INDIANAPOLIS — For the second consecutive year, the Indianapolis 500 was red flagged late. A year ago, Marcus Ericsson didn’t allow it to affect him. He held off a furious charge by Pato O’Ward to win his first Indy 500 in his fourth try.

This time, after two straight red flag periods, Ericsson passed Josef Newgarden for the top spot on the Lap 196 restart. He felt like he was in a prime position to become the first back-to-back Indy 500 winner in over two decades.

Instead, a crash occurred behind them on the restart between Ed Carpenter and rookie Benjamin Pedersen on the front straight.

That so called, winning maneuver, came back to bite Ericsson.

Despite his pleads with officials to not red flag the event, NTT INDYCAR SERIES officials did anyways.
That was the third red flag displayed in an 11-lap span including the final one with two laps remaining.
Series officials decided to make this a one-lap shootout when we resumed.

With this new aero package making the leader a lame duck status, all Ericsson could do is try to defend and use his dragon move and hope for the best.

Last year, it worked and he lucked out with a crash behind to end the race before we came back to the checkered. This year, no such instance.

Ericsson felt like his best shot at a win was getting a quick restart. He left Newgarden in the dust. Newgarden though got a nice tow through the south end of the track on the final lap and used that to make his race winning maneuver on the backstretch.

He got by Ericsson before they reached Turn 3 and held on for his 12th try.

Newgarden came to rest on his cool down lap at the yard of bricks and found an opening in the wall and fence to celebrate with the fans in the stands.

Ericsson Gutted By Red Flag Call

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.”

Ericsson feels like this win was stolen from him.

“I think it was a tough way to end the race,” he said. “I don’t really agree with how we did that. I don’t think that was a fair way to end the race. But I’m proud of our effort.

“I think it wasn’t enough laps to go to do what we did. I don’t think it’s safe to go out of the pits on cold tires for a restart when half the field is sort of still trying to get out on track when we go green.”

Ericsson says he has no plans to discuss the end of race decisions by race control because the race is over and there’s nothing you can do about it moving forward.

“I just have to deal with it. I think I did everything I could. I did an awesome last restart,” he said. “I caught Josef by surprise and kept the lead into 1, but it wasn’t enough, so for sure it’s hard to swallow.”

The silver lining is that he now has a top two finish in each of the last two Indy 500’s and a top 10 finish in all six races run this season.

“I feel disappointed because I think we did everything right,” Ericsson said. “Like I said, I think when that red came so late, I thought I was a bit too late, so I thought when the yellow came out with three laps to go, whatever, in my world we don’t restart that race.

“But no, it is what it is. You have to play with the cards you’re given, and I think we nailed it today. We did everything right. I did everything right.

“You can’t do more than that. Again, I think Josef is a worthy champion, and I congratulate him on that.

“But I just think it’s a bit tough to sort of accept how it ended. That’s my feeling after. But I’m very proud of our efforts and our performance today.”

“I don’t think it’s a fair way to end the race. I don’t think it’s a right way to end the race. So I can’t agree with that. I think it should have finished under yellow.”

Ganassi Doesn’t Win But Puts All 4 Cars In The Top 7
Chip Ganassi Racing came into Sunday’s 107th Running of the Indianapolis 500 as the team everyone was chasing. They went 1-2-4-7 on opening day, 1-2-7-9 on Thursday, 1-4-10-14 on Fast Friday, 2-3-4 on Monday’s race practice, 1-2-4 on Carb Day.

With having all four of their drivers in the top 10 of the starting lineup, this was seemingly looking like their race to lose.

However, like 2020 and 2021, none of their drivers were left sipping the milk in the end.

Marcus Ericsson had a chance to defend last year’s victory but it was a perfect storm that kept him out of it becoming just the fifth driver to win back-to-back years here.

Pole sitter Alex Palou led 36 laps early but was hit by Rinus VeeKay while exiting pit lane under the first caution period. VeeKay lost control of his No. 21 Dallara-Chevrolet exiting his pit stall and pinned Palou up against the pit exit wall.

Palou would end up outside the top 20 but quickly rebound as he had plenty of gas and with most of the leaders up front in fuel save mode, he didn’t have to be.

That put him back inside the top 15 and allowed him to charge back up to finish fourth in his No. 10 Dallara-Honda. While he’d like to have had the May sweep, he’d take his fifth straight top five finish on the season and retains the points lead heading to Detroit.

Scott Dixon went up to fourth early but developed a bad vibration forcing him down pit road early. Dixon remained calm and made up ground the rest of the day. He was 24th after the opening stint but would rebound to finish sixth.

Takuma Sato remarkably didn’t have the car all day and would settle for seventh.

Pato O’Ward Gets Too Aggressive, Could That Cost Him Championship Later?
Pato O’Ward had a race winning car. Unfortunately, he got overzealous late in the race in making too aggressive in trying to get by Marcus Ericsson on Lap 193.

See, on that restart, O’Ward was leading. Ericsson made a move at the yard of bricks to pass O’Ward for the top spot. Third place at the time, Josef Newgarden made it three-wide to also vie for the top spot.

Newgarden and Ericsson came out of Turn 1 1-2. O’Ward was now in third.

O’Ward got a massive tow on the backstretch and darted out late to make a move back by Ericsson for second. He lost it and skated into the outside SAFER Barriers in Turn 3 ending his day with a 24th place finish.

“I just think I was a little too nice there,” O’Ward said. “I just feel so bummed for the team, we had very fast race cars.

“There were seven laps to go and I was going for it I was way too nice.

“I’ll make sure that he comes with me next time. I got on to the apron to give him room and I got squeezed, and yeah, I won’t forget that one.”

That’s the second race of the season to where he was too aggressive. He did that in Long Beach which left him in 17th. The other four races this year he’s finished runner-up three times (St. Pete, Texas, GMR Grand Prix) and fourth (Barber).

But, on a day that saw Alex Palou rebound to finish fourth, Marcus Ericsson end up his second and Josef Newgarden winning, this dropped O’Ward from (-6) to (-34).

The positive side for O’Ward to even being in that situation was a blessing. They had fueling issues for the second half of the day and on his second to last stop, they didn’t get his car filled.

With everyone at this part of the race in fuel saving mode, O’Ward needed a caution or he was going to be likely finishing where he did at the end anyways.

Then came Romain Grosjean finding the Turn 2 wall for the second straight year. This time on Lap 150.
It was the mulligan O’Ward needed. 12 cars elected to stay out on track going on what ended up being the race winning strategy. Everyone needed to pit again, so for those like O’Ward who pit under this caution, they could go all out pace where the other 12 had to save fuel.

That helped O’Ward. He ended up being okay. When the 12 others all finally pit, O’Ward was leading. He came out third and that’s when he got too aggressive.

Ferrucci Gives Foyt An Emotional Top 3 Finish
Santino Ferrucci was emotional when climbing out of his No. 14 Dallara-Chevrolet at the end of 500-miles of racing in Indianapolis. The Connecticut native brought some joy to this AJ Foyt Racing team including the Foyt family themselves.

Ferrucci had a shot to win this race in the end but came up just short. He finished third for his fifth top 10 finish in as many tries here. This one though, was the best opportunity.

“Yeah, just emotional, bittersweet,” Ferrucci said. “It was emotional getting in the car, which was kind of strange because you feel like there’s a lot of people that really want this, the team really wants this.

“We worked so hard to be where we were. We ran out front all day long. It’s definitely one of the more difficult races that I’ve probably ever run, and just we also knew that we had a really good car.

“We got really close with Felix when he was wrecking so very thankful we were able to avoid that. And then yeah, coming to the end, I think on the second to final restart, me and Marcus battling it into 1, and obviously it going red when it did, it’s part of this place, it’s part of racing, it’s part of the speedway.

“Just bummed because I think — I’m sure Marcus thinks the same thing I do. We definitely, all three of us could have won it at any point in time. Yeah, it’s bittersweet.”

He qualified fourth a week ago and stayed in the top five for almost all of the 107th Running of the Indianapolis 500. On the final restart, he was in third. With Marcus Ericsson and Josef Newgarden duking it out in front of him, he just didn’t have enough to get to them.

He did hold off the McLaren of Alexander Rossi and three Chip Ganassi Racing cars to finish in the top three.
At some point, Ferrucci is going to win here. He was seventh as a rookie in 2019. A year later, he finished fourth.

In 2021, with RLL, he finished sixth. Last year, he was 10th with DRR. With his fourth team in as many years, one that hasn’t won a race since the 2013 season and not one here since 1999, Ferrucci brought AJ Foyt his first top five finish in this race in 23 years (2000).

Red Flag, Fair or Foul?
The decision making at the end of Sunday’s race will be debated for years to come. With three red flags late in the race, it sparked a debate on if it was two too many. I get the first one, a frightening crash with Felix Rosenqvist crashing out in Turn 1 and taking Kyle Kirkwood with him in a scary crash that saw Kirkwood get airborne and upside down and his tire flying over the fence and between the grandstands and the suites.
That red flag made sense.

The second one for Pato O’Ward’s Turn 3 crash was debatable. Agustin Canapino got airbrone briefly when he didn’t slow and hit O’Ward’s crashed car. I somewhat get the red flag to stop the race for clean up but there wasn’t a ton of debris scattered to not keep going.

If they didn’t throw the red flag, then the race likely ends under caution. So out comes another red flag. Newgarden was the leader.

On the ensuring restart, another crash. Ericsson passed Newgarden for the lead. Red flag. That one was questionable. The race was going to end under caution and I was okay with that.

But, INDYCAR felt the massive crowd of fans in excess of 330k wouldn’t be. With how the moves on track were being made today, especially on restarts, I agree with Marcus Ericsson’s assessment that INDYCAR is, “a sport not a show.”

This seemed more geared for entertainment than proper protocols. It could create more damage and chaos and a grave potential for injury.

Luckily we didn’t see any of the above.

Newgarden got the win in the end and it all worked out from the first debatable red flag.

“You know, it’s funny because obviously like you have guys like Santino and Marcus that are mad, and you have Josef that’s happy. But we need to think about the show,” Tony Kanaan said.

“The biggest complaint we have every year was we shouldn’t finish a race under the yellow. That’s going to hurt someone. Actually 33 guys are pissed right now and one guy is happy. That’s the reality.

“Could have they called it earlier? Yes. Could have, should have, would have, but we ended under green, and that’s what the fans kept asking us every time.

“I won under yellow, and everybody hated it at some point. Easy for me to say because I’m not in his shoes —

“I mean, look at this place. Do we really want to finish under yellow with all those people out there? For me, it was the right call.”

Santino Ferrucci agreed.

“I don’t mind what INDYCAR did,” said the third placed finisher. “I think they did a great job. I agree with you, to the fans, and I said that earlier when someone asked me what I thought of the reds. It’s just I think Marcus has a slightly different opinion which is totally cool because he finished second.”

Tip Ins
• We knew pit road was going to be a story here. And boy was it ever. We saw two incidents that took out multiple contenders. The first came under the opening caution between Rinus VeeKay and Alex Palou. The second between teammates Colton Herta and Romain Grosjean.
• Chevrolet Had The Best Fuel Mileage – Most years, Honda has had the top fuel mileage here. However, on Sunday, that distinction went to Chevrolet. They seemingly went longer than everyone else on the fuel stints and as a result, they had three McLaren’s, Rinus VeeKay, two Penske’s (Will Power, Josef Newgarden) and Santino Ferrucci up front. By time we got through the second stint, it was these seven vs. Alex Palou. Chevrolet ended up winning in the end for their first Indy 500 win since Simon Pagenaud in 2019.

This was the first career Indianapolis 500 victory for Josef Newgarden in his 12th career “500” start. His previous-best finish was third in 2016 for Ed Carpenter Racing. Newgarden joined Team Penske in 2017. Newgarden tied 1957 winner Sam Hanks and 2013 winner Tony Kanaan for the most starts before winning in event history.

• Josef Newgarden became the first Tennessee native to win the Indianapolis 500. He is a native of Nashville.
• Josef Newgarden started 17th, the lowest starting position for an Indianapolis 500 winner since Ryan Hunter-Reay triumphed from 19th on the starting grid in 2014.
• This is the third time a driver has won the Indianapolis 500 from the 17th starting position. The others: Eddie Cheever in 1998 and Floyd Davis and Mauri Rose in 1941.
• Josef Newgarden led five laps. The only winners to lead fewer laps were Joe Dawson, who led two in 1912, and Dan Wheldon, who led one lap in 2011.
• Josef Newgarden is the first American driver to win the Indianapolis 500 since Alexander Rossi in 2016.
• Josef Newgarden made the most significant position advancement in the field today, 16 positions, to claim his Indianapolis 500 victory.
• Josef Newgarden is the ninth driver to win the Indianapolis 500 at age 32. The last was Dan Wheldon in 2011.
• This is the 10th Indianapolis 500 victory for car No. 2. The last came in 2015, with Juan Pablo Montoya winning for Team Penske.
• This is the first Indianapolis 500 win for Chevrolet since Simon Pagenaud in 2019, Team Penske’s last Indy 500 victory before today.
• Fourteen different drivers led at least one lap today, tying with 2013 for the second-highest total in “500” history. The record is 15 drivers in 2017 and 2018.
• There were 52 lead changes, the third-highest total in “500” history. The record is 68 in 2013, followed by 54 in 2016.
• The margin of victory was .0974 of a second, the fourth-closest finish in Indianapolis 500 history. Top three: 1992 – .043 of a second Al Unser Jr. over Scott Goodyear; 2014 – .0600 of a second Ryan Hunter-Reay over Helio Castroneves; 2006 – .0635 of a second Sam Hornish Jr. over Marco Andretti.
• This is only the third time the Indianapolis 500 has been decided by a last-lap pass. The other two times: 2006: Sam Hornish (Team Penske) passed Marco Andretti on the front straightaway; 2011: Dan Wheldon passed JR Hildebrand on the front straightaway.
• This is the ninth time the reigning Indianapolis 500 winner finished second the following year, with 2022 winner Marcus Ericsson placing second today. The last winner to finish runner-up the year after a win was Helio Castroneves in 2003.
• Santino Ferrucci finished third, his best career Indianapolis 500 result. His previous best was fourth in 2020. Ferrucci has finished in the top 10 in all five of his career “500” starts.
• Santino Ferrucci’s third-place finish was the best Indianapolis 500 result for AJ Foyt Racing since Eliseo Salazar also finished third in 2000.
• This is the first Indianapolis 500 with three competition-related red flags, not related to weather.
• Benjamin Pedersen was the top-finishing rookie today, in 21st place.
• Helio Castroneves climbed to second place in Indianapolis 500 career miles completed at 10,995, trailing only A.J. Foyt, who has 12,272.5 career miles.
• Helio Castroneves completed the full 500-mile distance for the 17th time in his Indianapolis 500 race career, extending his race record. He has been running at the end of the race in 21 of 23 career starts.
• A record six former winners led the 2023 Indianapolis 500, surpassing the prior race record of five set in 1980, 1981 and 1993. The six former winners to lead today: Marcus Ericsson, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Alexander Rossi, Takuma Sato, Will Power and Helio Castroneves.
• There were 11 lap leaders who finished on the lead lap, beating the event record of nine, set in 2011.

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 200NTT 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