In entrance of a sold-out crowd of greater than 350,000 individuals, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou bought round 2022 Indy 500 winner Marcus Ericsson with 14 laps to go to win the 109th operating of the Indianapolis 500.
Listed here are three takeaways from the Biggest Spectacle in Racing:
Palou’s first oval win comes on the largest stage
The three-time NTT IndyCar Collection champion has achieved rather a lot in his profession thus far. Palou can now cross an oval win off that listing after claiming the Indy 500 on Sunday. He’s the primary Spaniard to win the race in its famed historical past.
Palou has now gained 5 of the primary six races this season, turning into the primary driver to take action since A.J. Foyt in 1979. After coming into the Indy 500 with a 97-point lead over Kyle Kirkwood, Palou simply prolonged his factors lead and made it clear the 2025 title will likely be going by him.
No three-peat for Josef Newgarden
The most important story coming into the Indianapolis 500 was the rules violation in pre-qualifying inspection one week in the past that despatched the two-time defending Indy 500 winner to the Thirty second-place beginning spot. Regardless of the hurdle he confronted at first of the race, Newgarden rapidly marched his approach ahead and appeared to be the automotive to beat.
That was till fuel pressure issues pressured him to retire from the race in twenty fifth. Had he gained his third straight Indy 500, he would have change into the primary driver to perform the feat. Newgarden clearly had the velocity to finish the trifecta, however the mechanical points prevented him from doing so.
Kyle Larson’s pursuit of the ‘Double’ falls quick as soon as once more
One yr in the past, a climate delay at Indianapolis prevented Larson from attending to Charlotte on time for the Coca-Cola 600. As soon as he bought there, the race was referred to as after simply 249 of the 400 laps as a result of similar climate system, stopping him from getting behind his Cup Collection automotive in any respect.
After rolling off nineteenth on Sunday, Larson stalled on pit street throughout his first cease of the race. His hopes of finishing the “Double” this time round ended with a Twenty seventh-place end after a crash on Lap 92 when he bought free coming into Flip 2 and picked up Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyffin Simpson and Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Sting Ray Robb.
It was one other robust break for Larson as he regarded to hitch Tony Stewart as the one drivers to finish all 1,100 miles of the “Double.” After an early exit from Indianapolis, Larson will now set his sights on the Coca-Cola 600, the place he’s scheduled to start out second in pursuit of his second win in NASCAR’s longest race (2021).
