Alex Palou clinched his first NTT IndyCar Series championship with a composed drive to fourth place Sunday in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Palou became the first Spaniard to win an IndyCar Series championship and became Chip Ganassi Racing’s second consecutive title winner and 14th INDYCAR SERIES champion overall. The 24 year old is the first champion younger than 25 since current teammate Scott Dixon in won the championship in 2003 and is the seventh-youngest champion in IndyCar Series history.
“What a race, what a year, what a season,” Palou said. “This team is amazing. I’m super proud to be a part of Chip Ganassi Racing, all our partners. I’m super proud to be a champion and for the opportunity these guys gave me."
“Dream completed. Let’s get another one now.”
2021 NTT IndyCar Series Final Point Standings:
Alex Palou 549
Josef Newgarden 511
Pato O'Ward 487
Scott Dixon 481
Colton Herta 455
Marcus Ericsson 435
Graham Rahal 389
Simon Pagenaud 383
Will Power 357
Alexander Rossi 332
Takuma Sato 324
Rinus VeeKay 308
Jack Harvey 308
Scott McLaughlin 305
Romain Grosjean 272
Sebastien Bourdais 258
Ryan Hunter-Reay 256
Conor Daly 235
Ed Jones 233
James Hinchcliffe 220
Felix Rosenqvist 205
Helio Castroneves 158
Dalton Kellett 148
Santino Ferrucci 146
Max Chilton 134
Jimmie Johnson 108
Ed Carpenter 107
Tony Kanaan 96
Oliver Askew 61
Juan Pablo Montoya 53
Sage Karam 53
Pietro Fittipaldi 34
JR Hildebrand 30
Cody Ware 26
Marco Andretti 22
Charlie Kimball 20
Christian Lundgaard 19
Callum Ilott 18
Ryan Norman 10
Simona De Silvestro 10
Stefan Wilson 10
Kevin Magnussen 7
RC Enerson 5
Paul Kelly provides a full recap:
Check out the write up from Christopher DeHarde:
Elizabeth Blackstock shares her thoughts at Jalopnik: