IndyCar: This stat will make the 2021 champion hard to beat

Alex Palou could have won the 2021 IndyCar championship even without winning a single race, showing just how much of a force he can be moving forward.

In just his second season in IndyCar and his first season as the driver of the #10 Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing, Alex Palou ascended to the top of the series and claimed his first championship.

As a rookie driving for Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh in the 2020 season, Palou finished in 16th place in the championship standings with just three top 10 finishes, including a best finish of third at Road America in his third career start.

But with Felix Rosenqvist leaving Chip Ganassi Racing to replace Oliver Askew behind the wheel of the #7 Chevrolet at Arrow McLaren SP for 2021, Chip Ganassi Racing made a somewhat surprising move to sign Palou to compete alongside six-time champion Scott Dixon and former Formula 1 driver Marcus Ericsson.

And you would have thought the 24-year-old Spaniard was a seasoned IndyCar veteran, based on how he drove for the powerhouse team throughout 2021.

He won the season opener at Barber Motorsports Park as well as the races at Road America and Portland International Raceway.

Interestingly enough, had Palou finished in second place instead of first in all three races he won, he still would have won the championship.

Team Penske’s Will Power finished in second place at Barber Motorsports Park, Andretti Autosport’s Colton Herta finished in second at Road America and Andretti Autosport’s Alexander Rossi finished in second at Portland International Raceway.

Second place finishes for Palou in these three races would have dropped his point total from 549 to 519, and the additional points for Power, Herta and Rossi would not have made a difference in their positions in the championship standings.

Second place finisher Josef Newgarden of Team Penske finished the season with 511 points.

It just goes to show how strong Palou was throughout the 2021 season, even when he wasn’t winning — and how much a force he can be moving forward because of his consistency.

In modern-day IndyCar, with how deep the field is, that’s basically a requirement to compete for the championship. No driver won more than three races in 2021.

Aside from Palou’s three wins, he recorded five other podium finishes. He benefited from a second place finish in the double points-paying Indy 500, and the fact that he finished behind a part-time driver in Meyer Shank Racing’s Helio Castroneves as opposed to a championship rival didn’t hurt any — though second place itself in the biggest race in the world must have stung quite a bit.

Despite the parity throughout the field, Palou all but had the title locked up heading into the season finale on the streets of Long Beach, California. He didn’t officially clinch, however; the late Dan Wheldon remains the most recent driver to secure a title ahead of the season finale, doing so in 2005.

Of course, had Road America not turned out the way it did with Newgarden having a mechanical failure late after dominating the race, this points scenario wouldn’t be the case.

But Palou himself had two bad results that were out of his control. His engine blew up in the second race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, and he was taken out by Ed Carpenter Racing’s Rinus VeeKay at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway. Aside from these two unfortunate issues, he had just two finishes outside of the top seven.

Will Palou defend his IndyCar championship with another title in the 2022 season and become the first driver to win back-to-back titles since former Chip Ganassi Racing driver Dario Franchitti won three in a row from 2009 to 2011?

The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is scheduled to get the 2022 season underway on the streets of St. Petersburg on Sunday, February 27. This race is set to be broadcast live on NBC beginning at 12:00 p.m. ET. If you have not started your free trial of FuboTV, now would be a great time to do so!