Points Leader Palou Crashes Out in Motor City Courtesy of Malukas Bump

June 1, 2025 Joey Barnes Headline News, IndyCar 2
Image courtesy of Brandon K. Carter/ASP, Inc.
By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief

The traditional hangover for Indianapolis 500 winners remains intact after Alex Palou crashed out of the Detroit Grand Prix.

Fresh off winning the 109th edition of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” Palou qualified fifth for this weekend’s round on the nine-turn, 1.645-mile temporary street circuit.

While running seventh coming to a restart on Lap 72 of 100, Palou’s No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda was hit from behind by the No. 4 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet of David Malukas. The bump from Malukas was enough to send Palou into the tire barrier in Turn 1.


The damage was severe enough for Palou, who came into the race with a 112-point lead in the championship, to retire from the race with a 25th-place finish. Malukas was handed a stop-and-go penalty for avoidable contact by IndyCar Race Control, but went on to finish 14th.

“I haven’t seen it (a replay) yet, but, for sure, somebody hit me from behind,” Palou told FOX Sports. “Yeah, very unfortunate. We did an amazing recovery this weekend. Didn’t really have much pace at the beginning and I thought we were running good to try and sneak into the podium at the end. So, yeah, doesn’t feel great, but nothing we could have done there.”

For his part, Malukas took ownership of the incident via social media following the race.

About Joey Barnes 624 Articles
Joey Barnes is the Founder of Motorsports Tribune, an outlet that began with the goal of helping aspiring journalists break into and grow the industry. A regular on the racing scene since 2013, the journey for Joey started by covering a Grand-Am event at Circuit of The Americas in his home state of Texas. He has since primarily focused on the IndyCar Series, with appearances in the garages of NASCAR, paddocks of Formula 1, IMSA and World Endurance Championship, while also occasionally engulfing clouds of dust at the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals and select Supercross rounds. With previous stops at Autoweek, IndyCar.com, Motorsport.com and RACER, among others, Joey evolved from the singular task as a freelance writer to advanced roles behind the copy desk and alongside some of the best editorial teams in the business. Recognized as a multi-time award winner by the National Motorsports Press Association, Joey currently resides in Dallas-Fort Worth with his trusty four-legged canine companion, Rocket.
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