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Not 24 hours had handed since with the checkered flag waving to , when Motorsport.com was lastly capable of sit down with him for an unique interview. Asking the newly-crowned Indy 500 champion to explain his win in a single phrase, he paused to assume for a second, which speaks volumes for a person who has been shifting nonstop to have fun ever since.
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“Spectacular,” Palou advised Motorsport.com.
“I slept for 4 hours earlier than returning to IMS to take extra pictures. I have never stopped all day. I had about three minutes to eat,” Palou says.
The No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing driver is aware of lots about successful. His three championships within the final 4 years within the IndyCar sequence and his march towards one other possible title this season show it. Nevertheless, he acknowledges that the Indy 500 win surpasses all of that.
“I feel there’s been way more media protection. Individuals who do not comply with motorsports that a lot. Individuals who comply with IndyCar carefully do worth the championships. However I do not assume it is perceived in the identical approach overseas as the five hundred. I’ve observed that it is a lot greater.”
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The affect of an Indianapolis 500 victory is clear, additional fueled by the truth that the King and Queen of Spain despatched Palou a letter. “Which is one thing tough to get, I think about”, he stated with a smile.
Race winner Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
Race winner Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi RacingPenske Leisure
Penske Leisure
Palou claims that he nonetheless hasn’t had time to course of what he has achieved. Nevertheless, he reveals that he awakened in the midst of the night time, realizing that he had been topped the Indianapolis 500 champion, and had hassle getting again to sleep.
“My spouse and I checked out one another earlier than going to sleep and stated, ‘We will not imagine we’re Indianapolis 500 champions,'” he stated. “We had simply received. Then I went to sleep. Round 3am, I awakened and thought of our victory. It took me a very long time to return to sleep as a result of I used to be so joyful and enthusiastic about what we had performed.”
The “decisive” transfer
Palou’s first-ever Indy 500 win got here on in Flip one with 14 laps to go. He then managed to remain within the lead, benefitting from the wake of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing drivers Devlin DeFrancesco and Louis Foster, who had been attempting to not lose a lap.
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“I felt it could possibly be the decisive transfer, however above all, I felt it was a sport changer,” Palou stated of that pivotal second within the race. “I did not need to wait till the tip. I feel I caught them unexpectedly. That is what I needed: to move them after they weren’t anticipating it and attempt to keep in first place.”
Palou doesn’t assume he and Ericsson — — had been the quickest within the latter a part of the Indy 500. He believes issues may have grow to be difficult if the 2 had began combating for the lead.
“You by no means know till you are there. I feel we had a really quick automobile, [but] I do not assume Marcus and I had been the quickest up entrance. I feel we each would have struggled a bit. There have been another vehicles that had been very quick after they had been up entrance. I am glad every little thing went properly for us.”
“There have been instances once I knew it would not be straightforward, however I all the time believed that if we did every little thing proper — if we acquired the technique proper and made the pit stops — that we had a automobile able to successful.”
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By successful the Indianapolis 500, Palou achieved his first-ever victory on an oval, which had been a very long time coming for the three-time IndyCar champion. He has come shut earlier than, as evidenced by his second-place end within the 2021 500, when he misplaced to Hélio Castroneves.
Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi RacingBrandon Badraoui / Motorsport Pictures by way of Getty Pictures
Brandon Badraoui / Motorsport Pictures by way of Getty Pictures
When requested if he was feeling any stress to win on an oval, Palou defined: “Partially, sure, however little or no. Normally, no. I knew it was solely a matter of time earlier than we had the chance to win on an oval. Clearly, it feels a lot better now that I’ve received. I’ve now received on an oval, a avenue course, and a highway course. I’ve received the five hundred, and I have been a champion. This does not cease right here; it would not finish right here. We have now to maintain working to get extra wins, however I am clearly feeling superb proper now.”
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Rightfully so, the IndyCar season doesn’t cease. Palou will likely be racing once more this coming weekend on the Detroit Grand Prix, trying so as to add one other win to his already historic efficiency run in 2025.
“Hopefully, we will add extra victories. The reality is, I do know these are going to be some very difficult days now. We have now a celebratory dinner in a few hours. As soon as that is over, we will New York for a two-day media tour. Then, we’ll return to Indianapolis and head to Detroit. It is going to be a busy few days.”
Positive, these are actually busy days for Palou. Nevertheless, he in all probability wouldn’t thoughts doing it another time subsequent 12 months.
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