Rosenqvist wins 2026 Indy 500 in closest-ever finish

Felix Rosenqvist surged from third to first in a one-lap shootout to win the 110th running of the Indianapolis 500.

The 34-year-old Swede went from side-by-side with Meyer Shank Racing team-mate Marcus Armstrong before breaking free and making a dramatic late push by Team Penske’s David Malukas in a photo finish by a narrow 0.0233s.

Malukas held second, with Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin making a late push to third. 

Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward finished fourth, with Armstrong sliding to fifth after starting the one-lap shootout in the lead. 

Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Rinus VeeKay took sixth, ahead of last year’s Indy 500 winner Alex Palou. AJ Foyt Racing’s Santino Ferrucci was eighth, with Dale Coyne Racing’s Romain Grosjean ninth. Two-time Indy 500 winner Takuma Sato put his one-off Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda in 10th. 

The Race

Pole-sitter Palou led the field to the green flag, but it was Alexander Rossi who took the lead into Turn 1 as the two exchanged the top spot over the next several laps. 

Rossi and Palou continued their back and forth exchange through the initial 17 laps. 

The first incident came on Lap 18, with Arrow McLaren’s Ryan Hunter-Reay snapping loose off Turn 2 and hit the outside wall. Katherine Legge attempted to avoid the 2014 Indy 500 champion, which resulted in her spinning and pounding the inside wall in her #51 HMD Motorsports with AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet. 

When the pits opened up, it split the field as Palou came down for service and was the first among those off pit road. However, he restarted 17th, while Rinus VeeKay (Juncos Hollinger Racing) elevated to the lead, ahead of the #18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda of  Grosjean. 

The restart on Lap 26 saw Grosjean take the lead, with Collet following. However, contact between Ed Carpenter and Sato led to the former crashing in Turn 1. Carpenter, the only driver/owner of the series, got out of his #33 ECR Chevrolet and pointed at Sato with words of clear displeasure. 

VeeKay took the opportunity to pit on Lap 29, with the restart coming two laps later. Collet took the lead moments later, with Daly rising up to the top spot by Lap 34. Palou was up to third. 

Grosjean dove to pit lane on Lap 39. Palou returned to the top spot on Lap 41 with a pass by Daly. 

Palou led at Lap 50, with a 0.2495s advantage over Daly. 

After a cycle of pit stops, it was Palou over Rosenqvist on Lap 66. Dixon climbed to second, and then the lead, at Lap 69. Dixon and Palou swapped the lead with choreographed passes over the next several laps. 

Will Power spun on Lap 92 before coming over the radio to confirm, “It blew up,” in reference to his #26 Andretti Global Honda. As fluid littered the track and brought out the yellow flag, Rossi came to the pits as smoke bellowed from his #20 ECR Chevrolet. 

Dixon led the field to pit lane on Lap 97, followed by Palou and Rosenqvist. Dixon won the race out of the pits, with Palou in second and Newgarden taking third. Rosenqvist dropped to seventh. 

A red flag came out on Lap 105 due to reports of light rain. Fortunately, it lasted only 12 minutes before the engines were re-fired. 

Dixon led the field to the green flag restart on Lap 110. A slow jump allowed Palou and Malukas to jump to the front. Dixon fell to fifth. 

Daly, meanwhile, vaulted up to third with an outside pass on Newgarden in Turn 3. Despite the quick pace being set, it was halted with a yellow flag due to track conditions on Lap 116, with Malukas leading Palou and Daly. 

Malukas led the field to the restart with 75 to go, but it quickly went back to caution after his team-mate, two-time Indy 500 champion Josef Newgarden, clipped the curbing in Turn 4 and spun around. Newgarden’s #2 Team Penske Chevrolet hit the wall with the left-front before snapping with the left side tank-slapping the wall. 

The pits were opened on Lap 131, with some takers coming down - Rosenqvist, O’Ward, Ferrucci, among them – with a gamble to make it on one more stop. 

A wild restart ensued on Lap 132, with Malukas losing the lead to Daly as McLaughlin and Palou briefly took it four-wide into Turn 1. McLaughlin took the lead two laps later, with Palou grabbing it the following lap as Daly settled in third. The trio continued to rotate the lead over the next few laps. 

Malukas fought his way back to the lead by Lap 147, skating by Palou into Turn 1. Both Malukas and McLaughlin pitted at the end of the following lap, with the latter overtaking the former after a quicker stop. Palou and Daly came in for service the next lap. 

The split strategy saw Rosenqvist vault to the lead, holding a 1.2s advantage over second-place O’Ward with 46 to go. O’Ward was unable to extend as long as Rosenqvist and pitted with 36 laps to go. Rosenqvist came in from the lead with 34 to go. However, O’Ward was able to jump ahead of him on the exit. 

Malukas cycled back to the lead with Palou and McLaughlin behind with 33 laps to go. O’Ward and Rosenqvist were fourth and fifth, respectively. 

With 25 laps to go, Malukas relinquished the lead and dove to pit lane for service. Palou and McLaughlin came in the following lap, handing the lead to O’Ward. 

O’Ward then carved through backmarkers but was told to save fuel and opted to stay behind Graham Rahal. 

O’Ward moved around Rahal with 18 to go, with Rosenqvist following through. Rosenqvist continued to stalk O’Ward as the laps ticked down. 

Rosenqvist finally made his move to the lead, crossing the Yard of Bricks with 15 laps to go. 

With eight laps to go, however, the caution came out after AJ Foyt Racing rookie Caio Collet crashed heavily in the exit of Turn 2. The entire right side of his #4 Chevrolet was crushed and the contact whipped him back to the inside wall. Fortunately, despite the hard hit, he was able to climb out of the car. 

Collet’s crash led to Race Control bringing out the red flag. 

After a 10-minute red flag, the cars went back out on track and prepared for the final push. 

Rosenqvist led the field to the restart with four laps to go, with O’Ward in second, Armstrong third, Malukas fourth, Grosjean fifth, and Palou sixth. 

Armstrong took it three-wide to take the lead into Turn 1, with Malukas following through to second. The yellow flag came out moments later after rookie Mick Schumacher made brief contact with the Turn 2 wall. 

Race Control deemed a green-white flag restart, with Armstrong leading Malukas and Rosenqvist. 

Malukas took the lead as Armstrong and Rosenqvist battled side-by-side. Rosenqvist made it by Armstrong and made a late surge on Malukas to beat him at the line by a nose.