By David Morgan, Associate Editor
SPEEDWAY, Ind. – For the second year in a row, Josef Newgarden took matters into his own hands in the final lap of the Indianapolis 500, passing Pato O’Ward to secure back-to-back wins in the biggest race of the NTT IndyCar Series.
In a race delayed by rain for more than four hours, Newgarden and O’Ward were racing daylight as the laps wound down Sunday, with the two drivers trading the lead over the final seven laps of the race, with fan-favorite O’Ward taking the lead as the white flag waved as it seemed it might finally be his time to win.
However, Newgarden had one more trick up his sleeve in Turn 3, sweeping around O’Ward with a bold move to the outside and setting sail, keeping O’Ward in his rear view all the way to the finish to add another Indy 500 win to his resume.
“I knew we could win this race again; it was just a matter of getting it right,” Newgarden said. “There’s no better way to win a race than that. I got to give it up to Pato (O’Ward) as well. He’s an incredibly clean driver. It takes two people to make that work. It’s not just a good pass, it’s also someone that you’re working with that’s incredibly clean.
“I have to give hat’s off to Pato (O’Ward). He could have easily won this race, too, but it just fell our way. I’m just so proud of everybody. I’m proud of this whole team. Everyone that partners with us, Team Chevy. Just a great day.”
As he did last year when he broke his Indy 500 winless streak, Newgarden climbed from his car and sprinted into the stands to celebrate with his fans before returning to his crew and taking the lift ride up to Victory Lane.
Meanwhile, O’Ward was left to wonder what more he could have done in the final sequence leading up to the finish, tying his best Indy 500 finish, but falling short of the ultimate prize at the end of the day.
After an emotional few minutes with his crew, O’Ward attempted to sum up his feelings coming so close to the victory.
“It’s hard to put it into words,” a dejected O’Ward said with a sigh. “I’m proud of the work we did today. We recovered. We went back, we went forward, we went back. Some people were just driving like maniacs. We had so many near race enders. Just so close again. So fucking close.
“I put that car through things I never thought it was going to be able to do. Sometimes I said, ‘Ah, that’s it.’ Somehow I came out the other…
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