Maiden Indy 500 win completes Palou's domination of IndyCar

INDIANAPOLIS -- We emotion to poke holes successful the résumé of heroes. LeBron James has won 4 NBA titles, but helium has mislaid six. Tom Brady won 7 Super Bowls, but didn't helium fto the aerial retired of the footballs that 1 time?

In the IndyCar world, nary 1 has enjoyed much occurrence successful the past fractional decennary than Álex Palou. Few successful past tin lucifer his existent tally of checkered flags and rings. Since mid-April 2021, helium had won 15 races, 8 poles and 3 championships.

But helium hadn't won the Indy 500. But helium hadn't won connected immoderate oval astatine all. But ... OK, that was truly it. But those archetypal 2 buts were a lingering symptom successful the butt for Palou, a cool-headed perfectionist, who conscionable this week said repeatedly that his career, adjacent his life, would consciousness incomplete should helium ne'er find his mode into motorsports' astir coveted Victory Lane.

Consider the antheral completed. On Sunday, the 28-year-old became the 74th victor of the Greatest Spectacle successful Racing and the archetypal from Spain, closing retired the 109th variation of the contention by riding a flawless pit strategy to the beforehand and past riding a accelerated instrumentality to clasp disconnected a weaving 2022 Indy 500 victor Marcus Ericsson by 0.6822 seconds.

"I did accidental that. And I did mean that. Perhaps that makes maine greedy, but I judge that immoderate racer, each they privation to bash is triumph the top events, and this is the top event," Palou said, lasting down the winner's circle, inactive bedewed with the accepted celebratory milk. As helium talked, a LaLiga-worthy cheer of "Palou! Pa-lou Pa-lou Pa-lou! Pa-looou, Pa-looou!" broke retired from a radical of fans below, waving the Spanish flag. "Even with the wins and adjacent with the 3 championships, to immoderate determination was thing missing. And it was missing for me, too."

He pointed to his dancing countrymen and -women.

"I had nary thought determination would beryllium truthful galore Spaniards here. I deliberation we tin spot that it was missing for them, too! I emotion giving this acquisition to them!"

In the larger scope of the season, Palou is giving everyone the acquisition of watching the top commencement witnessed successful IndyCar since astir 2 decades earlier his birth. He has won 4 of six races and finished 2nd successful the different two. In 1979, A.J. Foyt won 5 of his archetypal six starts, the lone miss being a 2nd spot successful the Indy 500. Current Foyt squad operator David Malukas, 1 of the rivals Palou battled late, finished third.

There isn't overmuch that contention car drivers dislike much than erstwhile they are asked to framework their spot successful their chosen sport's history. They ever service up the aforesaid deflections: that they are excessively focused connected the present and now, that determination volition beryllium clip for each of that position worldly later, erstwhile their helmet is hung up.

Unless they person conscionable won the Indianapolis 500.

"Am I expected to beryllium chill present and archer you that we knew we would triumph it, and it is conscionable different race, and we are already reasoning astir the adjacent one, each of that stuff?" helium replied, laughing and flashing his right-out-of-the-box winner's ring. "No, I volition bask it. I volition bask it for the remainder of my life."

He besides enjoyed the infinitesimal that brought him that win.

His Chip Ganassi Honda was successful fuel-saving mode during the past stanza of the race, tucked successful down Ericsson and forcing the Swede's Andretti Global thrust to bash the air-splitting enactment up front. But with 15 laps remaining, a small up of schedule, helium felt the tract nipping astatine his rear. Rolling done Turn 1, helium took astatine a glimpse astatine the pit lane and the jumbo TV screens and saw that respective imaginable contention rivals were pitting for fuel. Knowing that helium had driven into the model that would let him to basal connected the throttle, helium did conscionable that and whipped his car into the lead.

A crestfallen Ericsson, a erstwhile teammate, said that the determination "will support maine up astatine night. What I did, and what I didn't do."

As with immoderate Indy 500, determination was 1 victor and determination were 32 others who volition laic awake Sunday night, but this twelvemonth seemed crueler than most. Palou made history. Others who had a accidental came up short. All of them.

Kyle Larson, successful his 2nd effort astatine the Indy-to-Charlotte Memorial Day double, crashed retired conscionable shy of halfway, connected Lap 91, losing power connected a restart, hitting the partition and instantly flying distant for NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600.

Marco Andretti wrecked astir arsenic soon arsenic his 20th Indy 500 started, extending the household losing streak that has continued since his gramps Mario won the lawsuit successful 1969.

Former winners Ryan Hunter-Reay and Alex Rossi were undone by a nonaccomplishment of IndyCar's still-new hybrid motor strategy and a frightening substance fire. Scott McLaughlin, the lone Team Penske operator not to beryllium caught up successful the week's rules usurpation scandal, ne'er saw the greenish flag, embarrassingly spinning retired during the warmup laps arsenic helium tried to lukewarm up his tires connected the coldest contention time since 1992, erstwhile rod sitter Roberto Guerrero did the same. It was 58 degrees pursuing a frigid greeting successful '92. On Sunday, 50 grade sunrise temps ne'er roseate supra the debased 60s and the racetrack aboveground was successful the 90s, good beneath its mean steamy May aforesaid and easy the coldest it had been successful 2 weeks of Indy 500 prep.

And the unwitting look of that rules controversy, Team Penske's Josef Newgarden, saw his accidental astatine redemption, arsenic good arsenic a changeable to go the archetypal to triumph 3 consecutive 500s, undone by a substance unit issue. He had raced his mode from a penalty-caused last-row starting presumption and into the apical 10 earlier yet exiting connected Lap 135.

"There aren't galore races near that are existent endurance races, isolated from the 24-hour events and, I don't know, rally and off-road?" Palou thought aloud. "But this contention feels similar an endurance race. I tin archer you that erstwhile it is over, you are ne'er much exhausted, mentally and physically."

Even now?

"Well, no. Maybe they enactment immoderate espresso successful that milk. Or sugar. It was decidedly the sweetest beverage I've ever tasted."

The supplier of that milk, the American Dairy Association of Indiana, gives the Indy 500 participants a prime of which jug of achromatic worldly they privation to chug should they find themselves celebrating the win. Palou chose full milk. Fitting, since helium is present yet whole, implicit arsenic a racer and person. That is what helium said astir winning this race, aft all.

"I don't know," helium amended, pulling his rima into a smirk due to the fact that helium realized what helium was astir to accidental was going to contradict everything helium had said up to this point. "Maybe to truly beryllium complete, I mightiness request to triumph different 1 of these."