Marcus Ericsson held off Pato O’Ward in that shootout, with Tony Kanaan ending third.
“I couldn’t believe it. You can never take anything for granted,” the 31-year-old Ericsson informed NBC. “… It was hard to refocus, but I knew the car was amazing. I had to do everything there at the end to keep [O’Ward and Kanaan] behind.”
After Dixon’s miscue, these three, together with Marco Andretti and Alex Palou, have been within the working. But Ericsson, a Swede whose helmet paid tribute to late Swedish driver Ronnie Peterson, took management with 10 laps to go, opening a giant lead over O’Ward and Kanaan.
Johnson, Ericsson’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammate and the seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion working in his first Indy 500, briefly took the lead for a lap with 13 to go, however a crash into the fence on Turn 2 ended his race with six laps left. That introduced out a crimson flag that stopped the race to permit Johnson’s particles to be cleaned up and arrange a shootout — the very last thing Ericsson needed to see — with 4 laps left.
“They’d better be ready. I wouldn’t want to be the leader of the restart,” Kanaan informed NBC from his automotive as he awaited the shootout. “I’m exactly where I want to be.”
Ericsson held off O’Ward’s problem and gained the race for the primary time. It was the third IndyAutomotive race victory for the Swede, who made his debut on the circuit in 2019 after a number of years in Formula One.
Ericsson grew to become the second Swedish driver to win the Indy 500, following Kenny Brack (1999). Peterson, a racing icon in that nation, was a 10-time race winner in Formula One who died after a crash within the 1978 Italian Grand Prix.
O’Ward, a 23-year-old Mexican extensively seen as having a brilliant future within the sport, was on the lookout for his second win of the yr and his fourth since 2021.
“It’s frustrating. It’s bittersweet,” he mentioned after Sunday’s runner-up end. “I’m so proud, but it definitely stings, because I feel like the team and I did everything perfectly to get it done, and something that’s out of our control was why we struggled in the end.”
Of opting towards a go-for-broke transfer on the ultimate lap, O’Ward mentioned: “[Ericsson] was going to put me in the wall if I would have gone for it. We were alongside each other.”
Johnson, a 46-year-old in his second IndyAutomotive season, informed reporters afterward that he had “mixed emotions” a couple of outcome for which he had “higher expectations.” He claimed to not have had “the car that I needed.”
“Just really couldn’t get through the field,” he mentioned. “Every time I set someone up for a pass, the car would wash out and I would lose one or two spots, and I kept falling further back in the field.”
The most disillusioned in regards to the end result could have been Dixon, who got here into it 75 laps behind Al Unser’s whole of 644 for many led all-time in Indy 500 historical past. Dixon wound up main 95 of 200 laps Sunday to seize the file, however he didn’t win for the fourth straight time after beginning the race in pole place. He beforehand gained the Indy 500 from the pole in 2008.
That stays the one victory within the occasion for Dixon, a 41-year-old citizen of New Zealand who lives in Indianapolis. He has earned IndyAutomotive season champion honors six instances, most not too long ago in 2020.
“It’s frustrating. The car was really good all day. I just messed up,” Dixon mentioned.