“My career won’t be complete without an Indianapolis 500 win,” declared Alex Palou, the three-time reigning NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion, current points leader and now, winner of the 109th Indianapolis 500 on the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval. Palou is the first Spaniard to earn his place on the vaunted BorgWarner Trophy. He’d won 15 road and street-course races prior to May 25, 2025, but had never seen the twin checkered flags on an oval. Now he has 16 sweet wins and the one victory every Indy car driver covets.
It was a cool, cloudy day in Indianapolis, a day when the race start was delayed by rain drops for about half an hour from its intended start. As the 33-car field began its final pace lap before getting the green flags, the race ended for Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin, who spun on cold Firestone Firehawk tires and ended up crashing his Dallara/Chevolet race car in the first turn. He was in tears afterwards. Three laps of caution ensued and when the green flags finally flew, the field was back to caution for a spin by Marco Andretti, also in the first turn. Day over for Marco!
The field settled in once green flags flew until weather interrupted the proceedings with light moisture for just over 10 laps of the 200 scheduled (laps 19-29). The fourth of seven cautions flew on the 82nd lap when Rinus VeeKay’s brakes on his Dale Coyne Racing Dallara/Honda failed as he entered pit road for regular service. The Dutchman became the race’s fourth retirement after 2016 winner Alexander Rossi, whose Ed Carpenter Racing Dallara/Chevy erupted in fire, engulfing crewman Mike Miller (he was okay, he said later).
The fifth caution came shortly after the green flags flew following the cleanup for VeeKay’s pit road incident, as former NASCAR champion Kyle Larson lost control in the second turn and collected Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyffin Simpson and Sting Ray Robb of Juncos Hollinger Racing. Again, caution begat caution when Ed Carpenter Racing’s Christian Rasmussen incurred contact with the wall in the fourth corner. The final caution came on the final lap for Nolan Siegel’s Arrow McLaren Dallara/Chevy contact in the second turn as the sharp end of the remaining field flew towards the twin checkered flags.
At the stripe, Palou had a 0.6822 -secondmargin of victory on 2022 Indy 500 winner Marcus Ericsson of Andretti Global, driving a Dallara/Honda for his second straight second-place result, with Chevy-powered A.J. Foyt Racing’s David Malukas third, Arrow McLaren’s Chevy-powered car for Pato O’Waard fourth and Felix Rosenqvist, driving Meyer Shank Racing’s Honda-powered Dallara fifth. Winner of the only race Palou’s lost this season, Kyle Kirkwood crossed the stripes in sixth for Andretti Global (Honda), followed by Foyt’s Chevy-powered Santino Ferrucci, who has finished in the top ten every time (seven) he’s competed here, followed by Christian Rasmussen, Christian Lundgaard and Conor Daly, all driving Chevy-powered Dallara race cars.
What of our pole sitter, Robert Shwartzman? His PREMA Racing Chevy-powered Dallara led only the first lap and, when he made his second pit stop, a braking issue pushed him into his crew members and out of the competition. The cooler weather, high humidity and propensity for showers played havoc on this field of 33, as eight cars were out of commission by the halfway, 100-lap marker.
As it was, six-time champ Scott Dixon, whose Ganassi-prepped Dalara/Honda had flames erupting from the left rear on pace laps ended up as the final, 20th car still running at the close, down three laps to the leaders. Rookie Siegel, despite causing the final caution, was the first car a single lap down, joined by Colton Herta (H), Ed Carpenter (C), Will Power (C), Graham Rahal (H), Marcus Armstrong (H) and Jack Harvey, driving the second Dreyer & Reinbold with Cusick Motorsports Chevy in 19th.
Josef Newgarden made his way from the back row to the top 10 before fuel pressure issues with his Team Penske Chevy forced the two-time Indy 500 champ to retire right after his fifth pit stop on the 132nd lap. He’d made up 26 positions after starting 32nd, only to be parked early, ending his day. 2014 Indy 500 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay, making his second straight appearance with Dreyer & Reinbold/Cusick Motorsports led 48 laps, second only to two-time winner Takuma Sato. RHR’s Chevy engine shut off after his lap 169 final pit stop and would not restart properly. Sato, working with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, also had brake issues in the pits and had an 11th place result.
On Monday, everything changed following post-race inspections. While Palou’s car made it through tech without issues, second-placed Ericsson and his teammate Kyle Kirkwood were both penalized with three rules violations. Improper conduct, improper amendments to equipment and all parts provided by an approved supplier “must be used as supplied without modification, unless otherwise approved by INDYCAR.” Specifically, both cars’ Dallara-supplied Energy Management System (EMS) covers and cover-to-A-arm mounting points had unapproved spacers and parts. Callum Ilott’s PREMA Racing Chevy-powered Dallara failed to meet the minimum endplate height and location specification.
All three cars were punted to the rear of the finishing order, with prize money and championship race points being commensurate with their official finishing slots. Each car also received a $100,000 fine for their infractions and the competition managers for all three entries have been placed on a one-race suspension, so they won’t be working with Andretti Global or PREMA Racing in Detroit this coming weekend. Andretti Global has already stated it will take “necessary time to assess the information and we will be requesting a full review with INDYCAR.”
With Palou’s win, Chip Ganassi Racing ties Andretti Global for second place on the all-time Indianapolis 500 win list with six; Team Penske leads all comers with 20 total victories in the Greatest Spectacle in Racing. This was Honda’s 16th victory, placing it second overall to Offenhauser and the most successful engine manufacturer in Indy’s modern era. Palou, it must be remembered, finished this race with less fuel and older tires than his pursuers, Ericsson and O’Ward. “My car was very capable,” he noted in the media center scrum an hour after his victory. “But I didn’t really have the best balance, especially towards the end of the tire life. I would say, from lap 20 onwards (after making his final stop), I was struggling very much to follow very closely. So that’s why I tried to overtake Marcus as quick as they told me that the fuel was more or less okay to go to the end.
“There were a lot of fast cars out there,” said the man who now has 112 points on O’Ward and the rest of the field. “Mine was one of them, but I didn’t feel like we had tons of speed. I think I was able to take advantage of the traffic cars, as well, to help me tow up very good and not consume too much fuel,” he said of the untapped duo that preceded him to the finish line. “Thanks to Helio [four-time Indy 500 winner Castroneves] I was able to read the traffic good. I knew that was going to be probably my only chance.”
Except for the very last lap of the race, the second half of this enduro was pretty darn clean. Yet Palou was expecting another yellow. But still he saved fuel, listening to Barry Wanser, Julian Robertson and Ricky Davis in his ear. For Chip Ganassi, now in his 35th year as a team owner, this result is now his favorite win, of course. “The guy’s unbelievable,” he exulted. “He saved fuel all day and I think he’s one of the greats. It’s that simple. Certainly we’ve had some great drivers on our team and he’s right there, at worst, shoulder-to-shoulder with all the rest of them. You’ve got to talk about Franchitti (two of his three Indy 500 wins with Chip Ganassi Racing), and Montoya and Dixon and all the champions we’ve had, Vasser and Zanardi and it just adds to it. Ericsson won here with us. It’s just a great thing. Alex is clearly in that group now, clearly.”
Before the Indy cars head to downtown Detroit and race seven in a 17-contest season, on Monday night the series and Indianapolis Motor Speedway will celebrate the 33 cars, drivers and teams that contested Sunday’s Indianapolis 500. The prize money will be handed out but, for sure, there will be some sour faces in the crowd. Ganassi and his 28-year-old victor Palou will be the happiest folks in that group, collecting $3.8 million of a total purse of $20,283,000, making for an average payout of $596,500. Pole winner Robert Shwartzman earned Rookie of the Year for his performance throughout the month of May, giving the first-year driver a total take-home payout of $327,300.
The NTT INDYCAR SERIES heads northeast to play in the Motor City, with the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix, taking place on Sunday, June 1 on the streets of downtown Detroit. The race broadcasts live – as do all INDYCAR races in 2025 – on FOX and the INDYCAR Radio Network, beginning at 12:30PM ET.
Leave a Reply