CNN
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“Racing’s biggest sight” certainly came to that name after Alex Pallow won the checkered flag on Sunday to win his 109th run of the Indianapolis 500.
The 28-year-old overtook Marcus Erickson and entered turn 1 with 187 laps of 200, securing the Indy 500 victory of his first career, making history at the same time.
The Barcelona native became the first Spaniard to win a valuable race, adding yet another trophy to his impressive resume.
After the checkered flag, Palou pulled up past the brick garden, climbed from ten yellow and red cars, waving fists at the cheering crowd, gloves from his hands, then made a long sprint to celebrate with his team and his father.
The celebration of winning the Indy 500 was not complete for Parow, without drinking from a milk bottle before kissing the bricks.
Palou said his racing career would not be perfect with an Indy 500 victory.
“I can’t believe it. What a great day, what a great race,” Pallow told Fox’s broadcast. “…it’s amazing. It’s amazing to be here. It’s amazing to win. There were some really good moments in the race, but I wasn’t sure if I could pass Marcus (Ericson) in the end.
Paloo later added that he didn’t know what victory meant for Spain, but he hoped they were celebrating.
“Hopefully they’re celebrating as much as I’m here,” Palou told reporters. “It’s special to be the first Spanish driver to win it, but honestly, if I were the 50th Spanish driver to win it, I would be as happy as I am now and as proud as now.
“But I hope it will gain more fans, more people. There were a lot of Spanish flags here today. This was a parade lap we had before the race started, where we were greeting the fans. We could see the crowd. There were lots of Spanish flags.”
Chip Ganassi racing driver, who won three IndyCar titles in four years, has raced at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with four wins in the first five races of the season, and is now fifth in his place.
It was sixth in the Indy 500 wins in the Ganassi race, and team owner Chip Ganassi called his driver “unbelievable.”
“I don’t know what else to say,” Ganassi said. “It’s incredible. It was going to make Alex Pallow’s career and make his life, and it certainly became mine.”
It was a heartbreak for Ericsson, the 2022 Indy 500 winner, who finished second in Andretti Global. The Swedish driver expressed disappointment by placing his hand on his face after failing to earn his second career victory in the race.
Erickson didn’t write the words, but called him finishing the second runner in his career, “painful.”
“I covered the race,” Erickson said. “I need to look again, it plays in my head millions of times after the finish and wonders what’s different.
David Malukas was third in AJ Foyt Racing.
America’s Josef New Garden was about to win the Indy 500 for the third consecutive time, but his race ended early after a fuel pump issue.
His team Pensuke teammates finished 19th in a disastrous week for a team that scored a 20-time record in the Indy 500. Both Newgarden and Powers began at the back of the field after failing inspections before qualifying.
Earlier in the week, team owner Roger Pensuke fired three of his team IndyCar executives. In the case of a second technical violation in just one year.
For the second year in a row, NASCAR star Kyle Larson’s quest to complete the famous “double” finishing both the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte, North Carolina, ended an unfortunate end on the same day.
The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion crashed on lap 91 after his car spun into the infield, crashing on turn 2 soon after the reboot, eventually finishing in 27th place.
Drivers Sting Ray Robb and Kyffin Simpson also participated in the crash.
“It’s a little crazy on reboot,” Larson said. “I started to get tight behind Takuma (Sato). I was really close… I came all over the place, relaxed, and yeah, it spun.
“Try to get through this quickly and go to Charlotte. Forget that and try to beat the next one.”
This was the second consecutive attempt by Larson to become the second driver to achieve it, first being 2001 Tony Stewart.
Last year, weather in Indiana and North Carolina prevented him from completing the unusual 1,100-mile feat.
In 1994, John Andretti became the first driver to complete the Indy 500 Coca-Cola 600 Double at Stewart, and Robbie Gordon and Kurt Bush attempted that later.
The “double” is considered one of the toughest challenges in motorsports due to the mental and physical sacrifice of driving 1,100 miles per day and navigating the differences between open wheels and stock cars and the fatigued travel schedule.
For Larson, despite having enough time to spend, it didn’t make it easy for him.
Larson crashed on lap 246 and was unable to finish the race.
When asked if he was going to try a “double” for the third year in a row, Larson wasn’t sure.
“Doubles are tough jobs,” Larson said. “The window of time is too tight.”