Josef Newgarden is the one credited with the victory at the 108th Indianapolis 500, but I left the track late Sunday night as rain, thunder, and lightning lit up the skies, with the firm belief that IndyCar, Penske Entertainment and 300,000-plus devout fans who braved an exceptionally long day were the biggest winners of the event.
I feared the long weather delay would kill the TV ratings for the 500 as well, but it was actually up eight percent for viewers over 2023 and had the race’s largest streaming audience to date, so even that was a huge win for the series and NBC.
The hyper aggression from lap 1 onwards, and those insane restarts afterwards made for one of the most exciting start-to-finish 500s I can remember. My only concern is for any newcomers who attended the race or watched it from home for the first time…this was about as good as it gets, so please don’t be disappointed if the 2025 edition isn’t as crazy as what just happened on Sunday.
Bravo to everyone — including those daredevils in the cars — who put on an Indy 500 for the ages.
ON TO THE NEXT ONE
It’s a short week with practice kicking off on Friday at Detroit, so let’s fire through some (but by no means all) of the topics of interest from Indianapolis.
I DID IT MY WAY
Having seen the recent examples of huge star drivers from other series who parachute into Indy and are pulled in 10 different directions at all times, it was delightful to see how Kyle Larson dealt with the non-stop demands on his time throughout the month.
What tends to happen with a giant name like Larson is they look distressed — almost like they’re under attack — whenever they’re out of the car as cameras and fans pounce on them from pit lane to Gasoline Alley and everywhere in between. Thanks to the constant bombardment, hiding in the garage or their motorcoach is the common response to create some calm and isolation amid the rabid attention they receive, and it’s here where Larson stood out in the most positive of ways.
The Californian often took a different approach, and from what I observed, Larson rarely attempted to hide. In fact, he seemed to want to soak in as much of the Indy 500 experience as possible and was routinely found out and about at the Speedway. I lost track of how many times our paths crossed in places and at times where I would have never seen some of the other famous Indy rookies, and it spoke to his genuine passion for being part of the event. One exchange stood out above the rest.
Through the Arrow McLaren team, we’d arranged to shoot a quick video with Kyle and Tony Kanaan about their time together as IMSA teammates at the Rolex 24 At Daytona and their reunion as Indy 500 mentor and mentee. The team had added an impromptu competition meeting right when we were scheduled to film, so that meant we needed to stand around and wait an extra 10 or 15 minutes for Larson to arrive in his garage.
That kind of stuff is normal — expected, frankly — so it was no big deal on our end. But not for Larson. The standard routine is for the famous driver to breeze in, do the thing, and leave, all without giving the impression they were present and engaged for those few minutes together.
Larson did the opposite. He walked in looking somewhat embarrassed and made a specific point to apologize in the sincerest manner to us for being late. It wasn’t a throwaway line; he wanted to be sure his apology registered.
Here’s a guy, the most popular driver at the Indy 500, who would be excused for any tardiness due to his insane schedule, who didn’t play the usual “I’m big and important, so deal with it” routine like some of his predecessors did at the 500. It blew my mind.
He wanted to be treated like one of the IndyCar family, not a temporary guest at our house, and that’s remarkable. I hope this wasn’t his last time playing with us during the month of May.
BEST. IN. THE. BUSINESS.
10 seconds from the time Will Power’s car stopped to when an @indycar_safety team member has hands on the car checking on Will.
Best. In. The. Business.#INDY500 / #INDYCAR pic.twitter.com/xbPFtKBNkt
— Cassie 🏁 (@mama_gforce) May 27, 2024
NOT HAVING A GOOD TIME
A punishing 500 for Honda was underscored by losing three of its 17 drivers in the first corner, including 2022 Indy winner Marcus Ericsson, and the misfortune continued to build as the next out was Marcus Armstrong with a blown motor on lap six.
Katherine Legge’s Indy 500 was over on lap 22 as she became the second consecutive Honda-powered driver to suffer an engine failure. Rookie Linus Lundqvist was next to go after an optimistic attempt to hold the inside line into Turn 1 led to a solo crash on lap 27, which meant the first six cars to exit the race were from the Honda camp.
The strange streak extended to a seventh driver as Felix Rosenqvist — one of Honda’s strongest contenders — made it to lap 55 and coasted to a halt as his motor surrendered, leaving the same trail of smoke from the exhausts as seen with Armstrong and Legge.
Ryan Hunter-Reay’s crash on lap 107 capped things as he became the first Chevy driver to fall out of the race, but the misery wasn’t over as Honda’s Marco Andretti (lap 113) and Colton Herta (lap 170) brought the Honda DNFs to nine, or just over half of its cars.
Chevy’s tally was two with Will Power’s lap 145 crash added in.
GOOD ON THEM
A lot of good gets done over the span of two weeks at Indy as numerous charities hold fundraisers to benefit the racing community or those in need outside of the sport. A few that stood out were NBC’s Kevin Lee and his longtime radio co-host Curt Cavin of IndyCar who put on their “Burger Bash” at the Speedway the day after Pole Day; James Hinchcliffe’s Stop & Go Foundation, which was assisted by Lee; and the ongoing efforts of IndyCar technical director Kevin Blanch to give the hundreds of crew members at the Indy 500 something to take home as a token of his appreciation.
The Burger Bash generated $32,520, which is done in support of the Indiana University Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Hinch’s efforts, which supports autoimmune disease research through the Relapsing Polychondritis Foundation, climbed past $40,000.
Through cash, certificates, and merchandise donations gathered from throughout the paddock and many team and series partners, Blanch — aka “Rocket” — gave away $79,420 to the men and women who field the 33 cars at Indy, which was a new record through “Rocket’s Convenience Store” located in the garage next to where Indy 500 technical inspection is held.
Rookie of the Year
It’s time for the Speedway to change its ridiculous Rookie of the Year criteria, which states: “The Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year Award should be presented to the driver who has performed with the most distinction among first-year drivers in the Indianapolis 500. Criteria includes on-track performance in practice, qualifying and the race, media and fan interaction, sportsmanship and positive influence on the Indy 500.”
As it’s written, it turns the voting results into a popularity contest whenever a famous driver like Kyle Larson — this year’s RoY winner — takes part in the race. The same nonsense happened in 2017 when Dale Coyne Racing rookie Ed Jones finished third while chasing Team Penske’s Helio Castroneves and Andretti Autosport’s Takuma Sato to the finish line. Let’s say that one more time: Ed Freakin’ Jones, driving for the minnows at Dale Coyne, placed third as a rookie at the Indy 500. But he was not chosen at the RoY.
Instead, Andretti/McLaren’s Fernando Alonso, who had a great month but lost a motor and finished 24th, was given the award because he led all of the criteria that had nothing to do with the race itself. Alonso’s teammate Takuma Sato won the race that year, which speaks to how good their cars were at Andretti.
When did the Indy 500 RoY selection process get confused for a beauty pageant? While we’re at it, let’s ask next year’s rookies to pose in swimwear and eveningwear, and then tell us how they’d like to change the world if they were given the award.
I ignore everything that’s written before and after “the race” in the guidelines because the only thing that truly matters is what happens in the race. Isn’t that why we’re here?
Also, there’s no way Ed Carpenter Racing’s Christian Rasmussen, the top rookie performer on Sunday who put on some wild displays of bravery, could ever match someone like Larson in all of the silly items involving fan interaction and positive influence on the Indy 500. Compared to a megastar like the NASCAR Cup champion, Rasmussen is an absolute nobody. But should that matter?
Isn’t the performances of and results by the rookies where the focus should be placed? In their first Indy 500s, Larson made plenty of mistakes and went from fifth to 18th while Rasmussen, who’s made tons of mistakes prior to the 500, put in a flawless drive and went from 24th to 12th.
There’s a single criterion that matters for rookies, and it’s what they deliver in the race. But the kid who truly delivered is not the RoY. What a joke.