The 107th running of the Indianapolis 500 belongs to Josef Newgarden after a race that seemed like it would never end.
Three red flags in the final 14 laps tried to put a damper on an electric race but a final sprint with two laps remaining on the last restart provided one of the most epic finishes in the race’s storied history.
Newgarden completed a late pass of defending champion Marcus Ericsson just ahead of Turn 3 and defended brilliantly to hold on for the win.
THE FINAL LAP OF THE 107TH #INDY500.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN WINS! pic.twitter.com/jgsyatqtFS
— INDYCAR on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) May 28, 2023
Newgarden began the race in 17th position with +1600 odds after opening at +1400. He delivers the 19th victory in the Indy 500 for Team Penske and the first since Simon Pagenaud in 2019.
The first half of the race was run with no issues but things quickly went haywire as the drivers started to settle in.
Rinus VeeKay and pole sitter Alex Palou were battling back and forth over the first 100 laps, but that spilled over onto pit road as the two drivers attempted to get back on the track at the same time. VeeKay spun out and slid right into Palou, damaging his front wing and requiring him to stay on pit road for repairs.
VeeKay was hit with a penalty, but the damage was done for Palou, who was unable to fight his way all the back through the field.
ALEX PALOU AND RINUS VEEKAY HAVE COME TOGETHER ON PIT LANE!
📺: @nbc and @peacock pic.twitter.com/KUsmQvHgug
— INDYCAR on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) May 28, 2023
With 14 laps to go, Felix Rosenqvist hit the wall, then got tangled up with Kyle Kirkwood, sending a tire flying over the crowd while Kirkwood went sliding across the track upside down. Miraculously, no one was injured.
After the debris was cleared, Pato O’Ward tried to muscle his way back to the front of the pack, but wound up losing control and caused another pile up to bring out another red flag.
That left the drivers with just six laps to go to make their move for the win. Newgarden timed his perfectly, passing Ericsson on the outside and holding him off for the home stretch for an epic win and even wilder celebration.
A man of the people!
Josef Newgarden goes INTO THE CROWD to celebrate his Indy 500 victory! #INDY500 pic.twitter.com/1mBUzoMSfH
— INDYCAR on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) May 28, 2023
Full Results
- Josef Newgarden
- Marcus Ericsson
- Santino Ferrucci
- Alex Palou
- Alexander Rossi
- Scott Dixon
- Takuma Sato
- Conor Daly
- Colton Herta
- Rinus VeeKay
- Ryan Hunter-Reay
- Callum Ilott
- Devlin DeFrancesco
- Scott McLaughlin
- Helio Castroneves
- Tony Kanaan
- Marco Andretti
- Jack Harvey
- C. Lundgaard
- Ed Carpenter
- Benjamin Pedersen
- Graham Rahal
- Will Power
- Pato O’Ward
- Simon Pagenaud
- Agustin Canapino
- Felix Rosenqvist
- Kyle Kirkwood
- David Malukas
- Romain Grosjean
- Sting Ray Robb
- RC Enerson
- Katherine Legge
