The 2025 Indy Race Report features multiple strategies, more than a few tire issues and a feel-good finish. Congrats to Bubba Wallace.
Lead-/Caution-O-Gram
We start, as always with the overview of the race in one graph.
Cautions
The 2025 Indy Race Report shows six cautions, with two of the six planned and four unplanned.
Cautions comprised 16.7% of the race.
Surprisingly, the most impactful incident didn’t cause a caution. That was the stage 2 restart, in which Josh Berry didn’t get started and the slowdown rippled through the field. That involved 11 cars, took out Austin Dillon’s No. 3 car entirely, and caved in the front ends of a lot cars.
Lead Changes
NASCAR cites a total of 16 lead changes, but I would call it 14 because of the BTL (beat to the line) and subsequent recovery of the lead. Learn more about the different types of lead changes.
If you look down to the list of lead changes, you’ll see Larson leading at lap 104, which was the last full yellow lap of the caution. Hamlin got credit for lap 105, which was the lap in which the flag changed to green. Larson then recovered the lead. That’s two lead changes that weren’t really lead changes in my view.
Comparison with Previous Indy Races
Lead Changes by Type
Out of curiosity, I compared the types of lead changes typically seen at the Indianapolis Oval from 2017 (when stage racing started) to now.
The chart surprised me. The 2025 race actually had the most GF passes.
If you’re interested in even older stats, I have some here.
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