Prior to 2023, no IndyCar driver had clinched a title before the season finale since Sebastien Bourdais in 2007 (Champ Car). Prior to 2024, no IndyCar driver had won back-to-back championships since Dario Franchitti from 2009 to 2011. Prior to 2025, no IndyCar driver had clinched a title with two races to go since Cristiano da Matta in 2002 (CART). And prior to 2026, no IndyCar driver had won four titles in a row since Bourdais from 2004 to 2007.
Alex Palou, now third on the all-time list with five championships, has rewritten the record books since joining Chip Ganassi Racing in 2021, when the team unexpectedly needed to fill the No. 10 Honda due to Felix Rosenqvist's surprise move to McLaren.
They went with the little-known driver who just finished 16th in the championship standings as a rookie at Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh, and the rest is history.
Palou's first championship came in his first season with the team in 2021, when he tied for the series lead with three wins but won the title largely due to his consistency and ability to capitalize each weekend, regardless of the exact circumstances.
It took him until the 2022 season's final race to win again, but that victory at Laguna Seca, a historic one that came by more than 30 seconds, pretty much set the tone for the next four seasons, and it reminded fans that 2021 was no fluke.
Palou has since won 21 races, including the 2025 Indy 500, and clinched three of his four championships during that four-year run even before the season finale.
But one thing he hasn't done, and won't do in 2027, is use the No. 1.
The No. 1 has tended to be reserved for the reigning IndyCar champion, but it hasn't been used since 2020, when 2019 champion Josef Newgarden used it. Six-time champion Scott Dixon, who most recently won the championship in 2020, has historically shied away from it after using it in 2004 and failing to win a race following his first title in 2003.
But Palou only wants to be associated with one number, and that number is the one he's used for the past six years.
"I really love the No. 10," Palou told Beyond the Flag. "I think the No. 1 is really cool as well, but at the same time, everybody can use the No. 1. Anybody from any team could ever possibly use the No. 1."
We have also seen, as recently as 2022, that the No. 1 isn't even necessarily restricted from use if the champion opts not to take it either. After Palou opted to continue with the No. 10 as reigning champion that year, A.J. Foyt Enterprises used the No. 1 for J.R. Hildebrand's Indy 500 entry.
So from Palou's perspective, why change just for the sake of change?
"I think the No. 10, there’s only one driver who can use it," he continued. "I think the No. 1, you need to earn it, but I treat the No. 10 the same way."
And for a driver whose IndyCar seasons continue to hit "10 out of 10" from a performance standpoint, perhaps No. 10 remains more fitting anyway.
Palou has also particularly enjoyed seeing so many No. 10 DHL jerseys show up at the race track, and while a switch to No. 1 would perhaps sell more jerseys for a year (or for however long his championship run lasts), he's enjoying the fact that he has become a part of the iconic primary sponsor's IndyCar legacy since joining forces with them back in 2024.
"At the beginning of my career, I thought that I didn’t want to change a livery that I won in, just because it’s like, ‘oh, what if it’s the livery?’, right, like it’s kind of allowing us to win and stuff," admitted the 29-year-old Spaniard, who has earned 25 career wins with nine different primary sponsors, half-jokingly.
"So it was just very cool to do a different livery after the first ever win and then be able to win again. Since we’ve run DHL, I remember everyone telling us that it reminded them too much of other drivers and not ourselves. I think luckily we made it our own livery and our own sponsor."
DHL, seeking their first IndyCar win since 2018, first Indy 500 win since 2014, and first championship since 2012, left longtime partner Andretti Autosport after the 2023 season. Since joining Palou and Chip Ganassi Racing on the No. 10 team in 2024, Palou has won 16 races, and 12 have come in DHL colors. Nobody else has won a championship.
"It’s been a really cool journey," he continued. "I’m happy and I’m very proud of what we’ve been able to build. You show up to a racetrack and it used to be DHL jerseys from other people, not No. 10. But now you show up there and it's No. 10 jerseys, DHL No. 10 jerseys, from us. Very cool to see, for sure."
Palou is looking forward to the offseason to get to celebrate his fifth title and fourth in a row, something he admits he hasn't been able to do much of yet because of the busy schedule, which included six races over the final 29 days of the season and plenty more activities in the days that followed the season finale at Laguna Seca.
"Yes and no at the same time," he said. "We’re kind of celebrating, but not really how I would spend more time with the mechanics and engineers, the team and stuff, but yeah, it’s been okay. I think next week we’ll have more time at home."
Palou has already shifted his focus to preparing for 2027 as he tries to become IndyCar's third-ever six-time champion and first to win five in a row. But aside from spending time with family over the next six or so months before March's season opener in St. Petersburg, Florida, a race he's won two years in a row, he's looking forward to spending time being a fan of another sport this offseason.
"I’ll be watching some NFL for sure," he said. "I love to follow it. I always like to follow it in the offseason. It kind of fits perfectly with our offseason. As soon as we’re done, you have NFL, and pretty much as soon as NFL is over, we start our testing and our season so it kind of fits together."
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