INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Josef Newgarden ended 11 years of frustration and finally won the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday to extend team owner Roger Penske’s record to 19 victories — but first since buying Indianapolis Motor Speedway — using an audacious pass of defending race winner Marcus Ericsson during a frantic 2.5-mile sprint to the finish.
After the race was red-flagged for the third time in the final 16 laps, Newgarden was moved from fourth to second by race control following a review of the running order at the time the yellow flag waved.
The two-time IndyCar champion, who had been 0 for 11 in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” took advantage of his improved position by slingshotting around Ericsson on the restart and holding him off through the last two turns.
Newgarden brought his Chevrolet-powered car to a stop on the front stretch, jumped out and found a hole in the fence, diving into part of a crowd estimated at more than 300,000 to celebrate. Then, Newgarden climbed the fence to mimic longtime Team Penske driver and four-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves.
The 32-year-old from Nashville is the first American to win Indy since Alexander Rossi in 2016.
“I’m just so thankful to be here. I started out as a fan in the crowd, and this place is amazing, regardless of where you’re sitting,” Newgarden said after pouring a bottle of whole milk over his head. “Everyone kept asking why I hadn’t won this race, and they look at you like you’re a failure if you haven’t won it. I knew I was capable. I knew I could.”
Ericsson finished second in a Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing, and he immediately criticized IndyCar’s decision to hold a one-lap shootout to the checkered flag. The Swede believed the race should have ended under caution, with him the winner, rather than having the green flag fly on the first lap out of the pits.
“I think it was an unfair and dangerous way to end the race,” Ericsson said. “I think I did everything right behind the wheel.”
Newgarden and Ericsson were followed by Santino Ferrucci, who gave 88-year-old A.J. Foyt his team’s best finish in the iconic race that Super Tex won four times since Kenny Bräck reached victory lane in 1999.
Alex Palou, the pole sitter and race favorite for Chip Ganassi Racing, finished fourth after recovering from a crash on pit road, and Alexander Rossi was fifth on what was an otherwise disappointing day for Arrow McLaren.
What was on pace to be the fastest Indy 500 in history ended with three red flags in the final 16 laps.
The first came for a crash involving Felix Rosenqvist and Kyle Kirkwood, who were near the front of the lead pack. Rosenqvist touched the fence in Turn 1 and could not prevent his Arrow McLaren car from sliding down the track. Kirkwood launched off his right rear tire and went upside down into the catch fence, beginning a terrifying, spark-filled ride through the short chute.
One of Kirkwood’s wheels sailed over the fencing and narrowly cleared the packed grandstand. Nobody was injured. His tire smashed the hood of a Chevrolet in a parking lot next to the grandstand.
“All I know is I was up in the fence, which is never a good thing in IndyCar. Thank God these cars are so safe,” Kirkwood said. “I saw sparks flying everywhere. That’s the scary part. You’re upside-down and you’re kind of stuck at that point.”
On the restart, Pato O’Ward — who already had a restart called off for setting too slow of a pace — was shuffled from first to third as Newgarden shot to the lead. O’Ward and Ericsson were then side by side entering Turn 3 and touched wheels, and O’Ward slid into the wall and out of the race in another bitter disappointment for Arrow McLaren.
Agustin Canapino did a 360-spin behind him, snapping a break line. He was unable to stop and collided with O’Ward’s car.
“I was a little too nice there,” O’Ward said. “I just feel so bummed for the team. We had four very fast race cars, now there’s only two in the race. … I got onto the apron to give (Ericsson) room. I got squeezed. Yeah, I won’t forget that.”
Suddenly, the race had its second red flag with six laps to go.
Last year’s race was red-flagged with five to go, when Ericsson was leading O’Ward to the finish. Ericsson held him off the rest of the way, and many criticized O’Ward for not making a more aggressive move for the win.
Newgarden didn’t make the same mistake with Ericsson out in front of him.
As Newgarden crossed the yard of bricks, Penske and his entire executive committee jumped up and down in celebration on an elevated platform near the start-finish line. And for a moment, the 86-year-old team owner looked like a child filled with joy.
“The last two laps, I forgot about being the track owner and said ‘Let’s go for it,’” said Penske, who joined Newgarden in an open-top Chevy Camaro for a victory lap around the speedway. “For so long, he wondered why he couldn’t win here.”
Newgarden’s wife, Ashley, dropped to her knees and sobbed in celebration, and Newgarden was crying inside his car.
“Just pure emotion,” he said. “I was trying to stay locked in. I was emotional the whole last 10 laps because I knew we were in position to fight for the win. I can’t talk highly enough about the team. They worked so hard all month.”
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AP Sports Writer Dave Skretta contributed to this report.
INDIANAPOLIS – Results Sunday of the 107th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge NTT INDYCAR SERIES event on the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):
1. (17) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 200, Running
2. (10) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 200, Running
3. (4) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 200, Running
4. (1) Alex Palou, Honda, 200, Running
5. (7) Alexander Rossi, Chevrolet, 200, Running
6. (6) Scott Dixon, Honda, 200, Running
7. (8) Takuma Sato, Honda, 200, Running
8. (16) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 200, Running
9. (21) Colton Herta, Honda, 200, Running
10. (2) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 200, Running
11. (18) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Chevrolet, 200, Running
12. (27) Callum Ilott, Chevrolet, 200, Running
13. (25) Devlin DeFrancesco, Honda, 200, Running
14. (14) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 200, Running
15. (20) Helio Castroneves, Honda, 200, Running
16. (9) Tony Kanaan, Chevrolet, 200, Running
17. (24) Marco Andretti, Honda, 200, Running
18. (32) Jack Harvey, Honda, 199, Running
19. (30) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 198, Running
20. (13) Ed Carpenter, Chevrolet, 197, Contact
21. (11) Benjamin Pedersen, Chevrolet, 196, Contact
22. (33) Graham Rahal, Chevrolet, 195, Running
23. (12) Will Power, Chevrolet, 195, Running
24. (5) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 192, Contact
25. (22) Simon Pagenaud, Honda, 192, Contact
26. (26) Agustin Canapino, Chevrolet, 192, Contact
27. (3) Felix Rosenqvist, Chevrolet, 183, Contact
28. (15) Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, 183, Contact
29. (23) David Malukas, Honda, 160, Contact
30. (19) Romain Grosjean, Honda, 149, Contact
31. (31) Sting Ray Robb, Honda, 90, Contact
32. (28) RC Enerson, Chevrolet, 75, Mechanical
33. (29) Katherine Legge, Honda, 41, Contact
Race Statistics
Winner’s average speed: 168.193 mph
Time of Race: 2:58:21.9611
Margin of victory: 0.0974 of a second
Cautions: 5 for 27 laps
Lead changes: 52 among 14 drivers
Lap Leaders:
Palou, Alex 1 – 2
VeeKay, Rinus 3
Palou, Alex 4 – 9
VeeKay, Rinus 10 – 14
Palou, Alex 15 – 22
VeeKay, Rinus 23 – 27
Palou, Alex 28 – 29
VeeKay, Rinus 30 – 31
Rosenqvist, Felix 32
Rossi, Alexander 33 – 34
Palou, Alex 35 – 39
VeeKay, Rinus 40 – 47
Palou, Alex 48 – 60
VeeKay, Rinus 61 – 63
Rosenqvist, Felix 64 – 65
O’Ward, Pato 66
Power, Will 67
Herta, Colton 68
Rosenqvist, Felix 69
O’Ward, Pato 70 – 78
Rosenqvist, Felix 79 – 81
O’Ward, Pato 82 – 89
Rosenqvist, Felix 90 – 94
Ilott, Callum 95 – 99
Rosenqvist, Felix 100 – 101
O’Ward, Pato 102
Rosenqvist, Felix 103 – 107
O’Ward, Pato 108 – 109
Rosenqvist, Felix 110 – 113
O’Ward, Pato 114 – 115
Rosenqvist, Felix 116 – 119
O’Ward, Pato 120 – 122
Rosenqvist, Felix 123 – 124
O’Ward, Pato 125 – 128
Rosenqvist, Felix 129 – 131
Ferrucci, Santino 132
Ericsson, Marcus 133 – 134
Castroneves, Helio 135
Rosenqvist, Felix 136
Ericsson, Marcus 137 – 156
Newgarden, Josef 157
Ericsson, Marcus 158
Ferrucci, Santino 159 – 168
Ericsson, Marcus 169 – 170
Rossi, Alexander 171 – 172
Sato, Takuma 173 – 174
O’Ward, Pato 175 – 179
Hunter-Reay, Ryan 180 – 187
O’Ward, Pato 188 – 191
Ericsson, Marcus 192
Newgarden, Josef 193 – 195
Ericsson, Marcus 196 – 199
Newgarden, Josef 200
NTT INDYCAR SERIES Point Standings: Palou 219, Ericsson 199, O’Ward 185, Newgarden 182, Dixon 162, McLaughlin 149, Rossi 145, Grosjean 139, Power 131, Herta 130, Lundgaard 122, Kirkwood 113, Rosenqvist 113, Ilott 111, Ferrucci 96, VeeKay 96, Rahal 94, Malukas 84, Armstrong 77, Daly 73, Castroneves 69, Harvey 65, DeFrancesco 63, Canapino 61, Pagenaud 55, Pedersen 51, Robb 47, Sato 37, Carpenter 27, Hunter-Reay 20, Kanaan 18, Andretti 13, Enerson 5, Legge 5
