Indiana town declares "Alex Palou Day" in honor of the IndyCar champ being first resident to win Indy 500

Reigning IndyCar champion Alex Palou was honoured by the town of Zionsville in Indiana at the Town Council Meeting on Monday, July 7. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver became the first town resident to win the fabled Indy 500 on May 25 this year.

It was Palou's breakthrough win at the Greatest Spectacle of Racing and also his first oval win. The Spaniard had knocked two birds with one stone to record his fourth win in five races. He now has six wins in ten races with the Iowa double-header up next.

Last week, Zionsville Mayor John Stehr announced that Alex Palou would be honoured at the Town Council meeting.

"In Zionsville, we appreciate excellence,” Stehr said via The Hamilton County Reporter. "Alex Palou is the first town resident to win the Indianapolis 500. We’re proud of him and his team – and want to make sure they know it by bringing out neighbors from across Zionsville to publicly congratulate them and celebrate their victory."

On Monday, the three-time IndyCar champion had a public meet-and-greet with his fans in Zionsville. He signed posters and interacted with hundreds of eager fans who lined up outside the Zionsville Town Hall. The council declared July 7 as "Alex Palou Day" in his honour and gifted him an engraved commemorative brick during the ceremony.

Palou was sixth on the grid for the 109th running of the Indy 500. His No. 10 CGR Honda displayed a steady pace throughout the 200-lap race. He overtook race leader Marcus Ericsson with over 15 laps to go in the chaotic race and thereafter defended his position to be crowned the Indy 500 champion.

He created history by becoming the first Spanish driver to win the iconic IndyCar race. Zionsville honouring him on Monday might have come as a relief after he squandered a potential seventh victory of the season at the Mid-Ohio race on Sunday.

Alex Palou blames himself for squandering IndyCar race win at Mid-Ohio to teammate Scott Dixon

Alex Palou at the NTT IndyCar Series Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio - Source: Getty

Alex Palou looked set to take his seventh of the season at the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio on July 6. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver started on pole, his third of the season, and held onto it until disaster struck on lap 84 of 90.

He carried too much speed into Turn 9 and went off the track. Teammate Scott Dixon, who was four seconds behind him, grabbed the opportunity to overtake him to eventually take his first win of the season.

Alex Palou was massively disappointed with himself for the rare error. In the post-race interview with FOX, he called it a "stupid mistake" and shouldered the entire blame for fumbling the bag. He echoed the sentiment in the press conference later, saying (via ASAP Sports):

"I think when you lose... I think we lost today. It's not like we got beaten, but we lost it, myself. Yeah, that's going to hurt a little bit. I'm hopefully going to learn from that."

Looking at the silver lining of the team securing a 1-2, Palou added:

"It's still good in a way that we got 1-2. We lost it, but we kept it in the team. I think that's going to keep the team happier and Chip (Ganassi) happier."

The reigning IndyCar champion had been driving on the limit for a considerable portion of the race. He was on a three-stop strategy, unlike Dixon, who made a two-stopper work with excellent fuel saving.

Palou had gone off the track earlier in the race as well, but lost only around 1.5 seconds, and still held a good margin over P2. All things considered, he still extended his lead in the championship to 113 points over second-placed Kyle Kirkwood.