IndyCar: Alex Palou names 5 threats to end his championship run in 2025

Chip Ganassi Racing's Alex Palou pulled off what no IndyCar driver had pulled off since Dario Franchitti from 2009 to 2011 by winning back-to-back championships, securing his third title in four years this past Sunday afternoon at Nashville Superspeedway.

Last year, Palou became the first driver to clinch a championship before the season finale since 2007, and despite winning only two races this year, his impeccable consistency meant he almost did it again. If not for a battery issue in his No. 10 Honda ahead of the penultimate race of the season at the Milwaukee Mile, he probably would have.

Though Palou tied for the series lead with three wins during his 2021 championship-winning season and led the series in wins with five during his 2023 title-winning campaign, his consistency is what ultimately helped him secure the Astor Cup.

Had all eight of those victories been flipped to runner-up finishes and the runners-up in each of those eight races been promoted to the top step of the podium, Palou still would have won both championships.

His two wins were not tops in the series in 2024, but that would have been true once again. He would have beaten Andretti Global's Colton Herta by a single point instead of 31.

In fact, all seven drivers who won in 2024 won multiple races, something that had never previously happened in the history of the series, so technically no driver who found victory lane won fewer races than the 27-year-old Spaniard did. Yet he still prevailed with a relatively comfortable margin.

So who are his top threats?

Palou named teammate Scott Dixon, Team Penske teammates Scott McLaughlin, Will Power, and Josef Newgarden, and Herta as five drivers who he believes can challenge him, and he admitted there may be some others.

“It's tough to say, like if you leave one out," Palou told Beyond the Flag. "First of all, Dixon. I’ve been surprised and maybe impressed by the change of performance that Colton and Andretti have had this year, so they'll be there."

Though Dixon's sixth place finish in the championship standings matched his worst result since 2005, he still won two races and can never be counted out.

As for Herta, the fact that he only finished 31 points behind Palou is actually pretty incredible, given the litany of things that went wrong for him and the No. 26 team during the season.

"I would say Team Penske in general," Palou continued. "McLaughlin, Power, obviously I think Newgarden has had some unlucky races, even though he won back-to-back Indy 500 races, he maybe wasn't in contention at the end for the championship, so he'll be back next year for sure."

McLaughlin has quietly been both Team Penske's – and Chevrolet's – top finisher in the standings in each of the last two seasons, and he matched his career-highs with three wins and a third place finish in points in 2024. Power was the last remaining championship threat not named Palou this year, and he too won three races after a winless 2023 campaign.

As for Newgarden, his "down" year was still a multi-win season featuring an Indy 500 victory, and he too would have had three victories had his St. Petersburg win not been stripped via disqualification. That decision ultimately dropped him from fifth to eighth place in the final standings, his worst result since he drove for Sarah Fisher in 2014.

"Yeah, I would say those are the main rivals who I see. But it could be somebody that I'm not seeing or thinking about it now.”

Among others, Arrow McLaren's Pato O'Ward comes to mind after a second consecutive top five championship finish and fourth in five years since joining the series full-time. He won a career-high three races in 2024, tied for the most in the series, after a winless 2023 season.

Nobody else won in 2024, though Andretti Global's Kyle Kirkwood, who won twice in 2023 and quietly finished in fourth place in 2024's road and street course standings despite not winning, did finish ahead of Newgarden in the overall standings.

The 2025 IndyCar season is scheduled to get underway on Sunday, March 2 with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida. Fox is set to provide live coverage of this race and all other races on the 17-race calendar.