Highly successful in junior series, winner in essentially everything he jumped in, immense potential when he arrived in IndyCar, and yet eight years into his career, Rosenqvist did not have a lot to show for it. He had plenty of close calls. He had a rookie season of promise. There have been near turning points that did not lead to more. It has not been the worst career, but considering what we thought we were going to see when he entered in 2019, it had fallen short.
Until today.
Rosenqvist has had a good record at Indianapolis. It has been bouncing between fourth and 27th over the last half-a-decade, but he has shown comfort at the famed 2.5-mile speedway. This was lining up for Rosenqvist, but it felt like another turning point that would be a 360º turn to right back to where he started. After falling short of pole position and starting fourth, it felt like another case of Rosenqvist leaving speed on the table.
In this race, it was not about out-right pace, but Rosenqvist's team, like a handful of others, made a call to stop with about 70 laps remaining, on the cusp of making it on one more pit stop. It was a gamble, but caution laps appeared to make it possible. The laps ticked away and Rosenqvist remained in a good position. A few challengers stopped early, 36 laps from the finish, but Rosenqvist ran a little further, and the race was going to be in his control.
Rosenqvist and Patricio O'Ward played cat-and-mouse as O'Ward had to save more fuel. With 15 laps to go, Rosenqvist took the lead and the victory was in his grasp. O'Ward could not counter, and the cars closest on fuel were about 18 seconds back and not quite making up enough ground to be a threat at the finish. It was in Rosenqvist's lap, and it was pulled back to be anyone's race when Caio Collet hit the turn two wall with eight laps remaining.
A red flag bunched up the field and everyone became a factor. O'Ward and Rosenqvist's Meyer Shank Racing teammate Marcus Armstrong would both be safe on fuel. David Malukas was going to be in the picture in fourth, erasing a 15-plus second deficit. Romain Grosjean and Álex Palou would each have an outside shot. It became a true donnybrook to decide the Indianapolis 500.
On the lap 196 restart, Rosenqvist was a sitting duck and he was dropped to third. Armstrong stormed to the lead and Malukas moved up to second. A caution came out after a corner due to Mick Schumacher brushing the barrier, but the field slowed enough to set up a one-lap shootout à la the 2023 race.
Armstrong was now in control, and he attempted to restart as soon as he could to try and run away from Malukas. It did not work, and Malukas took the lead in turn one. Rosenqvist took to Armstrong's outside. The Meyer Shank Racing cars ran side-by-side through turn one... and into turn two... and somehow the two did not touch. The two didn't crash. And somehow, the two did not lose speed.
Somehow, running side-by-side did not cause a disturbance and allow Malukas to fly away despite Malukas having more fuel and about ten-lap fresher tires. Somehow, they closed into turn three. Somehow they ran side-by-side through a third turn, and into a fourth, and midway through turn four, Rosenqvist cleared Armstrong for second and pulled into the draft of Malukas.
It felt like Malukas had done enough to hold on for the final quarter-mile of the race, but Rosenqvist had the run and pulled to Malukas' outside. Malukas defended as much as he could. The cars were side-by-side with the yard of bricks closing. Malukas tried one little more swing to slow Rosenqvist, but the Swede was not deterred, and at the checkered flag, Rosenqvist was ahead by 0.0233 seconds, the closest finish in Indianapolis 500 history.
The driver who had yet to have his signature IndyCar moment etched himself in its history greater than most ever have.
Rosenqvist's legacy had been a driver who has shown speed but never enough. Good enough for a pole position or a front row start, but in the race, he fades. It isn't pole-to-victory performances or vaulting from fourth-to-first and having a little more in the race. It has been pushing upon great but sliding into good. It might still end in a sixth-place result, but it doesn't look as good when starting second. The pace was there for the day to line up for him, but it was not quite falling into place.
All it took was an overcast day in Speedway, Indiana.
For a driver who had not won in 98 starts, nearly six years, driving for a team that had not won in nearly five years to the day, they had nothing to lose for their legacies rolling the dice and taking a little risk on strategy. They didn't need a flat-out race to the finish. A caution would be fine, but they were willing to converse in hopes of victory. They saved enough to where the final stint was not much of a concern. When all the dice had been rolled, they were in control of the race.
Of course, fate made it a little more of a struggle. Rosenqvist had to win this race, something he has not done regularly in his IndyCar career. It was taken from him, but he got another bite at it, and it took an improbable final lap for him to pull off one of the most improbable finishes.
As the Meyer Shank Racing cars ran side-by-side, it felt like David Malukas won the Indianapolis 500 as he exited turn two. The MSR cars did not fall in line. They were still challenging each other, which held up everyone else behind them. How could either beat Malukas? How could anyone beat Malukas with the MSR convoy running block?
Malukas almost stopped exiting turn three, and despite running side-by-side, both MSR cars had Malukas within their grasps. Rosenqvist got clear and carried a little more momentum from the outside of turn four. If he was going to win this race, Rosenqvist was going to need to make a move and time it before the finish line. When he swung to Malukas' outside, Rosenqvist kept it clean. He wasn't wild and scrubbed off additional speed. It was a clean move and Rosenqvist held the wheel straight. The power was there to get to the checkered flag first.
It was a race Rosenqvist won, and one that could not be anymore special. His place in IndyCar history is much more secure than it was when the cannon opened the gates to the track around sunrise. He is no longer a one-time winner, he is a two-time winner. Both victories have been races he won. We forget how he chased down Patricio O'Ward at Road America and made the pass with two laps remaining. Add to it, he is an Indianapolis 500 winner and he won the closest race in Indianapolis 500 history.
Move over Al Unser, Jr. and Scott Goodyear.
For 34 years, we have been waiting for something to replace Bob Jenkins "Goodyear makes a move... Little Al wins!" As technology has advanced and the field has closed in competitiveness, the day was coming. It is now here, and at 0.0233 seconds, it is a mark that will be difficult to beat. It could stand for another 34 years. Come 2061, the image could be engrained in the minds of multiple generations causing goosebumps to rise from nowhere.
Rosenqvist has his moment. We will see if time adds more to his career and how we will remember him, but after this afternoon, he will not be forgotten.
2. After asking how someone won a race, the next question is how was the race lost? How did David Malukas lose this race?
Conventional wisdom said, as the MSR cars were side-by-side through turn two, Malukas had this in the bag. When have two cars running side-by-side for consecutive corners at Indianapolis ever gained speed on anyone? David Malukas' dream start to his Team Penske career was about to be complete, and it all stalled out in turn three.
This was not a race where the leader was safe and clean air was king. It helped, but cars were able to make runs. Until the final lap, we really had not seen a leader stall out like that. And yet, it still felt good for Malukas because the MSR cars were still side-by-side turn three and into turn four.
As much as we get on edge for the drag race to the finish line at Indianapolis, it has seldom proved to be worth the intrigue. In recent years, the race has been won elsewhere. Josef Newgarden won two Indianapolis 500s with passes into turn three. Álex Palou had the race in the bag exiting turn four last year. Even in the years with drag races, the challenger has fallen short.
Alexander Rossi didn't have it for Simon Pagenaud in 2019. Neither did Hélio Castroneves for Takuma Sato in 2017. We saw Castroneves fall short to Ryan Hunter-Reay in 2014, and Will Power did not have enough to beat Juan Pablo Montoya in 2015. You must go back 20 years to Sam Hornish, Jr. defeating Marco Andretti for the last successful drag race, and arguably the only successful drag race for the Indianapolis 500 victory. After all, Scott Goodyear fell short in 1992. Even Rick Mears fell short in 1992.
Prior to this year, there had only been one successful drag race to the line where the car in second exiting the final turn pulled off a victory. Everything was on Malukas' side.
It was just Rosenqvist's year. Maybe Malukas' last lurch to the right as Rosenqvist was to his outside cost Malukas 0.0233 seconds. Perhaps Rosenqvist always had the steam to pull off the victory. Malukas said he was not sure what else he could have done, and he is probably right. Rosenqvist ran 0.221 seconds faster than Malukas on the final lap, and it was a one-lap sprint. We can wonder how Malukas lost it, but the truth is Rosenqvist won it. We can dissect the lap for the next 100 years and find where Malukas could have found another 0.0233 seconds, but he had already pulled off one pass to take the lead at the start of that lap. He had given it his all.
Put as we were once all told in the Utah desert, "You lost today, kid. But that doesn't mean you have to like it."
3. Meanwhile, as we had the closest finish in Indianapolis 500 history, Scott McLaughlin stole third as 0.0155 seconds covered third to fifth.
A great pit stop early in the race put McLaughlin in the picture in the second stint of the race, and he ran well, but McLaughlin never took control of this race. For the first 75% of this race, it was Chip Ganassi Racing controlling proceedings with Álex Palou and Scott Dixon and the Team Penske drivers were waiting in their shadows. When the cautions fell in the third-quarter of the race and broke it up to allow some teams to stretch their fuel, it handcuffed the leaders.
In hindsight, it was odd Team Penske did not bring down one of its drivers to run the strategy that proved to be successful for Felix Rosenqvist. They were all stuck to the same plan, and with 20 laps to go, it appeared unlikely either Penske car was going to challenge for the victory.
This was a good race for McLaughlin, and one fewer caution may have seen a different race and one that featured him and three Team Penske cars going against a pair of Chip Ganassi Racing cars for the victory. It was still a third-place finish and one McLaughlin pulled out of nowhere. It was a one-lap dash Armstrong backing up after finally losing momentum off turn two played into McLaughlin's late charge to third.
4. Patricio O'Ward likely knows he would have been fortunate to win this one. O'Ward was not a factor until he decided to go off-strategy, and even then it wasn't enough. O'Ward had to save an incredible amount of fuel. Not enough to hold off Rosenqvist anyway. As we entered the final 15 laps, O'Ward and the Arrow McLaren team knew this was not going to be their Indianapolis 500. It might have been enough to cost to third. It was better than if they had followed the leaders.
It is hard to feel like this one got away from O'Ward in the same way 2022, 2023 and 2024 were within his reach. This would have been a make-up for the close calls, one that fell in his favor. You take them however you can get them.
5. Marcus Armstrong nearly stole this one. Again, you take them however you can get them. Armstrong took the lead on the restart after Collet's accident. Once it was clear the Schumacher incident was not serious, it felt like Armstrong was always going to lose this race. He wasn't going to hold on for a one-lap dash. The leader was always a sitting duck. Credit to him for gassing it early on the final restart. Waiting would have led to the same result, but perhaps it would have kept Rosenqvist form victory as well.
Unlike Team Penske that had none of its cars go off strategy, Meyer Shank Racing took both its cars off strategy, and it kind of work. It won the race and finished fifth. Armstrong had been running well, but he was going to be in a fight for a top ten finish, not a victory, under normal circumstances.
6. Rinus VeeKay stole sixth and I have no idea what a jumped restart is. On the penultimate restart, the one after the Collet accident, Rosenqvist brought the field down slowly, but VeeKay was already making a run.
The rule is you can pass as soon as the green flag is shown, but it is hard to believe all these moves are timed just right that a driver can go from tenth to sixth every time. The first five or six drivers are being watched closely. The rest of the field just doesn't have to do anything blatant.
That is hating the game, not the player. VeeKay wasn't called for a penalty, but boy does it feel wrong that every oval race, especially if it is late, it is set up for someone to hold back and get a run and make up five spots while others do not get that luxury.
It isn't going to change. IndyCar doesn't change anything unless someone gets hurt. We still see drivers dicking-around on the start and restarts and the accordion accidents at the back of the field. There is the mess of restarts and some drivers going whenever while others follow the rules. We had this problem three years ago when Marcus Ericsson nearly won the Indianapolis 500 on a restart when the cars didn't even get back to the start-finish line before the next caution was out.
It is sloppy and IndyCar doesn't care.
Again, good for VeeKay and Juncos Hollinger Racing to finish sixth.
7. It doesn't feel like Álex Palou did anything wrong in this race other than the cautions did not feel in his favor and it worked out for Rosenqvist and company. If we had one fewer caution, this might have been Palou's day to take a second consecutive Indianapolis 500 victory.
It looked like Palou had the best car. Was anyone beating Palou? He was shuffled behind Malukas in those final pit sequences. Palou was restarting sixth after the Collet accident. It felt like he could work his magic in a four-lap sprint. Drivers in third and fourth were getting great runs on restarts all race. It wasn't quite meant to be. It was still a great day. He is still the championship leader. Palou remains the man to beat for the remainder of the season.
8. Eighth Indianapolis 500 start and eighth-place finish for Santino Ferrucci.
The late cautions and the alternate strategy worked in Ferrucci's favor because without it, he is probably 12th or 13th in this race. He didn't quite have the speed to be a challenger. He didn't spend much of the race in the top ten, and a slow pit stop early for a right front wheel nut issue set him back.
Hey, eight top ten finishes in eight Indianapolis 500 starts extends a record. It is quite an achievement.
9. Romain Grosjean was ninth! And he overcame a penalty for passing under caution when entering the pit lane. Grosjean was on the Rosenqvist strategy. Grosjean restarted fifth after the Collet accident. It didn't feel like Grosjean was going to steal a victory, but stealing a top ten is a great day considering where he was with about 70 laps to go.
10. Takuma Sato worked strategy to finish tenth. Sato probably is 15th or 16th if it wasn't for this strategy. His most notable moment of this race was the contract with Ed Carpenter in turn one that ended Ed Carpenter's race after 26 laps. This was a flattering tenth for Sato.
11. Nolan Siegel was not mentioned once all race and he was 11th. He was on the Rosenqvist strategy. Siegel probably finished ten spots better than if he had not taken this strategy. I don't know what he did all race. He gets 11th. That isn't bad, and his last three results have been pleasantly good.
12. We are entering a portion of the finishing order where these drivers did not top on lap 130 and was not on the Rosenqvist strategy, and that is really the only thing that cost them a better finish.
Conor Daly had a top five car. I don't think Daly could have beat Palou and Maluakas and McLaughlin in a dogfight to the finish. Daly probably should have been fourth or fifth. His car looked good. He was shuffled outside the top ten and could not get back up there after his final pit stop.
13. Marcus Ericsson got himself into the mix and it looked like he was going to be at least in the picture until the pit strategy shook out the way it did. Ericsson kept moving forward. The pit crews were not letting Andretti Global down today. He was better than 13th today.
14. Did you know Kyffin Simpson was 14th? He was.
15. Scott Dixon was definitely better than 15th. When Dixon took the lead for the first time on lap 62 and he and Palou kept trading the lead, those two were in unison and if there was ever time for Dixon to get his second Indianapolis 500 victory, it was a race where he and Palou were equals working together for victory.
Dixon stalled out on the restart on lap 109 and he never really factored again. Through in the pit strategy and he was shuffled down to 15th. He was better than that.
16. Kyle Kirkwood made the same climb forward as Ericsson. I don't think Kirkwood was a contender for victory, but he was going to be in a top ten position. Unfortunately, this was another race with points dropped. It felt like Kirkwood was always going to drop points after Palou qualified on pole position and he was struggling on speed. It could have been worse, but it is still not a great result. He will have a lot of work to do in the remaining races.
17. Christian Lundgaard was non-existent today. Lundgaard's most notable moment was Romain Grosjean passing him as Grosjean entered pit lane and then Lundgaard decided to stop as well. I get why it was a penalty for Grosjean. I do think Lundgaard was a little lazy at that moment. Either way, Lundgaard was never close in this one.
18. Let's cover the Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year because the top finishing rookie was Mick Schumacher in 18th. Schumacher nursed the car home after that brief brush with the wall with four laps remaining. Dennis Hauger was the next best rookie in 19th after he sped on pit lane for his final stop. Before that, Hauger was in the same pack with Rosenqvist, O'Ward and Armstrong on the alternate strategy.
I don't think any rookie was great this month. Hauger was going to do well if he did not speed. It would have been a strategy finish. Nothing wrong with that but I am not going to act like he did enough prior to the speeding penalty to take it from Schumacher. Schumacher ran all 200 laps. He did nothing special. None of the rookies did anything special except Caio Collet, who tried to knock down the turn two wall and set up the finish we saw.
I would vote for Schumacher.
19. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing had another woeful May. Graham Rahal and Louis Foster were 20th and 21st. Neither were a factor. Neither were really mentioned. They were just taking up space on track. RLLR needs a big shakeup at Indianapolis. We have been saying this for years. Sato is the only one who can get anything out of those cars. You can say it is the drivers but Christian Lundgaard also struggled while at that team. It is a systematic problem in that group.
20. Jack Harvey was 22nd. I hate to say we know Harvey's level in IndyCar, but Dreyer & Reinbold Racing had one car that was capable of winning and another that filled the field. Harvey is a good guy, but when it comes to Indianapolis 500 one-offs, how much longer are you going to run a guy who is going to be fighting just to crack the top twenty?
21. Sting Ray Robb ended up 23rd. I don't think Robb did a thing all race. He didn't get into trouble. That is a good thing. We know his level. He has finished outside the top twenty in six of seven races this season. What else do we need to see?
22. Jacob Abel was two laps down in 24th. The important thing is Abel saw the checkered flag. He didn't cause any problems. He didn't make a mistake. I think this is a fine Indianapolis 500 debut after failing to qualify last year.
23. It was not cover why Hélio Castroneves fell out of the race after 194 laps, but that means Castroneves fell out under the red flag. It is listed as a mechanical reason. I don't know if this was a cause of a car that did not restart when the red flag was lifted. It doesn't seem like Castroneves cared as he won as a minority owner in Meyer Shank Racing. As a driver, Castroneves was on the Palou strategy, and he was going to be shuffled to a finish somewhere outside the top fifteen. For a moment, he looked like a threat for another top ten finish. I think he is always going to be a top ten contender at this place, even if he continues into his 60s.
Castroneves did make history. He surpassed A.J. Foyt's record for most laps completed in an Indianapolis 500 career. I don't think many ever expected that record to be broken.
24. Caio Collet almost knocked down the wall. He led a few laps after going off strategy at the start of the race and not stopping under either of the first two cautions in this race. I didn't see anything special today. Outside of a qualifying run that was disallowed, I don't think it was that great of a month for Collet.
25. This was the Indianapolis 500 from hell for Ed Carpenter Racing. It was not covered, but Christian Rasmussen retired after 144 laps due to a mechanical issue and classified in 27th. Alexander Rossi had another fire, and this came after a botched pit stop on the right rear tire cost him dearly on the first stop. Rossi will be record in 30th. Then Ed Carpenter had the contact with Sato and didn't make it more than 26 laps, placing him 31st. All three ECR cars lost at least ten positions on their first pit stops. If that wasn't a sign of things to come I don't know what would have been.
This will feel like a missed opportunity because Rossi started second and Rasmussen has shown great oval speed over the last two seasons.
26. Josef Newgarden clipped the rumble strip in turn four on the lap 125 restart while running in the top five. This really set up Rosenqvist to win the race. Without this caution, it does not open the door for drivers to stretch it from there on two stops.
This was a brief error on Newgarden's part. It was unforced. After the opening 100 miles, it felt like Newgarden was Palou's biggest threat. This lapses have been too common for Newgarden over the last three seasons now. He does not appear to be much of a threat anywhere but ovals. He cannot afford to let these chances go.
I will call out Josef Newgarden on one thing. He had his accident, goes to the medical center, and then Kevin Lee informs us he had a contusion, but was fine and staying in the medical center to watch the end of the race. Newgarden ducked another television interview. He did it a lot last year when things weren't going his way. The driver's bus lot is a two-minute golf cart ride from the medical center. He could have gone out, done his media hits in five minutes and been back in his bus in a blink.
This has happened too often to be ignored. This is the pattern, and it is disappointing. Newgarden has been a gracious interview and he is personable. I do not understand the avoidance anytime anything goes wrong.
27. Will Power's race ended after a gearbox failure and he was placed 29th. This year has been hell for Power. I don't know if it will get better. It isn't going to be a bunch of gearbox issues, but he has been struggling to be competitive everywhere. Maybe it will improve as the season goes along, but this has season with Andretti Global has gone far worse than we were expecting.
28. Lastly, we cover the Ryan Hunter-Reay accident that collected Katherine Legge. Hunter-Reay lost the car in turn two. Legge spun in avoidance. She had nowhere to go.
Hunter-Reay said he struggled with balance of the car and was loose constantly. This was essentially the same car Kyle Larson ran last year. Larson, and pretty much every driver who wants to do "The Double," says they will only do it with a competitive car. Even the best teams struggle to provide competitive cars. I don't think Hunter-Reay couldn't handle it. It is tough to get a car in the right zone. If Hunter-Reay returns next year with McLaren, I would expect them to be in a better spot, but it requires work to get there.
As for Legge, her Double run ended after 17 laps. This is a deeper conversation, and it does not fit here, but it was disappointing that she was disparaged as not being good enough to attempt The Double and her effort somehow lessen the potential accomplishment.
That is crap. For years we wondered when a driver would attempt The Double again, and we were dying for someone to make the attempt. Legge decided to do it on a whim, and that has always been the dream. We want versatile drivers who will jump in any car at any time. Legge was doing that. I applaud the effort and I applaud that she didn't back out of it because it wasn't a six-month process of planning.
29. For all those concerns about weather, we got all 500 miles in without much delay. The race started on time. We had one caution out of precaution, but it seems like it was never but a few lights spritzes of rain. I don't know if we needed a red flag. We had a 17-lap caution period as there were drops felt as Will Power's car was being attended too. Some of that was due to the mess on the access road leaving pit lane.
We got the race it and weather did not cause too much of a hassle.
30. This is an odd place where Meyer Shank Racing has won two races and both are Indianapolis 500s. Think about everything Ed Carpenter Racing has done and it has not one this race once. Arrow McLaren has not won in its seven years since it returned to IndyCar. A.J. Foyt Racing has only won three Indianapolis 500s. MSR is one away from that group!
A victory elsewhere must be around the corner for MSR. Rosenqvist has been close on a few road and street courses, as has been Armstrong. It could come this year. It is hard to imagine five years from now we will be returning to the Indianapolis 500 and MSR will have only ever won this race.
31. Returning to Rosenqvist, I have always been high on him, and there was a point I did not understand how he was not being considered as a Formula One prospect. I thought he was a steal for IndyCar, and I thought he had the ability to win these races. His career hasn't quite gone as I thought it would even though he is now an Indianapolis 500 winner.
The sliding door moment of his career and IndyCar history is leaving Chip Ganassi Racing in 2020 and Álex Palou taking that seat. Rosenqvist left for McLaren. Ganassi was happy with Rosenqvist and wanted him to stay. If Rosenqvist stays, what do the last six years look like? I don't know if he matches what Palou has accomplished, but I don't know if Palou would be who he is if that seat did not open. Would Palou have gotten a chance elsewhere or would he have been stuck at Dale Coyne Racing for another year?
We will never know what IndyCar would look like if Rosenqvist had remained for Ganassi for another year. Yet, we are here in 2026 and both Palou and Rosenqvist are Indianapolis 500 winners. It may have worked out for both of them. It is a good day if you held onto that Felix Rosenqvist stock.
32. This was a fun race. It saw a record 70 lead changes. It is ok to admit it wasn't a perfect race. The closest finish combined with the most lead changes would lead you to think it was the greatest ever. I hate being reactionary. Can't we wait a few months? Can't we wait a few years? The mixed up strategy opened up this race. It did take out some fast cars. It happens. We still saw plenty of passing and action, and drivers were on edge. Drivers had to push at the end to try and force the likes of Rosenqvist and O'Ward into another stop. There was also a chance Malukas, Palou and company could have run them down.
It was a good race. There is no reason to feel bitter about what we saw today.
I really hope we do not have any post-race infractions like last year. I have already written enough and I am content with the results we have.
33. 371 days until the 111th Indianapolis 500. We go from the earliest the Indianapolis 500 can be to the latest the Indianapolis 500 will be. It might be an extra six days, but oh how I will enjoy the extra time.
