Palou looking to repeat both on-track success and raising veteran suicide awareness

It was an amazing, and often dominant, 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season for Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou. Behind the wheel of the No. 10 American Legion Honda – which featured Be the One messaging on its livery – for 12 races, Palou won five races and finished in the top three 10 times on his way to the points championship and the Astor Cup. He clinched the championship with one race remaining – the first driver to do so since 2007.

Palou’s primary sponsor on the No. 10 Honda will be DHL this year, but he will still carry The American Legion name on his car. The two-time INDYCAR SERIES champ spoke with American Legion Social Media Manager Steven B. Brooks before the season about representing veterans and Be the One, what it’s like being a defending series champ and a big life change that happened in the offseason.

Steven B. Brooks: What has fatherhood been like?

Alex Palou: Busy. Very busy. Lots of work, but it’s been a great experience, honestly. It’s been something I never thought I would enjoy that much or that I would have the emotions that I discovered. It’s been a super-fun experience … and we were lucky enough to plan it for the offseason and I’ve been able to experience every single moment. To have so many activities to do and so much work to do with the baby, it’s been fun.

Question: This is the second time you’ve been the defending INDYCAR SERIES champ. Do you learn anything from that first year of being defending champ that you can maybe use preparing for this year?

Palou: You always learn. I don’t think I learned a lot about how to defend a title because in INDYCAR it’s so tough. I don’t think we lost the opportunity to defend the title (in 2022) because of something we did. It was probably just because we weren’t in our best conditions on the track with myself, the speed that I had and issues we had off-track. But you always learn. You always know you can improve here or there, especially driving-wise. There’s always room for more to be closer to what could be a perfect lap. During the offseason you need to work a lot on how you can improve and which areas you can improve. I know I’m better than last year. The thing is, are we going to be better than everybody else, or has everybody else made a step or not.

Question: Is there added pressure coming off that title, especially with the way you won it: able to clinch it earlier than any driver had in years?

Palou: Depends on how you look at it. If you don’t win five races and are on the podium 10 times, is that a failure or not? I don’t look at that that way. I look at it that INDYCAR is tough, and you never know if somebody else is going to have something different each season. That’s what we did from 2022 to 2023. The team was the same, my crew was the same, I was the same. But we just overall made a big step and suddenly found everything we needed to win the championship for the second time. So, I don’t feel more pressure, but I do feel we have the opportunity to repeat what we did because we know what we’re capable of. We can always improve it, but if we do the same I’m pretty sure we’ll be fighting for the season (championship) again.

Question: Looking back, what was it like last year interacting with so many veterans, hearing their stories, and seeing their joy and their pride in what you were doing and what Chip Ganassi Racing was doing out on the track?

Palou: It was amazing. I would say that 2023 was the best season, with the results we got on the track, but also everybody that I got the opportunity to meet. I think the veterans that were visiting us during the race weekends … I would see them before the race, and then I would see them again in Victory Circle. It’s like perfect, right? There were some who were INDYCAR fans but never thought they’d be able to be inside a team, but also be in Victory Lane. On social media you hear a lot of people thanking the team and The American Legion for what we do. But it’s not same as when you see one person, one veteran, that thanks you in person. You see the emotion, that creates even more energy to do more and to try to help more people. Hopefully we can continue to do that.

One of the best days was after (winning the Indy 500 pole), we went to the American Legion post by the Speedway, and everybody was so excited that they got the opportunity to see The American Legion getting the pole at the Indy 500. It was cool.

Question: Representing the Be the One mission last year, how rewarding was it to be able to elevate that mission, elevate the issue with veteran suicides, on that platform you excel on and share it with millions?

Palou: It goes beyond racing. It’s very cool to race and to win races. It’s one of the best things in life. But to help people goes beyond. It’s something, as well, that’s close to being a father, that you didn’t know what you were going to feel. But when you help people., and you see their emotions in people, it’s the best thing. It’s more than winning a race. I think we’re raising more and more awareness each race weekend, and hopefully we can keep on building Be the One.