Sweden’s Ericsson gives Ganassi another Indy 500 victory
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Marcus Ericsson, once a Formula 1 backmarker, is now an IndyCar frontrunner.
And an Indianapolis 500 champion.
Ericsson became the second Swede to win the Indy 500 on Sunday when he kept away some of the biggest names in North American car racing in front of the biggest audience of his life.
“It’s the biggest race in the world,” said Ericsson, who called it his biggest victory “by a million miles.”
The 31-year-old appeared in IndyCar something of a mystery in 2019 after five imperceptible seasons in Formula 1. He had worked all his life to get to the highest level of motorsport and then washed out without a win – not even a single podium place – over 97 starts .
He did not exactly dazzle during his first season in North America either. Ericsson broke away from its first IndyCar team after just one year, and then bought a seat at Chip Ganassi Racing – he made sure to note this when he said “to win the Indy 500, it’s not bad for a pay driver” – and has made steady strides in his 36 races with Ganassi since 2020.
“It has been tough. I did five years in Formula 1, almost a hundred grand prix, drove for small teams, at the back of most things. You do not get much credit for running in the back. People think you are not very good, says Ericsson “I came here and people probably did not think much about it. I had to work here too and learn American racing.
“Moved here, spent my whole life trying to become an IndyCar and especially the Indianapolis 500 champion. It has not been easy. It feels good to show that hard work pays off. ”
Ericsson took control of the race late – largely due to teammate Scott Dixon’s speeding penalty – and had the victory within reach until a crash by Ganassi teammate Jimmie Johnson with four laps the rest 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 the crowd of more than 300,000 – just a few thousand that have not been sold and the biggest sporting event since the beginning of the pandemic – 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 pass Ericsson. Ericsson tormented its own plans.
“Those 10 minutes of sitting there in the pitlane under the red flag were some of the hardest 10 minutes of my life,” he said, “thinking about what I was going to do, thinking about leading the biggest race in the world, and I I’m so close to winning. “
There were two laps left when the race resumed and Ericsson got the hope of O’Ward. The Mexican got one last look at the lead that Ericsson defended and O’Ward knew he would not force the issue.
“No, he would put me in the wall if I had gone for it,” O’Ward said.
Sage Karam crashed and took another caution on the final lap, which allowed Ericsson to win to the podium under yellow. Karam was taken to hospital for evaluation of muscle pain.
“When that warning came out, I thought it would be a new restart. I thought ‘I can not believe it, one more,'” Ericsson said. “At first I was angry, then I just realized it won me the race. It’s an explosion of emotion from that point on. “
It was Ericsson’s third IndyCar victory in 52 starts. But he arrived in Indianapolis convinced that he could win 500, based in part on the work he had put into learning ovals and a third-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway in the warm-up for “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”
This is the fifth Indy 500 win for team owner Chip Ganassi, who got a ride to the podium on the side of Ericsson’s car. Ericsson is the first Swede to win the Indy 500 since Kenny Brack in 1999 and the second in 106 races.
Ericsson 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.
The victory seemed to belong to Dixon, the six-time IndyCar champion who went more than 234 mph in qualifying to win pole. The New Zealander led 95 of the 200 laps, and his Honda was easily the fastest in the field – so fast that Dixon did not slow down enough on his last pit stop.
The penalty took Dixon out of play for the win.
That left Ericsson and Tony Kanaan still in the mix for Ganassi. Kanaan, 47, the oldest driver in the field, thought he was in perfect position and sat fourth on the restart.
However, O’Ward did not want to give in. He signed an extension to his contract with Arrow McLaren SP on Friday and desperately wanted the win to celebrate his status as McLaren’s star. But O’Ward finished second and ended up just short when he tried to give Mexico a banner on the biggest day in motorsport; Sergio Perez started Sunday with a win in the Monaco Grand Prix.
Kanaan was third, followed by Felix Rosenqvist, another Swede, who drives for McLaren. Rosenqvist is in a contract year with McLaren and is fighting for his job, but it The McLaren team carried the Chevrolet banner on Indy when Juan Pablo Montoya finished 11th.
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.
Dixon faded to 21st after the speeding penalty, and although he visited Ericsson on the podium, he was comforted by his wife on the pit road after the race. Johnson finished 28th in his Indy 500 debut.
“It’s a team, everyone is rooted for everyone else, everyone works together and everyone is an open book,” Ganassi said. “You’ll make things happen in these 500-mile races and they will not always fall in your way. So, you know, we were lucky to have five good cars and five good drivers.”
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