Josef Newgarden is a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner, having gone back-to-back with passes into Turn 3 to win "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing."
It is the 20th Indy 500 win for team owner Roger Penske.
Newgarden was briefly passed on the white-flag lap by Pato O’Ward going into Turn 1, but a mighty run down the backstretch allowed the Team Penske driver to hang it around the outside — the same move he made last year — into Turn 3 and hold on for the win.
“Pato is an incredibly clean racer … it takes two to make that work,” Newgarden said in Victory Circle. “He very well could have won today.”
O’Ward had been haunted for two years after he chose not to be aggressive into Turn 1 on a restart with three laps to go in the 2022 Indy 500 and was forced to watch Marcus Ericsson drive to victory. He sent it this year but came up two corners short.
“This place owes me nothing,” O’Ward said.
A race that featured eight yellow flags, including three in the first 46 laps, went caution-free for the final 45 with myriad lead changes — Sunday set a record for 16 different leaders in a single Indy 500. Newgarden’s Penske teammate Will Power, one of the favorites in the Team Penske stable, crashed with 53 laps to go, which effectively set the stage for the frenetic final stanza of the race.
The race began after a four-hour delay from a heavy rain storm that pounded the speedway right at the scheduled 12:45 p.m. ET green-flag drop. That meant NASCAR Cup Series points leader Kyle Larson, attempting “The Double” along with the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte, had a choice to make — abandon all the progress he’d made at the speedway the past two weeks for his day job, or stay and race.
Larson stayed in Indianapolis. After all, he qualified fifth for his first-ever IndyCar race and ran in the top 10 for most of the day, despite missing a shift on the first restart and plummeting 10 spots over one lap. A pit lane speeding penalty on his penultimate stop effectively ended his bid for the win. He finished 18th.
2024 Indy 500 results
Josef Newgarden (2), Team Penske Chevrolet
Pato O’Ward (5), Arrow McLaren Chevrolet
Scott Dixon (9), Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
Alexander Rossi (7), Arrow McLaren Chevrolet
Alex Palou (10), Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
Scott McLaughlin (3), Team Penske Chevrolet
Kyle Kirkwood (27), Andretti Global Honda
Santino Ferrucci (14), A.J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet
Rinus Veekay (21), Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet
Conor Daly (24), Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports Chevrolet
Callum Ilott (6), Arrow McLaren Chevrolet
Christian Rasmussen (33), Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet
Christian Lundgaard (45), Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda
Takuma Sato (75), Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda
Graham Rahal (15), Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda
Sting Ray Robb (41), A.J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet
Ed Carpenter (20), Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet
Kyle Larson (17), Arrow McLaren Chevrolet
Romain Grosjean (77), Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet
Helio Castroneves (06), Meyer Shank/urb-Abajanian Honda
Kyffin Simpson (4), Chip Ganasi Racing Honda
Agustin Canapino (75), Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet
Colton Herta (26), Andretti Global/Curb-Abajanian Honda
Will Power (12), Team Penske Chevrolet
Marco Andretti (98), Andretti Herta/Marco & Curb-Abajanian Honda
Ryan Hunter-Reay (23), Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports Chevrolet
Felix Rosenqvist (60), Meyer Shank Racing Chevrolet
Linus Lundqvist (8), Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
Katherine Legge (51), Dale Coyne Racing Honda
Marcus Armstrong (11), Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
Tom Blomquist (66), Meyer Shank Racing Honda
Marcus Ericsson (28), Andretti Global Honda
Pietro Fittipaldi (30), Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda
Live67 updates
John Parker
Awwww
Cooler than any home movie any of us will ever have
Josef Newgarden’s son Kota joined the family to kiss the bricks! #Indy500 pic.twitter.com/FFMNfvhKih
— INDYCAR on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) May 27, 2024
John Parker
Hats off to you, @josefnewgarden. pic.twitter.com/SRRNGeu8aT
— Team Penske (@Team_Penske) May 27, 2024
John Parker
JOSEF NEWGARDEN GOES BACK TO BACK
He takes Pato O'Ward into Turn 3 on the final lap!!!
John Parker
LAST LAP
John Parker
Pato O'Ward is plotting...
Sizing up Josef Newgarden with three laps to go
John Parker
Pato O'Ward is on the move
After a daring move into Turn 1 with 7 to go, he's second to Josef Newgarden
John Parker
Now it's Rossi and Newgarden swapping the lead
15 laps to go
John Parker
It's Dixon-Newgarden-Rossi-O'Ward once pit stops cycle through
About .400s separate those four. 22 laps to go
John Parker
Dixon gets the lead back on Lap 176
This will trade off for the next 24 laps
John Parker
Dixon rejoins ahead of Newgarden
... but not far enough! Newgarden devours him on the pit straight!
John Parker
Dixon pits on Lap 172 from the lead
... and locks up the brakes on entry! He appears not to have sped though
John Parker
Newgarden, McLaughlin and Daly into the pits
One lap after Rossi
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Final pit stops cycling through with 30 laps to go
Alexander Rossi pits from P2 to kick it off
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🟩 GREEN FLAG 🟩
Lap 156
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🟨 YELLOW FLAG 🟨
Lap 147 for past Indy 500 winner and two-time series champion Will Power, who crashes between Turns 1 and 2
A big hit for the No. 12.
The day is over for @12WillPower.
📺: #Indy500 on NBC and Peaco*ck pic.twitter.com/EJmhOwwWJA
— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) May 26, 2024
John Parker
Larson nabbed for speeding on pit road
During green-flag stops
PENALTY: Kyle Larson, speeding on pit road. His chances of winning the Indy 500 are over.
— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) May 26, 2024
Re-starts (which he already had trouble with) and pit-in were going to be his biggest challenges
John Parker
8:15 p.m. ET or 200 laps, whichever comes first
... is how long we're racing tonight. That and the fact that these track conditions are nothing like what any of these drivers have felt is part of why we've seen so many cautions.
John Parker
🟩 GREEN FLAG 🟩
Lap 119
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🟨 YELLOW FLAG 🟨
Lap 114 for Marco Andretti, who is in the wall in Turn 1. Andretti Autosport's awful day continues
John Parker
🟩 GREEN FLAG 🟩
Lap 114
News and storylines entering the Indy 500
The dominant narrative during "The Month of May" at the Speedway is Kyle Larson's attempt at "The Double" — running the combined 600 laps and 1,100 miles of the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 in the same day. Weather may wreak havoc on that endeavor (more on that later), but if he starts both races he'll be only the fifth driver ever to do so.
Yahoo Sports' Nick Bromberg wrote earlier in the week on the primary storylines for the Indy 500, including:
Team Penske seeking 20th win: The owner of series and speedway has quite the trophy collection and, after sweeping all three spots on the front row this year, made it 20 victories in the race.
Honda's challenge of Chevrolet: Chevys took the top eight spots in qualifying and had a clear advantage when the engines were turned all the way up; Honda did not unseat them.
Former winners in the field: This year's grid featured eight past winners, including four-time victor Helio Castroneves. The Brazilian legend had a chance to break the record for most wins ever at the event, which would have lifted him above the likes of A.J. Foyt, Rick Mears and Al Unser.
Top drivers and odds for the 2024 Indy 500
Defending champion Josef Newgarden will start third on the grid and sports the best odds entering the weekend at 5-to-1 according to BetMGM.
Best odds to win
Josef Newgarden +500
Scott McLaughlin +550
Kyle Larson +675
Will Power +700
Alexander Rossi +800
Pato O'Ward +850
The top six betting favorites are either from the Penske or Arrow McLaren stables, with Indy 500 rookie and current NASCAR Cup Series points leader Kyle Larson sporting a +675 moneyline ahead of his first IndyCar start.
What are the traditions of the Indy 500?
Being the longest continually running auto race in the United States (beginning in 1911), there are plenty of traditions that have built up over the years. Most notably they are:
Singing of "Back Home Again in Indiana" just prior to the command to fire engines.
Indianapolis Gordon Pipers bagpipe group plays the Borg-Warner Trophy into the speedway before the race and plays the winner to victory lane afterward.
Three-car wide starting grid (opposed to the usual two-wide for all other races).
Winner kisses the three feet of bricks marking the speedway’s finish line (which actually started after Dale Jarrett won NASCAR's Brickyard 400 in 1996).
Winner drinks (or douses themself with) a quart of milk of their choice: Whole, 2% or skim.
Winner is presented with a wreath featuring 33 orchids, representing the 33 cars entered.
2024 Indy 500 starting grid
Scott McLaughlin (3), Team Penske Chevrolet, 234.220 mph
Will Power (12), Team Penske Chevrolet, 233.917 mph
Josef Newgarden (2), Team Penske Chevrolet, 233.808 mph
Alexander Rossi (7), Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, 233.090 mph
Kyle Larson (17), Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, 232.846 mph
Santino Ferrucci (14), A.J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet, 232.692 mph
Rinus Veekay (21), Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, 232.610 mph
Pato O’Ward (5), Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, 232.584 mph
Felix Rosenqvist (60), Meyer Shank Racing Chevrolet, 232.305 mph
Takuma Sato (75), Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda, 232.171 mph
Kyle Kirkwood (27), Andretti Global Honda, 23.993 mph
Ryan Hunter-Reay (23), Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports Chevrolet, 230.567 mph
Colton Herta (26), Andretti Global/Curb-Abajanian Honda, 232.316 mph
Alex Palou (10), Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, 232.306 mph
Callum Ilott (6), Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, 232.230 mph
Marcus Armstrong (11), Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, 232.017 mph
Ed Carpenter (20), Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, 232.017 mph
Kyffin Simpson (4), Chip Ganasi Racing Honda, 231.948 mph
Marco Andretti (98), Andretti Herta/Marco & Curb-Abajanian Honda, 231.890 mph
Helio Castroneves (06), Meyer Shank/urb-Abajanian Honda, 231.871 mph
Scott Dixon (9), Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, 231.851 mph
Agustin Canapino (75), Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet, 231.847 mph
Sting Ray Robb (41), A.J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet, 231.826 mph
Christian Rasmussen (33), Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, 231.682 mph
Tom Blomquist (66), Meyer Shank Racing Honda, 231.578 mph
Romain Grosjean (77), Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet, 231.514 mph
Linus Lundqvist (8), Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, 231.506 mph
Christian Lundgaard (45), Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda, 231.465 mph
Conor Daly (24), Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports Chevrolet, 231.243 mph
Pietro Fittipaldi (30), Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda, 231.100 mph
Katherine Legge (51), Dale Coyne Racing Honda, 230.092 mph
Marcus Ericsson (28), Andretti Global Honda, 230.027 mph
Graham Rahal (15), Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda, 229.974