Indy 500 results: Alex Palou captures first oval victory, cements legend as an all-time racing great

Alex Palou had already accomplished plenty in the IndyCar Series, with myriad race wins and two series championships.

But, by his own admission, only winning the Indianapolis 500 would make his career complete. And well, at age 28, his career by his own definition is complete, but seems far from over.

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Palou overtook David Malukas with 12 laps to go on Sunday to secure his 14th IndyCar Series victory and, crucially, his very first on an oval.

109th Indianapolis 500 results

2025 Indy 500 TV schedule

All times ET

Sunday, May 25
10 a.m.: Pre-race show (Fox)
12:20 p.m.: National anthem (Fox)
12:45 p.m.: 109th Indy 500 (Fox)

2025 Indy 500 details

Track: Indianapolis Motor Speedway (2.5-mile low-banked squared oval) in Speedway, Indiana
Banking: Turns – 9.2 degrees | Straights – flat
Race length: 200 laps for 500 miles
Fuel window: 30-35 green flag laps

Top storylines for the 2025 Indy 500

Penske penalties: All three Team Penske Chevys made it into last Sunday’s Fast 12 qualifying round for a shot at the pole, but one crashed in the morning practice and two others were removed after failing inspection. The cars driven by Newgarden and Will Power were each found to have an illegally modified attenuator, which is the rear-end crash structure. The attenuator is a spec part that by rule cannot be modified.

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Larson and “The Double”: For the second straight year, 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson will attempt “The Double” — running the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600, which take place just hours apart in Indiana and North Carolina in two very different types of race car. Larson admirably qualified fifth for the Indy 500 last year but rain delayed the start of the race by four hours. He finished 18th and immediately boarded a plane bound for Charlotte, but in an ironic twist of fate, the same weather system that delayed the start in Indianapolis curtailed his attempt to at least jump into his Hendrick Motorsports No. 5 Chevrolet in the late stages of the Coca-Cola 600. He’ll start 19th for the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday.

Sensational Schwartzman: Only two times in the 108-year history of Indianapolis 500 had a rookie ever qualified first for the race. Until last Sunday. Schwartzman, racing for Prema, became the first Indy debutant since Teo Fabi in 1983 to win the pole position. What’s more: It’s his first time driving an oval in his professional career after coming up through the European karting and Formulae system, while also driving endurance cars on the side.

109th Indy 500 starting grid

Row 1
Robert Schwartzman, Prema Racing-Chevrolet
Takuma Sato, RLL Racing-Honda
Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren-Chevrolet

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Row 2
Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda
Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank Racing-Honda
Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda

Row 3
David Malukas, AJ Foyt Racing-Chevrolet
Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren-Chevrolet
Marcus Ericsson, Andretti-Global-Honda

Row 4
Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske-Chevrolet
Conor Daly, Juncos Hollinger Racing-Chevrolet
Alexander Rossi, Ed Carpenter Racing-Chevrolet

Row 5
Kyffin Simpson, Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda
Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing-Chevrolet
Santino Ferrucci, AJ Foyt Racing-Chevrolet

Row 6
Devlin DeFrancesco, RLL Racing-Honda
Sting Ray Robb, Juncos Hollinger Racing-Chevrolet
Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter Racing-Chevrolet

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Row 7
Kyle Larson, Arrow McLaren/Hendrick-Chevrolet
Louis Foster, RLL Racing-Honda
Callum Ilott, Prema Racing-Chevrolet

Row 8
Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing-Honda
Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global-Honda
Nolan Siegel, Arrow McLaren-Chevrolet

Row 9
Ryan Hunter-Reay, DRR-Cusick Motorsports-Chevrolet
Jack Harvey, DRR-Cusic Motorsports-Chevrolet
Colton Herta, Andretti Global-Honda

Row 10
Graham Rahal, RLL Racing-Honda
Marco Andretti, Andretti Global/Curb Agajanian-Honda
Marcus Armstrong, Meyer Shank Racing-Honda

Row 11
Rinus Veekay, Dale Coyne Racing-Honda
Josef Newgarden, Team Penske-Chevrolet
Will Power, Team Penske-Chevrolet

Indy 500 betting odds

Despite the 32nd starting spot, Newgarden has the fifth-best odds to win entering the weekend — likely due to his status as the two-time defending race winner. Pato O’Ward, having posted two second-place finishes at the Speedway in addition to a fourth and sixth, enters with the best odds at 5-to-1. Runaway championship leader Alex Palou and six-time series champion Scott Dixon are among the top favorites behind O’Ward.

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Odds courtesy of BetMGM

Weather for the 109th Indy 500

The race day forecast calls for partially cloudy skies with a high temperature of 67 degrees. There is a 25 percent chance of precipitation. Last year’s race was infamously delayed by rain for four hours, which ultimately cost Kyle Larson his chance at running “The Double.”

Newgarden fastest in Carb Day practice

Josef Newgarden is going to need to come through the entire field if he is to become the first three-peat winner of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, but he has the car to do it.

Newgarden turned a lap at 225.687 to top the timing charts in Friday’s Carb Day final practice session. He was followed by fellow two-time race-winner Takuma Sato (225.415) and six-time series champion Scott Dixon (225.200).

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Newgarden has been fast throughout the two weeks of practice and qualifying at the Speedway, but will start from the penultimate spot on the grid (32nd) as punishment for altering the attenuator at some point during last weekend’s qualifying sessions. Penske teammate Will Power was also found to be in violation and will start last. Power was fifth-fastest on Friday with a 224.419.

Multiple drivers experienced issues during the two-hour session including Sato, who parked his car with an unspecified issue with eight minutes remaining in the session. Ryan Hunter-Reay had a fire in the back of his DRR-Cusick Motorsports Chevrolet, but was able to get it back to the pit lane, where it was extinguished. Alexander Rossi, the 2016 race winner, only turned five laps before parking his car with a water pump issue