The Team Penske driver brought them to victory lane for a 20th time, becoming the first back-to-back winner of the Indy500 since Helio Castroneves as he passed Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward on the final lap to snatch the victory.
Newgarden lost the lead at turn 1 on the final lap, but kept tracking O’Ward down the back straight, before unleashing an unbelievably bold move around the outside of turn 3 to claw his way back to the front.
Scott Dixon passed Alexander Rossi at the stripe to finish 3rd, but the Chip Ganassi Racing driver simply did not have the speed to fight for the victory, ultimately losing that opportunity on lap 182 when he struggled behind the lapped car of Canapino.
Alex Palou drove strategically to finish 5th, ahead of pole sitter Scott McLaughlin, who led large portions of the race but could not find the extra flash of brilliance when it counted.
Kyle Kirkwood recovered from a penalty on pit-lane to finish 7th, a small token of solace on an otherwise miserable day for Andretti Global, whose other three cars crashed out. Santino Ferrucci was 8th, ahead of Rinus Veekay and Conor Daly, who made up 19 positions to slip into the top 10.
NASCAR superstar Kyle Larson was in contention in the early part of the eace, but his dreams of victory disintegrated in the tyre smoke of his right front tyre on lap 131 as he locked up and sped on pitlane, resigning him to 18th.
It was a tough day for former champions Will Power, Marcus Ericsson and Ryan Hunter-Reay. Ericsson was taken out by Tom Blomqvist on the opening lap, Hunter-Reay made contact with Dixon on lap 107 and Power crashed on lap 147 as he struggled in traffic.
Lengthy weather delays meant the start of the race was incredibly intense, with three cautions inside the first 28 laps. Drivers jockeyed for position aggressively, as fans were treated to a stunning spectacle inside the last of the 500 miles run at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The 350,000 fans who patiently waited for the race to begin four hours after it was scheduled were treated to 52 lead changes amongst 16 different drivers, an Indy500 record, with 596 passes for position. None more dramatic than Newgarden’s last gasp overtake in the sunset on the final lap.
Newgarden goes back to back in stunning fashion
After winning the 2023 Indianapolis 500 in controversial circumstances and being unceremoniously stripped of his victory at St Petersburg because of illegal push to pass usage, Josef Newgarden came to Indianapolis with a point to prove, and a victory to defend.
Having qualified on the outside of the front row, Newgarden ran the opening half of the race rather conservatively, and was sat in 5th by lap 50. By working on his race car in the pack, he adapted to changing conditions much better than teammates McLaughlin and Power, who struggled in dirty air and ultimately slid out of contention.
On lap 130, Newgarden pitted for the penultimate time, before shooting past Ferrucci and Rasmussen in a daring move into turn 3 on lap 135, as the American sought to understand how much the track would be willing to give. Something of a dress rehearsal for lap 200 perhaps…
At the restart on lap 154, Newgarden went from 8th to 4th, breezing past his rivals with stunning car control.
He made his final stop on lap 171, and although he was passed by Rossi, he made easy work getting back 2nd place before flying by Scott Dixon. He exchanged the lead with Rossi until lap 193, when O’Ward and Newgarden both passed Rossi, setting up a two car showdown with Dixon and Rossi in their wake.
On lap 199, Pato O’Ward closed in on Newgarden into turn 3 but lifted off the throttle, in order to save his overtake for the last lap.
O’Ward passed Newgarden on the home straight and led into turn 1, but the reigning Indy500 champion was able to stay close enough through turns 1 and 2 to set up a run going onto the back stretch.
In a move which left many speechless, Newgarden moved to the high side of O’Ward in turn 3, and the pair went side by side through the penultimate corner of the race. Newgarden had more momentum coming into turn 4, and sped across the Yard of Bricks to become the first back to back winner in 22 years.
Newgarden said ‘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.’
[When asked about the move into turn 3]: ‘hard to know if it’s going to work. 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. So 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.’
O’Ward nearly grabs victory from jaws of defeat before heart-breaking loss
Having struggled for balance all day in his Arrow McLaren car, Pato O’Ward nearly pulled off the unthinkable.
He is no stranger to falling agonisingly short at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway: in 2021, a lack of downforce prevented him from fighting Castroneves and Palou in the final stint, resigning him to 4th. In 2022, he attempted to pass Marcus Ericsson on the final lap, but had to lift and settle for 2nd.
Embroiled in a fierce three car fight for the win in 2023 with Newgarden and Ericsson, O’Ward was overly aggressive on Ericsson into turn 3 on lap 192, and ended up in the wall. 2024’s runner-up finish will sting a little more.
When running deep in traffic mid race, O’Ward pulled off one of the most incredible saves in Indycar history to stop his car from crashing out in turn 2. He then went off strategy, taking the lead on lap 157 and sharing it with Rossi.
He passed Rossi aggressively on lap 193 to set up the showdown with Newgarden, and calculated his last lap pass, moving into the lead on the front straight with the white flag flying.
Despite his best efforts, O’Ward could not stop Newgarden from swooping around the outside on the final lap at turn 3. His car had been on a knife’s edge all afternoon, and he so nearly pulled off a famous win.
With his dreams crushed in a flash, O’Ward broke down in his interview with NBC after the race, before saying in the press conference ‘Yeah, first of all, very proud of what Arrow McLaren did for not just me, but for everybody within the team. I think I can speak on behalf of Kyle, Alex, Callum.’
‘I knew it was going to be a fight until the end. Just two corners short.’
‘They gave us the tools to fight. They gave us the tools to be there. As for my race, it was just such a stressful race. We were up and down, up and down. The car definitely wasn’t the easiest to drive at certain moments.’
‘[The Indianapolis Motor Speedway] owes me nothing, so every time we come back, there’s always a smile on my face to have another opportunity.’
Delayed Indy500 provides hectic action throughout the field
The weather threatened to refuse to play ball at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, as the race was delayed by 4 hours thanks to powerful thunderstorms making their way across America from the West.
However, once the track drying process had begun and pre-race festivities had got underway, there was an air of anticipation for the biggest race in the world, and the 350,000 who had braved the elements were treated to the ultimate showdown.
Tensions were high throughout the field, and the racing in the early stages was aggressive. For the first time since 2015 there was a crash on the opening lap, as 2022 winner Marcus Ericsson was collected by the spinning rookie Tom Blomqvist. Ericsson’s miserable Month of May came to a very abrupt end as his campaign to reclaim his crown ended at turn 1 on lap 1.
Honda were also struggling, as Marcus Armstrong suffered an engine failure during the first caution and Katherine Legge brought out a caution as her engine expired on lap 23.
On lap 28, Linus Lundqvist crashed out trying to go four-wide into turn 1, making an overzealous move incredibly early in the race. The race then settled down for a while, as Colton Herta and Scott McLaughlin led the way on the primary strategy. Sting Ray Robb and Conor Daly went off strategy and led laps in the early phase of the race as well.
Lap 56 saw a third Honda engine fail, as Felix Rosenqvist retired from a strong 7th place, before Colton Herta spun out on lap 86. Despite not damaging the car much, Herta jumped out immediately, taking him out of the running.
In the subsequent pitstop sequence, Kyle Kirkwood was unjustly penalised for pushing Callum Ilott despite the British driver hitting the brakes in the fast lane. The 6th caution of the day came out on lap 107 when Ryan Hunter-Reay was hit by Scott Dixon, as the 2014 winner spun 360 degrees on the grass.
Marco Andretti spun on lap 114 to bring out a caution, before Will Power’s accident attempting to pass Christian Rasmussen neutralised the race for the final time, setting up the 45 lap sprint to the flag.
Experience counts at thrilling Indy500
As often is the case at Indianapolis, experience is one of the most valuable skills to utilise in such a long as gruelling race. Knowing what to do and when can be the difference between winning and losing, and the veterans came to the fore at the Indy500.
Rookie Tom Blomqvist made a basic error on the opening lap, and Kyle Larson lost 11 places on the restart on lap 10 after accidentally pulling a gear. Furthermore, the NASCAR cup series champion from 2021 sped in the pitlane on lap 131, taking him out of contention for the win.
Despite this, Larson loved his Indy experience, saying ‘I would definitely love to be back next year, I feel like I learned a lot throughout the race.’
Josef Newgarden and Scott Dixon carefully worked their ways to the front, using their understanding of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to their advantage.
Scott Dixon looked like he might sneak his way to victory having started a lowly 21st, but said ‘The race itself, it was pretty full on. It was pretty action packed. At the end there when you’re kind of capturing third, you hope that the first two are going to take each other out, but obviously that didn’t happen.’
‘A little bit of drama, but I thought everybody raced pretty cleanly, and at the end there it was a great move by Josef around the outside.’
‘Yeah the last shot there we were pretty much flat, man. Just staying in their tow and their wake, and honestly you kind of knew that I think we could run 218s out front and they were like 220s, and once they started cycling there were 222s and we were just trying to hang on there.’
‘They had much better pace than us today, and unfortunately we just didn’t have enough there at the end.’
Christian Rasmussen was impressive in his first Indy500, making bold moves and strong passes as he worked his way up as high as 6th, before a pitstop error saw him drop to 17th. He would eventually finish 12th. Augustin Canapino also had a great day making his way to the front, but sped on pit-lane at his final stop, and finished a lap down.
Alex Palou now leads the Indycar standings by 20 points over Scott Dixon, with Will Power a further 6 behind. The 2024 Indianapolis 500 may be over, but the race certainly did not fail to disappoint. Unparalleled drama from the first drop of the green flag to the final wave of the chequered.
The NTT IndyCar Series returns on Sunday for the Chevrolet Grand Prix of Detroit.
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