Bob Pokras
Fox Motorsports Insider
Indianapolis – Who is Alex Pallow?
He is 28 years old from Spain. 2025 Indianapolis 500 champion.
Palou (his name rhymes with “Hello” if you’re wondering) won three of the last four Indycar titles, and his victory on Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway pushed him even further into the national sports conversation.
So who is Palou? We asked him to give us some insights on Monday, the day after his thrilling victory:
Who is Alex Pallow?
I’m a really happy person right now. I’m a racing driver. Drive a No. 10 DHL Honda for Chip Ganassi Race.
And when you’re not wearing your driver suit, who are you in terms of your personality? How will your wife describe you?
It is tough. I don’t know. I’ve been enjoying spending a lot of time with my daughter and my family these days – she’s under 2 years old. Apart from that, I work in a race car, with my team, with my mechanics, engineers and some sims. [simulator] Whenever I have free time, I race everywhere. But yes. That’s Alex Palou. I don’t do much other than racing.
Can you work in your car? Can I change the brakes and do something like that?
I don’t think I trust my mechanical skills. I think I can do that. But I don’t trust it, so perhaps I wouldn’t do a very good job.
At some point, you go to celebrate with a meal where you can choose what it is. What meals do you choose to celebrate this victory?
It’s really good sushi and I want to celebrate it with sushi. I love sushi and I think that’s what I’m going to choose. In 2021, when I won my first IndyCar race, I said I was going to celebrate with fried chicken. But it was probably one of the worst decisions I’ve made. Because there were lots of interviews that brought in fried chicken afterwards, and I was tired of eating lots of fried chicken. So some good sushi. That’s how I celebrate.
Like California rolls, rainbow rolls?
I feel more like real sushi. A really good tuna. I like rolls too, but I’m like a nigiri guy.
What do you do when you want to forget about the race?
I read. I love reading about sports, business, or people who are generally successful.
More biography, not fiction?
yes. I’m not really a big fiction guy. It’s difficult for me to start again. Because sometimes I keep awake and then I can’t read and keep a week. So it’s just biographical.
Are you reading them to get ideas on how to make yourself a success? Or are you a bit interested in these people?
I’m just interested. Obviously, if you get a good idea, or if it acts as a role model, it will be a good thing. But that’s more interesting. There are many people looking at successful athletes, businessmen, men and women from outside. We see it from the outside as if it were a day for them, like they’re really living a simple life or they suddenly have an idea. But in reality, when you learn how they started a company, how they began their careers, you know they had a lot of ups and downs. I like to read things like that.
And if there’s anything written about you, is it a simple life or ups and downs?
It’s a very cool life, but it’s not as easy as some people think. It’s not that difficult. I have a truly amazing life, but there were moments in my career that I didn’t know if I could race the next race that weekend without any good results. So there are a lot of people who don’t know about it, but apart from that, it was a great career.
Did you enjoy that kind of pressure?
No, I think that’s difficult. That’s a tough pressure. It’s pressure to not allow you to take 100% off yourself. Maybe you’ll come back a little further away. Good pressure is when people expect something from you and they think you’ll be successful or successful.
If you didn’t know the next race, if you didn’t perform, is it because of sponsorship or because you had other drivers that they were potentially trying to put in the car?
It was similar to the economical one.
Did you have any other jobs besides being a race car driver?
I owned a coffee shop with my wife. I owned it, but also offered coffee and a cleaning table. It was back in 2018 and 2019, and we sold it when we moved to the US at the end of 2020
Did you enjoy it?
Some parts, yeah. It was so much fun. I built it from scratch without thinking about business or coffee. I had an idea. We wanted to try and see if we could make it in case my racing career didn’t go well, so there was something. And it was really fun. It was really difficult. Covid hit us, and it was a tough time for business. But that was an amazing learning step we had.
So, are you a coffee snob?
I’m now, yes.
Is it difficult for you to find a good coffee because you know how to make it?
Yes, I’m not a person who can’t drink regular coffee. I drink any kind of coffee. I love coffee. Even the worst coffee, I’m going to drink it.
I think there are a lot of text that hasn’t been returned. But which one did you return? Who is so important to you, did you already have to return their text?
I had no chance to return the text. I read a lot of them, but last night, when I finished the media, we went to the Pacers game. And when we got home on the bus I was hoping to fall asleep at 6am this morning [for more photos and media]. But I answered that I had no chance to speak directly to all of my family, to the families who weren’t here, and to all of the race drivers who were competing with us yesterday.
You were able to sleep last night. Have you been able to sleep the night before 500?
Yes, it was actually pretty good. I was able to sleep a little last night. However, when I woke up at 2am or 3am, I was so excited that I realized we had won 500, that it took me an hour more to fall asleep. And I just said, “Oh, man, I don’t know if I’ll fall asleep before I’m six.” But before 500 I slept very well.
What will you lose sleep?
I’m sure you’re excited, you’re probably worried. I never lose sleep because I know that getting excited about races is very important to sleep to make me feel better. However, post-race excitement causes you to lose sleep every time.
Did you think growing up and winning the Indy 500 was realistic?
no. That’s not the case at all.
Did you think it was a dream that would never happen?
Not even a part of it. As a child. Obviously, when I started getting closer and went to Japan [racing]and then we see that one day being part of the Indy 500 is a realistic goal. But no, it wasn’t when I was a child.
Bob Pocklas Cover NASCAR Indycar from Fox Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500, in stints in ESPN, Sports News, NASCAR Sheen Magazine, and (Daytona Beach) News Journal. Follow him on Twitter @Bob Pokkuras.
Get more details from the NTT IndyCar series Get information about games, news and more according to your favorites
