Ovals Will Sway Alex Palou’s Title Quest

Is it over?

That was the question posed by Frontstretch IndyCar Content Director Alex Gintz on the recent Post-Race Conversation after the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

At the time this was asked, the discussion had transitioned to discussing that two-time NTT IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou, who hours before had just won at Laguna Seca, was now the new points leader. All of the IndyCar writers were wondering if Palou was ever going to relinquish the lead again. It’s a valid question because over the last three and half seasons, Palou is historically consistent, with just his inaugural title defense in 2022 as an ink stain – perhaps from the pen he signed an Arrow McLaren contract with, even? – which blots out his incredible stats.

Now he leads the two winningest drivers on the circuit and perhaps the greatest in this generation of IndyCar racing – Will Power and Scott Dixon – by 23 and 32 points, respectively. 

So, is it over? 

Of course not.

Well, maybe.

Who really knows, right? There is a lot of racing yet to happen, and the schedule isn’t really at the half-way point yet, with a four-week break for the Olympics over the horizon.

Still, there are some signs of life in the paddock for those fully intending to challenge Palou. As Frontstretch’s Christopher DeHarde said, on the record, during the same PRC: Palou’s lead this year is very manageable compared to this time last year. 

After the eighth round in 2023 at the Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America, Palou’s lead in the standings was 74 points over Marcus Ericsson. In the last 10 years, only two other championship battles had a larger gap than Palou did, with Simon Pagenaud’s 80 points in 2016 and Dixon in the COVID-19 season with an astounding 117-point margin. Each of them won the title in those respective years.

What did all three of those championship leads have in common though? A string of victories that the winner used as nitro to burst ahead of the competition. Pagenaud grabbed three straight wins in 2016, which had been preceded by two straight runner-ups, in the first five races of that season. Dixon was ill-affected by the COVID-19 shut down and unique schedule that was banded together, winning the first three events and earning the double points for finishing second at the Indianapolis 500. 

How about Palou last year?…