2019 Indy 500: Simon Pagenaud edges Alexander Rossi, wins 103rd running

Simon Pagenaud edged Alexander Rossi in a thrilling late battle to win the 103rd running of the Indy 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Team Penske’s Simon Pagenaud staved off an angry and relentless Alexander Rossi of Andretti Autosport to earn the first Indy 500 victory of his IndyCar career in the 103rd running of the race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Pagenaud became the first polesitter to win the 200-lap “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval in Speedway, Indiana since Helio Castroneves won the 93rd running of the race 10 years ago in 2009.

Pagenaud crossed the finish line in his #22 Chevrolet just 0.2086 seconds ahead of Rossi in second place in his #27 Honda after the two drivers exchanged the lead several times over the course of the race’s final 13 laps following the final restart. He made the winning pass on the back straightaway on lap 199.

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Takuma Sato overcame an early issue in the pits to finish in third place in his #30 Honda.

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Team Penske teammates Josef Newgarden and Will Power rounded out the top five by finishing in fourth and fifth in their #2 Chevrolet and #12 Chevrolet, respectively, with Power also overcoming an early issue in the pits that resulted in him being issued a penalty that sent him to the rear of the field.

Ed Carpenter Racing’s Ed Carpenter, Dale Coyne Racing rookie Santino Ferrucci, Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay, A.J. Foyt Enterprises’ Tony Kanaan and Andretti Autosport’s Conor Daly rounded out the top 10 by finishing in sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th place in their #20 Chevrolet, #19 Honda, #28 Honda, #14 Chevrolet and #25 Honda, respectively.

The race featured a total of 29 lead changes among 10 drivers. Aside of Pagenaud, who led more laps than anybody else in the field with 116 laps led, nine other drivers led at least one lap of the race.

The nine drivers aside of Pagenaud who led this race were Rossi, Newgarden, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon, Power, Carpenter, Chip Ganassi Racing rookie Felix Rosenqvist, Ed Carpenter Racing’s Spencer Pigot, Sato and Ferrucci.

No driver had led as many laps as Pagenaud did in this year’s Indy 500 since Dario Franchitti led 155 laps en route to winning the 94th running of the race back in 2010.

The race also featured a total of four caution flag periods for 29 laps. Of the 33 drivers who started the race, a record-tying 26 finished it. Of the 26 drivers who finished the race, 17 finished on the lead lap.

The first caution flag period began on lap six when Harding Steinbrenner Racing rookie Colton Herta experienced a gearbox failure and stopped on the track, albeit not on the racing line. The second caution flag period began on lap 73 when Juncos Racing’s Kyle Kaiser spun out in the short chute between turns three and four and hit the turn four wall.

The third caution flag period of the race began on lap 138 when Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports rookie Marcus Ericsson spun out in the pits and hit the wall. During this time, Rossi was making a pit stop and was held up by more than 15 seconds because of an issue with his fuel probe. As a result, this caution flag period prevented him from losing roughly half a lap.

The fourth and final caution flag period began on lap 178 and ultimately changed the complexion of the race as far as fuel saving was concerned, and it resulted in a red flag period with 20 laps remaining.

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Graham Rahal had a run on Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan’s Sebastien Bourdais going into turn three, and the two drivers made contact, sending them both into the wall.

Unable to react in time, Rosenqvist spun out, and he also collected Andretti Autosport’s Zach Veach and Carlin’s Charlie Kimball. Kimball was the only one of the five drivers who were involved in this accident who ended up finishing the race.

Shortly before this wreck took place, Rossi passed Pagenaud, who needed to save fuel, for second place (effectively for the lead because of the fact that Pigot was the official leader but still needed to come into the pits for one more pit stop). But when the caution flag period took place, fuel saving went out the window, setting the stage for the epic shootout and epic finish that ensued.

Here is a video of the thrilling finish of this race.

https://twitter.com/IndyCar/status/1132742454501941252

Here are the full race results of the 2019 Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Race Results
1st – Simon Pagenaud
2nd – Alexander Rossi
3rd – Takuma Sato
4th – Josef Newgarden
5th – Will Power
6th – Ed Carpenter
7th – Santino Ferrucci
8th – Ryan Hunter-Reay
9th – Tony Kanaan
10th – Conor Daly
11th – James Hinchcliffe
12th – James Davison
13th – Ed Jones
14th – Spencer Pigot
15th – Matheus Leist
16th – Pippa Mann
17th – Scott Dixon
18th – Helio Castroneves
19th – Sage Karam
20th – J.R. Hildebrand
21st – Oriol Servia
22nd – Jack Harvey
23rd – Marcus Ericsson
24th – Jordan King
25th – Charlie Kimball
26th – Marco Andretti
27th – Graham Rahal
28th – Felix Rosenqvist
29th – Zach Veach
30th – Sebastien Bourdais
31st – Kyle Kaiser
32nd – Ben Hanley
33rd – Colton Herta

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The next races on the 2019 IndyCar schedule are both scheduled to take place next weekend. Both races are a part of the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix on the streets of Belle Isle in Detroit, Michigan. The first race is set to be broadcast live on NBC beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET on Saturday, June 1, and the second race is set to be broadcast live on NBC beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, June 2.