Alex Palou has had an interesting start to the 2020 NTT IndyCar Series season. He was thrown into the wolves in the season opener at the Texas Motor Speedway. He had just one short practice session, had to qualify shortly after, then race. That was his first Indy Car start and he had to do so on a scary superspeedway.

Then, he had a wait a month before getting back into the car. Without any testing or sim work available while we race under the midst of a global pandemic, he had to wait. Next up was the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. It’s a track he’s never seen before either and had to do so in 90+ degree heat with cooling problems with the Aeroscreen.

Palou, noted that he was comfortable in the test back in February at COTA but the first couple of races took that comfort away.

Then, he has a eye opening weekend in Road America. Palou, finished on the podium on Saturday and qualified third for Sunday’s race a day later.

He looked like a seasoned veteran. He did this on 75 minutes of practice. That’s it.

Now, it’s took maybe his biggest challenge – Iowa. The 7/8-mile bullring is difficult. These cars travel at speeds well in excess of 180 mph while pulling massive g loads in the corners. It’s such a quick lap, there’s not much time to relax or even breathe.

“It’s going to be my first experience on a short oval, which means another completely new experience for me,” said Palou. “I now have to switch my mind back to oval racing; it’s not a road course anymore.

“It’s not my specialty, so it will be a lot of learning once again as a rookie. Everyone has told me that Iowa is going to be crazy, that it’s a difficult race with the bumps. We have two races again this weekend, so it will be demanding, but it will also be good to help me gain as much experience as possible on that type of track.”

That’s why rookies don’t typically fare well on this track. He’s going to have to do so on minimal practice again and race on back-to-back days as well.