Palou Goes for Three-in-a-Row

(Photo by Chris Owens/Penske Entertainment)

Three-time and reigning series champion Alex Palou, back driving the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, will attempt to join Ted Horn, Sebastien Bourdais and Dario Franchitti as the only drivers to win at least three straight NTT INDYCAR Series championships.

As the season gets underway this coming weekend at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, Palou knows what it’ll take if he’s to win for a third straight title.

“Same thing as every year. I think everybody starts from scratch. Everybody starts with really high energies and probably really motivated to try and improve what we've done in the past.

“I'm in the same position, as well,” acknowledged Palou. “I just want to go out on track and try and improve what we did last year. It's going to take a lot of effort. The competition has been really, really tough. It's not one team that you're fighting with, you're fighting against multiple teams. We've seen Andretti this past year, how quick and how tough they were on track. Penske, as well.

“I'm looking forward, we've been having a lot of work, as well, trying to be a bit better on short ovals on both driver side, so it's me personally but then the team, as well, trying to get a little bit more speed. But yeah, it's going to be fun.

“The competition will be tough. We won the last championship with only two wins, so that shows how competitive it is. And the goal is to try and repeat that, improve it a bit, and hopefully get the 500.”

As champion the last two years, and three of the last four, Palou knows he’s the target everyone is aiming at. While it may be tempting to just keep doing what’s been working for him in the past, the 27-year-old Spaniard knows he’ll likely need to change his approach.

“100 percent you need to change it, otherwise you'll fall very quick here in INDYCAR. I would say every sport, if you don't change just because it's been successful, they'll catch up really, really quick.

“I'm not saying we're going crazy. Like, obviously, I'm not going to go crazy and change all my stuff. But yeah, I’m trying to change some stuff, both physically, mentally and the way I drive, hopefully. Hopefully I can push myself in areas that I've been struggling the past season.

“We're going to change a little bit, see if it works, and see if we can continue to be up front, but the competition, we know it's going to be tough.

“Everybody, again, we start from zero. We're not going to care about 2024 once we're in St. Pete. Maybe they'll care in 15, 20 years maybe when I retire, hopefully, but not now. I think now it's all about 2025.”

As he noted, Palou won only two races last season on his way to the championship, a far different season from 2023 when he won five times and coasted to the title. The constant between the two seasons according to Palou was consistency.

“Yeah, 2023 was magical. Our worst finish was eighth, and we got five wins, which five wins, it’s incredible. It felt amazing.

“Then 2024, it was I would say not the opposite, but we had a lot of up and downs. We had some races, like I crashed in Iowa, got into an accident at Nashville. We had a lot more up and downs, and we were not as consistent, and we only won two races. It was for sure, in terms of results, a bit lower, but still, was still okay, borderline of making it.

“I would say the consistency helped in both years. That’s what I would say that it's been, not the same, but pretty similar in both years. And it's been because also I have a great team behind (me) that even when I struggle and we start, I don't know, P16, P17 in the race, they get me to the front, and those weekends count a lot, instead of having a P-bananas on the race you get a top 10 that counts at the end of the year.”

(Photo by James Black/Penske Entertainment)

One thing still missing from Palou’s impressive list of accomplishments is a win on an oval. While he’s come close to winning the Indianapolis 500, it’s something that’s most definitely on his radar. If he had to choose between a third straight championship this season, or a win in the 500, which would he take?

“I don't know. It's tough. I want to win the Indy 500 so bad. I know what it is, but I don't think anybody knows exactly how big it is until you win it. At least that's what I heard from the drivers, as well, and you can see it from outside.

“But winning three INDYCAR championships in a row is pretty sweet, as well. Probably I would say the three championships in a row and then win the Indy 500 in 2026, which that's -- to your equation, that works. I would do that.

“If it's only one, then that's it then I need to retire, I would obviously do the Indy 500. But as I'm not going to retire now, I'll get the three championships and then the Indy 500 in the future.”

As Palou prefers to look forward rather than in the rear view mirror, how difficult is it to continue the wave of success he’s currently on?

“It's tough. I mean, it's tough because you need to -- you cannot slow down at any point. But at the same time, I think it's easier in a way. It's easier because I know what it feels like and I just want to do it again, so I work a little bit harder than I did last year. I'm extra motivated, and I'm super hungry.

“I would say you have both sides of the good and bad. But yeah, I wouldn't be in another position for sure.”

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