Felix Rosenqvist created a heartwarming victory in Sunday’s 110th Indianapolis 500, while breaking David Malukas’ heart.
Rosenqvist drove the greatest final lap in Indianapolis 500 history, according to Indianapolis Motor Speedway historian and former reporter Curt Cavin.
It all began at the start of Lap 200 when Marcus Armstrong restarted the race with Team Penske’s David Malukas and Rosenqvist behind him coming to the white flag. When Malukas pulled out of line to slingshot past Armstrong, Rosenqvist tucked in behind and Pato O’Ward raced to the inside of Rosenqvist to make two rows of two-wide dash to the checkered flag.
But in Turn 1, Rosenqvist went for the victory. It didn’t matter that Armstrong is his teammate at Meyer Shank Racing. Rosenqvist was going to do something completely unconventional by taking the outside line and hope that was his path to victory lane.
Cavin timed the last lap as Rosenqvist and Armstrong went side by side for 23 seconds from the middle of Turn 1 to the entrance of Turn 4.
Rosenqvist had not won a n NTT IndyCar Series race since 2020 at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. He was determined to do whatever it took to win the Indianapolis 500.
He closed up behind Malukas as the race leader began to zig-zag down the frontstretch. Rosenqvist committed to the outside line and Malukas protected the preferred inside lane. According to Malukas, the two cars were, “really, really close.”
So close, it’s a wonder they didn’t crash.
Rosenqvist’s No. 60 Meyer Shank Honda defeated Malukas No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet by 0.023-of-a-second. The previous record was Al Unser, Jr.’s 1992 Indy 500 win over Scott Goodyear by 0.043 seconds. In 2014, Ryan Hunter-Reay defeated Helio Castroneves by 0.06-of-a-second.
“He just had a really good run,” Malukas said. “There’s nothing else I could have done. I’m trying to think back, maybe something different with deployment here or there. There’s just no way.
“In the car it looked a lot closer, which it was really, really close, but from the run I didn’t know he had that big of a run. Watching the replay and seeing the run that he had, it actually made me feel better because I was like; to be honest, I don’t think there’s anything I could have done. Maybe could have shortened it by a couple thousandths. I think that was the IMS gods telling me that it’s not my time.”
Rosenqvist became the third driver to win the “500” with a last-lap pass, the other being Josef Newgarden’s in a similar one-lap shootout with Marcus Ericsson in 2023. That separation at the finish line was 0.097 seconds, which now is the fifth closest.
Rosenqvist agreed it was the best lap of his career.
“I’ve never been flat around the high line for more than one corner (at IMS),” Rosenqvist said. “To do it a whole lap on the outside, that was pretty cool. It’s kind of unheard of at Indy.
“That’s just how much you want it — it’s hard to explain that feeling, that you want it so much and you have so much adrenaline that you literally don’t care if you’re going to crash. You’re just going all in. It was cool that that’s what it took to win it, as well.
“To win it like that makes it three times more special. I would have paid a lot of money to watch that race.”
It was a wild and crazy Indianapolis 500 from start to finish that included 70 lead change, an Indianapolis 500 record. It broke the previous record of 68 in the 2013 Indy 500. It was the third-most lead changes in IndyCar history.
Meantime on pit lane, Malukas openly cried tears of heartbreak after doing everything he possibly could do to win the race, only to fall short by the narrowest of margins.
“I just don’t know what else we could have done,” Malukas said. “We were driving 150 percent that whole race. The guys did a fantastic job getting the car where it needed to be. We had the fastest car out there that whole race. It was ours to win, and I knew that.
“I’ve never pushed that hard in my whole life. Just to finish, like — I can’t believe it. This whole season, even before, just keep getting a lot of seconds, but we just can’t get — now it’s like — I don’t know how much closer you can get to getting it. So yeah. Now we’re even P2 in the championship. It’s great, so many seconds.
“But on a high note, this team, everybody from Verizon and the whole crew and even outside the 12 crew, but the 2 car, the 3 car, everybody — I’ve been through many different teams, although I’m still young, 2024, from the wrist injury, been to so many different teams, and nobody is like Team Penske. Everybody here is just so closely connected and truly feels like family. Obviously coming from all of that, Roger was one of the first guys to come to me and tell me that he believes in me and told me to keep on pushing.
“Because of him, I can sit here and cry that I’m going for a P2 position. I think that’s why it’s really emotional for me because I wanted to get a win for this team and just wanted to be written across those history books. Everything happens for a reason. I think there’s a reasoning to this. We’re going to just use it as more motivation and just keep pushing forward, and someday maybe it’ll happen.”
Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin finished third, giving Team Penske two positions in the top three.
Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren was fourth followed by Armstrong, who had a chance to win the race if not for the ill-fated yellow flag when Mick Schumcher brushed the wall on Lap 197. Although there was no debris on course, that set up a one-lap dash to decide the Indianapolis 500.
There was also a Red Flag stoppage prior to that on Lap 192 after rookie Caio Collet crashed in Turn 2. The Red Flag was to allow sufficient time to clean up the wreckage and ensure a green flag finish.
Whether that made the finish of the Indy 500 appear contrived was quickly forgotten by the thrilling finish.
It was the second Indy 500 victory for Meyer Shank Racing. The team has only won two IndyCar races and both have come in the Indy 500. Helio Castroneves won the team’s first in 2021 when he became the fourth four-time Indy 500 winner.
Alex Palou led the most laps with 59 followed by Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon’s 32. Malukas led 30 laps and Rosenqvist 25 in a race that 14 different leaders.
A sold-out crowd of more than 335,000 fans jammed the Indianapolis 500 on a day when it was expected to rain.
At 9 p.m. Eastern Time, IndyCar Officiating announced a post-race technical inspection penalty for the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing car driven by Alex Palou. During post-race inspection, the front wing of the car failed front wing height measurement.
Chip Ganassi Racing was in violation of the following rule involving the speedway front wing end plate – minimum and maximum heights:
- Rule 14.7.6.8. Front wing must adhere to the following Technical Inspection dimensions.
- Rule 14.7.6.7.1. For the purposes of technical inspection, the front wing must not measure less than 8.300 inches when set at any angle, while installed on the INDYCAR technical inspection fixture.
IndyCar Officiating has determined that the non-compliance was the result of an assembly error and not an intentional modification.
Palou’s entry has been penalized five championship driver and entrant points and the team has been fined $10,000.
Chip Ganassi Racing issued the following statement: “During technical inspection following Sunday’s Indianapolis 500, a part failure was discovered in the front wing assembly of the No. 10 car. The failure caused the wing to fall out of compliance with INDYCAR’s technical parameters post-race, resulting in a $10,000 fine and a 5-point penalty in the championship standings. Chip Ganassi Racing did not attempt to gain an unfair advantage in the race, and accepts this penalty.”
Unlike last year’s Indianapolis 500 that got off to a sloppy start, this year’s Indy 500 had a great start from the drop of the green flag from actor Brendan Fraser to ECR’s Alexander Rossi passing pole winner Alex Palou into Turn 1. But Palou retook the lead in Turn 3 before Rossi took it back at the start/finish line at the end of that lap.
That started a frenzy of swapping the lead, some by design to try to save fuel among teammates at the front including Scott Dixon and Palou. Over the first 10 laps, Palou and Rossi had swapped the lead seven times.
Felix Rosenqvist in victory lane at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (indyCar photo)
