By: Spencer Neff
May 10, 2025

2025 Sonsio Grand Prix Results

Alex Palou and the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing team made another brilliant performance on the IMS Road Course, winning the Sonsio Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course for the third consecutive year.

It is Palou’s fourth victory in five races to start the 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season, the most in a five-race span in 19 seasons (Sebastian Bourdais-2006 ChampCar) After starting on the pole, he would lead 29 of 85 laps, including the final 28, on this way to a 15th career victory.

The mark ties Alex Zanardi, Juan Pablo Montoya and Simon Pagenaud for 32nd on the all-time win list. He also ties Pagenaud for second-most victories at this venue (3).

Palou, whose worst finish this year was a runner-up at Long Beach two races ago, becomes the first driver to win three consecutive victories on the 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course in Speedway, Indiana.

Honda also earns their sixth consecutive victory, dating back to Nashville’s season finale in 2024. Chip Ganassi Racing earns their 140th INDYCAR victory.

Palou would finish 5.484 seconds ahead of Pato O’Ward, who started eighth in his Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. O’Ward earns his second podium of 2025 and his third on the IMS Road Course.

In third, five-time IMS Road Course winner Will Power made it two Chevrolets on the podium for the third consecutive race. Power’s teammate Scott McLaughlin and Palou’s teammate Scott Dixon rounded out the Top Five.

Dixon also equaled Mario Andretti’s record for most INDYCAR starts (407) after taking the green flag on Saturday afternoon.

After starting second and leading a race-high 49 of 85 laps, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Graham Rahal would finish sixth.

Louis Foster finished 11th after starting third, both career-best efforts while Devlin DeFrancesco led his first lap since the August 2023 race here. The effort concludes a banner weekend for RLLR in the wake of Palou’s dominance.

Race Recap

Trouble broke out for a handful of drivers in the early stages. Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyffin Simpson experienced gearing issues and would not make the start of the race after qualifying 10th.

Newgarden ran into MGU (Motor Generator Unit) issues and was forced to start at the rear of the field. He would eventually climb back to 12th by the end of the race.

2022 race winner Colton Herta would pit with issues following contact between Jacob Abel and Callum Ilott as the first lap concluded as well. Up front, Rahal took the lead from Palou entering Turn 1 on the opening lap.

Marcus Ericsson and David Malukas made contact in Turn 12 as well. Ericsson got the worst of it, spinning before headed to pit road. He would drop out of the race with engine issues after completing six laps.

Rahal would hold the lead until his first stop on Lap 21, when Armstrong took over for two laps. During the next stint, Rahal spent a major chunk of his “Push to Pass” attempting to get by the Dale Coyne Racing entry of Jacob Abel. Rahal and Palou would pit on Lap 41.

On Lap 58, Palou made his way past Rahal for the lead. Seven laps after, Palou would pit for new alternate tires. With 16 laps remaining, David Malukas stalled near Turn 8.

It would bring out the first caution since the opening 6 laps at St. Petersburg, ending a 408-lap green flag run that stretched between five races.

Following the Lap 72 restart, Palou would use his new set of alternate tires to put further distance between himself and O’Ward, turning in the fastest lap of the race on Lap 74 (1m11.5412-122.732 mph).

Palou heads into the Indianapolis 500 with a 97-point advantage over Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood, who finished eighth after starting 21st.

Dale Coyne Racing’s Rinus VeeKay improved a race-high 15 positions from 24th to finish ninth in his third Top 10 for his new team.

The race featured seven lead changes between four drivers. The lone two-lap caution left the race with an average speed of 115.163 mph.

Up Next

On Tuesday, the on-track running for the 109th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge. At 12:00 p.m. ET, drivers will begin install laps on the 2.5-mile oval.

At 12:15-2:15 p.m., the track will be made available for refreshers and Rookie Orientation programs. 2013 Indianapolis 500 winner Tony Kanaan will take part as a contingency plan for Kyle Larson and Arrow McLaren.

From 2:15-6:00, the track will be available for all cars. On. Wednesday through Friday, practice is scheduled for 12-6 p.m. Qualifying draw will be held at 6:15 p.m. on Friday.

Saturday and Sunday will be qualifying days, with practices for two hours on Monday and Friday before the race on May 25. FOX will broadcast the 200-lap race and parts of both qualifying days. All other sessions will be split between FS1 and FS2.

IndyCar1909 will be credentialed and on-ste for all on-track action during the next two weeks. Stick with us and our social media for all the latest on the NTT INDYCAR SERIES and the Indianapolis 500.

Header Image By Joe Skibinski/INDYCAR