Column: Is Anyone Actually Racing Alex Palou for the Championship?

The calendar says there are six races left.

The championship standings tell a different story.

Alex Palou leaves the NTT INDYCAR SERIES’ summer break with an 83-point advantage after his fifth victory of the season at Nashville Superspeedway. It’s the largest cushion in the championship, and with only six races remaining, it begs an uncomfortable question.

Is anyone actually racing Alex Palou for the title anymore?

That’s not meant to disrespect David Malukas, Kyle Kirkwood, Christian Lundgaard or anyone else still mathematically alive.

It’s just the reality of what Palou has become.

We’ve reached the point where his toughest opponent might not be another driver.

It might be himself.

Every championship has a defining stretch where the favorite either slams the door or leaves it cracked open.

Nashville felt like Palou slamming it shut.

The Chip Ganassi Racing driver didn’t just win. He won at a track where he had never previously visited Victory Lane, survived pressure from Team Penske late in the race and stretched his points lead to more than an entire race’s worth of points.

That’s what champions do.

The scary part?

Nothing about it felt extraordinary.

We’ve become numb to Alex Palou being nearly perfect.

Five victories.

Rare mistakes.

Maximum points when the opportunity presents itself.

Damage control when it doesn’t.

It’s the same formula that has already produced four championships and now has him knocking on the door of a fifth.

Meanwhile, everyone chasing him has had moments.

Malukas has been outstanding and climbed into second after Nashville.

Kirkwood has shown race-winning speed.

Lundgaard has kept himself in the conversation.

But every one of them has also given points away somewhere along the line.

Palou rarely does.

That’s why an 83-point lead feels even larger than it is on paper.

He’s simply not giving anyone openings.

Could someone still catch him?

Absolutely.

INDYCAR has a way of humbling everyone. A mechanical failure, a crash or one strategy gone wrong can erase weeks of hard work.

But here’s the problem for the rest of the field.

To beat Palou now, they don’t just need him to stumble.

They need him to stumble repeatedly.

And he hasn’t built a reputation on doing that.

So maybe the better question isn’t whether someone can catch Alex Palou.

Maybe it’s whether anyone can force him into a real championship fight at all.

Because right now, it doesn’t feel like six drivers are battling for a title.

It feels like one driver is marching toward another Astor Challenge Cup while everyone else races for second.

Until somebody proves otherwise, Alex Palou is in a league of his own.