IndyCar News

Five-time IndyCar champion, first-time Indy NXT driver: Alex Palou tops IMS road course test

Five-time IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou stepped into unfamiliar territory on Friday, but the end result looked remarkably familiar.

· 2 min read
Originally reported by Motorsport.com
Five-time IndyCar champion, first-time Indy NXT driver: Alex Palou tops IMS road course test
Photo: Motorsport.com

Alex Palou: What Happened

Motorsport.com reported on Saturday, October 17, 2026 in a story involving Alex Palou, Indy NXT, Chris Griffis Memorial Test. Here is how the report opens:

Five-time IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou stepped into unfamiliar territory on Friday, but the end result looked remarkably familiar. Climbing into an Indy NXT car for the very first time, Palou paced a 22-car field at the annual Chris Griffis Memorial Test on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. Driving the #11 Chip Ganassi Racing entry on an overcast, chilly day in Central…

— Motorsport.com

It is one of many IndyCar stories we are following today. Below are the key takeaways, how the story is being reported across the sport, background on Indy NXT and what to watch next.

Key Takeaways

  • The story: Five-time IndyCar champion, first-time Indy NXT driver: Alex Palou tops IMS road course test
  • Who’s involved: Alex Palou, Indy NXT, Chris Griffis Memorial Test and Five-time IndyCar Series
  • League: IndyCar
  • First reported: Saturday, October 17, 2026 by Motorsport.com

Background: Indy NXT

Indy NXT (pronounced "Indy Next"), previously Indy Lights, is an American developmental automobile racing series sanctioned by IndyCar, currently known as INDY NXT by Firestone for sponsorship reasons. Indy NXT is the highest step on the Road to Indy, a program of racing series leading up to the IndyCar Series.

Text from Wikipedia’s Indy NXT article, CC BY-SA 4.0.

What’s Next for Alex Palou

For fans following Alex Palou, the next things to watch are the race results, qualifying, championship standings and schedule. Stories like this one tend to move quickly, so check back for follow-up reports and reaction as more outlets pick it up.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What happened with Alex Palou?

Five-time IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou stepped into unfamiliar territory on Friday, but the end result looked remarkably familiar. Climbing into an Indy NXT car for the very first time, Palou paced a 22-car field at the annual Chris Griffis Memorial Test on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. Driving the #11 Chip Ganassi Racing entry on an overcast, chilly day in Central… Motorsport.com reported the story on Saturday, October 17, 2026.

Who reported this INDY story?

Motorsport.com first reported it on Saturday, October 17, 2026. ForTheFans summarizes it here with background and related IndyCar news.

Where can I get the latest IndyCar news today?

The ForTheFans IndyCar page collects every INDY headline as it breaks, including race results, qualifying and championship standings, with live scores on our scores page.

Summarized by ForTheFans from reporting by Motorsport.com. Headlines, quoted text and photos belong to their publishers. How we report

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