For the first time in history, the Indianapolis 500 belongs to a Spaniard.
Spain's Alex Palou won American open-wheel racing's flagship race Sunday, besting Sweden's Marcus Ericsson by 0.6822 seconds to win a chilly and chaotic 109th running of the iconic race.
The race ended under caution due to a wreck in the back of the field—a fitting conclusion for a day that saw a number of unusual happenings. New Zealand's Scott McLaughlin crashed before the race even began, and pole-sitter Robert Shwartzman of Israel took out several member of his pit crew. NASCAR star Kyle Larson and two-time defending winner Josef Newgarden also exited early.
Palou—the winner of three of the last four IndyCar titles—was the last of 14 race leaders. The 28-year-old Barcelona-area native has won five of the six IndyCar races run this year, and he finished second in the one he didn't win.
Amazingly, Palou's victory was his first-ever win on an oval.
Spain is the 12th country to produce an Indy 500 winner, joining Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, France, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, Great Britain and the United States.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Álex Palou Makes Cool Indy 500 History With His Win.
