Palou Claims Maiden Oval Win In 109th Indianapolis 500

SPEEDWAY, Ind. – Alex Palou cemented himself as the best American open wheel driver of the current era and ascended into racing immortality Sunday at the world’s greatest race course.

The Spaniard and three-time NTT IndyCar Series champion rode his season-long wave of momentum to Indianapolis Motor Speedway victory lane, leading the final 14 laps at the famed 2.5-mile oval to win the 109th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.

It marked the first triumph in the Greatest Spectacle in Racing for Palou, who made it five wins in six Indy car races this year in the most dominant season start since A.J. Foyt in 1964.

“I cannot believe it. What an amazing day, what an amazing race,” Palou said after climbing from his No. 10 DHL Honda and sprinting down the frontstretch to embrace his Chip Ganassi Racing crew.

Palou’s Indy 500 triumph marked his first oval win in 29 tries and the 16th Indy car victory of his career.

After saving fuel for most of the afternoon, but keeping himself firmly in contention near the front of the field, Palou charged past 2022 winner Marcus Ericsson with 14 laps left, using a deep dive to the inside of turn one to seize control of the race late.

From there, with the help of a draft from the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Hondas of Devlin DeFrancesco and Louis Foster ahead of him, Palou had enough steam to hold Ericsson at bay the rest of the way – even though he pitted for the last time at lap 168, seven laps before Ericsson did.

The final 14 circuits were the only time all race that Palou was out in front of the Field of 33, and he had to work for it, after Ericsson cycled out ahead of the 28-year-old when the final round of stops wrapped up with 24 to go.

Ten laps later, the bit was between Palou’s teeth and he was making what turned out to be the winning pass, after prior ‘500’ results of 28th (2020), second (2021), ninth (2022), fourth (2023), and fifth (2024).

“I’m out of breath! Just celebrating made me tired,” he said with an ear-to-ear grin. “I cannot believe it. It is amazing to be here; it is amazing to win.

“My first oval win, what a place to get it,” added Palou, who won by .6822 seconds at the twin checkers. “It was tough conditions when you were third or fourth in the pack … with the dirty air. There were some moments where I felt really good in the race, but at the end I didn’t know if I was going to be able to pass Marcus or not.

“Thankful we made it happen. I lost my voice and haven’t even truly started celebrating yet!”

Officially, the race ended under caution after Arrow McLaren teenager Nolan Siegel crashed on the final lap. Siegel was checked and released by the IndyCar Medical Unit following the incident.

Sunday marked the sixth Indy 500 win for longtime team owner Chip Ganassi and the 141st overall Indy car victory for CGR as an organization since its inception in 1990.

“It is an incredible thing,” Ganassi said of what the Indy 500 has meant to him through the years. “Winning it is going to make Alex Palou’s life, and it certainly has made mine.”

Ericsson’s second-place finish in the ‘500’ marked his third career podium in the event and his second runner-up since winning the race outright in 2022.

He became a heavy player inside the final 150 miles once the varying pit strategies began to converge together, leading 17 laps, but just couldn’t catch Palou after being passed and put into turbulent air.

“That was painful to miss out [and be] so close again,” lamented Ericsson, the driver of the No. 28 Andretti Global Honda. “Second time we’ve been second place here … and this is a winner takes all race, so it’s really tough.”

AJ Foyt Racing’s David Malukas was another strong contender in the closing quarter, posting a career-best Indy 500 finish in third after his previous high-water mark had been 16th in 2022.

Perennial ‘500’ contender and popular Mexican driver Pato O’Ward crossed fourth for Arrow McLaren, with Felix Rosenqvist’s Meyer Shank Racing entry making it five teams in the top five at the finish.

Sixth through 10th were Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood, AJ Foyt Racing’s Santino Ferrucci, Ed Carpenter Racing’s Christian Rasmussen, Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard, and Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Conor Daly.

Ferrucci’s effort marked his seventh top 10 in seven career attempts at the Indy 500.

Sunday’s race was chaotic throughout its first half before settling out into a second-half rhythm.

After a delay of 43 minutes for slight sprinkles of rain, pre-race favorite Scott McLaughlin crashed during the parade laps and never even saw the official start with his No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet.

Marco Andretti, making his 20th Indy 500 start, spun into the wall on the lap-five resumption after a green-yellow beginning to the event because of McLaughlin’s incident, while Alexander Rossi’s car went up in flames on pit lane at lap 74 after he led 14 circuits early on.

In his second attempt at the Memorial Weekend Double, 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson spun on a lap-92 restart and crashed in turn two, collecting Sting Ray Robb and Kyffin Simpson in the chaos.

The shunt ended his day and left the Californian, who quickly departed IMS and headed to Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway for the Coca-Cola 600, 27th in his second career Indy 500 start.

But the attention – and rightly so – was all on Palou, who checked the final missing box in his already illustrious career to earn a celebratory drink of milk on the victory podium.

“Best milk I’ve ever tasted,” Palou said heartily.

Next for the NTT IndyCar Series is the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear, which hits the Streets of Detroit Sunday, June 1 at 12:30 p.m. ET on FOX, the IndyCar Radio Network, and SiriusXM IndyCar Nation, channel 218.

The results:

1. (6) Alex Palou, Honda, 200, Running
2. (9) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 200, Running
3. (7) David Malukas, Chevrolet, 200, Running
4. (3) Pato O'Ward, Chevrolet, 200, Running
5. (5) Felix Rosenqvist, Honda, 200, Running
6. (23) Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, 200, Running
7. (15) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 200, Running
8. (18) Christian Rasmussen, Chevrolet, 200, Running
9. (8) Christian Lundgaard, Chevrolet, 200, Running
10. (11) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 200, Running
11. (2) Takuma Sato, Honda, 200, Running
12. (21) Callum Ilott, Chevrolet, 200, Running
13. (22) Helio Castroneves, Honda, 200, Running
14. (16) Devlin DeFrancesco, Honda, 200, Running
15. (20) Louis Foster, Honda, 200, Running
16. (24) Nolan Siegel, Chevrolet, 199, Contact
17. (27) Colton Herta, Honda, 199, Running
18. (14) Ed Carpenter, Chevrolet, 199, Running
19. (33) Will Power, Chevrolet, 199, Running
20. (28) Graham Rahal, Honda, 199, Running
21. (30) Marcus Armstrong, Honda, 198, Running
22. (26) Jack Harvey, Chevrolet, 198, Running
23. (4) Scott Dixon, Honda, 197, Running
24. (25) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Chevrolet, 171, Mechanical
25. (32) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 134, Mechanical
26. (17) Sting Ray Robb, Chevrolet, 91, Contact
27. (19) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 91, Contact
28. (13) Kyffin Simpson, Honda, 91, Contact
29. (1) Robert Shwartzman, Chevrolet, 87, Contact
30. (31) Rinus VeeKay, Honda, 80, Contact
31. (12) Alexander Rossi, Chevrolet, 73, Mechanical
32. (29) Marco Andretti, Honda, 4, Contact
33. (10) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 0, Contact

Lead Changes: 22 among 14 different drivers

Lap Leader(s): Robert Shwartzman 1-8, Pato O’Ward 9-10, Takuma Sato 11-23, Alexander Rossi 24-29, Christian Rasmussen 30-32, Alexander Rossi 33-36, Christian Rasmussen 37-38, Alexander Rossi 39-42, Ed Carpenter 43, Jack Harvey 44-46, Takuma Sato 47-60, Kyle Kirkwood 61-62, Takuma Sato 63-86, Ryan Hunter-Reay 87-102, Devlin DeFrancesco 103-119, Conor Daly 120-132, David Malukas 133, Ryan Hunter-Reay 134-139, Christian Rasmussen 140-142, Ryan Hunter-Reay 143-168, David Malukas 169, Marcus Ericsson 170-186, Alex Palou 187-200.

Margin of victory: Under yellow

Cautions: Seven for 45 laps

Time of Race: 2:57:38.2965

Average Speed: 168.883 mph