INDIANAPOLIS – It had everything one could want in an Indianapolis 500 – drama, thrilling racing, tremendous storylines, heartbreak, disappointment and a four-hour rain delay before the race ever started.
In the end, it was Josef Newgarden who engaged in some of the fiercest racing at the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway to claim victory in Sunday’s 108th Indianapolis 500.
Newgarden became the sixth driver to earn back-to-back victories in the Indianapolis 500 and the first since Helio Castroneves achieved the feat for Team Penske in 2001-02. The others: Wilbur Shaw (1939-40), Mauri Rose (1947-48), Bill Vukovich (1953-54) and Al Unser (1970-71).
By winning back-to-back Indianapolis 500s, Newgarden will collect the BorgWarner Rollover Bonus, a jackpot that increased by $20,000 each year since Castroneves was the last driver to claim it. That bonus was up to $440,000 this year and Newgarden not only hit the jackpot with Sunday’s win, but he also gave team owner Roger Penske his record-extending 20th Indianapolis 500 victory.
“Someone had to reset the bank and I guess we did,” Newgarden said. “It was great.
“I’ve said this a couple times before I got up here, but I had let go of the thought of winning this race last year. It’s so difficult to win. There are no guarantees. It doesn’t matter how good you are or how well you execute. It does not guarantee a victory at Indianapolis ever.
“Last year I really started focusing on just the opportunity and saying, you know, this is so fun that we get to show up here and we’ve got great cars, we’ve got a great crew, and we have an opportunity to win the race. I know we did. I know we did last year, and I definitely know we did this year. I focused on that. I said if we win it, that’s great, but it’s the opportunity that’s the joy of it.
“I say that because it is very difficult to win the race. It’s very difficult to win it back-to-back. I’m over the moon. I’ve got no words for what we’ve been able to do. I’m really proud of this team. They deserve it.”
Newgarden defeated Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward in a back-and-forth, driver-against-driver, team against team among two of the very best in IndyCar.
They traded the lead four times over the final eight laps, culminating with Newgarden passing O’Ward for the victory entering Turn Three on the final lap.
It’s the second year in a row the winning past was on the last lap, but it’s the fourth time in the 108 Indianapolis 500s.
“It was hard to know if it’s going to work,” O’Ward said. “I don’t think it works unless you’re racing someone like Pato. It’s not that Pato didn’t race me hard, he just raced me clean. That move doesn’t work unless you’re racing someone like that. It just doesn’t. It’s very easy that that doesn’t work out.
“I think he’s a tremendous champion. He could have easily won the race himself. He was very capable of that with his team. For us, it worked out. He drove me excellently. I’m very thankful for him and the way that he drove.
“From our side, we left it all on the track. There was nothing that we were going to come home and regret. I definitely felt that way in the final. I’m like, we’re going to put it all on the line. You have to if you want to win Indy. That’s just the way it’s got to be, especially nowadays.
“It was enough. Our car was so fast and it was pretty good. It was a little hairy at the end as far as the trickiness, but we had it all day as far as the commitment and the car and the team, and we laid it all out there in Turn Three.”
Newgarden went on to defeat the talented driver from Monterrey, Mexico by 0.3417-of-a-second in a race that was delayed four hours from its scheduled starting time because of lightning and rain.
“I’m so throttled, you have no idea,” Newgarden said about two hours after his 30th career IndyCar victory. “I don’t know that I’m going to be very articulate right now in this moment.
“But I’m appreciative of this team. This team earned this win the entire month. They’ve earned it the entire year. You have no idea how much effort has gone into this. It’s every individual. That is that Indy exemplifies. It exemplifies the team.
“And to show it in qualifying, to show it in the race is a proud moment for everybody. I’m thankful Jonathan Diuguid (replacement for Tim Cindric as race strategist) was here. I missed Tim, I missed Luke (Mason, his engineer) but I was just as happy to have Jonathan and Raul. It was different but they’re just as good.
“This team just has no shortage of excellence across the board. I would step into any one of these cars thankfully. You don’t have to be on one program. They’re all great. I think they all contributed to this win, so it was a big team day. Really just appreciative.
“I enjoyed driving today. That’s how I started this year. That’s what I wanted to get back to, and very, very gratifying race to go through with this group.”
It was also the largest crowd at the Indianapolis 500 since the 100th in 2016 when an announced sellout of 350,000 spectators were in attendance. According to Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials, there were less than 3,000 tickets available on Sunday — mostly general admission — so well over 340,000 fans were in attendance for the thrilling spectacle of speed.
The race featured an event record of 18 drivers who led a lap. All 18 lap leaders finished on the lead lap – beating the event record of 11 in 2023.
There were 49 lead changes — the fourth most in Indianapolis 500 history.
The 649 on-track passes are the most since 2017.
O’Ward was devastated that he did not win the race, finishing second for the second time in his career.
When he climbed out of the car, he kept his helmet on “because it was moist in there,” he said.
He buried his head in the shoulders of his crew, including McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown, team principal Gavin Ward and sporting director Tony Kanaan.
“It was just such a stressful race,” O’Ward said. “We were up and down, up and down. The car definitely wasn’t the easiest to drive at certain moments.
“I just tried to keep peace as much of the race as I could. I feel like I did. Really prepared to open the doors to ultimately have a chance to win at the end of this, and yeah, it’s just heartbreaking.
“Two corners short.”
“I’m glad that we finished the race. Congratulations to Josef, two in a row. But yeah, I put that car in certain points where I didn’t know if I was going to come out the other end and in one piece because I just want to win this race so freaking bad. It owes me nothing, so every time we come back, there’s always a smile on my face to have another opportunity.
“I think Josef is a great competitor. I’ve raced wheel to wheel with him so many times. He’s obviously one of the stars in the series, one of the strong ones. I knew it was going to be a fight until the end. Just two corners short.
“I really thought that I did everything in my power to get it done.”
Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing finished third in the No. 9 PNC Back Honda. Alexander Rossi of Arrow McLaren was fourth in the No. 7 Chevrolet and Alex Palou rounded out the top five in the No. 10 DHL Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing.
Pole winner Scott McLaughlin led 64 laps in the No. 3 Pennzoil Chevrolet, the most of any driver in the race. Newgarden was next with 26.
In a stunner, Sting Ray Robb of AJ Foyt Racing led 23 laps – one more than Conor Daly.
“I don’t know what to say about the day,” Robb said. “I think that was the most fun I’ve had in a race car today on an oval. The team did such a good job on the stops. I went long on one, but they kept it together. Great stops all day, great strategy.
“That last yellow, if it wasn’t for that I think we would have been fighting for the win. I’m so proud of these guys, I thought we were the car to beat out there. It feels so good. I’m so happy. Goodheart has been with us for five years – the first dog (referring to the No. 41 livery) to cross the start/finish line in the lead in the Indy 500, so huge thank you to them for sticking with us and getting the rewards for it. Pray.com was a new partner this year and we wouldn’t be here without them so I’m grateful that they’re a part of this I love our brands, our partners and I want more to join the ride so they can experience this with us. “
Dixon took the lead on lap 170 but had to make one more pit stop. Josef Newgarden and McLaughlin pitted for the final time on lap 171.
Dixon made his final pit stop on lap 172 but entered the pits locking up his wheels. Meantime, Rossi got ahead of Newgarden on the track, but Dixon was pulling out of the pit area ahead of the two main contenders on track.
Newgarden made the move to the inside of Dixon’s Honda coming down the main straightaway on lap 174.
Dixon passed Newgarden one lap later as more pit stops were made by the nine cars head of the main contenders.
Newgarden passed Dixon for position to regain the advantage on lap 176.
With 20 laps to go, 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson was the leader but still had to make a final pit stop.
That sent up the frantic battle to the checkered flag in an Indianapolis 500 that finished just before 7:45 p.m. ET.
“We just had an incredible car,” said Newgarden. “I got just a little out of position at lap 150; we were restarting eighth. I don’t think I got that sequencing correct. I really thought I went too soon, and then tried to back up and then put us in a hole. JD came over the radio and said you’re going to have to win this the old-fashioned way, I can’t help you. There’s not going to be stops, not going to fuel. So, I just went for it. I said alright, the car was good enough. You guys have done your job, let me drive to the front. They backed me the entire way. You can’t win this race without a great car.
“Hat’s off to the team.”
Larson made the Indianapolis 500 his priority and completed the entire race before leaving for the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He landed in Charlotte at 9:19 p.m., shortly before that race went into a lengthy rain delay.
Justin Allgaier started the NASCAR Cup Series race in Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet. He drove up to 13th before the delay.
Larson finished 18th in this first Indy 500 and was in contention for a top-five finish before he was penalized for speeding on pit road on lap 131. His drive-through penalty put him one lap down, but he battled back to complete all 200 laps.
“I would definitely love to be back next year,” Larson said. “I feel like I learned a lot throughout the race. I made a couple mistakes early there with the restart. Not sure what I wrong did there but somehow got myself into third. I felt like I did a really good job on the restarts and learned a lot. Definitely feel good about knowing what I would need different for the balance when I come back to help runs and stuff.
“Then obviously I smoked the left front or something on a green flag stop and killed our opportunity. Proud to finish but pretty upset at myself. Just could have executed a better race. You never know what could happen. Bummed at myself, but huge thank you to Arrow McLaren, Hendrick Motorsports, Hendrick Automotive Group, Rick Hendrick, Chevrolet, Valvoline, everybody that’s a part of this.
“We’ll go hop on the jet and see if I can get into the 600 somehow.”
It was an incredible Indianapolis 500 that will be remembered for one of the latest endings in Indy 500 history, for some of the fiercest racing on track and for a back-to-back winner that gave the huge throng all that it could want in the biggest race in the world
“If you don’t like that, you’re not a race fan,” Arrow McLaren General Manager Brian Barnhart said afterward.