By Austin Lawton, Staff Writer
The record of the closest finish in Indianapolis 500 history, dating back to 1992, when Al Unser Jr beat Scott Goodyear by just 0.043-seconds, stood still for over 30 years.
Until Sunday May 24, 2026.
After a one-lap shootout at the end of the race, Felix Rosenqvist beat David Malukas by just 0.023- seconds to claim his first “500” victory and second in his career.
“I had that momentum going, and I was kind of like, ‘I’m going to go on the high line, and I’m not going to ruin this momentum. If someone comes in the way, that’s it.’ But no one did, and I was able to stay on the high lane through the whole thing, and I was getting a side draft at the same time from the other guys,” Rosenqvist said of his last-lap pass. “I thought I was second, to be honest. I was like, this is — this sucks, now we’re second in the 500. I guess it was a good day; we did what we could. Then it just kind of pulled, like the big Honda motor just — yeah, I thought I didn’t have it, and then I shifted up, and it was just kind of sucking up to David, and it was just enough to get me over the finish line half a foot ahead of him. You can’t even dream up that stuff. It was just so cool. I’ll watch it a million times.
A caution on Lap 197, stemming from Mick Schumacher grazing the outside wall in Turn 2, set up a dash to the finish with Marcus Armstrong, Malukas and Rosenqvist. Malukas would overtake Armstrong going into Turn 1 and pull away, allowing the two Meyer Shank Racing teammates to battle for second.
Rosenqvist would overtake Armstrong exiting Turn 4, giving the Swede momentum to chase down Malukas. Rosenqvist would keep on the back of the No.12 Team Penske Chevrolet, with Malukas covering the inside. Despite the best efforts of the young driver, the run that Rosenqvist had would not be enough for Malukas to stop.
“I mean, he [Rosenqvist] just had a really good run,” Malukas said post-race. “There’s nothing else I could have done. I’m trying to think back, maybe something different with deployment here or there. There’s just no way. In the car it looked a lot closer, which it was really, really close, but from the run I didn’t know he had that big of a run. Watching the replay and seeing the run that he had, it actually made me feel better because I was like, ‘To be honest, I don’t think there’s anything I could have done.’ Maybe could have shortened it by a couple thousandths. I think that was the IMS gods telling me that it’s not my time.”
Scott McLaughlin would pass both Armstong and Pato O’Ward on the outside of Turn 4 during the final lap, to claim third, running in 10th at one point in the late stages of the race. The 2024 “500” polesitter bounces back after not even turning a green flag lap in the 2025 race.
“I had a really good restart on the second to last one, and I got to sixth, I think, and then I just — the next restart I had a really good restart,” McLaughlin said. “Honestly, I thought my restarts all day were really solid, but I said I was going up to the top no matter what. I didn’t really care where I was going. It was just throw it up and hope we come out all right. Honestly, I had a pretty good run off Turn 2 and everyone was side by side, so I just checked myself up and was going to try and get a big run, and decided to deploy. Deployed out the hybrid, helped me get to the line, sort of doing a go-kart, like crash down, trying to get low, and it was amazing. Yeah, it was cool.”
O’Ward would finish fourth, continuing his search for “500” glory. Armstrong, who was leading before the final caution flag flew, brought home his No.66 Honda in fifth, but expressed all the disappointment and heartbreak that losing at Indy can bring.
“I can’t believe how disappointed I am,” Armstrong told the media post-race. “I don’t know. I feel like I lost the Indy 500 for my team, for my No. 66 crew. I mean, I left it at the wrong moment and I’m very, very happy for Felix, but I’m so disappointed.”
SEE: 110th Indianapolis 500 Results
The wild conclusion to Sunday’s race told the tale of the whole afternoon, with seven cautions throughout the day, in an overall, wild race. The chaos started fairly early, with cautions on Lap 18, for Ryan Hunter-Reay and Kathrine Legge and Lap 27 for Ed Carpenter.
The race would be halted twice for rain, with the field being brought into pit road on Lap 106. Once the field went green on Lap 109, the intensity picked up as the threat of rain loomed. Just seven laps later, the yellow would fly for conditions once again.
The Lap 125 restart would see contender Josef Newgarden enter Turn 4 too low, lose the car from underneath and careen into the outside wall. The frontrunners of Alex Palou, Malukas, and McLaughlin, along with Rosenqvist and O’Ward, who were on an alternate strategy, ended up playing the waiting game to see who would have the upper hand.
It would ultimately see O’Ward and Rosenqvist in control of the race with 24 laps to go as Palou, Malukas and McLaughlin made their last stops. O’Ward and Rosenqvist were aiming to make it until the end of the race, until a caution with nine laps-to-go, brought out by heavy damage from Caio Collet’s No.4, would put the race under a red flag.
With IndyCar aiming to finish the race under green, similar to actions they took in 2022, the red flag would be lifted for a five-lap shootout. The aforementioned caution from Schumacher would set up the chaotic run to the finish.
For Palou, who led the most laps of the race at 59, and looked to go back-to-back in the “500”, came home seventh in order to survive the chaos.
“We were trying to win and be in the lead,” Palou said. “It was a bit of survival trying to get the car to the end.”
Rosenqvist, who survived the chaos ultimately more than anyone, is able to take the “500” victory home to his wife and two-week old daughter.
“I got kind of emotional thinking about them not being here,” Rosenqvist said. “We joked about it, that just because she’s not here we’re going to win the race, and obviously that happens, right. But yeah, honestly, when we had our baby, that was the most incredible moment of my life. Everything after that was like, everything else is just a bonus, and not only in May but in life. Which is actually kind of a nice mindset to have, because you take more pressure off your shoulders, and in a way, you become more focused and thinking about the right stuff instead of — because we all put enough pressure on ourselves anyways. I think it turned out to be a good thing for me to become a dad. I definitely miss my wife and daughter, but I’ll go give them a fat kiss later.”