Josef Newgarden pips O’Ward to win rain delayed Indianapolis 500

Josef Newgarden overcame Pato O’Ward in a thrilling final lap battle to win the Indianapolis 500 for the second time in a row.

Josef Newgarden won the 108th running of the historic Indianapolis 500 which was held on Sunday afternoon, a little later than scheduled after rain delayed the start of the event by four hours.

IndyCar got the aero package and balance absolutely spot on for this race with cars making moves almost every lap, up and down the field although the regular cautions did aid the excitement with some wild restarts.

Replicating his winning form from 2023, the Team Penske driver, who has been the subject of controversy in the IndyCar championship this year, passed McLaren’s Pato O’Ward entering Turn 3 during the last of the 200 laps.

He claimed the rare achievement of becoming the first repeat winner since fellow Penske icon Helio Castroneves in 2001–2002, and sponsor Borg Warner rewarded him with an additional $440,000 bonus payout.

“I knew we could win this race again and [it was] just a matter of getting it right,” Newgarden told NBC after the race. “There’s just no better way to win a race than that. I gotta give it up to Pato as well. He’s an incredibly clean driver.

“You know, it takes two people to make that work. So it’s not just a good pass. It’s also someone that you’re working with, that’s incredibly clean. So I mean, I gotta give hats off to Pato, he could easily have won this race too. But it just fell our way.”

O’Ward was dejected when he was interviewed after the race, obviously thinking about how close he was to the biggest victory of his career.

“It’s hard to put it into words,” O’Ward said on NBC Sports. “I’m proud of the work that we did today.

“We recovered, we went back, we went forward, we went back. Some people were just driving like maniacs. So close again. So f**king close.

“It’s just so painful when you put so much into it and then, two laps short, I guess. Or two corners short. It’s always a heartbreak whenever it’s just so close, especially when it’s not the first time and you just don’t know how many opportunities like that you have.”

Newgarden had to battle multiple fellow Indy winners Scott Dixon and Alexander Rossi in the late stages of the race, as the two finished third and fourth, respectively. The defending series champion Alex Palou rounded out the top 5 with a solid effort in his #10 CGR Honda.

Meanwhile, polesitter Scott McLaughlin finished sixth despite being Newgarden’s major threat for the better part of the race. Will Power, who had been part of Penske’s front-row sweep, faded and crashed badly in the latter stages.

Kyle Kirkwood finished seventh on a difficult day for the Andretti squad after receiving a penalty for making contact with Callum Lott in the pits.

The team was dealt a further blow after Colton Herta crashed out in pursuit of McLaughlin, although his car’s front wing had only been slightly damaged, he seemed to have overlooked this as he immediately jumped out of his car. He later rejoined 30 laps down once it had been recovered to the garage and repaired.

Andretti’s Marcus Ericsson, who is the 2022 Indianapolis 500 winner, suffered a horrific first-lap retirement after being struck by a spinning Tom Blomqvist. Pietro Fittipaldi was also eliminated in the same incident after Ilott struck him while trying to get away.

NASCAR’s Kyle Larson had hoped to complete “the Double” by participating in both the Coke 600 and the Indianapolis 500 on the same day, but bad weather had other ideas. However, the Hendrick Cars driver opted to remain at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in order to run in the Indy 500.

He was running as high as sixth on the track, before he was forced to serve a penalty for speeding in pit road on Lap 135 which wiped out his hopes of winning and eventually, finished 18th.

2024 Indianapolis 500 Race Results