His pass for the victory was one thing, but he had two or three other incredible moves that seemed unfathomable in maybe 105 of the first 107 editions of this race. This race had eight cautions and there were about 12 other times it felt we were destined for a caution when a bold move seemed to be foolish, yet more times than not they stuck. Newgarden might have had most of them.
If there were any doubts over his ability or his bravery, those can be cast aside. Newgarden has a history of bold moves. His winning move at Gateway in 2017 put himself, his championship hopes and teammate Simon Pagenaud at risk, but through the inside he went and it was a statement victory for Newgarden in his first year with Team Penske. He went to the outside of Scott McLaughlin at Texas two years ago when no one was confident a pass to the outside could stick and Newgarden won the drag race to the checkered flag. This was another level.
It was the final lap of the Indianapolis 500, the penultimate corner at that. It is either going to stick or the cars will be stuck into the barrier. It is either the greatest highlight of your career or the greatest lowlight. In a split second we saw the divination of "thrill of victory" or "agony of defeat" decided in front of our very eyes. Newgarden ended up in the former for the second consecutive year and only added to what is already a great career.
Two championships, two Indianapolis 500 victories, 30 career victories for a second time, and at only 33 years old with a 34th birthday not until December. We are very much at the middle of his career, but far from the apex.
2. Patricio O'Ward is IndyCar's transcended superstar in waiting. O'Ward was second but he was already a winner. During practice week, a gaggle of school children were chanting his name one afternoon, and O'Ward proceeded to take photos and sign autographs for them. After the race, a rush of fans with pit passes flocked to his pit box in a form of consolation but congratulations. O'Ward didn't win the race, but he won more than that.
With Speedway, Indiana's sentimental favorite Tony Kanaan on his pit stand, yesterday was a torch passing and O'Ward now has that honor. For the third consecutive year, the greatest glory of his career was within touching distance and he couldn't quite grasp it. No one will have more people behind him in 2025 than O'Ward, not even Newgarden who has history on his plate as potentially the first driver to win three consecutive "500s."
O'Ward's charism could carry him further than IndyCar's bubble can take him. He can attract the younger demographic, looking for someone to represent whatever letter generation we are on now, but he also has the respect of older fans who know talent when they see it. They emphasize with his heartbreak and want him to win the greatest race to see the relief when it happens.
O'Ward can become a star in a country on the U.S. border with about 130 millions inhabitants of its own and also become a known name in the United States. He is the fan favorite at every track. IndyCar might not be able to make him more, but perhaps McLaren can. Perhaps O'Ward can become IndyCar's first truly national name in nearly two decades. This race, though defeat, has brought O'Ward a wave of new supporters.
3. This wasn't a race Scott Dixon should have won, but that has kind of been Dixon's M.O. lately. If anything, it would be fitting if such a day should have come in the Indianapolis 500. Dixon has lost the Indianapolis 500 so many times in days where he should have won that winning one that wasn't his best day would have evened the score. It wasn't the case, but it was still a drive from 21st to third on a more aggressive strategy and while avoiding a blocking penalty in the process.
The contact with Ryan Hunter-Reay, which brought out the caution on lap 107, is more 50/50 than many want to admit. It seemed like a block. The only way I imagine Dixon avoided a penalty is Hunter-Reay clipped the grass before contact with Dixon. Dixon was moving down but Hunter-Reay was also going further inside and going toward the grass on his own, not because Dixon forced him there. Dixon did Hunter-Reay no favors, but he didn't drive him into the grass. Hunter-Reay was heading toward it on his own.
4. Nine starts, six top five finishes. That is Alexander Rossi's record in the Indianapolis 500. For a driver that was fourth-best all month, Rossi cannot say he was hard done in fourth. It might burn he was the second-best Arrow McLaren representative and a Honda driver beat him, but he was fourth all month, and rightfully was one of the best on the day.
What likely cost Rossi the most was stopping two laps earlier than the rest of the leaders for his final stop. He had to save some fuel and it was at a time when Newgarden and O'Ward turned up the pace. Rossi couldn't counter. It wasn't the worst decision in the history of motorsports. It was a well-calculated risk. It didn't work his Rossi's favor on this day, but it wasn't failure either.
5. Death, taxes, top ten finishes for Álex Palou, change the scoreboard to 23 consecutive races with a top ten result, and it was again a race where Palou was not really in the mix until he was. Palou was good. Some pit stops got him track position and he spent some laps in the top five, but he did not spend a great deal of the race in the main picture for the race lead. You could say that was never the case, but for a driver whose consistency has been the key to two championships in three years, Palou is on the path to another.
The Catalan leaves Indiana as the championship leader, though with his senior teammates close to his heels. Palou is ready for the fight and is already ahead. Everyone else is in trouble.
6. Scott McLaughlin faded a tad and was not happy with his clutch as the race wore on. The pole-sitter led 64 laps, the most in the race. The race took a turn in final 200 miles and Newgarden took over while O'Ward and Dixon brought more pace on their alternate strategy. It didn't quite shake out for McLaughlin, but it is still his best Indianapolis performance and he will be back next year.
7. There is much you do not see when watching the race at the track, and you likely missed most of Kyle Kirkwood's day, but it was much more eventful than a normal seventh-place result. Kirkwood nearly missed his pit box early because strategist Bryan Herta was watching Felix Rosenqvist and counting the wrong car to the pit box. Then Kirkwood bumped Callum Ilott on pit lane, sending Ilott through his pit box and that earned Kirkwood a penalty. Despite all this, Kirkwood went off-strategy on a six-stopper to increase his pace and it put him in the top five in the final laps.
Kirkwood was having a good drive anyway and he got shuffled back to seventh after Palou and McLaughlin matched his pace as the finish approached. It was another good day for Kirkwood, and he led the way for an Andretti Global organization that had a disappointing race across the board.
8. Santino Ferrucci made history becoming the first driver in the history of the Indianapolis 500 to have six top ten finishes in his first six "500" starts. It was eighth this year, a tad off where Ferrucci was for a good portion of the race. Ferrucci was running second for a good while, but he lost four spots on one slow stop, and as others broke off onto a six-stop strategy, Ferrucci lost some ground and it took him out of position for something greater. Ferrucci has a feel for the Speedway. He has avoided bad days so far. That will not last forever, but he has been doing the right things. Don't expect anything to change anytime soon.
9. Rinus VeeKay's penalty for hip-checking another car on pit lane turned into a blessing because it allowed VeeKay to pit slightly off-sequence and leap up to the front when the leaders had to come. It got VeeKay track position and netted him a ninth-place finish. However, this is the third time in five Indianapolis 500 starts that a pit problem has cost VeeKay. It happened in his rookie year, and that is forgivable. The last two years are harder to forgive. Once is happenstance, twice is a coincidence, three times is a pattern. VeeKay has a pattern and is in a contract year. Remember that.
10. Leaning into the stereotype, Conor Daly keeps getting the luck of the Irish with cautions in the Indianapolis 500. This is the third time in the last four Indianapolis 500s that cautions went in his favor. In 2021, it gave him the lead. In 2022, it put him at the front. In 2024, Daly stopping on lap four under the first caution allowed him to lead when the lead when the rest of the field came in on lap 24. The strategy wasn't going to net Daly a victory, but it gave him track position and the remaining cautions fell in his favor, not shuffling him backward. Daly still looked racy while at the front and tenth was a well-earned finish.
11. Callum Ilott had a day. Ilott was hit on the open lap when Pietro Fittipaldi came down as Tom Blomqvist spun and collected Marcus Ericsson. Then Ilott was shoved through his pit box, though I don't believe that was 100% on Kirkwood and I think Ilott made a minor error judging the turn in for his pit box, but it was a set back and Ilott still rose to 11th on a seven-stop strategy!
We do not know when we will see Ilott again in IndyCar. This car is Théo Pourchaire's for the remainder of the season. Ilott will focus on his FIA World Endurance Championship duty. I don't know if we will ever see Ilott again in IndyCar. He was a surprise inclusion in 2021 with Juncos Hollinger Racing of all teams. He impressed many over two full seasons and arguably was set up for a promotion. An untimely dismissal from JHR put Ilott's career and flux, but he found a soft-landing in sports cars. Then David Malukas broke his wrist and McLaren came calling.
The greatest ability is availability. Ilott was not fully available due to his WEC role. Arrow McLaren was able to call in a young stud to fill the vacancies remaining after Ilott's first few weeks with the team. This is the turning point in Ilott's career. Let's see where we are in ten years.
12. This is where we make the case for Christian Rasmussen as Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year. It is not as simple as best finisher. It never has been. That is ok. There are four criteria: Skill, sportsmanship, accessibility and finishing position. It also isn't about just the race but the entire event including practice and qualifying.
At time of writing, I do not know if Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year has been awarded, but here is the case for Rasmussen.
When it comes to skill, Rasmussen didn't screw up an upshift on a restart and lose ten positions. Kyle Larson did. Rasmussen didn't speed entering the pit lane on a green flag stop. Kyle Larson did. Point to Rasmussen.
As for sportsmanship, Rasmussen rubbed some people the wrong way with questionable moves in practice. Kyle Larson didn't do that. Point to Larson.
The problem with accessibility is it is not evenly asked for. Everyone wanted to talk to Kyle Larson all month, and Larson obliged pretty much every time. Rasmussen didn't draw the same attention. That is understandable, but we cannot use that against Rasmussen. It is about accessibility, not attention. Back in 2022, Jimmie Johnson was always going to get interest. A seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion will end up on Jimmy Fallon's show ahead of his first Indianapolis 500 start. David Malukas wasn't getting on Jimmy Fallon's show days before his "500" debut no matter what he does.
You cannot equate interest for accessibility. It really isn't a criteria that should exist.
What should exist is average running position because finishing position can be misleading. You can run an entire race around 20th and then catch a spat of cautions and finish tenth because cars were taken out. If you were 20th for 185 laps, do those 15 laps in tenth really cancel anything out?
When it comes to average running position, Rasmussen's average was 13.23 to Larson's 12.295. They were on average within a position of each either the entire.
Breaking it down further, Larson was ahead of Rasmussen for 112 of 200 laps. What hurts Larson were the 17 laps he spent off the lead lap and the 35 laps he spent outside the top twenty. Rasmussen spent only eight laps outside the top twenty despite starting 24th, and he was inside the top twenty for the final 176 laps.
If you substitute average running position for accessibility, it is 2-2 with Rasmussen leading on skill and finishing position while Larson gets average running position and sportsmanship. How do you break the tie?
Though Larson led four laps during a pit cycle, I think we must acknowledge Rasmussen went from 24th to 12th and finished a little more than a spot better than his average running position while Larson ended up almost six spots worse than his average running position despite starting fifth.
I still don't know who won, it took well nearly two hours to go over all this data, but it was probably Larson, wasn't it?
13. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing made it easy on us and we can group three of its four entries here because Christian Lundgaard was 13th, Takuma Sato was 14th and Graham Rahal was 15th. It was a much more competitive day for RLLR than in recent years. Lundgaard and Rahal each stopped on lap four and got some laps at the front. They held their own. Sato was rather unnoticed in this race. He had some moves but nothing that made you think he was a threat. It feels like RLLR should have had a top ten finisher, but taking the final three spots in the top fifteen is good enough.
14. Nobody benefited more from stopping on lap four than Sting Ray Robb. After being cycled to the front on multiple occasions, Robb led 23 laps, the third-most in the race. Who had that on their bingo card? He ended up finishing 16th and was not a factor in the conclusion. It has been the best day of his IndyCar career so far.
15. Ed Carpenter started and finished 17th. Carpenter lost time because when Ilott was knocked through his pit stall after contact with Kirkwood, Ilott ended up in Carpenter's stall and Carpenter was behind him and waiting to get into his pit box. That was an unfortunate mistake that hurt Carpenter when it shouldn't have. Either way, Carpenter wasn't going to be much better than the top fifteen today. He was the third best of the three Ed Carpenter Racing cars.
16. This brings us to Kyle Larson and I think a case can be made that he should win Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year. Larson made some rookie errors, but he was a rookie. This was his first IndyCar race let alone first Indianapolis 500. It isn't like Rasmussen did anything spectacular, but I don't think Larson did either. Larson did well. He had some learning moments. After the missed shift on the first restart, Larson made up spots over those next few laps. That isn't easy to do.
What Larson saw was how tough it is when you get in the top ten. It is tough to break into the top five. It is tougher to run with the leaders. He probably should have finished in the top ten. Not necessarily fifth or sixth and near O'Ward and Rossi, but eighth or ninth or tenth.
As for The Double, what brutal turn of events, but this is what makes The Double special. It is 1,100 miles, but you also need conditions to be in your favor. Larson caught the first weather-delayed Indianapolis 500 in 17 years. On the backend, he brought the weather with him to Charlotte and the rain prevented him from getting in the car for the sake of participation as he was on the pit wall with his helmet on ready to tag-in for Justin Allgaier.
Larson was considerably hard on himself on Twitter posting a response to the weekend. He cannot control the weather. He sucks that things didn't line up and that he made a few errors that cost him positions in the Indianapolis 500, but this wasn't a failure. He did well and this is two-year program. Larson and company should take a run at 2025.
17. Romain Grosjean really didn't stand out today and he was 19th. Grosjean did look rather disappointed walking back to Gasoline Alley moments after the race ended. To be fair, I don't think he ran much better than 19th all race.
18. Hélio Castroneves had a strange day and even after watching the broadcast, I am unsure of what happened. Castroneves started in the middle of the pack, worked his way into the top ten, and then in the closing stages he was nowhere to be seen and he ended up 20th.
Looking at the lap chart, Castroneves was eighth when the pit cycle began on lap 127 and when all those stops cycled through, he was 14th. It looks like Castroneves had a long stop on lap 132, and his final stop on lap 172 wasn't much better. There is your answer.
19. Kyffin Simpson didn't finish better than his starting position in this race, but he did fine for a rookie with no expectations. He was 21st and ran all 500 miles. Twelve drivers are not going to be able to say that about their 108th Indianapolis 500. It was a good day for Simpson.
20. Agustín Canapino will be rueing this day because Canapino not only was penalized for pit lane speeding on lap 169, but it was a stop and go penalty and not a drive-through. It is not clear how Canapino's speeding penalty was more egregious than other speeding penalties that it was a stop and go, but that must be the case. It is a shame because Canapino drove into the top ten. This felt like a race where about 15 drivers should have finished somewhere between sixth and tenth. Canapino was one of those guys.
21. Colton Herta will also be rueing this day because he was second when he spun out of the Indianapolis 500. The only problem is Herta probably could have kept going. He only had front wing damage. The suspension was fine. It is understandable that Herta thought his race was over, but everything was fine. Ninety-nine times out of 100, that spin does end a race. Herta thought it did but it didn't.
In hindsight, it feels like someone should have pointed out to Herta that the suspension was fine, but I think everyone on the team was likely distraught and couldn't pick that out. Once Herta started undoing his buckles, he had to get out of the car and the car had to go on the flatbed. He pulled out of the race when 17 laps down. He might not have been able to get back into the top ten had they realized the car was fine, but Herta could have finished 14th and earned himself nine more points in the championship.
Credit to the team for getting the car back out there because it earned Herta two more points, inconsequential now but could be valuable come September.
22. Will Power had an accident but this wasn't meant to be Power's Indianapolis 500. Come race day, he was the worse of the three Team Penske entries, but he wasn't the worst and running in seventh or eighth. Power could not hang onto the top ten. The accident was only salt in the wound. It stings because it is the Indianapolis 500. When he looks at the championship standings, it will only hurt more.
23. Marco Andretti had a slow spin end his race and put him 25th in the final order. We could write the same thing every year about Andretti. He stopped running full-time when he was struggling to finish in the top fifteen on the regular basis. Next year could be his 20th Indianapolis 500. I don't know if we will see many more beyond that.
24. Ryan Hunter-Reay had a tough exit to this race. Again, I don't think Hunter-Reay did anything wrong, I think he clipped the grass just before the contact with Dixon and that is why it wasn't a penalty. Either way, it ended Hunter-Reay's race. It wasn't Hunter-Reay's greatest day, but he wanted a shot to complete the 500 miles. That didn't happen.
Hunter-Reay did receive a warm reception after his interview over the public address system. Hunter-Reay also brought up something that adds perspective to this year's race. Hunter-Reay had never been in an Indianapolis 500 with a weather delay. His first "500" was in 2008 and other than missing 2022, he has been in every one since. That is pretty incredible when you think about it.
25. Honda had a rough day. The bottom seven were Honda drivers. Three of those were due to engine failures. Three Hondas were collected in the opening lap accident when Tom Blomqvist spun into the path of Marcus Ericsson and Pietro Fittipaldi took evasive action to avoid those two, but clipped Callum Ilott and sent Fittipaldi spinning out on his own.
That opening lap incident is fluky, but it is also the case that it was three Hondas that were collected because Honda had a bunch of cars at the rear of the grid. That lack of speed put Honda in that position.
It isn't a case that Honda was slow, but it didn't quite have what it took to beat the Chevrolets. Dixon led 12 laps, the most for a Honda drive. The next most for a Honda driver were four for Christian Lundgaard during a pit cycle. Other than Dixon, all Honda laps led come through pit cycle. Dixon looked good once he got to the front. If Herta didn't spin, he could have taken the fight to Newgarden and company, but Herta and Dixon ended up being Honda's only best options in what was an off-year.
26. Let's cover some of those Honda drivers. Felix Rosenqvist lost his engine on lap 56. Rosenqvist was in the top ten. This was a harsh way for his top ten streak to end. It was the wrong time for Meyer Shank Racing to have its first bad day of the season. Rosenqvist didn't even complete 150 miles, but he was in the top ten at the time and he could have held onto that pace. His day was going to be better than 27th, but it was too early to tell if Rosenqvist could climb up the order.
27. Linus Lundqvist was on the inside of a four-wide situation into turn one and the car walked up the track. Lundqvist did all he could to save it. He had five occasions where he kept it straight, but on the sixth attempt he was around. Not a first month of May to remember for Lundqvist, a debut of 28th.
28. Katherine Legge and Dale Coyne Racing were put out of their misery. Their day lasted only 22 laps. Coyne already has a lot of work to do. For Legge, it could be her last Indianapolis 500. She went a decade between starts. Her program is entirely dependent on funding. We aren't going to know immediately if E.L.F got its return on investment. If E.L.F. moves on, Legge might not be back. That is the reality of motorsports.
29. Marcus Armstrong lost his engine after barely two turns at anger. He lost it on lap seven under caution. I guess even if Tom Blomqvist didn't spin, we were going to have a caution early anyway because if Armstrong's engine expired after six caution laps, it probably would not have made it through two laps at speed. Armstrong was in the pit lane after the race and he looked ill. After all that waiting, his first Indianapolis 500 lasted 15 miles.
30. Speaking of waits for first Indianapolis 500s, Tom Blomqvist didn't even make it a turn. Just like his IndyCar debut, Blomqvist didn't complete a lap, hell, didn't complete a corner. This time it falls squarely on Blomqvist's shoulders. He took out Marcus Ericsson, who had a month of May to regret and who has had a rough start to his season, and Pietro Fittipaldi was again caught in an incident not of his making. Talk about an omen for Honda.
31. A few notes...
There were eight cautions, but this race was still completed in under three hours. That is impressive.
I thought an evening Indianapolis 500 was incredible. The way that golden hour settled over the front straightaway was breathtaking with full grandstands. We really haven't seen that since the 1995 Brickyard 400. It is something we really haven't seen in modern times with the Indianapolis 500. We do not have to do this again. This was fun for the circumstances, but I am glad to experience it.
Allen Bestwick and Dave Calabro provide one of the best PA race broadcasts out there. First off, Indianapolis Motor Speedway is genius to have Bestwick on the call. Second, it is a great broadcast for those in the stands. It is informative but engaging. There are plenty of races that do not have great PA broadcasts, even if they are only providing race updates between using the IMS Radio broadcast. At some places I wonder where they find these people and how they passed the audition. As with many things with Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the PA team is top-notch.
32. Nobody left. Four-hour delay. Nobody left. The place was packed. How many races do we see rain delays and people scatter? Some go home because they have to because it will be a late night. Some didn't even bother and ate the money on the tickets or will get a reimbursement. Nobody left. There were not patches of aluminum in the background as the laps wound down.
That is a testament to this race and what it means to the community. It is more than a race, but the race made people stay. Everyone knew we were going to see something special. It didn't matter what it was but it would be special. It ended up being the first repeat winner in over 20 years and only the sixth in Indianapolis 500 history. Perhaps Kyle Larson helped. He stayed so many other stayed too. It could be that it was Sunday of Memorial Day weekend and we all had nowhere better to be. Either way, it was something beautiful to see.
33. 364 days until the 109th Indianapolis 500.
