Palou secures third IndyCar title

Alex Palou has won the 2024 NTT IndyCar Series championship.

Settled at the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway, the 27-year-old from Spain joins an exclusive group of those who’ve won three or more IndyCar titles, led by A.J. Foyt with seven, Scott Dixon with six, Mario Andretti, Sebastien Bourdais and Dario Franchitti with four, and now Palou who has three along with Jimmy Bryan, Ted Horn, Rick Mears, Louis Meyer, Al Unser and Bobby Rahal.

Palou’s name has also been added to a truly exclusive group of drivers to secure three titles in four years with Bourdais (2004-07), Bryan (1954, 1956-57), Foyt (1960-61, 1963-64), Franchitti (2009-11), and Mears (1979, 1981-82).

Palou’s Astor Cups span 2021, 2023, and 2024, and with teammate Dixon’s championship in 2020, his Ganassi team has claimed four titles in five seasons. Palou’s newest crown is the 16th for Ganassi since the team’s formation.

The championship battle between Palou and Team Penske's Will Power was turned on its head on lap 12 when Power reported his lap belt had come undone. He pitted and lost five laps as his No. 12 Chevy pit crew fought to re-attach the main harness that holds drivers into the car. Palou improved from his 24th-place starting spot and was competitive throughout the day on his way to becoming IndyCar's newest champion with an 11th-place finish.

"Unfortunately that's not the way obviously you want your biggest competitor to go down on the season finale," Palou said. "At the same time that's what happened to us two weeks ago [ED: In Milwaukee, when Palou's car suffered a battery problem], so... Yeah, it's racing. It's motorsport. That's what makes this sport so hard.

"I love this sport. I love to have the opportunity to be in a position to win races and championships. I'm not setting a goal of trying to win four or five or anything like that. I think it's surreal to have won three IndyCar championships. Never thought in my best dreams that I would be in this position."