Fantastic Five of 2025: 109th Indianapolis 500

Note: This is the first of a five-part series looking back at the five best races of the 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season – in chronological order – as judged by INDYCAR.com staff writers Curt Cavin, Eric Smith and Paul Kelly, including the writers’ analysis of why those events were great. Installments will appear on Fridays through October.

THE RACE

• Race: 109th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge
• Site: Indianapolis Motor Speedway (oval)
• Date: Sunday, May 25
• Winner: Alex Palou
• NTT P1 Award winner: Robert Shwartzman

Three-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Alex Palou earned the first oval victory of his career, capturing the biggest race of them all, the 109th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge on Sunday, May 25 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

“Best milk I’ve ever tasted,” Palou said on the Victory Podium after a hearty swig from the traditional winner’s bottle of milk. “It tastes so good. What an amazing feeling.”

SEE: Race Results

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.

“I cannot believe it,” Palou said. “It’s amazing to win. There were some moments that I felt really good in the race, but at the end I didn’t know if I was going to able to pass Marcus or not, but I made it happen. First oval win. What a better place?”

Palou (photo, above) 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.

“It’s going to make Alex Palou’s career, it’s going to make his life, and it certainly has made mine,” winning team owner Chip Ganassi said.

Chip Ganassi Racing earned its sixth victory in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” and first since Ericsson won in 2022.

Ericsson took the checkered flag in second for the second time in the last three years, but he was moved to 31st place after the race after technical infractions were discovered on his Andretti Global entry. That elevated David Malukas, who missed last year’s race due to injury, to second in the No. 4 Clarience Technologies Chevrolet of A.J. Foyt Enterprises and O’Ward to third in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet.

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.

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.

“I’m not going to lie: I was crying coming into the pits (after the race),” Malukas said. “Man, we were just so close to getting it. Lappers came in, and he (Palou) was able to get a run. We were leading, so he had a good tow, and he timed that perfectly. It’s bittersweet because we didn’t get it.”

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.

“We had those lappers ahead of us that were making it difficult,” Ericsson said. “He got a run on me. I didn’t know if he was going to go for it or not. That’s the thing that I’m thinking about constantly now – I should have covered that inside, of course.”

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.

WHY IT WAS GREAT

Curt Cavin: I have been quietly rooting for Alex Palou to win the “500” since he captured his first series championship in 2021, and here’s why: I have long thought a series champion should have an Indy victory to completely validate his career. Since 2000, the sport’s only series champions without a place on the Borg-Warner Trophy are Cristiano da Matta, Paul Tracy, Sebastien Bourdais and Palou. Da Matta never got a chance to earn a spot, Tracy obviously was “right there” in 2002, and Bourdais’ dominant years didn’t include participation at the Speedway. Since unification in 2008, Palou was the only champion still waiting to drink the milk, and he was very much deserving of it after being denied in consecutive years by Helio Castroneves, an untimely caution flag and pit road contact from Rinus VeeKay. Consider that Palou had led 119 laps in the past four years, posting an average finish of 5.0. Having said all this, I would have thoroughly enjoyed seeing Marcus Ericsson, one of the sport’s truly great guys, win again, especially after getting the short end of the stick in 2023 with that nearly unprecedented last-lap restart. But I couldn’t have been happier for Palou, who might start making a habit of being Indy’s champion.

Eric Smith: What stood out to me was Josef Newgarden’s pursuit of history, attempting to become the first driver to win three consecutive Indianapolis 500s. He showed speed throughout the month, but both he and teammate Will Power failed pre-qualifying technical inspection, relegating them to the last row. Newgarden started 32nd, an almost impossible place to mount a charge, as no driver has ever won the race starting worse than 28th in 108 prior years. Despite the odds, Newgarden steadily climbed through the field. He was up to 21st by Lap 40 (100 miles in) and cracked the top 10 by Lap 60. By the time of his final pit stop, he had worked his way into sixth place. Unfortunately, a mechanical failure ended his race on Lap 135. Still, Newgarden put on a show and looked every bit capable of pulling off another historic win.

Paul Kelly: It’s almost a given the Indy 500 will appear on any list of the season’s best races because … well, it’s Indy. It’s the BIG one. But this edition of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” will be remembered for so many reasons. First, all the pre-race hype surrounded Josef Newgarden’s attempt to become the first driver to win the race three years in a row. Once the event got underway, there was the shock story of Robert Shwartzman, driving for first-year team PREMA Racing, becoming the first rookie since Teo Fabi in 1983 to win the “500” pole. And almost like a late-night informercial, “But that’s not all!” Then followed the scandal involving illegal attenuator modifications by Team Penske that resulted in Newgarden and Will Power being moved to the back of the starting grid and cost three members of Penske’s leadership team their jobs. The race in front of a sellout crowd also was terrific, with 14 of the 33 starters leading at least a lap, the third-highest total in “500” history. The dichotomy between the chaotic first 108 laps and the clean, almost green final 92 laps was fascinating and kept steam pouring from strategists’ heads on an unseasonably chilly day. As Curt said, Alex Palou needed a “500” win to seal his legendary status, and he got it with a powerful, smart drive that dispelled any notion he wasn’t an exceptional oval racer. Palou got his first circle-track win at the biggest oval race of them all, and you had the feeling leaving IMS that night that nothing was going to stop him in 2025.