Joseph Newgarden (Team Penske) return to drink the legendary gallon of milk that filled the champion of the Indianapolis 500 for the second year in a row in a remarkable career that was determined on the last lap and left the Mexican Pato O’Ward (Arrow McLaren) secondwith honey on his lips as he entered the penultimate step towards the finish line as the leader.
He Spaniard Alex Palou (Chip Ganassi), leader of the championship, finished fifth, one place further than in 2023.
The final laps honored the glory and prestige of this legendary race, with always alternatives in first place between O’Ward, Newgarden and Alexander Rossi (Arrow McLaren).
Very close to them were the two main cars of Chip Ganassi with New Zealander Scott Dixon and Palou himself, both seeking to get on the podium and only the veteran achieved it.
An impressive maneuver by Newgarden was decisive in closing the race. O’Ward started the final lap in the lead, but the man from Nashville knew how to wait for the third corner to put the pedal to the metal and catch up with enough time to cross the finish line first.
Newgarden’s celebration lived up to his success. He did not hesitate for a moment and He quickly got out of his car to jump over all the protection and immerse himself in the thousands of fans in the main stand to celebrate.
On the other hand, the image of O’Ward is very harsh, depressed in his car, for the second time the glory of winning at Indianapolis eluded him with his last breath. He repeated the second place he already achieved in 2022.
“It’s hard to put it into words. We recovered, we were first, we were behind, we were close, very close again. It hurts a lot, especially when it’s not the first time. I heard cheers from the stands on the last lap, I love them, they made Indianapolis feel like home for me.Pato O’Ward cried at the end.
Newgarden, on the other hand, was ecstatic: “Unbelievable. There is no better way to win here. “I also want to congratulate Pato (O’Ward) who is a clean driver and deserves to win this race as well,” declared the winner.
Since 2001 no one has made a comeback, Brazilian Helio Castroneves did it.
Palou established himself in the championship
Palou’s fifth place has a positive reading, which iss left some of his direct rivals for the championship even further back after the departures of Colton Herta (Andretti) and Will Power (Team Penske).
With the The 30 points earned in Indianapolis now have 183 points in total and located in a privileged place to repeat the championship. He is followed by his teammate Dixon on twenty and Power on 26.
“It was not a perfect day, it was difficult. Newgarden is faster than us. We don’t use the best strategy. “I had a good time passing some cars, although being fifth was not the best result,” Palou’s comment at the end of the race.
The Spaniard featured the work of the ‘Chip Ganassi’ team throughout the month of May: “The best conclusion is to see that the team did a great job, with Dixon third and me fifth. It was fun, and you have to give credit to what Newgarden did.
He was right in his identification with the team, and that was it During the race, Palou took advantage of different pit lanes, having two positions in the first and one in the second.
Like Scott Dixon, who even led the race for the last five laps until Newgarden and O’Ward made a final attack in their faster cars.
These 500 miles of Indianapolis also represent a Chevrolet’s absolute dominance over Honda, the two IndyCar engine suppliers, placing seven of their cars in the top ten at the end after a quarter of the race.
As for the teams, it is a It was a scary day for ‘Andretti’ as he saw how three of his cars had to retire due to various accidents.Herta, Ericsson and Marco Andretti themselves were left behind, with Kyle Kirkwood the sole survivor in a respectable seventh place.
The race is experienced in youn a delay of four hours from the original schedule due to a storm that forced all spectators to take shelter and continue the laborious drying of the track.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
