Tag: Alex Palou

1964: The Improbable Season

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Alex Palou is having an amazing season, one that could tie a record of a 10-win season shared by two of the greats, A. J. Foyt and Al Unser, Sr. He has already tied Al Unser, Jr, who won eight races in 1994, and Sebastien Bourdais who reached the checkered first in 2007, with eight victories.

Foyt won 10 times in 1964 in a dominating rout of the competition. He won the first seven races of the season, and then he won three of the last six races. Only two other drivers, Parnelli Jones and Lloyd Ruby, also won that season.

The season opener at Phoenix was also the debut of the track, and Foyt became its first winner. The winning streak continued as the series entered May. The Lotus of Jim Clark was favored to win. The race was marred by tragedy as Eddie Sachs and Dave McDonald were killed in an early accident. Clark’s suspension failed, setting up a battle between Foyt and Parnelli Jones. The anticipated fight was short-lived, however. On Jones next pit stop, the fuel cap blew off, setting the car on fire. Foyt breezed to the win.

There was no 500 hangover for Foyt, as he won the next weekend’s race in Milwaukee. Another fiery crash involving Jim Hurtubise put a damper on the second race in a row. Hurtubise survived, but his hands and fingers were badly burned. He had doctors rebuild his fingers so that they could grip a steering wheel.

Foyt’s first loss of the season occurred on August 23rd in the second Milwaukee race. Parnelli Jones won the race from the pole. Jones’s win would start another pattern for1964.

It would be another month before Foyt would lose again, this time at Trenton on September 27th. Like Milwaukee, Jones earned pole position and won the race.

On November 22nd, the season finale at Phoenix, Jones again was the fastest qualifier, but Lloyd Ruby became just the third driver to win a race that year.

One oddity of Foyt’s year-in the three races he did not win, Foyt suffered DNFs. He ended his day at Milwaukee in 26th, finished 20th at Trenton, and 19th at Phoenix.

Alex Palou has three chances to win two races. A win at Portland next weekend will tie Mario Andretti’s victory total from 1969. After that he will need to win his first race on a medium sized oval. I think it would be a full circle moment if Palou were to tie the record at the site of Foyt’s first loss of1964.,

Race Recap: Java House Grand Prix of Monterey

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After six very good races in a row, IndyCar produced a rather dull show yesterday at Weather Tech Raceway Laguna Seca. The winner was never in doubt as Alex Palou won his eighth race of the season. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver should clinch the title at the next race in Portland.

Palou has a chance to finish the season with a record 11 wins should he sweep the rest of the schedule. A. J. Foyt won 10 races in 1964, and Al Unser, Sr. matched that victory total in 1970. Mario Andretti won nine times in 1969.

There were a couple of interesting on track battles, the best of which was between Colton Herta and Christian Lundgaard for second place late in the race.

Pato O’Ward did not get the start he needed from second place and had to settle for fourth place. He lost 22 points to Palou. If O’Ward does not gain 14 points on Palou at Portland, the championship is officially over.

Where is Race Control?

Once again race control dropped the ball and failed to throw an immediate yellow flag after Marcus Ericsson spun and stalled with his car sitting on the track in a dangerous spot on lap 77. It seemed to be at least a lap before the caution flag came out.

I believe the flag was held so that Alex Palou and other cars could pit. Allowing pit stops is not a good reason to withhold a necessary yellow. For those in the “No one should have their race ruined by a yellow crowd, I say, “breaks of the game.” Should a baseball umpire not call ball four on a high and wide pitch because it will spoil a pitcher’s no hitter?

Yes, Palou was the fastest car Sunday, but things happen, and the fastest car sometimes loses out because of circumstances. Ericsson’s car was in a vulnerable position and created a potential for a collision. One day, race control will get bitten by this dangerous practice of waiting to display a caution flag. I hope we don’t have to wait until something bad happens to see a change in procedures.

Ilott’s Great Drive

Callum Ilott gave Prema its best finish of the year, finishing sixth after starting 24th. He made several passes and used great pit strategy to advance. PREMA has done a very respectable job in their first IndyCar season, winning the pole for the Indianapolis 500 and now has two top 10 finishes for the season. Rookie Robert Shwartzman is just four points behind Louis Foster for Rookie of the Year.

Rookie Race

Louis Foster now leads Shwartzman by four points for Rookie honors with three races left. The pair entered yesterday’s race tied in points. Each has won a pole, Shwartzman has two top 10 finishes, while Foster’s best finish is 11th.

The rooie title will come down to the season finale at Nashville.

Qualification Results

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It is fitting that the top two drivers in the championship will start tomorrow’s race in the front row. A welcome back to the Fast Six to Will Power and Josef Newgarden. Four of the top six have won at Laguna Seca.

A 30 minute session, which will serve as the pre race warm up, will take place at 7 pm Eastern this evening. It will be shown on FS2.

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Quick Thoughts- Farm to Fresh 275

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It’s Iowa, so Josef Newgarden was inevitable, until he wasn’t. For the second day in a row Team Penske snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. When Newgarden passed Alex Palou for the lead on lap 65, it looked as if he would rule the rest of the day. But two untimely green flag pit stops were for naught as a caution soon followed, miring him deep in the order, He fought back to the lead the first time, but the next time, there were too few laps left for Newgarden to advance.

Alex Palou dominated the Fram to Fresh 276 today in another good race which surpassed expectations heading into the weekend. 229 of the 382 passes were for position. The race saw an on track pass for the lead, and many good battles for positions. When Newgarden fought back t the lead on lap 241, he pushed Palou out of the groove to get by. Palou said there was some contact.

For Palou, today is his seventh win of the season and his first on a short oval. He was on a street course, a superspeedway, a road course, and a short oval. Palou still has a chance to match A. J, Foyt’s 10 wins in 1964.

Race Notes

Team Penske’s day in the sun on Saturday turned to dusk on Sunday. Scott McLaughlin was the victim of a first lap accident and finished last. Will Power retired with an engine issue after 21 laps.

It looked like Newgarden would save the day, but the yellows fell the wrong way, and he ended the day 10th.

Palou’s teammate Scott Dixon was second, and Marcus Armstrong finished third for an all Honda podium. Armstrong’s Meyer Shank Racing team is affiliated with Chip Ganassi Racing.

David Malukas finished fourth after starting third. He had several battles for the lead and stayed up front all day.

Jacob Abel and Rinus VeeKay, Dale Coyne teammates who shared row 13 at the start, finished 11th and 12th. It was Abel’s best drive of the season.

Christian Lundgaard salvaged what had been a dismal weekend by coming home sixth today after starting 22nd.

Final Thoughts

We headed into this weekend at Iowa unsure of what the on track product would like after last year. The racing was great and came close to the classic old Iowa races.

It is a bittersweet feeling with the future of the IndyCar weekend here in doubt. If this should be the end, I am happy that it ended with two great races.

I will elaborate more on this point tomorrow.

Thanks for following along this weekend. My next road trip is to Portland in August, but I will still post about Toronto next weekend and Laguna Seca the following week.

Results

Iowa Qualifying: Poles for Newgarden, Palou

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Team Penske regained a little bit of their luster as Josef Newgarden took pole for this afternoon’s race 1 at Iowa Speedway. Alex Palou nipped Felix Rosenqvist on the last qualifying lap of the day for the pole for race 2.

All was not perfect for Team Penske, however, as Scott McLaughlin crashed on his first qualifying lap. He will start 27th today and tomorrow.

Some drivers not normally in the qualifying conversations had strong runs this afternoon. Conor Daly starts second today and seventh tomorrow. The Foyt drivers, Santino Ferrucci and David Malukas, share row five this afternoon. Malukas rolls off third Sunday.

Felix Rosenqvist held the pole for race 2 until Palou turned the fastest lap of the day on his second lap. Palou’s speed of 184.014 mph was faster than Newgarden’s first lap by 0.015 mph, 0.014 of a second.

Race 1 starts at 4:20 pm Central, FOX coming on air at 4pm (5 pm Eastern.)

Interesting stat- Palou starts fourth today, and Newgarden starts fourth tomorrow.

Results

Race 1

Race 2

Mid Ohio Practice 2 and Qualifying Groups

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Alex Palou led the final practice before qualifying for the Honda Indy 200 in a session full of off track excursions. Palou led a top five of Christian Lundgaard, Louis Foster, Pato O’Ward, and Felix Rosenqvist. The gap between first and fifth was three tenths of a second.

\Marcus Ericsson went off in turn 13 and hit the tire barrier, bringing out a red flag with 21 minutes left in the session. Colton herta went into the sand at turn four but kept going, reentering the track at the entrance to turn 5, r missing an approaching car. Scott McLaughlin also tried out the turn 4 trap and the grass. He nearly stalled, but he kept the car moving and continued on track.

Gapping

Will Power and Colton Herta both complained about cars backing up on track to create a gap in order to get a decent lap in practice. I saw a near collision in turn 4 this morning because a car was creeping along on the racing line. It was so blatant I thought the driver deserved a drive through.

If a car wants to get clear track, which I get, he needs to stay off the racing line until he is up to speed.

Results

Qualifying Groups

Road America Wrap Up- Palou Flies Solo

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The air was hot, the track was hot, and t5he action was hot. Teams played Pit Stop Roulette, but in the end, we saw the same result.

The fuel save master just missed, and the tire master came out on top again. In an entertaining, action packed race at Road America where the winner wasn’t decided until the last three laps. Alex Palou won his sixth race of the year after Scott Dixon fell two laps short on fuel.

Some thoughts:

The chaotic start with eight laps of caution in the first 12 laps led to a wide mix of pit and tire strategies, which in turn led to a lot of on track battles. From my view in turn 5, I’m surprise there were only five caution periods. Drivers were pushing each other to the outside with lots of contact. I have never seen so much dust kicked off at the exit of the turn as I did yesterday.

I had a good view of Sting Ray Robb’s incident. he was fortunate that he scrubbed off some speed on the concrete barrier before he hit the tire wall. It appeared he couldn’t brake. It seems I say this every race, but hats off to the safety design features of this chassis. Robb stopped in a place where the AMR safety stations a truck, but still it seemed as if they were headed to Robb before he came to an abrupt stop.

Great Drives

Santino Ferrucci finished third after starting 18th. Scott Dixon finished ninth from 25th on the grid, and he had a chance to win because of pit strategy. Rinus VeeKay started 22nd and finished 10th, overcoming three penalties.

David Malukas started seventh, went off track on lap 1, and roared back to end the race where he started. Malukas complained of the heat affecting him. While no other driver mentioned it, I’m sure heat was a factor for many.

Penske’s Lost Year

For the last two races, I have thought that Team Penske would begin a comeback to being a factor. At Gateway the trio of Will Power, Scott McLaughlin, and Josef Newgarden qualified first, second, and fifth. None finished the race.

Yesterday the team started fourth, eighth, and 10th. They finished 12th, 14th, and 25th. Josef Newgarden has four results lower than 20th and is 17th in points. McLaughlin and Power are still in the top 10 in points, but ypoun have to wonder for how long?

Even before the organizational shakeup in May, the team seemed not quite up to their usual standards. It is sad to see a team decline as rapidly as they have.

MSR Rising

Felix Rosenqvist finished second as he continues to quietly stay in the top five in points. Rosenqvist is now fourth in the standings, and teammate Marcus Armstrong’s fifth place result has him standing 11th for the year.

MSR has thrived in their relationship with Chip Ganassi Racing.

Foyt Ascending

It ius ironic that A. J. Foyt Racing is doing better tha the team they have atechnical alliance. The association with Team Penske has yielded marked improvement for one of the smallest teams in the paddock.

As not6ed earlier, Santino Ferrucci and David Malukas both had top 10 results yesterday. Ferruci is now ninth in points and Malukas is 12th, a far cry from the years when this team hovered on the brink of missing out on the Leaders ‘Circle.

After seven rather mundane races, IndyCar has produced two very good, exciting races with lots of passing, position battles, and doubts about who would win until near the end of the race. I hope this trend continues when the series goes to Mid-Ohio in a couple of weeks.

Results

Indianapolis 500 Purse Reaches New Pinnacle 

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L INDIANAPOLIS (Monday, May 26, 2025) – The Indianapolis 500 purse record was broken for the fourth year in a row for the 109th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, with first-time winner Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing earning $3.8 million from a total purse of $20,283,000.This is the largest purse in the century-plus history of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” on the heels of four consecutive record-breaking years.
This year’s average payout for NTT INDYCAR SERIES drivers was $596,500, which also exceeds last year’s average of $543,000.In 2024, the Indianapolis 500 purse was $18,456,000, and the year’s winner payout was $4.3 million, which included a $440,000 roll-over bonus from BorgWarner for earning back-to-back wins. In 2023, the Indianapolis 500 purse was $17,021,500, and the winner earned $3.7 million. In 2022, the Indianapolis 500 purse was $16,000,200, and the winner earned $3.1 million.
Prior to 2022, the largest Indianapolis 500 purse was $14.4 million for the 2008 Indianapolis 500.
“The Indianapolis 500 is the greatest race in the world, and winning this race makes history in more ways than one,” INDYCAR and IMS president J. Douglas Boles said. “The Month of May featured a grandstand sellout crowd and intense on-track action. Alex Palou adds Indianapolis 500 winner to his long list of growing achievements and takes home the largest purse in Indianapolis 500 history. There’s no better way to end an epic month.”
Pole-winner Robert Shwartzman of PREMA Racing earned Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year honors for his performance during the Month of May. Shwartzman earned a $50,000 bonus for being named Rookie of the Year, adding to a total take-home prize of $327,300.
The Indianapolis 500 purse consists of Indianapolis Motor Speedway and NTT INDYCAR SERIES awards, plus other designated and special awards. Purse awards are presented annually at the Victory Celebration, held this year at the JW Marriott in downtown Indianapolis Monday night.
The next NTT INDYCAR SERIES race is the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented on Sunday, June 1 on the streets of Downtown Detroit. The race will be broadcast live on FOX and the INDYCAR Radio Network at 12:30 p.m. ET.

Final Thoughts on the 109th Indianapolis 500

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There is just no getting around it. Yesterday’s Indianapolis 500 was a strange two part race. Part 1 saw 45% of the laps run under caution. Part 2 was caution free until the second half of the last lap.

There was little passing for the lead, but the number of pit strategies scrambled the top of the field. but kept the leaders in traffic all day. Traffic played a part in the end of the race.

Teammates Devlin DeFrancesco and Louis Foster were having arguably the best battle on the track- for 14th place. Unfortunately, they were right in front of the race leaders. Yes, they have a right to stay on the lead lap, but with 10 laps to go in the race, and knowing they would get a wave around if the yellow came out, why not make them step out of the leaders’ way? It could have been a terrific three car finish between Palou, Ericsson, and Malukas.

Sometimes the 500 just produces a race that is not great. Part of it may have been the weather, but I think the hybrid and its extra weight hampered what had been a great show the last few years.

How much does it hurt to lose Indy?

I don’t know who snapped this shot, but Marcus Ericsson was despondent after the race. He told the media it was “pretty painful,” and that it would keep him up for several nights.

Ericsson went a little wide going into turn 1, and Palou was able to slip by him.

I appreciate Alex Palou drinking the milk, then triumphantly raising the bottle in tribute instead of pouring it over his head. I always thought the winner pouring the milk over his head was ridiculous. I hope Palou has started a trend to end that practice. Now if he just hadn’t kissed the bricks…

I thought yesterday’s singing of the National Anthem was the worst I have heard at the 500 since Steven Tyler sang in 2001. Natalie Grant’s version reinforced my belief that at every sporting event, the venue should just paly an instrumental recording of the anthem by the US Army Band.

The helicopters that followed the field around on the pace and parade laps were distracting and annoying. The field for the Indianapolis 500 lined up in11 rows of three in perfect formation coming to the green flag is one of the most beautiful sights in all of sports. It doesn’t need a so called “enhancement” or any additive feature at all. It stands on its own.

Rookie of the Year?

While all the rookies finished 15th or lower, Robert Shwartzman winning the pole is the thing that will get him the award. Nolan Siegel was likely in line for it until his crash on the final lap.