As is tradition on Memorial Day, NASCAR’s longest race of the year was one of remembrance. Every car had the name of a fallen hero on its windshield in place of the driver’s name, and there was a mid-race pause for a moment of silence where all engines were quiet. “The Greatest Day in Motorsports” had its curtain call this year. The FIA (governing body of Formula One) announced that the famed Monaco Grand Prix will no longer be held on Memorial day starting in 2026. So let’s recap the trifecta of races held on Sunday for the last time.
Monaco Grand Prix: Papaya ruled the streets of Monte-Carlo this year, as Lando Norris and McLaren captured victory this year over hometown driver Charles Leclerc, who won the race last year, being the only Monegasque driver to win their home race. For the first time in F1 history, drivers were required to make two pit stops instead of one during the race, the only time that the FIA has ever made the minimum pit stop requirement more than one. There was some controversy with the Racing Bulls duo of Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson, as Lawson was slow to allow Hadjar to build a large enough gap to be able to pit and still keep his position. Due to Monaco’s tight layout, passing Lawson was proven as a tough task for the other 11 cars behind him, forming a train like position. Oscar Piastri is still the points leader, and his teammate Lando Norris is behind him in second, and four-time World Champion Max Verstappen is in third.
109th Indianapolis 500: Rain has now affected the Indianapolis 500 twice in two years. It delayed the start of the race by nearly 40 minutes, which would put Kyle Larson’s attempt at “The Double” in jeopardy, however this didn’t matter, as Larson would collect himself in a crash 91 laps into the race. Before the start, two of the three Team Penske cars were found to be cheating, the cars of double-defending winner Josef Newgarden, and Will Power. They started at the back, and the team fired some of its senior leadership as a result. The third Penske car of Scott McLaughlin crashed on the pace laps, ending his race before it started. The race mostly ran without incident, and was won by Alex Palou, his fifth win out of six races on the season. This is Palou’s first win on an oval.
Coca-Cola 600: NASCAR’s marathon race was run on Memorial Day, as tradition. The race is unique not just because it is 600 miles, however because it has four stages, meaning the maximum amount of points you can earn is 71 points. We came close to this, with William Byron winning three out of the four stages, but with less than ten laps to go, Ross Chastain passed William Byron with help from a lapped car, Denny Hamlin, who could’ve contended for the win, had his pit crew not under-fueled his car on what should have been his final pit stop of the race.
The points standings saw a considerable shake-up, as William Byron now leads the points with 499 points over his teammate Kyle Larson, who has 470. Chris Buescher’s penalty got overturned, which puts him in 16th, and in the final transfer spot for the Playoffs. Of course, we still have plenty of time to see a change in points until the Playoffs start, because anything can happen.
Next week’s race is the Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway. The race is on Sunday, June 1st at 7:00 PM EST on Amazon Prime Video. Can Ross Chastain defend last year’s win at Nashville?
