Alex Palou carved his name in the history of IndyCar as the Spaniard clinched his fourth career NTT IndyCar Series Championship on Sunday at Portland International Raceway. A dominant force throughout the 2025 season, Palou has eight wins and a first Indianapolis 500 victory under his belt, marking his name alongside some of the greatest in the series’ history.
Honda also triumphed alongside him, securing the manufacturers’ championship, while Chip Ganassi Racing matched Team Penske for the most titles ever with their seventeenth crown.
The Chip Ganassi driver stepped into Portland with a 121-point gap over Arrow McLaren driver Pato O’Ward, the only driver mathematically in contention. But when an electrical failure caused O’Ward’s car to halt, the championship was fully in Palou’s hands.
Fighting till the end
“We’re here to win. That’s why we’re here,” the driver share in the press conference. During the closing laps in Portland, Palou engaged in a fierce battle for second place with the #7 of Arrow McLaren IndyCar driver Christian Lundgaard, but getting forced wide on the exit of turn 6 meant the Dane kept P2.
“Even though it could’ve been okay to stay third, we wanted to win. I saw a couple of chances to go for Lundgaard, tried everything I had, but it didn’t quite work. Still, super happy. Honestly, I still can’t believe I’m a four-time INDYCAR champion. I’m going to enjoy every single second of it.”
The third-place finish behind race winner Will Power and Christian Lundgaard was enough for the #10 driver to seal his fourth championship.
Team owner Chip Ganassi also praised Palou’s character and believes more is to come: “I’ve never seen a guy work so quietly and diligently at his craft as Alex. I said earlier this year that we’re just scratching the surface of his talent, and I still believe that. He’s special and he hasn’t peaked.”
Doing whatever it takes
During the first stint, the Spanish driver was P2, caused by split pit strategies up and down the field. He pitted late into the 30s and rejoined in a bunch of midfield traffic behind cars on an alternate strategy who had stayed out longer.
That traffic blunted his pace for nearly 15 laps, forcing him to burn through time and tyres just to clear slower cars. By the time he found clean air again, Will Power had stretched his lead to over 20 seconds out front.
“When I pitted my first time, I was in traffic and I couldn’t really get past them easily… I couldn’t get the lap to Power. He actually increased it to 20 seconds. Ultimately we got there. We kind of got those 20 seconds off, showing that our pace was amazing. But then it was tough to get past.”
The Chip Ganassi Racing was able to cut down the deficit in the second half as Power had to deal with backmarkers holding him up through the second half of the IndyCar race in Portland. He broke down the two opportunities that allowed him an attempt at getting past Lundgaard:
“I got two chances,” Palou explained.
“Once I was alongside him, but couldn’t get the power down. Then I went for the outside — it wasn’t ideal, but that was the only gap I saw. We had an eight-second gap behind us, so I figured I’d go for it. If I was in his position, I would’ve done the same. No regrets.”
A magical season
This season has been, in Palou’s words, “even more magical.” The 28-year-old not only claimed his first Indy 500 win in May but also continued a streak of dominance that began in 2021.
“It’s the best. The best I’ve ever felt,” Palou said.
“The way I’ve felt this year — just incredible. Every single weekend we kept getting better. The 500 win… people still remind me about it every day. To cap it with the championship, this one is by far the happiest I’ve ever been in my life.”
He now joins the ranks of the sport’s greatest. With four championships, he stands shoulder to shoulder with legends like Dario Franchitti, Mario Andretti, and Sébastien Bourdais, and trails Scott Dixon (6) and A.J. Foyt (7) on the all-time list.
However, the #10 driver made it clear that the numbers don’t really matter; while it’s a bonus, the true motivator is coming back on track and working alongside his incredible team weekend after weekend.
“I love working with this team, my engineers, my mechanics — that’s what I live for.”
All eyes on the final two races
Despite a championship win, Palou hopes to get his wins to double digits before the 2025 season concludes, with Milwaukee and Nashville en route, Palou still has a shot to tie the all-time single-season win record (10), set by Alex Zanardi in 1998.
“We still have two more to try and win. Hopefully we can get to 10.”
