SALINAS, Calif — Even though Alex Palou clinched the 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship last Sunday in Portland, he had to wait until this Sunday in Laguna Seca to go through the process. Before he did so, he would have liked to have snagged another win.

He nearly did too.

Palou passed pole sitter Felix Rosenqvist for the top spot on Lap 6. He’d lead all the way until his first pit stop on Lap 29. That was the stop that he hit pit lane just prior to the third caution of the day came out.

It could have cost him the race win if he pit just a few seconds later.

Ironically enough, it happened again on Lap 57. This time, he had passed pit road while second place at the time, Pato O’Ward was already pitting. It cost him dearly. Palou would restart 15th after pitting under caution on Lap 59.

He’d still have to pit again too.

Then the luck turned back his way again. With three more cautions coming, he saved enough to make it until the end and settled for third when it was all said and done.

“Yeah, it was an interesting race,” said Palou. “Lots of action honestly. Started fifth. Knew that there was going to be some drama on the first couple of laps. I was lucky that I was out of the first lap incident in turn two.

“From there, honestly we just had a lot of pace. Was able to overtake Felix, just get a gap. The car was amazing. I thought our strategy was amazing, as well. It was also hard to judge the yellows. Like, we couldn’t really predict what was going to happen.

“That yellow hurt us, I think it was third or fourth yellow. It hurt us a lot. We had to drop back to like 15th. We were on a bad spot.

“But, yeah, never gave up. We started saving fuel that we needed. Yeah, got into an accident when I was restarting in 15th. The car survived. We survived. Everything survived. I’m happy with the P3 honestly. I think it was the best we could have done today.

“I wanted to win, honestly, to celebrate more. Honestly, with the race we did, I feel like we won our race. Super happy. We got to do a lot of donuts for myself, for the team, and for the fans, which I was waiting for.

“I just enjoyed a lot this race. So hopefully INDYCAR is going to give us those points that we got here for next year, and we can start with a little bit of advantage next season. I think it would be fair, right (smiling)?”

Palou felt like if the caution never came out, he was likely settling in for another wide margin of victory. He won by 30-seconds last year and was heading that way again.

“It would have been pretty big just because I felt like one with my car,” he says. “It was just amazing. It felt like back to last year. We just had a ton of speed.

“But I knew it was not going to be an easy race. I knew there were going to be some yellows coming. I was just praying to be lucky again like we were on the first yellow, but we didn’t.

“Yeah, it’s okay. I mean, it’s INDYCAR. You know there’s stuff that you cannot control, like that yellow. Yeah, at least we got it back into podium position, which was the best we could.

“Yeah, could have been a lot better race, but a third was amazing.”

With a third-place run, he has finished 5th, 1st, 1st, 1st, 7th, 1st, 3rd on natural road courses in 2023 and 2nd, 1st, 3rd in 3 tries here.

“I don’t know what to say, honestly. It’s been an amazing year,” he said. “We had fast cars everywhere. It’s been so fun.

“I’m a bit sad that this season is over honestly because it seems like we go out on track, we know that we have a chance to win the races. So, yeah, we had a chance today as well. It was a shame that we couldn’t finish. I think it would have been, like, the best season ever in my career. It still is (smiling).

“Yeah, for the some donuts at the end. I guess that I hope The American Legion is happy about the work we did this year. And, yeah, honestly it’s just been an amazing year.”

For next year, the main goals are the same – championship and Indy 500. However, he may do so with a new number.

The No. 1 is annually reserved for the defending series champion. Ganassi just hasn’t used it since when the last time he did, Scott Dixon had a miserable winless season in 2004. So, they’ve just not gone back to it.

Palou though, wants to.

“I don’t know actually. I’m going to push for it. I’m going to push for it,” he said.

“Honestly, I love the No. 10. It was my first number when I started racing. That’s why I wanted to keep it after 2021. But then during last year, I just kind of thought and was like, Oh, man, we should have raced with the No. 1.

“I’ll have a lot of discussions with Chip. I’ll come with, like, the Be the One. I think it’s just special when you can win the championship and you can just have the No. 1 for a full year.”