Felix Rosenqvist and the No. 60 Chevrolet for Meyer Shank Racing captured the win in the 110th running of the Indianapolis 500 with a last lap pass on the front stretch. The margin back to second place, the No. 12 of David Malukas for Team Penske, was the closest in the race’s history at 0.0233 seconds. Rosenqvist now has two career IndyCar Series victories.
“I cannot believe the race I just watched,” Mike Shank said, postrace. “I am so proud of this team.”
Two former winners of the race, Alexander Rossi and Alex Palou, dominated the opening 17 laps while trading the lead back and forth. On Lap 18, during a silent lap tribute to NASCAR legend Kyle Busch, the first major incident of the day involved the No. 11 of Kathriene Legge and the No. 31 of Ryan Hunter-Reay colliding on the backstretch after a spin in Turn 2.
The following restart saw more calamity continue, with the No. 33 of Ed Carpenter going around in Turn 1.
The rest of the first half of the race saw a number of different leaders, and Palou continued his quest for back-to-back Indy 500 crowns.
Lap 92 brought engine trouble for two big names in the field: the No. 26 of Will Power and the No. 20 of Alexander Rossi experienced the same issue simultaneously on pit road.
After the halfway point, Lap 116 brought rain near Indianapolis Motor Speedway leading teams and strategists to stay on high alert throughout the rest of the afternoon.
Josef Newgarden encountered trouble coming to green at Lap 125 as he lost control of his No. 2 Chevy in the final turn prior to the restart. He made hard contact with the outside wall. Newgarden fortunately walked away under his own power.
The last dash towards to the finish caused drivers and teams to use their own unique strategies hoping to cycle themselves to the front. This was exactly how Rosenqvist was able to tiptoe his way to the lead.
The final yellow flag came with eight laps to go when the No. 4 of rookie Caio Collet slammed the wall exiting Turn 2, setting up a late-race restart with the No. 66 of Marcus Armstrong leading the way.
The final restart was a one-lap shootout, with Malukas taking the lead in the first turn while looking to earn a huge first career victory. It wasn’t to be; he came up just short on the frontstretch where Rosenqvist winched ahead by half a car length.
“I don’t even know what to say, what a car, what a team,” Rosenqvist said. “It just stuck on the outside, Just the coolest way to win the Indy 500.”
