Alex Palou wins chaotic 109th Indianapolis 500

SPEEDWAY, Ind. — Alex Palou has won the 109th Indianapolis 500, breaking his winless streak on ovals in the NTT IndyCar Series in the biggest way possible.

Palou used the two lap cars in front of him to save enough fuel and become the first Spaniard to win the Indianapolis 500. The lap traffic played a pivotal role in the finish as Palou drafted off of Marcus Ericsson. However, he realized he could use the lap cars, instead of Ericsson, and made a sneak-attack pass for the win with 14 laps to go. Ericsson couldn’t respond, paving the way to victory lane for Palou.

“What an amazing day. What is amazing race. I can’t believe it, it’s amazing to win. I didn’t think I was going to be able to pass Ericsson. This is my first oval win, and what a way to do this! I’m gonna blow my voice out celebrating,” Palou told FOX.

Palou now has five wins in the first six races — the most since AJ Foyt in 1979.

While Palou left victorious, second- and third-place finishers Marcus Ericsson and David Malukas left in defeat.

“That was painful to miss out again. It really is a winner-take-all here,” Ericsson said.

“I was crying coming in,” Malukas said. “We did everything absolutely perfect. We were the number one car, I mean, with pit stops coming out. I mean, we were ahead of everybody. It was an incredible job from the crew and the strategy. It’s obviously bittersweet.”

Last year, Malukas didn’t even race in the Indy 500. A pre-season injury hand left him out of a ride at Arrow McLaren before he could even make a start.

“One year later, I could say I was not just a part of the 500 but fighting for the win,” Malukas said.

TOP-10 FINISHERS (LAP 200): Palou, Ericsson, David Malukas, Pato O’Ward, Felix Rosenqvist, Kyle Kirkwood, Santino Ferrucci, Christian Rasmussen, Christian Lundgaard, Conor Daly.

The race finished under caution after Nolan Siegel crashed on the backstretch.

Chaos consumed the first half of the 109th Indianapolis 500 as 10 drivers were either out of the race or at least one lap down at halfway.

It all started before the race when, in shades of Roberto Guerrero in 1992, Scott McLaughlin lost control on one of the pace laps and crashed on the frontstretch, ending his race before even taking the green flag.

“This is the worst day of my life,” McLaughlin said.

Extra pace laps meant the race started under green-yellow conditions. Once the race fully started, Marco Andretti crashed in turn one and saw his race come to an end.

The race strung out into a green-flag run with Takuma Sato in control. Alexander Rossi and Rinus VeeKay took peeks at the front but couldn’t hang on. On lap 74, a fire started while Rossi was on pit road, setting his fuelman on fire and causing everyone to rush away from the car.

The race stayed green until VeeKay crashed “with no brakes” while pitting on lap 82. The crash drew a caution and knocked VeeKay out of the race.

Under caution, Sato lost control of the race when he locked up his brakes entering his pit stall. He wasn’t alone as rookie polesitter Robert Shwartzman also locked up his brakes coming into his stall. However, Shwartzman wasn’t able to stop, crashing into the pit wall and a few of his crew members posted up there, waiting to service his car.

“I was just a passenger at that point,” Shwartzman said.

Back under green on lap 92, the chaos didn’t stop. Kyle Larson spun and collected Kyffin Simpson and Sting Ray Robb in a crash that ended their days in turn two. (More on Kyle Larson)

The sheer chaos of the race calmed down after the race went green again just past halfway. Yet, on the next two pit stop cycles, pit road was where the complexion of the race changed again.

On lap 136, Josef Newgarden came on to pit road, knocking on the door of a top-5 spot after starting 32nd. The pit stop went well but Newgarden quickly returned to pit road with fuel pressure issues that spelled the end of the race, dashing his hopes for becoming the first three-peat winner of the Indianapolis 500.

During the final stop, with less than 40 laps to go, Ryan Hunter-Reay came in as the leader. However, he stalled as he left his pit stall, ending a possible underdog win for Dreyer-Reinbold Racing.

Hunter-Reay and Newgarden came up 24th and 25th, just behind Scott Dixon. Dixon finished 23rd, multiple laps down but still running, with a brake issue.

Next up for INDYCAR is the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix.

MORE: Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix