INDIANAPOLIS — Marcus Ericsson experienced “Red Mist” in his eyes over the final Red Flag in Sunday’s 107th Indianapolis 500.
Ericsson was in the lead on a late-race restart before Christian Lundgaard, Ed Carpenter and Benjamin Pedersen were involved in a crash coming down the frontstraight with three laps to go at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The defending Indy 500 winner from Chip Ganassi Racing didn’t think there were enough laps left to red flag the race and have another restart.
“I was screaming, ‘Call it’ because there weren’t enough laps to go,” Ericsson said. “You can never take anything for granted until you take the checkered.”
IndyCar Race Control, however, issued the red flag for the third time in the final 15 laps. It would set up a one-lap green and white flag situation that would determine the race.
Josef Newgarden of Team Penske was able to outmaneuver Ericsson, timing his “Tail of the Dragon” draft-busting move perfectly to make the race winning pass down the backstretch on the final lap to win his first Indianapolis 500.
Newgarden defeated Ericsson’s No. 8 Huski Ice Spritz Honda by .0974 of a second, the fourth-closest finish in Indianapolis 500 history.
Top three: 1992 – .043 of a second Al Unser Jr. over Scott Goodyear; 2014 – .0600 of a second Ryan Hunter-Reay over Helio Castroneves; 2006 – .0635 of a second Sam Hornish Jr. over Marco Andretti.
This is only the third time the Indianapolis 500 has been decided by a last-lap pass. The other two times:
2006: Sam Hornish (Team Penske) passed Marco Andretti on the front straightaway; 2011: Dan Wheldon passed JR Hildebrand on the front straightaway.
Newgarden led five laps. The only winners to lead fewer laps were Joe Dawson, who led two in 1912, and Dan Wheldon, who led one lap in 2011.
It was the last red flag with so few laps left in the race that had Ericsson fuming afterwards.
“I don’t think it’s fair to do it; I don’t think it’s safe to do it,” Ericsson told SPEED SPORT on pit lane after the Indy 500. “I stand with that.
“There were not enough laps to do it. I know we want to have a green flag finish and that is great for the fans and fantastic.
“But with that last crash, there were not enough laps to do what we did in my opinion. We did everything, and Josef is a worthy champion, but that was not a fair way to end it.”
Team Penske President Tim Cindric was asked after the race if he understood why Ericsson would be upset that the last red flag cost him a chance to win the race.
“Obviously, you’re sitting there and it’s really hard to determine how that’s all going to play out,” Cindric said. “Each restart could have played out a different way, and I think Josef, when you look at the fact that we lost the lead on one of the restarts, as well, it can kind of go either way, and that’s kind of the way this place is now.
“I think somebody has got to win and somebody doesn’t. We’ve been on the other side of that, too.”
Ericsson was most disappointed that he did everything he felt he could have done to win the race, only to have the third red flag put him in an untenable situation with a one-lap showdown.
“We put it all out there,” Ericsson said. “We gave it everything – everything – and it wasn’t enough.
“Congrats to Josef. He did a hell of a job. But it’s tough to swallow when you have an end like that.
“I’m here to win. This place, the winner takes it all and we didn’t get it done today. This place is tough. You have to do what you have to do to win this race.
“I did an awesome restart to get the jump on him and catch him by surprise, but it was not enough. I knew it would be impossible, so I was going to do something clever on the restart.
“I was clever, but it wasn’t enough.
“I tried to keep my focus.”
Ericsson was attempting to become the first driver to win the Indianapolis 500 in back-to-back years since Helio Castroneves in 2001-’02.
He fell just .0974-of-a-second from completing his second-straight Indianapolis 500 victory.
“It doesn’t get much closer than that,” Ericsson said.