Alex Palou Not Concerned by Lack of Milwaukee Mile Experience
Photo by Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment
With the final three races on the NTT INDYCAR SERIES schedule all being contested on ovals this season, some are making an issue of the fact that championship leader Alex Palou has yet to win on an oval in his career while Will Power, his closest pursuer in the standings, has won on ovals, including the Milwaukee Mile.
For his part, Palou doesn’t believe it’s an issue.
“No, I mean, I would also like to have wins on ovals before, but maybe it's a good opportunity now to try and get my first one this weekend or in Nashville.
“I wish that we would go to Road America, Mid Ohio and Laguna Seca, places that I've won before. But if that's not the case, that's fine.”
“I'm looking forward,” said Palou. “It's a great chance for me to win an oval race, having three now at the end. The calendar was released before we started the championship, so I knew that this was going to be the last couple of races, and wasn't the best-case scenario for us. Our job was to try to do as much work as possible heading into those races. So I think we've done that.
“But yeah, the most difficult part of the year comes now, the next three weeks. Hopefully this week I can win an oval race.”
Photo by Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment
Given that Palou has a 54-point lead, the equivalent of one race win over Power entering this weekend’s Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250s doubleheader, it’s not imperative that he needs to win to maintain his lead in the championship.
“Yeah, I love it. I mean, I would like to have more, probably like three races (points) cushion, but we couldn't really achieve that.
“I think it's good. It's not enough, but it could be a lot worse. I'm looking forward. I think that allows us to go aggressive, to just think about the race and not having to think about points and trying to minimize damage or anything like that.
“I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be tough. It seems like a lot, but at the same time it's almost nothing. It's only one race. Hopefully we can pick up a little bit more points during the Milwaukee weekend.”
Regarding his lack of experience at Milwaukee, the driver of the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda thinks that issue is overblown.
“Obviously, it helps if you raced here before, but I think it's long and different enough, they had different cars, like with aero kits and stuff, that they had to drive very different, but obviously (it) helps. I would have wished that I had raced here before. It's fine. I think with the test we did, we'll be able to get up to speed very quick. Not really worried about it.
“But, yeah, the most difficult part of the year comes now, the next three weeks. Hopefully I can win an oval race.”
Photo by Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment
Unable to take part in the June open test at Milwaukee because of his 24 Hours of Le Mans commitment, Palou and the team did test at a later date.
“It was good,” Palou recalled. “It's tough to say, because we did a different test to everybody, with only our cars and Juncos Hollinger Racing. When you're competing against your team and only two more cars, you obviously feel great. So yeah, we felt good. I like this place, and hopefully we'll feel as good as we did in the test.”
Like any race driver, there were more things he wished he had time to try.
“Yeah, always. Everything. Especially race run. I think you normally try and put yourself with a fast car. So you end up working towards qualifying, and then at the end of the day, you're like, oh, we need to work on the race car. But I think everybody's playing the same way. We have a different left side compound tires, so anyway, it's gonna change.”
There’s no question Team Penske is the benchmark when it comes to ovals in the INDYCAR SERIES. But, Palou doesn’t believe Power or another Penske driver winning this weekend is a foregone conclusion.
“No. I mean, I'm not 100% comfortable. I think we have a lot of work ahead of us to do. But yeah, it could be a lot worse. I could be with only one point of difference, then I would have to obviously beat him (Power) on those tracks or I could be sitting second or third.
“I like where we're sitting. I like the opportunity we have in front of us. I felt really good at Milwaukee. Maybe we can surprise Penske. Who knows? Maybe we show up and suddenly nobody can catch us.”