Tag: Felix Rosenqvist

Indianapolis 500 Purse Payout

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1. Felix Rosenqvist $4,340,500

2. David Malukas $1,682,500

3. Scott McLaughlin $1,414,500

4. Pato O’Ward $1,279,000

5. Marcus Armstrong $1,206,500

6. Rinus VeeKay $1,178,500

7. Alex Palou $1,399,000

8. Santino Ferrucci $1,164,000

9. Romain Grosjean $1,150,000

10. Takuma Sato $137,000

11. Nolan Siegel $1,132,000

12. Conor Daly $138,000

13. Marcus Ericsson $1,125,500

14. Kyffin Simpson $1,183,500

15. Scott Dixon $1,218,500

16. Kyle Kirkwood $1,102,000

17. Christian Lundgaard $1,105,500

18. Mick Schumacher $218,800

19. Dennis Hauger $159,800

20. Graham Rahal $1,105,500

21. Louis Foster $1,105,500

22. Jack Harvey $102,000

23. Sting Ray Robb $155,300

24. Jacob Abel $103,000

25. Helio Castroneves $102,000

26. Caio Collet $1,126,500

27. Christian Rasmussen $1,110,000

28. Josef Newgarden $1,105,500

29. Will Power $1,105,500

30. Alexander Rossi $1,141,000

31. Ed Carpenter $102,000

32. Ryan Hunter-Reay $105,500

33. Katherine Legge $102,000

110th Indianapolis 500 Wrap Up

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The Indianapolis 500 ending people dream of, followed by the victor’s unbridled joy, and the runner-up’s dejection, was the perfect ending to a compelling race. It was a day tha many thought would not happen on this particular Sunday, with storm clouds looming and pessimistic forecasts even from the most optimistic of forecasters.

Here are the highlights from my perspective from the back of the media center.

The Agony of Defeat

David Malukas’s heart rending post-race interview with FOX was tough to watch, but I admire his outpouring of what he was going through at the time. We rarely get such a heartfelt interview with the second place driver anymore. David’s time to win is coming, perhaps as soon as June 7 at Gateway.

The Fall of 500 Favorites

Things tend to run in cycles, but the drop-off in results from ECR and Andretti Global is painful to watch.

ECR used to be a qualifying powerhouse, with two poles and a consistent top nine presence. While Alexander Rosswi grabbed the middle of the front row and led a few laps, his car, the same one he drove in last year’s race. caught fire as did in 2025.

His teammates also watched the end of the race from the pits. Ed Carpenter was knocked out after being squeezed by Takuma Sato in turn 1 on a restart, and Christian Rasmussen leaving the fray with mechanical issues.

Andretti Global started the practice week strong, but lost speed every day, and were relegated to the back of the starti9ng grid. Will Power lost5 an engine before t5he halfway point, and Marcus Ericsson and Kyle Kirkwood soldiered on all day, improving their positions. Ericsson finished 13th, and Kirkwood 16th.

I hope both teams can find some answers for next May. The race will be even more fun with these two teams mounting a challenge.

The Other Photo Finish

I did not see whether FOX covered the race for third or not- I’m guessing they didn’t because of the incredible finish, but Scott Mclaughlin, O Pato O’Ward, and Marcus Armstrong crossed the line in a near photo finish for third, fourth, and fifth. McLaughlin beat O’Ward by0.0066 seconds for third, and O’Ward nipped Armstrong by another 0.0089 seconds. The difference from third to fifth- 0.0155 seconds.

The Race

Many years ago (around the time Joe Dawson won) I created my guidelines for a good race- No driver leads more than a third of the laps, and caution periods consume no more than 25% of the day. Yesterday fit those criteria.

The yellows came at just the right times to trigger multiple fuel strategies, and they were spaced just right to allow teams to fine tune their plans. When the early leaders fade because of pit strategies, we are going to see a great race.

besides the record 70 lead changes, many of which I dismiss as merely a fuel saving tactic by the leader, not real competition passing, there was close racing throughout the field.

Yesterday’s 500 was one of my favorite all time races. It did not change my top three of 1986, 2024, and 2014- but it will definitely be in the top 10, perhaps as high as fifth.

The Pre Race and Pace Laps

Maybe it’s the old man who lives inside me talking, but the opening ceremonies seemed overly long this year. The speech by the army officer was much longer than necessary and devolved into propaganda and jingoism. I think this part of the program can be eliminated.

While I was disappointed to see the helicopters ruining the pace laps again, I was glad that there were only two instead of four and that they left after just a couple of laps. The speedway should continue to eliminate two helicopters each year.

369 More Days- UGH

Now we wait a very long 369 more days until the 111th Indianapolis 500, w2hen the race runs on its proper date. I always feel gypped when the race is on the 24th.

Thanks to everyone who followed along during the fortnight of May.

Quick Thoughts- 110th Indianapolis 500

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Some quick thoughts tonight and a more detailed analysis tomorrow.

Last night I created this tableau for our pre race party.

I had no idea how prophetic this turned out to be.

Let’s start at the end. Felix Rosenqvist went outside of David Malukas on the front stretch. He didn’t follow the “snake” move Malukas used, and a s a result, we have the closest finish in 500 history.

“Unreal; I still don’t believe it,” Rosenqvist said. “It kind of worked out the right way when I got back to third, and then I just had to flat-out lap on the high line, and it stuck,” Rosenqvist said. “It was just the coolest way you can finish and win an Indy 500.”

The record 70 lead changes isn’t impressive when most of them were allowed by the leader to save fuel.

I have seen heartbroken runners-up before, but FDavid Malukas’s heart rending post race interview captured the agony of coming oh so close to winning the biggest race of the all.

The race was playing out a fuel strategy affair, and the last 25 laps would have been a crazy scramble anyway.

I normally don’t care for red flags within the last 10 laps of a race, but I could see some justification for throwing one for Collet’s accident. That was one of the loudest hits I have ever heard. This race needed to finish under green, although I expected a different intriguing ending.

I wasn’t as thrilled with red flag for moisture. In turn 2 we only felt a few sprinkles which lasted just about a minute. For a while I thought IndyCar was having the cars run under yellow just to tick off laps and stay within the television window.

It’s not unusual for a washout forecast to turn out to be completely wrong. I remember several races in the 80s and 90s with a gloom and doom forecast which were run under sunny skies.

Fans cannot ask for much more from a race than we saw today. The race had multiple fuel strategies brought about by yellows outsid normal pit windows, an exciting down to the wire finish, a jubilant winner, and a distraught, heartbroken runner up.

I will have more on today’s race tomorrow afternoon. Congratulations to Felix Rosenqvist on a great race and a thrilling finish.

Fast 12 Set

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In ana efficieint, incident free first round of qualifying, positions 13-33 are locked in for the 110th running of the Indianapolis 500.

Felix Rosenqvistr set a blistering lap to post the fastest four lap average in the first round.

Rows 5-11

Row 5: Sato, Carpenter, Castroneves
Row 6: Rasmussen, Armstrong, Ericsson
Row 7: Lundgaard, Power, Siegel
Row 8: Foster, Hunter-Reay, Newgarden
Row 9: Grosjean, Kirkwood, Legge
Row 10: Schumacher, Harvey, Rahal
Row 11: Hauger, Abel, Robb

The Fast 12:

Felix Rosenqvist 232.599 mph

David Malukas 231.813

Conor Daly 231.744

ScottMcLaughlin 231.623

Rinus VeeKay 231,591

Alexander Rossi 231.580

Caio Collet 231.413

Scott Dixon 231.411

Pato O’Ward 231.248

Santino Ferrucci 231.224

Alex Palou 231.195

Kyffin Simpson 231.085

Sting Ray Robb had the slowest time-226.572 mph.

The biggest surprises of 5he session were Caio Collet making the second round, Takuma Sato not advancing, and Josef Newgarden falling to 24th.

Thde Fast 12 begins at 4 pm Eastern. Palou wil,be the second car on track, and he willset the bar for the 10 remaining cars.

I will be back after qualifying is complete.

Rosenqvist’s Late Run Leads Fast Friday

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Fast Friday was a day of contrasts. The program got off to a slow start with morning rain that delayed practice by three hours. IndyCar extended the time until 7 pm. AS very large crowd was in attendance, but they were on the quiet side. There was not a lot of cheering when a driver put up a quick speed.

Scott McLaughlin put up a fast lap of 232.674 mph and a top four lap averag.232.372 mph lap late in the day.

“We started pretty slow, to be honest,” Rosenqvist said. “It’s kind of rare you’re able to crawl out of a hole like that. I think our first run was like a 230-something. We just found basically 3 mph. That’s kind of cool. The car felt pretty good.

“Sometimes that happens, like once you find a little speed, it kind of comes. It kind of starts flowing. The balance was really good.”

While every driver will be in the race, there is still concern for Kyle Kirkwood, who finished the day in the 20s and was the slowest of the Andretti cars. Will Power struggled most of the day, but recovered to 14th when the session ended.

Weather could be a concern tomorrow as there is a chance for showers off and on throughout the day. Could qualifying spill over into Sunday? Will the extend time so that every car gets their guaranteed run? Tomorrow could be a very fluid situation (literally).

The fastest four lap averages posted today:

  1. Rosenqvist 232.828
  2. McLaughlin 232.572
  3. Rossi 232.543
  4. O’Ward 232.248
  5. Palou 232.026
  6. Malukas 232.024

Results

Qualifying Order

Rosenqvist Pole Caps Big Day for MSR

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Mike Shank would have left IndyCar qualifying happy regardless of the outcome after one of his entries won the IMSA race at: Long Beach this afternoon. It was MSR’s first win at the prestigious track. But Felix Rosenqvist wasn’t ready to end the celebration there.

“That was nerve-wracking to watch,” Rosenqvist said. “My old buddy Pato there at end, that was close. That was a good lap.”

Rosenqvist tied his career best by finishing sixth in the standings last season, his second year with MSR. But he has endured a slow start to 2026, 14th in the standings after four races, which he said gave the team extra focus this weekend.

“It’s been a tough start of the year,” Rosenqvist said. “We said we wanted to do a little bounce-back here, and we did. Phenomenal day for us.”

In a dramatic Fast Six qualifying, Rosenqvist knocked defending series champion off the pole, then he watched nervously out as Pato O’Ward just missed beating him on the final run of the day. O’Ward missed by 0.04 seconds.

The former teammates will share the front row, while the top two in the standings, Palou and leader Kyle Kirkwood, will roll off in row 2. Full results are at the end of this post.

Tweaks Worked

At Arlington the debut of the single car qualifying was a flop in my opinion. The sixth fastest in Round 2 went first, a distinct advantage as his tires were still warm from the previous run. The other five drivers had little chance of catching Marcus Ericsson.

For Long Beach, the fastest driver had first choice of when to make his run, and the other drivers chose a spot in order of their Fast 12 finish. The only driver to pick out of order was O’Ward, who chose to go last instead of fifth.

Teams had the option of changing tires, but most stuck with the Round 2 set.

The result was a dramatic round with the top spot changing hands three times.

The format worked the way it was intended to.

FOX Still Not There

FOX displayed sector times, but only occasionally and infrequently during the Fast Six. In the final round, they had a running timer which switched from red to green depending on where the car was in relation to the driver on pole at the time. That was okay, but I want to know how far off the fastest pace the driver is.

I want to see running sector times for all six drivers and each driver’s deficit or advantage as they run. The network has the capability, I don’t understand why they are shortchanging the broadcast of a sport they partly own.

A Black Day for Racing

This morning we learned of the of sports car driver Juha Miettinen as a result of injuries sustained in a crash involving seven cars during a race at the Nürburgring in Germany. Any driver sport in any racing category is a tough blow to all racing fans. I’m thankful that racing fatalities are so few and far between in this era, but somehow it makes each one hurt more.

If you are going to a race tomorrow, or just watching at home, please take a moment to honor Juha Miettinen’s memory.

Results

Nothing New at the Front

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Kyle Kirkwood turned the fastest lap in today’s only practice session for Sunday’s XPel GP at Road America. Kirkwood edged Devlin deFrancesco by0.1533 seconds and Will Power by 0.1914 seconds. Kirkwood has won the last two races, but he faces a stiff challenge from the Team Penske cars this weekend. All three Chevy powered drivers were within three tenths of a second or less of Kirkwood.

Two red flags interrupted practice. Santino Ferrucci went off course and needed a tow in. With less than five minutes remaining Alexander Rossi sopun in turn 1 and ended up in the sand trap. Less than a minute remained when the green was thrown.

In a post practice media availability Newgarden showed no ill effects from his crash at Gateway last Sunday. he attributed it to bad timing.

“I had nowhere to go,” he said.

Newgarden said that if fans want to see what an IndyCar can do, IMS and Road America are the two tracks that show the performance of the cars.

Notes

Team Penske cars looked very strong, finishing today third, fourth, and sixth.

The new bridge is very nice and much safer than the old tunnel. I have said since my first trip here in2016 that the tunnel was dangerous and needed to be either all pedestrians or all vehicles. It is now pedestrians only.

Heatb will be a factor tomorrow and Sunday. Some teams had hybrid issues in the heat at Thermal. Both Newgarden and Felix Rosenqvist don does not anticipate any issues this weekend.

Results

That will do it for me for today. Thanks for following along. I’ll be back tomorrow with morning practice results and qualifying groups. All sessions are on FS1 tomorrow.

Detroit Race Day-Starting Tire Choices, Warm Up Results

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First- Congratulations to the Indian Pacers on reaching the NBA Finals for the first time in 25 years. I’m sure there are going to be some tired IndyCar officials in Detroit today.

Felix Rosenqvist led the morning warmup which featured some contact between cars. Colton Herta had contact late in the session, and Alexander Rossi was involved in another incident. Both cars were able to to continue with minor damage.

I will be back this afternoon with some quick thoughts on the race. I’m still picking Kirkwood to win, but I think David Malukas and Marcus Ericsson may also have a shot.

Tire selections- Includes official line up

Results

Armstrong Crash Mars Practice

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Update: Marcus Armstrong was treated and released from the infield care center just moments ago.

Marcus Armstrong suffered a heavy crash in the first minutes of morning practice prior to Indianapolis 500 qualifying. The number 66 Meyer Shank Racing machine got loose enteringt urn 1 of his third lap and made hard contact with the wall, spun into the short chute, ten hit the wall near turn 2.

Armstrong was placed on a stretcher and taken to the infield care center, where he was held for observation for more than an hour.

Only 23 cars ran during the session, which was extended a few minutes due to the lengthy cleanup from Armstrong’s accident.

Results