ERICSSON WINS INDY 500, MCLAUGHLIN CRASHES OUT
Marcus Ericsson is an Indy 500 champion after storming into the lead late in the 106th edition to take victory in his #8 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
As expected, the race came alive in the last 20 laps with multiple crashes and pitlane drama shaping the outcome at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Ericsson went wholly unnoticed up until those closing stages, emerging as a contender after the final round of pitstops.
Polesitter Scott Dixon led the most laps (95) but was penalised for speeding during his final pitstop with 25 laps to go. Given a drive through penalty, Dixon’s hopes were dashed as he fell towards the rear of the field in the #9 Chip Ganassi Racing machine.
Following Ericsson to the line was Pato O’Ward, the Mexican unable to make the decisive pass in a two-lap sprint to the finish at the end after running at the front with Dixon for the entirety of the encounter.
Tony Kanaan rounded out the podium in the #1 car as Chip Ganassi Racing swept the steps at the Brickyard.
Speaking post-race, Swedish driver Ericsson explained his rollercoaster of emotions during the final laps.
“I can’t believe it,” he said.
“You can never take anything for granted and obviously there was still laps to go (after final red flag). 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 so amazing.
“The #8 crew, Chip Ganassi Racing and Honda have done such an amazing job so I knew that the car was fast enough, but it was still hard, I had to do everything there to keep them behind.
“I can’t believe it, I’m so happy.”
Ericsson started from fourth on the grid and was content to let Dixon and his teammate Alex Palou make the early running at Indianapolis.
Palou passed the polesitter for the lead at the end of lap 1 in his #10 Chip Ganassi Racing car, before Dixon returned the favour on lap 8 as Rinus Veekay slotted into third.
The leading pair began to work together to conserve fuel, trading the lead every couple of laps.
Indeed, after 20 laps Palou was ahead having banked 14 laps in the lead while Dixon sat behind him, followed by Veekay, Ericsson and Ed Carpenter.
The first retirement of the race came on lap 39 when Veekay slid and hit the outside wall at Turn 2. Despite fighting at the front with one lap in the lead, the 21-year-old would be ranked 33rd in the finishing order.
Racing resumed on lap 47, with Dixon making a pass to renew his ascendency. Meanwhile, further back Kiwi Scott McLaughlin was making plenty of inroads from P26 on the starting grid, sitting in 17th after making nine early passes.
Defending Indy 500 champion Helio Castroneves was also mounting a charge from the rear, running in 18th with nine passes to his name after 50 laps.
Rookie Callum Ilott was the next driver to bite the dust. He hit the wall at Turn 2 on lap 69 before bouncing into the inside wall. From a starting position of P19, he would be classified 32nd.
As the race approached 30% completion, a couple of big names were struggling. Will Power ran in 24th after a slow pitstop and Colton Herta was sitting in 30th as he wrestled with his backup #26 Andretti Autosport car.
The latter would be called into the lane to retire, cutting his losses after a dismal outing.
“We just weren’t fast enough, they parked us because we were slow,” Herta said.
“It was a handful, we were so loose, the loosest I’ve ever been on a on an oval so it wasn’t a lot of fun.
“It sucks that we weren’t able to finish, now all you can really think about is what if Friday didn’t happen, what would have?
“It’s disappointing.”
Green flags were waved again on lap 77, Dixon leading from Daly as Palou plummeted to 28th after returning to the pits.
Daly seized his opportunity after starting from P18, pulling into front spot on lap 81 and staying there for four laps before Dixon reasserted himself.
Lurking behind at the halfway mark were O’Ward and Ericsson, who ran third and fourth just a couple of seconds off the leaders.
Turn 2 struck again shortly after, ex-Formula 1 driver and Indy 500 rookie Romain Grosjean losing the rear end of his #28 Andretti Autosport machine before sliding into the outside wall, forcing his exit from the race.
O’Ward flew by Dixon after the restart on lap 112 but as was the case throughout the race the polesitter was up to the challenge.
As such, with 80 laps to go it was Dixon heading the field.
Another round of pitstops kicked off on lap 141, O’Ward and Kanaan briefly assuming the lead before Dixon regained it and passed Al Unser (644) as the all-time lap leader in Indy 500 history.
Unfortunately for passionate Supercars fans, McLaughlin did not see the chequered flag in his second Indy 500 appearance, crashing out from 12th at Turn 3 on lap 152.
The three-time Supercars champion was the highest ranked Team Penske steerer at the time before he hit the outside wall hard after his car got loose at the rear, ending his day prematurely.
“It just got loose on me,” McLaughlin said.
“I just got caught by a gust of wind, hadn’t been in clean air for a while it just caught me. It snapped around, hit the fence and worse was probably the second hit.
“Bruised ego, really gutted for everyone on the Pennzoil Chevy.
“We had a fast race car today, we came up through the pack and were running really strong there.
“First crash here but unfortunately, that’s how it happens.”
Another restart with 43 laps to go saw the status quo renewed, before the script was thrown out the window during the final round of pitstops.
Dixon and Daly pulled into the lane with 25 laps to go and it was the former who saw his chances go up in flames.
The hot favourite was penalised for speeding in pitlane, given a drive through penalty that dropped him way down the order and out of the running.
It was then O’Ward who assumed first in the order as cars continued to filter into the pits for final stops.
With 15 to go Ericsson had worked himself into a strong position, the race becoming his to lose as O’Ward slotted back into second.
Marco Andretti led for one lap during the pit shuffling, but it was the Swede 3.2s clear of O’Ward by lap 190.
There would be no straightforward victory for Ericsson though, as a red flag with just a handful of laps to go made it anyone’s race. Jimmie Johnson was the cause of the temporary halt, the NASCAR icon crashing out in the dying stages.
Two laps of green flag racing were all that remained after the mess was cleared, Ed Carpenter’s car failing to fire as the field rolled out of pitlane for the final time.
Ericsson got away cleanly as green flags flew, weaving aggressively to prevent a slipstream.
O’Ward made his big move at Turn 1 on the final lap but was unable to get his car around the outside as Ericsson gathered himself to solidify the lead.
On the final lap, Sage Karam became the final driver to crash out, although it did little to impact the result as Ericsson took the win under yellow flag conditions ahead of O’Ward and Kanaan.
Felix Rosenqvist and Alexander Rossi were fourth and fifth, ahead of Daly who led for seven laps.
Helio Castroneves and Simon Pagenaud crossed the line seventh and eighth, while Alex Palou finished ninth despite leading for 47 laps early.
Santino Ferrucci rounded out the top 10.
Aussie Will Power was 15th.
Dixon was 21st after his late penalty.
Ericsson shot to the top of the standings with his double points triumph.
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