It’s not a question of if Alex Palou will win his fourth IndyCar championship this season, only a matter of when.
The Chip Ganassi Racing star’s first opportunity at clinching a third consecutive title on the American open-wheel circuit and fourth in five years comes Sunday at Portland International Raceway, the 15th of 17 races on the 2025 IndyCar schedule.
A run of utter dominance not seen since Scott Dixon in 2006 has put Palou in need of leaving Portland with a 108-point lead over Pato O’Ward, the only driver still mathematically eligible to beat him for the title. Palou is a comfortable 121 points ahead of O’Ward headed into the race.
Even so, Palou is adamant a fourth Astor Cup does not yet belong to him.
“Everybody here is saying we’ve already won,” the 28-year-old Spaniard said. “Although we have a lot of points, we still need to win it. If somebody else is mathematically alive, it’s still alive, so we don’t want anybody to be mathematically alive for the points.”