By: Andrew Gallinger
History & Season Domination collided on Sunday during the 109th Indianapolis 500. The 2025 edition of the “Greatest Spectacle In Racing” saw three-time & reigning IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou earn his first career victory, in not only the race that cements a legacy if that driver crosses the yard of bricks first at the end of 500 miles, but this year’s Indy 500 also stands as Palou’s first career win on an oval. If the new Indy 500 champion needs more accolades from the biggest race on the IndyCar calendar, Palou’s fifth win in six races this season ties the Spaniard for the most wins at this point in the season with IndyCar legend AJ Foyt.
Palou’s owner Chip Ganassi also got to add to his resume at Indy with his sixth victory at the speedway. Second in wins to fellow legendary owner Roger Penske, who’s achieved 20 victories in the 500 as an owner.
Penske’s quest to add to that total started with trouble one week earlier. Before the Fast 12 qualifying, the Penske cars with drivers Josef Newgarden & Will Power were penalized for failing inspection & pushed back to the final two starting positions in the 33-car field. That wasn’t the harshest punishment though. Soon after, Penske fired his top 3 team executives due to the incident, which involved the rear attenuator, which is a safety part on the cars that easily hit more than 230 m.p.h+ at the speedway.
As the days went by & drivers were finally in their cars on the pace lap, the three cars 11 rows deep saluted the fans, both at the track and at home, along with the men & women who made the ultimate sacrifice in a Memorial Day tradition ahead of the green flag. Before the green flag could wave, more devastation for Team Penske. Scott Mclaughlin was trying to get heat in his tires before the start, especially as track conditions were cooler than anticipated after a brief rain shower. Mclaughlin lost control hitting the inside wall & ending his quest at Indy before officially turning a lap. Videos, both in & outside the Penske machine showed Mclaughlin absolutely gutted after the accident, very disappointed for his team in an interview soon after. With the pace lap crash, the 200 laps began counting behind the pace car. Once the race did see the green flag for the first time on Sunday, the field was slowed again after only corner, as Marco Andretti & Jack Harvey made contact, ending their days just seconds into the race.
Once that crash was cleaned, the field roared back to green on Lap 9. Multiple passes throughout the remaining 30 drivers in the race left fans, both at IMS & watching at home, on the edge of their seat. A scary incident in the pit lane on Lap 74 as 2016 Indy 500 champion Alexander Rossi had to bail from his car as excess fuel spillage during a routine pit stop caught his car on fire. After fire & safety crews quickly got the fire out, they tended to Rossi’s fueler who sustained minor burns in the flash of fire. The pit lane nightmares continued, this time on Lap 81 when Rinus Veekay spun, destroying the right-rear of his car. Veekay just entered the pits a little too hard, locking up the tires on his race car as he went from around 230 m.p.h. exiting Turn 4, to the 60-m.p.h. speed limit at pit road entry. Veekay would tell his team he didn’t have any brakes. Under that caution period, race polesitter & rookie Robert Swartzman locked up his brakes as he turned into his pit box, hitting crew members waiting to service his car. Soon after, on Lap 92, Kyle Larson, the NASCAR champion who was making his second attempt at the double, racing in the Indy 500 & NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 on the same day crashed in the middle of Turn 2. Larson got loose all by himself, spinning like a top up into the outside wall, also catching the left rear of Sting Ray Robb, who went to the outside to try & avoid Larson, just getting clipped, which also sent Robb into the outside wall. Later, Newgarden, who was victorious in the 2023 & 24 Indianapolis 500’s saw his hopes for a three-peat in this race dashed when he had to pit for a fuel pressure issue with 66 laps remaining. With 24 laps left, 2022 Indy 500 winner Marcus Ericsson led Palou by 34 one-hundredths of a second. With 14 laps to go, Palou made what would be the pass for the win on the inside of Ericsson as they went into Turn 1. On the last lap, Palou had Ericsson in his draft all the way around to the exit of Turn 4 as they came to the checkered flag. As the came out of 4, the caution came out, sealing Palou’s status as an Indy 500 champion. On the cool down lap and when he emerged from his car on the frontstretch to celebrate with his team & the fans, the Indy Champion who accomplished that feat in back-to-back seasons with consistency, became ever closer to his third championship later this season, if this hot streak continues. I mentioned earlier Palou has dominated the 2025 season with 5 wins in the first six races, the one race he didn’t win so far this year was a second-place finish.
From the iconic square-shaped Indianapolis Motor Speedway, IndyCar prowess will once again be on display this weekend in the “Motor City” as the Streets of Detroit trade passenger cars for IndyCars.
andrewgallinger.com 