Marcus Ericsson wins the 106th Indianapolis 500

On Sunday afternoon, 33 drivers competed in the historic 106^th running of the Indianapolis 500. Some drivers were looking for their first 500 win, while others were looking to add another in their careers at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Chip Ganassi Racing driver Scott Dixon started on the pole, looking for his second Indy 500 win, while his teammate, Alex Palou, started second, and Ed Carpenter Racing’s Rinus VeeKay made up the front row.

Scott Dixon and Alex Palou took turns leading laps early in the race for fuel strategy. When the first scheduled pit stops approached, Dixon went on lap 30, and Palou went a lap later. Rinus VeeKay and Marcus Ericsson took turns leading a lap before pitting themselves.

However, on lap 39, Rinus VeeKay got loose at the exit of turn two and crashed hard into the wall, bringing out the race’s first caution. Turn two was not kind to five drivers, who all had similar crashes throughout the race.

Alex Palou was the leader on the restart at lap 46. During the run, Colton Herta nearly hit the wall at turn three. Unfortunately for Herta, he went out on lap 129 due to mechanical issues.

On lap 69, Callum Ilott became the second victim of turn two. He got loose at the same spot as VeeKay did and crashed hard, bringing out the second caution. Scott Dixon was leading on the restart at lap 77. Dixon was in control of this race and looked to be headed to his second Indy 500 win.

The next driver that fell victim to the turn two wall was Romain Grosjean on lap 106. He got loose at the exit of turn two and crashed, ending his day, and he finished in 31^st place. The race restarted on lap 112. On lap 141, Scott made his fourth pit stop of the afternoon.

As drivers made their next scheduled pit stops, the caution came out on lap 152 when Scott McLaughlin slammed the right side of his car into the wall at turn three, bringing out the fourth caution of the day. Pato O’Ward was leading the race on the restart at lap 158.

Pato O’Ward lost the lead on the same lap to Scott Dixon. The two would go back and forth several times. As drivers were making their last scheduled pit stops, Scott Dixon got caught speeding one mile over the speed limit (60 mph) on pit road, effectively ending his chance to win the Indy 500. The race came down to Marcus Ericsson, Pato O’Ward, and Tony Kannan.

Marcus Ericsson was in control of the race and had an over three-second lead over Pato O’Ward when Jimmie Johnson was the last victim to hit the turn two wall with six laps to go. The race was red flagged as Johnson’s car left plenty of debris on the track.

The red flag lasted seven minutes before the race resumed with two laps to go. Marcus Ericsson was weaving around the track, trying to break the draft from Pat O’Ward. O’Ward had a chance to take the lead but could not get by Ericsson, and Ericson won his first Indianapolis 500 by 1.7929 seconds over Pato O’Ward. Ericsson became the fifth driver for Chip Ganassi Racing to win the Indy 500 and the second Sweden driver since Kenny Brack won the Indy 500 in 1999.

The rest of the top ten finishers were Tony Kannan third, Felix Rosenqvist fourth, Alexander Rossi fifth, Conor Daly sixth, Helio Castroneves seventh, Simon Pagenaud eighth, Alex Palou ninth, and Santino Ferrucci tenth. There were six cautions for 31 laps and 38 lead changes.

“I can’t believe it. I’m so happy,” said Marcus Ericsson. “I felt you can never have taken anything for granted, and I know obviously there was three laps to go, and I was praying so hard there was not going to be another yellow, but I knew there’s was probably going to be one, and it was hard to sort of refocus, but I knew the car was amazing.”   

“He was going to put me in the wall if I would’ve gone for it. We were alongside each other. I’m so proud of the team and proud of myself,” said Pato O’Ward, who finished in second place. “We did everything to get it done and even getting a massive run on him. We had no wicker, less downforce, and still not enough speed to get by him even with a massive run. It’s frustrating, and it’s bitter-sweet. I’m so proud, but it definitely stings.”

“It’s just heartbreaking, to be honest,” said Scott Dixon. “It must have been close. I came into the pit and had to lock the rears and then kind of locked all four. I knew it was going to be close. I think it was like a mile over or something. Just frustrating, and the car was really good all day and had really good speed. I think the team did amazing on strategy. I just messed up.” Dixon led 95 laps before the penalty and finished in 21^st place.

Next Sunday, the NTT IndyCar Series heads to Detroit, Michigan, for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix on the streets of Belle Isle Park at 3 pm on USA Network. Tickets for the race can be purchased thanks to our friends at StubHub.

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