“Everybody in Indiana will know”: Alex Palou makes feelings known as he eyes to erase a crucial career void

2025 NTT IndyCar Series Championship leader and three-time IndyCar champion Alex Palou has never taken the chequered flag at the Greatest Spectacle of Racing, i.e., the Indy 500. His best finish at the oval was a P2 in 2021. After winning the Sonsio Grand Prix, he made a promise expressing his plans if he got the chance to kiss the bricks.

The 28-year-old is in the greatest form of his career as he has won four of the five races this season. He intends to use this momentum to win the coveted Indy 500. He stated that if he does take the chequered flag at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, then his celebrations will let everyone in Indiana know that he won it.

"I’ll get crazy, like very crazy,” the Spaniard said. (via FOX Sports)

“Yeah, things are going to fly, flames here, flames there. It’s going to be amazing. Everybody in Indiana will know that I’m an Indy 500 champion if that happens,” Alex Palou added.

The practice for the Indy 500 will begin on Tuesday at noon ET (FS2, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network, with television coverage switching to FS1 at 4 pm).

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IndyCar expert details how Alex Palou can benefit from the hybrid package

AUTO: MAY 10 INDYCAR Sonsio Grand Prix - Source: Getty

IndyCar expert Nathan Brown explained how former Indy 500 runner-up Alex Palou could gain an edge from the series' hybrid transition. The new hybrid technology made its debut at the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio in July 2024.

The Chip Ganassi Racing driver is at the top of the leader board in 2025, with 248 points. Owing to his form in the hybrid era, he is a favorite going into the Indy 500 race this year.

Brown tipped past runners-up as likely winners, namely, Alex Palou, who finished second to Hélio Castroneves in 2021, and Pato O'Ward, who finished second in 2022 (to Marcus Ericsson) and 2024 (to Josef Newgarden). He emphasized that experience navigating traffic and knowing how to tackle the pressures of the oval, especially with the added power from the hybrid package, will be key to victory.

"Because as Palou learned in 2021 and O’Ward the next couple of years, picking your spots, reading the traffic, and a perfect balance of patience and aggression are never more important than in those final 10 laps of the Indianapolis 500. Add in what almost amounts to a video game element into that calculus, and knowing precisely what the limit of the car is and what passes can stick can no longer dominate one’s brainwaves. They need to be second nature," he stated.

However, Brown did not rule out former IndyCar race-winners like Colton Herta, Kyle Kirkwood, Scott McLaughlin, Christian Lundgaard, or Felix Rosenqvist. The Indy 500 is scheduled later this month.