UPDATED: Alex Palou takes title, Rinus VeeKay hits wall at 109th Indianapolis 500

SPEEDWAY, Ind. – For an Indianapolis 500 that started off like a Saturday night trophy dash in a quarter-mile bull ring, with cars bouncing off each other and the walls of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway early and often, it ended in sublime fashion.

Alex Palou, who had not won on an oval, made a brilliant pass for the lead on former 500 winner Marcus Ericsson with 14 laps to go, then held off Ericsson for the remainder of the circuits to capture the 109th 500 and win for himself a place in racing history.

Monday, Ericsson was dropped to 31st after postface inspection found illegal aerodynamic help on his car. Chicagoan David Malukas was elevated to second from third, and two-time runner-up Pato O’Ward up to third. The cars of Kyle Kirkwood and Callum Illot were also found out of spec and moved to 32nd and 33rd, respectively.

For Rinus VeeKay of Plainfield-based Dale Coyne Racing, the 500 ended abruptly. He spun coming into the pits on the 118th lap and smacked the wall, breaking his suspension and ending his day. He finished 30th, a spot above where he started, and was reordered to 27th.

“I’d already pitted at speed once,” VeeKay said. “This time I had no brakes. I was doing 120 mph coming to the pit lane speed line and I had no response from the brakes.”

He did a 360, managing to hit the left wall short of where his crew was lined up to service him, and got out of the Dallara chagrined.

“I’m not sure I could have anticipated this,” VeeKay said.

Many anticipated Palou’s triumph. The 28-year-old driver for Chip Ganassi had won four of the season’s first five races coming into the 500, for which he qualified sixth. Now, with five wins in six races – and 16 in his IndyCar career – the Spaniard is the dominant driver in the IndyCar series.

“That kid’s a good driver,” Ganassi deadpanned. “We’ve had some great drivers on our team, and he’s shoulder to shoulder with them, with (Dario) Franchitti and (Juan Pablo) Montoya and (Scott) Dixon.”

That trio has six 500s between them. Palou makes it seven for Ganassi to series and track owner Roger Penske’s 20.

Malukas, driving for A.J. Foyt, was third on the track, an eyelash behind Ericsson, but moved to second after Ericsson’s car was found illegal.

“We had it at the end there,” Malukas said. “Definitely picturing it, and man, we gave it our all. I think it was about 15 to go, and we turned it up and I was just hanging on for dear life trying to get something out of it.”

The Penske trio, jeered by many in the crowd of about 330,000 for the rule breaking of their crew during qualifying, had a bad day. Will Power finished 16th after starting 33rd, two-time defending champion Josef Newgarden was 22th after his car stalled in the pits after starting 32nd, and Scott McLaughlin originally ended up last in the field of 33 after hitting the inside wall of the front straightaway while warming up his tires on the third parade lap. The reorder put him.30th.

“I really have no idea what happened,” Newgarden said. “I can’t believe we’re out of the race.”

That, following a 43-minute rain delay, was the beginning of a series of small calamities that took out name drivers, including pole-sitter Robert Shwartzman, who clobbered three crewmates in a race-ending pit stop. Fueler Spence Hall was taken to the track hospital complaining of pain in his right foot.

Later, NASCAR import Kyle Larson triggered a three-car accident in Turn 2 that took out Kyffin Simpson and Sting Ray Robb. Nolan Siegel’s Turn 2 crash on the final lap triggered a checkered-and-yellow finish.

Palou found traffic from cars a lap down easier to get around than either Ericsson or Malukas, and after diving to the inside entering Turn 1 on the 187th lap to edge his was past Ericsson, he was able to pull away, leading by .6822 seconds at the finish. Malukas was 1.1426 seconds back, the new margin of victory.

“We were not in the best position on strategy,” Palou said. “I saw a small gap and went for it. When I was behind him, I was just saving fuel so we could go hard at the end. I tried to overtake Marcus as soon as they told me it was safe to go to the end (on fuel).”

Ericsson took the typically wide berth moving into Turn 1. That gave Palou the window he needed, mirroring a pass Castroneves made on him for the eventual win in 2021.

Palou wisely didn’t pour the milk over his head, as many drivers have in the last decade.

“A lot of people told me not to, plus I knew I’d have to live with the smell for six hours,” Palou said.

“We have to find out what this guy is eating,” said O’Ward.