Ryan Hunter-Reay thought he was losing his mind. The 2014 Indianapolis 500 winner has been an oval expert for decades, but something felt off with his No. 23 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports Chevy on Sunday at the Indy 500. Starting a …
Ryan Hunter-Reay thought he was losing his mind.
The 2014 Indianapolis 500 winner has been an oval expert for decades, but something felt off with his No. 23 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports Chevy on Sunday at the Indy 500. Starting a supremely impressive 12th, the No. 23 Chevy soon sank like a rock.
He swore the rear of the car had a mind of its own — a devilish problem to have at 230mph — and it took a post-event inspection by the DRR mechanics to confirm Hunter-Reay’s sanity was intact.
“I had a really good start, moved up around the outside of Takuma Sato in Turn 1 and then we had the crash with [Tom] Blomquist and the rest of them — [Marcus] Ericsson — and so I was feeling pretty confident about where we were going,” Hunter-Reay told RACER. “And then on that lap 5 restart, things were super crowded on the front straight and somehow Kyle Larson got moved up and got into my left rear as I was passing him. It was a side-by-side hit mostly. We obviously weren’t trying to hit each other, but it was still a pretty significant hit.
“Right there when it happened, I didn’t think anything of it. Not until I was really loose for some reason — just crazy loose mid-corner, and it would come and go lap after lap. It was never consistent. I’m asking myself, ‘Is this some type of phantom thing going on here?’ Because when something’s wrong, it tends to stay wrong and be wrong the entire time. But this would come and go and I was beginning to wonder if I was going crazy all of a sudden.
“We pitted at one point just to check the left rear because they thought they saw some damage, but nothing jumped out, so I went back out and continued my race until the thing happened with Scott [Dixon] when I had a huge run.”
Hunter-Reay was launched into the grass and spun back onto the track on the run to Turn 3 as he attempted to pass Dixon on the inside, but Dixon moved over and the right-side contact fired the No. 23 Chevy into retirement.
A 360-degree spin through the grass at over 200 mph?
“After the race, they found that the left-rear lower wishbone, where it connects to the upright, the nut had sheared off, the bolt had backed out, and there was quite a bit of travel there,” he said. “So that was definitely the reason for the wandering rear and the reason why we fell back so much. After the fact, it’s nice to know that I’m not crazy and I understand why it happened. But it was full survival mode for me out there. I was just trying not to crash. I thought maybe we need to do something with the tools.
“I started going full soft on the rear bar, full stiff on the front, then I got too much understeer. So I added front wing with that. And I thought it was just a combination of things. You’re just trying to problem solve while you’re driving at 200 miles an hour in the pack, trying to salvage the race. It’s 500 miles so I’m thinking the whole time, ‘This is this is gonna be a long 500 if it keeps up.’
“With my experience and everything, I kept calm. I told the team, ‘I’m gonna go full conservative on the tools; let’s add front wing to compensate for that and see if that helps. And we soldiered on. I was able to run with Scott and Scott ended up P3 at the end of the race. I had that big run on him and then it was ‘Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride.’”
Hunter-Reay says Dixon apologized for the contact that ended his race.
“We talked about it and he apologized and at this point, it is what it is,” he said. “I reiterated the fact that we’ve been racing each other very clean for 20 years and said he would never do that intentionally and he didn’t get a call from his spotter. I still don’t understand why when he had a huge closing rate to Will [Power], cleared Will, and why he would end up down at the white line where I was going, but it happened and I have a lot of respect for him.
“Same thing for like Helio. He and I raced wheel to wheel in the ’14 500 doing some crazy stuff, and you know, if something happened between me and Helio, I wouldn’t put him on blast right away. I wouldn’t make a big scene of it. I have too much respect for these guys. So especially the guys like Will and Helio and Dixon that I’ve been racing for the better part of 20 years. I sent him a text showing him my side of it and the gaps and everything else and he understood. Unfortunate situation.”
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 …
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.
Larson, here enjoying some downtime with Santino Ferrucci, seemed at ease from the start at Indianapolis despite all the tumult around him. Josh Tons/Motorsport Images
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.
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?
Christian Rasmussen was a standout rookie for Ed Carpenter Racing, in case you missed it. Jake Galstad/Motorsport Images
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.
“You never come into [the Indy 500] expecting to win it. It’s so tough to get right.”
Josef Newgarden went from being an elite IndyCar Series driver to the member of some exceptionally exclusive clubs after winning his second straight Indianapolis 500 on Sunday.
Following a four-hour weather delay to begin the race, the Team Penske driver started third, and Newgarden and his No. 2 team had a strong race. But at the end, the 33-year-old put on a racing masterclass in the final laps to take the checkered flag. For a peak Indy 500 finish, he out-dueled Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward in the last few times around Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s iconic 2.5-mile oval, pulling off a stunning last-lap pass for the victory.
Newgarden is now the first back-to-back Indy 500 champion since Hélio Castroneves did it in 2001 and 2002, and he’s also now the 11th two-time winner of The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.
For The Win spoke with Newgarden about his victory, the famous milk celebration afterward and the moment he knew he had the edge over O’Ward.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
Congratulations. How are you? Have you slept?
I have not slept, and it was not from a lack of trying. I tried to get back early [Sunday] night. We celebrated a little bit with the team. We also got done very late [Sunday] with the four-hour delay. Everything after that gets pushed, and it’s a long process to go through with this event.
Team Penske driver Josef Newgarden (2) celebrates with his crew members, Sunday, May 26, 2024, after winning the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (Alex Martin / Journal & Courier-USA TODAY NETWORK)
How did that four-hour delay affect you, if at all, ahead of the race?
It’s difficult to keep yourself mentally where you need to be. You wake up, and you’re expecting the intensity of race day and for the moment, and then you see this impending storm that’s barreling down on us, and you sort of already know that the race is gonna be put into jeopardy as far as the timeline.
I ended up taking a nap. I didn’t actually feel that great [Sunday] morning, and my son was scheduled for a nap. So I took one with him. I got about an hour and a half in, and then it stopped raining when I woke up and it seemed like we had an opening. … But just, yeah, roller coaster of emotions and energy and just trying to stay in the program for what we’re about to do. It’s a tough race to get right, and ultimately, it’s the only day that matters this month. We’re here for three weeks; this is the only day that matters.
I’ve visited this very spot the night before the Indy 500 every year since my rookie start in 2012. I sat here Saturday night and could not wait for the opportunity to run this race once again. I love this place so much. The home of speed ❤️ pic.twitter.com/BAGsoWXDzP
You’re the sixth driver to have back-to-back Indy 500 wins, the first in more than 20 years. You’re the 11th two-time winner. You joined a lot of exclusive clubs. Has two-time Indy 500 winner sunk in yet?
It’s crazy. I let go of the fact, last year, that we were ever gonna win this race just because it’s so difficult to win. And to finally break through last year and then to follow it back up with this year, it’s pretty extraordinary. That’s the only way I can put it. It was unexpected. You never come into this race expecting to win it. It’s so tough to get right.
And just really proud of the team. They executed all day, and it’s a team sport, more so than people realize in racing. And every race we go to is a team effort. But nowhere else that we go to exemplifies the team like Indianapolis, and it really is about everyone doing their job perfectly on the day. And we were able to do that two times in a row, which is pretty cool.
Josef Newgarden, driver of the #2 Shell Powering Progress Team Penske, celebrates in Victory Circle after winning the 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 26, 2024 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
It looked like you very politely sipped from your bottle of milk instead of pouring it everywhere. Was that lessons learned from last year, or did this one just feel different and a different celebration followed?
Well, I wasn’t super polite. I still had a bunch dripping all over me, so it wasn’t very clean. But I think you celebrate however you want to. I don’t think there’s a wrong way to celebrate. But a lot of times people will pour the milk over their heads after they have a drink, and I did that last year. It was fun to do. It just seems like you want to do that for some reason. But having already gone through that and done that, I thought, well, we don’t need to do that again. I’m just gonna enjoy the milk this time and savor it. And so that’s what I tried to do.
May 26, 2024; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Indycar Series driver Josef Newgarden celebrates after winning the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Oh, you didn’t want to sit for six hours in a milk-covered suit?
Yeah, not this time. It definitely helps with the clean up. It wasn’t all over the car. Yeah, it’s a better process it seems like.
Was there a moment before you took the checkered flag where you thought, “Oh, my gosh, I’m going to win this thing again”?
Yeah, right entering Turn 4. When I passed Pato in Turn 3, I saw that I had the momentum on him, and I think it’s because of the nature of that pass. I passed him basically right at the apex is where I cleared him — the middle of the corner in [Turn] 3 — and I could see that he lost momentum because of it. And I felt really good about the fact that I had enough gap now to get to the line, and it’s gonna happen.
It’s crazy when it does. You almost can’t believe it when you’re headed to the line, and you see that it’s gonna be yours, it’s the team’s. But yeah, that was the moment. Definitely, entering Turn 4, I knew we had it.
This is only the fourth time the Indy 500 has been decided with a last-lap pass, and you’re responsible for the last two. Can you explain the strategy with that and why you’re able to make it work so well in such a high-pressured situation?
It’s definitely not my strategy — I promise you. It’s just the circumstance. The race last year was pretty different, but it was intense with a one-lap shootout. So if you were gonna win it, it needed to be a last-lap pass. There was really no choice. And then [Sunday], there was no game plan. I didn’t know how that was gonna ultimately shape up at the end, but I felt like, whatever happens, I’m gonna react to it, and I’m just gonna try and be ready for the moment.
Pato chose his point to go, and I just tried to basically rebuttal pretty quickly. And it ended up being the right place, right time, right moment. So it worked out for us. I think he’s a great champion too. He’s a great driver. He drove me with a lot of respect, and that’s ultimately what made the move possible. You can’t just drive with everyone like that. Pato is a really hard racer, but he races clean.
One of the most dramatic finishes in #Indy500 history.
Can you expand a little bit on how if it were a different driver or you were raced differently, why you might not have been able to pull that off?
I don’t know that I would have done anything different. The likelihood of it being pulled off, I think, is higher with someone like Pato because he’s a fierce competitor, but he’s very clean. He’s gonna race you fairly, and that was on full display. He raced me incredibly fair, and I didn’t know if it was gonna work out with him. But I think the likelihood is much higher with someone like Pato.
He’s definitely someone I have a lot of respect for, and he deserved to win this race just as much as me. I think he drove a great day. His team did a great job, and it just fell our way. And sometimes that’s the way it rolls. It’s heartbreaking for him. I know it is. I would have been heartbroken on the other end of it, but that’s the Indy 500. That’s why it’s so gratifying when you get it right.
May 26, 2024; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Indycar Series driver Pato O’Ward (5) passes Josef Newgarden coming to the white flag during the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
When you and Pato and Alexander Rossi were trading for the lead and racing hard at the end, the broadcast described it as a “220-mile-an-hour game of chess.” Is that what it felt like?
Yeah, pretty much. We were all sizing each other up, trying to understand. No one was gaming it. We were all just trying to lead and show who’s the superior car at the very end. It was a 30-lap shootout for sure, and you’re just trying to study everybody on the fly. There’s not enough time to study everything and come up with an articulate plan for how it’s all gonna unfold, so you’re just reacting within the learnings that you have throughout those laps.
But it was definitely a chess fight just trying to see where you’re gonna be positioned and when you’re gonna make the move at the right time. There’s no perfect recipe. It’s really hard to understand what the right thing to do is. So that’s why I always say it’s reactionary because, in a lot of ways, it’s not planned. You can’t plan exactly how it’s gonna go, so you’re just trying to understand how it’s flowing and then react accordingly.
In these few hours since you won, what has been the best celebration moment for you?
Oh, it’s the traditions. When you win the race, you get to come back. You can celebrate differently — everyone does — but I like to go back to the Yard of Bricks, right on the start-finish line. I like to celebrate with the crowd, and then it’s everything that comes after that. It’s the milk, it’s the wreath, it’s the kiss from one of the [500 Festival] Princesses.
There’s so many little details that this race has accumulated over the years that have just built tradition, and it’s fun to go through that whole process. There’s nothing like it. There’s no other race that rivals it. So I just cherish all of that. That hour period right after the win is really cool here.
What was it was a different running in the stands this time? Did you know you were going do that or was it like, let’s run it back and do it again?
Well, I always wanted to do that [and did] last year. Ever since I’ve been here, I’ve been dreaming of going into the crowd. And I knew where to go, and I was maybe thinking of something different but I couldn’t come up with a good scenario. So I thought, “Well, I’m gonna do that again, but I’m gonna go into a different spot.”
I think I was a little filled with adrenaline, to be honest with you. It was so unexpected to win the race again that I didn’t really have a plan. I just wanted to get into the crowd as quickly as possible. So, yeah, still pretty nuts and cool to do.
Welcome to the RACER Mailbag. Questions for any of RACER’s writers can be sent to mailbag@racer.com. We can’t guarantee that every letter will be published, but we’ll answer as many as we can. Published questions may be edited for length and …
Welcome to the RACER Mailbag. Questions for any of RACER’s writers can be sent to mailbag@racer.com. We can’t guarantee that every letter will be published, but we’ll answer as many as we can. Published questions may be edited for length and clarity. Questions received after 3pm ET each Monday will appear the following week.
Q: Call me an old codger, but the current Pennzoil Dallara is not “The Yellow Submarine.” That title has always and will always belong to the Chaparral 2k. The late Al Unser Sr, Lone Star JR and the late Jim Hall are being dissed. The current Penske team members and NBC broadcast crew who continue to promote this falsehood are disrespecting the history of Indy. Probably many of them were not even alive when the original Yellow Submarine dominated Indy. Rant over.
Dale, Chesterfield, VA
MARSHALL PRUETT: You’re an old codger.
Q: With Josef Newgarden winning two championships and now two 500s (and counting on both), Where do you think he’ll end up when all is said and done with his career? Judging by his age and assuming he stays at Penske (or if he ever left you’d assume a powerful team would be his destination) he’s got another 10-12 years of high level driving still (maybe more based on Dixon and Power) Is he going down as the greatest American driver not named A.J. Foyt?
Steve
MP: We did have Rick Mears, Al Unser, Bobby Unser, Louis Meyer, Johnny Rutherford, Wilbur Shaw and a few other Americans who Josef would need to first equal or exceed in the major accolades before he’s slotted into P2 at home.
But, if he keeps going for another 7-10 years, he could easily join the four-timers club at Indy, and stack 3-4 more championships onto his CV. He’s the best of his generation, without question for me, and that was before his first Indy 500 victory. Where he ends up beyond that is what we’ll be watching until he retires.
Josef, or Dixon, could beat all of his records and I don’t think a single person who saw A.J. at his peak would say anyone was better on pavement, dirt, open-wheel, stock cars, sports cars and so on. A.J. will always be in a category of his own.
Johnny Rutherford and the real Yellow Submarine, aka the Chaparral 2k. Murenbeeld/Motorsport Images
Q: I feel that this has probably been asked: Is there or a perception of an asterisk next to Josef’s 500 win? There’s got to be some folks in a beer joint wondering if he somehow cheated again.
Shawn, MD
MP: I know his win/Penske’s win on Sunday rang hollow for some since it happened a little over a month after a major cheating scandal, but he and the No. 2 Chevy team were the best at the Speedway on Sunday at lap 200 so there’s no reason to apply an arbitrary asterisk.
Like it or not, the top car and team and driver combination at the checkered flag on May 26 was duly crowned and Penske/Newgarden/No. 2 crew deserve to receive all of the respect that’s given to Indy 500 winners.
Q: Big Possum is at the Speedway this weekend and shocked, saddened, disappointed and flopsy mopsy and cottontail to see F1 merch on sale in the fan zone at Indy. The fox in the hen house, for sure. What say you, Marshall?
Big Possum
MP: First, it was great to meet you. This is the fourth IndyCar race so far this year where I’ve heard or seen it happening, so I can only assume Penske Entertainment has both given in and is taking a cut of the proceeds. It shouldn’t matter, I guess, but it is strange.
Q: I find it difficult to understand why there is so little discussion of or disdain for Penske’s cheating at St. Petersburg. Newgarden didn’t know about their advantage? Oh, sure… “Who, me?! No, I didn’t recognize the max horsepower being available without pushing the button!!! Promise!” My gluteus max… At heart, the Penske teams are all capable of and willing to cheat as proven, period. Respect? Maybe somewhere down the line.
L. Curtis
MP: This is the first I’m hearing of this. I’m going to make some calls this week and try to get to the bottom of what’s going on.
Callum Ilott qualified 15th for his third Indianapolis 500. The Briton then went on to finish a career-best 11th for Arrow McLaren, but those numbers don’t speak to the wild events that took place with his No. 6 Chevy between the pace laps and …
Callum Ilott qualified 15th for his third Indianapolis 500. The Briton then went on to finish a career-best 11th for Arrow McLaren, but those numbers don’t speak to the wild events that took place with his No. 6 Chevy between the pace laps and checkered flag on Sunday.
Things went sideways for Ilott moment after pulling away from the grid to complete the four warmup laps, and it was merely the start of what the Speedway had in store for the 25-year-old.
“When you start the race, it should be pretty straightforward as it was for 32 other people, but unfortunately, when I was doing a little check of the weight jacker, it decided to creep up and get stuck on the maximum understeer side,” Ilott told RACER of becoming the latest of a few drivers to experience weight jacker issues this month.
“Clearly there was an issue there and it was something that obviously wasn’t anticipated by me or the team at the time, so I pitted and we went through power-cycling the car, ” he continued. “Then I suggested a steering wheel change, but that did not fix it. We couldn’t solve the issue, so I went back out and was catching back up to everyone to start from last. At that point, it was what we’ve got, so we just had to try and manage max understeer.”
If dealing with a car that didn’t exactly want to turn while losing a midfield starting position for being at the tail end of 32 cars wasn’t enough to handle, Ilott got to deal with the multi-car crash in Turn 1 on the first lap and did his best to avoid being included in the wall-banging affair.
“We did the start and I was very lucky to avoid that contact,” he said. “Unfortunately, I clipped Pietro [Fittipaldi] trying to go down the inside; I don’t think his spotter told him I was below him and I was trying my best to keep down low. Some people brake to avoid such things and others try and roll through them to avoid these things.
Ilott’s Arrow McLaren was jacked up from the start…but not in a good way. Michael Levitt/Motorsport Images
“Every pit stop we did from there was adding front wing to compensate for the understeer. And by the middle of the race, it was a pretty reasonable car. I couldn’t follow too closely, because as soon as I lost the downforce, I had no mechanical front grip, but I was able to sit quite nicely three car lengths back and just wait for opportunities. And then of course at the restarts as well and we tuned and tuned the car, and by the end, it was pretty pointy (oversteering) a bit more than I would have liked. But that was what was needed to stay in the pack and we fought our way through. I think I got up to P13 before a little incident with Kyle Kirkwood in the pit lane.”
Nerfed from behind by his good friend Kirkwood of the Andretti Global team nearing the race’s halfway point, Ilott’s stop took longer than desired after his No. 6 Chevy missed its marks in his pit box, and Kirkwood was given a drive-through penalty for the contact. Some blamed Ilott for the incident, and few felt the Andretti driver deserved such harsh punishment for the contretemps.
“It put me back down to last, and unfortunately for Kyle as well,” Ilott added. “I had a couple of checkups on pit lane, which meant he was right behind me. And because I was avoiding one person, I was a bit slow to get to that transition lane and then he was a bit slow to react to me. It obviously wasn’t intentional for either of us.”
Despite the frustrating start, Ilott gained confidence – and ground – as the race went on. Josh Tons/Motorsport Images
Feeling somewhat defeated early in the race as he struggled to keep pace with most rivals, Ilott’s Arrow McLaren crew provided a constant supply of encouragement. Forced to start from the back of the field for a second time, Ilott settled in for another come-from-behind march with knowledge that he could regain plenty of ground, but exactly how much — with the race half over — was unknown.
“Honestly, the first two stints, I really didn’t think I was I was gonna make it to the end,” he said. “I thought I’d be out on 105-percent rule. And the boys and girls on the Arrow McLaren stand were keeping me going. You can get pretty negative on how it might go. But it was a long race and when it was looking bleak, they kept me going. At that point, I learned a new meaning of understeer, or as Kyle Larson might call it, ‘tightness.’
“As we kept going and turning on it, the car actually ended up feeling not perfect, but a lot better than where it started. I was not massively competitive, but we definitely did great pit stops towards the end and we made big progress. I’d love to see the stats on who did the most overtakes, because I think we were in competition for that award.”
Last year, Ilott was lauded for starting 27th and improving to 12th. This year, he went one position better, but it involved going from P15 to last to P13, then back to last, and finally up to P11.
Altogether, Ilott and the No. 6 team put in a remarkable amount of work to deliver a result that flew well under the radar.
“I was just happy to get it done,” he said. “That race is never straightforward. I’m just happy with the team that that they continued to push and got me in the right direction through kind of every mishap and kept trying. All things considered, and with how disastrous it could have been at so many points, it was a really solid effort we can be proud of.”
Kyle Larson tried, but Mother Nature wouldn’t cooperate.
The NASCAR star attempted to pull off two races in one day — he was a rookie in the Indy 500 and finished 18th. Then, he flew to Charlotte for the Coca-Cola 600 for an attempt at The Double, but because the weather in Indianapolis delayed the start of that race, he didn’t get into Charlotte until the middle of the NASCAR race.
Then, weather stopped that race, giving Larson a chance to replace Justin Allgaier… but it was eventually called due to rain.
Larson posted on X (formerly Twitter) and sounded so heartbroken. You’ve got to feel for him:
What I thought could be one of the best days of my life quickly turned into one of the most disappointing ones I’ve ever experienced. I hate it for Rick Hendrick, Jeff Gordon, HAG, Hendrick Motorsports, everyone a part of the 5 team, everyone on the 17 indycar for speeding, my…
So much time, money, and effort went into this experience and it just kills me to have it all end the way it did. I feel like I let so many people down. We knew all along weather could throw a wrench into things but seeing it come to reality is a horrible feeling.
Up until Sunday it was truly one of the greatest experiences of my life. I can’t describe how appreciative I am of everyone’s support of me to live out a dream. I hope it’s not the last opportunity I have to try the Double but if it is I guess it was memorable.
Thank you to everyone at Arrow McLaren, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and all the competitors there for making me feel welcomed.
Ready to get back on track now and get refocused on winning a 2nd championship for our team.
Despite a nearly four-hour weather delay, the 108th Indianapolis 500 averaged a preliminary Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 5.344 million viewers across NBC, Peacock, and NBC Sports digital platforms, up 8% vs. the 2023 race (4.927m) and 10% vs. …
Despite a nearly four-hour weather delay, the 108th Indianapolis 500 averaged a preliminary Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 5.344 million viewers across NBC, Peacock, and NBC Sports digital platforms, up 8% vs. the 2023 race (4.927m) and 10% vs. 2022 (4.837m). Final figures will be available on Wednesday.
The audience peaked at 6.46 million viewers from 7:30-7:45pm ET as Josef Newgarden outdueled Pato O’Ward in the final laps. IndyCar reports this is also the most-streamed IndyCar race ever, with an Average Minute Audience (AMA) of 286,000 viewers across Peacock and NBC Sports digital platforms, and is NBC Sports’ most-watched Sunday sports event since the NFL playoffs in January.
NBC Sports’ pre-race coverage began at 11am ET, with the green flag originally scheduled for 12:45pm ET. However, severe weather forced a nearly four-hour delay moving NBC Sports’ race window from 4:45-8:15pm. NBC filled the rain-delayed hours with periodic live updates and an encore presentation of the 2023 race, resulting in more than nine hours of broadcast network coverage for the entire day. IndyCar removed the local blackout in Indianapolis, which delivered an 18.15 household rating and 54 share.
Through six races, the 2024 NTT IndyCar Series is averaging a TAD of 1.95 million viewers (5 on NBC; 1 on USA Network), up from 1.94m last year at the same point (all NBC). Total Audience Delivery (TAD) is based upon live-plus-same day fast national figures from Nielsen and digital data from Adobe Analytics.
The Indianapolis 500 purse record was shattered for the third year in a row after the weather-delayed 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500, with two-time race winner Josef Newgarden of Team Penske earning $4.288 million from a total purse of …
The Indianapolis 500 purse record was shattered for the third year in a row after the weather-delayed 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500, with two-time race winner Josef Newgarden of Team Penske earning $4.288 million from a total purse of $18,456,000.
After record-breaking payouts in 2022 and ’23, this is the largest purse and largest winner’s payout in the century-plus history of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” The year’s average payout for NTT IndyCar Series drivers was $543,000, which also exceeds last year’s average of $500,600.
In 2023, the Indianapolis 500 purse was $17,021,500, and the year’s winner payout was $3.666 million. In 2022, the Indianapolis 500 purse was $16,000,200, and the winner earned $3.1 million.
Prior to 2022, the largest Indianapolis 500 purse was $14.4 million for the 2008 Indianapolis 500.
Second-place finisher Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren Racing took home $1,050,500, exceeding the take-home prize for last year’s second-place finisher.
‘“The Indianapolis 500 is the greatest race in the world, and this record-breaking purse is reflective of just how monumental competing in and winning at Indy is for these drivers,” Penske Entertainment President and CEO Mark Miles said. “Despite weather challenges, the Month of May featured packed grandstands and intense on-track action. Presenting this purse is the ideal end cap to an epic month.”
NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson earned Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year honors for his performance during the Month of May. Larson, driving for Arrow McLaren, made his first attempt to complete “The Double,” by racing both the Indianapolis 500 and the NASCAR Cup Series Coca-Cola 600. Larson earned a $50,000 bonus for being named Rookie of the Year, adding to a total take-home prize of $178,000.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1408]
The Indianapolis 500 purse consists of Indianapolis Motor Speedway and NTT IndyCar Series awards, plus other designated and special awards. Purse awards are presented annually at the Victory Celebration, held this year at the JW Marriott in downtown Indianapolis Monday night.
Newgarden’s purse included a $440,000 roll-over bonus from BorgWarner for earning back-to-back Indy 500 wins. The jackpot increases by $20,000 each year but has only been awarded one other time since its inception when Helio Castroneves won the Indy 500 in both 2001 and ’02.
Conor Daly’s month of May had everything a veteran driver doing a one-off race didn’t want, with a persistent absence of speed from his No. 24 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports Chevy and, on occasion, mechanical issues that added to his …
Conor Daly’s month of May had everything a veteran driver doing a one-off race didn’t want, with a persistent absence of speed from his No. 24 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports Chevy and, on occasion, mechanical issues that added to his mounting frustration.
Taking the start from a distant 29th on the grid – well behind teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay in 12th – Daly and the DRR/Cusick team took an aggressive approach to the 200-lap contest and committed to an alternate pit strategy that would, if the caution periods fell their way, propel the No. 23 Chevy towards the front of the field.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1408]
Fortune smiled on this son of Indiana who charged hard throughout the 500-mile race and led 22 laps along the way for the lone Indy-only team in the field. Daly’s run to 10th wasn’t his best finish at the Speedway; he took sixth in 2022 for Ed Carpenter Racing, but considering the circumstances at Dennis Reinbold’s part-time program, the result was a big deal as he outran his former boss Carpenter, his replacement at ECR, and entire teams like Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, among others.
“I’m super pumped,” Daly said after picking up 19 positions in the race. “So thankful to Polkadot and Chevrolet for working with us. We’ve had some trials and tribulations over the last week and a half, and we knew we were faster than where we started and we proved it. We got up front thanks to great strategy from Dennis and the crew.
“I love running at the front of this race. For what we had and the time we’ve spent together in this car, we have to be super proud.”
Team Chevy came, saw, and conquered the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500. From Team Penske’s 1-2-3 ownership of the front row in qualifying to packing the 500-mile race’s top 12 with nine Chevy-powered drivers led by new two-time winner Josef …
Team Chevy came, saw, and conquered the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500.
From Team Penske’s 1-2-3 ownership of the front row in qualifying to packing the 500-mile race’s top 12 with nine Chevy-powered drivers led by new two-time winner Josef Newgarden, the Bowtie mastered every phase of the event.
Newgarden’s No. 2 Chevy was chased home by Pato O’Ward in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevy. Honda’s best hope — 2008 Indy 500 winner Scott Dixon — did his best for Chip Ganassi Racing in the No. 9 entry, but was powerless to stop O’Ward and Newgarden from firing by late in the race.
McLaren’s Alexander Rossi was fourth in the No. 7 Chevy; Penske’s Scott McLaughlin — the race’s polesitter — was sixth in the No. 3 Chevy; A.J. Foyt Racing’s Santino Ferrucci was eighth in the No. 14 Chevy; Rinus VeeKay was ninth in the No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevy; Conor Daly was 10th in the No. 24 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports Chevy; McLaren’s Callum Ilott was 11th in the No. 6 Chevy, and Carpenter’s Christian Rasmussen was an impressive 12th — best rookie, as well — in the No. 33 Chevy.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1408]
Team Chevy, along with its engine-building partners at Ilmor Engineering, didn’t leave a lot of space for archrival Honda at the sharp end of the results, and that’s exactly what they were aiming for.
“Congratulations to Josef and the No. 2 Penske team on winning back-to-back at the Indianapolis 500,” said General Motors president Mark Reuss. “What an incredible accomplishment. I’m so happy to see Roger (Penske) get his 20th win here. Chevrolet engineering, our partners at Ilmor and race teams worked hard in the off-season to prepare for the 2024 Indy 500. They delivered power, speed and performance all month long.”
Honda Racing Corporation USA’s president was gracious in defeat.
“It was a disappointing day,” said David Salters. “All things considered, we weren’t good enough on the day. We’ll regroup, lick our wounds, focus our efforts, and come back. That’s how racing works.”
