Palou leaves no doubt in Portland

The American Legion ~ Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou needed to only finish third or higher in Sunday’s BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland to clinch his second NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship in three years. But that wasn’t enough for the 26-year-old driver.

“He likes to win,” Ganassi said in a post-race interview. “I told him, ‘Hey, let’s wrap this up today.’ He said, ‘I’m going to wrap it up with a win.’ He called his shot.”

That Palou did, and again in dominant fashion, taking the lead on lap 22 and leading 69 of the final 88 laps, winning by 5.4353 seconds over runner-up Felix Rosenqvist. Driving the No. 10 American Legion Honda featuring the Be the One message, he wrapped up the series championship with one race remaining – the first driver to do so since 2007. CGR teammate Scott Dixon finished third and clinched second in the points race.

“That’s what we wanted,” Palou said. “It was an amazing weekend overall. We had really fast cars. We knew we had to go for it, and we just raced how we’ve been doing all season. Super proud to be here in victory lane and super proud of the second championship.

“And it’s extra special for The American Legion’s Be the One. It’s (Suicide Prevention Awareness Month), so hopefully that helps a lot of people now.”

Palou’s championship was Ganassi’s third in the past four seasons and 15th overall. Palou became just the fifth driver in the history of the sport to win multiple championships at 26 or younger. In addition to his title, Palou and CGR also earned $10,000 for his victory as part of the PeopleReady Force For Good Challenge; $5,000 goes to The American Legion as Palou’s chosen charity.

With one race to go, Palou has an average finish of 3.75 this season and has finished in the top 10 in every race. He is the first Chip Ganassi Racing driver to win five races in a season since 2009.

“I never thought that I would be an INDYCAR champion, and to be a two-time INDYCAR champion feels amazing, like a dream,” Palou said. “Thank you to The American Legion and Parkland for all your support this year. It’s been an amazing year, and we still have one to go.”

Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Marcus Ericsson, who also featured American Legion branding on his No. 8 Huski Ice Spritz, moved up three spots from his starting position to finish the race seventh. Ericsson has 14 top-10 finishes in the season’s 16 races.

“First of all, massive congratulations to all of Chip Ganassi Racing on the championship and then, of course, Alex on his win and his championship,” Ericsson said via CGR media. “He’s been the class of the field all year, and it’s hard to get a more deserving champion than that. I’m really happy for him and the whole team.

“For me, it was a tough race. A lot of pushing and shoving and getting pushed off, pushing people off. But in the end, we fought all the way through and ended up at a P7 finish. I think we did well to get there after a tough race. We wanted more, but a good day for the team and I’m happy for everyone.”

In the INDY NXT by Firestone GP of Portland, CGR developmental driver Kyffin Simpson started the race in the second row, but contact between two cars right behind him caused what would be a nine-car accident. Simpson would end up 13th in the race.

The NTT INDYCAR SERIES will wrap up the 2023 season with the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey Sept. 8-10.