Palou takes a deserving title as Herta wins again
Josef Newgarden and Chip Ganassi don’t have a lot in common even if each admires the other’s ability, but they agree on one matter: the 2021 IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou reminds them of his team-mate and multiple title winner Scott Dixon.
Ganassi was in polite and quite expansive mood when he met with the media after seeing Palou score his team’s 14th drivers’ title since 1996 but, asked if his new champ reminded him of any of the team’s alumni, he seemed momentarily stumped. Pushed on the subject, he eventually said: “He’s a lot like Dixon. Not a lot of baggage, just focuses. Yeah, a lot like Dixon.”
Newgarden came up with the same comparison somewhat quicker. He had just lost the Grand Prix of Long Beach to Colton Herta, yet had finished close enough to Palou in the final standings to perhaps think back to the Road America race. There, a transmission issue caused him to drop from the lead to 21st with two laps to go, gift-wrapping the win for Palou. Yet magnanimously, Newgarden failed to raise the topic.
“I said earlier in the year I think from the crop
