Reigning IndyCar champion Alex Palou is facing a tall order to defend his title despite holding a sizeable points lead.
After putting together a superb season for Chip Ganassi Racing so far this year, the Spaniard holds a 49-point advantage over his nearest rival, Team Penske’s Will Power.
Palou has two victories in the regular IndyCar season and also won the non-championship $1 Million Challenge at The Thermal Club.
But despite taking two IndyCar titles, Palou has yet to win on an oval – an aspect which may become prominent in the title battle as four of the final five races will be held on ovals.
Alex Palou is sceptical about the number of ovals on the IndyCar schedule
IndyCar’s oval races have been dominated by Team Penske this year, with all three of their drivers taking a victory each.
Josef Newgarden took his second consecutive win at the Indy 500 before Scott McLaughlin and Power drove to victory at the Iowa doubleheader.
Palou finished fifth at the 108th running of the Indy 500 before a mixed weekend at Iowa. The first race of the weekend ended in an uncharacteristic crash after 177 laps before he scored second place in the second race on the oval.
With ovals now littering the season run-in, the 27-year-old told motorsport.com that the upcoming five races are mostly unfavourable for Palou, beginning with the trip to the oval at Gateway.
He said: “There is no doubt it doesn’t favour us. I wouldn’t say that’s made on purpose; it’s more like it doesn’t favour us.
“It was the same way when the season started, it’s not like it changed. Everybody knew we could say that at the beginning, it favoured us a little bit because we knew we went to some tracks that we had really good results and mostly wins in the past.”
Palou struggled by his lofty standards at Gateway a year ago, finishing in seventh place after a difficult day in Illinois.
Alex Palou would ‘prefer’ fewer ovals on the schedule
The ovals at the end of the IndyCar season will present some unknowns for the entire IndyCar field as the series returns to the Milwaukee Mile and the Nashville Superspeedway.
The final road course of the year at Portland is a circuit the championship leader took victory at in 2023 ahead of Felix Rosenqvist.
Power has also raced at Milwaukee and Nashville when they have been on the schedule before, which could give the Australian a slight edge when IndyCar returns later this season.
Thus, Palou added that the ovals would likely play into the hands of Team Penske, and he concedes that it would be an impressive feat to win the title again this year.
The Spaniard continued: “We are only having one road course left, which is Portland. We won there last year, so we’re really good there and looking forward to that one. But, I would much prefer [it] if there were only one or two ovals.
“There is a little bit more than that and it favours [Team Penske], but it’s okay. It’s the game. I think if we can pull this off, it will be pretty amazing.”