Will Buxton compares Indy 500's quirky event to F1’s Monaco GP

The build-up to the 2025 Indy 500 (May 25) has been nothing short of brilliant (fast laps, crashes, controversies). In line with this, the inaugural Wienie 500 (hot dog-shaped cars from the Oscar Mayer fleet) took place at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Friday, and following the event, IndyCar pundit Will Buxton compared it to the popular F1 Monaco Grand Prix, which will also take place on Sunday.

Moreover, Buxton, in a hilarious yet cheeky manner, insisted that Monaco does not have the Wienie 500 kind of event during the ongoing race weekend. He reshared a video posted by IndyCar's official X page and wrote:

"You didn’t get this in Monaco. I’ve not stopped smiling all day."

Will Buxton

@@wbuxtonofficial

You didn’t get this in Monaco. I’ve not stopped smiling all day.

The Slaw Dog named car from Oscar Mayer's fleet triumphed in the inaugural Wienie 500. For Sunday's much-awaited Indy 500, IndyCar rookie Robert Shwartzman (Prema Racing) will start from pole alongside Takuma Sato (second-place) and Arrow McLaren's Pato O'Ward (third-place).

Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon (P4) will start right behind them from the second row alongside Felix Rosenqvist (P5) and 2025 Chip Ganassi teammate, Alex Palou (P6).

Will Buxton's take on Team Penske's Indy 500 controversy

As indicated earlier, the build-up to tomorrow's 200-lap race has produced a bit of everything. While the Wienie 500 brought smiles to the faces of fans and pundits alike, the overall event has been clouded in controversy, especially since last Sunday's discovery ahead of the final round of qualifying.

Team Penske's #2 and #12 were found in violation of Rule 14.7.8.16 relating to the discovery of modified attenuators. As a consequence, both entries were pumped to the last row for the 2025 Indy 500.

Other than this, there have been major repercussions as IndyCar and IMS owner Roger Penske (who also owns Team Penske) recently fired three top personnel, including team President Tim Cindric.

Seeing the chaos, Buxton came up with the following take via his X account.

Will Buxton

@@wbuxtonofficial

Absolutely massive news coming out of Indycar and Penske, as Roger himself apologises to the fans and dismisses those at the very top of his race team organisation.

A lot has happened at the Indy 500 ahead of the main event. Because of the penalties, Josef Newgarden and Will Power will start the 200-lap race from P32 and P33.

The outcome is especially disappointing for Newgarden as he will enter the upcoming race on the back of two consecutive victories (2023 and 2024). Moreover, Will Power has also previously triumphed in the event (2018).

As things stand, Team Penske's best chances of triumphing in the race lie with Scott McLaughlin. The 31-year-old is slated to kick off his 2025 Indy 500 outing from P10.

Keeping in view everything that has been discussed, Will Buxton and Co will have their eyes on the three Team Penske cars in the marquee event. One of the favorites going into the race remains the in-form Series leader Alex Palou.