Our final IndyCar Wrap-Up has brought us to the champions, and for the third consecutive year it is Chip Ganassi Racing. For the third consecutive year, it is Álex Palou responsible for the crown. This time it is after an all-time great season. We always knew Palou was great. The year 2025 will be forever tied to the astonishing ability of Palou the way we tie 1964 to A.J. Foyt, 1969 to Mario Andretti and 1994 to Al Unser, Jr. and Team Penske. It has been six years with Palou, and we are just getting started.
Álex Palou
What else can be said? We went into this year fully expecting Palou to be the man to beat and difficult to topple at that. It is not surprising Palou won it all, but it was remarkable to see how he won this championship. We thought we had seen his best in 2023, but this year fully blew that out of the water.
What objectively was his best race?
Palou won eight times. No driver had won eight races in a season since 2007 with Sébastien Bourdais. For Palou, he opened with consecutive victories at St. Petersburg and Thermal Club. Then he was second at Long Beach. He followed that with victories at Barber Motorsports Park, the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, and the greatest of them all, the Indianapolis 500.
Over the final 11 races, he won only a measly three times: Road America, the second Iowa race and Laguna Seca..
What subjectively was his best race?
Álex Palou needed an Indianapolis 500 victory. At least, he was going to need one. It was best to get it out of the way now. Three championships and about a dozen victories is a good career for a driver through five seasons and at 28 years of age, but the Indianapolis 500 question is not one you want to carry into your 30s. That gives you a decade to give you one before your 40s. If you don't get it by then, you likely never will.
All the champions before him had one. Josef Newgarden had won consecutive "500s." Scott Dixon has one from over a decade ago. Will Power has one. Simon Pagenaud has one. Palou was the only champion since reunification without an Indianapolis 500 victory, and none of his title-less contemporaries who we see as the best in the series had won one yet either. Patricio O'Ward had come close. Colton Herta had never factored. For Palou, an Indianapolis 500 could get him everything before any of his rivals had anything.
This is all window-dressing, setting the scene for the story and the importance of this victory. It has nothing to do with the drive itself.
Truthfully, Palou winning at Indianapolis might not have been one of his three most impressive victories of the season. He had to chase down O'Ward at Thermal Club. He smacked down the field at Barber. At Road America, he pedaled the car in a way only few can. Seven million people do not tune in for those races.
It was meant to be. Palou didn't have to punish the competition with 185 of 200 laps led. He didn't have to be leading the field for the entire race. All he had to do, all he ever has to do, is remain in the picture, and there he was in the top five. There he was as pit cycles came and went and cautions mixed up strategy. He methodically made up ground, and when it came time for the run to home, he was second with Marcus Ericsson ahead.
Ericsson has a swift set of hands at the Speedway, but Palou is the best IndyCar has, one of the best IndyCar has ever seen. He didn't wait to make his move. Palou took the lead with a late pass into turn one with 14 laps to go. If anyone was going to beat him, they would have to pass him, and he had all the confidence in the world that no one was going to be able to do that.
What objectively was his worst race?
It was seven days after his Indianapolis 500 triumph when David Malukas botched braking into turn one at Detroit and pushed Palou into the barriers, ending a top ten day and what could have been a top five finish. Palou was classified in 25th.
What subjectively was his worst race?
It is Detroit, and it wasn't his fault. The only other race where Palou didn't factor was Toronto where he was caught in the pit cycles and was shuffled back to 12th, never really contending for more. Toronto was the only other race he finished outside the top ten.
Everyone thought the title fight was on after Toronto, especially since O'Ward won the race. Then Palou slapped the field silly on the way to victory at Laguna Seca, and then he clinched the title the race after that in Portland.
Álex Palou's 2025 Statistics
Championship Position: 1st (711 points)
Wins: 8
Podiums: 13
Top Fives: 14
Top Tens: 15
Laps Led: 778
Poles: 6
Fast Sixes: 11
Fast Twelves: 12
Average Start: 33.352
Average Finish: 4.0588
Wins: 8
Podiums: 13
Top Fives: 14
Top Tens: 15
Laps Led: 778
Poles: 6
Fast Sixes: 11
Fast Twelves: 12
Average Start: 33.352
Average Finish: 4.0588
Scott Dixon
It is Scott Dixon. How do you think his season went? He was at the front. He rarely did anything wrong. The results were normally positive, but we did not see Dixon be a strong presence and show up as a driver to beat on a regular basis. He was there but he was not the man to beat.
What objectively was his best race?
Scott Dixon did win a race in 2025, but it came in a race his teammate dominated. Álex Palou looked set to conquer Mid-Ohio in convincing fashion. Then Palou ran wide in turn nine and went off track. This allowed Dixon to slip through with six laps to go and take an unexpected victory.
What subjectively was his best race?
Dixon probably should have won at St. Petersburg. He was leading after everyone had cycled through their alternate tire stint. However, Dixon had no radio communication to his team and was unsure when to make his final pit stop, running until the fuel reserve light came on.
This forced Dixon to run long before his final stop, which allowed Palou to cycle to the lead after the pit cycle was through. Dixon still finished second when most drivers likely would have suffered dearly trying to manage strategy on their own. It was incredible he finished second even if it felt like it should have been one spot better.
What objectively was his worst race?
A brake caliber issue forced an extra long pit stop for the repair during the Indianapolis 500. The change comes as the race is about to restart after a caution. Dixon lost three laps and never made any of those back, finishing 20th.
What subjectively was his worst race?
It is Indianapolis. Dixon finished 12th or better in every other race. He had another damn good season.
Scott Dixon's 2025 Statistics
Championship Position: 3rd (452 points)
Wins: 1
Podiums: 3
Top Fives: 6
Top Tens: 12
Laps Led: 91
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 2
Fast Twelves: 7
Average Start: 12.647
Average Finish: 8.2941
Wins: 1
Podiums: 3
Top Fives: 6
Top Tens: 12
Laps Led: 91
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 2
Fast Twelves: 7
Average Start: 12.647
Average Finish: 8.2941
Kyffin Simpson
For a sophomore season while teamed with two of the greatest drivers in IndyCar history, it was going to be hard to be impressed with whatever Simpson accomplished. However, there were a handful of races where Simpson clearly made a big step from his rookie year. Though I don't think anyone will be mistaking him for one of his teammates anytime soon.
What objectively was his best race?
Starting on the alternate tire and using an alternate strategy, Simpson was able to jump from 13th to third at Toronto. A long middle stint, 42 laps to be exact, allowed him to pull off an impressive result.
What subjectively was his best race?
It sounds odd to say a tenth at Mid-Ohio was Simpson's best result when he had a third at Toronto, he was fourth at Nashville, and a fifth at Detroit, but Simpson had pure pace to challenge for the podium at Mid-Ohio. Unfortunately, Simpson stalled on his final stop. Then he hit one of Rinus VeeKay's pit crew members. This led to a drive-through penalty, but Simpson drove back into the top ten despite the punishment.
It could have been much better, but Simpson drove sensationally well to salvage a respectable result.
What objectively was his worst race?
Twice was Simpson classified 27th. At the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, Simpson's car would not start on the grid, and he was unable to participate, leaving him classified in 27th. At Laguna Seca, Simpson mistimed his braking into turn five and plowed into Felix Rosenqvist on the opening lap. Simpson's race was over, and he had a six-grid spot penalty in the next race at Portland for his action.
What subjectively was his worst race?
Laguna Seca was a bad error, and it was all on him. Simpson didn't make many errors in 2025. This one stands above all of them.
Kyffin Simpson's 2025 Statistics
Championship Position: 17th (293 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 1
Top Fives: 3
Top Tens: 6
Laps Led: 6
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 1
Fast Twelves: 4
Average Start: 16.235
Average Finish: 15.176
Wins: 0
Podiums: 1
Top Fives: 3
Top Tens: 6
Laps Led: 6
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 1
Fast Twelves: 4
Average Start: 16.235
Average Finish: 15.176
An Early Look Ahead
It is Chip Ganassi Racing. They will be fine. They are probably going to win the championship again. I don't know if there is any reason to waste your time and write about 500 to 800 words about the outlook for Chip Ganassi Racing's 2026 season.
It is simple: They are going to win, they are going to win a handful of times, maybe even score two handfuls of victories, and Álex Palou will likely have a fifth championship to his name. If he doesn't, he will probably still be one of the top three drivers in the season and he will likely lose to a Team Penske driver, Patricio O'Ward, or maybe Scott Dixon is the one to knock off his teammate.
Could 2026 be the year Dixon falls off? Maybe. Could 2026 be another year where Dixon wins once, has a half-dozen top five finishes and 14 top ten finishes? Probably. There is nothing to suggest the former is imminent. We know nothing lasts forever. Dixon could wake up tomorrow and decide he has one more year in him. We will cross that bridge when we get there.
As for Simpson, just have fun kid. Go see if you can crack the top fifteen in the championship. We are not expecting much more than that.
I end with this: It is hard to imagine Palou matching or exceeding this season. There is a reason why there have only been four occasions where a driver has won nine races and it had been nearly two decades since someone won eight times. This was a special season. We might not see it for another two decades. Palou isn't going anywhere, and he isn't even 30 years old, but I don't think we are going to see him threaten to win ten races every season for the next ten years. He will be like every other great driver before him.
A.J. Foyt didn't win a half-dozen races every season. Neither did Mario Andretti, Al Unser, Bobby Unser, Rick Mears, Johnny Rutherford, Michael Andretti, Al Unser, Jr., Alex Zanardi, Dario Franchitti, Scott Dixon and Will Power.
Every driver has this period of sheer control, but they always come down to earth. They still might be the best, but they will not look untouchable forever.
However, nothing suggests Palou is going to be coming down anytime soon.
