Indianapolis, IN – Simon Pagenaud started on the pole and made a pass with one lap to go on Alexander Rossi to claim his first Indy 500 victory, completing his sweep of the May action in Indy Car.
Pagenaud led the pack for the first 32 laps before heading to the pits for his first round of green-flag stops. Ahead of that, however, we saw our first caution come out on lap 6 as rookie Colton Herta wheeling the No. 88 had a mechanical issue and had to get towed in, ending his day.
After Pagenaud pitted on lap 32, Will Power in the No. 12 took over the lead. This was the start of four different lead changes before Pagenaud regained the lead after green-flag stops cycled through on lap 42.
Green flag pitstops rolled back around with Pagenaud going in first again, on lap 64, relinquishing the lead to Ed Carpenter. There would again be four lead changes as stops cycled through, with Pagenaud retaking the lead on lap 73. Then the second caution of the day came out as rookie Kyle Kaiser in the No. 32 wrecked out.
Yet again, Simon Pagenaud would lead the field through until his next green flag stop, relinquishing the lead again to Carpenter on lap 99. The trend of Green flag pitstop lead changes would continue with Pagenaud going back to P1 on lap 113 until pitting on lap 129.
In the middle of green flag stops, the third caution of the day came out as Indy Car rookie Marcus Ericsson wasn’t able to get slowed down quick enough and locked up his breaks on pit road on lap 138. This sent him sliding through pit road, wrecking his car into the inside pit wall.
Pagenaud went back to P1 on lap 143 with the field still under caution. Shortly after the restart on lap 148, Pagenaud gave up the lead to his teammate Josef Newgarden. This was done so Pagenaud could see how his car would run behind another.
“When I let Josef by and I ran behind Josef for the entire stint and the car was phenomenal. It was really easy for me to follow.” said Pagenaud.
The result would be to his satisfaction, however, Pagenaud wouldn’t see the lead again until lap 187. However, before that happened, on lap 178 in turn three, Sebastian Bourdais had Graham Rahal to his inside and cut low, causing the two to touch wheels, resulting in a five-car accident.
The field went back green on lap 187, and Pagenaud again took over the lead. With two laps to go, Alexander Rossi muscled his way around Simon Pagenaud to take the lead. Then with just one lap to go, Pagenaud made his final move and passed Rossi to take the lead. He would hold on for a 0.2086-second victory.
“It’s hard to believe right now, to be honest with you.” said Simon Pagenaud after the win. “It’s been such an intense race. I believe we led most of the race. The car was just on rails. The yellows came out perfectly. The stars are aligned.”
Pagenaud led 116 of the 200 laps in his historic first Indy 500 win. Rossi had to settle for a second place finish, Takuma Sato finished third, and Pagenaud’s teammate Newgarden finished 4th.
Written by Adrian Beecher
