Indianapolis 500: Josef Newgarden wins by 0.0974 seconds in wild, crash-filled finish

SPEEDWAY, Ind. – After five accidents on the track and three mishaps in pit lane, after one crash flipped a car upside-down and sent a tire rocketing over a grandstand, after missteps and missed opportunities, Josef Newgarden stepped up and won the 107th Indianapolis 500 on Sunday afternoon.

Actually, he won the Indianapolis 2 1/2. A succession of crashes in the final 15 laps – made possible by three red flags to prevent cautions from running out the clock – meant only one lap remained. Newgarden passed 2022 winner Marcus Ericsson on the backstretch and hung on to win by 0.0974 seconds, the fourth closest margin in race history.

Newgarden’s arrival in victory lane after three stoppages – unprecedented in 500 history – tarnished his success in the eyes of some observers, to say nothing of Ericsson, who was gunning for a $420,000 bonus from trophy sponsor BorgWarner along with the usual big prize.

“There were not enough laps to do what we did,” Ericsson said. “We go out of the pits with cold tires. We should have finished on the yellow.

“I knew he was going to do it [pass on the backstretch]. Josef is a worthy champion, and I congratulate him for that.”

For Newgarden, winner on his 12th attempt, there was no question of his intent.

“I was either going to win the race or put it in the wall,” Newgarden said. “I wasn’t going to finish second, third or fourth.”

“I was either going to win the race or put it in the wall. I wasn’t going to finish second, third or fourth.”

—  Josef Newgarden, Indianapolis 500 champion

Newgarden had been skunked with a strategy decision in 2019 that saw victory go to teammate Simon Pagenaud while he finished fourth.

“After 2019, I said if another chance came along, I was not going to have a top-five result,” Newgarden said.

The one-and-done finish thrilled the crowd of some 325,000, some of whom in Turn 2 watched a tire fly over their heads earlier in the race. Nobody was injured.

For car, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and IndyCar series owner Roger Penske, it’s his 19th 500 win, extending his record, and first since he bought the speedway and IndyCar from the Hulman-George family late in 2019. The sign on his parking space saying “18″ in the morning was changed to “19″ about as quickly as Newgarden took a swig of milk on the victory platform, then pouring the rest on his head.

“I guess this one goes nearly to the top,” said Penske, who delegates all team decisions to Tim Cindric.

Newgarden was sixth at the first red flag, led with Ericsson second at the second stoppage, with the places reversed at the third halt after 198 laps.The unprecedented move was made for the pace car to pull out of the pits, the cars behind it, and restart the race when the leaders got to Turn 4 on Lap 199, without a standard warmup lap.

Ericsson snaked his way down the straightaway, led through Turn 1 and Turn 2, only to see Newgarden eschew the snake on the backstretch. He gunned the Chevrolet engine in his Dallara and passed to the outside, then weaved as Ericsson did to win by two car lengths.

Santino Ferrucci of A.J. Foyt’s team took third, calling the outcome “bittersweet; I was close to the Felix Rosenqvist wreck (which included Kyle Kirkwood) and fortunate to avoid it.”

Tony Kanaan hoped to challenge in his retirement run but rarely did and finished 16th. He did make a pass on the backstretch grass at one point, and agreed with the decision to finish under green if possible.

“Do you really want to finish under yellow with all these people out there,” Kanaan said. “I think it was the right call.”