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Josef Newgarden has won the Indianapolis 500 for the second year running with a last lap pass on Pato O’Ward for the lead.
In doing so, the Team Penske pilot became the first driver in 22 years to win back-to-back after Helio Castroneves in 2001 and 2002.
O’Ward took the lead on the final lap of the race but Newgarden surged back by him at the second-to-last turn, sealing victory for Roger Penske.
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In doing so, Newgarden becomes the 11th two-time winner of The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.
Newgarden wiped away tears as he stood on the pagoda, celebrating with the team.
“I knew we could win this race again, it’s just a matter of getting it right,” said the two-time IndyCar Series winner.
“There’s no better way to win a race than that. I’ve got to give it up to Pato as well. He is an incredibly clean driver. It takes two people to make that work.
“So it’s not just a good pass, it’s also someone that you’re working with that’s incredibly clean.
“I’ve gotta give hats off to Pato. He could have easily won this race too but it just fell our way.”
The race was frenetic from lap one to 200 with a series of incidents.
The drama began just seconds in when Meyer Shank Racing’s Tom Blomqvist spun on his own at turn one.
He looped around into the path of 2022 Indianapolis 500 winner Marcus Ericsson. The pair made heavy contact and slapped the outside wall.
Pietro Fittipaldi of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing was an innocent victim in the melee. He was hit by McLaren’s Callum Ilott as the pair tried to take avoiding action.
While under control of the safety car, Marcus Armstrong retired his car with an engine failure, the first of three Honda blow-ups.
The sole female in the race, Katherine Legge, was forced to retire on lap 22 when her engine blew up and brought out the second caution of the race.
The third restart of the race didn’t last long. Chip Ganassi Racing’s Linus Lundqvist spun on his own at turn one on lap 27.
Having lost Blomqvist earlier in the race, Meyer Shank Racing suffered its second DNF when Felix Rosenqvist’s engine blew on lap 56.
Running second in the race, Colton Herta crashed at turn one and wiped his nose across the outside wall on lap 86.
In a surprise move, he let the recovery crew tow his car back to the pit lane, all but ending his hopes of victory.
With only cosmetic damage to the car, Herta returned to the race after a new nose cone was fitted – albeit, laps down on the leader.
A bizarre incident on lap 107 between Scott Dixon and Ryan Hunter-Reay resulted in the 2014 Indianapolis 500 winner completing a 360-degree spin.
Dixon closed the door on Hunter-Reay into turn three but was not penalised for the move.
Marco Andretti brought out the penultimate caution on lap 114 in a similar incident to Lundqvist, losing control into turn one.
The final yellow flew on lap 147 when Will Power slapped the outside wall at turn one from 15th on the road.
Having started from pole position, Scott McLaughlin led the most laps of anyone with 66. However, he faded towards the tail end of the race.
A bold strategy by Dixon brought him to the fore and he led Newgarden after the final pit stops were completed. McLaren duo Alexander Rossi and O’Ward weren’t far behind with Dixon’s teammate Alex Palou in fifth.
The top four battled over the lead in the final 25 laps, trading places at the front of the field as they all conserved fuel.
As the laps wore down, O’Ward made his move for the lead with five to go. Newgarden responded and took the lead back almost immediately.
What followed was a high-speed game of chicken as O’Ward looked for the right time to pass.
On the final lap, he went to Newgarden’s inside into turn one. With the lead in hand, O’Ward weaved from left to right in a bid to break the slipstream.
However, Newgarden was able to utilise the draft and went around O’Ward’s outside into the penultimate turn to take back the lead.
At the finish line, Newgarden led O’Ward by a mere 0.341s. Dixon wound up third ahead of Rossi and Palou.
McLaughlin was sixth ahead of Kyle Kirkwood (Andretti Global), Santino Ferrucci (AJ Foyt Racing), Rinus VeeKay (Ed Carpenter Racing), and Conor Daly (Dreyer & Reinbold Racing).
