Indy 500 Recap: Newgarden does it again!
It was a stressful weekend for the IndyCar drivers and teams, with an insanely wet track and the weather being far from ideal the question that kept everyone wondering was: “when will the most prestigious event of the calendar finally start?” But, thankfully, after a 4 hour delay the drivers could finally start their engines and start racing!
Team Penske takes the lead
And what a race it was! Team Penske filled the front row at the start of the race with Scott McLaughlin in pole and Will Power and Josef Newgarden in second and third. Eighteen different drivers led at least one lap today, which is an event record, with the previous record being 15 drivers in 2017 and 2018. There were 21 cars on the lead lap at the finish.
source: instagram.com/team_penske
“Rookie error”
Tom Blomqvist found the grass in turn 1 which caused him to spin, and due to this he ended up crashing straight into car no 28 of Marcus Ericsson who had nowhere to go. “Rookie error,” commented IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe on the NBC broadcast of Blomqvist. “Just no other way to put it.” While Callum Ilott moved inside Fittipaldi and slowed down to avoid the spinning cars, he made contact which caused Fittipaldi to spin into the outside wall at the exit of the south short chute. All three drivers were able to leave their cars and made their way to the safety team vehicles.
It was a tough race for the other IndyCar rookies as well: Marcus Armstrong saw his race end early (during lap 7) due to engine issues, Larson’s pitstop was dramatic to say the least, and Linus Lundqvist found himself crashing in lap 28. The only rookie who seems to have escaped any issues was Christian Rasmussen, he finished 12th. The last rookie on the grid, Kyffin Simpson, was also the last driver to finish overall, he ended up 21st.
source: instagram.com/marcusarmstrong
She’ll be back!
Marcus Armstrong wasn’t the only one who seemed to have mechanical issues, Katherine Legge was also forced to end her race earlier than she hoped for the second year in a row. It was on lap 23 that she noticed her car began to smoke. However, Katherine is determined to come back, she told the following to Frontstretch when she left her pitbox after retiring:
“I know that I can’t end on this note, I keep coming back. I need redemption. So that’s my plan, I’ll be back.”
Felix Rosenqvist also found himself having mechanical issues and was forced to retire on lap 56.
source: instagram.com/katherineracing
Other drivers that were forced to stop before the final 200th lap are Ryan Hunter-Reay, Marco Andretti, Will Power, Colton Herta, and Agustin Canapino. All of them had to retire due to contact, except Agustin Canapino.
Arrow McLaren puts up a fight
The Team Penske and Arrow McLaren drivers traded the lead multiple times, and it was actually Pato O’Ward that was leading on the last lap of the race. But right before the 500-mile race came to an end, Josef Newgarden managed to pass O’Ward making him a back-to-back Indy 500 winner.
“Unbelievable. I love this crowd,” an exhausted but ecstatic Newgarden said.
“Honestly, that wore me out more than the race. I’m just proud of this team. They crushed it. I mean crushed it. They came here with the fastest cars. We worked our tails off. Team Chevy brought it. That’s the way I wanted to win that.”
Heartbreak and tears for O’Ward
But as you can imagine, it was heartbreak and tears for Pato who almost had his first Indy 500 race in the bag. He struggled to keep his emotions in check, and he struggled to put them into words as well. This is the second time in three years that he came up one position short. “I put that car through things I never thought it was gonna be able to do,” he said.
“Oh man, it’s just so painful when you put so much into it and then two laps short, I guess, or two corners short. We had so many near race enders, so close again. So close.”
He also added on to this by saying: “It’s always a heartbreak whenever you’re so close especially when it’s not the first time, you just don’t know how many opportunities like that you have.”
source: instagram.com/patriciooward
Newgarden brings it home (again)
Josef Newgarden won his second career Indianapolis 500, which makes him the 6th driver to earn back-to-back victories (2023-24). The last back-to-back winner was Helio Castroneves (2001-02). Both Josef and Helio won with Team Penske, and the team has 20 Indianapolis 500 victories at the moment, which makes them the team with the most Indy 500 wins ever! In second place is Chip Ganassi with six wins. Newgarden won this race without his strategist and lead engineer (who are still suspended due to the massive penalty they received after the push-to-pass scandal in St. Petersburg), so his position was not ideal. Though, having to work for it a bit harder, made the celebratory milk even more enjoyable as he celebrated with his crew in victory lane for the second consecutive year.
source: instagram.com/team_penske
