Palou sees title reign come to a close at Laguna Seca

11/09/2022 01:33

Alex Palou is a day away from his NTT IndyCar Series title reign coming to an end. Although the Spaniard remained in the championship hunt through the last race at Portland, the Chip Ganassi Racing driver arrived at Laguna Seca having been mathematically eliminated from the title quest. A winner of three races last season, Palou’s chasing his first of 2022 at the season finale. “It has not been the year we were hoping for, for sure,” Palou told RACER. “It’s been a bit cloudy, not as nice as we wanted, but to be honest, you’re the champion during a year, but the feeling goes off quite quickly and then you get back to work. “And you go to the first race at St. Pete, and you don’t win that race, and the good feeling of being champion doesn’t last long. I’m super proud of the job we did last year; it’s always going to be with me, but you cannot hold onto that for a year or they will overtake you.” Palou says the midseason contractual entanglement between himself, CGR, and McLaren Racing has dampened some of the fun during his title reign. Although he’s out of the championship mix, teammates Scott Dixon and Marcus Ericsson could come away with the title in what could be his final race for CGR. “So obviously, all the drama that’s been with us, it wasn’t ideal and it’s not what I hoped for,” he said. “But I understand that. It’s the position we are in, and I tried to do the best since that happened, and I will still do my best and try and get through all the clouds that we have had with us so we can win the championship again.”