Here is a rundown of what got me thinking...
Things were not all that mad in Madrid. It was rather underwhelming. One American Formula One hopeful ended up happy. Another American Formula One hopeful didn’t make it through the weekend. Brakes failed in Gateway, but new life was found near the banks of tire wear. The championship lead has changed in MotoGP. The next IndyCar chassis tested on the oval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but it is not what occurred that has our attention.
Why Don't We Call It Like We See It?
Distance continues to grow from the 2026 IndyCar Series season, and time has allowed us to ponder what happened this season.
It might have been no surprise Álex Palou took the championship, especially as he won the previous three years and he had won four of the last five titles. Few went into this season thinking it could legitimately be anyone else. Even if we expected it, this doesn't diminish what Palou has accomplished.
Five titles is the third-most all-time. Palou is only the second driver to win four consecutive championships. Palou reached 25 career victories, the 18th driver to reach that milestone. He reached 20 career pole positions, the 16th driver to reach that milestone. He became the 21st driver to exceed 50 podium finishes in a career, and his 69 top five finishes place him 23rd all-time.
Palou has achieved all this in seven seasons. He doesn't turn 30 years old until April 1, 2027. He has at least another decade in IndyCar if not another 15 years. If this is only the start, we are bound to Palou continue to achieve a remarkable level of success, and he will only continue to re-write the history book. Despite his accomplishments, there has been some reluctance to accept what Palou has done.
We have not really seen a driver do what Palou has done, but there is pushback when trying to mention him as one of the greatest ever. The quickest and most frequent refrain is "I cannot include him with A.J. Foyt and Mario Andretti." The numbers say a different story.
Palou has more championship than Andretti. He has won more consecutive championships than Foyt ever won. In 116 starts, he has won 25 times, a winning percentage at 21.551%. Foyt had 32 victories in his first 116 starts (27.586%). Andretti had 28 victories in his first 116 starts (24.137%). Bourdais had one fewer victory than Foyt in the Frenchman's first 116 starts (26.724%), in case you are wondering.
If you want to use Indianapolis 500s against Palou, you can't. He has just as many as Andretti. It is the sheer dominance that cannot denied. The greatest indication of Palou's success is he has led the championship after 69 races in his career. That is third-most all-time behind Foyt at 81 and Andretti at 71. Based on the last half-decade, Palou is one season away from leading the championship more than any driver in IndyCar history. Palou has led the championship for 59.482% of his career. Foyt only led for 21.951% when he retired. Andretti led for 17.444% of his career.
Using the signs of the times against Palou is incredibly unfair. Foyt raced in front-engine roadster and transitioned to rear-engine cars. Both Foyt and Andretti competed when dirt tracks were just as prominent as paved ovals. Palou cannot control the technical regulations nor can he control innovation. IndyCar isn't deciding the 2028 car will be a 21st century roadster. It could, but it hasn't and it will not adopt roadsters whenever the car after the next new one comes, whether that be 2034 or 2035 or 2040. And dirt isn't returning either.
Times have changed. The schedule is majority road and street courses. All races are at least 164 miles in length. Palou might not be racing 100 miles at Sacramento or Springfield or Langhorne, but Foyt didn't do a 250-mile street race in Washington, D.C. or 189 miles in Markham.
The only other thing that can be held against Palou is something he definitively cannot control. That is longevity. If the knock against Palou is he has not been as dominant for as long as Foyt and Andretti, well that cannot be done overnight. Foyt's seven championships came over a span of 20 seasons. Andretti won titles in three different decades and spent most of the 1970s focused on Formula One. Foyt won a race in 18 seasons and Andretti in 16 seasons. Palou hasn't even been in IndyCar for half that length.
Longevity is a factor, but we cannot consider Palou a flash in a pan. Flashes don't win five championships in six years. If Palou decided to walk away tomorrow and never step into a race car again, he will have left an indelible mark on IndyCar and would be the talk for years and decades to come.
There is a sense of protection around IndyCar's past, especially when it comes to the two drivers inevitably considered the greatest to ever race. They emerged around the same time. They were competitors for decades. There is not another comparison for Foyt vs. Andretti in any part of motorsports let alone just IndyCar. Each raised the level of the other and it produced two of the most successful drivers to ever compete. That should not blind us from the greatness in front of us.
We only lose out if we attempt to diminish the level of Palou's success. And we shouldn't discredit anyone's success, not of this level. Greatness is not finite. Great drivers have come since Foyt and Andretti retired, and more will come down the road. They will dazzle us, but only if we let them. If every driver is dismissed as being irreproachable to the level of Foyt and Andretti, we only make the present unenjoyable. To constantly say no to someone's talent when it is truly something we have rarely seen if we have ever seen is snobbery at its finest. That isn't love for the sport or series if there is a lack of openness to the greatness of the present.
Why don't we call it like we see it?
Without a doubt, Álex Palou is one of the greatest to compete in IndyCar even if it has only been for seven seasons. He keeps winning. That is what is most important. He is in the echelon of Foyt and Andretti and you can throw in Al Unser, Bobby Unser, Rodger Ward, Sébastien Bourdais, Scott Dixon and Will Power to boot. We must wait and see if Palou continues this for another ten years or 15 years, but it is unlikely he is going anywhere.
It is doubtful he will go winless for the next decade. There will be some level of success. Considering what Palou has already achieved, it will not take much more until he is on a plain no one else occupies. Then what will anyone have to say?
Champion From the Weekend
Ugo Ugochukwu clinched the Formula Three championship with finishes of eighth, fourth and second in Madrid.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Ugo Ugochukwu, but did you know...
Andrea Kimi Antonelli won the Spanish Grand Prix, his eighth victory of the season.
Ritomo Miata (Sprint) and Dino Beganovic (Feature) split the Formula Two races from Madrid. Théophile Naël (Sprint), Pedro Clerot (Feature #1) and Tuukka Taponen (Feature #2) split the Formula Three races.
Marc Márquez won MotoGP's San Marino and Rimini Riviera Grand Prix, his fifth victory of the season, and Márquez also won the sprint race. Manuel González won in Moto2, his fifth victory of the season. Máximo Quiles won in Moto3, his eighth victory of the season.
The #8 AO by Absolute Racing Porsche of Alessio Picariello, Laurin Heinrich and Julien Andlauer won the Suzuka 1000km.
The #25 Algarve Pro Racing Oreca-Gibson of Jake Hughes, Matthias Kaiser and Ben Barnicoat won the 4 Hours of Silverstone. The #85 R-ace GP Duqueine D09-Toyota of Fabien Michal, Pierre-Alexandre Provost and Hugo Schwarze won in LMP3. The #62 Team Qatar by Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG of Abdulla Al-Khelaifi, Julian Hanses and Ralf Aron won in LMGT3.
Kyle Larson won the NASCAR Cup race from Gateway, his first victory since May 2025. Jesse Love won the Grand National Series race.
Marco Wittmann and Ben Dörr split the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters races from Sachsenring.
Chaz Mostert and Fabian Coulthard won Supercars' The Bend 500.
Oliver Solberg won Rally Chile.
Haiden Deegan (1-1) won the SuperMotocross round from Columbus. Levi Kitchen (2-2) won the 250 SMX round as Daxton Bennick and Cole Davies split the motos.
Coming Up This Weekend
NASCAR has a night race at Bristol.
MotoGP has a weekend in Austria.
IMSA will run a regular race in Indianapolis.
Sportsland SUGO hosts Super GT.
GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup wraps up its season at Zandvoort.
SuperMotocross holds it second playoff round from Carson, California.
