Josef Newgarden has won the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500, prevailing in a thrilling final-lap battle with Pato O’Ward to win “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” for the second consecutive year. Newgarden is the first driver in more than 20 years to win consecutive Indianapolis 500 races, matching the feat achieved by Helio Castroneves in 2001 and 2002. This is also Newgarden’s 30th IndyCar race win.
Newgarden took the lead from Newgarden at the white flag and then withstood a ferocious charge from Pato O’Ward, who snaked his way down the back straight and tried to beat Newgarden’s draft, but it was no use: Newgarden closed on O’Ward on the entrance to Turn 3 and passed him around the outside to return to the Yard of Bricks and take the checkered flag.
Newgarden’s win came after he was embroiled in a scandal surrounding Team Penske following the IndyCar season opener in St. Petersburg, Florida. The team was found to have illegally tampered with its Push-to-Pass system, which allows the car to produce more horsepower on starts and restarts, in violation of a system overseen by IndyCar race officials. As a result of the infraction, Newgarden’s win was stripped (interestingly, O’Ward won instead) and several members of the Penske team were suspended, including team president Tim Cindric.
Nevertheless, Newgarden gave Penske its 20th Indianapolis 500 victory, redeeming both himself and the race team.
“I don’t care what they say after this. I don’t care anymore,” Newgarden told NBC Sports. “I’m so proud of my team. They won big. They won big. They came out here with the fastest car. We worked so hard. I’m so proud of everybody at Team Penske. That’s exactly how I wanted to win.”
Newgarden’s win came after a long day at Indianapolis. The start of the race was delayed by four hours because of rain that moved through the area. The storm also significantly altered NASCAR Cup Series star Kyle Larson’s attempt at an Indy-Charlotte double. Decided to enter his first Indy 500 race At the cost of starting NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Larson qualified fifth and raced comfortably within the top 10, but received a pit road speeding penalty mid-race and finished 18th. Returning to Charlotte Motor Speedway, Hendrick Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier started in Larson’s place in the No. 5 Chevrolet.
