STEAM CORNERS, Ohio — Race fans are getting to know Alex Palou as one of Honda’s most promising racing stars in the NTT IndyCar Series.
At 24, the Spanish driver is a two-time race winner after driving the No. 10 NTT DATA Chip Ganassi Racing Honda to victory in the season-opening Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama and the REV Group Grand Prix at Road America.
For those who didn’t know Palou before Memorial Day Weekend, they got to know the Spaniard for his tenacious racing ability and savvy that nearly won him the 105th Indianapolis 500.
Palou led 35 laps in the 200-lap race and was in the lead before fellow Honda driver Helio Castroneves passed him with just two laps remaining in the race.
Castroneves’ No. 06 Meyer-Shank Racing Honda went on to defeat Palou by just .483 seconds to become just the fourth four-time winner of the Indianapolis 500 and the first to accomplish that feat 30 years after Rick Mears became the third four-time winner at Indy.
“To be honest, I was sad and a bit down the first three minutes when I jumped out of the car, but then I realized I was in the Indy 500 driving for Chip Ganassi Racing and I was second,” Palou recalled. “There was only one person who was prouder and happier than me and that was Helio Castroneves who worked so hard for this race. And it was an awesome battle to be honest. We kept fighting until the end and demonstrated we are capable of it, but he was a bit braver this time.
“It was his day; it was not my day, but we kept fighting.”
As the summer months began, Palou left the Indianapolis Motor Speedway first in the NTT IndyCar Series standings with a 36-point lead over Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon.
Three races later, Palou is ready to continue that battle for the title in the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio in a “Fourth of July Weekend” celebration of speed.
Palou enters Sunday’s Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio with a 28-point lead over 22-year-old Pato O’Ward.
“Since the beginning, the No. 10 NTT DATA car has been super good,” Palou said. “We are trying to keep improving and doing the best we can. We had continuous podiums at Indy road course and Indy 500 and won the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at the start of the season so we are off to a great start.”
As a rookie with Dale Coyne Racing and Team GOH, Palou finished 12th and 23rd in a September doubleheader at Mid-Ohio and is confident his return in 2021 will see him running at the front.
“That’s the goal,” Palou said. “We will have some courses and races where I will be super strong like Road America and Mid-Ohio. We will fight with Scott Dixon all the way to the end and hopefully a Chip Ganassi Racing car will be the winner.”
When America was getting to know Alex Palou in 2020, they discovered a very enthusiastic, young driver who could at Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh. His reputation of being fast and fearless preceded him, but what they discovered was his engaging personality that made him an instant hit in the IndyCar paddock.
“He’s actually one of those really nice guys,” said six-time NTT IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon, one of his three teammates at Chip Ganassi Racing. “There has to be some underlying thing going on there somewhere. None of us have found it yet, but no, he’s a really nice person. His family — I’ve met his dad a few times now. Everyone is just super nice.
“It’s great to see somebody that’s easy to work with. Some drivers that we all get to work with can be somewhat difficult, but he also is extremely willing and wanting to learn, asks a lot of questions, sends a lot of text messages to try and just do a better job.
“He’s been a real pleasure to work with through these times, the same with Marcus throughout the season, obviously Jimmie, as well. Yeah, he’s just a super nice person.
“I think Alex is more of a kind of an under-the-radar type of person anyway. He’s not very in your face or anything like that. He definitely has a pretty relaxed personality, and then I think just wants the results to speak for themselves. Jimmie Johnson has been working hard, harder than all of us, I think, and that’s a different dynamic all on its own, and maybe that does take a little bit of pressure off.
“I also think when it’s a four-car team as opposed to a two-car team that takes a little bit of pressure off, as well.”
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