PORTLAND, Ore. — Alex Palou is a two-time IndyCar champion with Chip Ganassi Racing following a dominant run Sunday at Portland International Raceway.
Palou earned his fifth win of the season to lock up the title with one weekend remaining in the 17-race schedule. It is the first time in IndyCar the championship has been settled before the finale since the late Dan Wheldon won in 2005.
«I never thought I'd be an IndyCar champion and to be a two-time IndyCar champion just feels amazing, like a dream,» Palou said. «It was an amazing weekend. We just raced how we've been doing all season.»
Palou this year led IndyCar in nearly every measurable statistic: wins, poles, podiums, top-five finishes, top-10 finishes, races led and laps completed. In fact, Palou finished all but two laps all season and could have had a sixth victory but was spun on pit road during the Indianapolis 500 and had to drive his way back to a fourth-place finish in a race he seemed poised to win.
Palou started the race with a comfortable points lead over Ganassi teammate Scott Dixon, the only driver mathematically eligible to challenge the Spaniard for the title. But it didn't matter what Dixon did in the race because if Palou podiumed, the championship would be over.
He did far more than podium at Portland.
Palou led 69 of the 110 laps to score a decisive victory over runner-up Felix Rosenqvist, who finished 5.4353 seconds back. Dixon, the six-time IndyCar champion, finished third for the third consecutive time at Portland.
«I don't know if we had enough speed for Alex, he was definitely fast,» Dixon said in lauding his teammate. «He kind of does everything right. He's a hell of a competitor, a huge talent.»
It is the second title in three seasons for
UPS
win
Scott Dixon
Alex Palou
Felix Rosenqvist