In what can only be described as a virtuoso display of driving excellence, Alex Palou dominated Sunday’s Children’s of Alabama Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park, claiming his third victory in four races this season and further cementing his position as the driver to beat in the 2025 IndyCar Series.

The Chip Ganassi Racing driver started from pole position and never truly relinquished control of the 90-lap race around the picturesque 2.3-mile Alabama road course. Leading effectively from start to finish—aside from brief periods during pit stop cycles—Palou stretched his advantage with apparent ease throughout the afternoon.

“It was a perfect day, a perfect weekend,” Palou said in Victory Lane. “The car was amazing, super fast. I had a ton of fun. Was a bit lonely there, but I loved it. It was an amazing day.”

The win marks Honda’s fourth consecutive victory of the season, with Palou’s No. 10 entry showcasing remarkable pace regardless of tire compound or fuel load.

Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard continued his impressive recent run, passing both teammates early in the race and securing a second-place finish in the No. 7 Chevrolet. This marks the Danish driver’s third podium in the last three races, establishing him as one of the series’ most consistent performers.

Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin, winner at Barber the previous two years, completed the podium but had no answer for Palou’s pace, finishing a distant third.

The defining segment of the race came during Palou’s second stint when he switched to Firestone’s harder primary compound tires. Conventional wisdom suggested this would make him vulnerable to Andretti Global’s Colton Herta, who was pursuing on the softer, grippier alternate tires.

Instead, Palou defied logic by not only maintaining his lead but extending it by nearly four seconds. On lap 36, Palou turned a 1m10.3s lap on harder tires compared to Herta’s 1m10.7s on softer rubber—both running in clean air. This inexplicable pace advantage demonstrated that Palou was simply operating on another level compared to his competition.

One of the day’s most remarkable performances came from Rinus VeeKay, who guided Dale Coyne Racing’s No. 18 Honda to a fourth-place finish after starting fifth. For IndyCar’s smallest team to maintain position among the powerhouse organizations represented a significant achievement, particularly as VeeKay held off Team Penske’s Will Power (fifth) and Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward (sixth).

Herta, who appeared on pace to challenge for second place, was relegated to seventh after a slow pit stop—part of a day marked by pit lane miscues throughout the field.

Perhaps most remarkable about the race was the complete absence of caution periods, extending an unprecedented streak of green-flag racing in the 2025 IndyCar season. At lap 49, the series recorded its 300th consecutive green lap of competition, a streak that began at Thermal, continued through Long Beach, and remained unbroken throughout Sunday’s event.

While the clean racing speaks to the drivers’ skill and discipline, the lack of caution periods eliminated opportunities for strategy variations or field resets that might have challenged Palou’s dominance.

If there was adversity to be found during the race, it occurred exclusively on pit road. Approximately half the field experienced at least one problematic pit stop, with issues ranging from slow tire changes to fumbled wheel nuts.

Herta’s championship hopes took a significant hit when pit stop issues saw him lose four positions during his second stop on lap 46. Similarly, Arrow McLaren rookie Nolan Siegel dropped from a strong early position after a slow first stop, and Kyffin Simpson lost valuable seconds during a prolonged left-rear tire change.

The race unfolded under overcast skies and relatively cool 65-degree conditions at the woodland facility, which witnessed an impressive turnout of fans who faced 30-minute delays just to enter the venue.

Palou’s pace advantage was evident from the start, building a 3.9-second lead by lap 11 and extending it to 8.1 seconds by lap 18 before his first pit stop. After the final round of stops, he cruised to victory with a 12.9-second advantage over Lundgaard with eight laps remaining.

For Josef Newgarden, who started ninth but fell back to 15th early after starting on primary tires while others used alternates, the race represented another challenging outing in what has been a difficult start to his 2025 campaign.

With his third victory in four races—and a second-place finish in the only event he didn’t win—Palou has established a commanding early lead in the championship standings. His flawless execution and the extraordinary pace advantage of his Chip Ganassi Racing Honda suggest that the competition faces a significant challenge in the races ahead.

As the IndyCar Series continues its schedule, the question becomes less about whether Palou can maintain his form and more about whether any driver can find the performance necessary to challenge his supremacy. Based on Sunday’s masterclass performance at Barber Motorsports Park, that appears to be an increasingly difficult proposition.