Today’s question: Alex Palou has won the first two races of the 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. How many races will the three-time and two-time defending series champion win this season?

Curt Cavin: With Firestone creating more separation between its tire compounds this year, drivers with elite strategists should have an advantage. Palou not only takes care of his tires as well as any driver not named Scott Dixon, he has Barry Wanser on his pit box. That combination was a factor in winning both races to date, and I think there will be at least three other such races this season. Thus, I see Palou winning five times in all. I’d project more, but if the Spaniard reaches the summer stretch with a healthy points lead, look for him to top-five his competitors to death and win yet another series title.

Eric Smith: I agree with Curt’s entire assessment and say the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda wins three more races. Remember, Palou was winless in the final nine races last season and still secured his third championship. I’d also like to add Palou is winless on ovals, and there are six in the final 15 races this year. However, my hot take is I do think Palou finally gets that monkey off his back by getting a circle track victory this season, but more than one? I look for Scott Dixon to pick up a win for his 21st consecutive season, all three Team Penske drivers to win at least once, Arrow McLaren and Andretti Global look stout with speed to deliver victories for all six combined drivers. Their problem is that Palou is beating them without having more speed. He’s led only 39 of 165 laps in his pair of wins. Eventually, the talented field will capitalize on its speed to deliver victories, thus keeping Palou out of victory lane in some races. The problem for them is that Palou has a buffer to, as Curt said, take top-five finishes and never let the gap dwindle to be threatened for the title. So, while it’s easy to think Palou will eclipse five or more victories, the last time a driver won six or more races in a single season was Will Power in 2011.

Arni Sribhen: If I were to write “Alex Palou will win all the remaining NTT INDYCAR SERIES races left in 2025,” part of me might believe it and start building the case. But Palou is not going to win 17 in a row, and since the INDYCAR SERIES record for wins in a season is 10 held jointly by A.J. Foyt (1964) and Al Unser (1970), I guess I’ll settle for a number with single digits – eight. Palou has won at seven of the remaining nine road and street courses on the schedule, so adding another win at any of those venues wouldn’t come as a surprise, but to hit eight, he’s going to need to win on an oval, and I think this is the year he gets that done. Adding an oval win to his tally can only bolster his odds of winning a third straight championship and hitting a win total that hasn’t been matched since the sport unified in 2008, adding to his legacy in the annals of the sport.

Paul Kelly: At this rate, would anyone be surprised if Palou this year matched or exceeded A.J. Foyt and Al Unser’s INDYCAR SERIES record of 10 wins in a single season? I wouldn’t, but it won’t happen. The series is too deep, especially with Arrow McLaren, Andretti Global and a rapidly improved Ed Carpenter Racing taking the fight to the “Big Two” of Chip Ganassi Racing and Team Penske, whose drivers have won the season title every year since 2013. Plus, there’s the pesky fact that Palou still is winless on ovals, and there are six circle-track races among the 17 on the schedule this season. Palou is bound to win on an oval, probably this year. But unless he and strategist Barry Wanser unlock the winning code on ovals that they seemingly have on road and street courses, I think Palou tops out at seven wins. Palou takes the checkered flag at the IMS road course, Road America, Laguna Seca, Portland and celebrates his fourth championship in five years with his first oval win in the series finale at Nashville Superspeedway.