There’s nothing just like the Month of Might at Indianapolis Motor Speedway — and barely has the Indianapolis 500 .
Ran on a cool Indiana day amid overcast skies and occasional spurts of rain, the race’s 109th working was briefly delayed after which instantly chaotic, hit with attrition earlier than the inexperienced flag may even fly.
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That set the stage for a race that noticed quite a few plot twists, comers and goers as attrition, technique and the same old luck of the Indy 500 performed out for 200 painstaking laps.
Right here’s a have a look at the winners and losers from the Best Spectacle in Racing.
Winner: A brand new Indy 500 champion is topped: Alex PalouAlex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi RacingBrandon Badraoui / Motorsport Photos through Getty Photos
Brandon Badraoui / Motorsport Photos through Getty Photos
Yep. He did it, once more.
For the previous few years, has been a beast on road-and-street circuits. However ovals had been a weak point, providing intermittent possibilities for the sector to shut floor within the championship battle.
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If Sunday’s result’s any indication, that’s not the case. Palou exorcised his oval demons together with his first win and did it on the largest race of all of them, sweeping the Month of Might together with his first triumph within the Indianapolis 500.
He now leaves the Month of Might an Indy 500 champion, with a provisional 118-point benefit within the championship standings. In need of an harm or historic collapse, it’s unlikely that anybody will chase down Palou for the Astor Cup this season.
Loser: Marcus Ericsson (and everybody else)Marcus Ericsson, Andretti International
Marcus Ericsson, Andretti GlobalMichael L. Levitt / Motorsport Photos through Getty Photos
Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Photos through Getty Photos
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He was proper there — in an ending the place passing proved difficult, held the lead into the closing stretch. However he .
So Ericsson – just like the 31 opponents that completed behind him – was left questioning what may have been at day’s finish, even when the runner-up consequence was his greatest for the reason that 2024 Detroit Grand Prix.
Winner: Lead adjustments aplenty at IndianapolisPatricio O’ward, Arrow McLaren, Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Colton Herta, Andretti International, Callum Ilott, Prema Racing
Patricio O’ward, Arrow McLaren, Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Colton Herta, Andretti International, Callum Ilott, Prema RacingMichael L. Levitt / Motorsport Photos through Getty Photos
Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Photos through Getty Photos
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Blame it on Alex Palou’s dominance. Level the finger on the hybrid unit. Select no matter purpose you’d like. However by any measure, it had been a procedural affair up entrance for the IndyCar discipline within the season to this point. There had been solely two on-track passes for the lead past the opening nook within the eight road-and-street circuit races for the reason that Hybrid unit was launched in 2024 – together with the opening 5 races of the 2025 season.
The Indy 500 matched that whole simply 12 laps into the race and proceeded to blow it out of the water. It wasn’t a spectacular race for the lead by Indy 500 requirements, however a pleasant shakeup from the established order beforehand.
Loser: Rossi, Veekay and Shwartzman finish their days on pit roadRobert Shwartzman, Prema Racing
Robert Shwartzman, Prema RacingGeoff Miller / Motorsport Photos through Getty Photos
Geoff Miller / Motorsport Photos through Getty Photos
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Pit highway is usually treacherous on the Brickyard, however not often does it declare victims in succession prefer it did within the center parts of Sunday’s race.
Alexander Rossi got here to pit highway on the finish of lap 73 after his automotive started smoking . Rinus Veekay was coming to pit minutes in a while lap 81 when he misplaced management and slammed into the pit wall. Simply six laps after that, pole-sitter .
Winner: day for David Malukas, AJ Foyt RacingDavid Malukas, A. J. Foyt Enterprises
David Malukas, A. J. Foyt EnterprisesPenske Leisure
Penske Leisure
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Previous to Sunday, it had been a quiet yr for . The Chicagoan had completed 4 of 5 races, however come house no higher than thirteenth in a spring spent within the midpack. However on the day the place essentially the most eyes are drawn to IndyCar, Malukas made his presence recognized.
Piloting the No. 4, Malukas led two laps and located himself third within the race’s closing levels. The quirky ending behind lapped visitors meant that the highest contenders stayed locked in place for the ultimate 10 laps, conserving Malukas out of actual rivalry for the win. However the third-place consequence was the 23-year-old’s greatest exterior of World Large Expertise Raceway.
Teammate didn’t provide most of the daring, thrilling strikes he’s managed prior to now at Indianapolis. However the Connecticut native quietly marched as much as seventh to provide AJ Foyt Racing a pair of top-10s on the day.
Loser: Josef Newgarden’s three-peat try stallsJosef Newgarden, Group Penske
Josef Newgarden, Group PenskeBrett Farmer / Motorsport Photos through Getty Photos
Brett Farmer / Motorsport Photos through Getty Photos
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was able to dwell as much as the strain of creating potential historical past in Indianapolis. Sadly for the Tennessean, .
The Group Penske ace was making an attempt to set two historic firsts on Sunday — successful from the final row
And scoring a third-straight victory. And for a time, it appeared attainable. Aided by the race’s heavy attrition and sporting a quick No. 2 Chevrolet, Newgarden rose up into the top-10 and had time to chase down the frontrunners for an opportunity at racing immortality.
However in the long run, it wasn’t meant to be. Newgarden’s automotive misplaced gasoline strain and a visit to the pits on lap 135 ended with an early exit as a result of a gasoline pump concern. Girl luck wasn’t on his aspect this yr.
Winner: Strong days for title hopefulsChristian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren
Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLarenBrandon Badraoui / Motorsport Photos through Getty Photos
Brandon Badraoui / Motorsport Photos through Getty Photos
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Look, the chances of anybody catching Palou at this level are slim. And nobody is glad about any end aside from first on the Indy 500. However for these drivers hoping to catch him, or a minimum of compete for second, bringing house a very good lead to an unpredictable race like Indianapolis is essential.
So whereas top-10 runs for , , and are nothing to put in writing house about, they did assist the group depart Indiana with the 4 spots behind Palou within the standings.
Loser: Mom Nature’s at it againIndy 500 grid
Indy 500 gridPhillip Abbott / Motorsport Photos through Getty Photos
Phillip Abbott / Motorsport Photos through Getty Photos
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It’s been a cool, overcast week in Indiana. So, there was no shock when cloudy skies and a lightweight risk of rain popped up on the race day forecast.
Fortunately, there was little rain to take care of on the day. However the little bit that did drop got here down simply as pre-race festivities had been kicking into gear.
What ensued was a short, however painful, wait because the climate moved by way of and the observe dried – particularly for , who noticed the little wiggle room he had for his deliberate IndyCar-NASCAR double evaporate as moisture hit his aeroscreen. Later, .
That margin for error solely obtained thinner from there, as a result of rain compelled a short warning minutes later and earlier than that…
Loser: Everybody loses their minds earlier than the greenMarco Andretti, Andretti International
Marco Andretti, Andretti GlobalJames Gilbert / Getty Photos
James Gilbert / Getty Photos
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It was shades of 1992 early on at Indianapolis.
By the point engines had been fired and tempo laps obtained underway, the capability crowd at Indianapolis Motor Speedway had reached a fevered pitch. Feelings had been excessive and drivers had been able to race.
In truth, they could have been a bit too prepared.
The lone Group Penske driver that didn’t have to start out from the rear, , on the ultimate lap earlier than the scheduled inexperienced flag. The Kiwi was warming his tires when he misplaced management of his No. 3 Chevrolet and clobbered the within wall on the finish of the entrance stretch, bringing his race to an finish earlier than it may start.
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That led the race to start out underneath warning. However the discipline nonetheless took the primary inexperienced flag within the conventional three-wide formation, which led to a different crash in flip 1 as obtained the worst of a four-wide transfer.
The veteran’s twentieth Indy 500 run was already hampered by a troublesome qualifying weekend that noticed him roll off twenty ninth. But it surely ended even deeper in thirty second, having solely seen one straightaway of inexperienced flag racing.
wasn’t concerned in an accident, however suffered a setback of his personal. His automotive briefly went ablaze in the course of the tempo laps. The 2008 race winner finally required a brake change because of the mechanical concern, trapping him three laps down and out of rivalry early in his twenty third Indy 500.
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