2021 IndyCar title is just the start for Ganassi's newest star

Alex Palou has captured Chip Ganassi Racing's 14th IndyCar drivers' championship, and in truly stellar manner. David Malsher-Lopez explains what made the Palou-Ganassi combo so potent so soon.

David Malsher-Lopez Sep 28, 2021, 5:33 PM

Upd: Sep 28, 2021, 6:18 PM

Even when driving for a team as strong as Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda, being able to finish in the top three in half the season’s races is a stellar achievement in a championship as wickedly tight as the NTT IndyCar Series right now. And when three of those eight podium visits see you standing on the center step, that’s a championship right there.

And that’s exactly what 2021 IndyCar champ Alex Palou delivered. But how did a veteran of just 14 IndyCar races coming into this season achieve such astounding consistency? Well, there seems little doubt that part of his (open) secret to success is his astonishing ability to stay out of trouble, to make great judgment calls on what is and isn’t feasible in the heat of battle, and to remember that Chip Ganassi – like most team owners – prefers you to bring home a certain second place rather than stick it in the wall going for a possible win.

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Author David Malsher-Lopez

David Malsher-Lopez is Motorsport.com’s U.S. editor, covering the NTT IndyCar Series and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Since completing journalism college in 1994, he has worked for Autosport, TRMG, Motor Sport, Autosport (again) and Racer, before joining Motorsport.com in 2015… where he has found himself enjoying a third spell writing for Autosport. Over the course of those 27 years, he has served as a journalist, sub-editor, features editor, deputy editor and editor. In 2015, he also wrote Will Power’s biography. David lives with his wife Sophia in California and when not writing about racing, he will be found reading about planes and classic cars, attending airshows, listening to a wide variety of music or watching cop shows from the ’70s. He intends to one day own a grand piano, an Airedale terrier and a vintage Pontiac. He doesn’t do Facebook and doesn’t understand Instagram but can be found @DavidMalsher on Twitter.