109th Indianapolis 500 Historical, Event Notes
Historical and event notes from the 109th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge at Indianapolis Motor Speedway: This was the first career Indianapolis 500 victory for Alex Palou in his sixth career '500' start. Alex Palou is the first Spanish driver to win the Indianapolis 500. Chip Ganassi Racing earned its sixth Indianapolis 500 victory, second only to Team Penske's 20 wins. Team owner Chip Ganassi also won the race in 1989 as the co-owner of the Patrick Racing machine driven by Emerson Fittipaldi. Alex Palou is 28 years old. The last 28-year-old to win the '500' was Buddy Rice in 2004. Palou became just the second driver under age 30 to win the '500' in the last 10 years. The other was Alexander Rossi, who was 24 when he won in 2016. This is the sixth time the car that started sixth won the Indianapolis 500. The last winner from the No. 6 starting spot was Dan Wheldon in 2011. The event record is 21 winners from the pole. This is the 16th Indianapolis 500 victory for a Honda engine, second to Offenhauser's 27 wins. This is the second time car No. 10 has won the Indianapolis 500. The first time came in 2010 by Dario Franchitti, who also drove for Chip Ganassi Racing. Helio Castroneves completed the full 500-mile distance for the 19th time in his Indianapolis 500 race career, extending his race record. He has been running at the end of the race in 23 of 25 career starts, also a race record. Louis Foster was the top-finishing rookie today, in 15th place. Helio Castroneves made his 25th Indy 500 start, moving into fourth place for all-time Indianapolis 500 starts. The record is 35 by A.J. Foyt, followed by Mario Andretti with 29 and Al Unser with 27. Kyle Kirkwood advanced more positions than any other driver, finishing sixth after starting 23rd. Helio Castroneves recorded the fastest lap (226.178 mph) of the race on Lap 175. In the past five Indianapolis 500 races, only 2025 winner Alex Palou and 2022 winner Marcus Ericsson were able to hold the lead over the final 10 laps. There were five drivers who led the Indianapolis 500 for the first time: Devlin DeFrancesco, Christian Rasmussen, Jack Harvey, David Malukas and Robert Shwartzman. The record is seven, in the inaugural race in 1911. There were six first-time leaders each in 2002, 2004, 2013 and 2024. Pato O'Ward finished fourth, his fourth top-four finish in his last five starts. None were victories. Both Scott Dixon (197 laps) and Josef Newgarden (135 laps) were unable to complete the full 500-mile distance, stopping their record string at seven consecutive races completing 200 laps. The first and 200th lap of the 2025 Indianapolis 500 were under caution. The last time this happened was in 2010. Scott Dixon set new records for car No. 9 in the Indianapolis 500, reaching 21 consecutive races with that number, with 22 overall from 2003 and 2005-2025. Dixon carried No. 1 in 2004. He surpassed A.J. Foyt's previous records with 20 consecutive races with 21 overall with car No. 14 in 1967 and from 1973-92. Ed Carpenter completed 199 laps, extending his Indy 500 race career miles driven to 9,975. He moved into fifth place, just ahead of Tony Kanaan, who has 9,877.5 career miles driven. The 2025 Indianapolis 500 had 14 different lap leaders, tying for third-most in race history with the 2013 and 2023 races. The 2024 race holds the record at 16 different lap leaders, while the 2017 and 2018 races had 15 different lap leaders. Takuma Sato has led 138 career laps in seven different events in his Indy 500 career. This year's race was the first time he was the top leader (51 laps). Robert Shwartzman led the initial lap of the 2025 race in his first Indy 500 start, joining Johnny Aitken (1911), Paul Bost (1931), Teo Fabi (1983) and Tony Stewart (1996) as first-time starters to lead the initial lap. Aitken, Fabi and Stewart were rookies. Bost was not considered a rookie in 1931 because of previous Indianapolis 500 experience as a relief driver.
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