Alex Palou achieves maiden Indianapolis 500 victory

Alex Palou elevated his dream start to the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series season to the ultimate pinnacle of heights. He won Sunday’s Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the first time on Sunday, May 25.

The reigning three-time NTT IndyCar Series champion from Barcelona, Spain, led the final 14 of 200-scheduled laps. He started in sixth place and withstood an eventful race. It was highlighted with a total of seven caution periods. There were also numerous competitors encountering pit road issues and various pit strategies.

Palou’s key moment to victory started within the final 30 laps when he overtook David Malukas on the track after Malukas pitted and exited pit road in front of Palou, was mired in lapped traffic.

Despite being mired behind Marcus Ericsson as the latter utilized an alternate pit strategy by making a green-flag pit stop with 25 laps remaining, he worked to gain an advantage to assume the lead. Palou opted to settle behind and draft Ericsson while trying to conserve as much fuel as possible to reach the event’s distance.

Then with 14 laps remaining, Palou seized an opportunity. He exited the frontstretch and used a massive tow to overtake Ericsson for the lead. With the lead in his possession, the Spaniard spent the remainder of the event maintaining a reasonable advantage over Ericsson. He utilized the draft of the lapped competitors of Devlin DeFrancesco and rookie Louis Foster to remain out in front. A caution on the final lap flew due to Nolan Siegel wrecking in Turn 2 and made the event official. Palou fulfilled a dream as he cruised to both his first IndyCar victory on an oval-shaped circuit and his first Indianapolis 500 crown.

The starting lineup was determined through a two-day qualifying session, titled the PPG presents Armed Forces Qualifying, that occurred between May 17-18. During the two-day session, each competitor entered to bid for starting spots cycled around the Speedway for four qualifying laps. The average speed would then be generated between the four laps and determine the respective lineup from top to bottom.

At the conclusion of the two-day session, rookie Robert Shwartzman of Prema Racing sped to his first NTT P1 Pole Award with a four-lap average-qualifying speed of 232.790 mph (two minutes, 34.6459 seconds). Takuma Sato of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing qualified in second place with an average speed of 232.478 mph (two minutes, 34.8534 seconds). Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren completed the three-way front-row grid by claiming the third-place starting spot with an average speed of 232.098 mph (two minutes, 35.1069 seconds).

Following the pre-race ceremonies, the command to start engines was delayed by more than 40 minutes due to on-track precipitation. When the competitors fired off and cycled around the track for pace laps following the delay, early disaster struck. Scott McLaughlin, who was set to start in 10th place, collided into the Turn 4 inside wall while swerving his No. 3 Pennzoil/Team Penske Dallara-Chevrolet entry to get the tire temperatures up to race pace. The damage to McLaughlin’s entry was beyond repair as he retired without completing a single lap.

Amid McLaughlin’s issues, Scott Dixon had a small fire and smoke coming out from beneath his No. 9 PNC Bank/Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara-Honda entry due to an issue involving his left-rear braking system. Eventually, the smoke and fire evaporated. Dixon was able to remain on the track in his starting spot of fourth place, with the six-time IndyCar champion getting his braking system cooled off.

When the green flag waved and the event officially commenced on the third lap, rookie pole-sitter Robert Shwartzman gained a strong start from the inside lane through the frontstretch. He muscled his No. 83 Prema Racing Dallara-Chevrolet entry ahead of both Takuma Sato and Pato O’Ward as he led through the first two turns.

The caution, however, quickly returned. Marco Andretti, who started in 29th place, was hit by Jack Harvey and got sideways both exiting the frontstretch and entering the first turn. Despite his efforts to keep his car straight, Andretti spun through the first turn. He was hit by Marcus Armstrong before he slapped his car against the Turn 1 outside wall. The damage to Andretti’s No. 98 MAPIE/Curb/Andretti Herta w/Marco & Curb-Agajanian Dallara-Honda entry was beyond repair as retired from further competition.

During the latest caution period, some including Will Power, Josef Newgarden, Jack Harvey, Rinus VeeKay and Graham Rahal pitted their respective entries while the rest led by Shwartzman remained on the track.

The start of the next restart on the ninth lap featured O’Ward using the outside lane to overtake Shwartzman through the frontstretch as the latter led through the first two turns. As the field fanned out to multiple lanes, O’Ward proceeded to lead through the backstretch while Sato used the outside lane to overtake Shwartzman for the runner-up spot. O’Ward led the Lap 10 mark before Sato tracked down and overtook O’Ward to assume the lead for himself exiting the backstretch. By then, Shwartzman dropped to fourth place while Felix Rosenqvist moved into third place.

On Lap 17, the caution returned due to on-track conditions as light sprinkles were reported around the speedway. At the moment of caution, Sato was leading by four-tenths of a second over O’Ward while Rosenqvist, Shwartzman and Marcus Ericsson followed suit in the top five, respectively.

During the latest caution period, multiple names, including the front-runners led by Sato, pitted while the rest led by Alexander Rossi and including his teammates Christian Rasmussen and Ed Carpenter remained on the track. During the pit stops, O’Ward spun his rear tires and nearly got sideways while also nearly being hit by Rosenqvist amid a tight squeeze play that involved Ericsson while leaving his pit stall. In addition, Larson had issues launching out of his pit box due to a clutch issue while Dixon endured a slow pit service due to a slow air gun service. Shwartzman also lost a bevy of spots on pit road due to an issue in having his right-rear tire changed. Prior to the restart, Dixon would return to pit road to have a rear caliber addressed to his entry.

As the event restarted under green on the 30th lap, Rasmussen used the outside lane to overtake teammate Rossi for the lead through the frontstretch as the field behind fanned out to five lanes. With the field navigating cleanly through the first two turns and the backstretch, Rasmussen retained the lead for the following lap while Rossi, Carpenter, Devlin DeFrancesco and Jack Harvey followed suit in the top five, respectively.

Through the first 35-scheduled laps, Rossi, who reassumed the lead from Rasmussen two laps earlier, was leading by two-tenths of a second over Rasmussen. Team owner Ed Carpenter followed suit in third place by four-tenths of a second. Meanwhile, Sato carved his way up to sixth place on his fresh tires behind DeFrancesco and Harvey. Rasmussen and Rossi utilized teamwork by swapping the top two spots by Lap 37. They continued to swap the top spots through the Lap 40 mark as Rossi was out in front by the mark.

Then on Lap 42, teammates Rossi and Rasmussen pitted their respective ECR Dallara-Chevrolet entries under green. This allowed Ed Carpenter to cycle into the lead while Harvey, Sato, Rinus VeeKay and Conor Daly followed suit in the top five. Carpenter then pitted during the following lap, which allowed Harvey to cycle into the lead. Harvey would lead up to the Lap 45 mark before he pitted, which allowed Sato to cycle back into the lead as Daly moved up to second place.

At the one-quarter mark on Lap 50, Sato was leading by more than a second over Daly while David Malukas, Alex Palou and Santino Ferrucci followed suit in the top five, respectively. Meanwhile, Newgarden, the reigning two-time Indianapolis 500 champion who started at the rear of the field, was up into 14th place while teammate Will Power, who also started at the rear of the field, was mired in 19th place.

Ten laps later, a series of mixed pit strategies within the field that occurred since the start continued as Daly pitted under green before a bevy of names led by Sato pitted during the next lap. By then, Kyle Kirkwood, who has yet to pit, remained on the track before he pitted on Lap 62. Kirkwood’s move allowed Sato to cycle back into the lead while a hard-charging David Malukas, who navigated his way up into the runner-up spot, closed in. Meanwhile, Colton Herta was assessed a drive-through penalty due to a speed violation.

Then on Lap 74, Rossi’s strong Indy 500 event came to an end on pit road when fire erupted out of his No. 20 ECR Java House Dallara-Chevrolet entry due to a fuel leakage as he had pitted. Amid Rossi’s issues on pit road that left the former Indy 500 champion fuming, the event remained under green flag conditions as Sato and Malukas occupied the top-two spots ahead of Palou, Daly and Harvey.

Just past the Lap 80 mark, the caution flew when Rinus VeeKay, who was peeling off the track to pit under green, snapped sideways upon entering pit road and hit the inside wall on his right-rear section. The incident, which was due to a braking issue, broke the right-rear suspension of VeeKay’s No. 18 askROI Dallara-Honda entry and terminated his event from further contention.

During the latest caution period, nearly the entire field led by Sato pitted while the rest that included Ryan Hunter-Reay, DeFrancesco, Carpenter and Harvey remained on the track as the latter four were on a different pit strategy. During the pit stops that involved the rest of the field, the leader Sato lost a bevy of spots due to overshooting his pit stall. In addition, Shwartzman turned in too-left deep into his pit stall and ran over several of his pit crew members, including his fueler who was taken to the infield care center for further evaluation. The incident not only damaged Shwartzman’s entry, but it terminated his first IndyCar career event from further contention.

The start of the next restart on Lap 91 did not last long when Kyle Larson, who was racing in the mid-pack region, got sideways in Turn 2 and did a full 360 spin from the inside lane. As Larson spun up the track, he clipped Kyffin Simpson while Sting Ray Robb, who tried to steer as far right as possible to avoid hitting Larson, ended up slipping toward the outside wall.

The contact resulted in both Larson and Simpson slapping the outside wall while Robb, who tried to keep his car straight, spun down the track and collided with the tire barriers. The incident spoiled Larson’s attempt of completing all 1,100 miles from his second double-duty attempt, though he will next travel to Charlotte Motor Speedway and compete in the NASCAR Cup Series’ Coca-Cola 600 event on Sunday evening.

Following an extensive caution period, the event was about to restart under green with 94 laps remaining, but the caution quickly returned when Christian Rasmussen, who restarted towards the tail end the field, got loose and nearly hit the outside wall in Turns 3 and 4 as he smoked his No. 21ECR Splenda Dallara-Chevrolet entry. At the moment of caution, DeFrancesco, who inherited the lead when Hunter-Reay pitted during the caution period, retained the lead.

During the next restart with 91 laps remaining, DeFrancesco retained the lead through the frontstretch while Daly capitalized on a bold four-wide move to move into second place. As Daly moved up the leaderboard, the trio of Malukas, Palou and Ferrucci trailed in the top five while Callum Ilott moved his way up to sixth place. In addition, Newgarden was up to ninth place while DeFrancesco led the next lap.

Down to the final 80 laps of the event, DeFranceso, who was racing on a different pit strategy and was still needing to make an extra pit stop compared to most of the front-runners, continued to lead ahead of Malukas Palou, Ferrucci and Ilott. Once DeFrancesco pitted, Daly cycled into the lead. Daly would continue to lead with 75 laps remaining as he had Malukas, Palou, Ferrucci and Ilott, respectively, pursuing him.

With 67 laps remaining, select names that included Palou, Newgarden and O’Ward pitted under green. The pit stops occurred a lap after Castroneves and Sato pitted while Ferrucci and Malukas pitted with 66 laps remaining. Newgarden, however, returned to pit road with 65 laps remaining due to a fuel pressure issue with his No. 2 Shell/Team Penske Dallara-Chevrolet entry.

Newgarden dropped both out of the lead lap category and out of contention to win a record-setting third consecutive Indy 500. Hunter-Reay, Rasmussen, Ericsson and Lundgaard occupied the top four spots while Palou, Daly and Malukas all aggressively battled for fifth place. The trio continued to jostle amongst one another for a potential late-race battle for the lead before Daly executed a bold move on his fellow competitors to claim fifth place.

Down to the final 60 laps of the event, Rasmussen, Ericsson and Hunter-Reay occupied the top three spots. Daly and Malukas were in the top five. Behind, Palou, Ferrucci, Rosenqvist, O’Ward and DeFrancesco were aggressively jostling in the top 10 while Foster, who was racing in the top five, pitted under green.

With 50 laps remaining, Hunter-Reay, who spent the previous several laps fiercely battling with Louis Foster as Foster was trying to un-lap himself, continued to lead by two-tenths of a second over Daly. Behind, Malukas, Palou and Ferrucci followed suit in the top five. Rosenqvist, Ericsson, O’Ward, Rasmussen and Ilott were racing in a long single-file line, and were scored in the top 10, respectively.

Ten laps later, Hunter-Reay slightly stretched his advantage to seven-tenths of a second over Daly while Malukas, Palou and Ferrucci continued to follow suit in the top five, respectively. As the laps dwindled, Daly, who reported handling and tire grip issues, was overtaken by Malukas, Palou, Ferrucci and Rosenqvist, which dropped Daly to sixth place within the final 35-lap mark. Daly then pitted under green and was nearly hit by Rasmussen while trying to enter pit road for fresh tires. Amid Daly’s issues, Hunter-Reay continued to lead by half a second over Malukas while Palou, Ferrucci and Rosneqvist pursued in the top five.

Palou and Ferrucci would then pit under green with 32 laps remaining as Palou exited pit road with a huge advantage over Ferrucci. Then within the final 30 laps, Hunter-Reay encountered a roadblock due to stalling his entry. With Hunter-Reay’s being eliminated from further contention, Malukas led before he pitted with 29 to go.

By the time Malukas exited pit road and returned to the track, he managed to blend his No. 4 AJ Foyt Racing Dallara-Chevrolet entry back ahead of Palou and Palou would settle behind Malukas. By then, they were racing in fourth and fifth while Ericsson, Rasmussen and Lundgaard, the trio of whom have yet to pit, occupied the top three spots.

Down to the final 25 laps of the event, Ericsson pitted from the top two spots under green. By the time Ericsson blended back on the track, he managed to blend his No. 28 Allegra/Andretti Global Dallara-Honda entry ahead of Palou. By then, Palou had overtaken Malukas on the track due to the latter getting mired in lapped traffic.

Despite getting mired behind lapped traffic, Ericsson continued to lead ahead of Palou, Malukas and O’Ward, the latter trio were trailing the lead by within a second, while fifth-place Rosenqvist trailed by one-and-a-half seconds.

With 15 laps remaining, Ericsson, who was mired behind two lapped competitors of DeFrancesco and Louis Foster, retained the lead by two-tenths of a second over Palou and by seven-tenths of a second over Malukas while O’Ward and Rosenqvist continued to trail in the top five by more than a second.

Another lap later, Palou made his move beneath Ericsson entering the first two turns to assume the lead in his No. 10 DHL/Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara-Honda entry. Palou continued to lead by three-tenths of a second over Ericsson with 10 laps remaining while Malukas trailed in third place by six-tenths of a second. O’Ward and Rosenqvist remained in the top five while Ferrucci trailed by two seconds in sixth place.

With five laps remaining, Palou maintained his steady advantage of three-tenths of a second over runner-up Ericsson and by seven-tenths of a second over third-place Malukas while O’Ward and Rosenqvist trailed by more than a second. By then, Palou was given the green light to try and overtake the lapped competitors of Foster and DeFrancesco while maintaining the lead over Ericsson and having enough fuel to reach the event’s finish.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Palou remained in the lead with a steady margin over Ericsson while Malukas, O’Ward and Rosenqvist continued to pursue in the top five. Then as Palou maintained his advantage over Ericsson through the first three turns, the caution flew when Nolan Siegel wrecked in Turn 2.

Siegel’s incident, which occurred on the final lap, was enough for the event to officially conclude under caution as Palou cruised back to the frontstretch and streaked across the finish line first for the biggest checkered flag of his career.

With the victory, Palou, who notched his 16th career win in the NTT IndyCar Series division, became the 76th competitor overall to win the Greatest Spectacle in Racing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and he notched his first-ever IndyCar victory on an oval circuit. Palou, who won the Sonsio Grand Prix at Indy’s Road Course venue two weeks earlier, also became the first Spaniard to win the Indy 500 in his sixth attempt.

The 2025 Indy 500 victory was the sixth overall for Chip Ganassi Racing and the first for both the organization and Honda since 2022. As an added bonus, Palou, who has won all but one of the first six-scheduled events of the 2025 IndyCar season, became the first competitor to win five of the first six events on a schedule since AJ Foyt made the previous accomplishment in 1979.