Alex Palou reflects on surreal IndyCar journey after achieving rare feat at Barber

Alex Palou has been driving flawlessly in the 2025 IndyCar season, with three wins and a podium in four races. In the Children's of Alabama Indy Grand Prix on Sunday, the Spaniard took a dominant lights-to-flag win with a 16-second gap over Christian Lundgaard in P2. In doing so, he conquered the rare feat of having led 1000 laps in IndyCar.

Palou led 81 of 90 laps at Barber Motorsports Park and only lost the lead owing to pit cycles. In the post-race press conference, the Chip Ganassi Racing driver was asked if he ever envisioned himself achieving such success so early in his IndyCar career.

"No, absolutely not," he replied, via FrontStretch on YouTube. "My goal was to be an IndyCar driver. "Then (it) was just to be an IndyCar race winner or a person that could fight for wins and sometimes for championships."

"Yeah, I don't think that I'm in a normal position. I'm aware that I'm very lucky to be in the position I am today, to be surrounded by a great team, being able to fight for wins every single weekend. Yeah, I don't know how long is that going to continue, but hopefully it's going to be for a long time," the three-time champion added.

Alex Palou is only the 44th driver to achieve this feat since 1946, and did it in 85 race starts. His six-time champion teammate Scott Dixon needed 99 starts to do it. He extended his 34-point lead in the championship to 60 after winning at Barber. Christian Lundgaard, who finished in P2, replaced Kyle Kirkwood as runner-up in the standings.

Alex Palou hopes for "huge" Barber win to boost his momentum going into the Indy 500

The month of May is upon us, and in IndyCar, it is the grandest month of the year. The build-up to the Indy 500 has begun, and the prep from all drivers and teams is in full force for a lifetime's worth of bragging rights.

Alex Palou's win in Alabama has given him good momentum for the rest of the month. When asked about what it means for his Indy 500 chances, he said, via FrontStretch:

"Huge. It's May already. It's huge. It's huge not only for myself like personally to feel like wanting to go on track, but for all the team getting a small reward before the month of May. We know it's going to be a lot of days. We know there are going to be a lot of days that are not as good on track during the month of May. To get this win early on in the month of May, it's going to push everybody."

Alex Palou's victory ended Scott McLaughlin's pursuit of a third consecutive win at Barber. The Team Penske driver decided to focus on the bigger picture of the championship, but conceded to the reigning champ's might.