(Indianapolis, IN) - Josef Newgarden won the 107th running of the Indianapolis 500 in dramatic fashion, passing last year's winner, Marcus Ericsson, in the final lap.
Three red flags in the final sixteen laps set up a two-lap sprint to the finish. Ericsson, who had just taken the lead when an accident halted action, said after the race that it should have ended under caution, not with another restart. Newgarden, who only led five of the 200 laps, shot past Ericsson to take the checkered flag. It was the fourth-closest finish in the race's history.
After the race, a fired-up Newgarden slipped through a hole in the fence in front of the grandstands and celebrated with fans. "I've been waiting to do that," he said. "I've always wanted to go in the crowd here in Indy. There's nothing like it, and I'm just so thankful, you know, to be here, to have a shot to run this race. I will never forget this."
Newgarden, a 32-year-old hailing from Nashville, is the first American to win the Indy 500 since 2016. He brings team owner Roger Penske his 19th Indy 500 victory.
In a terrifying moment late in the race, debris from a crash, including a race car tire, went flying into the spectator area. The tire landed on a car. One bystander was reportedly struck by debris with no apparent injury.
