A Wild Finish in the Indianapolis 500
The 107th Running of the Indianapolis 500 is now in the books, but not without some controversy. While I’m thrilled that Nashville’s Josef Newgarden finally won the Indianapolis 500 in his twelfth try – I’m not exactly crazy about how it unfolded.
Newgarden had nothing to do with the fact that Race Control ordered not one, not two, but three – yes, three red flags in the last fifteen laps. Most of you know how I feel about red flags. In case you don’t; I’m bitterly opposed to them. I feel there are three reasons for a red flag; (1) in the case of inclement weather, (2) when there is an accident that is so bad the track is impassable or medical personnel are at risk and (3) when the SAFER Barrier needs repairing. It is NOT for manipulating contrived finishes.
IndyCar fans are pretty unanimous in ridiculing NASCAR for their contrived Green-White-Checker (GWC) finishes. This past February’s Daytona 500 was a joke, as they tried to finally determine a winner.
What is this, but a GWC finish where the engines and tires cool off while the drivers get hot – either physically of figuratively? I’m sure Pato O’Ward was hot, knowing that he was likely a sitting duck on the ensuing re-start. He was. He lost the lead, then crashed while trying to regain a spot from Marcus Ericsson. On re-start Number Two; Josef Newgarden was at the point and he was gobbled up by Marcus Ericsson, just before Ed Carpenter and Benjamin Pedersen got together on the front stretch, by the time the leaders got through Turn One. There were two laps remaining.
It seemed apparent that Marcus Ericsson was the first repeat winner since Helio Castroneves in 2001-02. I was in disbelief when the red flag flew for a third time, with only two laps remaining. The remaining field left the pits, went three-quarters of a lap before taking the green-flag for a one-lap shootout. As predicted at this point, Newgarden passed Ericsson on the backstretch, he came around and snaked all over the front-stretch before taking the checkered flag.
Josef Newgarden probably had the best car out there today. He didn’t move up from his starting position of seventeenth to be in a position to win. He didn’t create the circumstances of the last fifteen laps and he did his job in splendid fashion. But I did not like the situation created by Race Control in those fifteen laps. I know I’m old-school, but I have never seen anything wrong with a race finishing under caution. It happens. It’s a part of racing. They don’t reset a football game when it’s obvious one team is going to win. That’s just the way it goes. End of rant.
Other than the craziness induced by Race Control, this was a good Indianapolis 500. The weather was perfect. The wind we had for Carb Day on Friday was not here today. The temperature was just right and no one even mentioned rain all weekend. The crowd was good and seemingly well-behaved. There were no snags that I know of and the entire day went off without a hitch.
The race was relatively safe, and ran the first 92 laps without a caution. There was a spectacular crash involving Felix Rosenqvist and Kyle Kirkwood that ended with Kirkwood upside down. Fortunately no one was hurt.
Congratulations to Josef Newgarden on his first Indianapolis 500 win, and Team Penske for extending their record to nineteen wins. They certainly earned it today.
I will have a delayed Random Thoughts on Monday, but I’m not writing it tonight. I am about to go meet my brothers at Dawson’s and we will probably call it an early night, since we got up at 3:30 am. It’s been a long day, but a good one.
George Phillips
Oilpressure 
May 28, 2023 at 6:44 pm
I completely agree with your second and fourth paragraphs, and I am angry about the red flags. If I wanted to watch manipulated racing I would still be watching NASCAR racing. Newgardens’ name as the winner of this race will always be surrounded by asterisks in my mind, and that is a shame for him.
I was hoping to actually watch the race and I had Peacock on all day, but I will not be surprised, if anyone wants to to keep score while watching the full replay, if a tally shows that fewer than 100 laps of the race actually were aired. There were many times, when after a long series of commercials, we got about a lap and a half of racing as the broadcast team caught us up on what was happening only to have another cutaway for another long string of commercials.
And for all the interest in Tony Kanaan, I have no clue how he faded to 16th after running about tenth all race long.
May 28, 2023 at 7:58 pm
Commercials ?????
I was gratified that NBC allowed us to view clips of the 2023 INDY 500 during NBC’s repetitive adverting marathon.
I especially appreciate the numerous ‘snake pit concert’ coverages that NBC displayed keeping us viewers current & up to date.
NBC for 2024 ?????
May 28, 2023 at 8:19 pm
Re: NBC, Hinch getting legitimately upset at Townsend was quite the shock, even though I kinda get it; he was right and Townsend can come across as arrogant ( PT gets mocked, but he was super patient about this when they worked together)
Also, I like TK, but the “last 500 stuff”…you get one farewell/retirement tour. After that, come back if you want, but the network should really skip the “this is the last pitstop” stuff.
May 30, 2023 at 6:22 am
Completely agree on TK, so over it and glad he faded to an invisible finish so maybe he can just fade away and we can move on. I know people like the guy but c’mon, move on so we can get some new blood in there. We needed Raul Boesel to move along to get Tony Kanaan, now we need Tony to move along to get the next driver.
May 30, 2023 at 11:11 am
Townsend and Hinch got into it on Friday broadcast as well. They argued over Ferucci passing Rossi on the pit exit. I honestly don’t think they get along.
May 30, 2023 at 5:57 pm
Been over Townsend for a while now. Wondering how Hinch and Diffey can fit in the booth with Townsend’s swollen head.
May 28, 2023 at 8:11 pm
Seems to be a reds breed reds situation. I understand the 192 one, didn’t agree with the first one.
I’ve loved the crazy restarts the last few years, but I knew something like the restart that happened on 196 was inevitable, and it happened at the worst time for Indycar. As someone on Twitter said, the third red was a pick-your-poison situation: Either force a finish and get Abu Dhabi comparisons or just go with the caution finish with everyone nitpicking when the yellow started like in 2002.
Given the corner they painted themselves into, I think they chose right. Ericsson had a decent chance of defending and didn’t (it was made pretty clear to the drivers it would be green), and I remember thinking the second Josef took the lead, nobody’s getting him on a green flag. I don’t see a huge asterisk arugment.
May 28, 2023 at 9:30 pm
Iam a big Newgarden supporter. Iam not a red flag fan . Newgarden had the best car , not the fastest. He had one he’ll of a drive. When he’s on few can drive within.
May 28, 2023 at 8:36 pm
I understand open wheel tradition is against “contrived” endings and that a race ending under caution is perfectly normal and fair. But I also know how shocked and disappointed a lot of casual fans are when they see a race end under caution. I guess I’m agreeing with Kanaan who said “we need to think about the show,” and “give the fans what they want.” Racing is a sport and sports are now entertainment and the finish under green is expected now. Racing has changed in many ways since the ’50’s and ’60’s and I expect we’ll see fewer and fewer finishes under caution.
May 28, 2023 at 9:19 pm
I wasn’t thrilled to see a red flag shown with just two laps left — this is the big time, and such a short dash to the finish (when the lead car is often a sitting duck and can’t counter) doesn’t seem right to me in the biggest race in the world, after 198 laps of strategy and maneuvering. Three or four laps for a shootout, I can at least understand somewhat more … no “overtime,” of course — just drop the red flag sooner, or don’t drop it all in this case. Maybe I’m overreacting, but this race had a little of the dreaded NASCAR lottery feel to it, at the end.
All that being said, there were a lot of deserving potential winners … seemed like a strong field (historically so, maybe?). Newgarden was one of several strong contenders, and he and his scrappy mom-and-pop team did what they had to do, so congrats for a well deserved win.
May 28, 2023 at 9:24 pm
Haven’t posted enough to know if editing is possible, so here’s what I meant to say in my key point:
…just drop the red flag sooner, or don’t drop it at all in this case.
…
May 28, 2023 at 11:38 pm
I didn’t care for each of the red flags other than maybe the first, and that is only because I can see there is prudence in stopping the race to determine if the tire that left the track had caused significant injury or damage (thank the Lord it did not).
I think the circumstances of the final caution influenced the final red flag call significantly. I think race control found it terribly unsatisfying that Ericsson’s would-be race-winning pass for the lead occurred in a green flag window of but a few seconds… after a caution that Ericsson played a part in (he was not in the wrong in the O’Ward crash, but he was in a position to prevent it, he played O’Ward’s game of chicken and was lucky Pato didn’t take them both into the wall)… and, by the way, AFTER the Carpenter-Pedersen wreck actually happened (but before the yellow, I am not questioning the pass’ legality under the rules, just describing the situation).
It was a bad call from reading the letter of Indycar’s rules, and it sets a dangerous precedent for future races while making drivers who experienced similar circumstances in past races wonder why the change now. But I get the spirit behind the decision, and I find myself agreeing with it. To the point of supporting the decision itself? No. But that also applies to the red flag that gave Ericsson the chance to take the lead to begin with.
May 29, 2023 at 12:11 am
“I think race control found it terribly unsatisfying that Ericsson’s would-be race-winning pass for the lead occurred in a green flag window of but a few seconds… after a caution that Ericsson played a part in …”
Good point, I admit … seems like Race Control was acting like humans and trying to minimize controversy (as it must have done with the stray wheel/tire on pit lane for the Foyt contender) and taking certain factors into account. Still, it’s a slippery slope. I wonder how an AI would handle Race Control functions and rulings — and would that be for better or worse?
May 29, 2023 at 7:11 am
This was exactly how I thought of it.
May 29, 2023 at 8:16 am
UNBELIEVABLE!!! What a race! What a finish
May 29, 2023 at 3:45 pm
I know hindsight is 20/20, but I can’t help thinking that IndyCar shouldn’t have immediately thrown a red following the Rosenqvist/Kirkwood incident. Allow the safety team to assess the situation first and report back to race control whether or not they could get the track cleaned up under yellow with enough time left for a one green lap shootout. That’s ultimately the exact situation we ended up with, but it could have happened without any red flags.