Alex Palou Tops Indy 500 Practice with Race Setup Focus

Three-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Alex Palou led the speed charts during Monday’s Indianapolis 500 (ad) practice on May 19, 2025, hitting 226.765 mph in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. The session at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (ad) shifted to race trim after two days of qualifying, with drivers practicing in heavy traffic for the 109th Indy 500 (ad) presented by Gainbridge on Sunday, May 25.

“It’s great to be back in traffic, and the car felt strong,” said Palou, who will start sixth. “We’re ready for Carb Day.” The next on-track action is the final two-hour practice during Miller Lite Carb Day on Friday, May 23, from 11 a.m.–1 p.m., followed by the Indy 500 Pit Stop Challenge (FS1, FOX Sports app).

Helio Castroneves (226.441 mph) and Takuma Sato (226.087 mph) followed in second and third, with Jack Harvey and Ryan Hunter-Reay rounding out the top five. Rookie pole-sitter Robert Shwartzman placed 26th. A minor incident saw Christian Rasmussen lightly hit the SAFER Barrier, but he was unharmed.

Catch the Indy 500 on FOX, FOX Deportes, and the FOX Sports app starting at 10 a.m. ET on May 25. Visit IMS.com for tickets and details.

Indy 500 Practice 8 Results

Rank	Car	Driver Name	C/E/T	Time	Speed (mph)	Diff	Gap	Best Lap	Total Laps
1	10	Alex Palou	D/H/F	00:39.6887	226.765			5	53
2	06	Helio Castroneves	D/H/F	00:39.7455	226.441	0.0568	0.0568	24	52
3	75	Takuma Sato	D/H/F	00:39.8077	226.087	0.1190	0.0622	48	67
4	24	Jack Harvey	D/C/F	00:39.8145	226.048	0.1258	0.0608	10	63
5	23	Ryan Hunter-Reay	D/C/F	00:39.8285	225.969	0.1398	0.040	4	56
6	6	Nolan Siegel (R)	D/C/F	00:39.8701	225.733	0.1414	0.0416	67	77
7	12	Will Power	D/C/F	00:39.8881	225.631	0.1994	0.0180	4	88
8	2	Josef Newgarden	D/C/F	00:39.8942	225.597	0.2055	0.0601	65	87
9	21	Christian Rasmussen	D/C/F	00:39.9562	225.247	0.2675	0.0620	6	7
10	76	Conor Daly	D/C/F	00:39.9661	225.191	0.2774	0.0099	4	73
11	17	Kyle Larson	D/C/F	00:39.9901	225.056	0.3014	0.0240	48	82
12	5	Pato O’Ward	D/C/F	00:40.0119	224.933	0.3232	0.0218	26	54
13	9	Scott Dixon	D/H/F	00:40.0129	224.927	0.3242	0.0210	2	6
14	14	Santino Ferrucci	D/C/F	00:40.0162	224.909	0.3275	0.0033	57	78
15	4	David Malukas	D/C/F	00:40.0891	224.500	0.4040	0.0299	64	76
16	60	Felix Rosenqvist	D/H/F	00:40.1083	224.927	0.4196	0.0192	33	76
17	20	Alexander Rossi	D/C/F	00:40.1631	224.086	0.4744	0.0548	15	78
18	28	Marcus Ericsson	D/H/F	00:40.1686	224.056	0.4799	0.0055	8	33
19	90	Callum Ilott	D/C/F	00:40.1775	224.006	0.4888	0.0089	33	88
20	30	Devlin DeFrancesco	D/H/F	00:40.2341	223.691	0.5454	0.0566	35	74
21	27	Kyle Kirkwood	D/H/F	00:40.2608	223.543	0.5721	0.0267	22	26
22	26	Colton Herta	D/H/F	00:40.2812	223.239	0.5925	0.0204	33	49
23	45	Louis Foster (R)	D/H/F	00:40.3453	223.274	0.6566	0.0414	34	78
24	98	Marco Andretti	D/H/F	00:40.3956	223.995	0.6709	0.0143	37	70
25	33	Ed Carpenter	D/C/F	00:40.3911	223.281	0.7024	0.0315	9	73
26	83	Robert Shwartzman (R)	D/C/F	00:40.4383	223.61	0.7496	0.0472	60	76
27	18	Rinus Veekay	D/H/F	00:40.4711	223.281	0.7824	0.0328	30	72
28	66	Marcus Armstrong	D/H/F	00:40.5407	223.999	0.8520	0.0566	15	56
29	77	Sting Ray Robb	D/C/F	00:40.5892	223.939	0.9050	0.0485	5	32
30	15	Graham Rahal	D/H/F	00:40.6188	223.972	0.9301	0.0296	5	53
31	3	Scott McLaughlin	D/C/F	00:40.6208	223.61	0.9321	0.0200	8	65
32	8	Kyffin Simpson	D/H/F	00:40.7273	223.982	0.9386	0.0165	11	65
33	7	Christian Lundgaard	D/C/F	00:40.8073	223.949	1.1186	0.0800	29	84

Notes:

C/E/T: Chassis/Engine/Tire (D = Dallara, C = Chevrolet, H = Honda, F = Firestone)
(R): Rookie driver
Total Laps: 2067 across all drivers