3-time IndyCar champ Palou wins 1st Indy 500

INDIANAPOLIS -- Alex Palou took the ceremonial swig of beverage successful Victory Lane astatine the Indianapolis 500. He fto his woman person a sip, she successful crook gave a sip to their baby, and squad proprietor Chip Ganassi ended up with the vessel and took a drink, arsenic well.

"I person to archer you, it was the champion beverage I ever had," Palou said.

The archetypal Spaniard to triumph "The Greatest Spectacle successful Racing" past took a triumph thigh with them astir Indianapolis Motor Speedway successful the backmost of a pickup truck. At 1 point, Palou climbed onto its extortion and raised his arms successful triumph, the winning wreath draped astir his neck. He concisely mislaid his balance, and Ganassi instinctively reached retired to drawback his prima driver.

No need.

Palou seldom makes a incorrect move.

"All my household around, it's amazing, honestly," helium said, smiling. "All the squad around, they marque maine look truly bully connected the track."

Palou came to the speedway arsenic the two-time defending IndyCar champion -- helium has 3 titles successful 4 years -- and had opened the twelvemonth with victories successful 4 of the archetypal 5 races. It's the benignant of commencement not seen since 1964, erstwhile A.J. Foyt won the archetypal 7 races of the season, including the Indy 500.

But it was Sunday's contention that Palou had circled connected his calendar. Without an Indy 500 win, helium said, his vocation would beryllium incomplete.

"Like helium said past week, if helium was to spell done his full vocation and not triumph present astatine Indianapolis, it wouldn't beryllium a implicit career," Ganassi said. "I don't privation to accidental his vocation is implicit now; he's got a batch successful him yet. Look astatine the past five, six races we've had. It's conscionable incredible. He's connected a roll."

Such a rotation that IndyCar officials were trying to hustle on the postrace commitments for Palou to get him downtown to ticker the Indiana Pacers play the New York Knicks successful Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals.

Palou connected Saturday wore a Tyrese Haliburton jersey successful the Indy 500 parade.

"That's going to assistance immoderate radical successful Indiana to cognize me," Palou said of the Pacers constituent guard.

Palou was successful fuel-saving mode implicit the closing laps, pursuing erstwhile Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Marcus Ericsson. Palou got bushed of staying enactment with 16 laps remaining and charged up -- a determination Ericsson said "will support maine up astatine nighttime -- what I did and what I didn't do."

Palou was ne'er challenged from there, taking the checkered emblem arsenic a clang brought retired a caution.

He stopped the car conscionable beyond the Yard of Bricks, climbing retired of it and astir losing his equilibrium arsenic helium raised his arms successful triumph. Palou jumped down and took disconnected successful a tally down the beforehand stretch, pulling disconnected his gloves and tossing them down him, and yet was engulfed by his father, Ramon, and his squad successful a jubilant celebration.

Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti some hugged Palou, a brace of erstwhile Ganassi Indy 500 winners welcoming him into their exclusive club.

Palou wasn't definite what the triumph volition bash for him successful Spain, which celebrates Formula 1 drivers Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz; but Palou said that for the archetypal clip helium tin recall, helium saw throngs of fans with Spanish flags chanting his sanction astatine an IndyCar race.

"It makes it other peculiar that I'm the archetypal Spanish operator to triumph it," Palou said. "But honestly, if I was the 50th Spanish operator to win, I would beryllium arsenic blessed arsenic I americium now."

Meanwhile, Ericsson climbed from his car successful pit lane and pressed his hands to his face, the disappointment of coming oh-so-close to a 2nd Indianapolis 500 triumph etched crossed it. David Malukas was 3rd for A.J. Foyt Racing.

"It's beauteous painful," Ericsson said of his 2nd vocation Indy 500 runner-up finish. "I request to look astatine it again. You replay it successful your caput a cardinal times aft the finish, wondering what I could person done differently. Second means thing successful this race."

Josef Newgarden's bid to triumph 3 consecutive Indy 500s ended with a substance pump issue. He was trying to go the archetypal operator to travel from the backmost enactment to win, arsenic helium and Team Penske teammate Will Power were dropped to the backmost of the tract for failing inspection earlier the last rounds of qualifying.

Power coiled up 19th, the highest-finishing Penske operator connected a miserable time for the enactment owned by Roger Penske.

Penske earlier this week fired his apical 3 IndyCar executives for a 2nd method infraction successful conscionable implicit a year, and helium has had to support the optics of his teams failing inspections erstwhile helium besides owns IndyCar, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indy 500.

Penske has won the Indy 500 a grounds 20 times.

It was the sixth Indy 500 triumph for Ganassi, who has been connected a dominating question since hiring Palou earlier the 2021 season. Palou won the title successful his archetypal twelvemonth with the squad and added 2 much titles, and helium present seems connected gait for a 4th one.

"The feline is conscionable unbelievable. I don't cognize what other to say," Ganassi said. "It is an unthinkable thing. [The Indy 500] is going to marque Alex Palou's career. It is going to marque his life. And it has surely made mine."

Pato O'Ward finished 4th -- the 5th clip successful six vocation starts the Mexican operator has finished sixth oregon higher.

Kyle Larson won't implicit "The Double" aft crashing retired of the Indianapolis 500 earlier helium headed to North Carolina to vie successful the Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR race.