Alex Palou has become the latest multi-time champion of the NTT IndyCar Series, wrapping up the title one race early at the race from Portland International Raceway.
The 26-year-old won his first title in 2021, and now has two championships to his name in just four years racing in IndyCar.
His points lead over the six-time champion Scott Dixon after the penultimate race of the season is 91, which is well beyond the maximum 54 points available to each driver at each race weekend.
IndyCar’s championship battle has not been decided before the final round of the year since 2007, when Sebastien Bourdais wrapped up the Champ Car title at the penultimate round in Surfers Paradise.
With an incredible run of close title races taking place for the 15 years afterwards, the streak has now been broken by Palou’s performance this year.
To add even more good news to the day, in post-race interviews Chip Ganassi confirmed that the Spaniard will be racing with Chip Ganassi Racing next season.
“Alex Palou’s going to be in our car, I can tell you that,” said the team owner to NBC Sports.
In August Palou informed McLaren that he would not be driving for the team next season, and the most likely scenario was the he had struck a deal to stay in his current seat at CGR.
That had not been confirmed, however, with Ganassi choosing to wait until after he wrapped up the title to make the announcement.
Palou’s greatest strength this season has been his consistency, with a pair of eighth place finishes his lowest results of the season.
His stretch of four wins in five races in May and June certainly helped him, but his ability to relegate his poor performances virtually to nonexistence is what really set him apart in 2023.
No other driver has logged a top 10 finish in every race of the season, although Dixon has for all races but one, which is what allowed him to stay in contention for as long as he did.
With one race remaining on the calendar, Palou has a remarkable list of season-long achievements to his name: Most wins, most podiums, most top five results, most top 10 results, and most laps completed.
With that kind of performance, there is nobody that would have realistically been able to take the title away from him.
