Has Alex Palou won an oval race in IndyCar? All you need to know

Alex Palou is arguably the most successful IndyCar driver this decade. With three championship titles and 11 wins, the Spaniard is an all-rounder who consistently finishes in the Top 5. Yet, Palou hasn't won a single oval race in IndyCar in all five years he's raced in the series.

Racing at an oval requires a different set of skills than racing on street/permanent circuits. The speed and stakes are higher than usual with a small mistake leading to a catastrophe. The unpredictability of another driver crashing and bringing out the caution also makes it a strategic nightmare for the pit crew. Only when all these factors are in harmony can a driver win at an oval.

Alex Palou, INDYCAR Bommarito Automotive Group 500 (Source: Getty)

While Palou is no slouch when it comes to ovals, his somewhat cautious approach hinders his chances at Oval wins. The Spaniard refrains from making overly ambitious moves, avoids mistakes, and keeps his points tally ticking. Hence, despite only having two wins (three including the $1 million challenge) in 2024, Palou won the championship courtesy of his 14 top 5 finishes.

Midway through the 2024 season, questions arose around Palou’s chances of maintaining his championship lead as the latter half of the season consisted of multiple oval races. Josef Newgarden and Will Power are known to be extremely quick around ovals. However, IndyCar.com published the statistics of active drivers since 2021 around ovals to put these questions to bed.

Newgarden has had the most wins at ovals since 2021. However, Palou equals Power when it comes to top 5 finishes. The Spaniard also had the second most top 10 finishes at 14, just one behind Pato O'Ward’s tally of 15. Regardless, the Chip Ganassi driver came out on top before the final stretch of the 2024 season and put to bed questions on his oval form.

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“What I’m not looking forward to in this last stretch is not being allowed to race” - Alex Palou on how the Oval mentality might've affected the final races of the 2024 IndyCar season

Alex Palou created a comfortable buffer in the championship in the first half courtesy of the calendar. Most of the races were on street/permanent circuits that suited the CGR car and the driver. However, with multiple oval races in the final stretch, Palou was doubtful of his chances.

AUTO: AUG 27 INDYCAR Bommarito Automotive Group 500 - Source: Getty

Nonetheless, the Spaniard didn't want to sit on his lead and wanted to go for the wins at the ovals. He also spoke about CGR’s cautious approach and expressed his will to race. Palou said (via autosport.com):

“What I’m not looking forward to in this last stretch is not being allowed to race and not being able to make moves during the race. Hopefully, I’m wrong. Hopefully, we learn from the testing and Iowa, but I don't think it’s easy.”

“It’s not the fact that I’ve never won on an oval, it’s more the fact of like, ‘Man, I think I’m getting there but I need the chance at an oval to race.’ I think we did amazingly at Indy, we could overtake, everybody could overtake,” he added.

While the CGR driver didn't win a single oval race in the final stretch, he did top the timing sheets at the post-season test at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.