Indy 500: Josef Newgarden uses overtaking maneuver on the last lap to win a weather-delayed race for the second time in a row

CNN
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Josef Newgarden took advantage of a brilliant last-lap overtaking maneuver to win the Indianapolis 500 for the second year in a row on Sunday. The race started four hours late due to extreme weather conditions.

“I'm just so proud of the team. They rocked it. I mean, they rocked it. … They came here with the fastest cars. We worked our asses off,” Newgarden told NBC.

The Indy 500, one of the most prestigious and highly anticipated events on the motorsport calendar, began four hours late on Sunday afternoon after thunderstorms and extreme weather conditions forced organizers to halt pre-race festivities, evacuate fans from the stands and wait for the rain to stop and the track to dry.

The race was originally scheduled to start at 12:45 p.m. ET, but was postponed to 4:45 p.m.

Once it got going, it was a real treat for the fans, with overtaking at the front of the field and in the midfield. There were 16 different leaders and 87 lead changes – a race record. Newgarden and Pato O'Ward battled it out for the win in the closing laps, with Newgarden overtaking the Arrow McLaren driver on the final lap of the 2.5-mile circuit.

Newgarden is the sixth driver to win two consecutive races at Indianapolis and the first since Hélio Castroneves in 2002.

With this victory, team owner Roger Penske was able to claim his 20th victory in the “greatest spectacle in racing”.

The Indy 500 regularly takes place at the same time as the famous Monaco Grand Prix, which is considered the “crown jewel” of the Formula 1 calendar. The previous Sunday, local hero Charles Leclerc won the race on the streets of Monte Carlo for the first time.

NASCAR Cup points leader Kyle Larson is attempting to run the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day – a feat made more difficult by the weather-related delay.

Larson drove at Indy and led a few laps, but finished only 18th as a rookie in the Indianapolis 500.

As a driver for Arrow McLaren, he secured an impressive fifth place.

Following his participation in the Indy 500 and the post-race media coverage, Larson will head to Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina to try to complete two major motorsports races on the same day, but he will have to relieve another driver who will take his place at the start of the 600. The green flag for the NASCAR race dropped at 6:00 p.m. ET.

Larson, the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion, is trying to become the fifth driver to compete in both races. John Andretti was the first to do so in 1994. Robby Gordon and Tony Stewart subsequently accomplished the double five and two times, respectively. Kurt Busch most recently did it in 2014.

“The Double” is considered one of the toughest challenges in motorsport, as driving 1,770 kilometers in a single day is a huge mental and physical strain, having to navigate between open-wheel and stock cars and a grueling travel schedule.

“I don't just want to be called the best NASCAR driver of all time or the best sprint car driver of all time, I want to be known as someone who can get into all different types of cars and be great at what he does,” Larson said in 2021, according to NASCAR.

Castroneves is one of only four drivers to win the Indy 500 four times and was looking to make history on Sunday when he competed at the Brickyard for the 24th time.

Had the Brazilian won on Sunday, he would have been the only person to win the race five times. At 49, Castroneves was aiming to become the oldest 500cc winner ever and has no plans to slow down any time soon.

Despite high hopes, he only finished in 20th place on Sunday.

“(Racing at 50) has always been my goal, but I don't want to just 'do' it,” he told Indy Star. “I feel like we're still very competitive, and it's not just about winning, it's about driving people crazy here, and that's what I want to do.”

“For now, I want to keep doing this because that's what I do best. I'm sure that will change, but I don't think that will happen anytime soon.”