Alex Palou Locks Up Championship with Portland Victory

That victory and championship feeling for Alex Palou at Portland. (Photo: Luis Torres | The Podium Finish)

PORTLAND, Ore. – Alex Palou can breathe a lot easier as he locked up his second INDYCAR championship in three years a week early following a victory in Sunday’s BITNILE.com Grand Prix of Portland.

Not only did the newly-crowned champion bring home Chip Ganassi Racing its 15th championship, he is here to stay in INDYCAR.

By clinching the championship with one race remaining, Palou becomes the first driver in the Post-Split Era to win the title early. Before that, Dan Wheldon was the last man to do it in the IRL back in 2005. Sebastien Bourdais also locked up his fourth Champ Car World Series title in the penultimate round of the championship in 2007.

Up until this year, every championship battle came down to the finale.

This is not the case this year as Palou will head into Laguna Seca with a 91-point lead over teammate Scott Dixon, plenty enough to celebrate a second Portland win by leading a race-high 69 laps and a championship.

“I thought we had a really, really fast car. I would say Fast Six, the result we got there wasn’t what we could have achieved. I didn’t think we extracted 100% from it, so I knew after warmup that we could go for it and win the race,” said Palou. “So we didn’t really go on safe mode of just staying with the 9 because we thought we could win the race today, and we did. So happy that everything worked out.”

Despite putting on a clinic, Palou had to seal the deal without Barry Wanser, who underwent surgery this week. A month ago, Wanser was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma as the organization thought about him in victory circle. Cutouts of Wanser’s head were handed around to the team as a way to have him in spirit.

Palou explained the strong chemistry he has enjoyed with Wanser since joining Ganassi in 2021 comes down to Wanser being the leading director of the No. 10 team.

“(Barry) is managing the whole team across the four cars and even other series, but he’s the director, and he calls pretty much everything on the 10 car,” said Palou. “So he’s a very big piece on our stand, but unfortunately, he couldn’t be here. Everybody is really sad that he’s not here, but I think he’s even more sad.

“He’s recovering well. We know that. He’s a strong guy, and hopefully he’ll be back with us very soon.”

Palou is now a two-time Grand Prix of Portland winner. (Photo: Luis Torres | The Podium Finish)

After 16 rounds, Palou’s worst finish has been eighth on two occasions at St. Petersburg and Iowa Race No. 1. In lamest terms, the No. 10 Honda has been flawless as they have now won five times and have completed all but two laps in the entire championship trail.

This is a feat Chip Ganassi is really proud of and hopes a sixth win from Palou can be the icing on the cake of one of INDYCAR’s most dominant campaigns.

“The guys screwing the car together know what they’re doing. The guys engineering the car to make it fast know what they’re doing. And the guys calling the strategy know what they’re doing,” said Ganassi. “When you pair that with a driver that knows what he is doing, it’s a formidable combination that’s tough to beat.

“Even our own team, it’s tough to beat even within our own team. We have great guys on the team, and it’s tough for them to do.”

Crossing the line in second was Felix Rosenqvist as luck finally went his way in terms of completing a full race where his performance is shown. He had to fend off Dixon to score his best finish of the season and his first podium since Detroit.

Such result could not have come at a pivotal time as the Swedish veteran will be heading elsewhere next season.

“That was really good fun. It kind of went our way as well,” said Rosenqvist. “We kind of gambled on staying out on reds, but it worked out with the yellow in the end. We had to obviously save the tires a bit, so I think it wasn’t the winning strategy, but it was for sure enough for a podium. Really happy with the comeback we did.”

Aside from Palou, Dixon was one of few drivers who had a lengthy time in the lead as finishing third was not good enough to push the title fight at Laguna Seca. While his bid for a seventh title will have to wait another year, Dixon will finish runner-up in points to secure Ganassi a 1-2 points finish this season.

“Huge weekend for the team, it’s kind of cool. I can’t really change anything in the championship,” said Dixon. “I shouldn’t say cool, but relaxing I guess going into the last one. I can only be second, so maybe go on vacation.”

Dixon will look to end 2023 with three wins in the last four races next Sunday at Laguna Seca. (Photo: Luis Torres | The Podium Finish)

Pole sitter Graham Rahal led the opening 21 laps but fell out of contention once pit stops played a role in the race. Rahal crossed the line in 12th as it was not the best of days for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing like they would have liked.

Meanwhile, Rahal’s teammate Christian Lundgaard finished a spot ahead of Rahal while Juri Vips finished 18th in his INDYCAR debut.

The race was slowed down by two cautions for six laps due to separate incidents involving Will Power and Agustin Canapino being the cause of both cautions in Portland.

Romain Grosjean’s abysmal season continued in Portland as a damaged left front due to Lap 1 contact sent him to the garage for several laps. The soon-to be departing Andretti Autosport driver got back to the track but ultimately ended his day in 27th.

Coming to three to go, Colton Herta was running in eighth before losing control in Turn 4, right in front of David Malukas and Josef Newgarden. Herta was able to get back going but wound up 13th as he is one of several young, proven INDYCAR winners who hae yet to win this season.

Herta has one more chance of doing so to avoid going winless for the first time since joining the series.

The Astor Cup may have been won, but there is one more race remaining in the championship trail. For the final time in 2023, the brave 27 men will look to conquer the freshly repaved WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

Coverage begins Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC as Palou seeks for another dominant win in Monterey to cap off his championship campaign.

2023 BITNILE.com Grand Prix of Portland Race Results

2023 INDYCAR Championship Standings