Josef Newgarden takes second consecutive victory at the Indianapolis 500

INDIANAPOLIS — Josef Newgarden scored a second consecutive victory at the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday.

Newgarden narrowly beat Pato O’Ward, passing him on the final lap of the race. In addition to the prize money he will receive for winning the race, Newgarden will receive a bonus worth more than $400,000 for winning back-to-back titles.

Newgarden is the first driver to win back-to-back Indy 500s since Helio Castroneves in 2001 and 2002.

Newgarden started Sunday’s race in third place, behind teammates Will Power and Scott McLaughlin. Power did not finish the race because he crashed and McLaughlin, who started first, placed sixth.

Newgarden earned his second Indy 500 victory while battling through a chaotic and messy race. Before drivers even lined up on the track, the race was delayed about four hours as rain and lightning spread across central Indiana.

When the race finally started, it took just one lap for the caution flag to fly for the first time. A crash involving Tom Blomqvist and 2022 Indy 500 champion Marcus Ericsson triggered the first caution.

In total, the warning flag was raised eight times. A third of the 33 drivers did not finish the race. Three drivers suffered mechanical problems and the others were involved in crashes or spins.

Nine of the 11 cars that didn’t finish the 500 were Hondas. The only Chevrolets that did not cross the finish line were involved in accidents.

Newgarden’s victory also follows some controversy surrounding Team Penske. Four key members of the team – No. 2 engineer Luke Mason, senior data engineer Robbie Atkinson, general manager Ron Ruzewski and president Tim Cindric – were suspended for the Indy 500.

The quartet was suspended earlier this month for their involvement in rules violations committed at the Firestone Grand Prix in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Previous reports indicate that the team’s breach involved manipulation of push-to-pass systems. Newgarden crossed the finish line first at Firestone, but ultimately did not win the race.

Newgarden was disqualified for push-to-pass manipulation. His Team Penske teammates Scott McLaughlin and Will Power were also penalized after the Firestone.

All three Team Penske participants were fined $25,000 after the race in Florida. Newgarden, McLaughlin and Power also lost the prize money they had won in St. Petersburg.

The alleged violations occurred in March but were discovered in April before a race in California.

O’Ward is now on pace to win the Indy 500 twice. In 2022, O’Ward finished second at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The next event on the NTT IndyCar Series circuit is the Detroit Grand Prix, scheduled for June 2.

Here are the unofficial results from this year’s Indy 500:

1. Joseph Newgarden
2. Pato O’Ward
3. Scott Dixon
4. Alexander Rossi
5. Alex Palou
6. Scott McLaughlin
7. Kyle Kirkwood
8. Santino Ferrucci
9. Rinus VeeKay
10. Conor Daly
11. Callum Ilott
12. Christian Rasmussen
13. Christian Lundgaard
14. Takuma Sato
15. Graham Rahal
16. Sting Ray Robb
17. Ed Carpenter
18. Kyle Larson
19. Romain Grosjean
20. Helio Castroneves
21. Kyffin Simpson
22. Agustin Canapino
23. Colton Herta
24. Will
25. Marco Adretti
26. Ryan Hunter-Reay
27. Felix Rosenqvist
28. Linus Lundqvist
29. Katherine Legge
30. Marcus Armstrong
31. Tom Blomqvist
32. Marcus Ericsson
33. Pietro Fittipaldi