When Josef Newgarden passed Pato O’Ward and crossed the finish line to win his second Indy 500 and more important second in a row Indy 500, he was met with a loud chorus of cheers and applause, but there was plenty of boos to be heard as well. Josef didn’t care. The Tennessean couldn’t hear them. He praised Pato, he praised Team Owner Roger Penske, and he praised the fans-running into the crowd at the start/finish line, as he did last year. He was without Team Penske President and strategist Tim Cindric and engineer Luke Mason but still was able to use a strong run in the last twenty laps to secure a victory that went back and forth first with Scott Dixon, Alex Rossi, and then with O’Ward.It was only the fourth time in Indianapolis 500 history that the race was decided by a last-lap pass also doing it last year against Marcus Ericsson. While Newgarden won the race, there were plenty of other winners and losers of the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500.
WINNERS
Pato O’Ward
Listen, I am not the biggest Pato O’Ward fan, but he gave it his absolute all out there and the sheer emotion that that man put out when the race was done, was telling. Pato gained numerous fans after his heroic efforts to try to win. The roar of the crowd when he took the lead is something that I have not heard in a very long time. He raced Newgarden clean for numerous laps and nearly pulled off the big victory. An Indy 500 win is coming for Pato. It’s just a matter of when.
IMS
Honestly. Props to Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Most of the crowd stuck around through the rain delay and the public address did a very good job of keeping people informed on what was going on. All prerace festivities still took place, everything went the way that it was supposed too, although I can’t imagine how much was going behind the scenes in the Pagoda. That would be a story all to itself. Other than leaving parking at night (Took us 4 hours to leave!) the IMS crew did a fantastic job. It was as festive of an atmosphere over the weekend as it has ever been before. Plus, they lifted the blackout thanks to the rain delay, allowing people living in Indiana to watch it.
Conor Daly, Callum Ilott and Sting Ray Robb
Conor Daly jumped 19 spots and took the Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports Chevy to the top leading 22 laps. Daly, who hails from Noblesville, Indiana, heard the loud cheers from the crowd every lap. Daly used an alternate pit strategy to lead laps as did AJ Foyt driver Sting Ray Robb. Robb pitted after a separate lap 1 crash and would lead 23 laps of the 500 ultimately finishing in 16th. Robb said, “What a day. It’s way more fun out front. I now see why you guys do it so often.” Callum Ilott overcame multiple issues including being relegated to the rear at the beginning of the race due to a steering issue. He would battle his way back finishing in 11th.
LOSERS
Honda
Honda had a horrific month followed by a disaster at qualifying and several engine failures during the race. There is speculation that Honda could be leaving soon when their contract ends in 2026 and there were several people wondering if Honda has already flown the white flag on the 2024 season . David Salters, President of HRC, US said “It was a disappointing day. All things considered, we weren’t good enough on the day. We’ll regroup, lick our wounds, focus our efforts, and come back. That’s how racing works.” Chevy had 7 out of the top ten spots.
Colton Herta
33rd, 8th, 16th, 30th, 9th, and 23rd. Those have been Colton’s finishes at the Indy 500 since his rookie year. Herta has a lot of promise but just can’t seem to put it together at Indy to have a top 5 finish and he was never really in the talk when it came to the front runners this year crashing on lap 86 but would return on his way to a 23rd finish. No one can deny what Colton can do, but the Indy 500 has been a sore spot for the young California native who sees so much promise but has struggled at the greatest race.
Marcus Ericsson
Well it’s hard to write this man’s name in this column, but we can’t deny the facts: He had a rough month. Ericsson crashed in practice leading to having to use a backup car which struggled to find speed. The 2022 Indy 500 winner barely qualified and immediately was involved in a wreck with Tom Blomqvist and Pietro Fittipaldi on lap 1. I’m sure Ericsson can’t wait for the Detroit Grand Prix for a fresh start. “I can’t believe it. It’s unbelievable. It’s so frustrating. I don’t know what to say. We worked so hard. The team worked so hard. We fought all week and then this happened. I can’t believe it.”
STATS FROM THE 500
During the month there were 16,078 laps run total for 40,195 miles (the earth’s circumference is only 24,901 miles!) for a total drivetime of 38 hours 2 minutes and 53 seconds. As far as the 500 goes, there were 200 laps with 153 of them green (47 under caution). The race was 2 hours and 58 minutes with an average speed of 167.763. There were 52 lead changes among 18 different drivers. Christian Lundgaard had the best lap with a 226.373 on lap 175. Kyle Kirkwood had the best lead lap with a 225.317 also on lap 175. Conor Daly improved the most starting 29th and finishing 10th. The race had 649 passes and 596 position passes.
Standings
- Josef Newgarden
- Pato O’Ward
- Scott Dixon
- Alexander Rossi
- Alex Palou
- Scott McLaughlin
- Kyle Kirkwood
- Santino Ferrucci
- Rinus Veekay
- Conor Daly
- Callum Ilott
- Christian Rasmussen
- Christian Lundgaard
- Takuma Sato
- Graham Rahal
- Sting Ray Robb
- Ed Carpenter
- Kyle Larson
- Romain Grosjean
- Helio Castroneves
- Kyffin Simpson
- Agustin Canapino
- Colton Herta
- Will Power
- Marco Andretti
- Ryan Hunter Reay
- Felix Rosenqvist
- Linus Lundqvist
- Katherine Legge
- Marcus Armstrong
- Tom Blomqvist
- Pietro Fittipaldi
- Marcus Ericsson
Top Ten Points Standings
- Alex Palou 183
- Scott Dixon -20
- Will Power -26
- Pato O’Ward -49
- Colton Herta -49
- Scott McLaughlin -152
- Josef Newgarden -61
- Alexander Rossi -63
- Felix Rosenqvist -67
- Kyle Kirkwood -68
NEXT UP
Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix June 2nd, 12 PM Eastern on the streets of Detroit in Detroit, Michigan. If you’ll be there, make sure you guys welcome our Chief Editor Tom to his first ever IndyCar event ass he will be there covering the weekend’s action live!
Header Image: Matt Fraver
