Final Indy 500 stats

The 109th Indianapolis 500 has been run, a winner has been celebrated, and the statistics from throughout the 11 rows of three have been produced.

Courtesy once again of Scott Richards (https://x.com/ScoRich223), who helped to set the statistical stage ahead of Sunday’s race won by Alex Palou, he’s found more nuggets to tell the stories for most of the field.

Race stats:

• Sixth year in a row the winner led less than 30 laps, the longest such streak in race history
• 103 laps were led by 500-only drivers
• Sixth winner to start from 6th, and the second since 1960 (Dan Wheldon - 2011)
• Nine retirements before the halfway mark, the most in a 500 since 2009
• 12 drivers finished lower than where they started, the fewest since 2008
• 12 drivers completed all 200 laps, the fewest since 2011 (also 12)
• Fifth consecutive 500 where a rookie failed to finish inside the Top 10 (there has never been another such streak longer than 2 in race history)
• Five new 500 race leaders after featuring 6 new leaders in 2024. This is time consecutive 500s featured at least 5 new leaders since 1913-14

Alex Palou (1st):

• 14th defending IndyCar Series champion to win the 500, first since Dario Franchitti (2012). The last four drivers to accomplish this all did so driving for Chip Ganassi Racing (Juan Pablo Montoya - 2000, Dario Franchitti - 2010 & 2012)
• At 28 years and 1 month, youngest winner since 2016 (Alexander Rossi - 24 years, 8 months) and youngest non-rookie winner since 2008 (Scott Dixon - 27 years, 10 months)
• First current INDYCAR points leader to win the 500 since 2015 (Juan Pablo Montoya)
• David Malukas (2nd):
• Best finish for a veteran who did not start in the previous 500 since 2002 (Paul Tracy - 2nd)
• Best finish for an entry from AJ Foyt Enterprises since 1999 (Kenny Brack - 1st)

Pato O'Ward (3rd):

• Joins Harry Hartz and Ted Horn as the only drivers to finish 6th or better in five of their first six 500s.

Santino Ferrucci (5th):

• His average finish of 6.1 is the best for a driver in their first seven 500s since Ted Horn (5.1 between 1935-41)
• First driver to complete all 1,400 laps in their first seven 500s

Conor Daly (8th):

• One of three drivers to earn at least 5 top-10 finishes in the 500 after not scoring one in his first five 500 starts (Rodger Ward, Johnny Rutherford)

Takuma Sato (9th):

• First time a 500-only driver led the most laps since 2000 (Juan Pablo Montoya)

Helio Castroneves (10th):

• Record-extending 16th Top 10 at the 500
• Best finish for a driver over the age of 50 since 1996 (Danny Ongais - 7th)

Ed Carpenter (15th):

• Led in his 9th 500, tied with Rex Mays and Michael Andretti for most 500s led among non-winners

Will Power (16th):

• Joins Buddy Lazier as the only drivers to finish 15th or worse in five consecutive 500 starts after winning.

Jack Harvey (19th):

• Led his first laps in the 500 in his 8th start, tied for the most experienced first-time leader since 1978 (Steve Krisiloff - 1978, Scott Sharp - 2002, Conor Daly - 2021)

Ryan Hunter-Reay (21st):

• 48 laps led, the most for a driver that started in the last 3 rows since 1974 (Johnny Rutherford - 122)

Josef Newgarden (22nd):

• Second lowest finish for a driver attempting the 3-peat (Bill Vukovich 1955 - 25th) and the third to not lead a lap (Mauri Rose - 1949, Al Unser - 1972)
• First defending 500 champion to drop out due to a mechanical issue since 1999 (Eddie Cheever)

Kyle Larson (24th):

• Fewest laps completed in the 500 by a driver attempting "The Double" since 2004 (Robby Gordon's 500 entry lasted 88 laps)

Robert Shwartzman (26th):

• 8 laps led, the most for a 500 rookie since 2017 (Fernando Alonso - 27)
• Same finishing position as Teo Fabi, the last rookie to win the 500 pole in 1983

Alexander Rossi (28th):

• Despite the DNF, he is still one of only three drivers to start in at least 10 500s and earn seven Top 10s in those first 10 starts (Ted Horn - 9, Scott Dixon - 7)

Marco Andretti (29th):

• Fewest laps completed in the 500 by a member of the Andretti family since 1982 (Mario Andretti - 0 laps)

Scott McLaughlin (30th):

• First driver eliminated in a pace lap crash since 1997 (Stephan Gregoire, Affonso Giaffone, Kenny Brack)

Marcus Ericsson (31st):

• Joins Louis Meyer (1929-32) and Troy Ruttman (between 1952-57) as the only drivers to finish in the top 4 in two consecutive 500s, then finish 31st or worse in their next two starts.
• Fourth driver in history to finish 31st or worse three times in their first seven 500s (Paul Bost, Salt Walther, Simona de Silvestro)

AJ Foyt Enterprises:

• First 500 with two finishers inside the Top 5 since 2000 (Eliseo Salazar - 3rd, Jeff Ward - 4th)

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing:

• 68 laps led as a team, their most in the 500 since 2004 (91)

Dreyer & Reinbold Racing:

• First 500 to have multiple DRR cars lead since 2010 (Justin Wilson, Mike Conway, Tomas Scheckter)
• Most laps ever led in the 500 as a team (51, previous high 2010 - 31)

Team Penske

• First 500 since 2011 where none of their entries finished on the lead lap
• First 500 since 1994 where two of their entries failed to finish (Emerson Fittipaldi & Paul Tracy)
• Fifth 500 in team history where they failed to have a car finish in the top 15 (1971, 1975, 1989, 1992)

Best 500 finish (among veterans):

• Alex Palou (1st) - Previous best: 2nd - 2021
• David Malukas (2nd) - Previous best: 16th - 2022
• Felix Rosenqvist (4th) - Ties previous best of 4th - 2022
• Christian Rasmussen (6th) - Previous best: 12th - 2024
• Christian Lundgaard (7th) - Previous best: 13th - 2024
• Devlin DeFrancesco (11th) - Previous best: 13th - 2023
• Marcus Armstrong (18th) - Previous best: 30th - 2024

Worst 500 finish (among veterans):

• Kyle Larson (24th) - Previous low: 18th - 2024
• Kyffin Simpson (25th) - Previous low: 21st - 2024
• Scott McLaughlin (30th) - Previous low: 29th - 2022
• Kyle Kirkwood (32nd) - Previous low: 28th - 2023
• Callum Ilott (33rd) - Previous low: 32nd - 2022