Paddock Buzz: Alex Palou Says He Still Has 'Room' to Improve

Alex Palou is on the verge of winning his fifth NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship, including his fourth consecutive title.

Only Sebastien Bourdais (2004-07) has won four championships in a row. Just A.J. Foyt (seven) and Scott Dixon (six) have won more titles in a career.

Palou leads Kyle Kirkwood by 110 points entering Sunday’s Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham (noon ET, FOX, FOX One, INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls) and David Malukas by 118. With a two-race cushion, how does the Spaniard approach the final five races?

“Obviously, I'll try and get the best results we can, but if we can go for a win, I'll go for it,” Palou said.

This race in Markham, Ontario begins a two-week stretch of inaugural street races, with the series visiting Washington, D.C., next weekend for the Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C. Practice for this weekend's event was postponed Friday, rescheduled for Saturday at 10 a.m. ET (FS2).

Kirkwood won the last inaugural street race (March 15 on the streets of Arlington, Texas). That remains his lone victory this season, but five of his six career wins have come on street circuits.

Kirkwood has 12 top-10 finishes in 13 starts this season in the No. 27 Sam’s Club Honda, including six straight. He hasn’t finished outside the top 10 on a street course since 2023 at Toronto and has a 4.37 average finish in his last 16 street course starts.

Palou has been just as impressive. He also has five career street course wins, with three coming this season at St. Petersburg, Long Beach and Detroit. He enters Markham seeking three consecutive street course victories and a third win in-a-row on the season, after victories at Nashville Superspeedway and Portland International Raceway.

Palou’s average finish over the same 16-race street course span is 5.18. Together, Palou and Kirkwood have won 10 of the last 16 street races and seven of the last eight.

What makes Palou so effective? Where is he gaining on the competition? Where does he still see room for improvement? Those are the million-dollar questions.

Since joining Chip Ganassi Racing in 2021, Palou has 25 wins and four championships in 97 starts. He has won 25.7-percent of his races and finished in the top five 66 times (68-percent).

Still, Palou doesn’t believe he or his team are executing perfectly.

“There’s still so many areas where we can just improve,” he said. “You can always be a bit faster. You can always do better on your strategies, on your overtakes, on defending. So yeah, we have some room.”

Winless Streaks Ending?

Scott McLaughlin (photo, above) enters Sunday’s 90-lap race riding a career-long 32-race winless streak.

McLaughlin’s most-recent victory came in 2024 during Race 2 at Milwaukee Mile. Before joining the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, McLaughlin amassed 56 Australian V8 Supercars Championship victories before making his INDYCAR debut in the 2020 season finale and joining Team Penske full time in 2021.

McLaughlin went winless in 16 starts in 2021 before winning three times in 2022, including the season opener. He won once in 2023 and three times in 2024, but has gone winless in all 17 starts last season and all 13 this season.

“It feels like it's been the longest of my career by a mile since I started racing cars,” the New Zealander said. “I hate it. I really do hate it, and I'm chomping at the bit for a win. We have been close a little bit, but just haven't quite got there.

“I'm not frustrated, but anxious. I really, really want to get going and make it happen, but you can't force it. You just have to let it happen.”

McLaughlin, driver of the No. 3 Gallagher Insurance Team Penske Chevrolet has finished in the top seven in four of the last five races after recording three top-seven finishes in the previous six.

Will Power is in a similar boat. Power has four top-eight finishes in the last five races after recording just one in the previous eight during his first season driving the No. 26 TWG AI Honda for Andretti Global.

Power’s last victory came in August 2025 at Portland International Raceway, his 42nd and final win with Team Penske after 17 seasons with the organization. He had three wins prior to joining the prestigious organization.

“I wouldn't call it bad luck the first half,” Power said. “Maybe there was one thing or something, but most of it was preventable. Whether it was me or some other stuff that happened.”

Power believes the pieces are beginning to come together with his new team.

“It’s starting to be the norm that we’re expecting to be in the top six each time,” he said. “We’re just executing very clean races with no mistakes. I can feel it. The performance at all these tracks is coming. Me gelling with the group is going.

“It’s just been a slow transition. Last week was truly, ‘OK, now it’s starting to feel real normal.’”

Can Dixon Keep Defying Time?

Scott Dixon’s lofty place in INDYCAR SERIES history is already secure.

The six-time series champion (photo, above) has won at least one race in 21 consecutive seasons, one of the most remarkable streaks in motorsports. Power is next best with 16 consecutive seasons with at least one victory but that ended with a winless 2023 campaign.

Dixon seeks to extend his to 22 years. He’s a four-time winner in Toronto, all on the prior Exhibition Place circuit.

This weekend is the series’ first visit to Markham, located about 25 minutes northeast of downtown Toronto. The series previously competed in Toronto at Exhibition Place, with 39 races held there.

Dixon sits 12th in points with five top-10 finishes, highlighted by a third-place finish at Long Beach. While he has not displayed the race-winning speed, the remaining schedule offers plenty of opportunities.

“The goal is always to get a win,” Dixon said. “So it doesn't matter whether it's a streak or anything like that. The obvious goal is to win every weekend we go to. So, that's really all I think about it.”

Foyt Racing Partners with White House Historical Association

AJ Foyt Racing is teaming with Homes For Our Troops and the White House Historical Association for next weekend’s Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C.

The partnership celebrates America’s 250th anniversary and INDYCAR’s return to the nation’s capital. A special episode of The White House 1600 Sessions podcast featuring Santino Ferrucci and Larry Foyt will debuted Thursday.

Ferrucci also will participate in a free autograph session Aug. 20 at The People’s House: A White House Experience. The No. 14 Homes For Our Troops Chevrolet will carry the White House Historical Association logo during race weekend, while Foyt Racing and WHHA merchandise will be sold at The People’s House, with proceeds benefiting Homes For Our Troops and the association.

The collaboration grew from a conversation between Stewart McLaurin, president of the White House Historical Association and Nicole Sexton, a WHHA Board member and daughter of the late Marlyne Sexton. Marlyne Sexton was a longtime sponsor of AJ Foyt Racing for more than 10 years and a founding member of the Association’s National Council on White House History.

Odds and Ends

· Both ECR cars (driven by Alexander Rossi and Christian Rasmussen) along with the No. 66 Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian (Marcus Armsrong) entry have to serve six-spot grid penalties for Sunday’s race as each had engine changes following last weekend’s race at Portland International Raceway.

· Rossi’s wife, Kelly, became a U.S. citizen during a May 12 naturalization ceremony at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This weekend’s race in Markham is a de facto home race for Rossi, as Kelly is from the area. “My wife and her family are from the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) and I’ve come to love this part of the world," he said. "I can’t wait to put on a show (Sunday) for all of the existing and new Toronto fans.” Rossi competed in Toronto seven times, recording three top-10 finishes, including a second-place finish in 2017.

· As part of the historic Freedom 250 race weekend in Washington, FOX One will livestream the two IROC by Chevrolet exhibition races Saturday, Aug. 22, beginning at 3 p.m. ET. FOX INDYCAR analysts Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe will be joined in the booth by FOX NASCAR analyst Clint Bowyer. Gordon, a NASCAR Hall of Famer and former FOX NASCAR broadcaster, will serve as an in-race reporter from the cockpit of his entry. Jack Harvey and Jamie Little will report from pit lane. FS1 will re-air the race action Sunday, Aug. 23, at 10 a.m. ET. FOX One also will stream IROC Practice 1 at 10:40 a.m. ET and IROC Practice 2 at 12:25 p.m. ET Saturday, Aug. 22.

· Road America has announced that the 2027 XPEL Grand Prix featuring the NTT INDYCAR SERIES will take place June 24-27, 2027. The series announced Phase One of the 2027 season on Wednesday that includes the first eight races.