The chatter, expectations, and reality haven’t been lost on Alex Palou.

It would take a disaster for Palou to not win the NTT IndyCar Series championship — for a fourth time, and third in a row. He has won eight races, including the Indianapolis 500, and sports a huge lead in points heading into the BitNile.com Grand Prix of Portland, Sunday at Portland International Raceway . It’s been one of the best IndyCar seasons ever — Palou does have a shot at tying or breaking the IndyCar record wins in a season (10) — and certainly cements him among the elite in the long history of the open-wheel series.

But even though he and teammates, competitors, media and fans believe the same thing, Palou still has to pilot the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda for earn points in Portland and possibly

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