INDYCAR champion Palou tops speed chart during Indy 500 testing
Alex Palou at the Indianapolis 500 Testing – Friday, October 11, 2024. Photo by Joe Skibinski
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio
Three-time/reigning INDYCAR champion Alex Palou’s pursuit of the one victory missing from his otherwise brilliant open-wheel resume officially is underway.
Palou topped the speed chart at 224.342 mph during an NTT IndyCar Series test Friday around Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s famed 2.5-mile oval, seven months before the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500.
“It was a good day of testing,” said Palou, driver of the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. “We tried a lot of stuff. Yesterday was Firestone (tire test), today was more us, Ganassi and Honda. We’re happy. You want to come here and even if you’re testing a bunch of stuff, you want to be first.”
A native of Spain, Palou has won the series championship three of the last four seasons, including back-to-back Astor Challenge Cups in 2023-24. At 27 years, 5 months and 14 days, Palou is the second-youngest driver to win three INDYCAR championships. Only Team Penske’s Sam Hornish Jr. was younger _ 27 years, 2 months and 8 days _ in 2006.
Palou has completed the 200-lap/500-mile distance in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” in four of his five career starts since 2020. Palou qualified 14th and finished fifth last Memorial Day weekend, when he was credited with one lap-led.
Palou’s highest Indy 500 finish is second to Helio Castroneves’ historic fourth win in 2021 for Meyer Shank Racing. Palou led 35 laps in pursuit of the popular Brazilian. Palou paced a career-best 47 laps at IMS in 2022, when he finished ninth. He led 36 laps in 2023 en route to a fourth-place result. Palou qualified seventh and finished a career-worst 28th in the traditional 33-car field as an Indy 500 rookie in 2020, when his day ended after 121 laps via contact.
Palou earned his first 500 pole in 2023, posting a four-lap/10-mile average of 234.217 mph.
Series oval ace Josef Newgarden, the two-time/reigning Indy 500 champion, placed second at 223.973 mph in the No. 2 Shell Powering Progress Team Penske Chevrolet. Dutchman Rinus VeeKay, formerly of Ed Carpenter Racing, marked his first day of testing with Dale Coyne Racing by placing third at 223.383 mph in the No. 18 DCR Honda.
Graham Rahal ranked fourth at 222.650 mph in the No. 45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda. Sweden’s Marcus Ericsson, the 2022 Indy 500 winner, completed the top-five at 222.324 mph in the No. 28 Andretti Global Honda.
Eleven car/driver combinations _ one driver from each team _ combined to turn 1,123 laps during six hours of testing Friday after four drivers tested tires Thursday afternoon for Firestone Racing. A primary area of focus for all teams and drivers was the series’ new hybrid system, which made its competitive debut in July.
The hybrid system provides competitors and their twin-turbocharged Chevrolet and Honda V6 engines an additional 60 horsepower. Previous iterations of the hybrid package were tested during the development process, but this session marked the debut of the system as it will be raced next May.
“I think the overtake we get (from the hybrid) is nice,” Palou said. “I think it’s good enough to set up a pass maybe in the middle of the pack. We’ll have to see.”
The 109th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge is scheduled for Sunday, May 25, 2025, live on new broadcast partner FOX and the INDYCAR Radio Network. Visit IMS.com for ticket and event details.
The 2025 NTT IndyCar Series season is scheduled to start Sunday, March 2, with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding on the Streets of St. Pete, Fla., live on FOX and the INDYCAR Radio Network.
Final 2024 NTT IndyCar Series point standings _ 1, Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing, 544; 2, Colton Herta, Andretti Global, 513; 3, Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske, 505; 4, Will Power, Team Penske, 498; 5, Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren, 460; 6, Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing, 456; 7, Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global, 420; 8, Josef Newgarden, Team Penske, 401; 9, Santino Ferrucci, A.J. Foyt Racing, 367; 10, Alexander Rossi, Arrow McLaren, 366;
11, Christian Lundgaard, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 312; 12, Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank Racing, 306; 13, Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing, 300; 14, Marcus Armstrong, Chip Ganassi Racing, 298; 15, Marcus Ericsson, Andretti Global, 297; 16, Linus Lundqvist, Chip Ganassi Racing, 279; 17, Romain Grosjean, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 260; 18, Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 251; 19, Pietro Fittipaldi, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 186; 20, Sting Ray Robb, A.J. Foyt Racing, 185;
21, Kyffin Simpson, Chip Ganassi Racing, 182; 22, Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter Racing, 163; 23, Nolan Siegel, Arrow McLaren, 154; 24, David Malukas, Meyer Shank Racing, 148; 25, Jack Harvey, Dale Coyne Racing, 143; 26, Conor Daly, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 119; 27, Augustin Canapino, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 109; 28, Theo Pourchaire, Arrow McLaren, 91; 29, Katherine Legge, Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing, 61; 30, Tom Blomqvist, Meyer Shank Racing, 46;
31, Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing, 45; 32, Toby Sowery, Dale Coyne Racing, 45; 33, Callum Ilott, Arrow McLaren, 39; 34, Luca Ghiotto, Dale Coyne Racing, 27; 35, Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing, 26; 36, Kyle Larson, Hendrickcars.com Arrow McLaren, 21; 37, Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 19; 38, Tristan Vautier, Dale Coyne Racing, 12; 39, Juri Vips, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 11; 40, Colin Braun, Dale Coyne Racing, 10;
41, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing-Cusick Motorsports, 6; 42, Hunter McElrea, Dale Coyne Racing, 6; 43, Marco Andretti, Andretti Herta with Marco & Curb Agajanian, 5.
