Meyer Shank Racing’s Helio Castroneves has won his fourth Indianapolis 500, taking the win after a close battle with Chip Ganassi’s Alex Palou in the final laps of the 500-mile race.
The Brazilian has joined Rick Mears, Al Unser Sr and A.J Foyt as a four-time winner of the prestigious event, with his 2021 victory being his first for a team outside of Team Penske.
After the final round of pit stops, Castroneves and Palou fought tooth and nail, with the pair constantly weaving out of Turns 2 and 4.
Palou stopped one lap later than the Meyer Shank driver, but the experience and determination of the 46-year old, coupled with lapped traffic in the final laps, meant the Spaniard had to settle for second.
Thanks to the double points on offer, Palou has jumped to the lead of the championship after team-mate Scott Dixon ran into trouble early in the race with fuel issues, caused by a pit-stop delay when Stefan Wilson crashed in the pit lane on lap 33.
Simon Pagenaud crept into contention late in the race and snatched third place away from Arrow McLaren SP’s Pato O’Ward on the final lap having made up 23 places from his starting position, leaving the young Mexican in fourth across the line.
Hoosier Ed Carpenter and 2019 Indy 500 Rookie of the Year Santino Ferrucci, who like Castroneves are part-time entries, finished the race in fifth and sixth place respectively.
Having had to go through the trial of qualifying for the race in the last-row shootout last weekend, Sage Karam turned his fortunes from 30th on the grid to secure his best finish at the Brickyard in seventh place.
Indy Grand Prix winner Rinus Veekay appeared to be in the fight for victory in the opening half of the race, but despite leading 32 laps the Dutchman would lose touch with the leading cars due to the low fuel mileage of his Chevrolet engine – he finished in eighth.
More part-time veterans in the form of Juan Pablo Montoya and Tony Kanaan rounded out the top 10.
Castroneves’ victory came in front of approximately 135,000 fans, making the Indy 500 the largest attended event since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020.
The race itself featured just two cautions, with Wilson’s pit lane shunt bringing out the yellows, while the other period was caused when front-runner Graham Rahal crashed due to a loose wheel.
Rahal’s left-rear tyre was not fully fitted during a stop shortly after mid-distance and he was pitched hard into the wall as he accelerated out of pit exit.
Rahal was lucky not to be stuck by a rival on-track while there was further fortune when Conor Daly – who led most laps during the race – hit Rahal’s detached wheel at near full-speed.
Daly was able to continue, with the impact of the tyre visible on the nose of his car, and he eventually classified 13th.
IndyCar will return to action for the traditional double-header at the Belle Isle Circuit on the streets of Detroit on June 12-13.
| # | Driver | Gap | Laps led | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Helio Castroneves | 02:37:19.3846 | 20 | 103 |
| 2 | Alex Palou | 0.4928 | 35 | 85 |
| 3 | Simon Pagenaud | 0.5626 | 3 | 71 |
| 4 | Pato O’Ward | 0.9409 | 17 | 65 |
| 5 | Ed Carpenter | 1.2424 | – | 66 |
| 6 | Santino Ferrucci | 9.0876 | 2 | 57 |
| 7 | Sage Karam | 13.4359 | 2 | 53 |
| 8 | Rinus VeeKay | 14.2415 | 32 | 56 |
| 9 | Juan Pablo Montoya | 14.8808 | – | 44 |
| 10 | Tony Kanaan | 15.4428 | – | 45 |
| 11 | Marcus Ericsson | 16.5166 | – | 39 |
| 12 | Josef Newgarden | 22.3045 | – | 36 |
| 13 | Conor Daly | 22.6921 | 40 | 37 |
| 14 | Takuma Sato | 23.2955 | 7 | 33 |
| 15 | JR Hildebrand | 23.5277 | – | 30 |
| 16 | Colton Herta | 28.8029 | 13 | 37 |
| 17 | Scott Dixon | 38.6410 | 7 | 36 |
| 18 | Jack Harvey | 40.1572 | – | 24 |
| 19 | Marco Andretti | 40.3591 | – | 22 |
| 20 | Scott McLaughlin | 40.8337 | – | 20 |
| 21 | James Hinchcliffe | 40.8464 | – | 18 |
| 22 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | 41.5762 | – | 19 |
| 23 | Dalton Kellett | -1 lap | – | 14 |
| 24 | Max Chilton | -1 lap | – | 12 |
| 25 | Pietro Fittipaldi | -1 lap | – | 10 |
| 26 | Sebastien Bourdais | -1 lap | – | 10 |
| 27 | Felix Rosenqvist | -1 lap | 14 | 11 |
| 28 | Ed Jones | -1 lap | – | 10 |
| 29 | Alexander Rossi | -2 laps | – | 10 |
| 30 | Will Power | -3 laps | – | 10 |
| 31 | Simona De Silvestro | -31 laps | – | 10 |
| 32 | Graham Rahal | -82 laps | 8 | 11 |
| 33 | Stefan Wilson | -168 laps | – | 10 |
