Sweden’s Marcus Ericsson won his first Indianapolis 500 on Monday in a wild race that featured multiple crashes and a heartbreaking error from race favourite Scott Dixon.
Ericsson, the former Formula 1 star, held off late challenges from Pato O’Ward and Tony Kanaan to taste the traditional victor’s milk in front of more than 300,000 fans.
Rinus VeeKay, who started third on Monday’s (AEST) grid, had the first and most spectacular crash when his car burst into flames after colliding into the wall while in second place.
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The Dutchman climbed out of his car under his own power and was later cleared by the medical team.
VeeKay later described the track as “a little dusty.”
“Sad and disappointed, not just for me, really for the whole team,” VeeKay said.
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New Zealand’s Scott McLaughlin also had a scary crash when he slammed into the wall on turn three.
The former Supercars ace walked away and said the only damage was “a bruised ego” as he raced in front of his family for the first time in 31 months.
It was a tough day for the Kiwis as a flying Dixon appeared on track for victory before ironically failing to slow down enough on his final pit stop.
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“Are you serious?” Dixon yelled after being handed the speeding penalty that took him out of contention for the win.
Australia’s series leader Will Power finished 15th.
But the day belonged to Ericsson, the 31-year-old who competed in Formula 1 between 2014-18 before making the move to the United States.
Ericsson took control of the race late after teammate Dixon’s penalty — and had it under control for Chip Ganassi Racing until a crash by teammate Jimmie Johnson with four laps remaining brought out a rare red flag stoppage at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
IndyCar is among the purest forms of motorsports and rarely throws artificial cautions or issues stoppages that might change the outcome.
But the crowd of more than 300,000 – only a few thousand shy of a sellout and the largest sporting event since the pandemic began – roared when IndyCar called the cars to pit road.
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The stoppage gave O’Ward and the rest of the challengers almost 12 minutes on pit road to strategise how to catch Ericsson for the win.
The race resumed with two laps remaining and Ericsson easily got the jump on O’Ward.
The Mexican got one final look for the lead that Ericsson defended and O’Ward knew not to force the issue.
“Na, he was going to put me in the wall if I had gone for it,” O’Ward said.
A crash by Sage Karam back in traffic brought out the caution on the final lap and Ericsson coasted to the victory podium under yellow.
Karam was transported to a hospital for evaluation of muscular soreness.
For Ericsson, it was his third career IndyCar victory in 52 career starts.
All three have been strange wins in that Ericsson sealed the victories after red flag stoppages, but he never assumed he had the Indy 500 won as he sat inside his cockpit waiting to get back to racing.
“You can never take anything for granted, and there were laps to go,” Ericsson said.
“I was praying so hard there was not going to be a yellow, then I knew there was probably going to be one, and it was hard to refocus.”
But he did, and he held on for the biggest victory of his career.
Ericsson was winless in five seasons in F1 before he packed up for the US and a move to North American open wheel racing.
It is the fifth Indy 500 win for team owner Chip Ganassi, who caught a ride to the victory podium on the side of Ericsson’s car.
Ericsson is the second Swede to win the Indy 500 in 106 runnings, joining 1999 winner Kenny Brack.
Ericsson poured his jug of milk all over his face, then handed the bottle to Ganassi so the boss could take his own swig.
Ganassi had not won the 500 in 10 years and sent five legitimate contenders to Indy to end the drought.
The win seemed to belong to Dixon, the six-time IndyCar champion who went more than 376km/h in qualifying to win pole.
He led 95 of the 200 laps and his Honda was easily the fastest in the field.
“It’s frustrating. The car was really good all day. I just messed up,” Dixon said.
That left Ericsson and Kanaan still in the fight for Ganassi.
Kanaan, at 47 the oldest driver in the field, thought he was in perfect position for the win sitting in fourth on the restart.
O’Ward wouldn’t relent.
He signed a contract extension with Arrow McLaren SP on Saturday and desperately wanted the win.
But he finished second, falling just short as the Mexican tried to give his country a banner celebration on the biggest day in motorsports after Sergio Perez had won the Monaco Grand Prix.
Kanaan was third in a Ganassi car and followed by Felix Rosenqvist, another Swede, who was fourth for McLaren.
Rosenqvist is in a contract year with McLaren and fighting for his job.
American drivers Alexander Rossi and Conor Daly finished fifth and sixth, Rossi for Andretti Autosport and Daly for Ed Carpenter Racing.
Helio Castroneves, last year’s winner, finished seventh and one spot ahead of Meyer Shank Racing teammate Simon Pagenaud.
Reigning IndyCar champion Alex Palou finished 10th in another Ganassi entry.
Dixon faded to 21st after the penalty, and although he visited Ericsson on the victory podium, he was consoled by his wife on pit road after the race.
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Johnson finished 28th in his Indy 500 debut.
“It’s one team, everybody roots for everybody else, everybody works together and everybody is an open book,” Ganassi said.
“You’re going to have things happen in these 500 mile races and they’re not always going to fall your way.
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“So, you know, we were lucky to have five good cars and five good drivers.”
Honda drivers took six of the top nine spots, along with the win.
“I felt you can never take anything for granted, and obviously there was two laps to go,” Ericsson said.
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“I was praying so hard there was not going to be another yellow, but I knew there was probably going to be one.
“It was hard to refocus but I knew the car was amazing. But it was still hard, you know?
“I had to do everything there and then to keep them behind – I can’t believe it. I’m so happy.”
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