By Luis Torres, Staff Writer/Photographer
No sport can be quite damning to an athlete after making an error than in the NTT IndyCar Series.
Even the sport’s top-tier drivers aren’t immune to mistakes, including pole sitter and championship leader Alex Palou, who faced the brunt of making a vital mistake when it mattered most.
With six laps remaining, it appeared it was going to be yet another Palou victory parade, which he’s already done on six previous occasions this season. That all changed when Spaniard’s woeful moment bit him dearly at the exit of Turn 8 and entry of Turn 9.
Palou’s No. 10 OpenAI Honda went wide with his left side tires driving onto the grass, costing him tremendous amount of time.
Due to this, his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon capitalize on the opportunity to snatch the lead away.
Despite a valiant effort in catching the six-time series champion, it wasn’t meant to be as Dixon scored his first win of the season. The victory ended the “Palou and (Kyle) Kirkwood Show” that’s defined the opening nine rounds of the championship and marked Dixon’s 21st consecutive season with at least one victory.
Alex Palou goes wide and loses the lead to Scott Dixon at Mid-Ohio! pic.twitter.com/VxPiEf9PTI
— INDYCAR on FOX (@IndyCarOnFOX) July 6, 2025
Palou will look back at Sunday’s runner-up finish as a moment where he can’t blame anyone but himself for losing out on a seventh victory in 10 races.
“Everyone in the No. 10 car did an amazing job on pit stops and strategy, and we were running really good,” said Palou. “I just lost it a little bit on entry and I kind of couldn’t really get power going on.
“Nobody to blame but me. I just got to be wide on entry and I lost it completely.
“It sucks and it hurts a lot, but it’s still a good day. It still hurts to lose like that. At least we got in the team so they can feel proud about their work, but a big mistake.”
"It hurts to lose it like that." Alex Palou talks with @jack_harvey93. pic.twitter.com/f53ME6L9Fa
— INDYCAR on FOX (@IndyCarOnFOX) July 6, 2025
During the post-race press conference, Palou elaborated when he went wide, it felt like ice going into the marbles which was his biggest concern. Ultimately, it ended up biting him due to losing car power as he wasn’t able to pick up the pace, allowing Dixon to pass him with ease.
“I got into the curb and I couldn’t get out of the curb and the RPM dropped a lot and I didn’t have any power at all. I was full throttle, but it was just going so slow,” Palou explained. “It could have been a lot worse. I could have ended up on the tires real easily, and the tires are not very far away from the curb in that corner.
“All in all, it was a good save. I can say instead of a mistake, it was a good save. Yeah, I’ll take it that way. It was a good save.”
Heartbreak aside, Palou leaves Mid-Ohio gaining more points over second place Kyle Kirkwood as his gap increased to 113 points with seven rounds remaining. This includes the final doubleheader of the season at Iowa Speedway with races taking place Saturday evening (5 p.m. ET on FOX) and Sunday afternoon (1 p.m. ET on FOX).
A lot of action to unfold, but little time for Palou to dwell on Sunday’s race.
“That’s why probably it’s not going to take two days to recover. It’s going to take just a couple of hours,” said Palou. “It’s still an amazing result, finishing second, running up front, and overall if you sum up all the weekend. Leading 75 laps, getting the pole and just running really, really fast all weekend. It’s been amazing and extending the points lead as well. But, we lost the race there.”
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