What a Finish!
Well that was interesting! Most know that I am not a fan of late-race red-flags, and I’m still not. But at least IndyCar was consistent, and that’s all you can ask for. First of all, congratulations to Felix Rosenqvist on a hard-earned Indianapolis 500 victory over David Malukas. This is one that will be remembered forever. The 0.023 second victory even eclipsed the 0.043 second finish between Al Unser, Jr. and Scott Goodyear in 1992.
But tell David Malukas he should be honored to be part of such an historic finish. He was absolutely distraught in the IMS Media Center after the race. If you recall, he finished second (eventually) in last year’s Indianapolis 500. He also finished second in the Sonsio Grand Prix earlier this month. He made no effort to conceal the fact that he is sick of finishing second. (Photo by Susan Phillips)
I know that he is extremely disappointed and gave it all he had to win the biggest race in the world in his first year with Team Penske. But as appealing as that fairy tale sounded, it was not to be. The track had other ideas. I am hoping that in a few days, Malukas will learn what a good job he did to put himself in that position. There are a lot of drivers behind him that would have given anything to be in that position. There will be other races, be proud of what you just did.
This seems to be a popular victory. Felix Rosenqvist is well-liked a respected by his fellow drivers. Fans like him too. Susan left our seats early to see if she could get down to Victory Lane for whoever won. When she got there, the red flag was still out. She was talking to some of the Indiana State Police that were down there and they were openly pulling for Felix Rosenqvist, because he has done a lot of behind-the-scenes work to help them with recruiting locally. When he won, they were ecstatic.
The Top-Two finishers were castoffs from Arrow McLaren. Rosenqvist was jettisoned by Zak Brown and company after the 2023 IndyCar season, and Malukas was actually hired to replace him. But Malukas had a mountain bike accident and did not recover as quickly as McLaren would have liked. So he was cut loose after a few races in the 2024 season. While those two were battling for the win, Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward had slipped from second to fourth, behind Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin – who finished third, somewhat redeeming himself after his horrendous race last year.
I will admit, when Malukas took the lead from Marcus Armstrong on Lap 199- I was pulling for Malukas. And as he was racing Rosenqvist for the Yard of Bricks, I was still pulling for Malukas. But I am happy with a Rosenqvist win. The only thing I was really pulling against was that ugly car that Rosenqvist was driving. All month long, I’ve gone off on how hideous that car was. I stand by it. The Morgan Wallen car looks more like a Panzer Tank, than it does a race car. The only problem I have at all with this win is that ugly car will now be immortalized. (My photo)
As down and out as Malukas was in his post-race press conference, Rosenqvist made up for it in his. He was absolutely elated. Except for Josef Newgarden’s first win, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen an Indianapolis 500 winner so happy an hour and a half after the win. (Photo by Susan Phillips)
It’s also easy to cheer for Rosenqvist knowing that his wife gave birth to their first child earlier this month. He can but a lot of Huggies with his earnings from today.
It was an exciting race with seven caution periods that involved some very hard hits. Most thought that there would be no racing today, I thought they would get in an official race, but I had serious doubts that the race was go the distance. Those fears were proven to be well-founded when it started raining less than thirty minutes after the checkered flag fell.
There is a lot to unpack from this race from start to finish, and I will not attempt to do that here. I will have my Random Thoughts on this race on Monday – but it will not be first thing in the morning. After waking at 3:00 am, we are tired. We are going to meet my brother and nephew at Dawson’s for an early dinner, and then will call it an early night. I will allow my thoughts to percolate overnight and will write it to tomorrow morning from our hotel room, then post it before we get on the road to go home.
Another Month of May is in the books. It’s hard to believe it’s already over, but wow! What a way to put a period on it! Please check back tomorrow for more thoughts, opinions and photos from the 110th Running of the Indianapolis 500.
George Phillips
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