Will Power may have won the battle in Sunday's IndyCar series race at Portland International Raceway, but Alex Palou unmistakably captured the war.
Power crossed the line first, winning the Penske Fleet's first race of the year, but Palou clinched his fourth IndyCar Series championship over the last five seasons for Chip Ganassi Racing with a third-place finish.
With three races left going into Sunday, the only contender left for Palou to vanquish to earn the Astor Cup was Pato O'Ward. O'Ward had the pole, but the 28-year-old Spaniard enjoyed a 121-point lead over his closest rival and needed to leave Portland ahead by 108 points to sew up the title.
The die was cast just 22 laps into the race when O'Ward encountered an electronic issue on made an unplanned pit stop in his Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. The long delay in the pits caused O'Ward to re-enter the track nine laps behind the leaders and he would finish 10 laps down at a distant 25th.
Despite the knowledge that the title was his, Palou raced aggressively in the final laps of the race.
"We're here to win. That's why we're here. We've said it many times. When we come here, although we have that big goal of winning the championship, our priority is always to win races and win every single weekend," Palou said. "Even though could have been okay to stay third, we wanted to win."
Palou only trails A.J. Foyt and Scott Dixon, who won seven and six series championships, respectively. His three consecutive titles have tied Dario Franchitti (2009-11), Sebastien Bourdais (2004-07) and Ted Horn (1946-48). The 2025 eight-time winner still has two races left to tie the IndyCar record for victories in a season set at 10 by Foyt in 1964 and Al Unser in 1970.
Chip Ganassi Racing captured its 17th series championship to tie Team Penske for most in series history.