Among the biggest storylines surrounding the 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season is if Alex Palou can win a fifth championship, including four in a row.

In 2025, Palou became just the sixth driver to win four or more titles and only the fourth to win three straight championships, joining Sebastien Bourdais (2004-07), Ted Horn (1946-48) and Dario Franchitti (2009-11). Bourdais is the only driver to win four in a row.

Before 2023, the last driver to clinch the title early was Bourdais in 2007. Palou has done it twice in three years.

Who’s to say he won’t do it again next year?

“I've never seen a guy work so quietly and diligently at his craft as this guy,” said Chip Ganassi, team owner of Chip Ganassi Racing. “I said in the beginning of the year that we're just scratching the surface of his talent. I still think he's got more in his gas tank for the coming seasons.”

What’s remarkable is that Palou is only 28 years old. He has plenty of time to catch A.J. Foyt (seven) and Scott Dixon (six) in career championships. Mario Andretti, Bourdais and Franchitti each have four.

Foyt was 29 when he won his fourth title, 32 at the time of his fifth, 40 at his sixth and 44 at his seventh. Dixon was 35 when he won his fourth championship, 38 for his fifth and 40 during his sixth championship run.

Since 2021, the only driver not named Alex Palou to win the Astor Cup is Will Power, who next season moves from Team Penske, where he’s been since 2009, to Andretti Global, replacing Colton Herta. Even Power acknowledges Palou’s rare form.

“I think people need to really look at what he’s doing,” Power said. “He’s the complete driver. He has qualifying pace, elite racecraft and walks that tightrope between risk and reward perfectly. He’s going to be extremely tough to beat.”

No changes are expected to occur to Palou’s dream team in 2026, making rivals’ task even tougher.

Alex Palou

Barry Wanser has been Palou’s strategist for all four titles, with Ricky Davis serving as chief mechanic and Julian Robertson as race engineer. The trio forms the backbone of the No. 10 car’s sustained success.

Marcus Ericsson, Palou’s former teammate at Ganassi (2020-23) and 2026 teammate with Power at Andretti Global, has continued to watch Palou’s dominance up close and his working relationship with the team.

“There’s not one thing he does better than everyone else; he’s just great at everything,” Ericsson said. “What stood out to me when we were teammates was how he sees races before they unfold. He’s extremely smart and always makes the right decisions in the car. That’s a huge edge in the INDYCAR SERIES.

“And he’s had the same people around him for a long time, Julian Robertson, Barry Wanser, Ricky Davis. That kind of chemistry and continuity is underrated. They’ve become this dream team operating at the highest level.”

Even Palou’s rivals can’t help but admire what he’s accomplishing and expect nothing less than a dominating performance from a generational talent next season.

“I’ve talked to some of his teammates, guys I really respect, and they say, ‘I look at his data and… good for him,’” Alexander Rossi said. “It’s clearly him. He’d be doing the same thing in any car number. Sure, it’s a team effort, but he’s really on his own island.

“He’s shown that the driver still makes a massive difference. In a way, that’s a relief. The gap he’s created is so large that if you can close it even a little, you know you’ve got something special.”

Alex Palou

Palou’s 2025 season was a historic one: eight wins, tied for third-most in a single season. That win total is more or equal to the career wins of 20 of the 26 other full-time drivers competing in 2025. Only Rossi, Pato O’Ward, Herta, Dixon, Josef Newgarden and Power have eight or more career wins.

“It’s impressive, I don’t know what else to say,” said veteran driver Graham Rahal, who has six career wins. “You’ve got to respect it. And he does it with so much humility. He’s just a good dude. You’ve got to love that.

“But it’s frustrating too. I told him, ‘You’ve won more races this year than I’ve won in my whole career.’ That’s crazy. And his teammate is Scott Dixon – the gold standard – yet none of us have seen anything like what Alex is doing.”

O’Ward was one of the few drivers consistently challenging Palou last season. He finished runner-up to him twice, at The Thermal Club in March and at the Sonsio Grand Prix in May, and had two wins in 2025. Even during a dominant July stretch, where O’Ward posted two wins and five top-fives, Palou still outscored him by 10 points.

“He’s putting everything together,” O’Ward said. “Yes, he’s in a great car with a great team, but he’s also delivering in qualifying week after week. That’s hard to do. He’s probably in the best form he’s ever been.”

Palou started inside the top six in 15 of 17 races last season, with an average grid position of 3.3. He earned six NTT P1 Awards. He had six poles in 81 starts before the 2025 season. Palou also started on the front row eight times. His worst start? Ninth at World Wide Technology Raceway in June.

“There’s a lot of skill, but it’s also about effort,” Franchitti said. “He’s got the work ethic, the brains and the fire. He’s never satisfied. He’s always asking: ‘What am I missing? How do I improve?’ He’s relentless in his pursuit of getting better.”

Even after clinching another title, Palou made it clear that it’s the process, not the accolades, that fuels him.

“It’s the love for the sport,” he said. “I love racing. I love working with my team, my mechanics, my engineers, everyone who’s part of it. Every race weekend, we try to be better than the last. Whether it's improving the car, or my own driving, we’re constantly chasing progress.

“That’s what drives us. The championships, the numbers – they’re the reward. But what we really love is just coming to the track and competing.”