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.
PORTLAND, OR (August 9, 2026) – Alex Palou and Chip Ganassi Racing are closing in on another NTT IndyCar Series Championship after winning Sunday’s Only Bulls Portland Grand Prix.
Palou started second and passed Felix Rosenqvist during the first round of pit stops by staying out an extra lap and using the ‘overcut’ to get the lead and then dominated, leading 60 of 110-laps to grab his sixth victory of 2026.
“Everybody at CGR and Honda did an incredible job,” said Palou, who started second. “I had an absolute rocket ship today. It was very, very nice to drive every single lap.”
“We had to do something different than Felix,” said Barry Wanser, team manager for the No. 10 Honda. “We had to go longer than him. It takes a lot of performance by Alex and certainly the Honda engine to give us the fuel mileage to jump in one more and do the overcut. That helped us. We had a pretty smooth pit stop and got the jump there.”
Rosenqvist, who started on the pole in the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Grateful Dead Honda, closed to within a second late but couldn’t get back to the front.
“He got us in a sequence,” said Rosenqvist, the 2026 Indianapolis 500 winner. “I got kind of twisted up leaving my box because I was so close to the Schumacher crew. I think between the overcut and that, we kind of lost the position. From there on we just sat in second.”
Andretti Global’s Will Power finished third in the No. 26 TWG Honda to lockout the podium for the manufacturer.
“Great day for us,” said Power. “Great day for Andretti. Didn’t quite have the pace I think the top two guys. Probably about a tenth off. Just seriously fast pace all day. Qualifying laps, really good quality. Such a quality field now.”
The victory for Palou increased his Championship lead to 110 points over Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti Global, a gap of more than two races with just five races remaining this season.
“Chip puts the best guys around me, but then also everybody is just executing,” said Palou. “That car is a rocket ship, and I’m just lucky enough to drive it.”
The next NTT IndyCar Series race is the inaugural Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham on Sunday, Aug. 16 on the streets of Markham, Ontario.
PORTLAND, OR (August 7, 2026) – Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou is fastest on the speed charts after the first NTT IndyCar Series practice at the Grand Prix of Portland.
Palou’s fast lap of 58.5716-seconds (120.714 mph) in the No. 10 DHL Honda was 0.0886-seconds quicker than Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood in the No. 27 Sam’s Club Honda.
“Good day, great start,” said Palou, who leads the Championship standings. “I think there’s some work to do with the alternates (Firestone Firehawk tires), but we were really good on primaries, so I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
“We definitely came here with a much different car than we’ve ever ran here, and hopefully it’s paying off,” said Kirkwood. “Early days, but it’s promising. Compared to where we were last year, this is a big step in the right direction.”
Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Rinus VeeKay continues his impressive season for one of the smaller teams in the paddock posting a 58.7996-seconds lap around the 12-turn, 1.964-mile circuit, which put him third on the speed chart.
Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian’s Marcus Armstrong and Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward each spent time in the pits after clipping the Armco barrier at the apex of Turn 1 in separate incidents.
NTT P1 Award qualifying is Saturday at 7 p.m. ET (FS1) and the INDYCAR Radio Network powered by Only Bulls.
The 110-lap race starts at 4 p.m. ET Sunday on FOX and FOX Deportes. FOX One and INDYCAR Radio.
PORTLAND, OR (August 7, 2026) – Chip Ganassi Racing’s Niels Koolen is atop the speed charts after the first Indy NXT by Firestone practice at the Grand Prix of Portland.
Koolen’s best lap of 1-minute, 3.0405-seconds in the No. 10 CGR car was .0456-seconds quicker than Andretti Global’s Seb Murray, who posted a 1:03.0861 in the No. 27 Megatron machine.
“It seems all the prep we did as a team for this track paid off so far,” said Koolen, who sits 16th in the Championship standings. “Let’s see if we can keep this up for the rest of the weekend.”
SEE: Practice Results
Murray’s teammate Lochie Hughes, was third at 1:03.1374 in the No. 26 Andretti Global entry.
JM Correa was fourth at 1:03.1984 in the No. 68 Cusick Morgan Motorsports car. Myles Rowe rounded out the top five at 1:03.3058 in the No. 99 Abel Motorsports with Force Indy machine.
Points leader Nikita Johnson was 13th at 1:03.5915 in the No. 21 Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR entry.
“Traffic was a little bit difficult,” series rookie Johnson said. “(The circuit) is so flowy that it’s kind of hard to see in your mirrors sometimes, and even I messed up, as well, on some of these laps. It’s kind of hard for everyone to see who’s behind. A little bit of traffic here and there, but we had the car in a better window at the end.”
Enzo Fittipaldi, just one point behind Johnson in second, was 18th at 1:03.9284 in the No. 67 HMD Motorsports car.
His fellow rookie teammate Tymek Kucharcyzk, 25 points behind Johnson in third, was the quickest of the tight trio atop the standings in 12th at 1:03.5783 in the No. 71 HMD Motorsports entry.
All three of the title contenders can take solace in knowing less than one second separated the top 20 drivers on the speed chart.
Koolen’s teammates may want to take a look at his set-up and data because they have some work to do. Bryce Aron was 15th in the No. 9 car. James Roe was 19th in the No. 8 and rookie Carson Etter was 24th in the No. 11 car.
A second practice session is scheduled for noon ET Saturday, followed by qualifying at 3 p.m. ET. The 35-lap race starts at 2 p.m. ET Sunday. FS1, FOX One and INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls are broadcasting the remaining sessions this weekend.
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