Instant Recall: 109th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge
INDYCAR
Can an Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge be predictable and unpredictable? Sunday's certainly was.
Chip Ganassi Racing's Alex Palou was the heavy favorite to win the 109th Running, and he did. Perhaps his drive in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda wasn't as dominating as his other NTT INDYCAR SERIES victories in recent years, but he executed in the closing laps like the series champion he is. He led the final 14 laps after passing Andretti Global's Marcus Ericsson approaching Turn 1 on Lap 187.
Palou has been worthy of a place on the Borg-Warner Trophy almost since the moment he joined Chip Ganassi's team in 2021. That first year, Palou was leading two laps from the checkered flag only to have Helio Castroneves wiggle past. The next year, an inopportune mid-pace caution sent the Spaniard, who was leading, to 30th in the order. Palou scrambled back to finish ninth, and his story was similar in 2023 when he charged back to finish fourth after taking pit road contact from Rinus VeeKay. Last year he finished fifth.
Palou's average finish in the past five '500s' is 4.2, and his mark in the six series races this year is 1.17. So, yeah, it's not a surprise that he drank the milk in Victory Lane.
Other expected happenings on Sunday: Team Penske's Josef Newgarden of Team Penske drove like the two-time '500' winner he is. While forced to start on the last row due to penalties assessed in PPG Presented Armed Forces Qualifying, Newgarden astutely held back at the drop of the initial green flag and avoided Marco Andretti's spin, and he then marched forward. Many thought that if Newgarden could be in the top 10 by Lap 100, he'd been squarely in the hunt for the unprecedented three-peat. He was 10th. Newgarden was in sixth on Lap 132 when he realized something was amiss with the No. 2 Shell V-Power NiTRO+ Team Penske Chevrolet. A fuel pressure issue ended his day. Aside from that, it was the day everyone expected. The final results won't reflect how well 2022 '500' winner Ericsson drove in the No. 28 Allegra Honda of Andretti Global. He led 17 laps and appeared to have finished second for the second time in three years before his car failed post-race technical inspection. History will show him 31st of 33. Regardless, Ericsson showed that he continues to be one of Indy's best drivers of this generation. Like Palou and Newgarden, Arrow McLaren's Pato O'Ward and AJ Foyt Racing's Santino Ferrucci have been among the best finishers in recent '500s,' and they continued that Sunday. O'Ward finished third in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet to extend his string of success to five top-six finishes in six races, and his 2023 race ended with a crash on Lap 193 trying to pass for second. Ferrucci finished fifth in the No. 14 Homes For Our Troops Chevrolet to notch his record-extending seventh straight top-10 finish to open his Indy career. AJ Foyt Racing continued its excellence in recent '500s.' In addition to Ferrucci, David Malukas finished second in the No. 4 Clarience Technologies Chevrolet as A.J. Foyt's team placed two cars in the top five for the first time since 2000 when Eliseo Salazar finished third with Jeff Ward fourth. As a whole, former Indy winners excelled. Ryan Hunter-Reay (2014) and Takuma Sato (2017 and 2020) combined to lead 99 of the 200 laps. Hunter-Reay, who led 48 laps in the Indy-only entry of DRR-Cusick Motorsports, fell out of contention when his No. 23 DRR CUSICK WEDBUSH SECURITIES Chevrolet, likely out of fuel, stalled on pit exit on Lap 169. Sato slid past his pit box on a stop at Lap 86 in Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing's No. 75 AMADA Honda. Sato finished ninth, Hunter-Reay 21st. Castroneves finished 10th in the No. 06 Cliffs Honda of Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian. Ed Carpenter Racing's Alexander Rossi also had a great chance to win for a second time, which is why he threw his gloves in frustration as his No. 20 ECR Java House Chevrolet caught fire on pit road.
The unpredictability of Indy was on full display, especially early. The list of high-profile drivers who had early issues was lengthy. It started with Team Penske's Scott McLaughlin, who crashed his No. 3 Pennzoil Team Penske Chevrolet on the frontstretch warming his tires before the start of the race. He was devastated, describing it as a 'rookie' mistake. Also with early issues were Andretti (a Turn 1 spin in the No. 98 MAPEI/Curb Honda of Andretti Herta w/Marco & Curb-Agajanian), Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon (a brake fire in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda), Andretti Global's Colton Herta (a pit speed violation on Lap 61 in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda). Herta finished 14th, Dixon 20th and Andretti 29th. Team Penske's top finisher was Will Power in 16th in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet. None of Roger Penske's cars led a lap, the second time that's happened in the past four years. Team Penske also was shut out among the lap leaders in 2022. Several teams had pit road issues, including Dale Coyne Racing's VeeKay (contact in the No. 18 askROI Honda), Rossi, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing's Louis Foster (the rookie twice received pit road speeding penalties), DRR-Cusick Motorsports' Jack Harvey (the No. 24 DRR CUSICK INVST Chevrolet got flagged for speeding) and pole sitter Robert Shwartzman (the No. 83 PREMA Racing Chevrolet struck crew members). The post-race technical inspection failures of Ericsson, Andretti Global's Kyle Kirkwood and PREMA Racing's Callum Ilott. They had taken the checkered flag in the second, sixth and 12th positions, but they were dropped to 31st, 32nd and 33rd.
There were many other highlights: Palou earned the first oval victory of his career, pushing his total number of wins to 16 to tie him with Dan Wheldon for 31st place on the sport's all-time list. Palou also has a whopping 112-point lead – a gap of more than two races' worth of points – on the field heading to this weekend's Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear as he pursues his third consecutive series championship and fourth in five years. FOX Sports earned impressive ratings, with more than 7 million people tuning in to the race. It's the biggest audience for the '500' since 2008. The sellout crowd that approached 350,000 was the second in modern '500' history, as IMS also sold all grandstand seats for the 100th Indy 500 in 2016.
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