Josef Newgarden as soon as once more introduced his victorious Group Penske automotive to a cease on the Yard of Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He discovered that very same gap within the fence, climbed by, and was pummeled by followers celebrating his second consecutive Indianapolis 500 triumph.
The whole lot about his victory Sunday – proper right down to the last-lap duel, this time with Pato O’Ward – appeared similar to final yr.
The one distinction was the circumstances.
A yr in the past, Newgarden was the hard-luck driver who had completed a lot but by no means received “The Biggest Spectacle in Racing.” On Sunday, he was the celebrity successful the race within the shadow of a dishonest scandal that stored his race strategist from even being contained in the speedway for the rain-delayed race.
Newgarden put the dishonest scandal behind him to turn out to be the primary back-to-back winner of the Indy 500 since Helio Castroneves 22 years in the past and provides Roger Penske a record-extending twentieth win within the greatest race on the earth.
The Tennessean handed O’Ward on the ultimate lap to turn out to be the primary driver to win consecutive 500s since Castroneves did it for Penske in 2001 and 2002. Newgarden additionally celebrated final yr by climbing by a gap within the fence to have a good time with followers within the grandstands.
“I like this crowd. I’ve received to at all times go within the crowd if we win right here, I’m at all times doing that,” mentioned Newgarden, who earned a $440,000 bonus from trophy-maker BorgWarner for successful consecutive 500s. The award was established in 1995 and solely claimed as soon as, by Castroneves.
Penske had been watching the race excessive above the speedway and pumped his arm in celebration as Newgarden crossed the end line. He then hugged his spouse. It took lower than an hour for the placard that designates Penske’s parking spot contained in the speedway to be modified from “19” to “20.”
O’Ward slumped his head over his steering wheel in bitter disappointment. He was attempting to turn out to be the primary Mexican in 108 runnings to win the Indy 500.
It regarded as if he had been crying when he lastly eliminated his helmet. He completed sixth in his Indy 500 debut, then fourth after which second in 2022 when he was accused of not being aggressive sufficient to race Marcus Ericsson for the win.
He refused to again down final yr and wound up crashing as he went for the victory. As O’Ward bided his time within the closing laps – he and Newgarden traded the lead a number of instances – he waited to make the successful cross on the ultimate lap.
Newgarden received it proper again two turns later.
“It’s laborious to place it into phrases – we went again, we went ahead, we went again, some folks had been driving like maniacs,” O’Ward mentioned. “We had so many near-race enders. Simply so shut once more. … I put that automotive by issues I by no means thought it was going to have the ability to do. It’s at all times a heartbreak once you’re so shut, particularly when it is not the primary time and you do not know what number of alternatives you’ve got.”
O’Ward has completed second to Newgarden in six completely different races and was nonetheless struggling together with his feelings an hour after the race. He mentioned he is battled the flu the final week and barely slept the final 5 days.
“I am superb. It has been a tricky month, a lot goes into this race,” O’Ward mentioned. “I feel I am someone who wears my coronary heart on my sleeve. I do not actually cover something. And it is simply, once you come so shut, and it simply does not appear to occur, it is simply a number of emotion.”
He mentioned he intentionally took his time getting out of the automotive and eradicating his helmet as a result of “I simply wished to settle down. It was moist in there.”
Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing completed third because the highest-finishing Honda driver and had empathy for O’Ward. Dixon is a six-time IndyCar champion who is taken into account the best driver of his period, and he has one win within the Indy 500.
“It is a privilege to race right here, proper? I am in a scenario the place I am fortunate to have received, however Pato has come shut a couple of instances,” Dixon mentioned. “It may well go in cycles. As I’ve mentioned many a instances, ending second sucks. It is horrible. You’d relatively end final I feel nearly at this place and be out of the race early. He’ll be superb. He is received loads of time on his fingers.”
The win was an unimaginable rebound for Newgarden, who final month had his March season-opening victory disqualified as a result of Group Penske had unlawful push-to-pass software program on its automobiles. Newgarden used the extra horsepower 3 times within the win, and it took IndyCar practically six weeks to find the Penske manipulation.
Roger Penske, who owns the race staff, IndyCar, the Indy 500 and the speedway, suspended 4 crew members, together with Group President Tim Cindric. The Cindric suspension was an enormous blow for Newgarden as Cindric is taken into account one of the best strategist within the collection.
Newgarden was thrilled to have the win and put the push-to-pass scandal behind him.
“Completely, they will say what they need, I do not even care anymore,” he mentioned. “It is at all times a staff win. This win epitomizes a staff victory. I am grateful for Roger Penske, he stood by me. He is the person. He is a legend.”
The beginning of the race was delayed 4 hours by rain and it ruined NASCAR star Kyle Larson’s probability to run ” The Double.” The delay in Indy made him miss the beginning of the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Though Larson was respectable a lot of the day, two rookie errors led to an 18th-place end. He was on a helicopter headed to a airplane for North Carolina inside minutes of the race ending.
“I am proud to have completed however upset in myself,” mentioned Larson, who has a two-year cope with Arrow McLaren and Hendrick Motorsports for Indy and will return in 2025.
Dixon was adopted by Alexander Rossi, O’Ward’s teammate at Arrow McLaren Racing. Chevrolet took three of the highest 4 spots.
A primary-lap crash took out Ericsson, the 2022 winner, Tom Blomqvist and Pietro Fittipaldi as three Honda drivers failed to finish a lap. In all, Honda drivers completed within the remaining seven spots.
