BLINK AND YOU MISSED IT: ROSENQVIST WINS CLOSEST INDY 500 EVER BY 0.02 SEC

May 25, 2026
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The 110th Running of the Indianapolis 500 delivered a historic, pulse-pounding spectacle at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, culminating in the closest finish in the event’s storied history.

Sweden’s Felix Rosenqvist, driving for Meyer Shank Racing, etched his name onto the Borg-Warner Trophy after edging out Team Penske’s David Malukas by a razor-thin margin of 0.0233 seconds in a breathtaking one-lap shootout.

The 2026 race officially entered the history books before the final lap even began, setting an all-time Indy 500 record with 70 lead changes across the 200 laps as different strategies played out.

Weather was a constant threat. A red flag was thrown just past the halfway mark as rain began to fall over the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Because the race had already passed the official 101-lap distance, it could have been called right there. Luckily for the fans, the skies cleared, the track dried, and racing resumed.

Fuel strategy split the field late in the day. Felix Rosenqvist, Pato O’Ward, and Marcus Armstrong stretched their fuel windows to the absolute limit to eliminate an extra pit stop, while David Malukas and pole-sitter Alex Palou charged hard on a separate sequence after taking late stops.

Malukas became just the fifth driver in Indy 500 history to lead the final lap and fail to win. A devastated Malukas remarked after the race, “I was driving 150%… It was ours to win and I knew that.”

The heavy attrition rate caught out several former winners and superstars. Defending winner Josef Newgarden crashed out on Lap 124, while Will Power and Alexander Rossi both saw their days end early on Lap 91.

Scott McLaughlin had an absolute flyer of a race, securing a fantastic third-place finish to lock in his first-ever career podium at the Indianapolis 500.

Driving Team Penske’s famous “Yellow Submarine” Pennzoil Chevrolet, McLaughlin’s podium felt like pure redemption after the heartbreak of crashing before the green flag even waved.

“I went from 10th to third in two laps… I had an awesome run—I had so much adrenaline going through my body. The last 365 days have eaten at me to come back here, so it’s just nice to execute.” > — Scott McLaughlin post-race

Aussie Will Power had a frustrating and short-lived race at the 2026 Indianapolis 500, recording a Did Not Finish (DNF) due to a mechanical failure.

Driving the No. 26 car for Andretti Global, his day came to an abrupt end just shy of the halfway mark on Lap 92

Notable Finishes Outside the Top 10

Mick Schumacher (P18): The German rookie ran a highly respectable debut race but finished 14 seconds down after his late brush with the Turn 2 wall set up the final shootout.
Helio Castroneves (P25 – DNF): The four-time winner’s bid for a record-breaking fifth title ended prematurely when he crashed out on Lap 194.
Katherine Legge (P33 – DNF): Legge’s highly anticipated “Double Attempt” weekend (attempting the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600) got off to the worst possible start when she was caught in an early crash on Lap 17.

NOTES FROM INDYCAR:

This was the first career Indianapolis 500 victory for Felix Rosenqvist in his eighth career “500” start.

Felix Rosenqvist won today by .0233 of a second over David Malukas, the closest finish in “500” history. The previous closest finish came in 1992 when Al Unser Jr. beat Scott Goodyear by .043 of a second.

Today’s race featured an event-record 70 lead changes. The previous record was 68, in 2013.

Felix Rosenqvist is the third Swedish driver to win the Indianapolis 500, joining Kenny Brack (1999) and Marcus Ericsson (2022). Brack led 66 laps in 1999, Rosenqvist 25 laps today and Ericsson 13 laps in 2022.

Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian earned its second Indianapolis 500 victory, the team’s two NTT INDYCAR SERIES victories. Helio Castroneves earned his record-tying fourth “500” win for the team in 2021.

This year’s finish marks the fifth time in “500” history that the driver leading the race lost on the last lap. In today’s race, David Malukas lost the lead on the last lap to Felix Rosenqvist. Other last-lap finishes with a lead change:
2024: Pato O’Ward lost the lead on Lap 200 to Josef Newgarden
2023: Marcus Ericsson lost the lead on Lap 200 to Josef Newgarden
2011: JR Hildebrand lost the lead to Dan Wheldon on Lap 200
2006: Marco Andretti lost the lead to Sam Hornish Jr on Lap 200

Felix Rosenqvist is 34 years old. The last 34-year-old to win the “500” was Helio Castroneves in 2009.

This is the eighth time the car that started fourth won the Indianapolis 500. The last winner from the No. 4 starting spot was Takuma Sato in 2017. The event record is 21 winners from the pole.

This is the 17th Indianapolis 500 victory for a Honda engine, second to Offenhauser’s 27 wins.

This is the first time car No. 60 has won the Indianapolis 500.

Mick Schumacher was the top-finishing rookie today, in 18th place.

Romain Grosjean advanced more positions than any other driver, finishing ninth after starting 24th.

Conor Daly recorded the fastest lap (225.126 mph) of the race on Lap 182.

In the past six Indianapolis 500 races, only 2025 winner Alex Palou and 2022 winner Marcus Ericsson were able to hold the lead over the final 10 laps.

There were three drivers who led the Indianapolis 500 for the first time: Marcus Armstrong, Caio Collet and Romain Grosjean. The record is seven, in the inaugural race in 1911.

Pato O’Ward finished fourth, his fifth top-four finish in his seven career starts. None were victories.

The 2026 Indianapolis 500 had 14 different lap leaders, tying for third-most in race history with the 2013, 2023 and 2025 races. The 2024 race holds the record at 16 different lap leaders, while the 2017 and 2018 races had 15 different lap leaders.

Helio Castroneves dropped out of the 2026 race due to mechanical issues on Lap 194. This is the third time in 26 career “500” starts he was not running at the finish. He holds the records for number of finishes on the lead lap and running at the finish.

On Lap 112, Helio Castroneves surpassed A.J. Foyt as the Indianapolis 500 all-time mileage leader and went on to complete 194 laps. Castroneves has completed 12,480 miles in the Indianapolis 500. The previous record was Foyt’s 12,272.5 miles.

Ed Carpenter completed his 23rd career “500” start without a victory, the most winless starts of any driver in event history. George Snider made 22 starts between 1965-87 without a win.

Scott Dixon led 32 laps in the 2026 Indianapolis 500, extending his career laps-led record to 709 laps. He has also led a record 17 races.

Pole sitter Alex Palou led the most laps (59) in the 2026 race. This is the 28th time the pole-sitter has been the top lap leader of the race.

In 2026, Santino Ferrucci completed the full 500-mile distance for a record eighth consecutive year, all of his career “500” starts.
Alex Palou and Scott Dixon traded the lead a record 26 times in the 2026 race. The previous record of lead changes between same two drivers was 18, between James Hinchcliffe and Ryan Hunter-Reay in 2016.

Photos: INDYCAR Facebook

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