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USA Today
26-05-2025
- Automotive
- USA Today
Q&A: Indy 500 champ Alex Palou seized his moment and his milk strategy
Q&A: Indy 500 champ Alex Palou seized his moment and his milk strategy Alex Palou made his winning move long before the 2025 Indianapolis 500 ended. Well, relatively long before. In recent years, the Indy 500 and its 200 laps around Indianapolis Motor Speedway often came down to super late or last-lap passes, but Palou saw his opportunity to steal the lead with 14 laps to go and took it. Behind the wheel of his No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, Palou darted out to the inside of then-leader Marcus Ericsson, the 2022 Indy 500 winner, and quickly overtook him. Lap 187 was the first time Palou had been the leader all race. At more than 200 miles per hour with Ericsson and the rest of the field chasing him, he just had to hold on. INDY 500 HISTORY: Every Indianapolis 500 champion since 2000 Palou won his first Indy 500, marking his fifth victory in the first six races of the IndyCar Series season. After three top-5 Indy 500 finishes, it was his first career victory on an oval, and the 28-year-old three-time IndyCar champion became the first Indy 500 winner from Spain. For The Win spoke with Palou a couple hours after his Indy 500 checkered flag Sunday to talk about his race-winning strategy, his milk celebration and what this monumental win means to him. This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity. Congratulations on the win! You had an emotional reaction in the car after you won the race, and then you abandoned the car and ran to your team. What were you feeling in that moment? It's amazing, honestly. It's been an incredible couple of hours since we've finished the race. I just wanted to celebrate. It was like a really long 10 laps when I was leading. Like, they were super long. It felt like 10 races, honestly. And I just wanted the race to end with us in P1, so whenever it ended, I was like, I just wanted to explode and share with everybody how happy I was. The car's in the Winner's Circle, you get that bottle of milk, team owner Chip Ganassi is right there with you. What was going through your mind? It's amazing. I had all my team there with me. They were crying, which shows how much effort they put in this race. In all the races, but especially this race, everybody just puts so much attention to it. So many hours, late nights just for us to be here today. Chip was super happy, obviously, and it's always good to have your boss happy. The Indy 500 winner always celebrates with a bottle of milk. How good did that milk taste, even after several hours of racing? I'm not a huge whole-milk guy, like, just plain milk. But it tastes amazing. I loved it. It was super sweet. It just felt amazing. I was the best drink ever. Why did you choose not to dump the Indy 500 milk on your head? There were a lot of fans and people in this paddock that have been here for so long, and they always told me not to do it because, for them, that was not the way to celebrate. And I was like, OK, I'm gonna try not to do it. On top of that, I thought that just drinking it and sharing it with the team was sweeter. What was the strategy that got you to the lead at the end of the race with your sneak-attack to pass Marcus Ericsson with 14 laps left? I knew I was on a tire and fuel disadvantage to him and to some other drivers. I knew that it was just going to get tougher for me to pass if I was going to wait. So as soon as I had the opportunity, I knew that I had to take it. It was on the limit, like it was very late. But I just had to go for it, and then hope that it was going to be enough. Did you think about waiting at all to do it a little bit closer to the finish of the race? I knew that waiting was going to be probably safer in a way. You always want to attack quite late so they cannot overreact. But at the same time, with the traffic that we had there, I knew that was just making it tougher and tougher to follow and to have an opportunity to overtake. So I was like, "You know what? If I have the opportunity to be first, I'll take it, and then we'll see what we can do from there." How do you view your career now as an Indy 500 champ and a three-time IndyCar Series champ? It's just going to be better. The introductions now are going to be a lot more fun, and my life is just going to be a bit more complete. But this doesn't change everything. We still want more — we want a second one, we want more championships, we want more wins and we want to keep on working towards those wins. After three previous top-5 finishes in the Indy 500 and that runner-up one in 2021, what was different about today for you and your team? My car was really fast, and we were lucky. Nothing went wrong for us. Everything went the way [it] had to be for me to be the champion today — the yellows and the pit stops, the strategy. It was just my day, honestly. What was your mindset going into this race? Did you wake up knowing that today was going to be your day? No, you always wake up feeling like you have a chance. But actually, when I was stepping into [the] car, I was like, "Man, this could be the last time that we step into the car without being a 500 champion." I had that feeling. But normally when I wake up, I just feel normal. I feel like we have a chance to win, but we need to earn it. Did you know you were going to win before the race ended? Was there a moment after you took the lead where you thought, I'm going to win this thing? Never. Never. You can have just a slight moment in the last lap, in the last corner, and suddenly, that's it. Your race is over. So I knew I had chances. I knew that we were in the best position, but — I didn't know that we're going to win until we crossed that start-finish line. It's your fifth win in the first six races of the IndyCar season. How are you so dominant this season on so many different tracks? It's been an incredible season so far. I owe everything to the team, to our partners that allow us to do what we do. But yeah, they just make me look good on track, honestly. We had winning cars every single race weekend that we show up this season so far. Has it sunk in yet? Not yet. I mean, a little bit, obviously. We've been celebrating and talking about it since we crossed that start-finish line, but yeah, I still cannot believe it.
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
'Easy mistake to make': Kyle Larson's Indy 500 run ends with a crash ahead of Coca-Cola 600
INDIANAPOLIS — Kyle Larson's effort to run the Indianapolis 500-NASCAR double got off to a bumpy start. Larson spun out in Turn 2 on a Lap 86 restart, collecting Sting Ray Robb and Kyffin Simpson and knocking them out of the race. Advertisement 'We were punched up on the restart and I was really pissed at Takuma (Sato) in front of me. I got tight behind him and as I peeked left, the nose crabbed and I spun,' Larson said. 'Made a mistake on pit road and it compounds from there. You feel like you need to catch up and that was probably the wrong thing to do and got a little too overzealous.' While the pack checked up following a hectic restart, Larson downshifted as he entered Turn 2 behind Sato. The No. 17 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet lost control and spun, hitting Simpson on his way to the Turn 2 wall. Simpson spun after his contact with Larson, sending the No. 8 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda to the wall. While Simpson's car spun, Robb ran out of race track and brushed the wall on the exit of Turn 2 as he tried to avoid the spinning Simpson. 'I hate that I caused that crash (and) that others got collected in it,' Larson said. 'I hate it for Arrow McLaren and Rick Hendrick.' Advertisement How to watch: NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 start time, where to watch, how to stream That wall contact damaged Robb's suspension, causing the No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet to spin multiple times before hitting the tire barrier at the start of the backstretch on the inside of the track. Robb empathized with Larson. 'It's an easy mistake to make. Cold track, long running stints, marbles on the inside, cold tires on a restart and mixed conditions to make it tough,' Robb said. 'I think that with him getting loose, I thought he saved it there for a second but these cars are tricky. The added weight of the hybrid here seems like it's put some hindrance in some of the driving abilities.' Larson was not a factor after starting 19th. He stalled the car on a Lap 25 pit stop. He finished 27th. Advertisement The 32-year-old Cup star was taking a second crack at the double — competing at Indy and in the NASCAR Cup Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte, North Carolina, on the same day. He raced on the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval in 2024, finishing 18th after a pit-road speeding penalty dropped him from fifth place. However, a 4-hour rain delay in Indianapolis made him late for Charlotte. The Cup race had already begun and, when he got there, rain had stopped that race, so he never got in the car. He qualified second for the Cup race on Saturday. Larson had an eventful couple of weeks at Indianapolis, narrowly avoiding a spinning car, crashing in practice and qualifying for the 19th starting spot. Advertisement Larson hopes Charlotte offers him solace after his disappointment at the Speedway. 'We put a lot into making this effort possible so (I'm) bummed out but we'll try to mentally move on from here quickly and get to Charlotte,' Larson said. 'The best therapy is to just get back behind the wheel, so thankfully I only have a few hours until I'll be back behind the wheel. Once we crank the engines up there, hopefully I'll forget about it.' Kyle Larson's Indy 500-NASCAR weekend schedule Today, May 25: Indy 500 starts at 12:45 p.m. ET; NASCAR Cup Coca-Cola 600 starts at 6 p.m. Now to watch NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 Watch the NASCAR Cup Coke 600 with a 30-day Amazon Prime trial Who raced in both Indy 500 and NASCAR on same day? Larson is the sixth driver to attempt the Double, though just four have driven in both on the same day: Advertisement John Andretti : 1994 , 10th at Indy, 36th in Cup. Robby Gordon : ' 97 , Indy was postponed by rain; 2000 , 6th at Indy, 35th in Cup; '02 : 8th at Indy, 16 in Cup; '03 , 22nd at Indy, 17th in Cup; '04 , stepped out of Indy during a rain delay in favor of Jaques Lazier, finished 20th in Cup. Tony Stewart : 1999 , 9th at Indy, 4th in Cup; 2001 , 6th at Indy, 3rd in Cup, becoming the first driver to complete 1,100 miles. Kurt Busch : 2014 , 6th at Indy, 18th in Cup. Davy Jones tried in 1995, but he failed to qualify for the Cup race. This story was updated to add a video. This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: 2025 Indy 500 results: Kyle Larson finishes 27th in Indy 500-porton of Double
Indianapolis Star
25-05-2025
- Automotive
- Indianapolis Star
Kyle Larson's Indy 500 run ends with a crash on Lap 91 ahead of Coca-Cola 600
INDIANAPOLIS -- Kyle Larson's effort to run the Indianapolis 500-NASCAR double got off to a bumpy start. Larson spun out in Turn 2 on a Lap 86 restart, collecting Sting Ray Robb and Kyffin Simpson and knocking them out of the race. "I got loose and kind of all over the place," Larson said on the Fox broadcast. "Just hate that I got a little cutesy on that restart and caused the crash." While the pack checked up following a hectic restart, Larson downshifted as he entered Turn 2 behind Takuma Sato. The No. 17 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet lost control and spun, hitting Kyffin Simpson on his way to the Turn 2 wall. Simpson spun after his contact with Larson, sending the No. 8 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda to the wall. While Simpson's car spun, Sting Ray Robb ran out of race track and brushed the wall on the exit of Turn 2 as he tried to avoid the spinning Simpson. That wall contact damaged Robb's suspension, causing the No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet to spin multiple times before hitting the tire barrier at the start of the backstretch on the inside of the track. Larson was not a factor after starting 19th. He stalled the car on a Lap 25 pit stop. He is currently 27th. A disastrous pit stop for Kyle Larson and the No. 17 team. #Indy500 The 32-year-old Cup star was taking a second crack at the double — competing at Indy and in the NASCAR Cup Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte, North Carolina, on the same day. He raced on the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval in 2024, finishing 18th after a pit-road speeding penalty dropped him from fifth place. However, a 4-hour rain delay in Indianapolis made him late for Charlotte. The Cup race had already begun and, when he got there, rain had stopped that race, so he never got in the car. He qualified second for the Cup race on Saturday. Larson had an eventful couple of weeks at Indianapolis, narrowly avoiding a spinning car, crashing in practice and qualifying for the 19th starting spot. Today, May 25: Indy 500 starts at 12:45 p.m. ET; NASCAR Cup Coca-Cola 600 starts at 6 p.m. Watch the NASCAR Cup Coke 600 with a 30-day Amazon Prime trial
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Alex Palou leads tense Indy 500 drafting practice, Rasmussen crashes
The two-hour session is the last on-track practice until Carb Day on Friday, and all 33 teams took full advantage of it. Alex Palou led the way in the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda with a 226.765mph lap, followed by Helio Castroneves in the No. 06 Meyer Shank Racing Honda at 226.441mph, and Takuma Sato in the No. 75 RLL Racing Honda at 226.087mph. Jack Harvey was the top Chevrolet in fourth, followed by Ryan Hunter-Reay in fifth, Nolan Siegel sixth, Will Power seventh, Josef Newgarden eighth, Christian Rasmussen ninth, and Conor Daly tenth on the time sheets. Advertisement 88 laps was the most run by any driver with both Power and Callum Ilott reaching that total. The session featured one on-track incident as Rasmussen touched the wall at the exit of Turn 2, breaking the rear rear toe-link. He tried to hang onto the car, but it eventually spun into the infield grass and impacted the inside wall. It was not a significant impact, but it's worth noting that this is the second time this month Rasmussen lost it at the exit of Turn 2. Robert Shwartzman and Prema Racing shocked the world when they earned pole position for the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500, but things didn't go as smoothly in Monday drafting practice. Shwartzman had a huge lock-up while trying to practice his pit entry and the crew struggled in a practice pit stop. Advertisement But one of the sketchier moments for Shwartzman came when 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson thought about making a big move late into Turn 3. Thankfully, disaster was avoided as Larson lifted at the last possible second. Larson ranked 11th on the speed charts at 225.056mph while Shwartzman was down in 26th with a fast lap of 222.561mph. There were several other close calls and big overtakes as focus shifts to race day, including one moment where Newgarden went three-wide down the frontstretch as Graham Rahal moved up towards him, but thankfully, no contact was made. Read Also: Penske cars penalized, sent to back of grid for Indy 500 The complete starting grid for the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500 To read more articles visit our website.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Scott McLaughlin leads treacherous Fast Friday with 233.9mph lap
Fast Friday quickly lived up to its name. With the boost turned up and maximum horsepower now available to all drivers, Scott McLaughlin rocketed to the top of the charts with a 233.954mph lap. It was more than six miles per hour faster than the previous best lap of the week, but it's worth noting that he had a tow. The best non-tow speed belonged to Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon at 232.561mph. Dixon also led the way in best four-lap averages at 232.366mph. Looking only at the four-lap averages, Alex Palou was second at 232.307mph, McLaughlin third at 232.212mph, Colton Herta fourth at 231.721mph, and Kyle Kirkwood fifth at 231.491mph. Advertisement Felix Rosenqvist, Christian Lundgaard, Robert Shwartzman, Sting Ray Robb, and Marcus Ericsson all filled out the remainder of the top ten in best four-lap averages with all drivers eclipsing the 230mph mark. Drivers were running mock qualifying runs throughout the day, but high winds and misbehaving cars made for treacherous conditions. The stream of cars bailing mid-run was almost constant as the field struggled to find the right balance. For those who did complete four-lap runs, many had to lift more than they wanted to just to get the cars around the track in one piece. Two major incidents While several flirted with disaster, Kyffin Simpson was the one who actually stepped over that line. In his first run of the day, he crashed at the exit of Turn 4 and went airborne, damaging the SAFER Barrier and destroying his No. 8 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Thankfully, Simpson was okay in what he later described as a "weird crash." Advertisement One of the final three drivers to make it out on track was Kyle Larson, who became the next driver to crash as he lost control on his first flying lap. Luckily for Larson, the team only needed to replace the front and rear clips. The repairs were done quickly and Larson returned to the track for an installation lap just one hour after the crash. While admitting he was "caught off-guard" by the incident, Larson didn't seem too worried about Saturday qualifying. No one took part in drafting practice (intentionally), and so, lap totals were far lower than the previous three days as teams fully committed to qualifying runs. Will Power, Jacob Abel, and Graham Rahal all tied for most laps run with each completing 26 laps. Read Also: Kyle Larson crashes during mock qualifying run in Indy 500 practice Violent crash sends Kyffin Simpson airborne in scary Indy 500 practice shunt To read more articles visit our website.
