Alex Palou Continues Historic Rise With Fourth IndyCar Series Title

Alex Palou celebrates his fourth INDYCAR SERIES Championship with a celebratory drink of champagne at Portland International Raceway on August 10, 2025. (Photo by Jake Galstad/Lumen via Getty Images)

Lumen via Getty Images

Alex Palou has solidified his position as the face of IndyCar as the Chip Ganassi Racing driver clinched his fourth NTT IndyCar Series Championship with a third-place finish in the August 10 Bitnile.com Grand Prix of Portland. It was Palou’s third-straight IndyCar Series Championship and according to team owner Chip Ganassi, the best is yet to come.

For Ganassi, it was his 17^th IndyCar Series Championship, which ties him with the legendary Roger Penske for most championships in IndyCar history.

For Team Penske’s Will Power, he claimed the team’s first IndyCar win of the season and it’s the 45^th in the career of the legendary driver from Toowoomba, Australia.

While Palou’s future remains bright, Power would like to know if he has a future at all with Team Penske.

Power’s contract expires at the end of the 2025 season and so far, he has no indication that he will be offered a new deal at the end of the season. If that happens, Power will have to find a ride with another IndyCar team for the first time in 17 seasons.

Powerful Career At Team Penske

Power joined Team Penske in 2009 as a “fill-in” driver while Helio Castroneves was involved in a tax evasion trial in Miami, Florida. Castroneves would keep his ride if he was acquitted of all charges and when the judge ruled in Castroneves’ favor, Power had to turn the car over to Power.

But Penske kept Power on board with a limited schedule in 2009 and has been full-time at Team Penske since 2010.

During that time, Power won IndyCar Series Championships in 2014 and 2022 and the Indianapolis 500 in 2018. He is IndyCar’s all-time pole winner with 71, breaking Mario Andretti’s record of 67.

Since joining Team Penske, Power has won 43 races. His other two victories were with Team Australia in Champ Car in 2007.

The 44-year-old Power basked in the joy of returning to victory lane and reminding the NTT IndyCar Series he thinks he’s more than good enough to merit a new contract from Team Penske or another team in the paddock.

“I won three races last year,” Power said. “If you’re a team, if you’re waiting on me to know if I’m good enough, I don’t know what you’re thinking.”

Team Penske has been considering young David Malukas of AJ Foyt Racing as an addition to its team. Team Penske and AJ Foyt Racing share an engineering alliance and Malukas has been considered a star in the making in IndyCar, although he has yet to win an IndyCar race.

Alex Palou’s Perfection

Power’s win on its own would have made Sunday’s IndyCar race at Portland memorable. Combine that with another glorious moment for Palou proved to be a great intersection of one more win for the old pro and another championship for IndyCar’s near perfect driver.

What Palou has done in 2025 is near perfection. He is the 30^th different driver in NTT IndyCar Series history that has won the Indianapolis 500 and the IndyCar Series championship in the same season. Counting multiple winners, that has happened 36 times.

“It’s been amazing,” Palou said. “This year has been even more than magical with the (Indy) 500, with so many wins.

“Today we wanted a win, as well. We gave everything that we had on track. It didn’t work.”

Palou finished third behind race winner Power and Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard but drove with the same fierce tenacity he has displayed all season.

The championship wrapped up after the only other driver in contention, Pato O’Ward, experienced electrical failure when a wire rubbed through the shield and shorted out, forcing the team to change the Direct Injection Box. O’Ward finished 25^th, 10 laps down, and Palou was already assured the championship if he finished the race.

But that’s not Palou’s nature as he made it a thriller at the end, even getting bumped off the track when he tried to pass Lundgaard for second place in the closing laps.

“We’re here to win,” Palou said. “That’s why we’re here. We’ve said it many times. When we come here, although we have that big goal of winning the championship, our priority is always to win races and win every single weekend.

“We knew we had everything we needed to win. I saw that I had two small opportunities to try to get Lundgaard. I thought I could have done the same thing to Will. But it didn’t work.

“Yeah, we gave everything. Even though could have been okay to stay third, we wanted to win.”

Chip Loves Winners

There’s a common phrase at Chip Ganassi Racing – “Chip Loves Winners.”

But Ganassi loves champions and Palou’s Fourth IndyCar title was historic because Ganassi is now equal to the great Roger Penske for most IndyCar Series Championships with 17.

“I couldn’t be more pleased,” Ganassi said. “I obviously want to thank Alex, everybody that works for us. I want to thank everybody that ever had a hand on any of those other 16 championships.

“A lot of people aren’t here or aren’t with us anymore. They had fingerprints on these titles.

“But today we’re celebrating the 17th. Couldn’t be happier.”

Thanks to Alex Palou, Ganassi has plenty to celebrate.