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NZ Autocar
26-05-2025
- Automotive
- NZ Autocar
Kiwi admits rookie error in Indy 500 warm-up crash
Scott McLaughlin didn't even make it to the start line for the Indianapolis 500 race after what he admitted was a rookie error during warm-up. While trying to generate tyre temperature by weaving left and right on the approach to Turn 1, McLaughlin lost control, and spun the car into the inside wall. Major damage to left suspension meant he was out without turning a wheel in anger. Visibly furious with himself, the Kiwi pounded the steering wheel in frustration before climbing out. Overcome with anger and disappointment, he dropped to his knees and buried his head in his hands. 'I'm just really upset for my team. They built me a fantastic car again. I'm really sorry to my sponsors, my fans, and my family. 'I still….can't believe we're out of the race. I just had so much hope today. Yeah, it's by far the worst moment of my life. 'I know it's probably dramatic and whatever, but I put so much into this race, everyone does, and I didn't even get to see the green flag.' Fellow Kiwi Scott Dixon had problems early too. His car began to blow smoke from a rear brake fire. Fortunately, he was able to continue but a pit stop on lap 31 put him behind and he ended up 24th, two behind Marcus Armstrong. When the race finally started, it was immediately halted after Marco Andretti was hit from behind by Jack Harvey heading into Turn 1. Kiwi rookie Marcus Armstrong narrowly avoided being caught up in the incident. In the end, three-time IndyCar champion, Alex Palou, earned the first oval-race victory of his career, taking the 109th Indianapolis 500. For the Spaniard it was his fifth win in six series races this season. But it was for this win that he gained global fame and a spot on the Borg-Warner Trophy. Palou drove his No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda to victory under caution when Nolan Siegel crashed on the final lap. Marcus Ericsson finished second in the Allegra Honda of Andretti Global. David Malukas took the third podium position in the No. 4 Clarience Technologies Chevrolet.
Fox Sports
15-05-2025
- Automotive
- Fox Sports
Alex Palou Climbs to Top of Charts on Another Damp Day at Indy
INDYCAR Maybe the only thing that can stop Alex Palou right now is rain. NTT INDYCAR SERIES points leader Palou produced the fastest speed of a rain-interrupted second day of practice for the 109th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge on Wednesday, 227.546 mph in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. It was the fastest lap of two days of preparations this week for 'The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.' SEE: Practice Results Three-time series champion Palou, who has won the last two titles in a row, has opened the 2025 season with four victories in five races. About the only summit he has yet to reach in the series is winning an oval race, with the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, May 25 his next big target. 'We did a little bit of (running in) traffic,' Palou said. 'It's always tough when people are in different run plans. A couple of good traffic runs. The car is feeling good. You always want it to feel a little bit better, but so far, so good. 'This is the biggest race, and that's what we work so much toward. So, we're going to try and chase that win.' Practice started 68 minutes late due to heavy rain this morning, with further delays of 54 minutes and 15 minutes this afternoon due to passing sprinkles over the 2.5-mile oval. That reduced the scheduled six-hour practice to three hours, 43 minutes as PPG Presents Armed Forces Qualifying this Saturday and Sunday draws closer and puts more pressure on teams to complete their preparation programs. 2018 '500' winner Will Power, fastest Tuesday at 227.026, continued a strong week in second today at 225.584 in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet. His teammate, two-time defending Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden, was third at 225.545 in the No. 2 Shell V-Power NiTRO+ Team Penske Chevrolet after ending up second Tuesday. Newgarden is trying to become the first driver to win 'The Greatest Spectacle in Racing' three consecutive years. 2008 Indy 500 winner Scott Dixon was fourth for the second consecutive day in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, this time at 225.092. Conor Daly joined the Chip Ganassi Racing-Team Penske party in the top five, ending up fifth at 224.931 in the No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet. All the fastest laps today came with the benefit of an aerodynamic 'tow' from leading cars, as teams continued to focus on finding stable setups in traffic for Race Day. But with PPG Presents Armed Forces Qualifying just three days away, it was noteworthy that Kyle Kirkwood was fastest while running alone for the second consecutive day, reaching 222.760 in a solo run in the No. 27 Siemens Honda fielded by Andretti Global. All 34 drivers attempting to earn one of the 33 spots in the starting field turned a total of 2,555 laps (6,387.5 miles) in the shortened session today. On-track activity will resume at 10 a.m. Thursday with a refresher test for 2013 '500' winner and Arrow McLaren Team Principal Tony Kanaan, who is readying to be a standby driver for Kyle Larson on Race Day. Larson is attempting the 'double' of racing in the Indy 500 and the NASCAR Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday, May 25. Kanaan will step in for Larson if weather delays the start in Indianapolis and Larson must leave for Charlotte for his full-time drive with Hendrick Motorsports. The track will be open for practice for all cars from noon-6 p.m. (noon-4 p.m., FS2; 4-6 p.m., FS1; FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network). The 109th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge is scheduled for Sunday, May 25 (10 a.m. ET, FOX, FOX Deportes, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network). recommended
Fox Sports
11-05-2025
- Automotive
- Fox Sports
Instant Recall: Sonsio Grand Prix
INDYCAR The crowd at Indianapolis Motor Speedway enthusiastically roared when a caution came out on Lap 69 of Saturday's Sonsio Grand Prix. The 10-second lead of the sport's dominant driver, Alex Palou, would be erased and a fierce battle would ensue. But Palou put a quick damper on the celebration. Over each of the 12 laps that followed, he put more distance on second-place Pato O'Ward. Palou led by .8944 of a second at the end of the first restart lap, 1.7151 seconds after the second. Then, in consecutive laps, his lead at the start/finish line was 2.4781 seconds, 2.6289 seconds and then 3.2153 seconds. By the time the checkered flags waved, the 28-year-old Spaniard was joyously weaving down the front straightaway with an advantage of 5.4840 seconds. How does this driver keep doing this to a deeply competitive field? 'They just don't make a mistake,' O'Ward said of Palou and the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda crew. 'It's impressive.' With a fourth victory in the season's first five races, the three-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion lowered his average finish to 1.2. In the past 50 years, the most comparable start was Sebastien Bourdais' rush out of the Champ Car World Series gate in 2006. The Frenchman won the first four races, then finished third for an average finish of 1.4. In 2005, Dan Wheldon won four of the first five Indy Racing League races, finishing sixth in the other. His average finish: 2.0. Palou's latest victory was a mix of deft tire strategy – he saved a set of new, faster alternate Firestone Firehawk tires for the final segment – and precise driving. After Graham Rahal jumped him at the start with a fresher set of the alternate tires on his No. 15 Fifth Third Bank Honda, Palou patiently waited for his moment, overtaking the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver on Lap 58. No one else was close to challenging Palou, who led 29 laps and won this race for the third consecutive year. And if the first caution since the early moments of the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding hadn't come, Palou might have won by 15 seconds or more. Power was involved in that caution-causing accident in Turn 3 in St. Petersburg, finishing 26th. Since then, he has been championship caliber if not for Palou. Power has finished sixth, sixth, fifth and third in these races. O'Ward hasn't been as consistent as Palou or Power, but this was his second runner-up finish of the season. He was the first car behind Palou at the conclusion of the season's second race, at The Thermal Club. The combination has him fourth in the season standings, but he fell to a staggering 100 points behind Palou. Andretti Global's Kyle Kirkwood finished eighth Saturday. His point total is the closest to Palou's, but at 93 points in arrears, he effectively trails by nearly two full races. Arrow McLaren's Christian Lundgaard is 98 points out of the series lead after finishing 16th in this race. For the record, the number of consecutive laps without a caution stopped at 408. But not even that could stop Palou. Next up is the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, a race Palou has not won. Should he win that, too, he will be on a pace similar to A.J. Foyt's 1964 season, when Foyt won the first seven races, including the '500.' Foyt wasn't beaten until Aug. 23 when Parnelli Jones won at the Milwaukee Mile. Foyt had transmission failure in that race and finished 26th. Will Palou win Indy, too? History is waiting to see if he can. 'I will be shocked if he dominates that,' Power said. 'He'll be up there (near the front), but so will a lot of other people. But that would be something if he went on and did that. That would be one of the greatest motorsports moments I've seen in my career.' recommended
Fox Sports
11-05-2025
- Automotive
- Fox Sports
Paddock Buzz: Graham Rahal Proud To Push Alex Palou to Limit
INDYCAR Graham Rahal believes he did everything right in Saturday's Sonsio Grand Prix. Leading a race-high 49 of 85 laps and controlling much of the early race, he clearly had pace and executed early well early. However, Alex Palou had superior long-run speed, and strategy allowed him to close the gap and make a decisive pass for the lead on Lap 58. From there, Palou's consistency and race management in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda sealed his third straight victory in the 85-lap race, continuing a dominant start to the season. Rahal dropped to sixth in the end for his 15th top-10 finish in the last 16 starts on the 2.439-mile, 14-turn Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. 'Those cars (Chip Ganassi Racing) are in a league of their own,' Rahal said. 'The grip that they have, the ability to follow so close compared to everybody else, I just don't know. I am genuinely proud. I don't think I locked up once. I don't think I put a wheel wrong. I defended as best I could. They're in a different stratosphere of grip. We tried our best. The Honda was quick today. 'I tried to just drive as flawlessly as I could because I knew that was the only way to beat him.' Rahal not only executed well on track, but he did his homework by studying how to beat Palou at the start – and it worked. He started alongside Palou, who, for the second consecutive year, won the NTT P1 Award for the Sonsio Grand Prix. Last year's race saw Rahal's then-Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing teammate Christian Lundgaard start alongside. 'I forced the issue with him,' Rahal said. 'I watched the video of him with Christian last year, and he purposely pushed Christian wide out of (Turn) 1. So, I wanted to do enough and get far enough by him that he couldn't do that. I worked hard to keep him behind me.' A slow final pit stop on Lap 62 cost Rahal four spots, dropping from second to fifth. He then later was passed by the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing driven by Scott Dixon. 'I literally had a nightmare about stalling,' Rahal said. 'I knew it was going to be a really hard day to get it out of the pits, and unfortunately it was. We didn't stall but just couldn't get the tire to spin at all. So definitely something we've got to look at for next year.' Kirkwood Returns to Second in Points Kyle Kirkwood drove from 21st to eighth in the No. 27 PreFab Honda for Andretti Global, displaying determination and racecraft. That result helped him regain second in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES standings, a sizable 97 points behind Palou. If Andretti Global can sharpen its setups and qualifying pace, Kirkwood could close the gap, though it will take more than top-10 finishes to reel in Palou's near-perfect form with four wins in the first five races. 'It's almost disappointing to be second and this far behind,' Kirkwood said. 'Good day today from the weekend we had. We didn't get warmup, so we were trying to win the race blind, especially with tire strategy. We just didn't really know, but we played our cards right. We had a really good race, and I think we got mostly everything out of it.' The silver lining is Kirkwood didn't expect to be strong at The Thermal Club, Barber Motorsports Park or here. He finished eighth, 11th and eighth, respectively. Up next are the 109th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear (June 1) and the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline at World Wide Technology Raceway (June 15), all tracks Kirkwood likes. He thinks he can at least hang on to second in the standings. 'We got a lot of good races coming up for us,' Kirkwood said. 'If I'm being honest, we knew Thermal, Barber and here were maybe our least competitive tracks. So, we got out of these with I think some really good finishes, and we'll move into the rest of the Month of May, a lot of street courses that we know we're good at and some short oval that we were turning into dominant race cars last year. So, those are the ones that will start to claw back at them.' Newgarden Shifts Aim to '500' Two-time series champion Josef Newgarden gave up his sixth starting spot in the race when he drove down pit lane before the race went green. Newgarden was dealing with a mechanical problem in his No. 2 Astemo Team Penske Chevrolet that the team diagnosed and fixed, allowing him to rejoin the field but at the back. Newgarden rallied to finish 12th, salvaging what could have been another disappointing finish in a season of what might have been. 'I don't even know what to say about the day,' Newgarden said. 'It's just pretty disappointing. To have a MGU issue creep in during the beginning, we thought it was terminal and then sort of fixed itself. Starting last wasn't ideal. When you pretty much go green almost to the finish, it's hard to do much in this field, so we climbed as far as we could.' Newgarden now is shifting his focus to trying to become the first driver to win the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge three consecutive years. Shwartzman Rallies to 18th Robert Shwartzman's performance Saturday is impressive, especially given the circumstances. With only six laps of track time before the race due to technical problems, starting last in a 27-car field could have easily spelled a frustrating day. Instead, he managed to climb nine positions and match his career-best finish of 18th – despite minimal preparation and an issue in the morning warmup. 'Really mixed feelings,' Shwartzman said. That kind of resilience and adaptability, particularly on a technical track like the IMS road course, speaks to his raw talent and learning curve. For a rookie, navigating track and strategy with almost no data or experience is no small feat. Shwartzman's finish is more than just a number – it's a gritty hard-earned result. Managing overheating by weaving into clean air, all while trying to make passes is a tough balancing act. Add in the wrong gear ratios limiting top-end speed, and his No. 83 PREMA Racing Chevrolet wasn't optimized for overtaking. The fact he still made up nine spots, protected the car and brought it home cleanly speaks volumes about his composure. 'I can say pace-wise, we can be in the top 10,' Shwartzman said. 'We just need to execute it to show it.' Shwartzman studied many videos Friday night to learn braking points, shifting points and how to at least get his eyes used to what to expect. To overcome this much adversity, he's satisfied. Odds and Ends The eventual season champion has finished on the podium in the last five Sonsio Grand Prix races. Palou, Pato O'Ward and Will Power finished on the podium Saturday. Palou and Power have combined to win the last four championships. O'Ward has finished runner-up four times now at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, twice in the '500' (2022, 2024) and twice in the Sonsio Grand Prix (2023, 2025). He also finished runner-up at The Thermal Club INDYCAR Grand Prix this season and is fourth in points, trailing Palou by 100. Power earned his 139th career top-five finish in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, tying Michael Andretti for seventh all-time. Al Unser, with 140, is next on the list. Dixon made his 407th career start Saturday, tying Mario Andretti for most ever. Rinus VeeKay was the Hard Charger of the race, climbing 15 positions in the No. 18 askROI Honda for Dale Coyne Racing. VeeKay has three top-10 finishes in five races this season and is 10th in points, 148 behind Palou. recommended
Fox Sports
11-05-2025
- Automotive
- Fox Sports
Alex Palou Continues Magic Carpet Ride with Sonsio GP Victory
INDYCAR Alex Palou continued his march toward history and immortality by winning the Sonsio Grand Prix on Saturday on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, his fourth victory in five NTT INDYCAR SERIES races this season. It was the Spaniard's third consecutive victory in this race, an event record, and he became the first driver since Sebastien Bourdais in 2006 to win four of the first five races of an INDYCAR SERIES season. SEE: Race Results 'I cannot describe the amazing season we've had so far,' Palou said. 'I owe everything to the team, Chip Ganassi Racing, my teammates, everybody who is working behind the scenes to make me look so fast on track. It's amazing. It's unbelievable.' NTT P1 Award winner Palou drove his No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda to a 5.4840-second victory over the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Honda of Pato O'Ward. That margin may have been considerably larger if not for a late caution period – the first in the series since Lap 1 of the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding – bunching the field before Palou ran away again. Two-time series champion Will Power finished a season-best third in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, 8.4529 seconds behind Palou. His teammate Scott McLaughlin was fourth in the No. 3 Sonsio Vehicle Protection Chevrolet. Six-time series champion Scott Dixon rounded out the top five in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. After this victory, Palou's report card this season reads four victories (St. Petersburg, Thermal, Barber, Indianapolis road course) and one second-place finish (Long Beach). He leads the standings by 97 points – nearly two races' worth of points – over Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti Global after just five of 17 races this season. 'We need to do something to stop this 10 car,' O'Ward said. 'These guys are really, really on a roll. I don't think I've seen anything like it, especially in INDYCAR.' Future targets are coming into clear focus for Palou after this win. The first is victory in the next event and the biggest of them all, the 109th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge on Sunday, May 25 at IMS. Palou has never won on an oval, about his only remaining mountain yet to be climbed in this series. 'Hopefully we get to stay here (Victory Podium) again in a couple of weeks for the biggest race of the year,' Palou said. Then, the focus could shift to a fourth Astor Challenge Cup as series champion in five years, a feat last achieved by Bourdais when he won four straight titles from 2004-07. It's not a stretch in this moment of dominance with 12 races remaining to conceive of Palou threatening the all-time series record for victories in a season, 10 by legends A.J. Foyt in 1964 and Al Unser in 1970. Stay tuned for a complete report. recommended
