Why Drivers Risk Indy 500 Heartbreak For A Shot At Immortalized Glory

In Driver's Eye with James Hinchcliffe, the six-time INDYCAR winner will bring you inside the mind of a racer while breaking down the nuts and bolts of the sport for fans.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Speedway, Ind.) — The long wait is finally over. And that wait started minutes after the checkered flag fell on Alex Palou’s victory in the 2025 Indianapolis 500. 

Thirty-two drivers eagerly waiting for another chance to add their name to the list of those immortalized by winning The Great Spectacle in Racing. One driver looking to defend his title as the 500 champ.

The Indy 500 is held in the largest sports area on Earth, Sunday is the 110th race since 1911, and it’s the most important race to any driver who has the privilege of even attempting to compete in it. When you stack all those things on top of each other, it isn’t surprising that the Indy 500 intensifies every emotion that a driver feels.

As a driver, you know winning this race changes everything. Your life will never be the same, and you feel that in every lap you do here at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. You also know that the team has put countless hours into preparing and running the car.

Leading any INDYCAR race always feels good, but there's nothing comparable to the thrill of leading the Indy 500. 

When you take the lead at Indy for the first time, you can’t help but smile in your helmet. You can almost hear the cheers of the crowd through the noise of the engine. Your heart rate spikes, and the adrenaline pumps harder.

I remember leading the 2016 race into Turn 1 at the start, and you could see the grandstands come alive. 

After two weeks of staring at them while driving down the frontstraight, largely empty and gray, they are suddenly this vibrant, colorful living thing. The view takes your breath away… for one second! Then you have to focus back on the corner coming at you at 220 miles an hour.

Qualifying on pole, leading laps and, of course, winning the race, just mean so much more here at IMS. This place truly makes drivers experience the highest of highs.

But… that comes with the obvious caveat.

For every heightened positive emotion, the negative ones hit and leave you breathless in an entirely different, soul-crushing way. A bad Indy 500 sits with you so much longer and weighs much more heavily on your mind. It’s one of the hardest things to get over.

My rookie year, I crashed in the Indy 500 right at the halfway marker. As I lost control and hit the wall, my heart sank lower than it ever had in my career. 

I was desperate, in that moment, to invent a way to turn back time with my mind. Just a few seconds, nothing crazy. There was almost a refusal to accept what had just happened. But when it finally set in, the feeling of devastation is unparalleled for a driver.

Whether you crash out mid-race like me, or with a handful of laps to go like Pato O’Ward in 2023, or before the green flag even fell like Scott McLaughlin last year, the feeling is the worst thing you can emotionally experience as an INDYCAR driver.

The highest of highs can only happen at the same place that deals you the lowest of lows.

Second place at any other track is a decent day. Second place at Indy is a fiery dagger to the heart. 

You only need to look at footage of the drivers who have finished second in recent years to understand. A picture is worth a thousand words, and those clips are novels of pain and disappointment.

All that said, as painful as the results can be, as low as those lows are, every driver will gladly stare that pain in the face for a chance to feel the glory.

SOUND LIKE AN INDYCAR EXPERT

We all know that racing is a team sport — from the fabricators back at the shop, to the truck drivers, commercial staff, PR, mechanics, engineers and on and on — and nowhere is that more on display than at Indy. We’ve already talked about all the hard work that goes in back at the shop in the build-up to the Month of May, and then, if you’re lucky enough to qualify for the race, the real high-pressure stuff starts.

In a typical INDYCAR race, we are usually talking about the debate between two and three stops. At the Indy 500, there could be six, seven or maybe eight stops. That means that performing exceptionally on pit lane is a must for a team to win.

Teams will put in extra hours practicing pit stop perfection for the Indy 500. 

On Carb Day, there is even the official Pit Stop Competition, which is a huge point of pride for the squads going over the wall. These crews will work with physical trainers and sometimes mental coaches to try and maximize their performance on race day.

[INDY 500: What Makes The Indy 500 So Hard?]

And talk about a high-pressure environment. Hanging tires, refilling fuel and working the air jack are all tense tasks on their own. But these pit crews aren’t working in a quiet room or even on a wide open field. They are in a concrete alley with race cars flying by at 60 miles per hour, all trying to beat one another off pit lane.

The fact that these crew members are all exposed to 30 or more cars going highway speeds just inches from their largely unprotected bodies — they are wearing fire suits and helmets — definitely raises the temperature in the pressure cooker. 

And just like the drivers, pit crews know that any small mistake or hiccup can cost them the chance at glory.

So just know that when you see a driver drinking their celebratory choice of milk in Victory Lane, all the team members celebrating with them played just as big a part.

MY VIEWS AT THE INDY 500

I have been so lucky to experience the Indy 500 from three distinctly different seats. 

First, as a fan. When I was a kid, I watched this race and cheered on my heroes. And it was not only a fun and entertaining way to spend a Sunday in May, but I also felt, even back then, that it was a great way to bond with friends and family. It was always a great opportunity to get together with people you care about and cheer on the same driver (or not!) and be able to say, "I was watching when that driver’s life changed."

Then, of course, my 11 years as an INDYCAR driver gave me a completely different appreciation for this event. To have played a small part in the storied history of this great race is an immense point of pride. The history of this event is unmatched in the racing world, and there is no doubt that's why it means so much to any driver lucky enough to compete.

And now, I get to be a part of the event in a completely different way as a broadcaster. Helping tell the story to the millions of people watching at home of what is happening on track, and ultimately what it means, is a real privilege.

There are many parts of the race that I love. Many traditions that I think are incredible. As a fan, a driver or a broadcaster, the best part of it for me changed and evolved, but I will always hold this race very near and dear to my heart.

1 FOR THE ROAD

If you needed any more proof that INDYCAR drivers are modern-day gladiators, look no further than Alexander Rossi. 

After a stunning performance in qualifying and putting himself and his team P2, he suffered injuries in a Monday practice crash. He required surgery on his left hand and his right foot. And despite crashing at 200-plus miles an hour, and having scars and metal in him that he didn’t a week ago, he plans to suit up and still compete in the 110th running of the Indy 500 from the middle of the front row.

No fear. No hesitation. Just a single-minded desire to return to victory lane, where he stood 10 years ago after winning as a rookie. 

Everyone likes a comeback story, and this would be one worthy of a Hollywood script.

MORE DRIVER'S EYE:

• Why INDYCAR at Barber Punishes Drivers and Tests Their Bravery
• Christian Lundgaard, INDYCAR Strategy and the 'Agony' of Botched Pit Stops
• Why INDYCAR's 2-Week Break Is Anything But A Vacation — And How Teams Capitalize
• How INDYCAR drivers navigate the Grand Prix of Long Beach's unique 11-turn track
• Chasing Alex Palou, INDYCAR Drivers Have 2 Choices: Acceptance Or Anger
• How INDYCAR Drivers Can Win The Month Of May — And Contend For The Indy 500
• Why INDYCAR Drivers Don't Sleep On The Indy GP — And You Shouldn't Either
• Inside The Isolating But Thrilling Pressure Of Indy 500 Qualifying At 230 MPH