INDIANAPOLIS â Josef Newgarden won the 107th Indy 500 with a last-lap pass of Marcus Ericsson, giving team owner Roger Penske his 19th victory in the race but his first as the owner of Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
In a one-lap shootout after the third red flag in the final 20 laps, Newgarden grabbed the lead from Ericsson on the backstretch and then weaved his way to the checkered flag (mimicking the same moves Ericsson had made to win at the Brickyard last year). Santino Ferrucci finished third for AJ Foyt Racing, maintaining his streak of finishing in the top 10 in all five of his Indianapolis 500 starts.
âIâm just so thankful to be here,â Newgarden told NBC Sportsâ Marty Snider. âYou have no idea. I started out as a fan in the crowd. And this place, itâs amazing.
INSIDE TEAM PENSKE: The tension and hard work preceding âThe Captainâsâ 19th win
âRegardless of where youâre sitting. It doesnât matter if youâre driving the car, youâre working on it or youâre out here in the crowd. Youâre a part of this event and the energy. So thank you to Indianapolis. I love this city. I grew up racing karts here when I was a kid. Iâm just so thankful for Roger and (team president) Tim (Cindric) and everybody at Team Penske.
âI just felt like everyone kept asking me why I havenât won this race. They look at you like youâre a failure if you donât win it, and I wanted to win it so bad. I knew we could. I knew we were capable. Itâs a huge team effort. Iâm so glad to be here.â
Newgarden became the first driver from Tennessee to win the Indy 500 and the first American to win the Greatest Spectacle in Racing since Alexander Rossi in 2016.
âI think the last two laps I forgot about being a track owner and said letâs go for it,â Penske told Snider. âBut what a great day. All these wonderful fans. To get No. 19 racing my guy Ganassi, my best friend in this business. But a terrific effort by Josef. Tim Cindric called a perfect race.
âHad a great race, safe race. Iâll never forget it. I know Josef wanted it so bad and wondered why he couldnât be there, but today all day long, he worked his way up there, and at the end when it was time to go, I was betting on him.â
After Newgarden finally got his first Indy 500 victory on his 12th attempt the two-time NTT IndyCar Series champion climbed out of his No. 2 Dallara-Chevrolet, squeezed through a hole in the catchfence and ran into the stands to celebrate with fans.
âIâve always wanted to go into the crowd at Indianapolis,â Newgarden said. âI wanted to go through the fence. I wanted to celebrate with the people. I just thought it would be so cool because I know what that energy is like on race day. This was a dream of mine. If this was ever going to happen, I wanted to do that.â
After finishing 0.0974 seconds behind in second with his No. 8 Dallara-Honda, Ericsson was upset about how IndyCar officials handled the ending.
Though itâs not the first time a red flag has been used to guarantee a green-flag finish at the Indy 500, IndyCar races typically havenât been restarted with only one lap remaining. The green flag was thrown as the field left the pits in an unusual maneuver that had echoes of Formula Oneâs controversial 2021 season finale.
âI just feel like it was unfair and a dangerous end to the race,â Ericsson told NBC Sportsâ Kevin Lee. âI donât think there was enough laps to do what we did. Weâve never done a restart out of the pits, and we donât get the tires up to temperature.
âI think we did everything right today. Iâm very proud of the No. 8 crew. I think I did everything right behind the wheel. I did an awesome last restart. I think I caught Josef completely off guard and got the gap and kept the lead. But I just couldnât hold it on the (backstretch). I was flat but couldnât hold it. Iâm proud of us.
âCongratulations to Josef, he did everything right as well. Heâs a worthy champion, Iâm just very disappointed with the way that ended. I donât think that was fair.â
There also were a lot of emotions for Ferrucci, who was tearing up as he exited his No. 14 Dallara-Chevy. In the past eight weeks, the team has weathered the deaths of A.J. Foytâs wife and longtime publicist Anne Fornoroâs husband.
âItâs just tough,â Ferrucci told NBC Sportsâ Dave Burns. âWe were there all day. All day. Iâm just so proud of our AJ Foyt Racing team. We had a few people riding on board with us. This one stings, itâs bittersweet. Iâm happy for third and the team. Iâm happy for Josef and all of Team Penske.
âI was trying not to tear up getting into the race car before we started the race. Different emotions. It was different. I think coming to the end, the last few restarts. I think IndyCar did the right decision with what they have done. a green-flag finish for the fans. Wish we had a couple more laps to finish that off.â
Pole-sitter Alex Palou rebounded to finish fourth after a collision in the pits near the midpoint. Alexander Rossi took fifth.
The race was stopped three times for 37 minutes for three crashes, including a terrifying wreck involving Felix Rosenqvist and Kyle Kirkwood that sent a tire over the Turn 2 catchfence.
It had been relatively clean with only two yellow flags until the final 50 miles.
After spending the first half of the race trading the lead, pole-sitter Alex Palou and Rinus VeeKay (who started second) collided while exiting the pits under yellow on Lap 94.
Leaving the pits after leading 24 laps, VeeKay lost control under acceleration. He looped his No. 21 Dallara-Chevy into the No. 10 Dallara-Honda of Palou that already had left the first pit stall after completing its stop,
Palou, who had led 36 laps. stayed on the lead lap despite multiple stops to replace the front wing but restarted in 28th.
âWhat an absolute legend trying to win it,â Palou sarcastically radioed his team about VeeKay, who received a drive-through penalty for the contact when the race returned to green.
The incident happened after the first yellow flag on Lap 92 after Sting Ray Robb slapped the outside wall in Turn 1 after battling with Graham Rahal.
Robb put the blame on Rahal in an interview with NBC Sportsâ Dillon Welch.
âI think I just need to pay more attention to the stereotypes of the series,â Robb said. âPay attention to who Iâm racing, and that was just way too aggressive of a move I thought. But yeah, I guess weâre in the wall and not much further to say.â
An already miserable May for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing continued before the race even started.
Rahal, who failed to qualify but started his 16th consecutive Indy 500 in place of the injured Stefan Wilson, was unable to start his No. 24 for Dreyer & Reinbold/Cusick Motorsports.
After two aborted attempts at firing the carâs Chevrolet engine, team members pushed Rahal behind the pit wall and swapped out a dead battery. Rahal finally joined the field on the third lap, but he wouldnât finish last.
RLL teammate Katherine Legge, who had been involved in the Monday practice crash that fractured Wilsonâs back, struggled with the handling on her No. 44 Dallara-Honda and nearly spun while exiting the pits after her first stop on Lap 35.
Legge exited her car about 30 laps later as her team began working to fix a steering problem.