Winners and Losers: Indy 500

Written by Morgan Holiday

Credit: Dominic Loyer

The 109th running of the Indianapolis 500 was a historic and drama-filled event that saw Álex Palou take victory over David Malukas and Pato O’Ward. DIVEBOMB takes a look at the winners and losers of Sunday’s race.

Winner - Álex Palou

There’s only ever one winner at the Indy 500, a race where even coming in second is a devastatingly disappointing result. So while we can discuss good days and bad days, there’s only one driver coming away from this weekend truly feeling like a winner - and that driver is Chip Ganassi Racing’s Palou.

Palou started the race from sixth on the grid and with four race wins already under his belt this season alone. But Palou wasn’t just chasing his fifth victory of the year, he was chasing his first Indy 500 victory and his first victory on any oval circuit.

Palou stayed out of trouble early on as other drivers fought for the lead, not coming into contention until after the halfway point of the race. But once he took the net lead he kept control for the final laps, calm and collected and not an inch out of line at any point. With lapped traffic at play and Ericsson and Malukas close behind him, Palou stayed cool and held the lead, eventually crossing the finish line to extend his championship lead and finally become a winner of the Indy 500.

Palou’s lead of the championship is now over 100 points to Pato O’Ward in second place, but that achievement will pale in comparison to winning the biggest race of the year for the Spaniard.

Winner - A.J. Foyt Racing

While it was Chip Ganassi Racing whose driver took victory at the 500, no full team had a better day than A.J. Foyt Racing.

David Malukas started seventh on the grid after narrowly missing out on the top six the weekend before. It was Malukas’ third Indy 500 attempt, and his previous best finishing position was a 16th place achieved in 2022.

Santino Ferrucci, on the other hand, has never finished outside the top ten in the 500 in his six previous attempts. For Sunday’s race he started back in 15th with ground to make up.

Both Foyt drivers improved in the race, Malukas in contention for the win in the closing laps before losing out to both Palou and Marcus Ericsson. His third place finish later became a second place finish after Ericsson was penalised, improving on what was already by far his best result in Indianapolis.

Ferrucci improved eight places throughout the race, making his way up to a seventh place that became fifth after post-race penalties were applied. It was the first time either Foyt car had finished in the top five so far this season, and to have both drivers in the top five in the biggest race of the year is a bright spot in the team’s thus far underwhelming season.

Winner - Louis Foster

Credit: Dominic Loyer

The Indy 500 presented a mixed bag for this year’s IndyCar rookies all around, especially in qualifying. Robert Shwartzman secured pole position in his maiden oval performance, whereas Jacob Abel was bumped and did not take part in the race.

Foster, on the other hand, qualified a pretty respectable 22nd, and started 20th after the two Penske drivers were moved to the back. In the race Foster picked up not one but two pit lane speeding violations and had to serve two drive-through penalties.

All the same, he finished 15th, the highest finishing rookie after Shwartzman had an incident in the pit lane that led to his retirement on Lap 87. Foster’s 15th place became 12th the following day after penalties were applied, and he finished as the final driver on the lead lap.

The Indy 500 Rookie of the Year Award unsurprisingly went to Shwartzman for his qualifying heroics, but Foster’s achievement in the race is still a performance to be proud of.

Loser - Scott McLaughlin

Credit: Dominic Loyer

McLaughlin was the first retirement in this year’s Indy 500, a devastating blow to his chances at victory at the Brickyard.

While Team Penske drivers Josef Newgarden and Will Power were sent to the back of the field for the start of the race as a part of their penalty for technical nonconformities on their cars, McLaughlin avoided the fate of his teammates and was able to start tenth. His crash in morning practice on the second day of qualifying saw him out of contention before he could make an attempt to crack the top six, so a tenth place start was a provisional blessing for the Penske driver.

He had the best chance of any Penske driver to take a win in the 500, and would have certainly had a good chance had disaster not struck before the race even began. On one of the warmup laps, on a cold track with cold tyres, McLaughlin lost control and slammed into the wall, making him the first driver to retire in the race that hadn’t even started yet.

McLaughlin was understandably devastated at the result, losing his chance at winning the greatest spectacle in racing and capping off an unfortunate two weeks for himself the Penske team.

Loser - Andretti Global

Based on the provisional results from this year’s Indy 500, Andretti Global should be a team placed firmly in the winners group. With Ericsson coming in a close second and narrowly missing his second Indy 500 victory and Kyle Kirkwood improving from 23rd to sixth throughout the course of the race, it seemed like a great day for Andretti.

But the day after the race brought shocking news - both Ericsson and Kirkwood would lose their race results and put at the back of the classification after both of their cars failed post-race inspection. 

The Energy Management System (EMS) covers and cover-to-A-arm mounting points were both found to be modified illegally on the cars, a change which supposedly would have provided them with an aerodynamic advantage. The team was also fined $100,000 per car.

With PREMA Racing’s Callum Ilott also receiving a post-race penalty, Ericsson and Kirkwood were dropped to 31st and 32nd respectively, losing out on the good results they both achieved in the race. That left Colton Herta as the sole Andretti driver in the top 30 - his 14th place finish now the bright spot of an unfortunate weekend.

Loser - Kyle Larson

Credit: Dominic Loyer

2025 marked Larson’s second attempt at “The Double”, a feat where a driver attempts to complete both the Indy 500 and the NASCAR Coca Cola 600 on the same day.

Last year, a lengthy rain delay in Indianapolis foiled Larson’s plan, and while he contested the entire Indy 500 and finished 17th (picking up the Rookie of the Year Award for his performance throughout the month), he was unable to make it to Charlotte, North Carolina in time to start the Coca Cola 600. The race was eventually called off due to more rain before Larson had a chance to get in the car and race at all.

This year, another rain delay threatened to foil Larson’s plan, but the delay was brief enough that Larson was able to start the race. It was unclear whether he would have time to finish the race, as his NASCAR schedule took precedence, but we never got to find out if he would have been able to finish the race. Larson crashed on Lap 109 and failed to finish the race.

To add insult to injury, Larson made it to Charlotte in time for the Coca Cola 600 only to crash on Lap 245, making it a “double” DNF for Larson.

In what was likely Larson’s last attempt at the double, it was a disappointing day all around, to say the least.

All photos in this article were taken by DIVEBOMB Photographer, Dominic Loyer. You can find Dominic's work on Instagram (@dominicloyer_photography)