IndyCar
109th Indianapolis 500 Preview
SPEEDWAY, IN (May 25, 2025) – There are always storylines heading into the 109th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge and this year is no exception along with a little added intrigue. Here’s what I think are the storylines to keep an eye on in ‘The Greatest Spectacle in Racing’:
Alex Palou show in 2025: Chip Ganassi Racing’s Palou is off to the best start in INDYCAR in 60-years, winning four of the first five races and finishing second in the other. A.J. Foyt won the first five races in 1964. Palou and the No. 10 DHL Honda team hold a 97-point lead in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES Championship standings. Palou however has never won on an oval. His best finish at Indianapolis is 2nd in 2021, when he followed Helio Castroneves across the yard of bricks.
Helio Castroneves chasing history: Castroneves won his fourth Indy 500 in 2021 with Meyer Shank Racing. Castroneves’ other wins, 2001, 2002 and 2009 were with Team Penske. Castroneves was 7th quickest in Carb Day on Friday posting a fast lap of 224.235, which was right behind teammate Felix Rosenqvist’s 224.416. Castroneves starts 22nd and if he can pull off the victory, he would be the oldest Indy 500 winner in history at 50-years-old. Al Unser Sr. became the oldest winner of the Indianapolis 500 in 1987 at age 47 years, 360 days old.
Josef Newgarden going for 3-in-a-row: Newgarden could make history today if he were able to pull off his third victory in-a-row. Newgarden beat Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward last year in an epic battle over the final few laps. Newgarden won his first Baby Borg in 2023, a controversial win because it was the first time the series had a 2-lap shootout for the win. Newgarden will have his work cutout for him starting from the 32nd position after Team Penske was penalized after failing technical inspection prior to pole qualifying. O’Ward told me on Friday that Newgarden’s car is ‘a missile’.
Pato O’Ward seeking first 500 win: O’Ward, the series most popular driver, is looking for his first 500 victory after finishing 2nd in 2024, 2nd in 2022, 4th in 2021 and 6th in 2020. O’Ward has finished second twice this season (Thermal Club & Sonsio Grand Prix) and will roll off from the outside of the front run after qualifying third. O’Ward sits fourth in the Championship standings, 100-points behind Palou.
Takuma Sato looking for 3rd 500 win: Sato is starting from the 2nd position in the middle of the front row, with O’Ward on the outside and rookie Robert Shwartzman on the inside. Sato started in the Top 4 for his previous two wins, 2017 & 2020. This will be the only start of the season for Sato, who is not running for the Championship. Sato was 2nd in the final practice on Friday at 225.415, but suffered a mechanical failure late in the session.
Scott Dixon vying for 2nd 500 win: Dixon is this generations most successful driver winning six Championships and amassing 58-wins, both of which are second all-time to A.J. Foyt. Dixon won the 500 in 2008 but a second victory has been elusive considering he’s led 677 career laps, the all-time event record. Dixon is also second to Rick Mears in ‘500’ pole wins (6-to-5). Dixon and the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda finished third in Carb Day’s final practice, posting a fast lap of 225.200 mph.
Kyle Larson’s 2nd attempt at ‘The Double’: Larson, for the second straight year, is attempting to become the fifth driver to complete the Memorial Day “double” of racing in the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on the same day, joining John Andretti, Tony Stewart, Robby Gordon and Kurt Busch. The last driver to complete the feat was Busch in 2014. Larson earned “500” Rookie of the Year honors last year after qualifying fifth and finishing 18th.
Rookie Robert Shwartzman on pole: Shartzman of PREMA Racing shocked the racing world by winning the pole last weekend. He is the is the first rookie to win the pole since Teo Fabi in 1983. Shwartzman, born in Tel-Aviv Israel is also the first Israel native to compete in the race. Just 10-rookie drivers have won in over a century with Alexander Rossi being the last in 2016.
NOTES & TIDBITS
- There are eight former Indianapolis 500 winners in the starting field: Helio Castroneves (2001, 2002, 2009, 2021), Scott Dixon (2008), Ryan Hunter-Reay (2014), Alexander Rossi (2016), Takuma Sato (2017, 2020), Will Power (2018), Marcus Ericsson (2022), Josef Newgarden (2023, 2024). Between them, they have 13 victories. The record for most former winners in the field is 10, in 1992. The fewest, other than the inaugural race in 1911, is zero in 1912, 1913, 1915 and 1916.
- The field average speed of 231.207 mph is the third fastest in history. The fastest is 232.184 in 2023, followed by 231.943 in 2024.
- The deepest starting position for a race winner is 28th, by Ray Harroun in 1911 and Louis Meyer in 1936.
- Casey Irsay Foyt, who represents the next generation of Indianapolis Colts’ ownership along with her sisters Carlie Irsay-Gordon and Kalen Jackson, will serve as honorary starter. Irsay’s father Jim passed away Wednesday May 21 at the age of 65.
- The field includes five past INDYCAR SERIES champions: Dixon, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Newgarden, two-time reigning champion Palou and Will Power.
Live Race Day coverage begins on FOX, FOX Deportes, the FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network at 10 a.m. (ET), with the green flag set for 12:45 p.m.
INDIANAPOLIS, IN – Chip Ganassi Racing’s 2026 Trading Cards are coming out soon, and race fans can support a great cause by picking up a pack.
CGR’s 2025 trading card program raised over $20,000 for charities across the country, and proceeds from the 2026 program will benefit education nonprofit DonorsChoose, a PNC Grow Up Great® partner supporting public school and Head Start classrooms.
PNC Grow Up Great is a $500 million, bilingual early childhood education initiative that has been helping to prepare children from birth through age 5 for success in school and in life since 2004.
PNC and DonorsChoose—an education nonprofit that allows individuals to donate directly to classroom projects—have collaborated since 2017 to help teachers obtain quality resources and experiences for students in public pre-K, public charter, and Head Start classrooms. The $20 million alliance has included flash funds, match offers, DonorsChoose gift codes, and jumpstart donations to support early childhood learning.
Cards are available for pre-order now at chipganassiracing.com/cgrcards. Fans may receive autographed cards from Scott Dixon, six-time NTT IndyCar Series Champion and driver of the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda; defending IndyCar Champion and defending Indianapolis 500 winner Alex Palou, driver of the No. 10 DHL Honda; and rising star Kyffin Simpson, driver of the No. 8 Sunoco Honda.
Since 2018, Dixon has visited high-quality education centers across the country, engaging in reading and other early learning activities with thousands of preschoolers—helping to expand PNC Grow Up Great and inspire the next generation of IndyCar fans.
BIRMINGHAM, AL (March 29, 2026) — Alex Palou returned to victory lane Sunday, winning the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park.
Driving the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, Palou started from pole, led 79 laps, and beat Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard by 13.2775 seconds.
The win was Palou’s second of the 2026 season and his third career victory at the picturesque 2.33-mile, 17-turn road course. It also marked a second consecutive win at Barber for Chip Ganassi Racing. The track was built by the late George Barber, who passed away in February at the age of 85.
“What an amazing car,” said Palou. “Another win here. Love this place, love the fans. What a great day. Today in the race, it was pretty good in the beginning, really good at the end, but we suffered a little bit on the used blacks (Firestone Firehawk primary tires) that we had to use.”
Lundgaard appeared poised to challenge Palou in the closing stages as pit cycles and traffic shuffled the field. Palou made his final stop first but rejoined in traffic among cars fighting to stay on the lead lap.
“Those moments you can lose the race in like nothing,” said Palou. “You can lose five, six seconds with two laps because you’re fighting with cold tires and lap cars.”
“It was coming down to I think like we were three seconds ahead of him when we pitted,” said Julian Robertson, lead engineer on the No. 10 Honda. “We had some pretty decent, once we got through the traffic, started running some decent laps. It was going to be really close.”
Lundgaard pushed to close the gap but saw his chances slip away during a slow final pit stop—more than 17 seconds—due to a right-rear issue.
“I think we had something for him (Palou),” said Lundgaard. “I don’t really know what happened (on pit road). It’s unfortunate because I was told that we would have passed him if we would have had a clean stop. At that point I really just wanted to get back past Graham (Rahal) to get back what we lost because Alex was gone.”
“He (Lundgaard) had two sets (alternate Firestone’s) because he didn’t advance to Fast Six,” explained Palou. “He had two sets of brand-new stickers. When we were on used primaries, which were not very good, he was on brand-new alternates. That’s why he was getting so close.”
Graham Rahal finished third—his best result of 2026—but could not hold off Lundgaard late. Team Penske’s David Malukas came home fourth, just 0.07 seconds behind Rahal after starting on the front row.
“It’s a good reward for the guys and gals,” said Rahal, who earned his first podium finish since August 2023 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. “Everybody has worked so hard to get back here and heard all the noise and b.s. that we get to hear all the time. All weekend the car was in very good shape and very, very competitive and very comfortable.”
Kyle Kirkwood finished fifth in the No. 27 JM Bullion Honda for Andretti Global and now holds a two-point lead over Palou in the championship standings heading into the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Strategy played a major role throughout the race. Palou started on the black sidewall Firestone Firehawk primary tires—harder and more durable but slower—while Malukas opted for the faster, quicker-wearing red sidewall alternates.
A difficult warmup session led Ganassi to adjust its approach and commit to the primary tire strategy.
“This morning with the warm-up, like, tanked,” said Robertson. “We kind of switched strategy somewhat, which meant in the middle of the race we had to put a set of used blacks on. Got pretty sketchy”.
The strategy ultimately paid off, as Palou secured the 21st win of his career and moved firmly back into the championship fight as he pursues a fourth consecutive title and a second Indianapolis 500 victory in May.
The IndyCar Series is off the next two weekends before returning for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on Sunday, April 19.
BIRMINGHAM, AL (March 28, 2026) The NTT IndyCar Series is back on-track this weekend at the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park. This will be the Series first visit to a natural terrain road course in 2026.
Alex Palou starts on the pole position, is the defending race winner and also scored a win in 2021 with his Chip Ganassi Racing team. Palou is coming off a second place finish at the inaugural Grand Prix of Arlington two weeks ago and a victory at the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Palou dominated the 2025 event, winning by 16-seconds. Palou also won five of the seven road course races in 2025.
Who can challenge Palou?
Look no further than Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti Global. Kirkwood is coming off a victory at Arlington. Kirkwood and the No. 27 team has shown speed on the street courses the season with his win and a 4-place finish at St. Petersburg. Kirkwood also finished second on the short oval at Phoenix.
Scott McLaughlin of Team Penske scored back-to-back wins at the picturesque 2.38-mile, 17-turn track in 2023 and 2024. McLaughlin showed speed on the street course at St. Petersburg by winning the pole and finishing third, so expect the ‘thirsty three’s’ to be in the mix.
McLaughlin led Friday’s practice with a fast lap of 1 minute, 7.7245 seconds in the No. 3 Odyssey Battery Team Penske Chevrolet but didn’t fare so well during Saturday’s practice, losing control entering Turn 1 and crashing though the fence, which red-flagged the rest of the session. Watch the video here. McLaughlin was not hurt in the incident and will have to go to a backup car.
Penske’s Josef Newgarden leads all active drivers with 3-wins at the circuit, two with Penske (2017-2018) and one with CFH Racing 2015. Will Power, Palou, McLaughlin and Ryan Hunter-Reay, who is running the Indy 500 this year with Arrow McLaren, each have two wins apiece.
Team Penske is by far the most dominant team at Barber, scoring 8-wins in 15-races since IndyCar debuted at the track in 2010. Andretti and Ganassi have 2-wins apiece.
Barber is one of only four tracks on the IndyCar Schedule that 6-time Series Champion Scott Dixon has not won at, the others being St. Pete, Arlington and Portland. Dixon has 8-podium finishes at Barber including 6-second place finishes. If Dixon wants to reach the top step on the podium, Dixon, his engineer Brad Goldberg, and the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda crew need to start qualifying in the Firestone Fast Six, not mid-pack as they have so far in ’26. Dixon starts 13th today.
Morning practice gets underway at 10 AM ET followed by the race at 1 PM ET on Fox and the IndyCar Radio Network.
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