BY WALTER ELLIOTT
SPEEDWAY, IN. – It is not known whether Alex Palou had attended any of Sunday morning’s Indycar Ministry services here at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway but he may have heeded Scriptural advice while winning that afternoon’s 109 Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.
It is written in Ecc. 9:11 that the race does not always go to the swift: instead, time and chance happen to all of them.
Palou and his Chip Ganassi Racing No. 10 DHL Dallara-Honda came from sixth starting place to become Sunday afternoon’s 14th and last race leader.
The defending NTT Indycar Series champion ousted then-leader Marcus Ericsson on Indycar champ lap 187. He then used the two lapped cars ahead of him to build a .6822 sec. victory margin after 200 laps under checkered and yellow flags.
The three-time Indycar champ’s 16th career victory is his first in the 500 and his first on an oval speedway. He has won his fifth race out of six run this season – a performance unseen since when AJ Foyt went on to win the 1979 USAC Indycar season.
“If you have to win your first oval race, here’s the place to do it,” said the first Spaniard to win the 500. “I’ve said that my career wouldn’t be complete without winning here.”
“I knew Alex was special when I hired him; he and the team communicate well,” said team owner Chip Ganassi. “Now you have to put him up there with the other greats who drove for me: Scott Dixon, Juan Montoya, Dario Franchitti, Alex Zanardi and Jimmy Vasser.”
Palou, as of press time, is shifting from his whirlwind media tour and preparing for next weekend’s Detroit GP street race. He was whisked that Sunday night – in uniform wearing the victory wreath and holding his victory milk bottle in one hand – to the NBA Indiana Pacers-New York Knicks playoff intermission at the Gainbridge Arena.
Palou, in a suit picked up a record $3.8 million winner’s share Monday night at the victory celebration. He and the 32 other starting drivers were present to divide a record $20 million purse.
Ericsson, sixth place finisher Kyle Kirkwood and 12th place finisher Callum Ilott were more than grinning and bearing their chagrin. Indycar officials overnight had demoted them to 31st-33rd places and their crew chiefs fined $100,000.
IMS and Indycar President J. Douglas Boles said that post-race technical inspectors found “unauthorized modifications” to Engine Management System covers on Ericsson and Kirkwood’s cars. Ilott’s car was found to have one of its front wing end plates too low.
Andretti Global, who fielded Ericsson and Kirkwood, and Ilott’s Prema team are considering appeals as of press time.
Prema co-driver, Robert Shwartzman, received the 500 Rookie of the Race award mainly for his surprise earning the pole position from twice 500 winner Takuma Sato May 18, Shwartzman, who came from Europe’s F1 feeder series, had never been to IMS or on an oval speedway before May.
Shwartzman never led a lap Sunday. He was running in the top 15 when his No. 87 Dallara entering his pit box too fast on lap 113. He injured a crewman’s ankle and left front suspension.
Sunday’s race, held before the first sold-out crowd since 2016 and seven million Fox Sports viewers, took a while to get going. The starting green flag was delayed 42 minutes until any moisture on the 2.5-mile Brickyard oval had dried.
Overcast skies and 57-degree ambient temperature meant that it took drivers more time to warm up their tires. The first six of eight race cautions were held between laps one and 106.
IMS officials and fans paused to mark several anniversaries – including when Peter De Paolo and Norman Batten – a couple of Jersey guys – won the 1925 500.
De Paolo was the first winner to run a 101 mph average speed and to win the race in under five hours. The Roseland resident led 117 laps and would have done more except for his blistering hands.
Team owner Fred Duisenberg ordered Pete to take a break and get bandaged at the infield medical center. East Orange native Batten drove De Paolo’s car 27 laps as his relief driver.
FINISH: 1.) ALEX PALOU (HONDA), 2.) David Malukas (H), 3.) Pato O’Ward (Chevrolet), 4.) Felix Rosenqvist (H), 5.) Santino Ferrucci (C), 6.) Christian Rassmussen (C), 7.) Christian Lundgaard (C), 8.) Conor Daly (C), 9.) Takuma Sato (H), 10.) Helio Castroneves (H), 11.) Devlin DeFrancesco (H), 12.) Louis Foster (Rookie) (H), 13.) Nolan Siegel (R) C), 14.) Colton Herta (H), 15.) Ed Carpenter (C), 16.) Will Power (C), 17.) Graham Rahal (H), 18.) Marcus Armstrong (H), 19.) Jack Harvey (C), 20.) Scott Dixon (H), 21.) Ryan Hunter-Reay (C), 22.) Josef Newgarden (C), 23.) Sting Ray Robb (C), 24.) Kyle Larson (C), 25.) Kyffin Simpson (H), 26.) Robert Shwartzman (R)* (C), 27.) Rinus VeeKay (H), 28.) Alexander Rossi (C), 29.) Marco Andretti (H), 30.) Scott McLaughlin (C), 31.) Marcus Ericsson (H), 32.) Kyle Kirkwood (H), 33.) Callum Ilott (C). *Awarded 500 Rookie of the Year.
