ALEX PALOU DOMINANTES INDYCAR AMID LAWSUITS AND SCRUTINY OF HIS CAREER DECISIONS

He now has won two championships in three seasons and Palou is IndyCar’s most dominant driver. He became the first driver in nearly two decades to clinch the title before the season finale with a win Sunday at Portland, his fifth...

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PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Alex Palou wore a McLaren papaya-colored shirt at the Miami Grand Prix in May and a $1 million Richard Mille custom watch adorned his wrist. Given only to McLaren’s F1 drivers, the timepieces are a talking point among the collecting crowd. Simon Pagenaud, himself a Mille ambassador, immediately spotted the watch. “Yes, but it doesn’t work,” Palou said.

“What do you mean it doesn’t work?” Pagenaud asked, popping out of his chair to seize Palou’s right arm.

“It just doesn’t do anything,” Palou said with a shrug.

“You know you have to wind it, right?” asked an incredulous Pagenaud, who began twisting the outer dial.

Palou always has had some naivete since arriving in the United States at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. He was a 22-year-old Spaniard who most recently had been racing under the radar in Japan, and he never had won a championship at any level. He slipped in during the isolated "bubble" 2020 season with small Dale Coyne Racing, where Palou secured backing and quietly overperformed to catch the attention of Chip Ganassi Racing. IndyCar’s top team had an opening and so it grabbed Palou, who won in his debut race with his new team.