Palou “proud” of latest IndyCar win, holds 83-point championship lead

Credit: Bella Rosen

Starting fourth at last month’s Music City Grand Prix, Álex Palou secured his first win at Nashville Superspeedway and his 50th career podium, extending his championship lead to 83 points. 

Bringing home the guitar 

Having followed behind Kyle Kirkwood and Josef Newgarden in the opening laps, Palou was happy to have brought home the win after finishing runner-up on the 1.33-mile oval last year. 

“I knew we had the great car. It’s one of those tracks that we’ve been struggling in the past,” Palou said. “The No.10 car, I was struggling a little bit at the beginning, but at the end I was so comfortable, especially once we got into the lead.”

The Nashville win also marked the 150th win for the Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR) team, making it an even more special moment. But it was not necessarily without some fortune on this occasion. 

“We got lucky on the yellow,” noted Barry Wanser, Palou’s strategist. “Everyone keeps saying we [pitted] to catch a yellow, but we came in because we caught traffic and we got the most out of the tyres on the car. We came in, took a chance, and we lucked out.”

With 30 laps left after a third caution restart of the race, which Palou led, the onus was on Palou to focus on not making any mistakes on hard tyres, while also keeping ahead of Newgarden. 

“I knew it was going to be very tough just because I saw how he was racing at the beginning of the race with Kyle,” Palou said. “I think once he started degrading the tyres and we got through traffic, that’s when I got the gap.”

The CGR driver gave fellow podium-sitters Newgarden and David Malukas flowers where deserved, with both drivers driving injured, in addition to battling intense heat. 

“While I was driving, I think the adrenaline and everything, you just continue to go and you really feel much,” Palou said. “[But] I can’t imagine driving injured like they did.”

A championship race to the end

With less 87 points splitting the top three in the championship standings (Palou, Malukas and Kirkwood), it promises to be a close race for the top positions in the closing six rounds. 

“I know it’s going to be a tough fight till the end, especially being so back-to-back races,” Palou said. “But we’re ready for it.” 

Winning at Nashville stood out to Palou, as he and the team did not expect a win coming into the weekend. There is a similar caution about the races to come; uncertainties still lie ahead.

“Milwaukee is a doubleheader,” Palou pointed out. “Although we were really good last year, we didn’t do very good at the test. Markham is a new track. What’s going to happen? Are we going to struggle, dominate? Nobody knows. Same for DC.” 

Credit: Bella Rosen

Spain’s sporting accolades 

After taking home the World Cup win the day prior, Palou added to Spain’s weekend accomplishments in the United States: a proud moment for the Spaniard and his home country.

“It’s just very cool for the country to get another World Cup,” Palou said. “I’m sure that everybody in Spain is going crazy and they’re going to celebrate for the next probably six months or so. It’s great for us to top it off with a race win.”

Despite that and his four championship successes in the past five seasons, Palou keeps in mind where he has to improve in his pursuit for a four-peat. 

“I think that’s the beauty of this sport or every sport, or life in general, you can always be a little bit better,” he said. 

And that continued improvement was made very clear in Nashville.

“Everybody on the team is always trying to improve,” Wanser added. “Álex admitted he made some mistakes; I made some mistakes this year. It’s very difficult to win in IndyCar. You’ve got to get it all right.”