The move that saved IndyCar from another complete embarrassment

One day after the 109th running of the Indy 500, IndyCar penalized three drivers and effectively disqualified them from the race, moving them to the back of the finishing order after their cars failed post-race technical inspection.

One driver moved to the rear of the field was Andretti Global's Marcus Ericsson, who finished Sunday's race in second place behind race winner Alex Palou.

Ericsson was leading the race until there were 14 laps remaining, when the Chip Ganassi Racing driver made the bold move to Ericsson's inside entering turn one of the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval.

Palou, partially aided by the two lapped cars of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing teammates Devlin DeFrancesco and Louis Foster ahead, was able to hold off Ericsson and win the race for the first time in his career, winning the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing" for the first time in six attempts.

If not for that move, IndyCar would have had a massive PR nightmare on their hands, because they would have had to strip Ericsson of his second Indy 500 win the next day.

It would have continued the PR nightmare that was created with the whole Team Penske attenuator scandal during qualifying the weekend prior.

It would have been massively controversial, and it would have also robbed Palou of a proper celebration.

Fortunately for everybody, Palou took matters into his own hands with the winning move and subsequent defense of the lead.

"It would have been [a nightmare], yeah – probably not ideal," Palou told Beyond the Flag. "No, I spoke to Marcus. We had, in my opinion, a great battle, although it was not a pure battle of like back and forth, there was a battle of getting runs and getting the right timing, so yeah, it was fun."

The penalty prevented Ericsson from being scored second for the second time in three years following his 2022 win. He also finished runner-up in 2023 after being passed by Josef Newgarden on the final lap, following a last-lap restart that many still deem controversial to this day.

At the very least, Ericsson no longer has to have nightmares about leaving the door open for Palou into turn one the way he did. Because losing an Indy 500 win after the race would have undoubtedly been more painful than any second place finish.

Would Ericsson have kept the ring like Mario Andretti did in 1981? One can only wonder.

"I'm glad that I won obviously, and that we don't have to imagine a different scenario," Palou continued, "because yeah, it would not have been ideal."

Alex Palou reacts to Indy 500 triumph

As for Palou's win, he admitted that he felt more excitement than relief, even after having been a contender who came up short each year from 2021 to 2024.

"Excitement," he said. "Pure excitement, honestly. There's always relief when you win a race, and especially if it's your first ever over win, and if it’s your first ever Indy 500 win, but the excitement and the happiness took over everything. I was just so happy. I just wanted to scream with the team, celebrate the fans; they were amazing.

"Having a sellout crowd made it even extra special, and also the fact that so many fans stayed to celebrate after the race. Normally in big events like that, you want to leave 20 minutes early, 10 minutes early, to avoid traffic, but there were a ton of people there just waiting for us to celebrate with them. So super special, and yeah, I wish I could go back and start celebrating again – hopefully [next year]."

Having one-year-old daughter Lucia to celebrate with him and his wife Esther made it worth the wait.

"Having them on my side, that just made it more incredible," Palou said. "It would not have been the same without my daughter, like if I would have gone two years ago without her with us, it would have still been amazing, and I still would have been the happiest man alive, but now I have more reasons to be happy."

Palou started from pole in 2023 but dropped to 30th after being hit in the pit lane, through no fault of his own. He was still able to rally to finish in fourth place, after having rallied from 30th to ninth the prior year following another pit lane issue that was totally out of his control.

"I have more memories that I'm going to be able to one day tell her how amazing that was, and hopefully she gets to experience that, being conscious about what's going on if one day we win again," he said. "But still, those memories are going to be there forever, those pictures as well, here trying to kiss the bricks and just being with me in victory lane, and with us with the family was pretty cool."

Amid rumors of Palou going to Formula 1, he confirmed he plans to be back in next year's Indy 500.

"Oh yeah, I cannot wait to be back," he stated. "It’s a very stressful month. It’s a very busy month for drivers. Like if it was another Indy 500 the next week, I would be like, man, I need to rest! And not only to rest, I also need to allow myself to sink in and to believe what's going on at the moment. But yeah, I cannot wait to be back. The energy that the fans had there, it's just an amazing event."

The 110th running of the Indy 500 is set to be shown live on Fox from Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 24, 2026.