When Alex Palou shared an insight into the grind of IndyCar racing from a driver’s perspective

Alex Palou won his third IndyCar Championship in 2024 in just his fifth year in the sport. Shortly after successfully defending his title, Chip Ganassi Racing's star driver opened up about how competing in IndyCar can take a toll on a driver's mental strength.

Jeff Tomko of Official Country Muscle shared a YouTube short on September 18, three days after the final race of the season. In the conversation, Palou explained that while he does not struggle while racing, he gets such thoughts once the race is finished.

"Lately, honestly I've never felt during a race that I am lacking a little bit of mental strength or energy but once the race is done you're like, 'Man, I'm done.' It's because when you're racing you're really close to the cars and you need to take super quick decisions on like 'I am gonna overtake here,' or 'I am gonna defend here,' or 'I am gonna brake here,'" Palou shared.

Palou also explained that the drivers need to be constantly aware of their strategy and how they're going to use the fuel as it is often one of the biggest factors that determines who wins the race.

"At the same time, you need to be driving fast, obviously, and thinking about your strategy like, 'Do I need to save a little bit of fuel’ so we have a faster pit stop, or we have one more lap when everybody needs to refuel and we can just go fast without having traffic. So yeah, you need to be constantly thinking, it's a part of driving, let's say," he added.

Alex Palou is the first driver to win consecutive titles in IndyCar since Dario Franchitti, who claimed the championship three times in 2009, 2010, and 2011. However, there is one stat in his 81-race career that the Spanish driver would like to change in 2025.

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Alex Palou hasn’t tasted success on oval race tracks

At just 27 years old, Alex Palou is already seen as one of the most talented drivers of his generation. Despite his early success with Chip Ganassi Racing, one of IndyCar's most prominent teams, Palou has yet to win on an oval track.

However, the Spanish driver is determined to make it happen in the 2025 season.

“I’m not proud at all about that stat, obviously. I’m proud that we haven’t lost time on winning championships while I’m still getting up to speed on the ovals, but I’m not proud that we haven’t won on an oval yet,” Palou said in an interview with NBC Sports.

However, Palou’s motivation goes beyond just winning on any oval. He also aims for the Indy 500, the crown jewel of the series. In his words, achieving both goals in one weekend would be the ultimate accomplishment.

“We will be working, we will be preparing and hopefully we can knock two big goals that we have, which is the oval win and the Indy 500 win, in one weekend next year,” the Spanish driver added.

While Alex Palou has undoubtedly shown his brilliance by winning three championships in just five years, achieving a win on an oval would earn him the status of a complete driver.