Josef Newgarden claims second consecutive Indianapolis 500 victory

INDIANAPOLIS — Josef Newgarden claimed a second consecutive Indianapolis 500 victory on Sunday.

Newgarden narrowly defeated Pato O’Ward, passing him on the final lap of the race. On top of the prize money he will get 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 did it in 2001 and 2002.

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

Newgarden picked up his second Indy 500 win by fighting through a chaotic and messy race. Before drivers even lined the track, the race was delayed by about four hours while rain and lightning moved through central Indiana.

When the race finally began, it took only 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 caution flag was flown eight times. A third of the 33-driver field did not finish the race. Three drivers suffered through mechanical issues and the rest were involved in crashes or spinouts.

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

Newgarden’s win also comes on the heels of some controversy surrounding Team Penske. Four key members of the team — No. 2 engineer Luke Mason, senior data engineer Robbie Atkinson, managing 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 violations committed at the Firestone Grand Prix in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Previous reporting indicates the violation the team committed pertained to a manipulation of push-to-pass systems. Newgarden crossed the finish line first at the Firestone, though he did not ultimately 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 entries were fined $25,000 following the race in Florida. Newgarden, McLaughlin and Power also forfeited the prize money they won in St. Petersburg.

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

O’Ward has now come close to winning 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 Grand Prix of Detroit, which is slated for June 2.

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