"Still mathematically possible": Pato O'Ward makes feelings clear on challenging Alex Palou for the 2025 IndyCar title 

With Alex Palou winning his eighth race at Laguna Seca, he stretched out his lead over Pato O'Ward to 121 points in the championship standings, which led many to assert that the Astor Cup already has the Spaniard's name imprinted on it. However, the Mexican was not ready to give up yet, as he shared that he will keep pushing till the end of the season.

Palou started the 2025 season from where he left off by winning the opening race at St. Petersburg. In the following rounds, the CGR driver amassed a string of victories before his rivals could even start playing catch-up.

On the other hand, O'Ward was battling performance struggles early in the season, and after his maiden victory of the year at Iowa, his pace ramped up and he emerged as a title contender, though by a long shot. He had reduced this deficit to under 100 points ahead of the race at Laguna Seca, and aimed to make a dent in Alex Palou's lead.

However, the triple champion bagged a 54-point haul from the race weekend, while Pato O'Ward slumped down the field. Despite the gap to Palou now standing at a mammoth 121 points, the Arrow McLaren driver shared how it was still mathematically possible with 162 points up for grabs. He said, via FOX Sports:

"It’s a tall task, but still mathematically possible. Is it likely? Probably not, but we're going to keep on pushing...We never really got worse than fifth this month. So five races in the top five and two of those being wins. That's pretty awesome."

Alex Palou and Pato O'Ward are the only remaining drivers mathematically left in the competition for the Astor Cup.

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Alex Palou aware of Pato O'Ward lurking in the background for the championship

Colton Herta (L), Alex Palou, Christian Lundgaard (R) at the NTT INDYCAR Series Java House Grand Prix of Monterey - Source: Getty

Alex Palou's eighth victory of the season brings him ever closer to A. J. Foyt and Al Unser Sr.'s massive 10-race win record in a single championship year. With three rounds left to spare, the reigning champion could rewrite history.

Meanwhile, the championship is all but over, according to many, but Palou thought otherwise. The 28-year-old asserted after winning the Grand Prix of Monterey that he has not sealed the title despite his massive advantage and knew that Pato O'Ward would be waiting in the background to pounce if any opportunity arose. He said in the post-race interview, via ASAP Sports:

"But, yeah, it's not done until it's done. We still need to win it. We still need to keep our heads down and try and win more races."

Apart from Palou, O'Ward, and Kyle Kirkwood are the only drivers to have won multiple races this year.