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  • Newgarden executes final lap pass on O’Ward for second consecutive Indianapolis 500 victory

    Newgarden executes final lap pass on O’Ward for second consecutive Indianapolis 500 victory

    A year after becoming the 75th competitor overall to win the Indianapolis 500, Josef Newgarden doubled down as a two-time champion of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing after winning the rain-delayed 108th running of the Indy 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 26, following a final lap overtake on Pato O’Ward.

    The two-time NTT IndyCar Series champion from Hendersonville, Tennessee, led six times for 26 of 200-scheduled laps in an event where he started alongside his two Team Penske teammates, Scott McLaughlin and Will Power, on the front row. Leading for the first time at the halfway mark on Lap 100, Newgarden withstood a series of pit strategies amongst his rivaled competitors and on-track chaos to remain in race-winning contention in the closing stages.

    Then after swapping track positions with Scott Dixon and Arrow McLaren’s duo of Pato O’Ward and Alexander Rossi in the closing laps, Newgarden, who reassumed the lead from Rossi with seven laps remaining, was left to duel against a hard-charging O’Ward for the victory. Despite regaining the lead from O’Ward with five laps remaining, Newgarden then lost the lead to O’Ward at the start of the final lap, but managed to gain a draft to overtake him and reclaim the lead exiting the backstretch. The pass was enough for Newgarden to muscle away and claim the checkered flag to become the first competitor in 22 years to repeat as an Indianapolis 500 champion.

    Following a two-day qualifying session that occurred between May 18-19 and that determined the starting lineup for the main event, Scott McLaughlin achieved his first Indianapolis 500 pole position after posting the fastest four-lap average-qualifying speed at 234.220 mph in two minutes, 33.7017 seconds. McLaughlin shared the front row with his two Team Penske teammates and former Indy 500 champions Will Power (233.917 mph in two minutes, 33.9007 seconds) and Josef Newgarden (233.808 mph in two minutes, 33.9726 seconds), which marked the first time three Team Penske entries swept the front row for the 500 since 1988.

    The only competitor who did not qualify for the event was rookie Nolan Siegel, who wrecked his No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Dallara-Honda entry while attempting to race his way into the field during last Sunday’s qualifying session.

    During the pace laps and warmup session, early trouble struck for Callum Ilott, who pitted due to a mechanical issue to his No. 6 Arrow McLaren Dallara-Chevrolet, though he was able to return to the track and remain on the lead lap for the event’s start.

    When the green flag waved and the event commenced amid a four-hour delay due to heavy precipitation, pole-sitter Scott McLaughlin launched ahead from teammates Will Power and Josef Newgarden along with the rest of the field to lead through the first two turns.

    Shortly after, however, the event’s first caution period flew after Tom Blomqvist hit the rumble strips in Turn 1, spun and came across the path of Marcus Ericsson as Ericsson, who started on the final row in this year’s Indy 500, nearly got airborne as he wrecked his No. 28 Delaware Life/Andretti Global Dallara-Honda both into Blomqvist’s No. 66 Arctic Wolf/Meyer Shank Racing Dallara-Honda and across the outside wall. Amid the wreckage, Pietro Fittipaldi, who was trying to avoid the wreckage involving Ericsson and Blomqvist, made contact with Ilott as he spun his No. 30 5-Hour Energy/Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Dallara-Honda in between the first two turns before he backed his car against the outside wall. The carnage was enough to take Ericsson, Fittipaldi and Blomqvist out of contention while Ilott continued.

    During the caution period, Marcus Armstrong’s second career start in the Indianapolis 500 came to an early end due to the New Zealander losing power and having smoke spewing out of his No. 11 Ridgeline Performance Lubricants/Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara-Honda during the caution laps, which forced him to pit and retire.

    As the event restarted under green on the ninth lap, McLaughin fended off teammates Power and Newgarden for a second time through the frontstretch to retain the lead as the field behind fanned out to multiple lanes. In the midst of the field fanning out, Kyle Larson, the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion who was piloting the No. 17 HendrickCars.com/Arrow McLaren Dallara-Chevrolet as part of his ‘Double Duty’ effort that included competing in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway later in the day, lost a bevy of spots while running in the top 10 and was getting overtaken by oncoming competitors after missing a gear to launch at the start as he also made slight contact with Ryan Hunter-Reay. The field continued to scatter, fan out and jostle for early spots through the backstretch while McLaughlin retained the lead ahead of his two Team Penske teammates at the Lap 10 mark.

    Through the first 15 scheduled laps, McLaughlin was leading by less than a tenth of a second over teammate Power and nearly half a second over teammate Newgarden while Santino Ferrucci and Alexander Rossi were in the top five. Behind, Rinus VeeKay occupied sixth place ahead of Pato O’Ward, Felix Rosenqvist, Colton Herta and Kyle Kirkwood while Alex Palou, Takuma Sato, Helio Castroneves, Kyle Larson and Ryan Hunter-Reay were in the top 15. Behind, Scott Dixon, Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter, Sting Ray Robb and rookie Kyffin Simpson trailed in the top 20.

    Six laps later, the caution returned after Katherine Legge, who started on the final row, had smoke billowing out of her No. 51 e.l.f/Dale Coyne Racing Dallara-Honda as her fourth bid to win the Indy 500 came to an end. During the caution period, nearly the entire field led by McLaughin pitted for service while the following names that included Sting Ray Robb, Conor Daly, Christian Lundgaard and Graham Rahal remained on the track as part of an early strategic plan. Following the pit stops, McLaughlin retained the lead after exiting pit road first ahead of teammates Power and Newgarden while Ferrucci, Rossi, Rosenqvist, O’Ward, Herta, Palou and Sato followed suit in the top 10.

    During the next restart period on Lap 26, Daly overtook Robb from the outside lane through the frontstretch to assume the lead. Robb would retain second through the first two turns and through the backstretch while McLaughlin settled in fourth place as he was running in between Lundgaard and Rahal while Ferrucci was trying to crack the top five amid more jostling of spots within the field. The event’s third caution flew a lap later after Linus Lundqvist, who was running in the middle of the field, got loose and hit the outside wall in Turn 1, which knocked him and his No. 8 American Legion/Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara-Honda team out of contention.

    With the event restarting under green on Lap 32, McLaughlin muscled his No. 3 Pennzoil/Team Penske Dallara-Chevrolet past Daly’s No. 24 Polkadot/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports Dallara-Chevrolet through the frontstretch to reassume the lead. Behind, Ferrucci made his way into the runner-up spot followed by Daly, Robb and Lundgaard as the field fanned out to multiple lanes just past the backstretch before navigating through Turns 3 and 4 to complete the following lap. Daly would then overtake Ferrucci to claim the runner-up spot by Lap 34 before overtaking McLaughlin through the frontstretch to reassume the lead two laps later.

    Just past the Lap 40 mark, Daly was leading by two-tenths of a second over McLaughlin while third-place Ferrucci trailed by seven-tenths of a second. Robb and Rossi trailed in the top five within a second as Newgarden, Herta, Lundgaard, Palou and O’Ward were scored in the top 10 ahead of Rosenqvist, Larson, Dixon and Rahal while Power dropped to 15th.

    Towards Lap 38, Robb, who was running in the top five, pitted his No. 41 Goodheart/A.J. Foyt Enterprises Dallara-Honda under green. Daly would surrender the lead to pit under green during the following lap as McLaughlin cycled back into the lead as he was being pursued by Ferrucci, Ross, Herta and Newgarden.

    At the one-quarter mark on Lap 50, McLaughlin continued to lead by four-tenths of a second over Ferrucci while Rossi, Herta and Newgarden continued to trail in the top five. Behind, Palou occupied sixth place ahead of Rosenqvist, O’Ward, Larson and Rasmussen while Dixon, VeeKay, Power, Sato and Augustin Canapino were in the top 15. Meanwhile, teammates Lundgaard and Rahal were mired back in 25th and 26th, respectively, after both pitted a few laps earlier.

    Five laps later, the event’s fourth caution flew after Felix Rosenqvist, who was running in the top 10, pulled his No. 60 SiriusXM/Meyer Shank Racing Dallara-Honda off the track in the backstretch and retired due to an engine failure, which marks the third Honda engine failure in the event. During the caution period, nearly the entire field led by McLaughlin returned to pit road for service while Daly and Robb remained on the track. Following the pit stops amid a tight squeeze amongst the leaders, Rossi exited in first place by a hair over McLaughlin as Herta, Newgarden, Palou, Ferrucci, Rasmussen, Larson, VeeKay and Power followed suit in the top 10.

    The start of the next restart period on Lap 64 featured the field fanning out through the frontstretch and prior to reaching the start/finish line as McLaughlin made a bold three-wide move beneath Daly and Robb to move into the lead entering the first turn. Robb would then return to the top of the leaderboard two laps later after he overtook McLaughlin through the frontstretch. Robb would retain the lead by the Lap 70 mark and by four-tenths of a second over McLaughlin while Daly, Herta and Newgarden trailed in the top five.

    Then on Lap 85, the caution flew after Herta, who was running second and was deemed a potential favorite of the event, got loose and spun backwards into the outside wall in Turn 1, where he damaged the front wing of his No. 26 Gainbridge/Andretti Global Dallara-Honda. Despite sustaining minimal damage to his entry, Herta would have his car towed to the garage, where he would return to the track following extensive repairs and being multiple laps down.

    During the exchange of pit stops as nearly the entire field led by McLaughlin pitted during the caution period, Kyle Kirkwood ran into the rear of Ilott, which cause Ilott to overshoot his pit stall and into Ed Carpenter’s pit stall, which caused Carpenter to jam on the brakes and stall his car while waiting for Ilott to be pushed back into his respective stall.

    With the race restarting under green on Lap 91, Rinus VeeKay, who was among a handful of competitors who did not pit and inherited the lead, was quickly overtaken by Lundgaard for the lead entering the first turn. Behind, Newgarden muscled his way up to fourth place as he settled behind Robb while Ferrucci and Daly battled for fifth place in front of McLaughlin, Palou, Rossi and Larson.

    Seven laps later, VeeKay pitted his No. 21 askROI/Ed Carpenter Racing Dallara-Chevrolet under green. Lundgaard would also pit his No. 45 Hyvee/Letterman Lanigan Racing Dallara-Honda another three laps later as Newgarden proceeded to lead the halfway mark on Lap 100. By then, Ferrucci moved up to second as McLaughlin, Robb and Daly cycled up into the top five ahead of Palou, Larson, Rossi, Castroneves and Rasmussen.

    Six laps later, the event’s sixth caution flew after Ryan Hunter-Reay, who gained a draft to overtake Scott Dixon through the backstretch for 17th place, got blocked and forced into the backstretch’s grass amid contact with Dixon, which resulted with Hunter-Reay doing a full 360 spin through the grass and the racing surface, but managing to straighten his car through the grass without coming back across oncoming traffic as Hunter-Reay limped his damaged No. 23 VensureHR/Four Sixes Racing Beef/101 Studios/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Dallara-Chevrolet back to his pit stall, where he would retire.

    The following restart period with 87 laps remaining did not last long as Marco Andretti, who was battling for a top-20 spot, slipped sideways and backed his No. 98 Mapei/Andretti Global Dallara-Honda into the outside wall in Turn 1 as his 19th bid to win his first Indianapolis 500 came to a late end.

    The ensuing restart period with 82 laps remaining generated a different outcome as McLaughlin muscled ahead with the lead of a tight battle involving teammate Newgarden, Ferrucci, Rossi, Palou, Larson, Castroneves, Canapino and Rasmussen entering the first turn. With Newgarden retaining second, McLaughlin also retained the lead by four-tenths of a second with 80 laps remaining.

    At the three-quarters mark with 75 laps remaining, McLaughlin retained the lead by three-tenths of a second over Rossi followed by Newgarden, Ferrucci and Palou while Larson, Rasmussen, Castroneves, Canapino and Rahal were in the top 10. Behind, Dixon was in 11th ahead of Simpson, VeeKay, O’Ward and Daly while Power, Sato, Robb, Ilott and Kirkwood were mired in the top 20.

    Two laps later, Newgarden cycled his No. 2 Shell Powering Progress/Team Penske Dallara-Chevrolet past teammate McLaughlin to reassume the lead through the frontstretch. Newgarden, however, would then pit under green with 70 laps remaining before McLaughlin pitted during the following lap. During McLaughlin’s pit service, the following names that included Larson, Canapino, Simpson and Ilott also pitted. Amid the pit stops, however, Larson, who had methodically driven his way into the top five prior to pitting, was assessed a drive-through penalty for speeding while entering pit road. Larson, who smoked his front tires when he was penalized for speeding, would serve the penalty with nearly 65 laps remaining as more names pitted under green.

    Back on the track, O’Ward, who has yet to pit, was leading ahead of Dixon. O’Ward would then pit from the lead with 63 laps remaining, which moved Dixon into the lead ahead of VeeKay, Daly, Sato, Robb, Kirkwood, Lundgaard and Carpenter as McLaughlin led a large group of competitors who recently pitted, among which included Rossi, Palou, Newgarden and Ferrucci. During the next two laps, Rossi navigated past McLaughlin and Palou to move into 10th place while scored the first competitor who recently pitted.

    With less than 60 laps remaining, Dixon pitted under green as Daly cycled into the lead. Daly would then pit with nearly 55 laps remaining, which enabled Robb to assume the lead ahead of Lundgaard and O’Ward while Dixon and Daly trailed by more than 35 seconds in the top five.

    Then with 54 laps remaining, the caution flew after Power, who was racing within the top 20 and battling Rasmussen, slipped sideways and spun backwards into the outside wall in Turn 1, which he slapped and destroyed the right side of his No. 12 Verizon Dallara-Chevrolet.

    Down to the final 45 laps of the event, Dixon briefly led the field back to green flag racing conditions before he was placed in the middle of an Arrow McLaren sandwich through the frontstretch as Rossi overtook both teammate O’Ward and Dixon into the lead. Behind, Newgarden, who restarted eighth, rocketed his way up to fourth place as he was ahead of Palou, VeeKay, McLaughlin and Daly as Rossi retained the lead. During the following lap, teammate O’Ward overtook Rossi to assume the lead with Dixon retaining third. With McLaughlin mired in seventh, Rossi and O’Ward traded spots for a second time through the frontstretch as the former reassumed the lead. O’Ward and Rossi swapped positions for a third time through the frontstretch with 42 laps remaining as Rossi returned to the lead.

    With 35 laps remaining, Rossi, who kept swapping the lead with his Arrow McLaren teammate O’Ward through the frontstretch, reassumed the lead while third-place Dixon trailed by within seven-tenths of a second. Behind, Newgarden and Palou trailed in the top five ahead of McLaughlin while VeeKay, Daly, Ferrucci and Kirkwood were scored in the top 10.

    Three laps later, however, Rossi surrendered his back-and-forth trade for the lead with teammate O’Ward to pit his No. 7 Arrow McLaren Dallara-Chevrolet under green. Another two laps later, Dixon made his move beneath O’Ward to move his No. 9 PNC Bank/Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara-Honda into the lead as Sato and Robb peeled off the track to pit under green. Newgarden, McLaughlin and Daly would pit during the next lap before Dixon, Canapino, O’Ward, Castroneves and Lundgaard pitted with 38 laps remaining. Amid the pit stops, Dixon emerged ahead of Newgarden, Rossi and O’Ward while Kirkwood, who was among nine front-runners who has yet to pit, was leading.

    With 25 laps remaining, Dixon overtook Newgarden through the frontstretch to reclaim the top spot as the competitor who recently pitted despite being scored in seventh place. By then, Kirkwood was still leading ahead of Ilott, Rahal, Carpenter, Larson and Simpson, all of whom have yet to pit under green. Dixon and Newgarden would spend the next five laps gaining drafts and swapping spots over one another through the frontstretch as they moved up the leaderboard into fourth and fifth. Meanwhile, Larson, who cycled into the lead a lap earlier after Ed Carpenter pitted, was leading by seven-tenths of a second over Simpson with 20 laps remaining as Newgarden, Rossi and Dixon moved up into the top five.

    Four laps later, Larson surrendered the lead to pit under green. Once Simpson pitted during the next lap, Newgarden cycled into the lead as he held a three-tenths of a second advantage over a hard-charging Rossi, with Dixon and O’Ward also trailing by within seven-tenths of a second. Rossi would then overtake Newgarden from the outside lane through the frontstretch to lead with 13 laps remaining. Behind, O’Ward overtook Dixon for third place while Rossi was trying to muscle away with the lead.

    Down to the final 12 laps of the event, Newgarden rocketed past Rossi from the inside lane through the frontstretch to reassume the lead while O’Ward was trying to close in on teammate Rossi for the runner-up spot. With Dixon trailing in fourth place by more than a second and Rossi trying to close back towards Newgarden’s rear bumper, Newgarden continued to lead by two-tenths of a second with 10 laps remaining.

    With nine laps remaining, Rossi gained another draft on Newgarden to reassume the lead through the frontstretch. As Rossi led by three-tenths of a second during the next lap, O’Ward was trying to fend off Dixon for third place while Kirkwood, Palou and McLaughlin trailed from fifth to seventh, respectively.

    Then with seven laps remaining, Newgarden reclaimed the lead while O’Ward seized an opportunity to rocket past teammate Rossi through the frontstretch as he assumed the runner-up spot. O’Ward then made his move beneath Newgarden to assume the lead through the frontstretch with five laps remaining before Newgarden reassumed the top spot during the proceeding lap. Newgarden would proceed to retain the lead by a narrow margin over O’Ward during the next two laps.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, O’Ward made his move to the outside lane and overtook Newgarden to assume the lead, where he retained it through the first two turns. Then while trying to muscle away as he swerved his car to the left and right to not give Newgarden any drafting momentum, the latter was able to gain enough momentum to make a bold move to the outside lane entering Turn 3 and zip by O’Ward. With the lead back within his grasp and O’Ward losing ground, Newgarden was able to muscle away with the lead for two final turns and cycle back to the frontstretch to claim his second consecutive checkered flag at the Greatest Spectacle of Racing in Indianapolis, Indiana.

    With the victory, Newgarden became the 21st competitor overall to win the Indianapolis 500 multiple times and the first to win the event in back-to-back seasons since Helio Castroneves made the last accomplishment between 2001 and 2002. The 2024 Indy 500 victory marks Newgarden’s 30th of his NTT IndyCar Series career and the first of the season, which made him the fourth winner through the season’s first five events on the schedule.

    The victory served as a redemptive moment for Newgarden and his No. 2 Team Penske team as they were disqualified from winning the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg due to violating rules involving their use of the push-to-pass system. The disqualification also affected their teammate Will Power, who initially finished third in the event. Earlier this month, Team Penske suspended several key members from their organization, including managing director Ron Ruzewski and team president Tim Cindric.

    “[The critics] can say whatever they want after this point. I don’t care anymore,” Newgarden said on the frontstretch on NBC. “I’m just so proud of the team. They crushed it. They came here with the fastest cars. We worked our tails off, Team Chevy brought it. [Race engineer] Luke [Mason], Tim [Cindric], they’re not here today, but they’re a huge part of this. I’m just so proud of everybody for Team Penske. That’s the way I wanted to win the [race] right there.”

    “I knew we could win this race again and [it was] just a matter of getting it right,” Newgarden added in Victory Lane. “There’s no better way to win a race than that. I got to give it up to Pato [O’Ward] as well. He’s an incredibly clean driver. It takes two people to make that work, so it’s not just a good pass. It’s also someone that you’re working with that’s incredible clean. He could’ve easily won this race too, but it just fell our way. I just went for it. I said, ‘Alright, the car’s good enough. You guys have done your job Let me drive to the front.’ [The team] backed me the entire way. You can’t win this race without a great car. It’s the best car in the field, so hats off to the team. It’s always a team win. Today epitomizes the team victory. It’s a team win on the pole, it’s a team win today. I’m thankful for Roger Penske. He’s stood by me. He’s the man, he’s a legend. There’s no one that I’ve ever met that cares more about the fan and the experience than that man. I promise you, he cares so much about this place and I’m thankful for him.”

    In addition, Newgarden, who achieved his second Indy 500 victory following a last-lap pass for a second consecutive season after overtaking Marcus Ericsson for the win a year ago, had the honors of bestowing the record-setting 20th Indianapolis 500 victory to team owner Roger Penske, who is also the owner of Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

    “It’s a dream come true,” Penske said. “You think about all these fans that were here today. [They] Waited five hours to see that race. Unbelievable finish. I never saw one car get ahead by a couple of seconds. For me, it’s a job we love to do. We love to win. I think this puts away a lot of the things we talked about who we are and where we are. We’re winners.”

    As Newgarden fought back tears of joy and relief in Victory Lane, O’Ward, who led 12 laps and was striving to become the first Mexican competitor to win the Indy 50, fought back tears of disappointment on pit road after settling in the runner-up spot in the 500 for a second time in three seasons.

    “It’s hard to put it into words,” O’Ward said. “I’m proud of the work that we did today. We recovered. We went back, we went forward, we went back. Some people were driving like maniacs. We had so many near race-enders and [we were] just so close again. So close. I put that car through things I never thought it was going to be able to do. Somehow I came out the other side of the corner. It’s just so painful when you put so much into it and [we were] two corners short. [This track] owes me nothing. I much rather have finished the race rather than compared to last year, but it’s always a heartbreak whenever you’re just so close, especially when it’s not the first time. You just don’t know how many opportunities like that you have.”

    Scott Dixon, the 2008 Indianapolis 500 winner, came home in third place followed by Alexander Rossi, both of whom led 12 laps apiece, while Alex Palou, the 2024 Sonsio Grand Prix winner and two-time series champion, finished fifth.

    “[The finish] was like a win, obviously,” Dixon said. “We had some ups and downs  through the race. We definitely just didn’t have the speed today, unfortunately. It was just one of those days where I feel like everybody gave each other pretty good room. We had some incidents here and there, but it was wild to watch. Obviously at the end there, when you’re going for third place, you see the first two mixing it up. You hope they’re going to crash into each other, unfortunately, but that’s just the way it goes.”

    “The fuel number I had to hit, I couldn’t lead.” Rossi added. “Just an amazing effort for the whole Arrow McLaren organization and Team Chevy. It was an amazing month. It’s really hard when you come away from this event not thinking you should’ve changed anything and still, the result isn’t there. I look back and there’s nothing to this month that I would’ve done any differently. The car was great. When you can’t win with that, it’s a tough pill to swallow.”

    “I didn’t have a perfect day, but almost,” Palou added. “Strategy wasn’t the best in our case, but [it] still was good. We tried. We gave everything we had. [We] Didn’t have the ultimate speed today and had fun passing some cars. Pretty happy to finish P5. Not the best result, obviously here, but it was a good race.”

    Pole-sitter Scott McLaughlin, Kyle Kirkwood, Santino Ferrucci, Rinus VeeKay and Conor Daly completed the top 10 in the final running order.

    Notably, Kyle Larson finished 18th in both his first career start in the NTT IndyCar Series and Indianapolis 500. In addition, Takuma Sato finished 14th ahead of Graham Rahal, Sting Ray Robb, who led 23 laps as part of his strategic moves, finished 16th ahead of Ed Carpenter and Helio Castroneves ended up 20th,

    There were 52 lead changes for 18 different leaders. The event featured eight cautions for 47 laps. In addition, 21 of 33 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the fifth event of the 2024 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season, Alex Palou leads the championship standings by 20 points over Scott Dixon, 26 over Will Power, 49 over both Pato O’Ward and Colton Herta, 52 over Scott McLaughlin and 61 over Josef Newgarden.

    Results.

    1. Josef Newgarden, 26 laps led

    2. Pato O’Ward, 12 laps led

    3. Scott Dixon, 12 laps led

    4. Alexander Rossi, 12 laps led

    5. Alex Palou, one lap led

    6. Scott McLaughlin, 64 laps led

    7. Kyle Kirkwood, two laps led

    8. Santino Ferrucci, eight laps led

    9. Rinus VeeKay, eight laps led

    10. Conor Daly, 22 laps led

    11. Callum Ilott, one lap led

    12. Christian Rasmussen, one lap led

    13. Christian Lundgaard, four laps led

    14. Takuma Sato

    15. Graham Rahal, one lap led

    16. Sting Ray Robb, 23 laps led

    17. Ed Carpenter, three laps led

    18. Kyle Larson, four laps led

    19. Romain Grosjean

    20. Helio Castroneves

    21. Kyffin Simpson, three laps led

    22. Agustin Canapino, one lap down

    23. Colton Herta – OUT, Contact

    24. Will Power – OUT, Contact

    25. Marco Andretti – OUT, Contact

    26. Ryan Hunter-Reay – OUT, Contact

    27. Felix Rosenqvist – OUT, Mechanical

    28. Linus Lundqvist – OUT, Contact

    29. Katherine Legge – OUT, Mechanical

    30. Marcus Armstrong – OUT, Mechanical

    31. Tom Blomqvist – OUT, Contact

    32. Marcus Ericsson – OUT, Contact

    33. Pietro Fittipaldi – OUT, Contact

    Next on the 2024 NTT INDYCAR Series schedule is the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix at the Streets of Detroit, Michigan. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, June 2, and air at noon ET on USA Network.

  • Larson finishes 18th in first Indy 500 attempt; misses 2024 Coca-Cola 600

    Larson finishes 18th in first Indy 500 attempt; misses 2024 Coca-Cola 600

    Kyle Larson capped off an eventful day and month of motorsports competition leading up to Memorial Day weekend on a bittersweet note that resulted with his plans of performing ‘Double Duty’ between the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 being partially spoiled due to on-track precipitation and resulting with him campaigning in the former over the latter.

    The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion from Elk Grove, California, commenced his planned ‘Double Duty’ task by opting to remain at Indianapolis Motor Speedway to compete in this year’s 108th running of the Indy 500 with Arrow McLaren on Sunday, May 26, despite the event being delayed by four hours due to a heavy stream of precipitation.

    Qualifying in fifth place during last Sunday’s qualifying session with a four-lap average-qualifying speed of 232.846 mph in two mintutes, 34.6083 seconds, Larson, who started the main event on the second row, dropped one spot on the track amid a multi-car wreck on the opening lap that knocked Pietro Fittipaldi, Tom Blomqvist and the 2022 Indy 500 champion Marcus Ericsson out of contention.

    Then during the next restart period on the ninth lap, Larson endured a brief scary moment when he fell off the pace after missing a gear and getting his car to launch at the start. Larson’s gearing issues resulted with the Californian dropping to 14th place as he made wheel-to-wheel contact with Ryan Hunter-Reay through the frontstretch. Amid the contact, Larson was able to keep his No. 17 HendrickCars.com/Arrow McLaren Dallara-Chevrolet pointing straight as he remained within 14th place in the early stages.

    After gaining two spots on pit road following his first INDYCAR pit service amid another caution period for Katherine Legge having a mechanical issue, Larson would remain in the top 15, starting through the event’s next restart period on Lap 26.

    Over the course of the event, Larson, who would carve his way back into the top 10 on the track, was scored in ninth place by the Lap 50 mark before he moved up to seventh place at the halfway mark on Lap 100. Through a steady pace on the track and stellar pit stops from his team, Larson would run as high as fourth place on the track.

    Then during a late cycle of green flag pit stops with 69 laps remaining, Larson’s strong run was foiled after he smoked his front tires while trying to reduce his speed to enter pit road while running in the top five. Amid his pit service, Larson would be assessed a drive-through penalty for speeding on pit road. After serving his pass-through penalty, Larson was mired back in 22nd place on the track.

    During the final round of green flag pit stops that commenced with nearly 30 laps remaining, Larson, who was on a different pit strategy compared to the leaders, would lead his first lap in the Indy 500 with 20 laps remaining. He would lead the next four laps before he surrendered the lead to pit for the final time under green with 16 laps remaining. Returning to the track, Larson would cross the finish line in 18th place, which made him the lowest-finishing Arrow McLaren competitor of the day while his teammates Pato O’Ward, Alexander Rossi and Callum Ilott finished second, fourth and 11th, respectively.

    “I would definitely love to be back next year,” Larson said on NBC. “I feel like I learned a lot throughout the race. [I] Felt like I did a really good job on the restarts and was able to learn a lot. Obviously, I smoked the left front [tire] or something into the green flag stop and killed our opportunity, so proud to finish, but pretty upset at myself. If I just could’ve executed a better race, you never know what could happen. Bummed at myself, but huge thank you to Arrow McLaren, Hendrick Motorsports, Hendrick Automotive Group, Rick Hendrick, Chevrolet, everybody that’s a part of this. We’ll go hop on a jet and see if I can get into the [Coca-Cola] 600 somehow.”

    By the time Larson arrived at the track from his helicopter, however, the event, which had started without Larson present, was under a caution period due to precipitation and eventually red-flagged on Lap 249 of 400. By then, Justin Allgaier, an Xfinity Series veteran for JR Motorsports who was selected to serve as Larson’s standby competitor, had piloted the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 up to 13th place after Allgaier was forced to start at the rear of the field due to a driver change.

    Eventually, the event was made official by NASCAR due to the precipitation around the Charlotte Motor Speedway circuit, with Christopher Bell claiming the rain-shortened victory and Allgaier being credited for 13th place by both starting and finishing the event while Larson, who had planned to contest in 1,100 miles between the Indy 500 and the Coke 600, was unable to pilot his No. 5 entry for a lap.

    As a result, this season marks the first time where a competitor attempting the double during Memorial Day weekend ends up competing in one event over the other since Robby Gordon ended up only competing in the Indy 500, which was delayed by three hours and caused him to miss the Coke 600.

    By missing this year’s Coca-Cola 600, Larson, who snaps a 121-race starting streak, and Hendrick Motorsports have yet to submit a waiver request to NASCAR that would keep Larson eligible to make the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs. In addition, Larson, who came into the Coke 600 with a 30-point lead in the 2024 Cup Series regular-season standings, drops to third place in the standings, but trails points leader Denny Hamlin by six points and runner-up Martin Truex Jr. by one.

    With his 2024 Indianapolis 500 start complete, Larson shifts his focus back to his full-time Cup Series role for the upcoming series’ event at Gateway’s World Wide Technology Raceway for the Enjoy Illinois 300. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, June 2, and air at 3:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Kurt Busch’s ‘The Double’ Challenge: 10 Years Later

    Kurt Busch’s ‘The Double’ Challenge: 10 Years Later

    Ten years ago on this day, March 4, Kurt Busch announced his attempt to tackle ‘The Double.’ It’s the ultimate motorsports challenge that involves competing in both the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600, two prestigious events centered around two motorsports series, on the same day during Memorial Day weekend. 

    Busch’s first interest in attempting ‘The Double’ occurred in early May 2013 when he tested an IndyCar powered by a Chevrolet engine for Andretti Autosport at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Indiana. By then, the 2004 Cup Series champion from Las Vegas, Nevada, was campaigning in the Cup circuit for Furniture Row Racing after spending the majority of the previous season driving for Phoenix Raceway.  

    After spending the remainder of the 2013 season along with the early months of the 2014 season mulling over the decision to attempt ‘The Double’, Busch’s decision and announcement for the challenge was officially made on March 4, 2014, two months before the Indy 500 would occur, as he would join forces with Andretti to pilot a fifth entry for the organization. 

    On April 28, Busch’s Indy 500 ride with Andretti Autosport was revealed, where he would pilot the No. 26 Dallara-Honda sponsored by Suretone Entertainment in IndyCar’s most prestigious events on the calendar to commence the double duty process. He would then fly back to Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, in time to compete in NASCAR’s longest event on the calendar, the Coca-Cola 600, behind the wheel of his full-time Cup Series ride: the No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing. 

    A day later, Busch’s double challenge on the track commenced as he piloted his Andretti entry around Indianapolis Motor Speedway during a refresher test program. He turned in 66 laps during the program and recorded a top speed of 220.844 mph. Another week later, the Las Vegas veteran topped the speed charts during the event’s Rookie Orientation Program with an average running speed of 222.289 mph, which cleared him to attempt a qualifying run for the Indy 500, before he posted the second-fastest speed at 224.159 mph behind teammate EJ Viso during a practice session the following week. 

    On May 17, when the qualification process of the 2014 Indy 500 occurred, Busch made two qualifying attempts and ended up posting the 10th-fastest average speed at 229.960 mph, which was one spot short of reaching the Fast Nine Shootout. Flying back to Charlotte Motor Speedway to compete in the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, where he finished 11th, Busch would participate in the Indy 500’s second qualifying session the following day, May 18. With his best four-lap average qualifying speed averaging at 230.782 mph, he ended up claiming the 12th-place starting spot for the 2014 Indy 500 and watched from a distance as Indianapolis native Ed Carpenter claimed the pole position. 

    Aside from time management, the only hurdle to Busch’s double attempt was being involved in a hard accident during the post-qualifying practice session on May 19, where he slid into the outside wall while entering the backstretch and spun across the track before coming to rest towards the backstretch’s infield grass. The wreck resulted in Busch’s team using a backup car from teammate Marco Andretti as Busch’s for Carb Day and the Indy 500.  

    Meanwhile, Busch would proceed to qualify in 28th place for the Coca-Cola 600 on May 22 as his No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing team had Parker Kligerman tabbed as a backup competitor for Busch in the event of a scheduling conflict that would result in the latter having traveling issues from Indianapolis to Charlotte. 

    On race day for the 98th running of the Indianapolis 500 on May 25, Busch, who started alongside IndyCar champions Scott Dixon and Juan Pablo Montoya on the fourth row from 12th place, ran a consistent race and spent the majority of the day running within the top 20. Amid a handful of late-race incidents that eliminated Dixon, Charlie Kimball, teammate James Hinchcliffe and pole-winner Carpenter out of contention, Busch climbed his way up the leaderboard to run within the top 10 with 25 laps remaining.

    Then while running in seventh place with 10 laps remaining, he barely dodged an accident entering the backstretch that eliminated Townsend Bell out of contention to gain a spot. With scheduling concerns rising as the event was placed in a red-flag period to clear Bell’s wreckage, the race would proceed in stable time for a six-lap shootout, where Busch would steer his No. 26 Honda to a strong sixth-place finish while teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay fended off a late charge from Helio Castroneves to win the Indy 500 for the first time in his career.  

    Despite returning to Charlotte Motor Speedway in time for the start of the Coca-Cola 600, Busch was ultimately forced to start at the rear of the field due to missing the pre-race driver’s meeting. When the green flag for the start of the 600-mile event, he spent the early stages of the event pinned a lap down and mired within the top 30 in the running order. While trying to methodically carve his way up the leaderboard, Busch gained a break on Lap 148 when a debris caution enabled him to cycle back onto the lead lap after being pinned a lap down, and by then, he was running within the top 15.  

    Racing as high as within the top-10 mark as the event surpassed its halfway mark of 400-scheduled laps, where he would receive the free pass a second time due to another debris caution on Lap 222, Busch’s 600-mile event at Charlotte slowly began to go south just past the Lap 250 mark as he radioed the loss of two cylinders to his No. 41 Chevrolet. By Lap 273, his event came to a bitter end after his engine went up in smoke entering the backstretch, which resulted in Busch nursing his car to the garage as he retired in 40th place, thus ending his long double run, while pole-sitter Jimmie Johnson would proceed to win. 

    Overall, Busch completed a total of 906 miles from the planned 1,100 (471 of 600 combined laps). He joined John Andretti, Robby Gordon and Tony Stewart as the only competitors to have attempted and achieved ‘The Double’ at least once to date. Despite not achieving a victory in either event during his double challenge, Busch would be named the 2014 Indy 500 Rookie-of-the-Year recipient as he was the highest-finishing rookie on the track.

    In addition, his sixth-place result during the Indy 500 matches Gordon and Stewart’s best on-track result in the Indy 500 for any competitor participating in ‘The Double’ challenge. Stewart, however, is the only competitor to date to have completed all 1,100 miles of competition during ‘The Double’, which he accomplished in 2001 after finishing sixth at Indy before settling in third at Charlotte. 

    “We gave it our all,” Busch said in the garage on FOX. “To feel the stock car right after driving an INDYCAR was a day I’ll never forget. I can’t let the mood here with the [expired] car [at Charlotte] dampen what happened up at Indy today. That was very special. It takes a team everywhere. All in all, I’m very satisfied. I trained hard. [I] had a lot of people helping me out. Everybody worked hard on both sides.” 

    Following his 2014 double attempt, Busch, who would not make any additional attempts for another double bid, would proceed to make the 2014 Cup Series Playoffs and end up in 12th place in the final standings. He then spent the next eight seasons accumulating a total of nine Cup victories and making the Playoffs from 2015-21 while competing between three organizations (Stewart-Haas Racing, Chip Ganassi Racing and 23XI Racing). An accident during a qualifying session at Pocono Raceway in July 2022 would force Busch to retire from full-time NASCAR competition before the 2023 season amid sustaining concussion-like symptoms, with Busch officially announcing his retirement from racing for good this past August. 

    This season, a new name strives to be added to the list of competitors who have successfully performed the double on Memorial Day weekend as Kyle Larson declared his bid in January 2023 to attempt ‘The Double’ challenge for the 2024 season. Larson, the 2021 Cup Series champion from Elk Grove, California, will join forces with Arrow McLaren and attempt to qualify for this year’s 108th running of the Indy 500 in the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Dallara-Chevrolet.

    He will then travel to Charlotte Motor Speedway and conclude the day by competing in the Coca-Cola 600 behind his familiar No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports in the Cup circuit, where he will bid for his second 600 victory after winning his first in 2021. 

    The 2024 Indianapolis 500 is scheduled to occur on May 26 and air at 11 a.m. ET on NBC. The 2024 Coca-Cola 600 will follow suit on the same day and air at 6 p.m. ET on FOX. 

  • Newgarden steals Indy 500 victory

    Newgarden steals Indy 500 victory

    INDIANAPOLIS — Josef Newgarden walked into the DEX Imaging Media Center at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, talking about stocks.

    No, I didn’t make that up.

    “I am into finance,” he said. “I think it’s a great career path. It’s probably something I would be doing if I wasn’t driving cars. It’s kind of as simple as that. I won’t bore everybody, but I love that world. I think it’s super fun.”

    As Newgarden says this, the video screens both in the deadline room and around the track play a highlight package of his Indianapolis 500 victory.

    With one lap to go, Newgarden overtook Marcus Ericsson on the backstretch, using the same move Ericsson used to win in 2022.

    And Newgarden knew exactly how he wanted to celebrate.

    Go up in the stands.

    INDIANAPOLIS – MAY 28: Josef Newgarden, driver of the #2 Shell Chevrolet, celebrates with the fans in the stands, after winning the NTT IndyCar Series Indianapolis 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 28, 2023, in Indianapolis. Photo: Karl Zemlin/Penske Entertainment

    He parked his car on the yard of bricks, exited his Team Penske Chevrolet and hopped through a crossover gate to celebrate with the fans.

    “Yeah, I knew exactly where the gap was,” he said. “I’d been over there many, many years. I’ve seen that photo, whole spot, and really it’s just like an access point that you can crawl under. It looks like it’s closed but there’s a way to get through. I knew exactly where I was going at the end of this race.”

    He wanted to go higher up, but thought better of it. So he hugged a couple of people and crawled back through the gap.

    “But it was really cool,” he said. “You just can’t beat the Hoosier hospitality, the energy that people bring here. It is second to none when it comes to a sporting event.”

    Meanwhile, his crew channels Helio Castroneves and hangs from the catch fence.

    Visibly crying as his crew wheeled his car to victory lane, he climbed out and followed through the traditional victory lane celebrations, from the wreath to drinking the milk.

    “The milk, I felt good about it,” he said. “It tasted so good. I love milk. I drink a lot of milk. So for me, the Indy 500 is kind of the greatest thing ever. Other people might not like to get milk after. That’s the choice I would have made, too. I love Louis Meyer. I love that he threw that up as a tradition. I’m a big milk guy.”

    Compare this to his 2016 post-race interview, after he finished third. He was dejected, frustrated, and in despair.

    Now, the newest Indianapolis 500 champion talked about how fascinated he is with finances.

    FULL DISCLOSURE: I asked him what fascinates him about finances.

    When Newgarden’s press conference wrapped up, he put the wreath back on and turned his focus to the rest of the season. As well as getting Roger Penske his 20th Indy 500 victory, next season.

    “I put my hand on his shoulder in Victory Lane and said, ‘Now we got to get 20,’” he said. “He was the first one to go, ‘Absolutely.’ He didn’t even take a breath. He was ahead of me in the thought process, as you know.

    “He’s eyes forward. It will be important. We need to come back. There’s still areas we can be better, so we’ll go and analyze after this weekend and see where we can improve. But we’ll come back ready to fight and get No. 20 for him.”

  • Graham Rahal: ‘It’s certainly very very different’

    Graham Rahal: ‘It’s certainly very very different’

    INDIANAPOLIS — Graham Rahal entered the North Chataeu Pavillion at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He sat at the interview table in the back of the room and kicked out his feet until the toes of his shoes poked out of the cloth.

    Virtually every reporter gathered around and craned their necks to hear every word he’d say. And why wouldn’t they? After all, just four days earlier, teammate Jack Harvey bumped him out of the Indianapolis 500.

    But then Rahal received a call.

    “I will say that there was a part of me that thought it wasn’t right, and that I was just going to accept that I wasn’t racing and I was going to move forward and move into kind of a different phase and my mental process and the way the rest of my week was going to be,” he said.

    One day after Harvey bumped out Rahal, Stefan Wilson pounded the wall in Turn 1 and injured his back. And Rahal was the first choice of Dreyer and Reinbold Racing team owner, Dennie Reinbold.

    Instead of watching at home, Rahal finds himself in a “very very different” situation.

    Those differences range from a different manufacturer to the fit of gloves.

    “Obviously, the engine is different,” he said. “The brakes feel different, like the way the button, everything feels different. The way the end, the buttons feel, too, thumbs to the gloves is different. There’s a lot that goes into that.”

    He asked questions about input to the car but felt it wasn’t his place to push the issue. He feels he’s here to “fill out a big void for the weekend.”

    Moreover, for one race, he transitions from helping his Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing teammates to racing against them. He is, however, excited for the opportunity.

    “I know they’ve had very strong cars. But the mentality is different. My job is turned from maybe a team leader to a guy that wants to go win this thing again. Not that it ever went away, but clearly, I have a chance now that I didn’t, Monday afternoon.”

    If Sunday’s his day, the final practice Friday didn’t reflect it. He clocked in 30th, over half a second back of Takuma Sato.

  • Palou drives away from field at Indy

    Palou drives away from field at Indy

    INDIANAPOLIS — With eight laps to go, it was Alex Palou’s race to lose.

    The 2021 NTT IndyCar Series champion led 52 of the 85 laps to win the GMR Indy Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

    “We knew we had a fast car honestly since practice, since we were all off the trailers,” he said. “The car was really, really good. I was comfortable. We missed a little bit on pole, yesterday, but we knew we had a fast car.”

    It’s his fifth career IndyCar victory and first since the season-finale at Laguna Seca in 2022.

    “Yeah, every win is special, honestly,” he said. “We’ve been close here. We had little bit of bad luck. I know in ’21 we had a failure when we were going for the fight for the win at the end. It was the first race that everything came perfectly, the strategy, the tires, the speed of the car, myself obviously.

    “Super proud. It’s a special place. You can feel that in the car just with the fans that we had already since practice one. There’s something about this place obviously. Even if it’s not the big one, it’s still special.

    “So super proud of the first win of the season, first win with the American Legion, as well, and first win at the IMS. Couldn’t be better.”

    Pato O’Ward had fresh red tires, but couldn’t overcome a 10-second gap before he reached his tires’ crossover lap and finished runner-up, 16 seconds behind.

    “Super stoked for the team,” he said. “We put three cars in the top-five. Fricking hard to do in this series with how competitive it is. Just stoked for everybody in the organization, for our 5 crew.

    “We made our strategy really work, right? I just think today Palou and Ganassi were very, very strong, so we couldn’t quite get them there in the end.

    “Historically this hasn’t been the best of tracks for us. So this is awesome to see just the massive step forward we’ve taken here in race pace. Super happy to see that.

    “Rolling with some great momentum into our Super Bowl.”

    Alexander Rossi rounded out the podium, after he overtook Christian Lundgaard into Turn 7 with 10 to go.

    “Like Pato said, to get three cars in the top-five is near on impossible these days,” he said. “Arrow McLaren has done a phenomenal job all year. You can’t talk about how challenging it is to add a car in the off-season. They’ve done it with relative apparent ease. There’s a lot of work behind the scenes.

    “Really proud to get the first podium for the team, the first one as part of Team Chevy. It was a good day. We’ve had a really strong pace on Sundays, we just haven’t gotten the results that we feel like we deserve. We’re missing a little bit on Saturdays.

    “The pieces are coming together. I’ve got an awesome team, awesome teammates around me.”

    Pole sitter Christian Lundgaard and Felix Rosenqvist rounded out the top-five.

    Scott Dixon, Josef Newgarden, Marcus Ericsson, Colton Herta and Graham Rahal rounded out the top-10.

    Race summary

    INDIANAPOLIS – MAY 13: Alex Palou races Felix Rosenqvist, during the NTT IndyCar Series GMR Indy Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 13, 2023, in Indianapolis. Photo: Simon Scoggins/SpeedwayMedia.com

    Lundgaard led the field to green at 3:46 p.m. ET. He and Palou touched in Turn 1, but Palou overtook him in Turn 13 to lead the first lap.

    “We knew starting on the alternates we needed to go hard and try and get the lead as fast as possible,” Palou said. “I think the alternates had two, three laps that they were a lot better. Afterwards, you kind of got stuck behind.

    “I tried in Turn 1. He went really aggressive. It was right, it was perfect what he did, but yeah, I wanted it to be something easier (smiling). We were able to get it on the last corner. That was good.”

    Rahal contacted someone also, and dropped through the field. On Lap 7, Will Power drove Kyle Kirkwood wide into Turn 1. Entering Turn 2, Kirkwood turned him. IndyCar gave him an avoidable contact penalty and he dropped seven spots, behind Power.

    By Lap 15, Palou hit the crossover point on his red tires and Lundgaard cut the gap by over a second in three laps. Palou pitted from the lead on Lap 18. Lundgaard stayed out for two laps, before changing over to reds on Lap 20. Palou cycled ahead, but Lundgaard ran him down and overtook him down Hulman Boulevard on Lap 24.

    Meanwhile, Rahal inherited the lead, thanks to multiple stops from his Lap 1 hit. By Lap 30, however, Lundgaard chewed half a second a lap into his lead, and Rahal pitted from the lead on Lap 31.

    Lundgaard’s reds hit their crossover lap on Lap 37. After that, Palou on blacks ate into his lead and overtook him into Turn 1 for the lead on Lap 42. Before he crossed the start/finish line, Lundgaard pitted from second for used reds. Meanwhile, Palou followed suit on Lap 43, but took sticker blacks.

    Lundgaard pitted from third on Lap 60 for sticker blacks. Palou responded a lap later, but took used blacks. He cycled out ahead of Lundgaard, on new blacks, and O’Ward, on fresh reds.

    This set up the run to the finish.

    What else happened

    Entering Turn 7 on Lap 2, Romain Grosjean clipped David Malukas, who spun into Sting Ray Robb.

    That was the only caution of the race.

    Nuts and bolts

    The race lasted one hour, 47 minutes and 57 seconds, at an average speed of 115.234 mph. There were 12 lead changes among eight different drivers, and one caution for three laps.

    Palou kicks off the Month of May with a six-point lead over O’Ward.

  • Why IndyCar and IMS continue Indy 500 blackout

    Why IndyCar and IMS continue Indy 500 blackout

    INDIANAPOLIS — It’s that time of year, again. The IndyCar teams leave their shops on Main Street and pull into the racing capital of the world for the centerpiece of the NTT IndyCar Series calendar, the Indianapolis 500. Penske Entertainment Corp. president and CEO, Mark Miles, and Indianapolis Motor Speedway track president, Doug Boles, kicked off the Month of May at the Brickyard, Saturday, by unveiling an environmental initiative to make the 2023 edition “the most sustainable on record.”

    For all that IndyCar and IMS changed for 2023, however, one tradition lingers: The Indy 500 local blackout.

    Why the blackout?

    INDIANAPOLIS – MAY 13: (l to r) Mark Miles, Doug Boles and Glenn Johnson speak to the media during the NTT IndyCar Series GMR Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 13, 2023, in Indianapolis. Photo: Tucker White/SpeedwayMedia.com

    While the rest of the United States sees the Indianapolis 500 live, the NBC affiliate blacks it out for its namesake city and airs it later that day, in primetime, to incentivize locals to pack the grandstands. This practice started in 1986 and continues to this day, except for 2016 (sellout for 100th Indy 500), 2020 and 2021 (COVID restrictions). Meanwhile, NASCAR doesn’t blackout races for the local markets. Not even for its crown jewel race, the Daytona 500.

    So why does IndyCar and IMS continue this tradition? It’s a question Miles has had many times over many years.

    “We have to get people here as they have been here in growing numbers for many, many years,” he said. “We’re really clear-minded about the fact that for us, attendance is first, and this spectacle emanates from the vibe here on race day with 300,000 plus people here. I think that’s unique.”

    Unlike NASCAR, where tracks get 65% of its $6.6 billion TV deal, IndyCar doesn’t make those numbers public. How much IndyCar and the track rely on ticket sales, vs. the league’s TV deal, is unknown. And that doesn’t include how much the teams and drivers get from the TV deal the league signed in 2021.

    So there might be a financial rationale to continue the practice.

    “We think this is a unique event,” he said. “With all due respect, and I mean with complete respect to our friends at NASCAR, at Indianapolis for the 500, we sell as many tickets in the 500 hours after this race, renewals, as they have at the Daytona 500 in total by the time they run the race. And that is in no way meant to be — like I said, we have complete respect for them. It is meant to emphasize how important attendance is to us, to the success of this event.”

    Of course, NASCAR doesn’t disclose how many tickets its tracks, Speedway Motorsports Inc., Indianapolis, Pocono Raceway or World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway sold, unless it’s a sellout. So I can’t verify the veracity of Miles’ statement on ticket renewals, compared to Daytona.

    Bottom line

    At the end of the day, IndyCar and IMS see a financial incentive to continue the local media blackout. Unlike NASCAR, however, IndyCar hasn’t struggled to pack the stands for its events.

    “We also, I think, have demonstrated over the last few years that when getting people here is not an issue,” Miles said, “either because it’s COVID and we can’t bring anybody here, or because the number of people that could come were limited and we were definitely going to have that total here, then we do open it up. We like the idea that people can take it in, whether it’s linear or streaming.

    “But for now, that’s our rationale, and it’s important to us.”

  • Dreyer & Reinbold Racing signs Ryan Hunter-Reay for Indy 500 return

    Dreyer & Reinbold Racing signs Ryan Hunter-Reay for Indy 500 return

    Ryan Hunter-Reay has joined forces with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing (DRR) to pilot the team’s No. 23 entry in this year’s 107th annual running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway that will occur on May 28 during Memorial Day weekend.

    The 42-year-old Hunter-Reay from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, makes his return to the IndyCar competition since announcing his retirement from full-time competition at the conclusion of the 2021 season, where he had spent the bulk of his racing career competing for Andretti Autosport.

    Making his IndyCar debut in 2003 for American Spirit Team Johansson, Hunter-Reay notched his first career victory at Surfers Paradise Street Circuit in Australia towards the conclusion of the season. He then proceeded to score a total of 18 victories, 47 podiums, seven poles, over 1,500 laps led in 282 career starts (18 seasons). His biggest accomplishments in the IndyCar circuit include winning the 2012 series championship and the 2014 Indianapolis 500 following a late battle and bold overtake on multi-Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves prior to the final lap. His last series victory to date occurred in the 2018 season finale at Sonoma Raceway.

    The 2023 season is set to mark Hunter-Reay’s 15th start in the Greatest Spectacle of Racing. To go along with his lone 500 victory in 2014, he has notched six top-10 results and started in the top three twice in the event. Hunter-Reay’s entrance will make him the ninth former 500 winner to compete in this year’s field of 33 competitors, a list that will feature Castroneves, Scott Dixon, reigning Indy 500 champion Marcus Ericsson, Tony Kanaan, Simon Pagenaud, Will Power, Alexander Rossi and Takuma Sato.

    “I’ve been eager to share this news for quite some time,” Hunter-Reay said. “This partnership with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing presents a unique opportunity for me, and I can’t wait to get back on track at IMS. I feel laser-focused and energized. The Indy 500 isn’t just a motor race. For me, it’s a way of life.”

    “I was incredibly attracted to the fact that DRR is a streamlined program that puts all of its energy into the Month of May,” Hunter-Reay added. “I guess you can say I’m going back to my roots, considering how I started my INDYCAR career with smaller teams that took the fight to the bigger efforts and won. If you look at DRR’s record at Indy and their impressive recent results, the pool of talented engineers and crew, it’s a perfect fit.”

    Hunter-Reay’s partnership with Dreyer & Reinbold comes nearly four months after Dreyer & Reinbold Racing announced a joint effort with Cusick Motorsports to field the No. 24 entry for Stefan Wilson for the Indy event this upcoming May. The 2023 season will also mark DRR’s 24th consecutive season of fielding at least one entry for the Indy 500.

    “I am thrilled to have Ryan Hunter-Reay join our lineup for the 2023 Indianapolis 500,” Dennis Reinbold, team owner of DRR, said. “Ryan is a proven winner at the Speedway, winning in 2014, and is a tremendously talented driver who is a great addition to our team for this year’s ‘500.’”

    With his one-race plan for the 2023 season set, Hunter-Reay will compete in the 107th annual running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The event is scheduled to occur on May 28 with the event’s broadcast to commence at 11 a.m. ET on NBC.

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Indy Road Course

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Indy Road Course

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Chase Elliott: Elliott finished 17th in the Verizon 200 at Indianapolis.

    “I was battling for the lead on a late restart and got spun from behind,” Elliott said. “It’s always a crapshoot going into Turn 1 at Indy. There’s only one thing you can say about Indy’s Turn 1, and that is that more than 1 will be turned.”

    2. Joey Logano: Logano finished seventh at Indy, recording his ninth top-10 result of the season.

    “A race on the Indy road course is incredibly more entertaining than a Brickyard 400,” Logano said. “Heck, you could even say that Turn 1 in this race alone packed more excitement than 27 years of the Brickyard 400.”

    3. Tyler Reddick: Reddick took the lead on Lap 62 at Indy and survived several restarts to win the Verizon 200, taking his second win of the year.

    “That’s also my second road course win,” Reddick said. “I think that easily establishes me as the greatest race car driver who looks absolutely nothing like a great race car driver. My apologies to Indy car great Bobby Rahal, who used to hold that distinction”.

    4. Christopher Bell: Bell won Stage 2 in the Verizon 200, but had a top 10 finish derailed by a flat tire with six laps to go. He eventually finished 12th.

    “I braked a little too heavily entering Turn 12,” Bell said, “and flat spotted the right-front tire. That’s what happens under braking at Indy, especially when you’re over-braking.”

    5. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin finished 15th in the Verizon 200 as no Joe Gibbs Racing cars placed in the top 10.

    “That was my 600th career Cup start,” Hamlin said. “That’s impressive, and it’s really the story of my career because I can start with the best of ’em, but I can’t finish as the best of ’em.”

    6. Kyle Busch: Busch finished 12th at Indy.

    “I’m still a free agent,” Busch said, “so I’m weighing my options. Trust me, I’ve had offers. Many have been for me to go to this team, and many have been for me to go to that team, but most have been for me to go to hell.”

    7. Ross Chastain: Chastain charged late and briefly took the lead over Tyler Reddick when he bailed on Turn 1 and took the access road through. Alas, Reddick got back by Chastain, and NASCAR deemed Chastain’s pass illegal anyway, a penalty which relegated him to 27th.

    “NASCAR is really cracking down on drivers taking shortcuts,” Chastain said. “Just ask Denny Hamlin or Kyle Busch. Suffice it to say that if it’s me ‘cutting corners,’ NASCAR has ‘straightened’ me out.”

    8. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex finished 22nd at Indy, and is fifth in the points standings, 133 out of first.

    “I’m good on points for the playoffs,” Truex said, “but it would be nice to get a win and clinch it for sure. And I’m sure I can get it. In fact, I guarantee I’ll get in. I’m confident in my abilities, and when you’re confident in yourself, you’re a lot like Kyle Larson’s brakes—there’s no stopping you.”

    9. Ryan Blaney: Blaney used a bold fuel-only pit stop early at Indy, which worked out until he was collected in one of many Turn 1 incidents. A sure top five turned into a 27th-place finish.

    “The fuel-only pit stop was crucial,” Blaney said, “and obviously the right decision. I mean, it’s a quicker stop without tires, and you gain lots of track position. It’s a ‘win-win’ situation, which is two more wins that I have so far this year.”

    10. AJ Allmendinger: Allmendinger finished seventh in the Verizon 200, one day after triumphing in the Xfinity Series race.

    “Sunday’s was a grueling race for me,” Allmendinger said. “Not only was the cooling system in my race suit not working, but I also ran out of water. I was overheated but was still able to push the car to the limit. Heat exhaustion aside, I can still appreciate being called ‘Hot Flash.’”

  • Marcus Ericsson capitalizes late to win the 106th running of the Indianapolis 500

    Marcus Ericsson capitalizes late to win the 106th running of the Indianapolis 500

    On a bright, sunny afternoon at Indianapolis, Indiana, that was dominated by Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon, teammate Marcus Ericsson capitalized late under the final 15 laps to storm to the lead and fend off the field during a two-lap shootout to win the 106th running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 29.

    The 31-year-old Ericsson from Kumla, Sweden, led three times for a total of 13 of the 200-scheduled laps, including the final 11, and had appeared to have the victory sealed with six laps remaining when the caution flew following a single-car wreck involving Ericsson’s teammate Jimmie Johnson. With the event briefly placed in a hiatus before being placed in a two-lap dash to the finish, Ericsson fended off a late challenge from Pato O’Ward to claim his first Indy 500 triumph under caution.

    With the starting lineup determined through two on-track qualifying sessions between May 21-22, Scott Dixon started on pole position after recording the fastest four-lap average qualifying  speed at 234.046 mph, which was more than enough for him to notch his fifth Indy 500 pole. Teammate Alex Palou achieved the second-fastest four-lap average speed at 233.499 mph followed by Rinus VeeKay, who turned in the third-fastest four-lap average speed at 233.385 mph.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Dixon jumped ahead with the lead as the field scrambled behind. Then through the backstretch, Palou made a move on his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate to take the lead. As the field returned to the start/finish line, Palou led the first lap while Dixon and VeeKay battled for the runner-up spot.   

    Through the first five scheduled laps, Palou was leading by more than a tenth of a second over teammate Dixon followed by VeeKay, Marcus Ericsson and Ed Carpenter while Tony Kanaan, Pato O’Ward, Felix Rosenqvist, Will Power, and Romain Grosjean were in the top 10.

    Three laps later, Dixon made a move on teammate Palou through the first turn to take the lead for the first time while VeeKay remained in third ahead of Ericsson and Carpenter. By the Lap 10 mark, however, Palou made a move to the outside of teammate Dixon through the frontstretch to reassume the lead.

    By Lap 20, Palou, who had swapped the lead a handful of times with teammate Dixon, was leading ahead of teammate Dixon while VeeKay continued to run in third place. Ericsson also remained in fourth ahead of Ed Carpenter, Kanaan, O’Ward, Rosenqvist, Santino Ferrucci and Romain Grosjean while Will Power, Takuma Sato, Josef Newgarden, David Malukas, Alexander Rossi, Jimmie Johnson, Simon Pagenaud, Conor Daly, JR Hildebrand and Scott McLaughlin were in the top 20. Meanwhile, Marco Andretti was in 22nd, Helio Castroneves was in 25th behind Sage Karam, Colton Herta was mired in 27th behind Callum Ilott and Juan Pablo Montoya was in 29th behind Jack Harvey. 

    Ten laps later and with Dixon out in front ahead of teammate Palou, the first round of green flag pit stops commenced as Dixon surrendered the lead to pit along with Conor Daly and Dalton Kellett. Soon after, Palou pitted along with Santino Ferrucci, Jimmie Johnson, rookie Kyle Kirkwood, VeeKay, Grosjean, Devlin DeFrancesco, Stefan Wilson, Ericsson, Carpenter, Kanaan, O’Ward, Rosenqvist, Sato, Newgarden, Malukas, Rossi, Andretti, Power, Graham Rahal, Jack Harvey and others. 

    When the green flag pit stops sequence concluded on Lap 37 as Castroneves and Montoya pitted, Palou cycled his way back to the lead followed by VeeKay, Dixon, Ericsson and Carpenter while O’Ward, Rosenqvist, Ferrucci, Kanaan and Sato were in the top 10.

    Two laps later, the first caution of the event flew when VeeKay, who was pursuing Palou in the runner-up spot, got loose entering Turn 2 and collided against the outside wall, thus ending his event with a wrecked No. 21 Bitcoin Dallara-Chevrolet. During the caution period, some like Power pitted while the rest led by Palou remained on the track.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 46, Palou led teammates Dixon and Ericsson through the first two turns while the field behind jostled for positions. As the field returned to the frontstretch, Dixon reassumed the lead over Palou while O’Ward was up in third place ahead of Ericsson, Carpenter and Kanaan.

    As the field reached the one-quarter mark on Lap 50, Palou swapped spots with teammate Dixon to reassume the lead while O’Ward, Ericsson, Carpenter, Kanaan, Sato, Rosenqvist, Ferrucci and Malukas occupied the top 10.

    Nearing the Lap 70 mark, the second round of green flag pit stops commenced as Dixon, who was running in the runner-up spot behind teammate Palou, pitted his No. 9 PNC Bank Dallara-Honda along with Daly and Herta. 

    Shortly after and just as Palou was making a pit stop, the second caution of the event flew when Callum Ilott got loose, spun and pounded the outside wall in Turn 2 before he slid down the track and pounded the inside wall as his Indy 500 debut came to an end with a wrecked No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Dallara-Chevrolet. During the caution period, the majority of the competitors who had yet to pit pitted as O’Ward exited first ahead of Ericsson, Kanaan, Ferrucci, Carpenter and Rosenqvist. During the pit stops, Palou, who was penalized for pitting at the time where pit road was closed, made another pit stop for fuel as he was shuffled towards the rear of the field.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 77, Dixon, who cycled to the lead amid the reshuffling under caution, took off with the lead followed by Daly and O’Ward as the field fanned out through the backstretch.

    Three laps later, Hoosier native Conor Daly overtook Dixon on the frontstretch to assume the lead for the first time in his No. 20 BitNile Dallara-Chevrolet as the crowd erupted in a chorus with cheers. During the following lap, however, Dixon reassumed the lead through the frontstretch. Daly, though, was quick to launch himself back to the lead another three laps later.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 100, Dixon was out in front by nearly four-tenths of a second over Daly while O’Ward, Ericsson, Kanaan, Ferrucci, Carpenter, Newgarden, Rosenqvist and Sato were in the top 10. Simon Pagenaud was in 11th ahead of McLaughlin, David Malukas, Helio Castroneves and Alexander Rossi while Sage Karam, Marco Andretti, Grosjean, Rahal and Montoya were in the top 20. Meanwhile, Will Power was in 24th, Palou was mired in 26th ahead of Kyle Kirkwood and Jimmie Johnson and Herta was back in 30th.

    Five laps later, another round of green flag pit stops ensued as Daly pitted. Not long after, however, the caution flew when Romain Grosjean snapped sideways and collided against the Turn 2 outside wall, which left Grosjean with a wrecked No. 28 DHL Dallara-Honda and out in his Indy 500 debut. By then, this marked the third incident of the day, all of which occurred in Turn 2.

    Under caution, the leaders led by Dixon, who was running low on fuel, pitted and Dixon retained the lead by exiting his pit stall with the top spot ahead of O’Ward, Ferrucci, Rosenqvist, Carpenter and Kanaan.

    With 89 laps remaining, the race restarted under green as Daly, who cycled his way to the lead while also fending off Dixon for the lead, was quickly overtaken by O’Ward as O’Ward, fresh off a new contract extension with Arrow McLaren SP, made a bold move on the outside lane to rocket to the lead. Not long after, however, Dixon returned the favor by returning to the lead while O’Ward was left to battle against Daly and Ferrucci while Rosenqvist was in fifth.

    With 75 laps remaining, Dixon was leading by nearly seven-tenths of a second over O’Ward while Daly, Rosenqvist and Ferrucci were in the top five. Kanaan stabilized himself in sixth place ahead of Ericsson, Takuma Sato, Carptenter and Pagenaud while Castroneves was in 11th.

    Fifteen laps later, Dixon continued to lead by more than seven-tenths of a second over O’Ward while Daly, Rosenqvist and Ferrucci completed the top 10. Earlier, Colton Herta took his No. 26 Gainbridge Dallara-Honda to the garage due to a mechanical issue.

    Just then, another round of green flag pit stops occurred as Dixon surrendered the lead to pit. Shortly after, Daly pitted along with Dalton Kellett, Rosenqvist, Sage Karam, Devlin DeFrancesco, Power, Jack Harvey, O’Ward, Ferrucci, Montoya, Rahal, Kanaan, Sato, Malukas, Pagenaud, Scott McLaughlin, Christian Lundgaard, Newgarden, Andretti, Ericsson, Castroneves, Rossi, Jimmie Johnson and others.

    Down to the final 50 laps of the event and with the green flag pit stops sequence complete, O’Ward, who cycled his way back to the lead three laps earlier after Alex Palou pitted, was leading by more than a second over Dixon while Rosenqvist was up in third place. Daly and Ferrucci occupied the top five ahead of Ericsson, Kanaan, Pagenaud, Castroneves and Rossi.

    A few laps later, the caution flew when Scott McLaughlin got loose briefly entering Turn 3 before shooting his No. 3 Pennzoil Dallara-Chevrolet dead straight into the outside wall as his event came to an end following the hard wreck.

    With 43 laps remaining, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Dixon overtook O’Ward to reassume the lead as the field fanned out to multiple lanes through the backstretch. O’Ward, however, was able to reassume the top spot with 39 laps remaining. 

    Nearing the final 35 laps of the event, Dixon made another move on O’Ward exiting the frontstretch to reassume the lead. 

    Three laps later, Ed Carpenter made a pit stop under green as Dixon was leading by two-tenths of a second over O’Ward and seven-tenths of a second over Felix Rosenqvist.

    Then with nearly 25 laps remaining, another round of pit stops under green commenced as Rosenqvist pitted his No. 7 Arrow McLaren SP Dallara-Chevrolet followed by Rossi while Dixon continued to lead ahead of O’Ward. Not long after, Dixon surrendered the lead to pit followed by Daly, Ferrucci and Christian Lundgaard. Then, disaster struck for Dixon, whose opportunity to win a second Indy 500 title was spoiled after he was forced to serve a pass-through penalty for speeding while entering pit road. With Dixon out of contention, Rosenqvist emerged as the first competitor who had pitted just as O’Ward pitted.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Tony Kanaan, who was one of several competitors who had yet to pit, was leading followed by Pagenaud, Palou, Castroneves and Newgarden while Power, Andretti, Johnson, Sato and Harvey were in the top 10.

    With 15 laps remaining, Marco Andretti and Jimmie Johnson, both of whom had yet to pit, were leading followed by Ericsson, who overtook Rosenqvist earlier on the track and emerged as the highest-running competitor with fresh tires and enough fuel to the finish. Sato was in fourth followed by O’Ward and Kanaan while Harvey, Rosenqvist, Rossi and Daly were in the top 10.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event and with the green flag pit stops complete as Andretti and Johnson pitted, Marcus Ericsson cycled his No. 8 Huski Chocolate Dallara-Honda to the lead followed by O’Ward, who trailed by more than three seconds, and Tony Kanaan, who was charging hard in his No. 1 American Legion Dallara-Honda while trailing by more than four seconds, while Rosenqvist and Sato were in the top five.

    Then with six laps remaining, the caution flew when Jimmie Johnson got loose after hitting the apron in Turn 2, spun and pounded his No. 48 Carvana Dallara-Honda head-on into the Turn 2 outside wall. The incident, which evaporated Ericsson’s steady advantage over O’Ward and Kanaan, was enough for IndyCar to direct the field to pit road and draw the event into a red flag situation.

    When the red flag was lifted, the field made their way back on the racing surface under a cautious pace. As the race restarted under green with two laps remaining under green, Ericsson retained the lead with a decent start while O’Ward, Rosenqvist and Kanaan battled behind. It did not take, however, for O’Ward to pull away as he issue a challenge on Ericsson for the lead with both seeking their first Indy 500 victory.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Ericsson remained as the leader ahead of O’Ward, who gained a big run through the frontstretch as he tried to pounce alongside Ericsson for the lead and win, but Ericsson managed to pull ahead of O’Ward’s No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Dallara-Chevrolet through Turn 1 to retain the lead while Kanaan and Rosenqvist trailed behind. 

    Then as Ericsson made his way to Turn 3, the caution flew and the race was official when Sage Karam wrecked in Turn 2. With the race official and concluding under caution, Ericsson made his way back to the finish line to claim the biggest victory of his career.

    With the victory, Ericsson became the newest winner of the Indianapolis 500 since Simon Pagenaud won in 2019 and the 74th overall as he notched his third NTT IndyCar Series career victory in his 52nd series start. The 2022 Indy 500 victory was also the first for Chip Ganassi Racing since 2012 made by Dario Franchitti and the fifth overall as Ericsson joined Kenny Bräck as the only Swedish competitors to win the Indy 500.

    “I couldn’t believe it [when the caution flew],” Ericsson said on NBC. “I felt you can never take anything for granted and obviously, there was still laps to go and I was praying so hard. It was not gonna be another yellow, but I knew there was probably gonna be one. It was hard to sort of refocus, but I knew the car was amazing. The No. 8 crew and Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda has done such an amazing job so I knew the Huski Chocolate car was fast enough, but it was still hard. I had to do everything there and then to keep them behind. I can’t believe it. I’m so happy.”

    “My family’s here,” Ericsson added. “My mom and dad, my brother, my girlfriend, my manager…they’re all here today. I won. I can’t believe it. I love [oval tracks].”

    Behind, Pato O’Ward, who was aiming to become the first Mexican-born competitor to win the Indy 500, settled in a disappointing second place while Tony Kanaan, who was making his lone IndyCar start of the season, came home in third place.

    “[Ericsson] was gonna put me in the wall if I would’ve gone for it,” O’Ward said. “We were alongside each other. Man, I’m so proud of the team and proud of myself. We did everything to get it done and even getting a massive run on him. We had no wicker, less downforce and still, not enough speed to get by him, even with a massive run. It’s frustrating, it’s bittersweet. I’m so proud, but it definitely stings because I feel like the team and I did everything perfectly to get it done and something that’s out of our control was why we’ve struggled in the end…Next year, we’ll come back with a faster and better race car and go at it again.”

    Rosenqvist and Rossi finished in the top five while Conor Daly, Castroneves, Pagenaud, Palou and Santino Ferrucci completed the top 10 on the track.

    Notably, Montoya finished 11th, Newgarden ended up 13th, Will Power settled in 15th, Ed Carpenter came home in 18th and Scott Dixon, who led a race-high 95 laps, fell back to 21st.

    “It’s just heartbreaking,” Dixon said. “I don’t know. It must’ve been very close. I kind of came into the pit and I locked the rears [tires], kind of locked all four [tires] and I knew it was gonna be close. I think it was like a mile hour over or something. Just frustrating. The car was really good all day. We had really good speed. I think the team did an amazing job on strategy. I just messed up.”

    Marco Andretti ended up in 22nd, three spots ahead of Takuma Sato, while Jimmie Johnson ended up in 28th place following his late accident.

    There were 38 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 31 laps.

    With his first Indianapolis 500 victory, Marcus Ericsson leapt from eighth to first in the championship standings by 13 points over Pato O’Ward, 14 over Alex Palou, 24 over Will Power, 52 over Josef Newgarden and 60 over Scott Dixon.

    Results.

    1. Marcus Ericsson. 13 laps led

    2. Pato O’Ward, 26 laps led

    3. Tony Kanaan, six laps led

    4. Felix Rosenqvist

    5. Alexander Rossi

    6. Conor Daly, seven laps led

    7. Helio Castroneves

    8. Simon Pagenaud

    9. Alex Palou, 47 laps led

    10. Santino Ferrucci

    11. Juan Pablo Montoya

    12. JR Hildebrand

    13. Josef Newgarden

    14. Graham Rahal

    15. Will Power

    16. David Malukas

    17. Kyle Kirkwood

    18. Ed Carpenter

    19. Devlin DeFrancesco

    20. Christian Lundgaard

    21. Scott Dixon, 95 laps led

    22. Marco Andretti, three laps led

    23. Sage Karam, one lap down

    24. Jack Harvey, one lap down

    25. Takuma Sato, one lap down

    26. Dalton Kellett, two laps down

    27. Stefan Wilson, seven laps down

    28. Jimmie Johnson – OUT, Contact, two laps led

    29. Scott McLaughlin – OUT, Contact

    30. Colton Herta – OUT, Mechanical

    31. Romain Grosjean – OUT, Contact

    32. Callum Ilott – OUT, Contact

    33. Rinus VeeKay – OUT, Contact, one lap led

    Next on the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series schedule is the series’ final event at Belle Isle Street Circuit for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix in Detroit, Michigan. The event is scheduled to occur on Sunday, June 5, at 3 p.m. ET on the USA Network.