Alex Palou Still Has Chance At More INDYCAR History In 2025
Palou, who clinched his fourth title (and third consecutive) after the race earlier this month at Portland, can tie the series record for wins with 10.
To do it, he would have to win the last two races of the year at The Milwaukee Mile and Nashville Superspeedway.
Before this season, few would think he could win back-to-back races on ovals, considering he had never won on an oval. But after winning at the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the 0.894-mile Iowa Speedway, there is no counting out Palou at ovals.
Now let's be clear, it would take an incredible effort to do it.
Palou, when asked after clinching the title at Portland, dismissed the idea of him tying the record:
"By numbers, yes [it's possible]," Palou said. "But it's no. Realistically, no."
Here's the thing: Palou has had an unrealistic season, winning eight of the first 15 events. So he has made the unrealistic, well, realistic in a way.
Last year, the series returned to Milwaukee (a 1.015-mile asphalt oval) for the first time since 2015. At the doubleheader weekend, Palou finished fifth and 19th. It also was the first year that Palou had raced at Nashville, a 1.33-mile concrete oval. He was 11th at that race, getting the result he needed to win the title.
Which drivers should have a good shot of winning this weekend?
First look at the winners last year — Pato O'Ward and Scott McLaughlin won at Milwaukee and Colton Herta won at Nashville (where O'Ward was second). McLaughlin led 165 of the 500 laps of the two Milwaukee races.
Josef Newgarden was fast at both tracks last year but got caught up in accidents in both Milwaukee races and then finished third at Nashville.
Of those four drivers, only O'Ward has won this year. McLaughlin, Herta and Newgarden entered the season with the expectations that they would win races, and the pressure is on them to salvage the year with a win.
Scott Dixon and Will Power have also won at Milwaukee in races at the track from 2009-2015.
And then when you look at other intermediate-style ovals on the INDYCAR schedule, World Wide Technology Raceway (Gateway) is 1.25 miles but different than Nashville in a little bit of configuration, banking and surface.
Kyle Kirkwood won at Gateway earlier this year, and he led 67 laps at Nashville last year on his way to a fourth-place finish.
Bottom line: Despite his success this season, Palou faces an uphill battle to tie the 10-race win record set by A.J. Foyt and Al Unser.
But it is possible.
Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.
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