Five Takeaways from the 106th Indianapolis 500

Congratulations Marcus Ericsson

Marcus Ericsson had two previous IndyCar wins, both of which came after red flags and the dominant car having a race ending issue. At first glance, today fits that bill, but it really fits into a larger pattern, where Ericsson is consistently running well. The “Sneaky Swede” was 8th in the points entering the 500, and finished 6th last year, thanks in part to consistent top 10 runs. He has two finishes outside the top 10 in 2022, a crash at Long Beach, and a P12 at Barber. He was fast throughout the practice sessions, and made the Fast 6 during Indy qualifying. He ran up front the whole race, and while yes, the entire front row had race altering issues, Ericsson was right there and cycled to the front on pure pace. He ran away from the Arrow McLaren cars before the red flag, then held both them and his teammate Kanaan off for an intense two laps. He has consistently put himself in positions to win, and today his efforts paid off. Congratulations to him and Chip Ganassi Racing, because they have done everything right for two weeks. 

Mistakes are Costly

Wow. Last year had very few on track incidents, with some pit road spins and Graham Rahal’s tire issues the worst of it. But this year, 6 drivers found themselves in the wall and out of the race, as Johnson, McLaughlin, Grosjean, Ilott, Veekay, and Karam all wrecked out. 3 of those cars were in the Fast 12. Another Fast 12 car, Will Power had an issue on pit road and never made it back up front. Dixon had a speeding penalty. Palou needed emergency service and only made it back up to 9th. Carpenter couldn’t get restarted after the red flag and had to drop to the back. Sato ran long on the last stint and ended up 25th. That’s 8 of the fastest cars, with mistakes and gambles that ruined their races. Ericsson, O’Ward, Rosenqvist, and Kanaan were the remaining Fast 12 cars and look where they finished. 1-4. Colton Herta wrecked on Carb Day and as a result, his backup car was never right. We heard from drivers throughout the two weeks leading up to the 500 that this race requires absolute precision the whole time, and this race really laid that out for everyone to see. It’s not enough to have a fast car, you have to be perfect for 200 laps and 6 pit stops. No mistakes can be made if you want to win. This isn’t Monaco, where the other drivers simply cannot get by you. Or Le Mans, where you have 24 hours to make up for your mistakes. This is the Indy 500, and if you mess up, the other 32 drivers will take advantage of you. 

Less Than Penske Perfect

What a poor day for the Penske Fleet. The 50th anniversary of Penske’s first 500 win, and nothing went right. First Will Power, the only car to even make the Fast 12, stalled, sending him to the back of the field, where he struggled to make up ground. Then, the breakout star Scott McLaughlin slammed the wall, ending his race. Josef Newgarden stalled on pit road too, putting a stop to his run up the field. Penske has been outstanding everywhere else, so to see this very underwhelming performance at the single most important race of the year is baffling. We saw Penske dominate at Texas, and yet throughout the practice sessions for Indy, and in the race, they have been perfectly average. They struggled last year too, despite Simon Pagenaud’s best effort. Newgarden is one of the best drivers in the field, with two championships, and yet he cannot break through at Indy. Whatever issue Penske has at the speedway, it has got to be fixed.

Rookie Class Struggles

This was one of the largest 500 rookie fields, with 7 drivers making their 500 debut. David Malukas finished the highest of all the rookies in P16, directly followed in P17 and P18 by Kirkwood and Lundgaard, and then Devlin DeFrancesco in P20. The other three rookies crashed out in spectacular fashion, with Jimmie Johnson’s wreck almost costing his teammate the win. Grosjean and Johnson, the two experienced drivers of the rookie class, both crashed, showing that although they have between them decades of experience in high pressure situations, the 500 is certainly its own beast. 

Double Points Matter

The Indianapolis 500 is the biggest motor racing event in the world on its own. But it also is double points in the IndyCar championship, and there was a major shakeup in the points standings. Marcus Ericsson not only etched his name in the history books, he took the championship lead. The points standings coming into the race were dominated by Team Penske, Palou, and Dixon, all of whom had terrible races, giving Ericsson the lead and bumping Pato O’Ward up to second place. Palou’s recovery up to P9 keeps him in P3, only one point behind O’Ward and 14 behind his teammate. Power sits only 10 behind Palou in P4, keeping his championship hopes very much alive, but it’s a much different story for his teammates, who are almost a full race behind, along with Scott Dixon. Ericsson has a perfect chance to capitalize on this, heading into Detroit where he recorded his first career victory. 

Of note:

• Grosjean sits 15th in points, 98 points back after his DNF, emphasizing what has been a poor start to his season. 
• With his P5 last week, and P6 this week, Conor Daly has passed his ECR teammate Veekay and sits P12, 89 points back. 
• Rosenqvist needed something to jump start his season, and his P4 brings him up to 9th in the standings, 72 points back. 
• Christian Lundgaard leads the rookies in P17, 113 points back.