There’s some advantages to being around 67 years old, especially when it comes to motorsports.
If l had a dollar for every time over the years l thought no driver would ever eclipse A.J. Foyt’s coveted record of seven IndyCar titles, I’d be driving a Ferrari convertible.
The sport is ultra-competitive, and it takes a special driver with a complete powerhouse of a team behind them to win a title and the list of who has done it more than once is both select and rather short.
Sure, Scott Dixon has won six titles (also with Ganassi), but as his brilliant career comes to a conclusion with a stint at McLaren next season, it’s unlikely he’ll achieve another one before he hangs it up.
That leaves one Alex Palou Montalbo who captured an incredible fourth straight IndyCar title this past weekend in Milwaukee, to pad his career total to five, with four coming in the past five seasons, which places him at the young age of just twenty-nine as a rather prime candidate to break Foyt’s incredible record.
Clearly Palou is without question a phenomenal talent, but what gives him such an edge over every other driver in the series?
Enter one Floyd Ganassi Jr. as the man known as simply Chip, has surrounded Palou with a cocoon of resources stemming from his racing empire built from the incredible success he’s experienced in IndyCar, NASCAR, and also Sportscar racing in the last 36 years.
Ganassi has built his organization by virtue of his innate ability to recognize talent in every aspect, be it great drivers, engineers, mechanics, marketing executives, and various other types of support personnel.
This rock-solid platform gives Palou the format to compete every week as the favorite in a sport that has become more challenging than ever by virtue of the various disciplines it showcases annually.
Considering Palou’s age and his incredible talent, it would definitely be a forgone conclusion that he will one day surpass the current record of seven NTT IndyCar Series championships, provided he and Ganassi stay aligned and continue their dominance, the type that motorsports hasn’t seen since Jimmie Johnson’s incredible NASCAR exploits.
Palou knows that and isn’t going anywhere, much to the chagrin of his competitors.
Notes: The 2026 NTT IndyCar Series which featured three new venues with street course configurations this year at Arlington, Markham, and Washington D.C. comes to a conclusion this Sunday with the Mission Foods G.P. at the legendary WeatherTech Laguna Seca, a road course in beautiful Monterey, California.
The race can be seen locally here on Fox 59 beginning at 2:30 E.T. or on the IndyCar Radio Network via Sirius FM.
Danny Bridges, who now understands what Ganassi Racing’s Mike Hull saw in Alex Palou years ago when he first saw him drive, can be reached at (317) 370-8447 or at bridgeshd@aol.com.
Danny Bridges is an award-winning journalist and a longtime sports columnist for the Indianapolis Recorder. He covers college, professional sports and especially all things IndyCar racing. He can be reached at 317-370-8447 or at bridgeshd@aol.com.
