Scott Dixon was full of respect for the job IndyCar championship leader Alex Palou has done after the Spaniard’s latest dominant victory at Mid-Ohio.
The 26-year-old took his third consecutive win of the season for CGR and holds a commanding 110-point lead over Dixon in the standings.
Palou has been ultra-consistent, scoring top-10 finishes in all nine races so far, Dixon heaped praise on his teammate’s performances.
“He has done a hell of a job to cover all bases. As Will (Power) alluded to there, the qualifying is solid, the race pace is solid, strategy is solid. It’s just a really good all-around package right now.
“It’s never always one thing, but having quick pace is something that is huge, obviously with how tight the competition is now, but even today, we didn’t qualify on the front.
“We were fourth and sixth, but he was still able to overcome the three possibly quicker cars in qualifying.
“Some others may have had some problems on pit road or just whatever it was.”
Dixon has enjoyed an incredibly successful IndyCar career, winning six championships.
The New Zealander is yet to score a win this year but remains a championship contender due to his consistency.
The Chip Ganassi driver said he is happy with his raw speed despite not executing the perfect race at certain points this season.
“It’s just been a bit blah, to be honest. I think we’ve had really good pace throughout the year. Maybe haven’t executed in the times that we probably needed to.
“So, you know, we’re kind of right on the top of the hill at the moment. We just need to get over the peak.
“I don’t think there’s anything that stands out right now. It’s just not being on the right side of a couple of things, but generally pretty happy I think with pace and just how the races have gone. It’s just not what you hope for as well in some cases.”
The number 10 car has had a history of success, with Palou dominating the series this season and Dario Franchitti’s three consecutive titles in that car.
Dixon was quizzed on the similarities between Palou and Franchitti’s run of success.
“I think it’s always different. The racing is definitely different from what we had back then.
“So the guy we obviously know is a big talent. You see some talents come along that maybe just really are quick and maybe inconsistent or something like that, but he is definitely the full package.
“So it’s early in Alex’s career. He has a big, wide runway to go, yet to see what comes. We’ll see if he even sticks around in INDYCAR.”
