Note: The Penske Entertainment editorial staff is looking back at the 10 biggest moments of 2024 in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES in this year-end series, with one installment appearing on the site per day in countdown fashion from Dec. 22-31.
Three NTT INDYCAR SERIES championships in a four-year span have put Alex Palou in an elite category in open-wheel racing history.
For starters, 2024 champion Palou became just the 13th driver to earn a third series title. But the 27-year-old Spaniard who drives for Chip Ganassi Racing joined an even shorter list with the 2024 title.
Only six other drivers have achieved something like three in four years. Sebastien Bourdais won four titles in succession (2004-07) and Ted Horn won three straight (1946-48). A.J. Foyt and Dario Franchitti each won four championships in five years, and the list of those with three titles in four seasons includes Jimmy Bryan, Rick Mears and now Palou.
Truly big stuff.
Palou wasn’t as dominant as he was in 2023, when he clinched the championship one race before the season finale, but he was still the prohibitive favorite heading to the season finale in a return to Nashville Superspeedway, an oval track he had never seen before the race weekend.
Palou entered the Nashville weekend with a 33-point advantage over Team Penske’s Will Power. The year prior, Palou’s margin on second-place Scott Dixon, another Chip Ganassi Racing driver, was 91 points.
As was the case in 2023, Palou emerged from the finale with the Astor Challenge Cup. Power’s hopes for a third series championship were thwarted early at Nashville when he was forced to pit due to a disconnected seat belt. That equipment issue put him five laps off the pace, and he finished eight laps down in 24th position. Palou simply soldiered home in 11th place.
Palou finished the season with two wins, giving him 11 for his career. Both wins came from the pole position: the Sonsio Grand Prix on May 11 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey on June 23 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. He also finished second in three other races and finished third on another occasion.
Palou’s final margin was 31 points over Colton Herta, who won the last race of the season for Andretti Global with Curb-Agajanian.
At 27 years, 5 months and 14 days, Palou became the second-youngest driver to win three series championships. Only Sam Hornish Jr. was younger at 27 years, 2 months and 8 days in 2006.
Palou’s title added to Chip Ganassi Racing’s championship ways. That’s now 16 times one of Chip Ganassi’s drivers have earned the championship, including four in the past five seasons. Only Team Penske has more, with 17 titles.
While Palou again was a dominant champion, the season was plenty competitive. Seven drivers won two or more races, with Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin and Power joining Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward with a series-leading three wins.