Late-Race Charge from Ericsson Comes Up Just Short at the Indianapolis 500
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
・Last lap restart proves costly for Honda and Marcus Ericsson at Indy
・Alex Palou maintains championship points lead with fourth-place result
・Scott Dixon, Takuma Sato run sixth and seventh as Chip Ganassi Honda drivers claim four of the top-seven finishing positions
A series of late-race collisions and resulting red flag race stoppages proved costly to Honda’s effort to win a fourth consecutive Indianapolis 500 today, as an unusual final restart with just one lap remaining saw Josef Newgarden edge the Chip Ganassi Racing Honda of Marcus Ericsson by just 0.0974 seconds at the checkers.
Ericsson, who claimed the lead after a previous red flag stoppage on Lap 196, was going for back-to-back Indy wins; while Honda was seeking a fourth-consecutive "500" victory following wins by Takuma Sato (2020); Helio Castroneves (2021) and Ericsson last year.
Behind the leaders, Alex Palou recovered from mid-race contact in pit lane with Rinus VeeKay to finish fourth in his Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, maintaining his lead in the Drivers’ Championship standings after six races. The other Ganassi Honda drivers, previous "500" winners Scott Dixon and Takuma Sato, finished sixth and seventh, respectively. Another Honda-powered challenger for the race victory, Kyle Kirkwood, fortunately escaped injury in a Lap 183 crash that saw his Andretti Autosport Honda get airborne in Turn 2.
Fast Fact
Honda has won more Indianapolis 500 races than any major automaker: 15 victories from 23 races – a win ratio of 65% – since the company entered the INDYCAR competition in 1994.
Next
After an incredible "Month of May" at Indianapolis, the NTT INDYCAR SERIES continues next weekend with the June 2-4 Detroit Grand Prix race weekend, on the new downtown street circuit in Detroit, Michigan.
I think it was an unfair and dangerous end to the race. I don't think there were enough laps left to do what we did—we have never done a restart out of the pits. We don't get the tires up to temperature. I think we did everything right today, I think the crew and everyone at Chip Ganassi Racing did. I think I did everything right behind the wheel. I did an awesome last restart and caught Josef [Newgarden] off-guard and built the gap and kept the lead. But, I just couldn't hold it on the back. I was flat, but I couldn't hold it. But, I'm proud of us. And congratulations to Josef, he did everything right. He's a worthy champion. But, I'm just very disappointed with the way that ended. I don't think it was fair.
We were really good at the beginning, managing our race as we wanted. We were on a really good strategy and avoided stuff that last year caught us. We were super happy! And then on that third pit stop, we just had contact with Rinus [VeeKay]. There was nothing that the team could have done differently, but from that point we just had to switch our mindset and try and get the most out of our day. I'm glad we got our #10 American Legion Honda up into another top five. It was not easy, but we made it! I'm happy, despite the fact that we're having a little bit of bad luck. But, one day, that will turn around.
Firstly, a massive thanks and hugs to the magnificent men and women at Chip Ganassi Racing, who performed exceptionally throughout the month of May. Equally massive thanks and hugs to the magnificent men and women at HPD. It was great to be fighting for the win at the end, but it wasn’t our day.
