Alex Palou could also be a celebrity to these within the motorsports know, however he could be probably the most dominant athlete the remainder of the sports activities world has but to acknowledge.
By profitable his second IndyCar championship final season, the 26-year-old Spaniard achieved what a handful of elite athletes have completed at that younger age. Placing his motorsports milestone into perspective, Lebron James didn’t win his first NBA title until the age of 27. At that very same age, Conor McGregor knocked out Jose Aldo in 2015 to win his first UFC featherweight crown.
Then there was Tom Brady, who at age 26 gained his second Tremendous Bowl—the second of seven rings.
Palou, nonetheless, has no issues about securing GOAT-level standing at this level of his profession. His aim for the time being is to proceed grinding and racing his strategy to his subsequent title. The hunt for No. 3 begins March 10 when the 2024 IndyCar season kicks off with the Firestone Grand Prix. With championships comes each alternative and challenges, and judging by his file and race coaching routine, there’s no cause to query whether or not he’s as much as each duties.
“On the finish of the day, being a champion solely lasts from September to February,” Palou says. “As soon as we’re on the observe once more, I’m final yr’s champion.
Your complete IndyCar discipline is seeking to knock Palou off the rostrum in 2024. On the identical time, he and Ganassi Racing lately unveiled its new sponsor, DHL, and the crew’s new-look No. 10 Honda.
Palou and a number of different IndyCar superstars may even be adopted by digital camera crews and the CW prepares for its second season of 100 Days to Indy. And with all of the racing consideration zeroed in on Palou this season, he’s shortly discovering out that navigating a automobile at 230 mph might really feel like a joyride in contrast with commonly retaining tempo along with his daughter Lucia, born this previous December.
“I had no concept about something about infants or the way to the way to be a dad or the way to simply care for small human, however I knew the way to race to be a champion,” he says. “I knew the way to put every little thing collectively throughout race weekends and be the perfect by the tip of the yr. Being a day appeared easy from the surface, nevertheless it’s actually robust.”
With every win and accolade, the younger driver is making IndyCar—and fatherhood— look easy, but Palou wasn’t anointed with auto racing greatness. His rise to racing’s echelon started with loads of struggles and doubts whereas touring by the decrease circuits. He met uncertainty with elevated work on bettering his race sport.
“That you must carry on, on being versatile on adapting on working and discovering new methods to go quick,” Palou says, “as a result of I do know if I do the identical as I’ve completed in 2023, the outcomes gained’t be the identical. Folks evolve, and setups are fully totally different. So I have to carry on engaged on each single facet of driving.”
Alex Palou Labored His Manner From Uncertainty to Unmatched
Palou earned final season’s IndyCar title in dominating vogue, changing into the primary driver since 2007 (Sebastien Bourdais) to clinch an IndyCar championship earlier than the season finale.
In 17 races, the Spaniard gained 5, together with 13 top-five finishes and 10 podiums. Palou’s excellence allowed the celebration course of to be somewhat extra gratifying the second time round. “It’s really extra thrilling, simply since you knew what to anticipate and weren’t left questioning what may occur,” he explains. “You knew how the championship labored and the way the battle on the finish would go. So that you get to benefit from the course of a bit extra.”
Palou highway to racing’s elite started on the age of 5 in Spain when he bought behind the wheel of a go-kart. He didn’t come from a racing household background—and wasn’t actually thought of a racing prodigy rising up. As an alternative he labored his manner by the lower-tier circuits as an adolescent, at time wherein his expertise was overshadowed by numerous missteps and errors. This was significantly true throughout his stint within the GP3 League in 2014 and 2015. Alex Palou admits to struggling—with dangerous begins, pricey race errors dominating his early motorsports moments, which made transferring up within the racing ranks extra a query mark than conclusion.
“There’s at all times doubt once you’re doing a sport and the outcomes are usually not coming,” Palou says. “However on the finish, you at all times belief your self and have that confidence that you understand how to make it occur. Possibly you weren’t 100% for some cause, otherwise you wanted a unique atmosphere or alternative, however you at all times have to belief your self.”
Regardless of the frustration and doubts, Alex Palou dug deeper, and caught to his routine of extra work, extra driving and extra give attention to bettering mentally and bodily.
That chance introduced itself over time—bouncing from Japan to Europe till he bought a break, testing an IndyCar in 2019 and getting his break on the IndyCar Sequence when he signed with Dale Coyne Racing. A yr later he was signed by Ganassi racing and has loved success since.
“I simply modified the work the quantity of labor in technically, mentally and bodily,” he says. “That’s the one factor you are able to do us as a racecar driver. It’s not like I went to this wonderful health club and began doing one thing totally different. It was simply not giving up and believing that the work would take us the place we wished to be. With out these robust moments, I wouldn’t be as robust mentally as I’m now.”
Alex Palou Maintains a Motorsports Mentality
When he’s not continually racing after his daughter at dwelling, Palou usually makes use of his remaining down time for—no shock—engaged on enhancing his already top-level race efficiency, whether or not within the health club along with his coach Scott Salcedo, or fantastic tuning his observe efficiency on a race simulator. Like NBA celebrity Steph Curry’s legendary post-practice shot-draining routine, repetition behind the wheel makes all of the distinction, even when it sounds mundane to the non-motorports fan. “I’m a boring particular person,” Palou admits.
It’s to not say Palou tried diversifying his sports activities expertise—his ceremonial first pitch at a minor league baseball sport was a strike. However for a way gifted he’s grow to be on the observe—he’s recorded 9 wins in somewhat over 4 IndyCar seasons, by his personal admission, his athletic dominance doesn’t at all times cross over to every other athletic endeavors. “I’m actually dangerous at different sports activities. I attempted to do some pickleball final yr, and I used to be actually dangerous at that as nicely.”
Palou toyed with the concept of including swimming to his coaching routine throughout the race season, then we gave it a attempt throughout the offseason, he shortly discovered water train more difficult than stress-free. “I’m completed with swimming,” he admits. “I believed it will be so much simpler and gratifying—form of like operating, however in a pool. However you’ll be able to’t decelerate, in any other case you sink.”
His short-lived swimming obsession is without doubt one of the the reason why Palou stays as constant along with his in-season coaching routine. Any unsuccessful experimentation he says, can have a damaging psychological impact on his efficiency.
“As soon as I’ve my routine and put together for the races main as much as the weekend, I don’t need to change that ordinary session for one thing that I don’t whether or not I’ll really feel good or not. The exercises put together me bodily and mentally.”
For that cause, Alex Palou and firm hold the exercise routines fairly regimented. After his 6 a.m. espresso, he and Salcedo hook up for about 90 minutes of coaching, doing what he calls a “hybrid CrossFit” exercise that emphasizes race-specific targets. Palou explains the exercises as prioritizing neck, shoulders, and decrease again, the muscle groups most affected by the sitting within the automobile for 500 miles. This has Palou performing a great deal of pullups, shoulder presses, and sled pulls to take care of power in these muscle groups to maintain him robust for the whole race stretch.
With the addition of some cardio, together with some dash work, Palou says the method has helped hold him robust and wholesome. Within the spring, viewers will get an opportunity to see a few of his efficiency, because the second season of 100 Days to Indy begins. Whereas he thinks the publicity is a good factor for the league, typically the soft-spoken champion admits to being somewhat reluctant to point out his hand, particularly with the cameras rolling.
“It’s enjoyable to point out what we do however on the identical time you need to be exhibiting the way you put together correctly your self,” Alex Palou says. “Particularly, like, coaching stuff. You don’t need any driver to get an concept of, ‘Oh, Alex is doing this. Possibly we should always do any such neck coaching [laughs].”
Studying to Prepare for Greatness Now and the Lengthy Time period
Final or close to the underside of Palou’s precedence listing is any comparability to different particular person athletes. Regardless of his identify being twice engraved on the game’s iconic Astor Cup, racing is a complete crew effort for Palou and Workforce Ganassi.
It begins with the pit crew—liable for fueling and changing tires in below eight seconds—who gasoline and exchange tires in below 8 seconds—together with the mechanics and engineers sustaining the No. 10 DHL Honda week after week, in addition to crew chief Ricky Davis, the eyes and ears who helps navigate Palou each race, and one of many predominant cause Palou has been in a position to attain the rostrum an unimaginable 24 out of fifty profession IndyCar races.
“They make all these choices,” Palou says, “and as a driver you then try to put the automobile in the absolute best place. They do a variety of work that so many individuals don’t know that they’re doing.
Regardless of sharing the credit score, it’s Palou who will get the general public reward and criticism, a part of the rationale why the psychological put on and tear typically is extra draining than any bodily accidents he’s battled by at this level of his profession. “Mentally, you are feeling drained from being on observe and the stress that comes from having to get outcomes. As soon as the season’s over, I prefer to chill out somewhat bit.”
Aside from some end-of-season posterior muscle aches—primarily within the neck, shoulders, and decrease again—Palou shies away from a lot restoration work. He says he’ll usually incorporate some therapeutic massage remedy throughout a protracted stretch throughout the season.
Though some ideas of invincibility at his younger age, Palou is now discovering the necessity to begin pondering of his future. Towards the tip of final season, as he wrapped up his second title, Palou linked with a long life legend, surf icon Laird Hamilton. The 2 hit it off, with Palou admitting to being captivated about what it’s going to take to maintain racking up racing titles—whether or not it’s IndyCar or Components 1—in his 30s, 40s, even 50s.
“He informed me so much about longevity,” Palou remembers. “He was like, you may not have any points now and it’s straightforward since you’re 26, however the important thing right here is to maintain performing once you’re 40. It was a type of wonderful conversations that afterward you are feeling so excited and need to go do stuff.”
For Alex Palou, Longevity Might Additionally Be a Workforce Effort
Palou and Hamilton proceed their correspondence, and Palou hopes to sooner or later get to coach with the Laird Superfood founder, talk usually and should get to coach collectively sooner or later, in addition to recommendation about vitamin. “He was instructing me to start including mor fat to my food regimen for psychological stability and focus.”
Hamilton isn’t the one longevity skilled Palou can flip to for recommendation. At age 43, Palou’s Ganassi teammate Scott Dixon is the final word instance of retaining a profitable mindset previous 40. The 2008 Indy 500 winner is a six-time IndyCar collection champion and second the all-time wins listing (56). The teammates, with a virtually 20-year age distinction (Dixon turns 44 in July), are set to race this June on the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans.
“Scott’s probably the greatest if not the perfect IndyCar driver that we ever had in IndyCar,” he says. “Figuring out that he’s your teammate, it’s actually rewarding due to how a lot I can be taught from him and the way a lot I can depend on him. When I’ve doubt and or once they want one thing. However on the identical time is is a headache as a result of I do know he has the perfect crew round as nicely that he could have the identical instruments as I do and that he has somewhat bit extra expertise. It’s robust, nevertheless it’s actually enjoyable.”
Dixon additionally completed runner-up within the IndyCar standings to Palou, which creates a considerably friendlier problem for Palou to be able to hold his IndyCar reign for an additional season.
“I used to be final yr’s champion, not this yr’s,” Alex Palou says. “So I must be on my sport once more. As soon as your profession is over but they could say you’ve gained two, three, 4 championships. However once you’re competing, you at all times need to be referred to as the reigning champion.”
