Alex Palou’s nearly perfect IndyCar season continued with a victory in the 109th Indy 500, his first on an oval in his sterling racing career.
The Chip Ganassi Racing star and three-time series champion snatched the lead by darting below Marcus Ericsson entering Turn 1 on Lap 187 of 200 and soldiered on to his first victory in the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.
“I cannot believe it,” Palou, 28, told Fox Sports after his 14th career victory. “What an amazing day. What an amazing race.”
BOX SCORE: Click here for results of the 109th Indy 500
Ericsson finished second, followed by David Malukas, Pato O’Ward and Felix Rosenqvist as the race ended under a caution flag for a crash involving Nolan Siegel. Kyle Larson finished 27th in his bid to race the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same day.
Palou, who led only the final 14 laps, celebrated by parking his red and yellow No. 10 Dallara-Honda just past the famous Yard of Bricks.
He climbed out and tossed away his driving gloves as he ran down the frontstretch to receive several embraces from his Ganassi team members and his father, Ramon, as the raucous celebration spilled over the pit wall.
The Barcelona native is the first Spaniard to win the Indianapolis 500.
“What an amazing race by the 10 crew, everyone at CGR, HRC,” Palou said while trying to catch his breath. “I can’t believe it. It’s amazing to be here it’s amazing to win. I didn’t know if I’d be able to pass Marcus or not but made it happen. First oval win. What a better place.
“Amazing. Best celebration ever.”
It’s the first Indy 500 victory for team owner Chip Ganassi since Ericsson (now with Andretti Global) won in 2022.
Palou has won five of the first six races this season after winning the past two season championships with Ganassi, the team he nearly left for McLaren Racing three years ago.
“The guy is just unbelievable,” Ganassi told Fox Sports after his team’s sixth victory in the Indy 500. “I don’t know what else to say. … He just beat everybody today. It’s just great.
“It’s an incredible thing. It’s going to make Alex Palou’s career and make his life. It’s certainly made mine.”
The winning pass had Ericsson, who now drives the No. 28 Dallara-Honda for Andretti Global, lamenting another near-miss at the Brickyard. The Swede finished second in a controversial finish to the 2023 Indy 500 and was caught in a multicar crash on the first lap last year.
“That was painful to miss out, so close again,” Ericsson told Fox Sports. “Second time second place here, but this is a winner-takes-all kind of place. It’s really painful. Still proud of the 28 crew, did a really good job.
“Really tough race. The car was really hard to drive. We were running in the back for the middle part, and we kept fighting. We‘ve had a tough couple of years here, but today we showed what we can do. We can fight for it.
“Congrats to Alex and Chip Ganassi Racing. This one hurts for sure.”
Ericsson, who led 17 laps, especially regretted leaving the door open for Palou’s daring move to the inside with just under 14 laps remaining.
“I had those lappers ahead of us making it difficult,” Ericsson said. "(Palou) got a run on me, and I didn’t know if he was going to go for it or not. That’s the thing I’m thinking about constantly now.
“I should have covered that inside, of course. It’s just very frustrating. I was in the lead and had that race covered and missed it. That’s going to be a tough one to swallow.”
