Note: The Penske Entertainment editorial staff is looking back at the 10 biggest moments of 2025 in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES in this year-end series, with one installment appearing on the site per day in countdown fashion from Dec. 22-31.

The door opened for Alex Palou at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and he drove through it.

The signature moment of the 109th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge occurred on Lap 187 when race leader Marcus Ericsson of Andretti Global left room on the low side approaching Turn 1, giving Palou room to pass him. That change atop Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s iconic Scoring Pylon turned out to be the final one as Chip Ganassi Racing’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion led the remaining 14 laps for his first victory in the event.

It was just one of the many memorable moments in a dramatic Month of May.

The three weeks at IMS began with Palou capturing his second consecutive Sonsio Grand Prix on the road course, again from the pole. He led the final 28 laps and finished with a 5.4840-second victory over Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward.

Rookie Robert Shwartzman delivered the surprise of oval qualifying, becoming the first newcomer since Teo Fabi in 1983 to win the pole. Whereas Fabi had competed at Atlanta Motor Speedway in advance of his historic Indy feat, Shwartzman was making his oval debut, and his PREMA Racing team was equally as new to the discipline.

Qualifying also saw Team Penske drivers Josef Newgarden and Will Power disqualified for equipment violations, forcing them to start the race from the last two positions. That made Newgarden’s bid to become the first driver to win three consecutive years all the more difficult, and he retired from the race on Lap 135 with mechanical failure.

Four days after qualifying, Team Penske owner Roger Penske shocked the sport by releasing team president Tim Cindric, managing director Ron Ruzewski and general manager Kyle Moyer from their positions.

The race featured the first announced sellout since the 100th Running in 2016, a crowd estimated at 350,000. The live television broadcast was carried for the first time by FOX, which delivered 7.088 million viewers, a 41 percent year-over-year increase. It was the most-watched “500” in 17 years.

The race was among the most competitive in years with 14 different leaders. Former winners Takuma Sato (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing) and Ryan Hunter-Reay (Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports) led the most laps, 51 and 48, respectively. Palou victory was his first on an oval track in five-plus years of competition.

Marco Andretti competed in his 20th “500,” which became even more noteworthy in October when he announced his retirement from the sport. Andretti’s car was knocked into the Turn 1 wall on the race’s first green-flag lap, which was Lap 4 due to the pre-start accident of Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin.

One-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson saw his second “500” end on Lap 92 when his Arrow McLaren machine was collected in a Turn 2 restart incident with Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyffin Simpson and Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Sting Ray Robb.

There was post-race drama as well, with Ericsson’s second-place car and the sixth-place machine of fellow Andretti Global driver Kyle Kirkwood – plus PREMA Racing’s Callum Ilott – penalized for being out inspection guidelines. All three cars were relegated to the rear of the official finishing order.

AJ Foyt Racing was the only team to place two drivers in the top five, with David Malukas second and Santino Ferrucci fifth. O’Ward finished third, scoring his fourth top-four finish in the past five years.

Palou, who won for the fifth time in the season’s first six races to build a commanding series lead, became the first Spaniard to win the “500,” and he gave team owner Chip Ganassi his seventh victory in the event.

“(Winning Indy) is going to make Alex Palou’s career, it’s going to make his life,” Ganassi said. “It certainly has made mine.”