Alex Palou scored his fourth victory of the season in Saturday’s Sonsio Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course.  Photo by Chris Owens

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio

Having clearly separated himself from his INDYCAR peers, Alex Palou now is worthy of comparison to domestic open-wheel racing’s short list of icons.

Think A.J. Foyt Jr., Mario Andretti, Rick Mears, Helio Castroneves, Al and Bobby Unser and Johnny Rutherford – all “Legends of the Brickyard.”

Palou continued his march into the record book with a methodical victory in Saturday’s Sonsio Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course – the Spaniard’s fourth win in five NTT IndyCar Series races this season. Palou posted an event-record third consecutive victory and became the first driver since Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais in 2006 to win four of the season’s first five races.

SEE: Race Results

“I cannot describe the amazing season we’ve had so far,” said Palou, 28, the three-time/reigning series champion. “I owe everything to the team, Chip Ganassi Racing, my teammates, everybody who is working behind the scenes to make me look so fast on-track. It’s amazing. It’s unbelievable.”

NTT P1 Award-winner Palou drove his No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda to a runaway 5.4840-second victory over Pato O’Ward in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. That margin likely would have been larger if not for a late caution period – first yellow in the series since Lap 1 of the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (Fla.) presented by RP Funding in March.

The yellow brought out by the disabled No. 4 Chevrolet wheeled by David Malukas of Waller, Texas-based A.J. Foyt Racing on Lap 70 ended a streak of 408 consecutive green flag laps – and actually was greeted by cheers from fans of eventual runnerup O’Ward.

Two-time series champion and 2018 Indianapolis 500 winner Will Power of Australia finished a season-best third in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet – albeit a massive 8.4529-seconds behind Palou. Native New Zealander Scott McLaughlin was fourth in the No. 3 Sonsio Vehicle Protection Team Penske Chevrolet.

Six-time series champion Scott Dixon of New Zealand, the 2008 Indy 500 champion, completed the top-five in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

Palou’s report card on this Mother’s Day features straight A’s – four victories (Streets of St. Pete, Thermal Club in California, Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Ala., and the IMS Road-Course) and one second-place finish (Streets of Long Beach). Alex leads the championship standings by 97 points – nearly two races-worth – over Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti Global after just five of 17 events.

“We need to do something to stop this No. 10 car,” said O’Ward, a native of Mexico with family ties to San Antonio. “These guys are really, really on a roll. I don’t think I’ve seen anything like it, especially in INDYCAR.”

Indeed, Palou’s average finish of 1.2 through five events is the best start to a season since Foyt won the first seven races of the 1964 schedule during the front-engine roadster era. “Super Tex” scored the second of his eventual record-setting four Indy 500s on May 30, 1964 in the No. 1 Sheraton-Thompson Watson/Offy.

Fittingly, next up for Palou and his CGR crew is Tuesday’s Opening Day of practice at noon (EDT) on the 2.5-mile IMS oval for the 109th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge on Sunday, May 25.  Victory in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” remains the one shiny object missing from Palou’s otherwise stellar open-wheel resume. Palou, in fact, remains winless on the series’ dwindling number of oval tracks.

“Hopefully we get to stay here (IMS’ raised Victory Podium) again in a couple of weeks for the biggest race of the year,” said Palou, who already is focused on claiming a fourth Astor Challenge Cup as series champion in five years. That feat was last achieved by Bourdais, who won four consecutive titles from 2004-07 under sanction of the Champ Car World Series.

With 12 races remaining on the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series schedule, it’s not even a stretch to imagine Palou threatening the all-time series record for victories in a season – 10 shared by legends Foyt in 1964 and Al Unser in 1970.

Saturday’s 85-lap/207.3-mile race on the 2.439-mile/14-turn IMS Road-Course was another showcase of strategy and patience for Palou and longtime strategist Barry Wanser. Palou led 29 laps, second to No. 2 qualifier Graham Rahal’s 49. However, that’s a familiar stat for Palou, who has been the overall lap-leader in only one of his victories this season, last Sunday on Barber Motorsports Park’s natural-terrain layout.

Palou started from P1 Saturday, but Rahal dove under him in Turn 1 on Lap 2. Rahal stayed out front in the No. 15 Fifth Third Bank Honda of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing past the halfway point of the 85-lapper except for pit cycles. Still, Palou never let Rahal break away, staying within a second or closer nearly that entire time.

While Rahal and Palou proceeded in lockstep, a key strategic difference separated them. New INDYCAR rules for this event mandated that every driver use two sets each of Firestone’s Firehawk primary (hard compound) and alternate (soft) tires. Palou used scuffed alternate and primary tires during his first two stints, while Rahal used new alternate and primary tires.

Rahal and Palou entered the pits together for their second stops in a dramatic moment at the end of Lap 41. Rahal’s crew switched to scuffed alternate tires, while Palou’s team mounted new primary tires. Better grip from the softer alternate rubber allowed Rahal to keep the lead over Palou after that stop. But the better durability of the primary tire – plus the availability of considerably more Push-to-Pass overtake assist – helped Palou reel-in Rahal.

Palou’s patience seemingly ran out on Lap 58, when he tried to pass Rahal in Turns 1 and 2. Rahal momentarily parried the move, but Palou dove inside Rahal in Turn 7 on the same lap and never trailed.

“I’m genuinely proud of the effort,” said Rahal, son of RLLR co-owner and 1986 Indy 500 champion Bobby Rahal. “I don’t think I locked-up once, I don’t think I put one wheel wrong. I defended as best I could but the Ganassi cars are in a league of their own. The grip they have; their ability to follow so close. We tried our best and I’m proud of the effort of the Fifth Third Bank guys.

“I tried to drive as flawlessly as I could because I knew that was the only way to beat them but unfortunately, we weren’t able to do that today. We’ll keep working hard. We’ve made gains and we’ll continue to try to close the gap.”

Once in the lead, Palou pulled away at an astonishing rate. His advantage grew to 4.1075-seconds just four laps after he got out front, and it appeared he was about to cruise to the checkered flag.

However, the first full-course yellow flag in 408 laps of competition dating to the season-opener in Florida on March 2 bunched the field on Lap 70, courtesy of Malukas’ stalled No. 4 A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet in Turn 10.

After a promising warmup session, Malukas advanced from 26th to 16^th in the span of 14 laps. But rising temps on his gauges warned him that all was not well. By Lap 69, he had lost power due to overheating. Malukas was credited with completing 68 laps en route to placing 23rd.

“Well, we were around 15 laps short,” said Malukas, a native of Chicago. “It just kind of sums up the start of this season. We got unlucky again. Had some overheating issues and our race ended up short there, which is really unfortunate, because I think we had a really good race car coming up from the back.

“Qualifying was a little bit of a rough performance from my side. But through the race, we started moving ourselves forward and making some good positions. Unfortunately, it just didn’t play out for us. We have to just get our heads down for the Month of May, which with A.J. Foyt normally, the history, it’s been very, very strong here. Hopefully all this bad luck that’s been happening will be gone. Maybe the Pope, who’s from Chicago, can give us some help for the 500.”

Santino Ferrucci, Foyt Racing teammate to Malukas, saw his day begin to unravel during the morning warmup when he entered the pits with smoke trailing from the No. 14 Sexton Properties Chevrolet. It was determined he would need a replacement Chevy engine; his crew set about switching powerplants.

Starting 11th, Ferrucci battled a car he and his crew could not adjust via air pressure changes or the tools within the cockpit. Ferrucci finished a lead-lap 20th.

“Obviously, a long day,” said Ferrucci, a resident of Dallas. “We had a motor change, couldn’t run warm up, couldn’t even put the car on the setup pad before going out for the race. Honestly, the guys did a phenomenal job with what we had. We were stuck with the trim, which we didn’t want because of the heat.

“All in all, probably one of the toughest races I think I’ve had in a while, trying to handle the car and some moves to try and keep us in the game. Excited to be done with turning left-and-right, and ready to be just turning left (on the IMS oval).”

The race went green on Lap 72, with Palou distancing himself from O’Ward entering the Turn 1 right-hander along the track’s long frontstretch. Palou’s gap grew to 2.4781-seconds by Lap 76, and he was never threatened.

Recall that O’Ward finished second in last year’s rain-delayed Indy 500 to Josef Newgarden, the Team Penske star who scored his second consecutive victory in the series’ crown jewel event. That fact and Saturday’s result definitely have O’Ward pumped for a week of practice leading into qualifying next weekend against a field in which Palou and Newgarden rate as chalk favorites.

“Strong day for the No. 5 crew and the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet,” O’Ward said. “A lot of over- cutting and under-cutting across strategies today, and we made the most of it. The team did an awesome job to get from eighth to second. No one had the pace to be there with Palou once again, so we’ll take this heading into the big one and show up when it counts for the 500.”

Rookie Dennis Hauger rolled to his third victory in four INDY NXT by Firestone races this season Saturday, passing Andretti Global teammate/fellow-rookie Lochie Hughes early in Race 2 of the Indianapolis Grand Prix double-header on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course.

Hauger drove his No. 28 Rental Group car to a 4.7739-second victory over the No. 26 McGinley Clinic/USF Pro Championship machine of pole-sitter Hughes, an Australian who earned his first career victory in INDYCAR’s developmental series Friday evening in Race 1. Myles Rowe finished a career-best third for the second consecutive race in the No. 99 Abel/Force Indy entry.

SEE: Race Results

“It’s been a great start to the season,” said Hauger, a 22-year-old native of Norway. “Yesterday wasn’t great, but we were able to come back and get a win today. Super-happy about that, and in a place like this, it’s awesome.”

Salvador de Alba of Mexico climbed one spot from his Friday finish to place fourth in the No. 27 Grupo Indi car as the third Andretti Global entry to finish in the top-four on the 2.439-mile/14-turn circuit. Caio Collet of Brazil completed the top-five in the No. 76 HMD Motorsports car.

Hauger became the first driver to win three of the series’ first four races since current NTT IndyCar Series star Pato O’Ward of Mexico and Arrow McLaren achieved the feat in 2018.

Hauger’s path to victory was created when he survived the first turn of the 35-lap/85.365-mile race without contact, unlike Race 1. Hauger was bumped off-track in Turn 1 on Friday’s first lap, falling to last in the 21-car field before recovering to finish eighth.

Hughes once again led into Turn 1 Saturday, this time with Hauger in pursuit. Hughes built a gap of 1.7- seconds by Lap 3 when the only caution period of the race flew. The yellow was triggered when Jack William Miller in the No. 40 Abel/Miller/Vinatieri Motorsports car and Nolan Allaer in the No. 11 HMD Motorsports machine made side-by-side contact in Turn 1, forcing both cars to stop in the grass.

On the restart at the end of Lap 5, Hughes and Hauger raced side-by-side toward Turn 1, with Hauger on the left and Hughes on the right at the start of Lap 6. Hauger edged ahead approaching Turn 2, with his left wheels on the dirt adjacent to the asphalt, and completed the pass for the lead in that corner.

While Hauger never trailed thereafter, Hughes stayed close for a while. Hauger’s lead steadied around 1-second until about 10 laps to go, when he started to pull away. Hauger padded the gap to 2.6718- seconds by Lap 29 and continued to drive away to the checkered flag.

“Yesterday was tough,” Hauger said. “I think we really didn’t have the balance, either, going through the field. But today we really nailed it. It was a warm day, and you had to judge it nicely with the rear tires. We managed well and we had really good pace. That’s a good way to bounce back.”

Hauger has fashioned a 15-point lead over Hughes after four of 14 races this season. Next event is the INDY NXT by Firestone Detroit Grand Prix on Sunday, June 1, on the Streets of Downtown Detroit (10:30 a.m. EDT, FS1, FOX Sports app and INDYCAR Radio Network).

NTT IndyCar Series Point Standings _ 1, Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing, 248; 2, Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global, 151; 3, Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren, 150; 4, Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren, 148; 5, Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske, 137; 6, Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing, 134; 7, Will Power, Team Penske, 128; 8, Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank Racing, 125; 9, Colton Herta, Andretti Global, 104; 10, Rinus VeeKay, Dale Coyne Racing, 100;

11, Alexander Rossi, Ed Carpenter Racing, 98; 12, Josef Newgarden, Team Penske, 96; 13, Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 92; 14, Marcus Armstrong, Meyer Shank Racing, 91; 15, Santino Ferrucci, A.J. Foyt Racing, 73; 16, Marcus Ericsson, Andretti Global, 70; 17, Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter Racing, 66; 18, Nolan Siegel, Arrow McLaren, 65; 19, David Malukas, A.J. Foyt Racing, 63; 20, Kyffin Simpson, Chip Ganassi Racing, 62;

21, Conor Daly, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 58; 22, Sting Ray Robb, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 56; 23, Louis Foster, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 49; 24, Robert Shwartzman, Prema Racing, 47; 25, Devlin DeFrancesco, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 44; 26, Callum Ilott, Prema Racing, 32; 27, Jacob Abel, Dale Coyne Racing, 28.

FOX SPORTS’ 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES BROADCAST COVERAGE SCHEDULE

Sunday, March 2 _ Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla. (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)

Sunday, March 23 _The Thermal Club, Thermal, Calif.  (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)

Sunday, April 13 _ Streets of Long Beach, Calif. (Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global)

Sunday, May 4 _ Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Ala. (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)

Saturday, May 10 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)

Sunday, May 25 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Oval (FOX, 10 a.m.)

Sunday, June 1 _ Streets of Detroit (FOX, 12:30 p.m.)

Sunday, June 15 _ World Wide Technology Raceway, Madison, Ill. (FOX, 3 p.m.)

Sunday, June 22 _ Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis. (FOX, 3:30 p.m.)

Sunday, July 6 _ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington (FOX, 2 p.m.)

Saturday, July 12 _ Iowa Speedway, Newton, Race 1 (FOX, 5 p.m.)

Sunday, July 13 _ Iowa Speedway, Newton, Race 2 (FOX, 2 p.m.)

Sunday, July 20 _ Streets of Toronto, Canada (FOX, 2 p.m.)

Sunday, July 27 _ WeatherTech Raceway, Laguna Seca, Monterey, Calif. (FOX, 3 p.m.)

Sunday, Aug. 10 _ Portland (Ore.) International Raceway (FOX, 3 p.m.)

Sunday, Aug. 24 _ The Milwaukee Mile, West Allis, Wis. (FOX, 2 p.m.)

Sunday, Aug. 31 _ Nashville Superspeedway, Lebanon, Tenn. (2:30 p.m.)

NOTE _ All times Eastern. Dates and times subject to change.