IndyCar: Palou wins in Iowa; Pato O'Ward finishes fifth and remains second in the season
While Alex Palou is shaping up to win the 2025 IndyCar, the Mexican is still in the fight and will seek to surprise
Spaniard Alex Palou (Chip Ganassi) won this Sunday on the Iowa oval and sealed his seventh victory in twelve IndyCar races of the season to strengthen his lead in the championship.
Palou won the race ahead of New Zealander Scottie Dixon (Chip Ganassi) and also New Zealander Marcus Armstrong (Meyer Shank Racing), who equaled the best result of his IndyCar career.
Mexican Pato O'Ward (Arrow McLaren), who won Saturday's race on this same circuit, had to settle for fifth place.
In the second race on this circuit in two days, Palou gave a show of strength after finishing fifth in Saturday's race and reversing roles with O'Ward, who won yesterday, to strengthen his lead in the standings.
Palou has 515 points in the championship, 129 more than Pato O'Ward and 173 more than Scott Dixon.
With more than 350 points still to play for, anything can happen and the Monterrey native still has a chance, although the Spaniard is the favorite.
The Catalan, triple IndyCar champion, is the first driver to win seven of the first twelve races of the championship since 1994. These are extraordinary numbers, which only the legendary AJ Foyt has managed to improve on, capable of adding ten wins out of twelve in 1964.
Foyt ended up winning the title that season. Palou is the big favorite to be crowned in 2025, in a year in which, in addition to seven wins, he also achieved four pole positions.
"Speechless. It was an incredible day. It's an incredible year, winning here is very special. We tried everything and it worked. Another win, seven wins in one year is crazy," Palou said upon getting out of the car.
It was the second victory of his career on an oval, after his historic triumph last May in the Indianapolis 500. The Catalan has 18 wins in 93 races in his already historic IndyCar career.
Palou, increasingly comfortable competing on ovals, He had been the protagonist from the start of a race that he lost after just three laps to New Zealander Scott McLaughlin (Team Penske).
But the race could have gotten complicated for him with 35 laps left, when Josef Newgarden, with an impressive pace, managed to overtake him. In that context, Palou also lost second place to David Malukas (AJ Foyt Racing).
Newgarden became the favorite to win, but a bad choice in his last pit stop and a yellow flag caused him to lose the lead and left him out of contention.
Palou was able to regain control of the race and sealed a new victory to strengthen his lead.

