Josef Newgarden wins Indy 500 with final-lap pass

Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden has won the 107th running of the Indy 500 by passing Marcus Ericsson in a single-lap sprint to the chequered flag.

Three red flag periods were called in the last 16 laps before Ericsson led the field to green for the very last time, on Lap 200 of 200.

The Chip Ganassi Racing driver looked to have bolted clear as he took the white flag also, but Newgarden got a monster run off Turn 2 and blazed past the #9 Honda as they ran down the back straight.

When they got back to the bricks, the official margin of victory was 0.0974s in favour of the #2 Chevrolet, which started 17th.

Newgarden is therefore an Indianapolis 500 winner for the first time, denying Ericsson back-to-back triumphs in the big one at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

READ MORE: Ericsson calls Indy 500 finish “unfair and dangerous”

Santino Ferrucci, who also led late in the piece, finished third in the #14 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet.

Pole-sitter Alex Palou (#10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) got home in fourth after dropping a long way down the order when fellow front row starter Rinus VeeKay (#21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet) crashed into him in pit lane.

Alexander Rossi (#7 McLaren Chevrolet) finished fifth, ahead of Scott Dixon (#9 Ganassi Honda), Takuma Sato (#11 Ganassi Honda), Conor Daly (#20 ECR Chevrolet), Colton Herta (#26 Andretti Autosport w/ Curb-Agajanian Honda), and VeeKay.

Ryan Hunter-Reay (#23 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Chevrolet), who held first position during the first red flag but still had to pit, ended up 11th, from Callum Ilott (#77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet), Devlin DeFrancesco (#29 Andretti Honda), Scott McLaughlin (#3 Penske Chevrolet), Helio Castroneves (#06 Meyer Shank Racing Honda), and Tony Kanaan (#66 McLaren Chevrolet).

Hours earlier, Graham Rahal’s tumultuous Month of May continued when the #24 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports Chevrolet would not start as the rest of the field went for their warm up laps.

He was pushed behind the wall as Palou led the field to green, with VeeKay and Felix Rosenqvist (#6 McLaren Chevrolet) maintaining second and third respectively, while Dixon gained two spots to slot into fourth.

Palou and VeeKay traded the lead early on, from Rosenqvist, Dixon, Ferrucci, Rossi, and Pato O’Ward (#5 McLaren Chevrolet).

Will Power (#12 Team Penske Chevrolet) passed Takuma Sato (#11 Ganassi Honda) for eighth on Lap 11, with Tony Kanaan (#66 McLaren Chevrolet) holding 10th, by which time Rahal had started two laps down.

Palou regained the lead as he started Lap 16 but team-mate Dixon dropped out of the top 10 by the end of Lap 23 due to a left side tyre vibration.

The 2008 race winner was 15th by the time he pitted on Lap 26, and it was a somewhat similar story for Romain Grosjean (#28 Andretti Autosport Honda).

Palou had reclaimed the lead for a third time by the time he pitted on Lap 30, before VeeKay was into the lane two laps later.

Once the cycle completed on Lap 34, those two were back up the front, from Ferrucci, Rosenqvist, Rossi, O’Ward, Power, Ericsson, Newgarden, Sato, Kanaan in 11th, Scott Mclaughlin (#3 Penske Chevrolet) in 12th, and Dixon in 21st.

Again, Palou and VeeKay swapped first and second place a couple more times, while Power continued to run in seventh despite being told from the #12 timing stand that his weight jacker had failed.

Palou pitted from the lead and Ferrucci from fourth on Lap 61.

VeeKay stopped on Lap 64 and this time got back out ahead of Palou, but would be jumped by one McLaren and then overtaken by another, the #5 Chevrolet of O’Ward, on-track.

O’Ward would lead when he passed team-mate Rosenqvist at Turn 1 on Lap 70, just after the completion of the second pit stop cycle, with VeeKay third from Palou, Ferrucci, Rossi, Power, Newgarden, Ericsson, and Sato, with McLaughlin 13th and Dixon 21st.

Ferrucci rounded up Palou on Lap 76 and VeeKay on Lap 82, both at Turn 3, while the McLaren IndyCar Team orchestrated passes between its leading duo in order to save fuel.

Rosenqvist was back ahead when a Caution was called on Lap 92 for a Sting Ray Robb (#51 Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing Honda) crash.

Robb hit the wall at Turn 1 when Rahal made a pass and forced the rookie higher than he would have liked, into the grey.

Another crash followed once the field filed into pit lane, albeit a more minor one, but it did involve two of the contenders.

VeeKay bagged it up on a tight exit from the second box and clattered into Palou, which cannoned the Spaniard’s #10 Honda into the inside wall.

Ilott assumed the lead having pitted just before the Caution, with Rosenqvist second, from O’Ward, Ferrucci, Power, Newgarden, Rossi, VeeKay, Ericsson, and Herta, with McLaughlin 12th, Dixon 16th, Sato 17th, and Palou 26th after stopping again for a new front wing.

The restart came on Lap 101, at which point Rosenqvist and O’Ward wasted little time clearing Ilott, while it was frantic just a little further back.

Ericsson was aggressive, which contributed to Power being shuffled all the way back to 17th, and some new names in the top 10.

Soon enough, Rosenqvist led from O’Ward, Ferrucci, Newgarden, Ericsson, Herta, and Rossi, with Daly passing Ilott for eighth on Lap 112, while VeeKay was 28th after copping a drive-through penalty.

The McLaren fuel-save dance continued up front, while Rossi got by Herta for sixth at the start of Lap 125.

Fuel-saving, though, had become the objective for virtually everyone as they looked to make only two more stops to get home.

First to blink was O’Ward, pitting from second place on Lap 129 as Ericsson overtook Newgarden on the main straight, before Rosenqvist ceded the lead when he stopped on Lap 132.

When Castroneves pitted on Lap 135, the cycle was complete, and the running order was Rosenqvist, Ericsson, Newgarden, Ferrucci, Rossi, Carpenter, O’Ward, Daly, Kyle Kirkwood (#27 Andretti Honda), and Sato in 10th.

McLaughlin, Palou, Dixon, and Power filled 12th through 15th, with VeeKay 19th and Herta well back after hitting Grosjean as he tried to exit his pit box.

Ericsson hit the front when he got by Rosenqvist on Lap 138 and then Newgarden made the pass for second on Lap 139, his cause perhaps helped by the fact that the #6 McLaren pilot found Herta merging in front after serving a drive-through penalty.

Rossi and O’Ward moved into fourth and fifth respectively when they overtook Ferrucci, before a second Caution was called on Lap 150 when Grosjean crashed at Turn 2.

Once pit lane opened, O’Ward was in from fourth, Carpenter from eighth, and Sato from 10th, with most of the rest also taking service, but neither Dixon nor Palou among them.

The order thus became Ericsson, Newgarden, Rosenqvist, Rossi, Ferrucci, Kirkwood, Palou, Daly, Dixon, Simon Pagenaud (#60 MSR Honda) in 10th, DeFrancesco, Christian Lundgaard (#45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda), O’Ward, Sato, Carpenter, and Power in 16th, with VeeKay 19th, and McLaughlin 22nd.

All could get home on one more pit stop, but some had more freedom to push than others.

The green flag flew again with 44 laps to go and Newgarden immediately darted out to pass Ericsson for the lead, as Ferrucci jumped the two McLarens ahead of him to take up third position.

Ericsson re-passed Newgarden down the back straight on the following lap and then Ferrucci relegated the #2 Penske entry to third as they started Lap 159, before Rosenqvist rounded up team-mate Rossi for fourth spot at Turn 3.

On Lap 160, Ferrucci overtook Ericsson on the run to Turn 1 and the #14 AJ Foyt entry led, before Kirkwood made his way into the top four with passes on Rossi and then Rosenqvist.

Power pitted from 13th with 33 laps to go after brushing the wall exiting Turn 2 and causing damage to the right-rear corner of Car #12, before Ferrucci made a scheduled stop on Lap 169.

The outgoing left-front tyre bounced off the inside pit wall and out of the #14 box where it was grabbed by the right-front changer, triggering a penalty.

In a major relief for Ferrucci and the AJ Foyt crew, however, the punishment was only a warning and fine.

Ericsson, followed by a still-charging Kirkwood, as well as Newgarden and Rosenqvist, were into the pits on Lap 171.

Newgarden jumped Kirkwood in the lane but Rosenqvist jumped both of them, although they still had to deal with an up-to-speed Ferrucci as they rejoined the race track.

He blazed past Rosenqvist up the back straight but could not hold the position for long, with Rosenqvist and Newgarden both overtaking him on Lap 174.

O’Ward pitted from the official race lead on Lap 180 and resumed between Rosenqvist and Newgarden, meaning he was effectively in third place as Ericsson continued to hold the effective lead.

On Lap 183, O’Ward squeezed past Rosenqvist on the back straight, then overtook Ericsson for an official fourth position 2.5 miles later again.

On Lap 185, Newgarden rounded up Rosenqvist at Turn 1, setting off a major incident which would cause a red flag.

Without the air over his front wing, Rosenqvist drifted up to the wall and crashed the #5 Chevrolet, sending him spinning towards Turn 2.

Most avoided him but Kirkwood could not, with the impact causing #27 Honda to roll, and one of its wheels to fly into an outfield car park where it hit a road car.

Fortunately, no drivers or spectators were injured, but the race was suspended in order to clean up the track.

READ MORE: Penske calls flying IndyCar wheel “very concerning”

When the field was sent back out behind the Pace Car, and pit lane opened again, the top three of Ryan Hunter-Reay (#23 DRR Chevrolet), Ilott, and Agustin Canapino (#78 JHR Chevrolet) were back in for fuel.

O’Ward inherited first position, from Ericsson, Newgarden, Rossi, Ferrucci, Palou, Daly, Dixon, VeeKay, Herta in 10th, Pagenaud, Sato, McLaughlin, DeFrancesco, and Hunter-Reay.

The third restart was to have come on Lap 192 but was waved off when O’Ward was too slow, but they took the green next time around.

Ericsson got a run on O’Ward but Newgarden got a run on both of them, scything from third to first in one fell sweep.

When O’Ward tried to reclaim one of those positions down the back straight, he got pinched by Ericsson at Turn 3 and went spinning into the wall.

Further back, McLaughlin pushed Pagenaud into a spin and Canapino also swapped ends as he tried to avoid that crash.

The Argentine himself hit the wall then, apparently without brakes, shunted O’Ward at slow speed, triggering another red flag.

The fourth restart, on Lap 197, saw literally seconds of green flag running before another Caution and red flag.

A squeeze in the back of the pack meant that some cars did not even make it to the end of Lap 196 unscathed, with those involved including Lundgaard, Carpenter, Benjamin Pedersen (#55 AJ Foyt Chevrolet), and Rahal.

However, Ericsson had passed Newgarden in the small window of opportunity which he had, and hence he was at the head of the field, from Newgarden and Ferrucci, as they eventually headed back around to take the green flag for a one-lap dash to the finish.

Ericsson momentarily looked to have done enough, but it was not to be for the Swede.

The Detroit Grand Prix takes place next weekend (June 2-4, local time).

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Results: Race, Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Race winner: 200 laps

Series points