IndyCar rookie Robert Shwartzman’s Indianapolis 500 came to a terrifying end after an impressive qualifying as footage showed him crash into his pit team.

Shwartzman started the race from the pole after setting an average four-lap speed of 232.790mph. It was the first time since 1983 that a rookie would take the field to green around the iconic superspeedway.

Unfortunately for the rookie, the joy was short-lived, as less than halfway through the 500 miles his race was over.

He came into the pit lane on lap 87 and as he went to enter his pit box, he locked his wheels and went sliding into his pit crew.

Robert Shwartzman joins @JamieLittleTV to discuss what happened when he hit the wall on his pit stop. pic.twitter.com/LTvZeiosJS

— INDYCAR on FOX (@IndyCarOnFOX) May 25, 2025

Four of his pitcrew tried to get out of the way of the Prema car but failed, with one crew member being taken away on a stretcher.

"I honestly felt really strange brakes when I was coming slow in pit lane. I locked up both front tires, which usually isn't the case,"

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Shwartzman said. "I wasn't sure if it was the brakes or because the tires were cold. I tried to be very slow. But as soon as I touched my brakes, my whole front was lost, and I went right into the guys.

"It was really scary because at the moment I braked I was just a passenger."

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Luckily no crew were severely hurt as Robert Shwartzman took out several members of his team

The crash into the pit wall was enough to end his day.

"It's just really sad because we did such good work in qualifying," he said. "But it's the Indy 500. Anything can happen. A lot of strong drivers are out of the race or behind. This is the Indy 500. This happens.”

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Alex Palou took his maiden win at the Indy 500, winning five of the six races so far this year.

He is a three-time series champion but had yet to cross the yard of bricks first:

“This is the best. It’s the best day of my entire life right now. I knew that it was going to be a special day. I didn’t think maybe that much, and it’s just the start of it. I still don’t believe that we’re 500 champions.”

Alex Palou took his first oval win at the biggest race of them all

“It was just a sense of happiness. I just wanted to explode and let everybody know how happy I was and celebrate with my team.

"The thing is, once I stopped the car, I was like, ‘Where is my team?’ Because I told my team a week ago, we had dinner, and I said, ‘If we win, we need to meet at the bricks.’

"So I went to the bricks and I was there alone and I was like ‘Where are you guys?’ But they were running towards us. It was fun.”

IndyCar will continue this weekend as drivers will take to the streets of Detroit to try and stop Palou from running away with the championship.