The Indy 500 is the greatest spectacle in all of motorsports. It is the one race everyone in motorsports wants a shot at winning. NASCAR Cup Series Champions Kyle Larson, Tony Stewart, and Formula One Champion Fernando Alonso skipped Monaco for a chance at Indy glory. In the greatest of moments for drivers, there is also the other side, the heartbreak for those who come up short. The devastation of leading on the last lap of the biggest race of your life only to get passed without a chance to mount a run to counter. A feeling that many drivers have felt.
Pat O’Ward’s Indy 500 Heartbreak
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Pat O’Ward was the unfortunate victim of the heartbreak. The five-time race winner took the white flag of the Indy 500 looking to kiss the bricks for the first time in his career. O’Ward was born in Mexico and raised in San Antonio, In his first full season with Arrow Mclaren in 2020 O’Ward burst onto the scene finishing 4th in the point standings. O’Ward garnered ten top tens in his maiden campaign.
O’Ward, in his short and successful career, has finished no worse than seventh in the point standings. The 25-year-old has come close to Indy glory multiple times, finishing sixth, fourth, and finished second twice. Sunday, O’Ward was two corners away from Immortality. O’Ward told the media after the race:
It’s hard to put it into words. I’m proud of the work we did today. We recovered. We went back (in the order), we went forward, we went back. Some people were just driving like maniacs. We had so many near race-enders and were just so close again. So (freaking) close.
It may hurt finishing second; however, Arrow McLaren is getting better and better each year and each race. Not just O’Ward but his teammate, who won the Indy 500 with Andretti Global in 2016 and in his second year at McLaren, finally got into a rhythm, finishing in the top ten in five of the first six races. Arrow McLaren has a young and talented stable and has set himself up for greatness for years to come.
Josef Newgarden Makes It A Double
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Josef Newgarden made history by winning back-to-back Indy 500s, the first driver to go back-to-back since Helio Castroneves in 2001 and 2002. Newgarden is the sixth driver in the 108-year history of the race to go back-to-back. Newgarden a two-time Indycar champion had to wait 11 years to capture his first Indy 500. With the win at the Indy 500, Newgarden now has a chance to be in a club of one and win three in a row.
Newgarden, with the win, also got a nice bonus of $440,000 for going back-to-back on top of the 3 million dollars for the winner. He told the media after winning:
They can say whatever they want after this point; I don’t care anymore, I’m just so proud of this team. They crushed it. Crushed it. Luke, Tim – they’re not here today, but they’re a huge part of this. I’m just so proud for everybody at Team Penske. That’s the way I wanted to win the thing, right there.
The “they” Newgarden is referring to are the critics after the push-to-pass incident at the season opener at Long Beach. Newgarden was without his normal strategist, Tim Cindric, and engineer, Luke Mason, due to suspensions handed down by Captain Roger Penske himself.
After Newgarden and O’Ward, six-time IndyCar champion and 2008 Indy 500 winner Scott Dixon finished third, Arrow McLaren’s Alexander Rossi finished fourth, and Indy GP winner Alex Palou finished fifth. Pole sitter Scott McLaughlin finished sixth, and Kyle Larson finished 18th after a late pit road speeding penalty dashed his chances of winning. The next race is the Detroit Grand Prix on June 2nd on USA Network and Peacock.
About The Author
Dillon Hildreth is a writer for Total Apex and a lifelong fan of Football with his favorite teams being the New England Patriots and the Georgia Bulldogs. Dillon is also a fan of Motorsports Red Bull in Formula One and William Byron in NASCAR. You can catch Dillon Stream F1, NASCAR, and other video games and sidecasts on Youtube.
