Josef Newgarden claims 2nd successive Indianapolis 500 victory

INDIANAPOLIS-- Josef Newgarden claimed a 2nd consecutive Indianapolis 500 triumph on Sunday.

Newgarden directly beat Pato O'Ward, passing him on the last lap of the race. On top of the cash prize he will get for winning the race, Newgarden will get a benefit worth more than $400,000 for winning back-to-back titles

Newgarden is the very first chauffeur to win back-to-back Indy 500s because Helio Castroneves did it in 2001 and 2002.

Newgarden began Sunday's race in third place, behind his colleagues Will Power and Scott McLaughlin. Power did not finish the race because he crashed, and McLaughlin, who began in first, positioned 6th.

Newgarden got his 2nd Indy 500 win by hammering out a unpleasant and disorderly race. Before chauffeurs even lined the track, the race was postponed by about 4 hours while rain and lightning moved through central Indiana.

When the race finally began right before 4:45 p.m., it took only one lap for the care flag to fly for the first time. A crash involving Tom Blomqvist and 2022 Indy 500 champion Marcus Ericsson set off the first caution.

In total, the caution flag was flown 8 times. A third of the 33-driver field did not end up the race. 3 drivers suffered through mechanical issues and the rest were involved in crashes or spinouts.

9 of the 11 cars that did not finish the 500 were Hondas. The only Chevrolet cars and trucks that did not cross the finish line were involved in crashes.

Newgarden's win likewise comes on the heels of some debate surrounding Team Penske. Four crucial members of the group-- No. 2 engineer Luke Mason, senior data engineer Robbie Atkinson, handling director Ron Ruzewski and president Tim Cindric-- were suspended for the Indy 500.

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

Previous reporting indicates the violation the team devoted related to a control of push-to-pass systems. Newgarden crossed the goal initially at the Firestone, though he did not eventually win the race.

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

All three Team Penske entries were fined $25,000 following the race in Florida. Newgarden, McLaughlin and Power also surrendered the cash prize they won in St. Petersburg.

The supposed infractions happened in March but were discovered in April before a race in California.

O'Ward has actually now come close to winning the Indy 500 two times. In 2022, O'Ward finished second at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

IndyCar officials also raised the Indy 500 broadcast blackout in main Indiana on Sunday, permitting fans to watch the race on TV for the first time since 2021.

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

Here are the unofficial results of this year's Indy 500:

1. Josef Newgarden




Pato O'Ward




Scott Dixon




Alexander Rossi




Alex Palou




Scott McLaughlin




Kyle Kirkwood




Santino Ferrucci




Rinus VeeKay




Conor Daly




Callum Ilott




Christian Rasmussen




Christian Lundgaard




Takuma Sato




Graham Rahal




Sting Ray Robb




Ed Carpenter




Kyle Larson




Romain Grosjean




Helio Castroneves




Kyffin Simpson




Agustin Canapino




Colton Herta




Will Power




Marco Adretti




Ryan Hunter-Reay




Felix Rosenqvist




Linus Lundqvist




Katherine Legge




Marcus Armstrong




Tom Blomqvist




Marcus Ericsson



2. Pietro Fittipaldi