Alex Palou matches Gordon Johncock's win tally with victory in the OnlyBulls Grand Prix of Portland
What a machine. Just four days after Gordon Johncock celebrated his 90th birthday, Alex Palou tied the two-time Indianapolis 500 winner on 25 career NTT INDYCAR SERIES race victories. They now sit tied for 17th place in the sport's history books, but if the Spaniard keeps this up, he will soon match Rodger Ward's career total.
Driving at Portland International Raceway, Palou secured his sixth win of the season on Sunday in the OnlyBulls Grand Prix of Portland. That particular triumph puts him in elite company alongside Mario Andretti and Sebastien Bourdais as the only drivers with at least six victories in consecutive seasons. With five rounds still left on the calendar, he heads next toward WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca—the site of the season-ending INDYCAR Grand Prix of Monterey on Sunday, Sept. 6—where he has won each of the past two races and three of the past four.
Starting from the No. 2 spot, Palou dominated by leading 60 of the 110 laps to take his third career victory at the event. He executed the decisive move by staying out a lap longer than pole sitter Felix Rosenqvist during the first pit stop cycle before simply driving away from the pack. Felix Rosenqvist made things somewhat interesting thanks to a mid-race tire advantage, and Will Power mounted a late charge, but let's be honest: Palou was never truly threatened.
That victory stretches his championship advantage to a staggering 110 points after 13 races, a gap of more than two full races with five remaining. For context, his dominant title charge a year ago didn't even match this pace, as he led by 99 points heading into the 14th race at that stage. Palou is marching toward history, looking to become only the second driver ever to capture four consecutive INDYCAR SERIES titles following Bourdais from 2004 to 2007, which would bring his overall tally to five championships. Only A.J. Foyt with seven and Scott Dixon with six hold more.
Behind the leader, the rest of the field provided plenty of drama. Felix Rosenqvist kept up his strong campaign for Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian by collecting his fifth top-eight finish in the last seven races, converting his second pole of the year (his first since the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach) into 33 laps led. Will Power kept grinding away in his first year with Andretti Global; despite missing a crucial call to pit for the final time leaving him 11th in the standings, he drove to a third-place finish—his second in the past four races and third of the season.