Josef Newgarden wins the 108th Indianapolis 500 for Team Penske for the second straight year
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.
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.
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.
