INDIANAPOLIS – Josef Newgarden won his second consecutive Indy 500, outdueling Pato O’Ward with a last-lap pass to win the Greatest Spectacle in Racing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Newgarden became the first driver to win consecutive Indy 500s in 22 years since Helio Castroneves, who also did it for Team Penske in 2001-02.
“I knew we could win this race again,” Newgarden said. “It was just a matter of getting it right. There’s no better way to win a race than that. I got to give it up to Pato as well. He’s an incredibly clean driver. It takes two people to make that work.
“It’s not just a good pass, it’s also someone that you’re working with that’s incredibly clean. I have to give hats off to Pato. He could have easily won this race, too, but it just fell our way. I’m just so proud of everybody. I’m proud of this whole team.”
It’s the record-extending 20th victory in the Indy 500 for team owner Roger Penske.
Newgarden and O’Ward traded the lead four times in the last eight laps. O’Ward, who led 12 laps, has finished second twice in the last three Indy 500s and has led four consecutive races on the IMS oval.
“It’s hard to put it into words,” an emotional O’Ward told NBC Sports’ Dave Burns. “I’m proud of the work we did today. Just so close again. So (expletive) close. It’s so painful when you put so much into it and two corners short. You just don’t know how many opportunities you have.”
Scott Dixon finished third, followed by Alexander Rossi and Alex Palou.
Pole-sitter Scott McLaughlin was sixth with Kyle Kirkwood, Santino Ferrucci, Rinus VeeKay and Conor Daly rounding out the top 10.
Newgarden earned a $440,000 bonus from BorgWarner as a repeat Indy 500 winner. His No. 2 Dallara-Chevrolet team also found redemption after Newgarden had his victory in the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg season opener disqualified for illegally using push to pass on restarts.
Team owner Roger Penske also suspended four team members from working at IMS this month, including team president Tim Cindric, Newgarden’s race strategist, and Luke Mason, his engineer.
“Absolutely,” Newgarden said when asked by NBC Sports’ Marty Snider if he had extra motivation to win. “They can say whatever they want after this point, I don’t care anymore. I’m just so proud of the team. They crushed it. They came here with the fastest cars. We’ve worked our tails off. Team Chevy brought it. Luke, Tim, they’re not here today, but they’re a huge part of this. I’m just so proud of everyone at Team Penske. That’s the way I wanted to win the thing right there.”
Kyle Larson finished 18th in his Indy 500 debut and then hustled to Charlotte Motor Speedway to finish the Coca-Cola 600 as a relief driver after a four-hour rain delay ruined his chance to complete 1,100 miles of racing in NASCAR and IndyCar. The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion was running sixth with 70 laps remaining but was penalized for speeding on entry to the pits.
After the start was pushed from 12:45 to 4:45 p.m. ET, the anxiety seemed to kick in for drivers during a wild first half that eliminated some big stars.
Marcus Ericsson, the 2022 Indy 500 winner who finished second to Newgarden last year on a dramatic last-lap pass, was collected in a Lap 1 crash by Tom Blomqvist, who lost control of his No. 66 Dallara-Honda in the first corner.
Ericsson, who moved from Chip Ganassi Racing to Andretti Global this season, already had finished outside the top 15 in three of the first four races. He barely made the Indy 500 field after crashing his primary in practice.
Another IndyCar winners who were eliminated early: Colton Herta after losing control of his No. 26 Dallara-Honda in Turn 1 on Lap 86, and Felix Rosenqvist, whose engine was one of three Hondas that expired in the first 55 laps.
