'The points will take care of themselves' in IndyCar title fight – O'Ward

Alex Palou and Pato O’Ward will wake up Sunday morning with a championship score to settle. If it sounds like a high-pressure situation for the two to navigate, rest assured it is not.

“The guy's pretty much won it already,” O’Ward conceded. “I know they're making a big deal out of this championship fight. We are 130 points back. He has got to have the worst luck he's ever had in his career, just like the best luck he's had in his career this year, in order for us to keep this alive. We're focusing on our car, on our end of the grid and see where we can capitalize, hopefully just keep on scoring points.”

O’Ward’s starting first in the BitNile.com Grand Prix and Palou is fifth; by the end of the 110-lap race, O’Ward needs to be ahead of the three-time IndyCar Series champion on the road, and with a sizable gap to his rival to prevent the title from being clinched.Palou’s lead is 131 points, and once the Portland race is over, a maximum of 108 points remain to be earned across the last two races of the season. To maintain a miniscule mathematical chance of becoming the next IndyCar champion, O’Ward must bring the gap to something below 108 points or stand and watch as Palou is crowned for the fourth time as IndyCar’s best since 2021.

Talk of points and where he needs to finish in relation to Palou holds no interest for the series’ most popular driver.

“I'll be thinking [of] winning the race,” O’Ward said. “The points will take care of themselves.”

What about Palou? Will he be as carefree as O’Ward when they drive towards the green flag Sunday?

“Depends,” he said. “I know that by winning the race I can win both things. That's obviously the goal. I think everybody's going to try and win the race tomorrow. I think we need to see. I'm not going to drive differently just because we have a chance. As long as we finish the year with the championship at home, that's the goal, right?

“If we can get it tomorrow, great. If we can't, it's okay, but I think knowing that by winning the race we can clinch it here, that's what we're shooting for.”