INDIANAPOLIS — Roger Penske had 18 Indianapolis 500 wins. Chip Ganassi had 6. No one had more. At the end of Sunday’s 107th Running of the Indianapolis 500, there was five combined Penske and Ganassi’s in the top seven including 1-2 coming to the one-lap shootout.

What’s wild is, this is the first time that they have ever finished 1-2 in the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.

Since Chip Ganassi Racing joined the NTT INDYCAR SERIES full-time in 1990 (they were a co-entrant with 1989 winner Emerson Fittipaldi), they’ve won five times at Indy. Buddy Lazier (Hemelgarn) was second to Juan Montoya in 2000. Penske actually wasn’t there as they were in CART at the time.

They came back in 2001 and went 1-2. Ganassi’s top finisher was fourth that year with them being 4-5-6 actually. Michael Andretti (3rd place) was between. That and 2015 with Montoya and Power beating Charlie Kimball and Scott Dixon are the only instances to where it was a Penske vs. Ganassi show.

Penske has won 12 of their 19 Indy 500’s in this span between 1990 and now.

But, this shouldn’t come as a surprise. The two teams have won each of the last 10 series championships. They’ve also won 5 of the 6 races this year and 39 of the 52 (75%) of the races with the Aeroscreen.

They now leave Indy and head to Detroit next week with five of the top six in points.

But, to get that way, you have to go inside the minds of both drivers fighting for the win in the end.

There was just nothing more Marcus Ericsson felt like he could do. He took the lead on the Lap 196 restart, a caution came out and felt like in that moment, he was about to become the fifth ever back-to-back Indy 500 champion.

That went awry when the NTT INDYCAR SERIES decided to display the red flag for the third time in the final 11 laps. Ericsson felt then like he had won this race. There wasn’t enough time to bring the cars down pit road and safety ensure a green flag finish.

Ericsson, who was great on restarts throughout the second half of Sunday’s race now had to lead the final one in a race that no one wanted to be leading in the situation that Ericsson was about to be in.

It was ironic because he used that dragon move in the final laps last year to hold off Pato O’Ward to win. Now, in a one-lap shootout, it was a vastly different position that he was now facing.

“I think it’s harder to lead this year with the aero specs we have,” Ericsson said earlier this month. “I think if you’re in the lead in a scenario like last year, it’s going to be harder to keep that lead is my feeling.”

He was right. He was a lame duck on the restart.

That’s why he made up a plan while sitting on pit road to figure out how to hold off Josef Newgarden.

 “I had a plan to try and keep the lead into (Turn) 1, so I tried to catch him by surprise on the restart by going really early, and I think I did that really, really well,” Ericsson said of the late restart.

Unfortunately, it was never going to work.

Newgarden played it perfectly and Ericsson could do nothing to hold him off on the backstretch.
Ericsson had to settle for second in his No. 8 Dallara-Honda.

“He just had too much of a tow on the back there, so I just couldn’t keep him behind. It’s hard when you get overtaken into 3,” Ericsson continued. “It’s sort of really hard to recover and get a run out of 4.

“I tried, sliding too much in 4; I just couldn’t really get enough there on the checkered.”

As far as why it worked last year and not this one, Ericsson says it’s all due to aero and ambient conditions.

 “I think the cars with the aero spec we had this week or this month was a bit harder to lead,” he says. “We’ve seen it all month, it’s hard to lead.

“I think last year was just a little bit less drag and I think with the ambient and everything, it was a little bit easier to be in the lead than today.

“I knew for that last restart it was going to be almost impossible to keep the lead. Like I said, I think I did a great job there on the restart of catching him by surprise and get a jump and not get overtaken into 1, because every restart it felt like P1 was going to P5 on every restart.

“I think I aced that restart, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough.”

Newgarden agreed. He said that it’s impossible to not use that dragon move because of the ease it is to follow one car. It got even tougher this year he noted.

“I think sitting in first place was even more difficult than what we’ve seen in years past, even just last year, and when I was able to get by him on the back straight I was actually really surprised how much momentum he still had in 3 and 4,” said the race winner, Newgarden.

“He was like super close and had a good run coming off 4, and with that, I thought, I’ve got to be as aggressive as possible to not let him by.

“Today we had an opportunity to win the race, and I wasn’t looking to take anyone else out of the race, but I was going to put my car on the line to win. I was either going to win the race or I’d end up in the wall. I wasn’t here to finish second, third, or fourth today. I was here to win.

“So I just did everything I could at the end there.”