"Car doesn't feel normal": Alex Palou recalls 'nerve-wracking' first IndyCar oval race weeks after Indy 500 win

Reigning IndyCar champion Alex Palou has shared how nervous he was during his first time racing on an oval. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver grew up in Europe and naturally, had never raced on an oval, which is more of an American feature.

Coming into 2025, Palou had only two boxes to tick in his storied IndyCar career. He was left to secure a race win on an oval and one on the grandest of them all at the Indy 500. At the 109th running of the race on May 25, he emerged victorious to kill two birds with one stone.

For the Spaniard, it was an unparalleled accomplishment because he went from never having raced on an oval before 2020 to winning the world's biggest oval race in 2025. In a recent interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Alex Palou recalled his first-ever oval experience, saying:

"It was nerve-wracking, for sure. The car doesn’t feel normal. Obviously, it’s a lot faster. You know you’re not going to use the brakes as much, and you feel strapped in a lot different, in a different way than you normally are. But, yeah, honestly, it’s ... it’s a pretty cool experience, especially at the beginning when you don't know how is it gonna be."

Palou had to undergo trial by fire when he debuted in IndyCar with Dale Coyne Racing in 2020. The season opener was the Genesys 300 on the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway oval, where he qualified in P16. On lap 36, he made contact with Rinus Veekay, and ended both drivers' races.

The Spaniard will look to carry his newfound oval prowess into the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 on June 14. He has performed decently at the 1.25-mile WWT Raceway oval, with a P4 finish in 2024 as his best result.

Alex Palou hopes to carry Indy 500 momentum ahead for quick success on more ovals

Alex Palou kisses the Borg-Warner tropy after winning the 109th Running of the Indianapolis 500 - Source: Getty

Alex Palou has out-and-out dominated IndyCar in 2025, with five wins in seven races, including the special Indy 500 victory. Having achieved his breakthrough oval win at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Chip Ganassi Racing star wants to rack up more in the second half of the season.

When asked by MSJ whether the different oval tracks in Indy, Milwaukee, Iowa, and Madison can be classified as basically the same race, Palou replied:

"Every track has its own character (just as) when you go to a road course. You can prefer some tracks than others, because the way the car feels, the amount of steering you need to put the speed that you’ll carry there, but so far, I like all of them. Obviously, I prefer the Speedway because I won, so I feel more confident. But I cannot wait to win at other places."

The three-time IndyCar champion also admitted that the "confidence" and "comfort" of having won the Indy 500 will help him go into other oval races with a revamped mindset.

Alex Palou leads the championship by 90 points over Pato O'Ward after seven races. The gap would've been more if he wasn't taken out by David Malukas on lap 72 of the Detroit GP a week after the 500.