2023-05-28 22:18:09
The 107th edition of the Indy 500 was not for the faint of heart. In the end, Josef Newgarden, who secured victory in a heart-stopping final, kept it.
“I’m just so grateful. I used to come here as a fan and I’ve had to listen to so many questions as to why I haven’t won this race yet. Now it worked. I’m just grateful,” he cheered.
Newgarden prevailed following the third and decisive restart following incidents, especially towards the end of the race, in a last free lap, in a shootout.
He started this last lap in second place, behind defending champion Marcus Ericsson and ahead of Santino Ferrucci. Newgarden grabbed Ericsson in turn 3 in the last kilometers of the traditional race and then never relinquished the lead.
The two drivers drove zigzag courses on the long straights in order to avoid slipstreaming. The former Formula 1 driver Ericsson had to be satisfied with second place, third was Ferrucci.
For Newgarden, the 2017 and 2019 IndyCar Series champion, it was the first Indy 500 win of his career.
The 200-lap race had previously gone largely without incident, with events only escalating in the final phase.
There was luck in misfortune when Felix Rosenqvist lost control of his car, crashed into the gang and then touched Kyle Kirkwood’s car. A tire came off the car and flew over the safety fence towards the audience, but apparently landed in a parking lot and fortunately only damaged one car, videos show.
In the last 15 laps there were a total of three crashes with red flags due to various accidents. The last stop was two laps before the end when a restart was attempted and another crash occurred. In the end, a last flying lap decided the fight for victory,
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