A year ago, Alex Palou’s Autosport Top 50 entry reported that he didn’t produce the level of dominance on the way to the 2024 IndyCar championship as he had during the previous season’s run to the title.
Palou more than made up for that in 2025. He won five of the first six races – including the Indianapolis 500 – to take an unassailable lead in the points chase.
After flirting with the modern-era IndyCar record of a 10-win season, Palou settled for eight, along with his third consecutive championship and fourth in the past five years. He finished on the podium in 13 of 17 races, and his 778 laps led tripled the tally of championship runner-up Pato O’Ward. Palou’s 196-point cushion over O’Ward was the largest in the 30-year history of IndyCar’s current scoring system. Is that dominant enough?
Predictably, the 28-year-old Spaniard believes he can do better. And perhaps more importantly, so does his team owner Chip Ganassi, whose 17th and latest IndyCar championship ties him with American racing legend Roger Penske.
“I’ve never seen a guy work so quietly and diligently at his craft as this guy,” observes Ganassi. “I said in the beginning of the year that we’re just scratching the surface of his talent. And I still think he’s got more in his gas tank for coming seasons.”
In 2025, Palou not only achieved his first oval race win, but it came at Indianapolis with veteran savvy as he surprised previous 500 winner Marcus Ericsson with the winning pass with 14 laps to go. Palou added another oval win at Iowa Speedway, aided by a timely caution. But he was most pleased by the gains he made in qualifying, with six poles and a season average starting spot of 3.3.
Don’t expect the tenaciously studious driver or Ganassi’s #10 team to let up in 2026. “We keep on trying to improve,” says Palou. “Whether it’s the car, driving, whatever we can, we try and just be a little bit better than we were before. That’s what drives us. It’s not really the championships and numbers.”
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