Marcus Ericsson Wins Indianapolis 500

Marcus Ericsson held off a hungry Pato O’Ward to win the 106th running of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday afternoon (May 29) in a dramatic two-lap shootout.

Ericsson is the second Swede to win the Indianapolis 500, after Kenny Brack in 1999. It is the third win in Ericsson’s four-season career in America’s premier open wheel series.

The ending sequence began with six laps to go, when Jimmie Johnson wrecked and caused the fifth caution of the day. A red flag allowed the race to end under green, setting up a two-lap run to the finish.

O’Ward made a move entering turn 1 of the final lap but could not complete the pass on the outside. Ericsson took advantage of O’Ward’s lost momentum and drove away exiting turn 2.

A spin by Sage Karem caused the sixth and final caution as Ericsson entered turn 3, sealing the deal for the first-time Indianapolis 500 winner.

Scott Dixon dominated the race, leading 95 of 200 laps, but was nailed for speeding on his final pit stop on lap 176. Dixon couldn’t recover in time and finished 21st. Dixon and O’Ward combined to lead the vast majority of the race.

Coming out of the final pit cycle, Ericsson had a comfortable three-second lead on O’Ward before the Johnson caution.

Tony Kanaan finished on podium in third while Felix Rosenqvist finished fourth. 2016 Indy 500 champion Alexander Rossi finished fifth.

The problem area for the day was turn 2. On Lap 39, Rinus Veekay spun and hit the wall coming out of there. Then on lap 69, Callum Illot hit the outside wall then hit the inside hard on exit. On Lap 106, Romain Grosjean spun out  entering turn 2.

The fourth caution of the day came on lap 152, when Scott McLaughlin hit the wall hard exiting turn 3.

The highest finishing rookie in the race was David Malukas in 16th.

Up next for the NTT IndyCar Series is the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix on Sunday, June 5, at 3 p.m. ET. USA will broadcast the event.