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Indianapolis Star

Writing himself into IndyCar's history books: Here's where Alex Palou stacks up among the greats

INDIANAPOLIS — Less than a quarter of the way into his 2025 IndyCar campaign, Alex Palou is in the midst of one of the most dominant starts to a career the sport has ever seen and could be well on his way toward one of the more historic seasons in recent memory. Though more than three quarters of the season is left on the calendar, a championship for Palou, who already has three wins in four starts this season, would give him his fourth in just six seasons — a number of championships only five drivers have met or surpassed in American open-wheel racing history (A.J. Foyt, seven titles; Scott Dixon, six titles; and Mario Andretti, Sebastien Bourdais and Dario Franchitti all with four each). Only Bourdais, albeit when American open-wheel talent was split across two series -- did it faster (five seasons), and Foyt (eight seasons) reached the mark in fewer than 14 seasons. Palou's winning pace to start 2025 is historic, too, as is the rate in which he reached 14 wins on his career last weekend at Barber Motorsports Park. As the two-time defending IndyCar champion continues to write himself into the IndyCar record books at just 28 years old, here's where the Chip Ganassi Racing driver stacks up among the sport's greats. An Indy 500 cult icon: Junkyard vagabond gained fame as Mr. First In Line for 37 years As impressive as his start to this season has been, Palou's legendary Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon managed to win three races in his first four starts just five years ago. But a win Saturday afternoon on the IMS road course? Then Palou would really begin to join an ultra-select group in IndyCar lore, even more so if he were to sweep the Month of May and capture his first 500 victory. Here are the drivers who've gotten onto hot streaks to start IndyCar seasons before. Drivers to win three of the first four races Drivers to win four of the first five races Drivers to win five of the first six races Drivers to win nine of the first 10 races 'We'll be strong at places he won't': Scott McLaughlin remains confident in IndyCar title hopes Kyle Kirkwood made sure that Palou won't win every race this year, but Palou is on a frenetic pace with a half-dozen tracks left this season where he's won before, and four of them multiple times. At this point in the 2023 season, where he would go on to win five times, Palou had yet to pick up a victory, so there's reason to wonder if he might hit that eight-win mark that's only been reached once in more than 30 years, and only three times since 1970. Here's the class of drivers Palou would join if he were to go on and have a career-best season in 2025: Drivers who've won six races in a season Drivers who've won seven races in a season Drivers who've won eight races in a season Drivers who've won nine races in a season Drivers who've won 10 races in a season 'I was a bit lonely': Alex Palou marvels in 'best weekend in IndyCar' after dominant Barber win Alex Palou has reached the 14-win mark 85 starts into his IndyCar career while in the middle of his sixth season at 28 years old. Here's how long it took the winningest drivers in IndyCar history, from the leader (A.J. Foyt, 67 wins) to 14th all-time (Rick Mears, 29) to reach 14 wins in their careers: A.J. Foyt Scott Dixon Mario Andretti Will Power Michael Andretti Al Unser Sr. Sebastien Bourdais Bobby Unser Al Unser Jr. Paul Tracy Dario Franchitti Helio Castroneves Josef Newgarden Rick Mears