What goes through your mind when talking about a memorable drive? It can’t be as simple as starting on pole and simply running away with victory. It goes beyond being the “best race” and captures the essence of a race. It leaves you going, “Hell yeah, that was cool.”
The 2025 season for the IndyCar Series had a lot of those moments, even with Alex Palou running off to eight wins - including the Indianapolis 500 - en route to his fourth championship in five years.
When diving into some of the statistics from this past year, it’s worth noting all 17 races were won by a driver that qualified in the top 10. The pole-sitter went on to win five times, while starting third was better than rolling off second as it outscored the position three-to-one in reaching Victory Lane. Seven wins came from drivers starting outside the top five, including two from the 10th spot (Kyle Kirkwood, Gateway; Pato O’Ward, Toronto).
There were a couple of notable performances that went from an abysmal starting position to ending up on the podium, with Christian Rasmussen going from 25th to third at Gateway, and Santino Ferrucci climbing from 21st to second in Detroit. And with all that in mind, let’s dive into who made the cut.
5. Power’s Statement
While it was a miserable season for Team Penske across the board, it was Will Power who was that steady force consistently keeping one of the three cars among the top 10 in points. Even with that, though, questions about his contract situation drew deep into the summer, which also seemed bizarre given he won his second championship with the team in 2022; and the only driver to break up Palou’s title reign since he joined Chip Ganassi Racing at the beginning of 2021.
For all the questions that persisted from the talking heads in the media center, the 44-year-old Power buried any doubts with a phenomenal drive in the Grand Prix of Portland. After starting third, he throttled the No. 12 Chevrolet to the front and led 78 of 110 laps to claim victory.
In the post-race press conference, the 45-time race winner (fourth all-time), who began his career with Team Penske in 2009, made his thoughts clear:
“I won three races last year (in 2024),” Power said. “If you're a team, if you're waiting on me to know if I'm good enough, I don't know what you're thinking. If you're actually waiting and wondering, 'I'm not sure if this guy is good enough?' then just go back to last year, and you'll ******* know.”
Andretti Global didn’t wait, with Power set to drive the No. 26 Honda entry formerly occupied by Colton Herta in 2026.
4. Running on Fumes
Although Ferrucci’s outing at Detroit was incredibly impressive, it was his fuel-mileage prowess at Road America that stood out more.
The complexity of the race on the 14-turn, 4.048-mile road course changed multiple times due to ill-timed cautions, leaving many gambling on cycling to the right strategy. The early stages saw Ferrucci, who started 18th, running mid-pack in the No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet. However, a pit stop on Lap 23 of 55 proved the right choice as he progressed up the field, breaking into the top 10 just six laps later.
Ferrucci has a hard-nosed driving style and had never been viewed as the type to save fuel, but out-lasted many - including fuel maestro and six-time series champion Scott Dixon, who was forced to pit from the lead with two laps to go - to finish third.
Palou was on the same strategy as Ferrucci and went on to win after starting second, with Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist putting on a furious late run to finish runner-up. However, Ferrucci’s run is likely to be remembered even more due to running out of fuel moments after taking the checkered flag and parking it down in Turn 1, then chugging a cold beer thrown over the fence from a fan to help cool down after a tough race.
Santino Ferrucci chugs a beer from a fan after a podium finish at Road America. pic.twitter.com/5YlNGu6O0e
— INDYCAR on FOX (@IndyCarOnFOX) June 22, 2025
3. Detroit Rock City
There was an edge to Kirkwood in 2025 and no race demonstrated that better than the Detroit Grand Prix.
After losing out on pole - and the front row - in qualifying, Kirkwood made the early jump to second and then went for the undercut on teammate and race leader Herta by making his first pit stop on Lap 11 of 100. The timing of cautions appeared to have thwarted the possibility of winning or even finishing on the podium, but as the race took shape Kirkwood found the lead on Lap 39. He was relegated to fourth when three cars stayed out during a pit stop sequence under caution on Lap 67, but stormed by Marcus Armstrong to take third before sustaining slight front wing damage - and nearly a cut left-rear tire - while fighting with Kyffin Simpson for second. A lunging move on Ferrucci despite the light damage pushed the No. 27 Andretti Global Honda back to the lead by Lap 79.
Although Kirkwood was poised to break away from the field and coast to victory, a red flag brought the field together and set up a restart with 11 laps to go. Not to be denied, he timed the jump perfectly and went on to take a tenacious victory by 3.5931s.
2. VeeKay’s Toronto Vault
There were very little expectations when Rinus VeeKay joined Dale Coyne Racing at the start of the year, but the duo punched well above their weight class and the drive on the Streets of Toronto was nearly a knockout win.
After starting ninth, the Dutchman made the most of a two-stop strategy and dynamic pace to vault up to the front and lead 16 of 90 laps. The pace and overcut three-stop strategy of Arrow McLaren’s O’Ward, though, was just enough to best VeeKay and take command of the rest of the race with 38 laps to go.
Still, it was a remarkable feat as it marked the first podium for VeeKay since 2022 (Barber Motorsports Park) and the team’s first podium since 2023 at Gateway with David Malukas.
At the time, it had VeeKay and DCR knocking on the door of the top 10 in points with just four rounds to go.
1. Rasmussen’s Radical Run
It looked like Alex Palou was going to coast to victory at The Milwaukee Mile. Looking untouchable, his No. 10 Honda started on pole and was out front for 199 of 250 laps. A
nother win appeared to be in the bag for Palou, but that was until Christian Rasmussen pulled off a stellar drive. After starting ninth, the Dane hovered around the top 10 for the majority of the race and showed flashes of pace in the opening 200 laps. Then, a brief rain shower popped up and set up a restart with 29 laps to go.
Rasmussen restarted seventh and was among those to take fresh Firestone tires on lap 213, opposite of Palou, or the Team Penske duo of Scott McLaughlin and Josef Newgarden, among others. It was only a 17-lap difference in tire usage, but proved enough as Rasmussen carved through the field with daring passes - most on the outside - that pushed him just inches from the wall and on the brink of disaster.
By Lap 230, Rasmussen propelled by McLaughlin and was within 1.3s of Palou. Four laps later, he was on the rear wing of the race leader momentarily before darting to the outside as he and Palou went wheel-to-wheel that ended with Rasmussen taking lead by inches coming off Turn 4, and then for good diving into Turn 1 on the following lap.
The pace never relented as Rasmussen, the 2023 Indy NXT champion, continued to push the No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet to the edge for the remaining 16 laps. In the end, he won by 1.9463s over Palou.
The win came in Rasmussen’s 30th start, and was ECR’s first trip to Victory Lane since 2021 with VeeKay on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
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