IndyCar: How a disastrous race saved Alex Palou’s championship

Chip Ganassi Racing's Alex Palou entered the second race of the doubleheader at the Milwaukee Mile sitting 43 points ahead of Team Penske's Will Power in the IndyCar championship standings, a fairly comfortable margin with just two races remaining on the 17-race 2024 schedule.

But due to a battery issue, Palou's No. 10 Honda was unable to take the green flag when the rest of the field did, and by the time he was able to get back out on the track, it seemed like a lost cause, as he came out 29 laps off the lead lap.

Power, meanwhile, had taken the race lead, and he had put himself in a position where he was three points ahead of Palou as they ran. The worst possible scenario was unfolding for the 27-year-old Spaniard at the worst possible time.

But as driver after driver and car after car began dropping out of the race, some due to crashes and others due to mechanical issues of their own, Palou started making up ground.

Eventually, when Power lost the lead in the pits, Palou was back in front in the provisional post-race standings. Then Power made a critical error on a restart and spun out, though he only made slight contact with the wall.

By the time the dust had settled, Power finished in 10th place and Palou had made up eight spots from 27th to finish 19th. On a day he had scored just 11 points, he really made up 36, as he went from three points down to 33 points ahead, prior to the season finale at Nashville Superspeedway.

It was by far the most rewarding 19th place finish he had experienced during his racing career.

“Absolutely, yes," Palou told Beyond the Flag. "It was very unfortunate, the issue we had with the battery, that we couldn't even start the race, but it was amazing how the team got me back on track, how everybody was just trying to figure out what was wrong with the car, how quickly they reacted, and how well prepared they were.

"So yeah, it was the most fun 19th and rewarding 19th place I've ever had in my career. Lots of ups and downs. I started really down, like really low, how the day was looking, then we were a little bit up because we were gaining some points back, we were overtaking obviously the cars that were crashing and getting out of the race, but yeah, when he had that issue on the restart and we still came ahead 33 points, it was a big W for us.”

A driver can make up 49 points on another driver in any given race, with up to 54 available for the race winner and at least five going to all drivers who compete. So a 33-point gap was still far less comfortable than a 43-point gap, especially considering it took Power only a handful of laps to flip the script by 46 points in the early stages at Milwaukee.

But on only one occasion in 66 previous races since Palou joined Chip Ganassi Racing had Power beaten him by 33 points in a single race. That race took place at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course in 2021, when Palou's No. 10 car lost an engine and Power won the race.

"Wow. I did not know that," Palou said of the one in 66 stat. "You should have told me that before we went into Nashville!"

Either way, Palou is about as calm, cool, collected, and calculated as they come, and he knew that he had what it took to seal the deal no matter what Power did at Nashville.

"I was very optimistic about where we were in the championship with the points lead that we had," he said. "I was confident that we were able to control our own destiny, and we knew that if we were finishing ninth, no matter what he was doing, if he was getting pole, win, most laps led, blah blah blah, we still were going to be coming home with the championship, so that made me feel very confident."

Palou did come up shy of P9, which hasn't happened often since the 2023 season began, but that was more due to the fact that the championship battle was over relatively quickly, thanks to Power's early seat belt issue.

"I knew that we were able to make it, but having that said, it was not easy," Palou continued. "He's been really strong, together with Team Penske, on ovals this year, and we've been struggling a little bit more."

In hindsight, Power could have won at Milwaukee with Palou in last place, and Palou still would have won the championship due to Power's seat belt issue. But counting on an issue that Power had never dealt with in his racing career, prior to Sunday, wasn't an approach Palou wanted to have to be in position to take, especially with his rival starting 20 spots ahead of him.

As Milwaukee showed, anything can happen.

"With the engine penalty we had, starting 24th, it wasn't going to be easy to move to P9. That was a lot of cars to overtake, and in fact, we actually failed a little bit, even though he had some issues, but we came home 11th.

"We didn't make the optimistic strategy because we were just like, okay, let's have the championship secured. But yeah, I was confident, but not super confident, about it."