Marcus Ericsson of Sweden competes for victory in Indianapolis 500, wins the crown for Chip Ganassi Racing
INDIANAPOLIS – Marcus Ericsson had to leave Formula 1 to become a global superstar – a goal achieved on Sunday when the Swedish driver won the Indianapolis 500.
Ericsson took control of Sunday’s race late and had it under control for Chip Ganassi Racing until a crash by teammate Jimmie Johnson with four laps left led to a rare red flag stop at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
IndyCar is among the purest forms of motorsport and rarely gives artificial warnings or issues stops that can change the result. But a crowd of more than 300,000 – just a few thousand that have not been sold and the biggest sporting event since the pandemic began – roared when IndyCar called the cars to the pit road.
The stop gave Pato O’Ward and the rest of the challengers almost 12 minutes on the pit road to plan how they would take Ericsson for the win. The competition resumed with two laps left, and Ericsson easily got the hope of O’Ward, but the Mexican got one last look at the lead that Ericsson defended.
A collision back in traffic provoked caution and Ericsson won to the podium under yellow.
It is the fifth Indy 500 victory for team owner Chip Ganassi, who took a ride to the podium on the side of Ericsson’s car. Ericsson is the second Swede to win the Indy 500 in 106 runs, together with 1999 winner Kenny Brack.
He poured his jug of milk all over his face and then gave the bottle to Ganassi so the boss could take his own sip. Ganassi had not won 500 in 10 years and sent five legitimate challengers to Indy to end the drought.
O’Ward, who signed an extension with Arrow McLaren SP last Friday, finished second. The Mexican tried to give his country a banner celebration on the biggest day in motorsport; Sergio Perez started Sunday with a win in the Monaco Grand Prix.
Tony Kanaan was third in a Ganassi car and followed by Felix Rosenqvist, another Swede, who was fourth for McLaren.
American drivers Alexander Rossi and Conor Daly finished fifth and sixth, Rossi for Andretti Autosport and Daly for Ed Carpenter Racing.
Helio Castroneves, last year’s winner, finished seventh and one place ahead of Meyer Shank Racing teammate Simon Pagenaud. Reigning IndyCar champion Alex Palou finished 10th in another Ganassi entry.
Honda drivers took six of the top nine places, along with the win.