Chasing Alex Palou, INDYCAR Drivers Have 2 Choices: Acceptance or Anger

In Driver’s eye with James Hinchcliffethe six times INDYCAR The Winner will take you into the mind of a runner while breaking down the inner workings of the sport for fans.

I’m still basking in the joy of a fantastic INDYCAR trip up the west coast last weekend.

The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach offered perfect weather, lots of action and more fans than I can ever remember being on the 1,968-mile, 11-turn course. There was an amazing vibe that makes me wish we could go back and race there again this week, which is a familiar feeling leaving Long Beach.

However, there was another familiar feeling coming out of the last INDYCAR race – and one that surely didn’t leave the drivers feeling all warm and fuzzy inside. But that leaves them with two choices as they try to solve the sport’s biggest problem this season…

HOW DOES SOMEONE ARREST ALEX PALOU?!

You guessed it: Alex Palou and the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing team scored another victory, adding to their W column track list. And they notched their third victory of the season with their signature combination of blinding speed and perfect execution, once again.

At this point, it’s really hard to think of another driver who has maintained such a level of dominance over this elite competition. It’s not just about victories; it’s also about consistency (but we’ll talk about that later!).

I remember in the early 2010s, Will Power was bringing in four to six wins a season, and every time I thought, “Man, he had another one!” When he was in front, it was very difficult to beat him, and it hurt to lose to him so often. But alongside those dominant wins came tough days at the office, so the title remained a concrete proposition.

Palou and his team just don’t live for those days.

At Long Beach, pole sitter Felix Rosenqvist had the advantage in qualifying and through the first two-thirds of the 90-lap race. But during a pit stop under caution throughout the course, Palou & Co. capitalized and took the advantage by less than a car length. The stop for Rosenqvist and his No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing crew was slightly slower, with no massive errors, but it was enough to make the difference.

For their first pit stop of the race, Palou and Rosenqvist came together, and it was a straight fight between the #10 crew and the #60 crew. And in this case, the MSR team succeeded, and Rosenqvist took the lead by about 1.5 seconds.

But during the second stop on lap 59, a one-second delay in the grand scheme of a nearly two-hour race made the difference.

When a driver dominates to this extent for so long, one of two things happens to the rest of the competition.

The first choice is to accept the inevitable. You end up thinking, “They really are unbeatable.” I can’t do anything. I’m racing for second place.

When you think like that, he’s already beaten you. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you see it in your mirror, you assume it’s passing. If you oppose him behind you, you expect him to go in front. And when that’s your attitude, that’s exactly what happens.

The other choice is to get angry.

Pilots hate losing as much as they love winning. Use the feeling of being beaten as fuel to do more, push further, train harder. Study the data. Watch the integrations video to find any little thing you can do better. Whatever you need to do to beat this guy.

But it can’t just be about the driver. After all, this is a team sport and you need to motivate your entire crew to embrace the anger and frustration of losing to get the most out of themselves. Be so angry about losing that you refuse to let him win.

It’s certainly easier said than done, but it’s far more likely that the competition will improve than Palou will slow down at any time in the near future.

The trick is not to spiral. Getting angry should fuel what you do off the track, but on the track you need to stay calm and composed.

Felix Rosenqvist leads the start of the 2026 Long Beach Grand Prix. (Photo by Brandon Badraoui/Lumen via Getty Images)

In these situations, where you surpass yourself more than ever, if the results don’t do it start to deteriorate, frustration can reach a point where it lingers in your head while you run, which can cause you to slow down and make mistakes. It’s a delicate balance and so difficult to achieve.

So how can you beat Palou? Be perfect. That’s all there is to say. The confidence and momentum the No. 10 team currently has cannot be topped in any other way.

Palou and his crew are beatable in a straight fight. Kyle Kirkwood proved it on the street course in Arlington, Texas, but this has to be a day where no mistakes are made.

In the old days, drivers could take a short jump on the track or into the pits and maybe still take home victory. But Palou and CGR have set the bar so high that overcoming a small misstep can now prove insurmountable.

SOUND LIKE AN INDYCAR EXPERT

Let’s take a look at the championship standings, how points are earned and how they can be used to try to catch Palou – if you can’t beat him straight away. Always remember: every point counts.

There is a famous case illustrating this at the end of the 2015 season.

Scott Dixon – now in his 25th season with Chip Ganassi Racing – was in a title battle with Juan Pablo Montoya, and the race at Iowa Speedway was a pivotal moment. Montoya crashed early in the race and Dixon saw a chance to move closer to the title. But he encountered mechanical issues in the pit lane and his day appeared to be over.

But points could be salvaged.

So instead of giving up, Dixon’s team worked on his car, losing dozens of laps. Eventually, he got back on track, and if anyone else broke down or had a problem, he and his team could take over a single position.

Sure enough, another driver went off the track, which allowed Dixon to gain a spot on the track. He finished 18th – 37 laps behind the leader and dead last among the cars still running at the end – but earned one more point than he and his team would have had if they had parked the car when problems arose.

Fast forward to the final race of the year, and Dixon and Montoya were tied on points. But Dixon won the title in a tiebreaker – who has won the most – and that single point made the difference, giving the New Zealand driver his fourth (of six total) INDYCAR titles.

Scott Dixon with his wife Emma after winning the 2015 INDYCAR championship. (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images)

Now let’s return to Palou and try to beat him on the track or catch up with him in the championship standings. Like I said, the biggest key to his title run is consistency.

Of course, to be champion you have to have speed. But if you mix speed and lots of mistakes and crashes, you won’t be in the title conversation in the last race.

In other words, it’s better to finish fourth than to crash while trying to pass a guy for the last podium spot and end up with a DNF (did not finish). On a day when your car isn’t fast enough to finish in the top 5, settle for that eighth place and pocket the points.

One of the important metrics we like to look at is: who has the best worst finish? A driver can only achieve one victory during the season, but if out of 12 races he has nine top 10s and a worst finish of 12th, that consistency will keep you in the fight.

Points start at 50 for a win, then 40 for a second, and 35 for a third. From fourth place, at 32 points, he goes down in increments of two to 10th place. Then it’s one point per position up to 24th, and 25th and below gets five points.

So 50 points for a victory, five points for a last place. It’s a big swing. You can also get one bonus point for qualifying on pole, leading a lap, and two bonus points for leading the most laps.

And once again, every point counts.

Ultimately, to be champion in this series you need speed, but you also need consistency. Alex Palou has both in spades. It’s up to the rest of the field to get angry and start winning.

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