Alex Palou and Chip Ganassi Racing are champions of the NTT IndyCar Series once again, winning the 2026 Astor Challenge Cup for the fourth consecutive year. This is the fifth career title for the 29-year old Spanish driver, and the second time in history a driver has won four championships in a row since Sebastien Bourdais in 2004-07, moving to third all-time on titles behind teammate Scott Dixon’s six, and A.J. Foyt’s seven.
Palou finished 10th in Sunday’s ‘Snap-on Makers and Fixers 250’ from the Milwaukee Mile and 97 points ahead of Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood. Despite the results in the weekends double-header, it was more than plenty to seal the deal.
“Incredible, I don’t know what to say,” Palou said, post-race. “Just so proud of this team, today was a really bad race for us, like we were suffering all the time and I was just like ‘Keep focus, keep on going’, and it was great, great to have another championship, onto the next one.”
The No. 10 DHL Honda team scored six wins at St. Petersburg, Birmingham, Long Beach, Detroit, Nashville, and Portland. Eight pole awards, 12 top-5s, 14 top-10’s, and led 673 laps across 17 events.
Additionally, the title comes off the year where both Palou and CGR announced a contract extension to continue their relationship beyond the previous deal that ran through the end of the 2027 season. A combo that has been successful since the moment ink dried on the first agreement.
“I mean they gave me the opportunity since 2021 to drive for them and to drive for a championship-winning,” Palou said. “Since then it’s just been an incredible with everybody on the team, the sponsors. They keep on giving me all the tools necessary to fight for wins and championships and so on, so I owe them everything.”
