Newgarden wins the Indianapolis 500 for the first time
The driver of the Penske team won the victory after a thrilling outcome in one of the most prestigious races in motorsport.
Josef Newgarden put an end to 11 years of frustration and finally won the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday. And this victory, which comes from the Nashville native, was achieved in the last lap of the race.
For a few years now, IndyCar’s goal has been to no longer finish races behind the safety car, but instead under a green flag. In the event of incidents, the red flag is waved and the race resumes for the final laps. In the case of the 2023 edition, the race was interrupted twice, in the last quarter of the race.
The first one was brandished after Felix Rosenqvist’s (McLaren) accident, which notably eliminated Simon Pagenaud (MSR) who had just returned to the top 10, and especially sent Kyle Kirkwood (Andretti) flying through the air, his car ending up on its roll hoop while a detached wheel flew between two grandstands to finally land on a car in a parking lot!
The second red flag comes out with 3 laps to go when Pato O’Ward (McLaren) slightly collided with Marcus Ericsson (Ganassi), causing the Mexican driver to spin out and triggering another pile-up at the back of the pack.
So the race restarted for one lap and in the end it was Newgarden who prevailed by a few tenths of a second ahead of former F1 driver Marcus Ericsson, no back-to-back for the Swede.
Note that the Indycar is doing very well, with increasing viewership and sold-out stands. Each driver has received a bonus for their participation. There was a total of 17 million dollars to be shared. The race winner, Josef Newgarden, received a check for 3.6 million dollars.
On average, each driver earned $500,600. In 2022, the winner Marcus Ericsson cashed in $3.1 million and the total prize pool was $16.0 million. This year, the Swede has to settle for $1 million for his second place.
Regarding Romain Grosjean, the French driver completed his race during the 150th lap. The French driver was hovering around the 10th position, but without really having an opportunity to fight for the win.
The ranking of this Indianapolis 500 race
WHAT. A. RACE.
“The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” ✔️
Where did your favorite driver finish? pic.twitter.com/21BHZdL2xA
— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) May 28, 2023
“What a race. The Greatest Spectacle in Racing ✔️. Where did your favorite driver finish?”
