110th Indianapolis 500: Rosenqvist beats Malukas in epic photo finish

SPEEDWAY, Ind. — Meyer Shank Racing driver Felix Rosenqvist won the 110th running of the Indianapolis 500 in the closest finish in the history of the NTT IndyCar Series’ premier crown-jewel event, beating Team Penske’s David Malukas at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The 110th Indy 500 came down to a one-lap shootout due to Mick Schumacher grazing the outside wall of Turn 2 in the closing laps. After racing side-by-side with MSR teammate Marcus Armstrong on the final lap, Rosenqvist got a big run exiting Turn 4 to power around Armstrong and set his sights on Malukas down the frontstretch.

The 34-year-old Swedish driver, who started the 500-mile race from the inside of Row 2 in fourth place, put himself in the right position to slingshot around Malukas at the checkered flag by 0.023 seconds to claim his first Borg-Warner Trophy in a thrilling photo finish.

“We just won the Indy 500!” Rosenqvist said. “What an incredible month. I just want to say thank you to my team, Meyer Shank Racing, and to Honda for giving me an incredible car. What a last lap, I can’t wait to re-watch it. It was the craziest racing ever, but it was fair — I think that’s what the fans wanted to see. And it was also the closest finish ever! It’s been an unbelievable month for me. I became a dad just 16 days ago, and now I’m an Indianapolis 500 winner. I feel like I’m still in a dream, so I’m still taking it all in. Thank you, everyone!”

Malukas felt devastated after coming so close to his first career IndyCar win in the biggest race of the year. In the post-race press conference, the Penske driver expressed his emotions after a runner-up finish at the 2.5-mile Speedway.

“Yeah, just disappointment.” Malukas said, “I just don’t know what else we could have done. We were driving 150% that whole race. The guys did a fantastic job getting the car where it needed to be. We had the fastest car out there that whole race. It was ours to win, and I knew that.”

Green flag

When the green flag dropped to kick off the 110th Indianapolis 500, Alexander Rossi made a move for the lead in Turn 1 as Santino Ferrucci moved up to third. Alex Palou retook the lead before the first lap ended.

At the start of Lap 2, Rossi got the lead back as Palou swapped places again at the start of Lap 3. Josef Newgarden went three wide with Arrow McLaren teammates Nolan Siegel and Christian Lundgaard, with the Team Penske driver overtaking them both. 

The dance for the lead between Rossi and Palou continued as Felix Rosenqvist took third place from Ferrucci. Later on, David Malukas took fourth place from Ferrucci. Palou and Rossi swapped the lead 11 times from Lap 1 to Lap 17. 

End of Legge’s ‘Double’

On Lap 18, Ryan Hunter-Reay spun his No. 31 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet after going high in Turn 2, and Katherine Legge spun and hit the inside wall on the backstretch to avoid striking Hunter-Reay’s car. This incident ended Legge’s attempt to complete “The Double.”

Drivers took the opportunity to pit as the pit lane opened. Rinus VeeKay led the pack with Romain Grosjean in second and Caio Collet in third after the first pit cycle. 

Grosjean took the lead from VeeKay as Felix Rosenvist took fifth from Alex Palou. Soon afterward, Ed Carpenter spun out, causing another caution on Lap 27. During the caution, Grosjean led the race with Collet in second and Rosenqvist in third. 

The green flag waved on Lap 32 as Collet took the lead from Grosjean, with Palou and Conor Daly taking second and third, respectively. Palou took the lead from Collet. Then, Daly and Collet swapped the lead. Scott McLaughlin also made a move on Grosjean for fourth.

Rookie Collet leads the race

As Lap 37 began, AJ Foyt Racing’s Caio Collet led the race, with Conor Daly in second and Alex Palou in third. David Malukas passed Romain Grosjean for fifth place. Then, Collet and Grosjean pitted as Daly took the lead.

Palou returned to the top spot as Malukas made a successful move on his Team Penske teammate Scott McLaughlin for third. 

A quarter into the race, Palou led, with Daly in second and Malukas in third. Drivers pitted on Lap 62, and McLaughlin headed out ahead of Daly. Palou had a 7.2-second pit stop. At the end of the pit cycle, Palou led the race as Scott Dixon moved up to second place. 

Dixon took the lead from Palou as the driver of the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda caught up to his teammate. Palou retook the lead from Dixon on Lap 70. Dixon and Palou traded the lead back and forth, with the teammates conserving their fuel and tires. 

Power spins

The third caution of the race was thrown for Will Power spinning in the acceleration lane exiting the pits after fluid was leaking from his No. 26 Andretti Global Honda.

During the caution, Alexander Rossi’s No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet started smoking, and he was unable to make it back to his pit box as his race ended early. Many drivers pitted under caution as Scott Dixon headed out first, with Alex Palou in second and David Malukas in third. 

Dark clouds covered the Indianapolis Motor Speedway halfway through the race. Light rain started during the caution. Next, the red flag was flown on Lap 106 as the rain built up. The cars headed back on track once the rain stopped and the track dried. 

The 110th Indianapolis 500 went back to green on Lap 110 as Dixon lost his lead to Malukas. Palou got the lead from Malukas as Conor Daly took third place from Josef Newgarden. Then, Malukas took the lead in Turn 3. Palou and Malukas took turns leading to conserve their tires and fuel, which was a common theme from the frontrunners throughout the race.

The yellow flag waved again as rain was spotted in Turn 4. Malukas led the pack as caution was called, with Palou in second and Daly in third. During the yellow flag, Romain Grosjean was hit with a penalty for passing under caution. The Dale Coyne Racing driver was sent to the back of the grid for the next restart.

Newgarden out

Josef Newgarden’s race came to an end when his No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet touched the Turn 4 grass during a restart, causing a spin to the outside wall. Newgarden hit the outside SAFER barrier with this left-front tire and assembly.

Thankfully, the American driver walked into the ambulance and was taken to the care center. 

A race of strategy

In the closing laps, Dennis Hauger and Felix Rosenqvist pitted as David Malukas made his way back to the front. Pato O’Ward slipped into fourth place while the leaders ahead of him still need to pit. Rosenqvist’s No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda wiggled in Turn 2 with 26 laps to go as he battled for O’Ward for the net lead.

Malukas, Scott McLaughlin and Alex Palou pitted for the last time, with O’Ward taking the lead on the alternate strategy. With 18 laps remaining, Rosenqvist caught up to O’Ward to fight for the win. Malukas made his way to fourth but was far back at the time.

Rosenqvist took the lead from O’Ward with 15 laps to go. Mick Schumacher unlapped himself as he got in front of Rosenqvist.

Rookie Caio Collet crashed his right side into the outside wall in Turn 2, with eight laps to go. The red flag was displayed for the heavy incident, but the Brazilian driver was able to exit his No. 4 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet.

The drivers headed back on track with five laps to go. Rosenqvist led the field back to green, but his MSR teammate Marcus Armstrong took the lead before another yellow flag waved as Schumacher grazed the wall. This late-race caution ultimately led to a one-lap shootout to decide the winner.

Post-race Palou penalty

After post-race technical inspection, IndyCar Officiating discovered that the front wing of the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda of Alex Palou failed the front wing height measurement. It was determined that this occurred due to an assembly error and not an intentional modification.

As a result, the No. 10 Honda was docked five driver and entrant points, with CGR receiving a $10,000 fine.

The NTT IndyCar Series returns on Sunday, May 31, for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix on the Streets of Detroit, with race coverage beginning at 12:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

Results: 110th Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

GRID Ranking

The 2026 GRID Ranking is the 10th year of the world’s premier motorsports ranking system, which was initially released on Sunday, April 5.

The official ranking includes drivers participating in seven racing series (NASCAR, IndyCar, Formula 1, Formula E, WRC, Supercars, MotoGP). Each driver earns GRID Ratings, which help determine their seeding in the GRID Ranking.

GRID Ranking Week 8 IndyCar drivers:

DRIVER	OLD RATING	PREVIOUS RANKING	MOST RECENT FINISH	NEW RATING	NEW RANKING
Alex Palou	N/A	N/A	7th	16.71	4th
Kyle Kirkwood	N/A	N/A	16th	13.00	10th
Christian Lundgaard	N/A	N/A	17th	11.57	16th
David Malukas	N/A	N/A	2nd	11.29	19th
Pato O’Ward	N/A	N/A	4th	7.86	31st