We came into Sunday’s 107th Running of the Indianapolis 500 with a number of storylines. And we leave Indy probably with even more storylines.
Here’s some of the high (and where necessary, low) points:
Streaking at the Indy 500
Josef Newgarden’s win in Sunday’s Indianapolis 500 had several notable marks:
• He’s the first American driver to win the Greatest Spectacle In Racing since Alexander Rossi did the trick in his rookie try in the 100th Running of the 500 in 2016.
• Chevrolet executives are obviously quite happy, as the Chevy-powered Newgarden snapped Honda’s dominance of winning the last three editions of the 500 and six of the previous 10 times. In addition, Honda won every episode of the 500 from 2004 through 2012.
• Newgarden’s winning margin of .0974 seconds was the fourth closest finish in 500 history.
• There were 52 lead changes, third-most in the race’s history.
• 14 different drivers led at least one lap, which is tied for second-most in the annals of the 500.
• By failing to repeat his win from last year, Ericsson extended a streak where there has not been a repeat winner of the Indianapolis 500 since Helio Castroneves won his first two Indy 500s in 2001 and 2002. Had Ericsson doubled-up, he would have won a bonus payout that has steadily increased over the last 21 years and is now up to $420,000.
• And last but not least, the three red flags that were thrown during the course of the race were a 500 record.
Tony Kanaan was emotional after racing in his final Indy 500.
Thanks for the Memories, Tony
It’s never easy to say goodbye, but it’s even harder when it’s a gentleman and fan favorite like Tony Kanaan.
The Brazilian driver drove in his 22nd and final Indy 500 on Sunday, finishing 16th, saying it “it wasn’t the result that we wanted.”
While some may think it was a disappointing ending to an illustrious career at the Brickyard, including a win in the 2013 edition of the 500, Kanaan embraced his career at the world’s most famous race track.
“Grateful, relieved, happy, sad at the same time,” Kanaan said about his emotions now that his final race is over. “There are so many emotions right now. But one thing is for certain. I think I sat here three years ago and I said I’m not retiring because I don’t want to race in an empty stand, and what they did for me today puts an end of me coming back here.
“Because of that experience right there, I don’t think I will have it ever again. In a way, finishing 16th will take everybody’s idea out, oh, you finished third, you should do it again. Kyle Larson is driving that car next year. Hopefully I will be around.”
Kanaan also made the 389th and last start of his storied 25-year IndyCar career. While he will continue racing stock cars in his native Brazil, he said he plans on having talks with Arrow McLaren, for whom he raced Sunday, to remain with the team perhaps as a consultant going forward.
“That was something that we’re talking (about), that is a plan,” Kanaan said. “I kind of talked with team owner Zak Brown and Gavin Ward and I said, let’s go through this first.
“I’m going to be in Detroit next week (for the next IndyCar race) so I’m not going to a beach to drink margaritas and you’re never going to see me again. Yeah, the desire is there. I think there is a place in the team, so hopefully we’ll talk and you guys won’t get rid of me.”
Kanaan finishes his career with 17 wins, 79 top-5 finishes and 13 poles. He also earned the 2004 Indy Racing League championship.
Graham Rahal had a forgettable month of May at Indianapolis.
Graham Rahal’s Not-So-Magical Month
Graham Rahal’s emotional roller coaster during the month of May continued Sunday. After failing to qualify last Sunday, and then being chosen to replace the injured Stefan Wilson, when it came time for Sunday’s race to get underway, Rahal could not get his No. 24 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Chevrolet fired on the first parade lap, forcing cars to go around him on the frontstetch.
Rahal’s team pushed the car behind the wall and the initial diagnosis was battery failure. The team finally corrected the issue and Rahal returned to the track, two laps down, having missed the drop of the green flag.
Rahal worked his way back to a 22nd-place finish, but he also finished five laps behind the leaders.
Marco Andretti had an uninspiring Indy 500, but he did finish on the lead lap.
Andretti Still Searching for Indy Glory
As there is almost every year, there had been big hopes that the infamous “Andretti Curse” would finally be snapped and that third-generation driver Marco Andretti would finally bring a win to the most famous family in racing.
Unfortunately, Andretti, who qualified 24th, didn’t do much better in the overall showing, finishing 17th, the last driver on the lead lap.
But that wasn’t the worst news. Andretti Autosport had an extremely difficult day overall Sunday.
Of its five Andretti drivers entered, Colton Herta was the highest-finishing driver, ending up ninth. Devlin DeFrancesco was 13th, followed by Marco Andretti, Kyle Kirkwood was 28th and Romain Grosjean was 30th, both seeing their days ended prematurely due to crashes.
Kirkwood’s crash was as frightening as it was spectacular. Arrow McLaren’s Felix Rosenqvist made contact with the Turn 2 wall. The wreck caused a broken steering arm in his car that left him with no control, leading to a spin and Kirkwood was unable to miss Rosenqvist’s car.
Kirkwood lost the left rear wheel upon impact, spun into the wall, went upside down and slid along the wall. He remained hanging upside down until safety workers got to him, turned the car over and removed him.
He was able to climb from the wreckage under his own power, waving to the fans before being taken away in an ambulance. Rosenqvist was uninjured. The race was briefly placed under red flag conditions while workers cleared the damage.
“Something broke in the rear and Kyle couldn’t avoid me. I’m glad he’s okay,” Rosenqvist said.
Added Kirkwood, “Everything happened so quick. I just wound up in the fence. Thank God for the AMR Safety team. That was the scary part of it. I’m glad we’re ok, but the car was super fast.”
And speaking of crashes, when the team has its post-race debrief on Monday, team owner Michael Andretti is not going to be a happy camper.
Herta and Grosjean were involved in a tangle on pit road. Herta left his pit stall and spun right into Grosjean’s car. Damage was minor to both cars and they were able to continue. However, on Lap 150, Grosjean lost control of his car coming out of Turn 2 and hit the wall hard, ending his day.
Benjamin Pedersen’s day ended on a down note for A.J. Foyt Racing.
Odds and Ends…
NOTES: Three of the four rookies were involved in wrecks that ended their days, while the fourth rookie failed to finish due to mechanical issues. Technically, the highest-finishing rookie – even though he only completed 196 laps, was Benjamin Pedersen (21st), followed by Agustin Canapino (26th), Sting Ray Robb (31st) and RC Enerson (32nd), who had mechanical issues that ended his day after 125 laps. … Katherine Legge had a bit of a scare upon leaving her pit area following service on Lap 37. After pulling away and moving toward the middle of pit road, she appeared to hit the gas too hard, spinning her cold tires and skimmed the pit road wall. Fortunately, there were no other cars or team personnel in the stall that she wound up in. She was able to continue on-track, but apparently the contact was more serious than first thought, as she was brought back into the pits again three laps later. She would eventually retire two laps later, finishing last. … If folks attending Sunday’s Indianapolis 500 thought they may have imagined there was a larger law enforcement presence on hand than normal, they weren’t. According to reports, a record 1,100-plus local, county, state and federal police officers were on hand, from directing traffic to doing searches of every car that came into the infield. There were dozens of canine units on hand, as well. … One and done? Singer Jewel’s rendition of The Star Spangled Banner drew quite a bit of negative backlash on social media from fans for her interpretation of the national anthem.
Follow Autoweek contributor Jerry Bonkowski on Twitter @JerryBonkowski
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