Josef Newgarden passes Marcus Ericsson on final lap to win Indianapolis 500

Newgarden moved around Ericsson at the most opportune time

The milk is on Josef Newgarden.

The Team Penske driver sped past Marcus Ericsson on the final lap of the Indianapolis 500 to win the race for the first time in his career.

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After a third red flag, Ericsson lined up and got off to a big lead as he took the white flag. But Newgarden was on his tail and made a shrewd move to pass Ericsson and held him off the rest of the way. It was his best finish since he took third in 2016.

Josef Newgarden competes during the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Sunday, May 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

Sunday’s win was his second of the season. He won at Texas earlier in the year.

Newgarden ran into the stands and celebrated with the fans. He then embraced his team members and his wife as he made his way back to the racetrack.

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The event was clean for about 75% of the race until one of the bigger crashes occurred.

The race was red flagged for a few moments after Kyle Kirkwood clipped a spinning Felix Renqvist and went flying into the wall. Kirkwood flipped as his car skidded around the turn. One of Kirkwood’s tires came off of his vehicle and flew over the catch fence and into a parking lot. The tire only hit a parked car and didn’t injure any of the fans.

Marcus Ericsson makes a pit stop during the Indianapolis 500, Sunday, May 28, 2023. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)

The green flag would finally drop with about 10 laps remaining in the race. Ericsson, Pato O’Ward and Newgarden were vying for first place when O’Ward lost control of his vehicle and went spinning into the wall. The O’Ward crash caused the red flag to come out again. There were six laps to go when the second red flag was waved.

As the race restarted, a pack of drivers got into an accident on the front straightaway. Ed Carpenter and Ben Pederson were among those involved. Ericsson was in the lead when the yellow came out. Officials then dropped the red flag for the third time in apparent hopes of giving fans an exciting finish.

The drivers delivered.

Marcus Ericsson makes his way to his car before the Indianapolis 500, May 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Rob Baker)

Ericsson was the defending Indianapolis 500 champion. He came into the race in third place in the points standings. He was chasing Alex Palou, who won the pole, and O’Ward, whose day ended early.