INDIANAPOLIS, In. – The strangest championship weekend of the IndyCar season ended with the most familiar sight imaginable.
Álex Palou (No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) was a champion again.
In a Milwaukee Mile doubleheader turned upside down by rain, red flags and a schedule that bordered on surreal, Palou did what he has done better than anyone else in the series over the past six seasons: He kept his head down, kept the car pointed in the right direction and collected exactly what he needed.
By the time the checkered flag finally fell Sunday night, the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda had carried Palou to a fifth NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship in six seasons — and a fourth consecutive title.
The numbers are becoming difficult to comprehend.
Five championships since 2021. Four in a row. Six victories already in 2026. Twelve top-five finishes in 17 starts.
And at just 29 years old, Palou now has only two names ahead of him on IndyCar’s all-time championship list: A.J. Foyt, with seven, and Scott Dixon (No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda), with six.
The latest title wasn’t won with a dramatic last-lap pass. It didn’t require a miracle.It required something much more characteristic of Palou, control.
The championship was won long before Milwaukee
Palou arrived at the Milwaukee Mile with a championship cushion that had turned the final races of the season into a question of when, not whether, he would be crowned.
But Milwaukee had other ideas.
Rain disrupted the weekend, forcing Race 1 to be halted after 90 laps and creating an unusual Sunday schedule in which IndyCar ultimately completed both races on the same day.
Palou began the weekend with an engine-related grid penalty, yet still put himself in position to score the points necessary to end the championship fight. He finished fifth in the first race.
Then came Race 2.
Pato O’Ward (No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet) was the man of the day, sweeping both Milwaukee races and becoming the first driver since 1981 to win two IndyCar races on the same day. Palou, meanwhile, didn’t need to chase the trophy in victory lane.
He needed to protect it. He finished 10th. That was enough. Palou had done it, Again.
The art of winning without having to win
That’s perhaps the most revealing part of Palou’s latest championship. There was no desperation. No unnecessary gamble. No attempt to manufacture a Hollywood ending. While O’Ward was fighting for victories, Palou was fighting the championship battle that mattered most and that distinction has defined his career.
The 2026 season has been another showcase of consistency. Palou entered Milwaukee having won six races and accumulated 12 top-five finishes in 17 starts. His six victories brought his total to 14 wins in 34 races across the 2025 and 2026 seasons.
That is not simply dominance. That is sustained dominance. The kind that changes how an entire field approaches a championship.
From promising prospect to the standard
Palou’s first IndyCar championship came in 2021. Then came a championship-less 2022. Since then, however, the sport has watched an extraordinary transformation. Palou won the title in 2023, 2024, 2025 and now again in 2026.
Four consecutive championships.
The achievement puts him level with Sébastien Bourdais’ run of four straight titles from 2004 through 2007. But Palou has accomplished it while still only 29, making him the youngest driver to reach five IndyCar championships.
There is also something particularly striking about the company he now keeps: Foyt, Dixon and Palou.
Three generations of IndyCar excellence, separated by decades but now linked by the same five-championship milestone. And Palou isn’t finished.
The sixth title is already on the horizon
The remarkable thing about Sunday wasn’t merely that Palou secured another championship. It was what happened almost immediately afterward. The celebration had barely begun before the conversation shifted toward next season.
That’s the mentality of Palou and Chip Ganassi Racing. The objective isn’t simply to win one championship. It’s to build a standard that makes winning championships feel inevitable. Team owner Chip Ganassi, Palou and strategist Barry Wanser have now combined for five championships during Palou’s run with the organization.
For Palou, the next target is obvious. Six titles would move him level with Dixon. Seven would put him alongside Foyt for the all-time record. Those aren’t hypothetical numbers anymore. They are milestones sitting directly in front of him.
Milwaukee belonged to O’Ward. The championship belonged to Palou.
That is what made this weekend so fascinating. O’Ward walked away with the trophies from both Milwaukee races. Palou walked away with the trophy that mattered most.
The Mexican driver was spectacular, sweeping the doubleheader in a day that will go down as one of the strangest and most memorable weekends of the season. But championships aren’t awarded for winning the most dramatic afternoon. They’re awarded for surviving the entire season and nobody did that better than Palou.
When the rain came, he waited. When the schedule collapsed, he adapted. When the championship pressure arrived, he didn’t blink.
And when the final calculations were made, the answer was the same one IndyCar has delivered again and again:
Álex Palou is the champion.
A dynasty, officially
There was a time when Palou’s success could be dismissed as a hot streak. Five championships in six years makes that argument impossible.This isn’t a streak anymore. It’s an era.
Palou has become the defining driver of his generation in IndyCar, combining raw speed with a level of consistency that has allowed him to turn championship battles into exercises in patience.
His latest Astor Cup is proof of that. He didn’t need to win Milwaukee. He needed to finish the job and he did.
The 2026 season still has a finale at Laguna Seca, where Palou can race without the weight of a championship fight hanging over his shoulders. It’s a rare luxury in professional motorsports: entering the final round with the biggest prize already secured.
For everyone else, the question now becomes uncomfortable.
How do you beat a driver who keeps finding ways to win championships even when he isn’t winning races?
For Palou, the question is simpler.
How many more can he win? Five Astor Cups in six years have made him a legend. Six would put him beside Dixon. Seven would put him beside Foyt.
And if the past six seasons are any indication, it would be a mistake to assume Palou’s reign is anywhere close to finished.
The IndyCar championship belongs to Álex Palou once again. At this point, perhaps the bigger story is that everyone else is still trying to take it away from him.
Original article
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