Alex Palou wins 109th Indy 500, earns first oval victory

SPEEDWAY, Ind. — With 14 laps remaining at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, three-time NTT IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou passed Marcus Ericsson, which ultimately clinched the victory in the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500.

The Chip Ganassi Racing driver seemingly caught Ericsson off guard when he launched his No. 10 DHL Honda late into Turn 1 and completed the pass for his 16th career IndyCar win and first victory on an oval track.

With three IndyCar titles on his resume and now an Indy 500 win at only 28 years old, Palou is on a trajectory to become one of the sport’s all-time great IndyCar drivers. In the first six races of the 2025 season, Palou has won five of them, with his worst finish being second place at Long Beach.

“Those felt like the longest laps of my entire life,” Palou said. “Since the beginning, I felt like I had a ton of power with this Honda engine, and although the balance wasn’t super good, I knew that if we could get the balance where we needed it to be, we were going to be able to fight at the end, and we did. So amazing!”

In the closing laps, the leaders had to navigate Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing teammates, Devlin DeFrancesco and Louis Foster, battling for position at the tail end of the lead lap. Neither RLL driver moved out of the way and continued to race each other as Palou held the lead closely behind.

Nevertheless, Palou maintained his composure despite the distraction ahead as he crossed the yard of bricks first ahead of Andretti Global driver Ericsson, in a race that ended under caution on the final lap after Nolan Siegel crashed.

Coming close to his second career Indy 500 victory, Ericsson was understandably disappointed as the driver of the No. 28 Allegra Honda almost perfectly executed the winning strategy.

“The Allegra team did a really good job to get us back in the mix, and the Honda engine was giving me some really good fuel numbers, so we were able to go a bit off strategy,” Ericsson said. “Then in the end, Alex and I had a good fight, but some lapped cars ahead of us were sort of making it difficult. It’s a race you want to win, and it’s a winner-takes-it-all kind of race. I’m proud of the effort, I’m proud of the performance, but it hurts to finish second again.”

Adding insult to injury, Ericsson received some unfortunate news on Monday afternoon, following the 500-mile race. His No. 28 team, teammate Kyle Kirkwood and PREMA Racing’s Callum Ilott all failed post-race technical inspection.

During inspection, IndyCar officials discovered that Ericsson and Kirkwood’s cars had “modifications to the Dallara-supplied Energy Management System (EMS) covers and cover-to-A-arm mounting points with unapproved spacers and parts.”

According to IndyCar, EMS covers have to be used as supplied and the Andretti modifications provided an advantage in enhanced aerodynamic efficiency.

In a statement released by Andretti, the team stated, “We are in receipt of the Indianapolis 500 post-race penalty provided by INDYCAR. We are taking the necessary time to assess the information and we will be requesting a full review with INDYCAR.”

When looking at the front-wing assembly on Ilott’s No. 90 Chevrolet, the car “failed to meet the minimum endplate height and location specification.” As a result, the Nos. 27, 28 and 90 cars were moved to the rear of the field, with Ericsson (31st), Kirkwood (32nd) and Ilott (33rd).

Prize money and championship points were also changed to reflect the revised results. In addition, all teams involved were fined $100,000 and the team/competition managers were suspended for the next IndyCar race weekend in Detroit.

PREMA’s statement:

“Following the Indy 500, the #90 PREMA car driven home in P12 by Callum Ilott was found in breach of the technical regulations due to a front wing endplate not meeting the minimum height. As a consequence, the team was disqualified from the race and received accessory sanctions.

“While the same wing was completely original, successfully passed tech multiple times throughout the month, and the issue didn’t lead to any performance gain, the car ended up being non compliant with the rules at the end of the race, so the team accepts full responsibility.

“The team is currently investigating the root of the problem, which can involve incidents and fitment or production issues. We look forward to implementing the needed procedures to ensure improved control and avoid these kinds of issues in the future.”

Newgarden’s Indy 500 Dominance Over

After being sent to the back of the grid for the race, due to failing the pre-qualifying technical inspection before last Sunday’s Top 12 session, Josef Newgarden’s quest to become the first driver in history to win three consecutive Indianapolis 500s ended on pit road.

He worked his way up from 32nd to the top 10 right before reaching halfway. The Team Penske driver made multiple overtakes and used strategy to move toward the front.

At one point, it appeared that the No. 2  Shell V-Power NiTRO+ Chevrolet had the speed to potentially be a late-race contender until issues with fuel pressure forced him to retire from the race after completing 135 laps.

“It’s tough to not have a shot here at the end,” Newgarden said. “It’s a team sport. It takes everything to win here. I’m still immensely grateful to run at Indianapolis. As tough as it is to take, I still feel grateful to be out here today. I just wish we had a chance to fight for it. We didn’t get to see what we had there. We were slowly working forward. Thank you to our partners and our whole team. It’s a big effort and a shame to not be there in the fight.”

Following a 22nd-place finish, Newgarden looks to put the Penske controversy behind him and move forward to Detroit in search of his first win of the 2025 season.

Larson’s “Double” Ends Early

Following a restart on Lap 92, Kyle Larson’s quest to become the second driver in history to complete “The Double” came to an end when he spun in Turn 2, collecting Kyffin Simpson and Sting Ray Robb. All three drivers retired from the race.

Larson, driving the No. 17 HendrickCars.com/Amazon Prime Video Chevrolet for Arrow McLaren, started 19th and was trying to work his way back through the field after stalling the car on pit road that cost him track position.

“It was a bit crazy there on start, and I got tight behind Takuma (Sato),” Larson said. “I was really close to him and I think as I got a shade left of him. I got loose and got all over the place and spun.

“I just hate that I just got a little too eager on the restart and caused that crash and hate it for anyone that got caught up in it. Bummed out. Try to get over this quickly and get to Charlotte. Forget about and try to win the next one.”

Last year, in his Indianapolis 500 debut, Larson ran all 200 laps and finished 18th. Tony Stewart (2001) remains the only driver to run all 1,100 miles in the Memorial Day “Double.”

Although his second time running the Indy 500 did not go as planned after finishing 24th, Larson departed the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for Charlotte Motor Speedway to compete in the longest race on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule, the Coca-Cola 600, in his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports.

Later in the night, Larson finished 37th in the Coke 600.

Pit-Road Problems

Rinus VeeKay’s race was over, following an incident on pit road. The Dale Coyne Racing entered this year’s Indianapolis 500 in an unfamiliar spot after participating in the Last Row Shootout a week ago.

The No. 18 Honda did not show a lot of speed in qualifying, but the team used strategy to give VeeKay valuable track position on a day where overtaking was difficult. Coming to pit road on Lap 82, VeeKay had an issue with his brakes and spun into the inside wall on pit road.

This was the end of VeeKay’s day, who finished 27th.

Following the caution for VeeKay, polesitter Robert Shwartzman had a scary incident entering his pit box after striking a few of his PREMA Racing crew members. After 87 laps, the rookie driver’s day came to a premature end, with a 26th-place finish.

“We’ll have to have a look and see if there is any mechanical problem or if it was just cold tire,” Shwartzman said. “It was really sad because we did such a great work in qualifying, but as we know this the Indy 500 and in the race anything can happen. I saw already a lot of strong drivers are out of the race or behind.”

Another scary moment that occurred on pit road was a fire on Alexander Rossi’s No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet. An understandably frustrated Rossi was able to get out of the car unharmed as his crew put out the fire. Rossi finished 28th.

Following the pair of incidents, a member from each team, PREMA and ECR, was taken to the infield care center for further evaluation.

Heartbreaker

Similar to what happened to Roberto Guerrero in the 1992 Indianapolis 500, Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin crashed out of “The Greatest Spectacle In Racing” before completing a single lap.

After the start of the race was delayed for an hour due to rain, the driver of the No. 3 Pennzoil Chevrolet was trying to get some heat into his tires before spinning into the inside wall on the frontstretch.

McLaughlin emerged from his car totally devastated after working so hard to prepare for this year’s Indy 500 under the guidance of former Penske driver, IndyCar champion and Indy 500 champion, Simon Pagenaud.

“I just lost control of the car,” McLaughlin said. “It just came out of nowhere. I’ve never had that. I just lost rear grip. I’m sorry for my family, my friends, my partners, my sponsor, and my team. It’s definitely the worst day of my life.”

In his 20th start in the Indy 500, Marco Andretti was involved in a race-ending crash on Lap 5. As the pack roared down the frontstretch, Jack Harvey moved up into Andretti’s No. 98 Honda before the entrance of Turn 1.

Then, Andretti got sideways and spun into the outside wall, with Marcus Armstrong making light contact. Andretti’s short day resulted in him finishing 29th.

GRID Ranking

The 2025 GRID Ranking is the ninth year of the world’s premier motorsports ranking system and was initially released on Sunday, April 6.

The official ranking includes drivers participating in seven racing series (NASCAR, IndyCar, Formula 1, Formula E, WRC, Supercars, MotoGP). Each driver earns GRID Ratings, which help determine their seeding in the GRID Ranking.

GRID Ranking Week 8 IndyCar Drivers:

DRIVER	OLD RATING	PREVIOUS RANKING	MOST RECENT FINISH	NEW RATING	NEW RANKING
Alex Palou	29.16	1st	1st	30.06	1st
Christian Lundgaard	12.74	18th	7th	11.88	17th
Pato O’Ward	10.58	25th	3rd	11.70	20th
Will Power	11.88	20th	16th	10.08	25th
Kyle Kirkwood	11.66	22nd	32nd	9.90	26th

The NTT IndyCar Series returns to action on Sunday, June 1, for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix at the Detroit Street Circuit. Coverage begins at 12:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

Results: 109th Indianapolis 500

1. (10) Alex Palou
2. (4) David Malukas
3. (5) Pato O’Ward
4. (60) Felix Rosenqvist
5. (14) Santino Ferrucci
6. (21) Christian Rasmussen
7. (7) Christian Lundgaard
8. (76) Conor Daly
9. (75) Takuma Sato
10. (06) Helio Castroneves
11. (30) Devlin DeFrancesco
12. (45) Louis Foster
13. (6) Nolan Siegel
14. (26) Colton Herta
15. (33) Ed Carpenter
16. (12) Will Power
17. (15) Graham Rahal
18. (66) Marcus Armstrong
19. (24) Jack Harvey
20. (9) Scott Dixon
21. (23) Ryan Hunter-Reay
22. (2) Josef Newgarden
23. (77) Sting Ray Robb
24. (17) Kyle Larson
25. (8) Kyffin Simpson
26. (83) Robert Shwartzman
27. (18) Rinus VeeKay
28. (20) Alexander Rossi
29. (98) Marco Andretti
30. (3) Scott McLaughlin
31. (28) Marcus Ericsson
32. (27) Kirk Kirkwood
33. (90) Callum Ilott