Celebrating the 2024 NTT IndyCar Series Championship with three-time champion Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing

ROGER:

This is Roger Penske and you're listening to Pit Pass Indie, sponsored by Penske Truck Rental.

BRUCE:

IndyCar fans, it's time to start your engines. Welcome to Pit Pass Indy, a production of Evergreen Podcast. I'm your host, Bruce Martin, a journalist who regularly covers the NTT IndyCar Series. Our goal at Pit Pass Indy is to give racing fans and insiders view of the exciting world of the NTT IndyCar Series in a fast-paced podcast featuring interviews with the biggest names in the sport. I bring nearly 40 years of experience covering IndyCar and NASCAR, working for such media brands as NBCSports.com, SI.com, ESPN SportsTicker, Sports Illustrated, AutoWeek and SpeedSport. So let's drop the green flag on this episode of Pit Pass Indy. Welcome to this special bonus edition of Pit Pass Indy presented by Penske Truck Rental as we continue our fourth season of giving IndyCar fans a behind the scenes look at the NTT IndyCar Series and the drivers and teams that compete in the Indianapolis 500. The 2024 NTT IndyCar Series season is over, and Alex Polo is the champion for the third time in four seasons, including the last two years. He becomes the first back-to-back IndyCar Series champion since Dario Franchitti won three straight from 2009 to 2011. On this special bonus edition of Pit Pass Indy, we will have an exclusive interview with Palou as he recaps his championship season in IndyCar. It's Palou's third IndyCar title in four seasons. His first was in 2021, his second in 2023, and the third came this past season. Palou joins an impressive list of racers with three or more IndyCar championships, including AJ Foyt with seven, Scott Dixon with six, Frank Keedy with four, Sebastian Bourdais with four, Louis Meyer to Ed Horn, Jimmy Bryan, Mario Andretti, Rick Mears, and Sam Hornish Jr. with three championships apiece. He is the second youngest three-time IndyCar Series champion. Hornish remains the youngest. Below joins a legendary list of back-to-back IndyCar champions, including Louis Meyer, Rex Mays, Ted Horn, Jimmy Bryan, AJ Foyt, Mario Andretti, Joe Leonard, Tom Stieva, Johnny Rutherford, Bobby Rayhall, Alex Zanardi, Gilles DeFerran, Sam Hornish, Sebastian Bourdais, and Frank Eaddy. There is no limit to Pelo's greatness. Unlike Pelo's dominating season in 2023, when he led the series in victories with five, he won two races in 2024, including the GMR Grand Prix of Indianapolis in May and the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey in June. But Palou was never lower than third in the standings the entire season and led the standings ever since that victory at Monterey on June 23rd. Beginning with the second race of the Hy-Vee IndyCar Race Weekend at Iowa Speedway, Palou took firm control of the title with finishes of second at Iowa, fourth at Toronto, fourth at Gateway, second at Portland, and fifth in the first of two races at the Milwaukee Mile. Although he finished the season with a 19th place finish in the second Milwaukee race and 11th at Nashville, his control of the championship was never seriously tested in the final weeks. Let's get to know more about Alex Bellows' championship season as the three-time NTT IndyCar Series champion joins me for this exclusive interview for PitPass Indy presented by Penske Truck Rental. Getting to be old habit to have this interview, but it's the end of the season and we're talking to the 2024 NTT IndyCar Series champion. And for the second year in a row, the third time in four years, it's Alex Polo of Chip Ganassi Racing. Alex, this is getting to be a regular habit, but I'm sure it's a habit that you don't mind.

ALEX:

Absolutely. I love it. And hopefully we get to do that more often in the future. But yeah, surreal. Surreal to be here again. It's amazing that we've won three championships and that we've been able to do it back to back. Man, I just want more now. This feeling of winning, this feeling of overcoming issues together with the team and working every single weekend just to try and be a little bit better. It's been amazing.

BRUCE:

What is more impressive to you, the fact that you've won back-to-back IndyCar Series championships or that you've had three in four years?

ALEX:

Um, it's tough. It's tough to say, but I would say back to back, back to back. It's actually, um, really tough just because, um, when you win, sometimes it's, it's easy to maybe, uh, relax a little bit and think that, Hey, we were so good last year that, um, we maybe don't need to push as much. And I learned that, uh, after 21 that men, everybody's trying to catch up from today, probably. So, um, back to back is really tough. That's probably why we don't see that often. Um, I would say obviously three in four years, it's very tough as well. But yeah, hopefully we keep on working, we keep on pushing, and hopefully we can try and catch up to what Dario did back in 2013.

BRUCE:

2009 to 2011. Yeah, that brought up my next question was, he's one of your mentors, one of the advisors, consultants, driver coaches, whatever you want to call him at Chip Ganassi Racing. And I know he was very proud of you to see you join him as a back-to-back champion, but I believe he still has won over you a three straight series championships that he won back then. But what's it like to be able to Make an accomplishment like that and have the guy that was the last to do it on your team.

ALEX:

Oh, it's huge. I mean, I've said it since 2021 that he was a huge part of the team's success. And he is today as much as he was in 21. I would say everywhere. He's able to see, obviously, I mean, he's an amazing, he was an amazing IndyCar driver, but he's able to see stuff that maybe I don't see because I'm so focused on my driving and he's able to maybe zoom out a little bit and be like, Alex, maybe you need to see what Scott is doing or what Marcus or Linus or other teammates are doing. or you need to try and push Julian, my engineer, on that direction. So yeah, he's a huge part of the team. I would say that maybe having it in the team for so long and knowing him so well privately, you lose a little bit of... the respect that I would have if he was from another team or if I didn't have that relationship. But it's pushing me to try and be like, hey man, I'm trying to catch up and hopefully next year we can do the same thing you did back in 2009 with the same, actually same car, same team, same number.

BRUCE:

How quick was he to bring up that he's still one up on you in terms of consecutive IndyCar victories? Because he mentioned that to me when I interviewed him.

ALEX:

First thing he said, yes, he said, I still have one more. So meaning like he did it three years in a row, but. That's, that's what I mean. It, uh, it makes you, um, it makes you respect what he did, but at the same time, it pushes you to like, Hey man, I can try and catch you. So, um, I'm sure that he'll be pushing the team. He'll be pushing myself next year to try and, um, get three in a row as he did.

BRUCE:

Every IndyCar series season is different. And that includes the championships. In 2023, you were the dominant driver of the season. You won most races with five and you wrapped up the championship with one race remaining, breaking a streak that went all the way back to Sebastian Bourdais when he was in the champ car series in 2007. This year, you were still in control of the championship. didn't win the most races. There were several drivers that had three victories. How would you compare the two championships or the two seasons for you 2023 to this year?

ALEX:

I would describe last year 2023 as just magical where we had five wins. We never had any big issues even when front wing was falling off. We finished second in Toronto. Worst finish was eighth. So it was just a magical almost perfect season. This one was a magical season where you end up winning the championship, but it was not all perfect. We had a lot of downs with some driver errors, some accidents that we were involved that we couldn't really do anything, mechanical issues, engine penalties, like this last race at Nashville that we had to start 24th. So it was a lot. We had to overcome a lot more a lot more issues but still it's been magical that we ended up winning the championship back to back.

BRUCE:

After you qualified 15th, but also had to serve the nine grid spot penalty because of an engine change going over your season engine allotment that IndyCar has, I remember asking on pit lane that you've just made this championship race a little more dramatic. 24 hours later on lap 13, the drama all left the championship chase when Will Power had to come in because the lap belts came unconnected. When you think about just the way the drama flipped so quickly, not only for you on Saturday, but for him on Sunday, that really is pretty remarkable when you think about it.

ALEX:

Yeah, it's crazy. I mean, I've never... heard that somebody had issues with the bells in IndyCar before. And I would say that it's been long since somebody at the same time had issues with a battery, normal 12-volt battery in the car before, like we had a couple of weeks ago at Milwaukee. So it's been a season of drama, as you say, where you didn't really know if Alex was going to clinch it and run away. No, the battery fell and now Power is getting the leader points in Milwaukee, but then he has an issue on a restart and then he loses the Labels in Nashville, the season finale. So not the way you want your top contender to go down. At the same time, I think that's better than an accident and him being hurt or anything, obviously. But still, it's been a season that nobody had a perfect a perfect season overall, and I'm glad that we were able to have just the best season overall.

BRUCE:

When you compare the two drivers, you're always even-keeled, as Chip said in our little private media session with him in the Motorhome, that if Scott Dixon is the Iceman, you're cool as a cucumber. Then you compare that with Will, who sometimes can be emotionally all over the place. Do you believe that that is one of your greatest strengths?

ALEX:

It depends. I think there will be some drivers that couldn't, wouldn't be able to perform maybe with my mindset, wouldn't be able to be so explosive with my way of thinking. And I would say not only racing, but life in general. But it works for me. It's what keeps me pushing, what keeps me never giving up and always trying to see the bright side of the issues that we have. And at the same time, I think it wouldn't work for me to be so explosive and maybe a bit more, yeah, a bit more hot when everything was good and a bit more desperate when everything was going bad. So I think there's two sides, which works for different drivers. And I'm glad we have different personalities in IndyCar.

BRUCE:

When is the last time you've been mad?

ALEX:

I've been mad. I get mad. I get mad a lot. Like you should ask. Like my, even my team, uh, they know when I'm mad. Um, I was mad after qualifying because we, we wanted to be in Nashville because we wanted to go for pole. And instead of that, we finished for 15th when we had the car to do a little bit better. Um, but we just went too aggressive with downforce and couldn't hold it flat. So I was mad. They knew it, but I just maybe didn't show all the world that I was mad.

BRUCE:

You drive for a team owner who's not afraid to show when he's mad, but yet you've developed such a great relationship with Chip Ganassi. Surprises a lot of us because back in July of 2022, we didn't know if the two of you would be able to coexist for the rest of the season. So when you look at how that relationship between you and Chip Ganassi has grown, how would you describe that?

ALEX:

I would describe it as a normal person relationship where maybe It wasn't going right at the beginning. Obviously, the relationship didn't go the way we wanted, but then with the issues we had in between, it just brought us together and we're as good or we're better than we've ever been, better than 21, better than when we first signed. Yeah, it's it's amazing to be part of the team. I'm glad that everything worked out after all the drama that I caused around myself and around the team. And I'm glad that it didn't affect the team overall, like the team kept on pushing and we've been able to deliver three championships in four years.

BRUCE:

We'll be right back to Pit Pass Indy after this short break.

WILL:

This is Will Power of Team Penske, and you're listening to Pit Pass Indy, presented by Penske Truck Rental.

BRUCE:

Welcome back to Pit Pass Indy. Here's the rest of my exclusive interview with three-time IndyCarSeries champion Alex Palou for Pit Pass Indy. Ironically, we're at Nashville, where in 2023, when it was the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix on the streets of Nashville, is when you, I believe, made your decision that you were not going to go to McLaren and you were going to return to Chip Ganassi Racing. And now here we are back at Nashville, Nashville Super Speedway, where the race was held and you're celebrating a championship. Has that thought ever come into your mind about how Nashville played a key role to make the decision to return? Not saying that Nashville was the reason you were returning, but it was where a key moment in you staying.

ALEX:

Yeah, it was the weekend where everything was announced and maybe made like everybody knew about it. Obviously, I made the decision earlier than that. But yeah, I haven't thought about it. It's true. Maybe because we changed, let's say, tracks that they didn't feel like, oh, we were here when everything happened again. But yeah, now that you say it, it's true.

BRUCE:

And the other point that I brought up is this is the season, the bonus season, as I call it, because if things had remained differently, you would have been with a different team this year, but you decided this is home. This is where I want to stay. So in some ways, do you feel that this year was a reward for making that decision that you were able to validate to yourself? This is a great place. I made the right call.

ALEX:

100% and it's a way to always maybe say sorry to the team at CGR, to just be like, hey guys, I'm sorry for what I did. Instead of just saying sorry in words, bringing another championship home. I would say it's the best way for all the crews, for Mike, Chip and everybody that is at CGR.

BRUCE:

In 2023, when you won the championship, your team captain leader, Barry Wanzer, wasn't there to celebrate you clinching the title at Portland or the last race of the season at Monterey because he was undergoing throat cancer procedure, but he's back, he's healthy, and he was on the box and you got to celebrate it with him in Victory Lane in the championship celebration. How special of a moment was that?

ALEX:

yeah I mean it was very emotional for him which is crazy because he's done it many many many times and to think that he still gets so into the competition and he cares so much it's amazing to me but yeah it was emotional for everybody that he was able to be back with us celebrating on track instead of being at the hospital recovering like last year. It was very sad. He did 99% of the job in 2023 and he was not able to celebrate. And it's sad just because you don't know when it's going to be the next one. Lucky enough, we've got it. We didn't have to wait more than one year to celebrate again and to have Berry with us celebrating was super emotional.

BRUCE:

And how special is your relationship with the chief mechanic, Ricky Davis? He seemed, I mean, he's the guy that puts the car together for you and you're the guy that gets out there and takes it to victory lane.

ALEX:

Yeah, I would say since day one, our relationship has been amazing. Probably obviously growing a lot more in a better direction because we had so many issues and successes together. So, Yeah, it's amazing that he still keeps up and he still cares so much. Every time before I go on track, when I'm already strapped into the car, he looks at me and he just gives me the sign to go, to go hard and to try and win or to get the pole. So it's amazing, once again, that a person that has been able to be around so many championships still cares so much as if it was their first one.

BRUCE:

And then there's of course, Mr. Big, the team owner, Chip Ganassi. As I asked you yesterday, I go, when you get a hug from Chip Ganassi, it's like getting a hug from a grizzly bear. And then you pointed out, he also likes to slap you on the side of the face too. So what's it like when you get that type of reaction out of Chip? Chip is a rather imposing figure.

ALEX:

Yeah, when you get the slap, it normally means that he's super happy, which it's amazing. Honestly, once again, he built an organization that has won 16 IndyCar championships. So to be able to see that he cares so much, it just blows my mind and I'm really happy to be part of it. Yesterday, before we went out to try and win the championship, he obviously said that he was very happy about how all the year went, how all the engineers and mechanics worked, but he wanted and he demanded all of us to bring the championship home. And I really love that side of like, hey guys, it's been a great year, but the job is not done yet. It makes a big difference if we finish first or if we finish second. So that kind of good push and good pressure, it's pressure, but it's the pressure that you want. It's a pressure that he wants results and he's giving you all the tools that we need to win.

BRUCE:

When you think of the names of champions at Chip Ganassi Racing, Jimmy Vassar, Alex Zanardi, Juan Pablo Montoya, Scott Dixon, Dario Franchitti, the list goes on and on. But here you are not just a champion, but a multiple champion. And when you think of the history of this team. How proud are you of what you've been able to accomplish?

ALEX:

Yeah, it's insane. It's insane that I'm around those names. It's a privilege to still have Dixon in the team. I'm 100% sure that I wouldn't be here today talking without him in the team. Like if you remove that part, the team is not as strong. And men, I'm hungry. I'm hungry for more. I'm hungry to try and get more for the team, to try and get more for myself and to hopefully join the same list, but for the Indy 500 championships.

BRUCE:

One of the things missing on your career record is a victory on an oval, which is strange to believe because you nearly won the Indianapolis 500 back in 2021. How surprised are you that that is something that you still have yet to achieve as an oval victory?

ALEX:

Yeah, not proud at all about that stat, obviously. I'm proud that we haven't... let's say lost time on winning championships while I'm still getting up to speed or getting everything from myself from the ovals. But yeah, I'm not proud that we haven't won on an oval yet. We've been knocking on that door. I've been pushing myself. I've been, everybody in the team has been pushing to try and get that one. But yeah, it was not the year yet. So 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.

BRUCE:

Well, if you go back to 2021, when you were chasing Elio, your third career victory could have been in the biggest race of them all, the Indy to Atlas 500. How important would that have been to have gotten that out of the way early?

ALEX:

It would have been incredible, but maybe it was too early. Maybe it was too early for me to think that I was good on Ovals. This has been pushing me to look maybe very deep, very deep on how Scott drives, how my teammates drive, how other people drive, how other teams perform, and what I can try and get from myself to try and be the best I can on Oval.

BRUCE:

How important would it be for you to get that Indy 500 victory?

ALEX:

Oh, you will see when we get it, hopefully very soon. I love this sport a lot. I love the fans a lot, but I love the event and that track so much. It's just, it has a different kind of energy. You can feel it when you enter the track and on driver intros, seeing everybody there, it's super special. So yeah, can't wait.

BRUCE:

Different year for you because you're a father and you got to take your daughter into the championship celebration. That's a family moment that you'll always cherish.

ALEX:

How do you describe it? Best moment of my life. When she was born and when we got to celebrate our third championship together and her first championship with us. So it's... It's super special to have her there. She was crying a little bit because there was too much noise, too much music and too many people around, but I cannot wait for her to be more conscious, to be a bit bigger and to tell her that she was there for my third championship.

BRUCE:

And when you think about great career, great family, great everything, how cool is it to be Alex Polo?

ALEX:

It's the coolest thing ever. I can tell you that. It's amazing. I'm very lucky to have the family I have around me, the wife, my daughter, but the success around everything, it's been incredible. So, yeah, I enjoy my life every single day when I wake up until I go to bed and I couldn't ask for anything more.

BRUCE:

And finally, a new era of IndyCar racing in 2025. They'll probably be a little bit of a shuffle on the driver lineup because the charter system's a limit. Some teams to three where Chip Ganassi Racing had five entries in 2024. The competition level is always going to increase. So how do you prepare yourself to fight off all the people that want to be the next Alex Polo?

ALEX:

Yeah, try and do push a little bit better. in every single aspect that we've been working this year. So try and improve myself on mindset, game, physically, and then the overall will be, it will take a lot of time during the off-season for me on the simulator, just seeing videos and all that stuff. It will come down to just putting more work, which I know that CGR will be doing the same thing as well to try and get a little bit more speed from the cars, a little bit more grip, a little bit more this and that. So it's all about details in this series because it's so close. So hopefully we can knock off all the details.

BRUCE:

And how satisfying is it to take on all comers and still come out on top?

ALEX:

Yeah, it's, uh, it's amazing. It's amazing that, uh, we've been able to overcome some of our biggest competitors, um, and that we've been able to do it back to back. So, um, couldn't be happier.

BRUCE:

Well, Alex Polo, congratulations on another championship season. A great year for you. A great career so far. Thanks for being a friend of the show. Good luck in 2025. Enjoy the off season and thank you for joining us on Pit Pass, Sandy. Thank you, Chris. We'll be right back to Pit Pass Indy after this short break.

JOSEF:

Hey, everyone, this is two time Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden, and you're listening to Pit Pass Indy presented by Penske Truck Rental.

BRUCE:

And that puts a checkered flag on this edition of Pit Pass Indy. We want to thank our guest, 2024 IndyCar Series champion, Alex Polow of Chip Ganassi Racing, for joining us on today's podcast. Along with loyal listeners like you, our guest helped make Pit Pass Indy, presented by Fenske Truck Rental, your path to victory lane in IndyCar. On the highways, the raceways, and every pit stop in between, Penske Truck Rental keeps you moving forward. Gain ground with Penske. For more IndyCar coverage, follow me at x, previously known as Twitter, at BruceMartin, one word, uppercase B, uppercase M, underscore 500. This has been a production of Evergreen Podcast. A special thanks to our production team, executive producers are Bridget Coyne and Gerardo Orlando. Recordings and edits were done by me, Bruce Martin, and final mixing was done by Dave Douglas. Learn more at evergreenpodcast.com. Until next time, be sure to keep it out of the wall.