Alex Palou On Brink Of Title With Win No. 8: 'It's Never Over Until It's Over'

MONTEREY, Calif. — Alex Palou didn’t have the right strategy last week at Toronto, but he had the best strategy Sunday at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

The strategy? Just win, baby.

Alex Palou celebrates after winning the NTT INDYCAR Series Java House Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca 

OK, it wasn’t that simple. 

He did have the strategy he needed to dominate in leading 84 of the 95 laps to capture his eighth victory of the season. That's the most for an INDYCAR driver since 2007, when Sebastien Bourdais won eight races.

The Chip Ganassi Racing driver extended his points lead to 121 over Pato O’Ward, who finished fourth, with three races remaining.

"It's never over until it's over," Palou said. "I think I proved that [with a mistake] at Mid-Ohio, and we've seen that in the past as well.

"Honestly, I would not trade our points for anybody. I would not trade our position, and I would not ask for anything more or anything less. But it's not done until it's done. We still need to win it. We still need to keep our heads down and try and win more races."

Alex Palou celebrates his win at Laguna Seca

Palou doesn’t need to win more races, though. He just needs to average a 16th-place finish over the final three. He would clinch the title with a 108-point lead following the next race in two weeks at Portland International Raceway, a road course where Palou has two career victories. 

The final two races come on the ovals at Milwaukee and Nashville.

If Palou wins at Portland or finishes second and earns a bonus point for the pole or leading a lap, he would clinch the title no matter what O’Ward does in that race. O'Ward is the only driver who mathematically has a chance at the title.

"It’s a tall task,