Newgarden beats Ericsson to Indy 500 win after restart with one lap to go
General
Josef Newgarden won the Indy 500 in a blistering last-lap sprint. There was a red flag, but the race resumed with one lap to go, and Newgarden seized his chance and outsmarted Marcus Ericsson for the win while Rinus Veekay crossed the finish line in tenth place.
As usual in the Indy 500, the devil was in the tail. In the final phase of the race, several cautions and red flags are not uncommon and this time, too, there were several hits. After earlier crashes by Sting Ray Robb and Romain Grosjean, the first red flag was caused by Kyle Kirkwood's heavy crash.
Kirkwood ended upside down on the track after Felix Rosenqvist hit him, causing Kirkwood to slam into the wall and overturn. Both drivers were fine, and the race was stopped. Later, it was Pato O'Ward who crashed while attempting to overtake Marcus Ericsson. Again, the red flag was waved.
The race resumed with only four laps to go, but things immediately went wrong again at the restart. After initially continuing under caution despite having two crashed drivers on the track, the race was stopped for the third time.
Restart with one lap to go
The race resumed with just one lap to go. Marcus Ericsson took the lead and tried to shake off Josef Newgarden by getting on the gas extremely early but to no avail. Newgarden grabbed the lead and crossed the finish line first. Ericsson and Santino Ferrucci completed the top three.