Newgarden wins 107th running of The Greatest Spectacle in Racing
By RICHIE HALL
sports@readthereporter.com
SPEEDWAY – It all came down to one lap. A lap that Josef Newgarden will never forget.
After an unprecedented three red flags that occurred over the final 10 laps of the 2023 Indianapolis 500, there were two laps left to run. The first was a white flag, during which last year’s winner Marcus Ericsson was holding off Newgarden in an attempt of a rare Indy defense.
But Newgarden pulled in front of Ericsson in the back straightaway, and held on to claim the 107th running of the 500 on Sunday. The Tennessee native beat out Ericsson by .0974 seconds, one of the closest finishes ever of an Indy 500 race.
Newgarden also became the first American champion since Alexander Rossi won as a rookie in 2016.
“To win this race, it’s undescribable,” said Newgarden. “I think being at this event is undescribable. Someone has to come and see it and be a part of it to really understand what it is all about.”
Newgarden speaks at the press conference following his victory. (Reporter photo by Kent Graham)
Much of what happened during the last half of the race defied description. The first 92 laps were smooth and competitive, with young stars Alex Palou and Rinus VeeKay trading laps for the first 60 laps. Then, Arrow McLaren teammates Felix Rosenqvist and Pato O’Ward began a purposeful back-and-forth that lasted for the middle third of the race.
The only disruption came before the halfway point, when rookie Sting Ray Robb spun and hit the wall, forcing the first caution period of the race. That led to the first bizarre incident of the day.
During the caution, several cars came in to pit, including Palou and VeeKay. While the cars were exiting the pits, VeeKay knocked in to Palou. That knocked Palou out of contention until the end of the race; he eventually finished fourth. VeeKay was assessed a drive-through penalty and wound up 10th.
Once the track was green, Rosenqvist and Palou resumed their battle. That lasted until the race entered its final third, after which other drivers asserted themselves. Youngster Santino Ferrucci led for the first time on Lap 132 and would remain a factor through the end of the race. Former champions Helio Castroneves, Rossi, Takuma Sato and Ryan Hunter-Reay also led laps during the latter stages.
Newgarden got his first lead on Lap 157 and stayed in contention until the end. That included a chaotic last 10 laps.
On Lap 185, Rosenqvist hit the wall, and Kyle Kirkwood clipped Rosenqvist’s car as it was sliding down the straightaway. Kirkwood also hit the wall and flipped upside down, while one of his tires flew out of the track and into a parking lot, where it damaged a car. Rosenqvist and Kirkwood were both okay after the incident, but the race was halted with 14 laps to go.
The race re-started after a delay, and the track went green with eight laps to go. It didn’t last long, though. O’Ward hit the wall in an incident that wound up involving 2019 winner Simon Pagenaud and rookie Agustin Canapino. Once again, the red flag came out.
That led to another re-start with five laps left, but another incident resulted in a third red flag. Christian Lundgaard and Ed Carpenter were involved in that one, and the race was halted again. The last two laps were completed without any other incidents.
Newgarden will now have his face etched in silver upon the coveted 86-year-old Borg-Warner trophy. (Reporter photo by Kent Graham)
“I was just trying to stay locked in,” said Newgarden. “I was emotional the last 10 laps because I knew we were in a position to fight for this win at the end. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. I knew it was going to come to some last-lap shootout like it always is these days, which is exciting but stressful for us.”
Newgarden made his move just after both drivers exited Turn 2. He got past Ericsson on the outside to take the lead, then was able to hold off Ericsson for the last few miles. As they were heading towards the checkered flag, Newgarden snaked past the pit line (with Ericsson following), then darted back to the right to get the win.
Newgarden made no apologies for the move.
“I’ll come to the checkered flag,” said Newgarden. “I’m going to do everything I can to win this race and I had to be as aggressive as possible, because the tow effect to just the first car was even more difficult than last year.”
Ericsson was trying to become the first driver to defend the Indy 500 since Castroneves won back-to-back in 2001 and 2002.
“I think we did everything right today,” said Ericsson. “I’m proud of the No. 8 crew and everyone at Chip Ganassi Racing. I think I did everything right behind the wheel. I did an awesome restart. I think I caught Josef completely off guard and got the gap and kept the lead into Turn 1. I just couldn’t hold it on the back. I was flat. I just couldn’t hold it.”
Ferrucci finished in third place, a half-second away from first place, with Palou fourth and Rossi fifth.
“I’ll win this thing one day, I’m sure of that,” said Ferrucci. “But right now I’m very happy with what I accomplished.”
Former winner Scott Dixon placed sixth and Sato took seventh. Noblesville’s Conor Daly placed eighth, with Colton Herta ninth and VeeKay rounding out the top 10.
This year’s race also served as the swan song for one of the Speedway’s most popular champions. Tony Kanaan, the winner in 2013, raced for his 22nd and final time at the Indy 500. He finished 16th, and gave the fans one last memorable moment during the race when he made a pass in the grass while driving 200 mph down the backstretch.
“I’ve been through the grass before, it’s nice,” said Santino while the two were speaking at the after-race press conference.
“I told the guys before, ‘Anything apart from the win, we were going to celebrate regardless,” said Kanaan.
Reporter photos by Kent Graham / Photos provided by Jason Spartz