INDIANAPOLIS — We love to scrutinize the achievements of heroes. LeBron James has won four NBA titles, but he also lost six finals. Tom Brady secured seven Super Bowls, but wasn`t there a controversy about deflated footballs?
In the world of IndyCar, few have achieved as much success over the past five years as Álex Palou. His recent performance, marked by victories and championships, is among the best in the sport`s history. Since mid-April 2021, he has claimed 15 race wins, 8 poles, and 3 championships.
However, he had not yet won the Indy 500. In fact, he hadn`t won on any oval track. These were the only significant points missing from Palou`s otherwise stellar record, a fact that bothered the cool-headed perfectionist. Just this past week, he repeatedly stated that his career, perhaps even his life, would feel incomplete if he never reached motorsports` most sought-after Victory Lane.
Consider him complete now. On Sunday, the 28-year-old became the 74th winner of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing and the first Spaniard to achieve this feat. He closed out the 109th running of the race by executing a flawless pit strategy that brought him to the front, and then driving a fast car to hold off Marcus Ericsson, the 2022 Indy 500 winner, by just 0.6822 seconds.
“I did say that, and I meant it. Perhaps that makes me greedy, but I believe any racer`s ultimate goal is to win the greatest events, and this is the greatest event,” Palou said, standing near the winner`s circle, still damp from the traditional celebratory milk. As he spoke, a cheer of `Palou! Pa-lou Pa-lou Pa-lou! Pa-looou, Pa-looou!`, reminiscent of a LaLiga football chant, erupted from a group of fans below, waving the Spanish flag. “Even with the wins and the three championships, some felt something was missing. And it was missing for me too.”
He gestured towards his celebrating countrymen and women.
“I had no idea there would be so many Spaniards here. I think we can see that it was missing for them, too! I love giving this gift to them!”
In the broader context of the season, Palou is offering everyone a display of the greatest start seen in IndyCar for nearly two decades before his birth. He has won five out of six races and finished second in the other. In 1979, A.J. Foyt won five of his first six starts, with his only miss being a second place in the Indy 500. David Malukas, who drives for the current Foyt team and was one of Palou`s competitors late in the race, finished third.
Race car drivers generally dislike being asked to comment on their place in the sport`s history. They typically offer standard deflections: they are focused on the present, there will be time for reflection later, after they retire.
Unless, of course, they have just won the Indianapolis 500.
“Am I supposed to act cool now and tell you we expected to win, that it`s just another race, and we`re already thinking about the next one, all that sort of thing?” he responded, laughing and displaying his brand-new winner`s ring. “No, I will savor this. I will savor it for the rest of my life.”
He also savored the precise moment that led to his victory.
His Chip Ganassi Honda was in fuel-saving mode during the final laps, tucked in behind Ericsson, making the Swede`s Andretti Global car do the work of cutting through the air at the front. But with 15 laps remaining, slightly ahead of schedule, he felt the cars behind him closing in. Rolling through Turn 1, he glanced towards the pit lane and the large TV screens and saw several potential rivals pitting for fuel. Realizing he was within the fuel window that allowed him to push hard, he did exactly that, dramatically seizing the lead.
A visibly disappointed Ericsson, a former teammate, remarked that the move “will keep me up at night. What I did, and what I didn’t do.”
As is the case with any Indy 500, there was one winner and 32 others who would lie awake on Sunday night contemplating what might have been. But this year seemed particularly harsh. Palou made history. Others who had a chance fell short. Every single one of them.
Kyle Larson, attempting his second Indy-to-Charlotte Memorial Day double, crashed out just before the halfway mark on Lap 91, losing control on a restart, hitting the wall, and immediately heading back for NASCAR`s Coca-Cola 600.
Marco Andretti wrecked almost immediately after his 20th Indy 500 began, extending the family`s winless streak in the event that dates back to his grandfather Mario`s victory in 1969.
Former winners Ryan Hunter-Reay and Alex Rossi were thwarted by issues with IndyCar`s relatively new hybrid engine system and a dangerous fuel fire, respectively. Scott McLaughlin, the only Team Penske driver not embroiled in the week`s rules violation scandal, never even saw the green flag, embarrassingly spinning out during the warm-up laps while trying to heat his tires on the coldest race day since 1992. In 1992, it was 58 degrees after a frigid morning. On Sunday, sunrise temperatures around 50 degrees only rose into the low 60s, and the racetrack surface was in the 90s, significantly cooler than its usual steamy May condition and the coldest it had been in two weeks of Indy 500 preparation.
And Josef Newgarden of Team Penske, the unwitting focus of the rules controversy, saw his chance for redemption, as well as a shot at becoming the first driver to win three consecutive 500s, dashed by a fuel pressure issue. He had impressively raced his way into the top 10 from a penalty-imposed last-row starting position before eventually retiring on Lap 135.
“There aren`t many races left that are true endurance races, apart from the 24-hour events and, maybe rally and off-road?” Palou mused aloud. “But this race truly feels like an endurance race. I can tell you, when it`s over, you are never more exhausted, mentally and physically.”
Even now?
“Well, no. Maybe they put some espresso in that milk. Or sugar. It was definitely the sweetest milk I`ve ever tasted.”
The supplier of that milk, the American Dairy Association of Indiana, offers Indy 500 winners a choice of milk to drink during the celebration. Palou chose whole milk. Fittingly, as he now feels whole, complete as a racer and a person, as he described winning this race.
“I don`t know,” he amended, a smirk playing on his lips as he recognized his next statement would contradict everything he`d just said. “Maybe to truly be complete, I might need to win another one of these.”
