Fire, Rain, and Crashes: I Picked the Right Indy 500 To Be My First
I've been in an automotive writer and editor for more than 20 years, yet somehow, I'd never made it to the Greatest Spectacle in Racing. That needed fixing, so I accepted an invite from Honda to be their guest at this year's race—history's first with hybridized powertrains, which Honda knows a thing or two about—and I'm extremely glad I did.
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I'm not sure how or why it took so long. I live in Detroit, a short drive from Indy. I love watching the 500. I've attended all kinds of races over the years. I've driven in a handful, too. And I'd even been to Indianapolis Motor Speedway before for a motorsports event: The 2005 United States F1 Grand Prix, which you may recall was the spectacle where 14 of 20 cars pulled out of the race after the formation lap due to tire safety concerns.
But with Ferrari destroying backmarker Minardi and Jordan teams that year, this year's Indy 500 was the first actual race I'd seen at IMS. And it was absolute chaos.
For those that didn't watch the 2025 Indy 500, a recap:
Rain delayed the start by about 30 minutes while the track was dried.
Scott McLaughlin crashed his Pennzoil Team Penske Chevy on the parade laps while warming his tires.
Marco Andretti, who only runs a handful of races these days, hit the wall in Turn 1 just after the green flag, saying he was pushed high. The yellow caution flag was out until lap 8.
A light rain started falling on lap 18, bringing the yellow out until lap 30. At this point, more than half the race had been run under yellow.
On lap 74, Alex Rossi pitted for repairs due to an overheated gearbox, but a fireball erupted when the gearbox ignited spilled fuel. The fire leapt over the wall and a crew member needed to be sprayed down, as well. Luckily, quick-acting members of Rossi's team and the IMS safety crew got the flames extinguished before tragedy could strike.
Eight laps later, Rinus VeeKay lost control entering the pits and hit the inside wall.
Polesitting rookie Robert Shwartzman hit three of his crew members (with one receiving minor injuries) and the wall in his stall after completing 87 laps, with the subsequent damage forcing his retirement.
Four laps after that, Kyla Larson, who was attempting 'a Double'—running the 500 and NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600 the same day—lost control on the bottom of the track and, on his way to the outside wall, took out Kyffin Simpson and Sting Ray Robb. (We weren't even halfway through the race and 8 cars—nearly a quarter of the 33-car field—were in the garages.
Things stayed relatively incident-free the rest of the way, with just two mechanical failures: Josef Newgarden after 135 laps, thwarting his run for three Indy 500 wins in a row—and Ryan Hunter-Reay 26 laps later. These must have been particularly bitter pills to swallow, as Newgarden had worked his way from a back-row staring position due to post-qualifying penalites all the way to sixth, and Hunter-Reay had led the race for 48 laps.
In all, 12 cars finished on the lead lap with the victory, winner's wreath, and bottle of milk going to Honda's Álex Palou for Chip Ganassi Racing. It was three-time IndyCar champ Palou's fifth win in six races this year, continuing a dominant start to the 2025 season, but his first Indianapolis 500 victory in six attempts.
As for my personal impressions, I'd forgotten the sheer size of the place, just how much larger something that holds roughly 3.5 times as many people as the largest football stadium in the world (Go Blue) could be. Luckily, movement around the paddock and track is easy, even if everything involves a decent hike.
And during the first half of the race, you could barely get done talking about one incident before another grabbed your attention—Rossi's fire in particular. His box was directly in front of us, and it was genuinely terrifying to see fire spread that fast (it leapt immediately behind the pit wall, as well) and equally impressive to see the safety workers work with such speed and efficiency.
Most notably, it was deeply relieving to see the crew member who caught the brunt of the flames walk to the medical facility under his own power. In fact, it appears everyone involved in the various incidents was relatively unharmed. At the end of the race, with Honda clinching a win, the vibes in the suite were sky high. And if I'm honest, the people-watching after the race while waiting in traffic was almost worth the trip by itself.
My only disappointment is that the green-flag racing wasn't particularly exciting. The combination of light rain, a cold track, and the coldest ambient temperature for a 500 since 1992 made for a busy day for those in the flagstand and race control.
It was only once the track warmed up—and the field was significantly thinned—in the second half that the race got relatively clean. But even if this year's Greatest Spectacle in Racing was more spectacle than racing, I'm hooked. See you next year.
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