Alex Palou’s place among the legends is now secure as the three-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion earned the first oval victory of his career, capturing the biggest race of them all, the 109th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge on Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Palou won under caution when “500” rookie Nolan Siegel crashed his No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet in Turn 2 on the final lap of the 200-lap race, which started 43 minutes late due to passing sprinkles. Two-time defending series champion Palou passed the No. 28 Allegra Honda of Andretti Global’s Marcus Ericsson on Lap 187 and never trailed thereafter.
Palou earned his fifth win in six series races this season in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, padding his championship lead to a whopping 115 points over Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren. But more importantly for his legacy as one of the great all-time champions of the sport, he gained a spot on the Borg-Warner Trophy – the first Spaniard to earn that distinction – and immortality.
Chip Ganassi Racing earned its sixth victory in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” and first since Ericsson won in 2022.
Ericsson finished second for the second time in the last three years, as he also was the narrow runner-up to Josef Newgarden in 2023. Newgarden’s drive to become the first to win three consecutive Indianapolis 500s ended with a mechanical problem in his No. 2 Shell V-Power NiTRO+ Team Penske Chevrolet, as he ended up 25th after completing 135 laps.
David Malukas, who missed last year’s race with injury, finished a “500” career-best third in the No. 4 Clarience Technologies Chevrolet of A.J. Foyt Enterprises.
O’Ward finished fourth in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, his fourth top-four “500” finish in the last five years, but with none ending on Victory Podium. Felix Rosenqvist rounded out the top five in the No. 60 SiriusXM Honda of Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian.
Robert Shwartzman, the first rookie pole sitter since 1983, ended up in 29th place. He was eliminated from the race during a pit lane mishap on Lap 87 when his No. 83 PREMA Racing Chevrolet skidded through his pit box, hitting the inside wall and a few crew members.
The race, which took place under cloud cover in unseasonably cool air temperatures in the low 60s, featured a chaotic first half with six of the race’s seven caution periods in the first 108 laps. That attrition eliminated seven cars, including in separate incidents marquee drivers such as Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin, Marco Andretti of Andretti Herta w/Marco & Curb-Agajanian and NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson, who was attempting to complete the “500” and the Coca-Cola 600 this evening at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the same day.
But once the race settled into a groove, it became a furious contest of dueling pit strategies and breathtaking passes amid thick traffic.
Palou made his final pit stop on Lap 168, playing a potentially dangerous game with fuel mileage, as 32 laps was around the maximum fuel mileage on one tank.
Malukas took the lead on Lap 169 when 2014 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay pitted in the No. 23 DRR CUSICK WEDBUSH SECURITIES Chevrolet, the last of his 48 laps led. Only two-time “500” winner Takuma Sato led more laps, with 51 out front on the 2.5-mile oval. Hunter-Reay stalled on pit exit, ending his chance to contend for a second win.
Chicago native Malukas then made his final stop on Lap 170, handing the lead to Ericsson. Malukas exited the pits ahead of Palou, giving him perhaps a chance to contend for the win once Ericsson made his final stop.
But Palou then hustled past Malukas for position, taking advantage of lapped traffic that slowed Malukas. Ericsson made his final stop on Lap 175 with slick and quick service from Andretti Global and exited the pits in front of Palou and Malukas.
Palou sat in second while in Ericsson’s aerodynamic draft, saving fuel, stalking and presumably waiting until the last five to 10 laps to pounce. Ericsson was trying to navigate the turbulent air from the cars of Rahal Letterman Lanigan teammates Devlin DeFrancesco and Louis Foster, who were battling for 15th place on the tail end of the lead lap ahead of Ericsson.
But Palou surprised the sellout crowd of 350,000 on Lap 187 by using the aerodynamic tow from Ericsson’s car and diving under the Swede entering Turn 1 for the last of the 22 lead changes in the race.
Ericsson stayed close to Palou for the next 13 laps but never got close enough to make a run for his second spot on the Borg-Warner Trophy.
The next NTT INDYCAR SERIES race is the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear on Sunday, June 1 on the streets of downtown Detroit
Results Sunday of the 109th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge NTT INDYCAR SERIES event on the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):
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
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