The 110th Running of the Indianapolis 500 delivered chaos and drama, and left everyone in awe as Felix Rosenqvist pulled off a surging effort for the closest win in event history.
It was wild from the moment the green flag dropped, with seven cautions – including two red flags – that accounted for 51 of 200 laps. Even with that, though, the race featured 70 lead changes, which is a record for the Indy 500 and stands as the third-most in IndyCar Series history. The action was everywhere with 567 passes for position, and 144 of those coming inside the top five (second-most on record). And, finally, the one-lap shootout saw Rosenqvist go from third to first and beat David Malukas to the finish line by a narrow 0.0233s.
It was a fairytale Month of May for Rosenqvist, who became a father for the first time earlier in the month, too.
So, without further delay, here are the winners and losers from the seventh round of the 2026 season.
WINNER: Felix Rosenqvist
Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb Agajanian Honda
Photo by: Penske Entertainment
Anytime you win the Indy 500, you’re going P1 on this list. With that, though, my goodness did Rosenqvist have a rocket throughout the two weeks. He set the fastest four-lap average in qualifying, with his Round 1 run quicker than Alex Palou’s pole-winning performance. In the race, he had the field covered to win on fuel mileage before the caution came out while leading with eight laps to go. Then he pulled off the restart of a lifetime by going wheel-to-wheel from the high lane with Meyer Shank Racing teammate Marcus Armstrong for the majority of the one-lap shootout before breaking away and stunning with a photo finish over Malukas.
It was career win #2 for the 34-year-old from Värnamo, Sweden, which came nearly a full six years after his first at Road America in 2020. Additionally, he’s now got $4.34 million to help with the diaper budget.
Josef Newgarden, Team Penske Chevrolet
Photo by: Brandon Badraoui / Lumen via Getty Images
The two-time Indy 500 champion was poised to be a threat for the win, showcasing elite pace and at-will passing ability after storming from 23rd to 10th in just 31 laps. He ran as high as third and traded positions with Malukas and teammate Scott McLaughlin as the complexity of the race – at one point – made it seem it was those three versus Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou, the 2025 Indy 500 winner, and Scott Dixon. Everything changed, however, coming to take the green flag on the Lap 125 restart when Newgarden clipped the inside curbing of Turn 4, which led to him spinning and pounding the outside wall nearly head on in his #2 Team Penske Chevrolet.
Although Newgarden was seen and released from the Infield Medical Center (IMC), officials shared with the media that he opted to stay in the IMC to watch the end of the race while icing his left foot. He was seen in a walking boot on Monday while attending the Indy 500 awards ceremony on Monday night.
WINNER: David Malukas
David Malukas, Team Penske Chevrolet
Photo by: Penske Entertainment
Several competitors, if not all, will say they learn more from defeats than victories. I learned more about Malukas in this Indy 500 performance than any other showing in his IndyCar career, or even Indy NXT, for that matter.
First and foremost, the Chicago native drove his ass off, leading 30 laps after qualifying third and doing everything possible to win the race, including a perfectly timed restart to overtake Armstrong on the final restart. The emotions that came after are what provided the exclamation point. Never before have I ever seen Malukas, usually a humorous and laid back type of personality, display such a raw feeling. It was refreshing. And fittingly, Marco Andretti, who befell a similar fate 20 years prior to Sam Hornish, Jr., came over to console Malukas.
Malukas continues to be the bright spot for Team Penske, with his season performances to date elevating him to second in the championship standings and just 37 points behind four-time and reigning series champion Alex Palou (273-236).
Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global Honda
Photo by: Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
It’s puzzling to know where it all went wrong for Kyle Kirkwood. Although qualifying was feeble for Andretti Global as a whole, there was plenty of confidence in the race pace, with Kirkwood able to carve through the field in race trim through the two weeks – and during the Open Test in April. Despite starting 25th, there was an expectation, especially after Carb Day, Kirkwood would be a factor on race day.
That never happened, though, as he broke into the top 10 briefly before sliding back to finish 16th. It was a gut punch, of sorts, as the Floridian came into the race second in the championship standings and Palou whiffed on strategy near the end to finish, by his standards, a lowly seventh. Kirkwood leaves Indianapolis third in the overall standings, but more importantly, a staggering 49 points behind Palou (273-224).
Rinus VeeKay, Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet
Photo by: Penske Entertainment
Rinus VeeKay has started on the front row of the Indy 500 three times, all with ECR, but never converted it to anything better than eighth.
This year, the Dutchman not only put Juncos Hollinger Racing into the Fast 12 in qualifying, he propelled them – and himself – to a best-ever finish at the grandest stage with a sixth-place result. While the outcome stands out on its own, the fact that an early strategy call to not pit on the opening caution, which elevated him to the race lead, had him chasing the race from behind.
Despite that, he was able to overcome that through pace and stellar pit stops to seize his second top 10 of the year.
LOSER: ECR … all three of them
Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet
Photo by: James Gilbert / Getty Images
The phrase “misery loves company” was pretty much the theme for ECR’s run in the Indy 500.
First and foremost, credit to Alexander Rossi, the 2016 Indy 500 winner, for battling through an ankle and foot injury – both of which required procedures following a crash on Monday after qualifying – and looking like a contender in the race early on by taking the fight to Palou, leading into Turn 1 before being out front for six laps.
That was the highlight, though, as Rossi ultimately retired on fire with a mechanical issue for the second year in-a-row. Ed Carpenter, a three-time pole-sitter in the Indy 500 and the only driver/owner in the race, was on the wrong end of contact with two-time “500” winner Takuma Sato, crashing out after just 27 laps. And then Christian Rasmussen, the ‘Sultan of Sketch’ as he’s known by the FOX Sports play-by-play booth, was never properly in the fight and retired with a mechanical problem after 144 laps.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
– The Motorsport.com Team
