Alex Palou’s rivals don’t need to see him at Barber Motorsports Park anytime soon.

That realization came on the heels of yet another dominating drive March 29 in the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix powered by AmFirst. Palou led 79 of the 90 laps – he relinquished the top spot only during pit stops – in what effectively was a flag-to-flag, all-green victory.

That makes two such wins in succession on the 17-turn, 2.3-mile layout in Birmingham.

Last year, Palou (photo, top) led 81 of 90 laps, which means over the past two years he has led just under 90 percent of the track’s offerings (160 of 180 laps). It’s more than coincidental, too. He won the 2021 race by leading 56 of 90 laps, and only once in his six trips there with Chip Ganassi Racing has he failed to lead a lap. He has led 232 of the 540 laps, a 43 percent clip.

In those six races, the Spaniard has an average starting position of 3.3, with poles each of the past two years, and an average finish of 2.5.

Yeah, he’s good there.

Palou won last year by 16.0035 seconds and Sunday by 13.2775 seconds. The only driver with a realistic chance of thwarting him over the weekend was Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard, whose chance to win suffered a late-race blow with a slow final pit stop. Lundgaard also finished second a year ago, part of a string of four consecutive top-six performances at the track. He also turned the fastest lap of the race.

Christian Lundgaard

Yeah, Lundgaard (photo, above) is good there, too, just not as good as Palou, and he conceded as much in the post-race news conference.

“Alex is the same Alex as last year,” he said.

The bad news for Palou’s competition: Included in his 10 wins over the past 21 races are six road course victories in eight opportunities, and he finished second and third in the others. There are five such circuits remaining on this year’s schedule.

While Palou went to victory lane in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, there are several drivers who must consider the weekend successful. Start with Lundgaard, who led 10 laps and stood a good chance of overtaking Palou in the final pit exchange had 10 seconds not been lost when the right rear tire took too long to affix.

Lundgaard’s second-place finish helped him jump four positions in the standings, and he will head to the next event, the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on Sunday, April 19, just 35 points out of the lead. Based on past performances, he figures to be a contender to win at many of the remaining 14 races.

Graham Rahal’s third-place finish put him on the podium for the first time in 41 races dating to the 2023 road race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He could not have had a bigger smile after this one.

David Malukas finished fourth, giving him three consecutive top-six finishes in his first year with Team Penske. Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood grabbed the fifth position, allowing him to maintain the series points lead, although Palou drew to within two points of him. Kirkwood is the defending champion of the Long Beach race.

The rest of the 25-car field is in head-scratching mode, wondering how to keep pace with Palou on road courses. Right now, he’s in his own world, particularly at Barber Motorsports Park.