully it’s going to be for a long time.”
But even with the stout start to the year, Palou isn’t getting too far ahead of himself, even though there’s no place he’d rather be than in the position he’s in heading to Indianapolis.
“It’s amazing. It means nothing and means a ton at the same time. Means nothing for the championship yet. For sure I prefer to be in the position we are now than on anybody else’s position,” said Palou.
“Yeah, best start of my career, like not in INDYCAR, I would say everything I’ve done in my life, never been as good as here. Not even go-karts.
“Couldn’t be happier. Hopefully we can keep it going.”
Throughout the years, Chip Ganassi Racing has had the opportunity to employ some of the greatest names in all of IndyCar, and if you ask Barry Wanser, senior manager of racing operations at Ganassi and chief strategist for Palou, he and everyone in the building are keenly aware of the special driver they have piloting their cars on Sunday.
“We’ve been very fortunate to have some pretty amazing drivers,” said Wanser. “Certainly, the drivers I’ve worked with on the 10 car I can truly compare when you listen to all of the feedback and do all the races with him.
“I compare him to certainly Dan Wheldon and Dario Franchitti. Dan, with his precision. Dario, with his thoroughness, on-track performance, especially road course and street courses second to none. I used to say second to none, but Alex is working hard to take over that.”
While the start to the year certainly is impressive, the other drivers in the paddock are chomping at the bit to get their shot at taking down the champ.
Scott McLaughlin, who finished third to Palou at Barber, remains confident that Palou is still beatable down the stretch, they just have to be in position to strike when/if Palou stumbles.
“At the end of the day you can only do as much as you can,” said McLaughlin. “I mean, I’m driving the thing as fast as I can. Christian is doing the same thing. Alex is doing the best job he can. That turns out to be a really good job and solid. We all know it was going to be that way.
“When a guy is at the top of his game, all you can do is try to be at the top of yours. We had a third-place car and we came in third. That’s all we can do. Nothing more, nothing less. I learnt that when I was racing Supercars, championship campaigns. You just got to be there.
“It is all swings and roundabouts. We’ll be strong at places he won’t. Just got to capitalize.”
McLaughlin added that Palou and the No. 10 team are excelling in all facets of the game at the moment, but anything can happen with 13 races still to go before it’s all said and done.
“I think Alex is one of the best racing car drivers I’ve ever come across. He’s the whole deal. That doesn’t mean we can’t beat him, as I said,” McLaughlin said.
“Yeah, we know where we can improve, different facets that I can’t really expose. Ultimately, I think if we just keep knocking on the door. Everyone has a bad race at some point. You got to try and keep knocking on the door there.
“Like I said, the people on the 10 car, Barry, Alex, all the guys, they’re doing a fantastic job. All you can do is just sort of be there, if you can.”
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