Alex Palou wins IndyCar title with victory at Portland, one race left to go

Alex Palou slammed the door on the rest of the IndyCar Series on Sunday, and Palou's team owner said he's not letting the champion driver get away.

Palou won at Portland International Raceway to clinch the 2023 points championship with a race to spare. Meanwhile, Chip Ganassi said Palou will be with the team in 2024 despite a contract dispute with Arrow McLaren.

Palou, who also won the 2021 title, finished 5+ seconds ahead of Felix Rosenqvist in 110-lap race on the 1.9-mile road course. Palou's closest rival in the points − Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon − completed the podium.

The 26-year-old Spaniard heads to the season finale on Sept. 10 at WeatherTech Raceway at Laguna Seca with a 91-point lead and 53 the most available in that race.

"We knew we had really fast cars," Palou said. "We knew we just had to go for it and we just raced how we've been doing it all season."

Incident report: IndyCar highlights, updates, crashes at Portland

He has a series-best five wins this season, four on road courses and one on a downtown street course. The Ganassi team won its 15th season title.

"I said, 'Let's go wrap it up today,'" team owner Chip Ganassi said. "He said, 'I'm gonna wrap it up with a win.'"

Ganassi added that Palou would remain on the team in 2024, but there is drama. McLaren Racing is suing him for breach of contract after he said he would not race for that team in 2024. Palou returned to Ganassi for this season after similar drama in 2022.

Pato O'Ward finished fourth, with Josef Newgarden, Rinus VeeKay, Marcus Ericsson, David Malukas, Scott McLaughlin and Kyle Kirkwood completing the top 10.

Pole-sitter Graham Rahal finished 12th.

IndyCar results at Portland

1. Alex Palou

2. Felix Rosenqvist

3. Scott Dixon

4. Pato O'Ward

5. Josef Newgarden

6. Rinus VeeKay

7. Marcus Ericsson

8. David Malukas

9. Scott McLaughlin

10. Kyle Kirkwood

11. Christian Lundgaard

12. Graham Rahal

13. Colton Herta

14. Helio Castroneves

15. Callum Ilott

16. Santino Ferrucci

17. Devlin DeFrancesco

18. Juri Vips

19. Marcus Armstrong

20. Alexander Rossi

21. Ryan Hunter-Reay

22. Benjamin Pedersen

23. Sting Ray Robb

24. Tom Blomqvist

25. Will Power

26. Agustin Canapino

27. Romain Grosjean

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IndyCar: Alex Palou wins title with victory at Portland