Above and Beyond-

The fans endured a four hour rain delay to watch the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500. The day for about a third of them involved being here when the gates opened at 6am, evacuating the grandstands and even exiting the track for a while, then returning for a three hour race. I would say 90% of them returned.

Second, Doug Boles and the IMS staff deserve an extra measure of respect above what they already had. They putb in the equivalent of three work days today. They rescheduled, implemented a safety plan, and got NBC to lift the local blackout.

Third, the drivers. After a rough first quarter of the race, they put on a great show during the final 50 laps.

The Weird Race

After a demolition derby first 50 laps, the race settled down a bit, interrupted by a few more cautions.

The second half of the race saw one great racing stint, a bit more chaos, then a thrilling duel to the finish.

Josef Newgarden is now one of the rarest of 500 champions, a back to back winner. He won this on merit, winning a game of tag with Pato O’Ward.

Conor Daly’s strategy might have worked had his teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay not caused a caution. t put everyone on pretty much the same strategy.

What a great drive by Scott Dixon to finish third and lead late after starting 21st. But should we expect anything less from him?

Alex Palou with another top 10. He is Mr. Automatic as far as top 10s go.

It has been a long day, and I am exhausted. I will have a more detailed follow up omorrow. Thanks fopr following along this very long race weekend.