Scott Dixon, who has led more Indianapolis 500 laps than any other driver, was cruising toward his second career victory in the 106th running of the race Sunday afternoon when he drew a speeding penalty on pit row. That mistake, compounded by a Jimmie Johnson crash, set up a four-lap shootout.
Marcus Ericsson wins Indianapolis 500 in an electric finish
Marcus Ericsson held off Pato O’Ward in that shootout, with Tony Kanaan finishing third.
“I couldn’t believe it. You can never take anything for granted,” the 31-year-old Ericsson told NBC. “… It was hard to refocus, but I knew the car was amazing. I had to do everything there at the end to keep [O’Ward and Kanaan] behind.”
After Dixon’s miscue, those three, along with Marco Andretti and Alex Palou, were in the running. But Ericsson, a Swede whose helmet paid tribute to late Swedish driver Ronnie Peterson, took control with 10 laps to go, opening a big lead over O’Ward and Kanaan.
Johnson, Ericsson’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammate and the seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion running in his first Indy 500, briefly took the lead for a lap with 13 to go, but a crash into the fence on Turn 2 ended his race with six laps left. That brought out a red flag that stopped the race to allow Johnson’s debris to be cleaned up and set up a shootout — the last thing Ericsson wanted to see — with four laps left.
“They’d better be ready. I wouldn’t want to be the leader of the restart,” Kanaan told NBC from his car as he awaited the shootout. “I’m exactly where I want to be.”
Ericsson held off O’Ward’s challenge and won the race for the first time. It was the third IndyCar race victory for the Swede, who made his debut on the circuit in 2019 after several years in Formula One.
Ericsson became the second Swedish driver to win the Indy 500, following Kenny Brack (1999). Peterson, a racing icon in that country, was a 10-time race winner in Formula One who died after a crash in the 1978 Italian Grand Prix.
O’Ward, a 23-year-old Mexican widely viewed as having a bright future in the sport, was looking for his second win of the year and his fourth since 2021.
“It’s frustrating. It’s bittersweet,” he said after Sunday’s runner-up finish. “I’m so proud, but it definitely stings, because I feel like the team and I did everything perfectly to get it done, and something that’s out of our control was why we struggled in the end.”
Of opting against a go-for-broke move on the final lap, O’Ward said: “[Ericsson] was going to put me in the wall if I would have gone for it. We were alongside each other.”
Johnson, a 46-year-old in his second IndyCar season, told reporters afterward that he had “mixed emotions” about a result for which he had “higher expectations.” He claimed to not have had “the car that I needed.”
“Just really couldn’t get through the field,” he said. “Every time I set someone up for a pass, the car would wash out and I would lose one or two spots, and I kept falling further back in the field.”
The most disappointed about the outcome may have been Dixon, who came into it 75 laps behind Al Unser’s total of 644 for most led all-time in Indy 500 history. Dixon wound up leading 95 of 200 laps Sunday to grab the record, but he failed to win for the fourth straight time after starting the race in pole position. He previously won the Indy 500 from the pole in 2008.
That remains the one victory in the event for Dixon, a 41-year-old citizen of New Zealand who lives in Indianapolis. He has earned IndyCar season champion honors six times, most recently in 2020.
“It’s frustrating. The car was really good all day. I just messed up,” Dixon said.
Source: WP
