2022 Indianapolis 500 – Marcus Ericsson tastes the thrill of victory, others the agony of defeat

INDIANAPOLIS — Richard Petty once said, “I can’t recall so much about the 200 races that I won, but I can tell you every single little detail about the 1,000 races that I lost. That’s how all us racers are. It’s sick, isn’t it?”

The King wasn’t driving in the 106th running of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, but as race winner Marcus Ericsson climbed from the cockpit of his Honda in Victory Lane, Petty’s shared illness was on display down below Ericsson’s perch, visible from one end of pit road to the other.

Scott Dixon, who started from the pole position and led nearly half the laps run only to see his day undone by a pit road speeding penalty to finish 21st, rubbed his reddened face with his hands and choked back tears as his wife looked on and wept on his behalf.

“You do all you can do and hope that the breaks go your way, and sometimes they don’t,” the always-composed six-time IndyCar champion said. The 41-year-old driver mustered a grin when reporters rattled off questions laced with, “You were going to win, what happened?” and “You’ve still only won this race once,” and peppering him with career stats like 1-for-20 at Indy. “Today, the breaks went our way … until they didn’t,” he said.

Helio Castronenves, the defending champion who waited an excruciating dozen years between his third and fourth Indy wins, free soloed his way from 27th to seventh but saw his ascent stopped by a series of late cautions. He spent his postrace time slowly walking the length of the pit lane, waving to the fans who still remained from the original green flag attendance of more than 300,000. “I wanted to say thank you,” the 47-year-old racer explained. “And I also wanted to take my mind off me not being able to close the deal today.”

Tony Kanaan was behind the wheel of a one-off ride but was the fastest car in the field when the “laps to go” counter entered single digits. Yet he ran out of steam and had to settle for third. His head drenched in sweat, the 47-year-old 2013…