Starting from 17th place Car 2 Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, won the 107th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge for his 1st Indy 500 win & his 27th NTT INDYCAR SERIES win. This is his 2nd win & 2nd Top 5 of 2023. 2nd Place Car 8 Marcus Ericsson, Honda, started from 10th place posted his 3rd Top 5 of 2023. 3rd Place Car 14 Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, started from 4th place posted his 1st Top 5 of 2023.
4th Place Car 10 Alex Palou, Honda, started from pole followed by 5th place Car 7 Alexander Rossi, Chevrolet, started from 7th place. 6th Place Car 9 Scott Dixon, Honda, started from 6th place followed by 7th place Car 11 Takuma Sato, Honda, started from 8th place. 8th Place Car 20 Conor Daly, Chevrolet, started from 16th place followed by 9th place Car 26 Colton Herta, Honda, started from 21st place. Lastly in the Top 10 Car 21 Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, in 10th place, started from 2nd place. Canadian Car 29 Devlin DeFrancesco, Honda, finished in 13th place.
The race had 5 Cautions for 27 laps: 1st Caution on lap 92 for Contact: Car 51 in Turn 1. 2nd Caution on lap 150 for Contact: Car 28 in Turn 2. 3rd Caution on lap 185 for Contact: Cars 6 and 27 in Turn 2. 4th Caution on lap 193 for Contact: Cars 5, 60, and 78 in Turn 3. 5th Caution on lap 196 for Contact: Cars 33 and 55 on Front Straight.
The race had 52 Lead changes among 14 drivers. Lap Leaders: Palou, Alex 1 – 2, VeeKay, Rinus 3, Palou, Alex 4 – 9, VeeKay, Rinus 10 – 14, Palou, Alex 15 – 22, VeeKay, Rinus 23 – 27, Palou, Alex 28 – 29, VeeKay, Rinus 30 – 31, Rosenqvist, Felix 32, Rossi, Alexander 33 – 34, Palou, Alex 35 – 39, VeeKay, Rinus 40 – 47, Palou, Alex 48 – 60, VeeKay, Rinus 61 – 63, Rosenqvist, Felix 64 – 65, O’Ward, Pato 66, Power, Will 67, Herta, Colton 68, Rosenqvist, Felix 69, O’Ward, Pato 70 – 78, Rosenqvist, Felix 79 – 81, O’Ward, Pato 82 – 89, Rosenqvist, Felix 90 – 94, Ilott, Callum 95 – 99, Rosenqvist, Felix 100 – 101, O’Ward, Pato 102, Rosenqvist, Felix 103 – 107, O’Ward, Pato 108 – 109, Rosenqvist, Felix 110 – 113, O’Ward, Pato 114 – 115, Rosenqvist, Felix 116 – 119, O’Ward, Pato 120 – 122, Rosenqvist, Felix 123 – 124, O’Ward, Pato 125 – 128, Rosenqvist, Felix 129 – 131, Ferrucci, Santino 132, Ericsson, Marcus 133 – 134, Castroneves, Helio 135, Rosenqvist, Felix 136, Ericsson, Marcus 137 – 156, Newgarden, Josef 157, Ericsson, Marcus 158, Ferrucci, Santino 159 – 168, Ericsson, Marcus 169 – 170, Rossi, Alexander 171 – 172, Sato, Takuma 173 – 174, O’Ward, Pato 175 – 179, Hunter-Reay, Ryan 180 – 187, O’Ward, Pato 188 – 191, Ericsson, Marcus 192, Newgarden, Josef 193 – 195, Ericsson, Marcus 196 – 199, Newgarden, Josef 200.
NTT INDYCAR SERIES Point Standings: Palou 219, Ericsson 199, O’Ward 185, Newgarden 182, Dixon 162, McLaughlin 149, Rossi 145, Grosjean 139, Power 131, Herta 130, Lundgaard 122, Kirkwood 113, Rosenqvist 113, Ilott 111, Ferrucci 96, VeeKay 96, Rahal 94, Malukas 84, Armstrong 77, Daly 73, Castroneves 69, Harvey 65, DeFrancesco 63, Canapino 61, Pagenaud 55, Pedersen 51, Robb 47, Sato 37, Carpenter 27, Hunter-Reay 20, Kanaan 18, Andretti 13, Enerson 5, Legge 5.
NTT INDYCAR SERIES STATEMENT:
Newgarden Earns First Indianapolis 500 Victory in Wild Finish
INDIANAPOLIS (Sunday, May 28, 2023) – The agonizing wait and nagging questions finally are over for Josef Newgarden.
Two-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Newgarden passed reigning Indianapolis 500 by Gainbridge winner Marcus Ericsson on the last lap to snare his first career victory in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” on Sunday at a packed Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Newgarden, from Nashville, Tennessee, earned his spot on the Borg-Warner Trophy and in racing immortality in his 12th career “500” start, extending Team Penske’s event record to 19 victories in the race.
Newgarden, who started 17th, passed Ericsson on the back straightaway with an outside move just before Turn 3 and snaked down the front straightaway to victory in the No. 2 Shell Powering Progress Team Penske Chevrolet. Ericsson, driving the No. 8 Huski Ice Spritz Honda fielded by Chip Ganassi Racing, fell just .0974 of a second short of becoming the first repeat winner since Helio Castroneves in 2002. It was the fourth-closest finish in Indianapolis 500 history.
“Everyone just kept asking me why I haven’t won this race,” Newgarden said. “They looked at you like you’re a failure if you don’t win it. I wanted to win it so bad. I knew we could. I knew we were capable. It’s a huge team effort, as everybody knows. I’m so glad to be here.”
After his cooldown lap, Newgarden went into the packed front grandstands to celebrate with fans. He disappeared into a joyous throng of humanity before re-emerging to reap congratulations from his family and Team Penske crew at the Yard of Bricks start-finish line.
Santino Ferrucci finished third in the No. 14 Homes For Our Troops Chevrolet. It was the best “500” finish for AJ Foyt Racing since Eliseo Salazar also finished third in 2000.
Pole sitter Alex Palou rallied from being pinned against the pit wall by Rinus VeeKay early in the race and falling deep into the 33-car field to finish fourth in the No. 10 The American Legion Honda fielded by Chip Ganassi Racing. Palou kept the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship lead, holding a 219-199 lead over Ericsson.
2016 “500” winner Alexander Rossi rounded out the top five in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. His teammate and 2013 “500” winner Tony Kanaan finished 16th in his 22nd and final Indy 500 start in the No. 66 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, also the final INDYCAR SERIES start for the popular Brazilian.
Benjamin Pedersen was the best finisher among the four “500” rookies in the field, 21st in the No. 55 AJ Foyt Racing/Sexton Properties Chevrolet after being eliminated from the race in a late, multicar accident. That incident triggered the last of the event-record three competition-related red flags, all in the last 15 laps of the race.
The scintillating finish came in a one-lap showdown for victory after the third red flag. Pedersen, the No. 33 Bitnile.com Chevrolet of Ed Carpenter and the No. 24 DRR Cusick CareKeepers Chevrolet of Graham Rahal were collected in a chain-reaction collision on a Lap 196 restart after the second red flag.
After the cleanup for that incident, the remaining running cars returned to the track from pit lane on Lap 199 behind the hardtop convertible Chevrolet Corvette Z06 Pace Car, which peeled off the track at the end of that lap to create the last-lap dash for glory.
Ericsson got a big jump on the restart with the green and white flags in the air atop the flag stand and led in Turns 1 and 2 on the 2.5-mile oval. But Newgarden gained ground in Turn 2 and darted to the outside on the back straightaway with the crowd of more than 300,000 on its feet in rapture.
Newgarden powered past Ericsson and was able to clear his rival just before entering Turn 3. It appeared Ericsson looked to return the favor on the front straight, but Newgarden used the same snaking driving maneuver to hold off Ericsson that the Swede used last year to parry Pato O’Ward and earn his first “500” victory. Today was only the third time in Indy 500 history a driver used a last-lap pass to win.
“I was just trying to stay locked in,” Newgarden said. “I was emotional the last 10 laps because I knew we were in a position to fight for this win at the end. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. I knew it was going to come to some last-lap shootout like it always is these days, which is exciting but stressful for us.”
Newgarden only led five laps, taking the top spot for the first time for one lap during pit stop cycles on Lap 157. He climbed into the lead for the second time, with all pit stops done, on Lap 193 when a crash between the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet of O’Ward, the No. 60 AutoNation/SiriusXM Honda of 2019 “500” winner Simon Pagenaud and the No. 78 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet of rookie Augustin Canapino triggered the second red flag.
Ericsson grabbed the lead from Newgarden on a breathtaking three-wide restart also involving Ferrucci on Lap 196 that was truncated quickly by the incident involving Carpenter, Pedersen and Rahal, setting up the final showdown.
Swedish driver Ericsson expressed dismay with the late red flag and one-lap showdown, hoping instead the race would end under caution with him out front.
“I think we did everything right today,” Ericsson said. “I’m proud of the No. 8 crew and everyone at Chip Ganassi Racing. I think I did everything right behind the wheel. I did an awesome last restart. I think I caught Josef completely off guard and got the gap and kept the lead into Turn 1.
“I just couldn’t hold it on the back. I was flat. I just couldn’t hold it.”
O’Ward led a race-high 39 laps, one of 14 different drivers to lead today. There were 52 lead changes, the third-highest total in Indianapolis 500 history.
Newgarden will split $20,000 with Team Penske and his chosen charities, SeriousFun Children’s Network and Wags and Walks Nashville, for his victory as part of the PeopleReady Force For Good Challenge.
The next NTT INDYCAR SERIES race is the Chevrolet Grand Prix of Detroit presented by Lear on Sunday, June 4 on a new circuit on the streets of Detroit. Live coverage starts at 3 p.m. ET on NBC, Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network.
107th Running of the Indianapolis 500 Race Results
INDIANAPOLIS – Results Sunday of the 107th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge NTT INDYCAR SERIES event on the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, car #, driver, engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):
- (17) Car 2 Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 200, Running
- (10) Car 8 Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 200, Running
- (4) Car 14 Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 200, Running
- (1) Car 10 Alex Palou, Honda, 200, Running
- (7) Car 7 Alexander Rossi, Chevrolet, 200, Running
- (6) Car 9 Scott Dixon, Honda, 200, Running
- (8) Car 11 Takuma Sato, Honda, 200, Running
- (16) Car 20 Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 200, Running
- (21) Car 26 Colton Herta, Honda, 200, Running
- (2) Car 21 Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 200, Running
- (18) Car 23 Ryan Hunter-Reay, Chevrolet, 200, Running
- (27) Car 77 Callum Ilott, Chevrolet, 200, Running
- (25) Car 29 Devlin DeFrancesco, Honda, 200, Running – Canadian
- (14) Car 3 Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 200, Running
- (20) Car 06 Helio Castroneves, Honda, 200, Running
- (9) Car 66 Tony Kanaan, Chevrolet, 200, Running
- (24) Car 98 Marco Andretti, Honda, 200, Running
- (32) Car 30 Jack Harvey, Honda, 199, Running
- (30) Car 45 Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 198, Running
- (13) Car 33 Ed Carpenter, Chevrolet, 197, Contact
- (11) Car 55 Benjamin Pedersen, Chevrolet, 196, Contact
- (33) Car 24 Graham Rahal, Chevrolet, 195, Running
- (12) Car 12 Will Power, Chevrolet, 195, Running
- (5) Car 5 Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 192, Contact
- (22) Car 60 Simon Pagenaud, Honda, 192, Contact
- (26) Car 78 Agustin Canapino, Chevrolet, 192, Contact
- (3) Car 6 Felix Rosenqvist, Chevrolet, 183, Contact
- (15) Car 27 Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, 183, Contact
- (23) Car 18 David Malukas, Honda, 160, Contact
- (19) Car 28 Romain Grosjean, Honda, 149, Contact
- (31) Car 51 Sting Ray Robb, Honda, 90, Contact
- (28) Car 50 RC Enerson, Chevrolet, 75, Mechanical
- (29) Car 44 Katherine Legge, Honda, 41, Contact
Race Statistics
Winner’s average speed: 168.193 mph
Time of Race: 2:58:21.9611
Margin of victory: 0.0974 of a second
Cautions: 5 for 27 laps
Lead changes: 52 among 14 drivers
107th Indianapolis 500 Post-Race Notes
INDIANAPOLIS (Sunday, May 28, 2023) – Historical and event notes from the 107th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge at Indianapolis Motor Speedway:
This was the first career Indianapolis 500 victory for Josef Newgarden in his 12th career “500” start. His previous-best finish was third in 2016 for Ed Carpenter Racing. Newgarden joined Team Penske in 2017. Newgarden tied 1957 winner Sam Hanks and 2013 winner Tony Kanaan for the most starts before winning in event history.
Josef Newgarden became the first Tennessee native to win the Indianapolis 500. He is a native of Nashville.
Team Penske earned its 19th Indianapolis 500 victory, extending its event record.
Josef Newgarden started 17th, the lowest starting position for an Indianapolis 500 winner since Ryan Hunter-Reay triumphed from 19th on the starting grid in 2014.
This is the third time a driver has won the Indianapolis 500 from the 17th starting position. The others: Eddie Cheever in 1998 and Floyd Davis and Mauri Rose in 1941.
Josef Newgarden led five laps. The only winners to lead fewer laps were Joe Dawson, who led two in 1912, and Dan Wheldon, who led one lap in 2011.
Josef Newgarden is the first American driver to win the Indianapolis 500 since Alexander Rossi in 2016.
Josef Newgarden made the most significant position advancement in the field today, 16 positions, to claim his Indianapolis 500 victory.
Josef Newgarden is the ninth driver to win the Indianapolis 500 at age 32. The last was Dan Wheldon in 2011.
This is the 10th Indianapolis 500 victory for car No. 2. The last came in 2015, with Juan Pablo Montoya winning for Team Penske.
This is the first Indianapolis 500 win for Chevrolet since Simon Pagenaud in 2019, Team Penske’s last Indy 500 victory before today.
Fourteen different drivers led at least one lap today, tying with 2013 for the second-highest total in “500” history. The record is 15 drivers in 2017 and 2018.
There were 52 lead changes, the third-highest total in “500” history. The record is 68 in 2013, followed by 54 in 2016.
The margin of victory was .0974 of a second, the fourth-closest finish in Indianapolis 500 history. Top three: 1992 – .043 of a second Al Unser Jr. over Scott Goodyear; 2014 – .0600 of a second Ryan Hunter-Reay over Helio Castroneves; 2006 – .0635 of a second Sam Hornish Jr. over Marco Andretti.
This is only the third time the Indianapolis 500 has been decided by a last-lap pass. The other two times: 2006: Sam Hornish (Team Penske) passed Marco Andretti on the front straightaway; 2011: Dan Wheldon passed JR Hildebrand on the front straightaway.
This is the ninth time the reigning Indianapolis 500 winner finished second the following year, with 2022 winner Marcus Ericsson placing second today. The last winner to finish runner-up the year after a win was Helio Castroneves in 2003.
Santino Ferrucci finished third, his best career Indianapolis 500 result. His previous best was fourth in 2020. Ferrucci has finished in the top 10 in all five of his career “500” starts.
Santino Ferrucci’s third-place finish was the best Indianapolis 500 result for AJ Foyt Racing since Eliseo Salazar also finished third in 2000.
This is the first Indianapolis 500 with three competition-related red flags, not related to weather.
Benjamin Pedersen was the top-finishing rookie today, in 21st place.
Helio Castroneves climbed to second place in Indianapolis 500 career miles completed at 10,995, trailing only A.J. Foyt, who has 12,272.5 career miles.
Helio Castroneves completed the full 500-mile distance for the 17th time in his Indianapolis 500 race career, extending his race record. He has been running at the end of the race in 21 of 23 career starts.
A record six former winners led the 2023 Indianapolis 500, surpassing the prior race record of five set in 1980, 1981 and 1993. The six former winners to lead today: Marcus Ericsson, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Alexander Rossi, Takuma Sato, Will Power and Helio Castroneves.
There were 11 lap leaders who finished on the lead lap, beating the event record of nine, set in 2011.
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