IndyCar returned to Thermal Club two weekends ago for race number two of the 17-race 2025 season, and it was three-time and two-time reigning series champion Alex Palou who turned a 12-second deficit into a 10-second advantage over Pato O'Ward, despite the fact that the race that saw no caution flags.
The driver of Chip Ganassi Racing's No. 10 Honda is now two for two to start the 2025 season, having also won the season opener on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida in early March.
No driver had won back-to-back races to start the season since Scott Dixon won the first three in 2020. Even with just one more win later in the year, he went wire-to-wire to win his sixth title that year.
As for Palou, he has never not won a championship in a season during which he has found victory lane before the season finale. Every time he has entered an IndyCar race as a previous winner that season, he has gone on to win the title.
The fact that he has already two wins and has opened up a 39-point gap over O'Ward, who only has one top 10 finish in two races, makes him an even heavier favorite to three-peat.
Palou has already matched his entire win total from the 2024 season, when he still entered the season finale at Nashville Superspeedway with a relatively comfortable lead in the championship.
But only because half of his wins didn't actually count.
Last year's race at the 17-turn, 3.067-mile (4.936-kilometer) Twin Palms layout at the Thermal, California natural terrain road course was an exhibition, "All-Star" style race, and it consisted of two heat races before the main event.
Palou won his heat race, and he dominated the main event from pole. But no points were paid.
So the fact that Thermal Club was given a points race, and the Milwaukee Mile, where Palou had one of his worst weekends of the 2024 season, was stripped of one of its two races for 2025, was a bit alarming for the rest of the field.
After Palou hunted down O'Ward from a dozen seconds back without the aid of a timely yellow, it's safe to say that that alarm was justified. Because this year, Palou's rivals don't have the luxury of his Thermal Club victory not counting.
He may be sitting at 13 official IndyCar victories, but the fact that two of his 15 wins didn't actually count just made win number 13 hurt that much worse for his rivals.
Palou is set to go for his third win in a row on the streets of Long Beach, California on Sunday, April 13. The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach is set to be shown live on Fox beginning at 4:30 p.m. ET, so start a free trial of FuboTV and don't miss it!