Alex Palou makes history as 1st Spanish driver to win the 109th Indianapolis 500 by beats Marcus Ericsson.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Alex Palou took the ceremonial swig of milk in victory lane at the Indianapolis 500. He allowed his wife to have a sip, she in turn gave a sip to their baby, and team owner Chip Ganassi ended up with the bottle and took a drink, as well.

The first Spaniard to win “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” then took a victory lap with his entourage around Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the back of a pickup truck. At one point, Palou climbed onto its roof and raised his arms in triumph, the winning wreath draped around his neck. He briefly lost his balance and Ganassi instinctively reached out to grab his star driver.

Palou came to the speedway as the two-time defending IndyCar champion — he has three titles in four years — and had opened this year with victories in four of the first five races. It’s the kind of start not seen since 1964, when A.J. Foyt won the first seven races of the season, including the Indy 500.

But it was win No. 6 that Palou had circled on his calendar. Without an Indy 500 win, he said, his career would be incomplete.

Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti both hugged him, a pair of former Ganassi Indy 500 winners welcoming him into their exclusive club. He wasn’t sure what the win will do for him Spain, which celebrates Formula 1 drivers Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz Jr., but Palou said for the first time he can recall he saw throngs of fans with Spanish flags chanting his name at an IndyCar race.

Meanwhile, Ericsson climbed from his car in pit lane and pressed his hands to his face, the disappointment of coming oh-so-close to a second Indianapolis 500 victory etched across his face. David Maluks was third for A.J. Foyt Racing.

Josef Newgarden’s bid to win three consecutive Indy 500s ended with a fuel pump issue. He was trying to become the first driver to come from the back row to win because he and Team Penske teammate Will Power were dropped to the back of the field for failing inspection before the final rounds of qualifying.

Power wound up 19th, the highest-finishing Penske driver on a miserable day for the organization owned by Roger Penske. He earlier this week fired his top three IndyCar executives for a second technical infraction in just over a year, and has had to defend the optics of his teams failing inspections when he also owns IndyCar, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indy 500.

Penske has won the Indy 500 a record 20 times.

It was the sixth Indy 500 win for Ganassi, who has been on a dominating wave since hiring Palou before the 2021 season. Palou won the championship in his first year with the team, added two more titles, and now seems on pace for a fourth one.

____