Indianapolis – who is he Alex Palo?
He is 28 years old from Spain. and 2025 Indianapolis 500 hero.
Palo (his name is rhyme with “hello” if you wonder) three of the last four indycar titles and winning on Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway pushed him more in the national sports conversation.
So who is Palu? We asked him to give us some insight on Monday, a day after his exciting victory:
Who is Alex Palo?
I am a really happy person now. I am a race driver. I am leading the 10 DHL Honda for Chip Ganassi.
And when you are not in the driver’s suit, who are you, as much as your personality? How do your wife describe you?
This is difficult. I don’t know. I love spending a lot of time with my family at the present time, with my daughter – she is less than two years old. Regardless, work on racing cars and work with my team, with mechanics, engineers and some Sim [simulator] The race here and there whenever I have some free time. But yes. This is Alex Palo. I do not do much about the race.
Can you work on your car? Can you change the brakes and do this type of things?
I don’t think I will trust my mechanical skills. I think I can do it. But I will not trust him, so maybe I will not do a very good job.
At some point, you will celebrate a meal that you can choose. What will be the selection meal to celebrate this victory?
I like to celebrate with sushi, with a really good sushi. I love sushi, and I think this is what I will choose. In 2021, when I won the first Indycar race, I said I would celebrate the fried chicken. But perhaps this was one of the worst decisions I made. Because after that, I conducted many interviews that brought me fried chicken, and I was tired of eating fried chicken. So some pieces of good sushi. This is how I will celebrate.
Like a California roll, a rainbow roll?
I am more like a real sushi. Nechiris, really good tuna. I love the menus too, but I am like a Nigerian person.
When you want to try to forget the race, what are you doing?
I read. I love reading about the people who have succeeded in sports, work, or in life in general.
More CV instead of imagination?
Yes. I am not really a great fictional man. It is difficult for me to go again – because sometimes I will remain awake and then a week without being able to read. So just a CV.
Do you read these to get ideas on how to succeed yourself? Or are you just interested in these people?
Just interested. Obviously, if you get a good idea or if it is a role model, it will be good. But it is more interested. There are a lot of people by looking at the external athletes, businessmen, businessmen, and women, we see it from the outside as if they had a really easy life or if it was something for one day for them, as if they had an idea suddenly and that’s everything. But in reality, when you get to know this, how they started companies or how they started their career, you see that they have a lot of rise and landing, and a lot of moments in which they were on the verge of inability to succeed. I love reading those things.
And if there is one written about you, will it be easy life, up and down?
It will be a very wonderful life, but it will not be easy as some people may think. It is not very difficult. I really have a wonderful life, but there were some moments in my career where I didn’t know if I was going to be able to do the next race without a good result this week. So there are a lot of people who do not know it, but regardless of that, it was a great profession.
Did you enjoy this type of pressure?
No, I think this is difficult. This is a difficult pressure. This is the type of pressure that does not really allow you to take out 100 percent of yourself. You may retreat a little. Good pressure is one when people expect something from you, thinking that you will be good or successful on the right track.
In those times when you did not know the next race if you did not perform, was that due to care or because they have other drivers who want to put them in the car?
It was more like economic things.
Did you have any other job but to be a race car driver?
I used to own a café with my wife. I own it, but I was also serving coffee and cleaning tables. It was again in 2018 and 2019, and we sold it at the end of 2020 when we moved to the United States
Did you enjoy it?
Some parts, yes. It was very fun. We built it from scratch without any idea of works, coffee or anything. We only had an idea. We wanted to try to find out if we could only make it if my career did not go in the race, so we had something. It was really fun. It was really difficult. We struck Kofid, and the times were for work. But it was an amazing educational step we made.
So are you equal coffee?
I am now, yes.
Is it difficult for you to find a good cup of coffee after you know how to make it?
It is, but I am not this type of people who cannot drink regular coffee. Drink any types of coffee. I just love coffee. Even the worst coffee, I will drink it.
I imagine that you have a lot of texts that you did not return to. But which of them came back? Who is very important to you so much that you had to re -text already?
I had no opportunity to restore texts. I have read many of them, but last night, when I finished the media, we went to the game. When we got home on the bus, I wanted to sleep to be ready at 6 am this morning [for more photos and media]. But I answered all my family, and the family members who were not here, as well as for all racing drivers who were competing with us yesterday and that I did not have the opportunity to speak directly.
I was able to sleep last night. Did you sleep the night before 500?
Yes, it was actually very good. I managed to sleep last night a little. But it is true that when I woke up, 2 or 3 in the morning, I realized that we won 500, so I felt enthusiastic to the point that it took me another hour to fall asleep. I was like, “O man, I don’t know if I would fall asleep 6 or not.” But before 500 she grown very well.
What makes you lose sleep?
The excitement, just enthusiastic or think that anxiety is perhaps. Enthusiastic for the race does not make me lose sleep because I know that sleep is very important to make me feel good. But excitement after the race makes me lose sleep every time.
He grew up, do you think that victory in Indy 500 was realistic?
No at all.
Did you think this is just a dream that will never happen?
Not even being part of it. As a child. Obviously, as soon as you start approaching and go to Japan, a super formula [racing]Then you see it as a one -day real goal to be part of Indy 500. But no, not when you are a child.
Bob Boukras covers Nascar And Indycar for Fox Sports. He has spent decades in motorsport coverage, including more than 30 Ditona 500s, with work at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR SCENE MAGAZINE and (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow it on Twitter @Bobukras.
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