Bruce Martin
Special to FOXSports.com
INDIANAPOLIS — As the month of May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway shifts from the 2.439-mile road course to the historic 2.5-mile oval, one thing is certain.
What has happened in the INDYCAR Series up to this point does not give any driver or team an edge as practice begins on Tuesday for the upcoming 109th running of Indianapolis 500.
That includes Alex Palou, who has won four of the first five races in INDYCAR in 2025, including Saturday’s Grand Prix on the IMS road course.
Palou certainly has a huge boost of momentum, but the generational talent from Spain has never won an INDYCAR race on an oval. All 15 of his wins have been on street and road courses.
“Today’s race is what I would call a regular-season INDYCAR race,” three-time Indy 500 winner and four-time INDYCAR Series champion Dario Franchitti, now a member of Chip Ganassi Racing management, told FOX Sports after Saturday’s Grand Prix.
“In two weeks’ time, it’s the Indianapolis 500, our Super Bowl.”
It’s two weeks of pressure, according to Franchitti.
“It’s a different animal than the rest of the season,” he continued. “You have to go out and you have to earn hit all through practice, then qualifying and the race itself. Everything is preparing you to compete for the win and you have to compete and execute on race day.”
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Palou is on the fast track to “GOAT” status for the current generation of IndyCar drivers, but he doesn’t have a face on the Borg-Warner Trophy that honors every winning driver of the Indianapolis 500.
The drivers that contend for the 33-driver field for the May 25 Indianapolis 500 (noon ET on FOX) realize that. There are 34 drivers vying for those 33 starting positions, which means one driver will not make the field through next weekend’s Indy 500 qualifications.
Palou has a huge lead in the 2025 IndyCar Series standings (97 points on second place), but the Indianapolis 500 is the one race that stands above the INDYCAR Championship.
Winning the championship gives the driver and team fame for the season.
Winning the Indianapolis 500 gives a driver and team immortality for the ages.
“Yeah, it’s the greatest race,” Arrow McLaren star Pato O’Ward told FOX Sports. “I’ve finished in the wall before, and I’ve also finished almost winning.
“Oh, yeah, Indy 500 is its own beast.”
Team Penske’s Will Power has been racing Indy cars since 2005, and the Indianapolis 500 since 2008. He won the INDYCAR Championship in 2014 and 2022.
Power has one Indy 500 win in 17 previous attempts, his lone victory in 2018.
The Team Penske legend believes Palou’s 97-point lead over Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood and 98-point lead over Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard certainly puts him in a great position for the championship, but none of that matters in the Indy 500.
“I think if you won it, you wouldn’t be feeling so bad about the one guy winning all the races, but there’s also a championship,” Power told FOX Sports. “But, yeah, the 500, man.
“Winning that thing is such a big deal. It just is.”
Power continued: “It’s extremely hard to win, extremely hard to put yourself in position. You really have no clue how it’s going to play out for you until like 20 to go or something. It’s always that way, which makes it a very exciting race.
“It will be interesting. I think it will be a very competitive year, which doesn’t really matter.
“Pato knows. The last few races, he’s battled for the win. He’s been very close. It’s all about decision. If Pato doesn’t pass (Josef Newgarden) on that straight, does he win it? It’s hard to say. That’s what’s tough about that race.”
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Power was referring to last year’s dramatic late-race battle between O’Ward and Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden.
On the final lap of the race, O’Ward passed Newgarden entering Turn 1, but as the two fought it out for the victory down the backstretch, Newgarden closed up and made the race-winning pass to the outside of O’Ward in Turn 3.
O’Ward said afterward he had to make the move in Turn 1, but it also created the opportunity for Newgarden to make the race-winning pass entering Turn 3.
On the last lap of the Indianapolis 500, every move, every decision, every pass for the victory gets magnified, dissected and analyzed.
For those that don’t win, they think about those decisions for a full year.
Palou’s tremendous start to 2025 certainly gives him a huge boost of momentum heading into Tuesday’s opening day of practice for the 109th Indianapolis 500. But the Indy 500 is the first oval race of the season.
Palou’s best finish on an oval came in the 105th Indianapolis 500 on May 30, 2021. He finished second to Helio Castroneves by just 0.495 of a second.
Castroneves became the fourth four-time Indianapolis 500 winner that day, joining the greats AJ Foyt, Al Unser and Rick Mears as the only drivers to win four Indy 500s.
Palou started the 2025 season with back-to-back victories in the season-opening Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on March 2 and The Thermal Club Indy Grand Prix on March 23. He finished second to Kirkwood in the April 13 Grand Prix of Long Beach, before another set of back-to-back wins in the Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park on May 4 and the Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 10.
“I said it to him, ‘Man, I’ve been around a long time, and in this field in this time, it is amazing to see something like that,’” Power said of Palou. “It really is.
“It is incredibly tough just to win a race in INDYCAR now. So, to go is it five, four wins and one second in five races, that is stout. It’s very impressive. It’s something we’ll look back on.
“As much as we want to beat him, I have appreciation for people that are very good at their craft, and he is extremely well-rounded and good at his craft. He’s one of the best.”
But Power warned, the incredible start does not give Palou an advantage in the Indianapolis 500.
In fact, the favorite at Indy often leaves in crushing disappointment.
“The 500, yeah. that will be a very different story,” Power said. “I would be shocked if he dominates that one. I think he’ll be up there, but so will a lot of other people.
“That would be something if he went on and won that. That would be one of the greatest motorsport moments I’ve seen in my career I think.”
INDYCAR POST-RACE INTERVIEWS: Alex Palou and Pato O’Ward
Palou has a strong arsenal at Chip Ganassi Racing, including the best car on the track, the No. 10 DHL Honda, Barry Wanser as his race strategist, an incredible crew, and a depth of knowledge from former driver and CGR consultant Franchitti.
“Alex is driving beautifully right now,” Franchitti said. “He is an artist behind the wheel. I enjoy watching it. He’s so smooth and he is finding ways to find performance behind the wheel of the car.
“It’s great to be a part of it.”
Bruce Martin is a veteran motorsports writer and contributor to FOXSports.com. Follow him on X at @BruceMartin_500.
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