Felix Rosenqvist’s last-lap pass coming to the checkered flag won the 110th Indianapolis 500 for Meyer Shank Racing on Sunday, May 23, as he slipped past David Malukas for the thrilling victory coming to the checkered flag at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Rosenqvist’s 0.0233-second margin of victory is the closest in the history of the Indy 500. The win is also the second in the NTT IndyCar Series for Meyer Shank Racing. Both victories have come in the Indianapolis 500. Sunday’s race also featured 70 lead changes, an event record.
“Unreal, I still don’t believe it,” Rosenqvist said. ” It kind of worked out the right way when I got back to third, and then I just had to flat-out lap on the high line, and it stuck.
“It was just the coolest way you can finish and win an Indy 500.”
Rosenqvist’s victory came on a one-lap restart to the finish, in which Malukas started second behind Marcus Armstrong. Malukas led going to the first turn and held that spot until Rosenqvist’s pass for the win.
Malukas took second ahead of Scott McLaughlin in a two-three finish for Team Penske. Pato O’Ward was fourth ahead of Armstrong.
“I don’t know what else we could have done,” Malukas said. “We were the fastest car that whole race. I gave it 150 percent. I mean, I almost crashed this (dang) car every lap, and we still ended up P2.”
The one-lap restart for the win was set up thanks to a caution on a restart with four laps to go when Mick Schumacher hit the outside wall.
A caution with eight laps to go for Caio Collet tightened things up for the next-to-last restart with four laps to go, bringing out the red flag. Before that yellow flag, Rosenqvist had the checkered flag within sight, as he and O’Ward utilized an alternate strategy to stretch their fuel mileage. Rosenqvist got past O’Ward for the race lead with 15 laps to go.
Malukas found himself as the race leader when the caution flag flew on lap 116 for rain, the second caution due to rain on Sunday.
Malukas surged to the lead on a lap-109 restart, followed by a delay from rain, getting the upper hand of a three-wide battle for the lead, starting in front of Alex Palou and Conor Daly, with all three getting by Scott Dixon, who led during the rain delay.
The race previously was red-flagged with Dixon leading Palou and Malukas after 108 circuits, a sequence set by an exchange of green-flag pit stops on lap 97. Rain began to fall prior to the field going back to green.
Katherine Legge’s quest to complete the Indianapolis 500 / Coca-Cola 600 double abruptly ended 18 laps into the race, as she was unable to avoid the car of a spinning Ryan Hunter-Reay off the exit of turn 2. Both drivers were unable to continue.
The wait for an extended green-flag run was deferred, as the restart saw Ed Carpenter sustain damage from contact with the outside wall in turn 1 after appearing to be squeezed by Takuma Sato from being in the middle of racing three-wide.
That not only ended Carpenter’s day, but also added to a forgetful start for the entire Ed Carpenter Racing stable. Alexander Rossi tumbled from the front of the field to 17th in the first round of pit stops, with Christian Rasmussen also losing spots early in the pits. Rossi’s day got worse just past the 90th lap as he retired with mechanical issues, exiting from the car on crutches. All three ECR cars failed to finish Sunday’s running in Indianapolis.
The field spread out from there. Palou and Conor Daly commanded the front of the field around the 40-lap mark, both sharing the lead. After the race leaders pitted on lap 61, Dixon inched toward the front on lap 69, and he and Palou swapped the lead up to the next caution on lap 92 when Will Power spun after losing an engine.
After a pair of cautions for rain, the next one for an on-track incident came on lap 126 with Josef Newgarden making contact with an inside rumble strip, spinning into the outside wall to end a day in which he started 23rd and raced within the top five.
2026 Indianapolis 500 Results
The NTT IndyCar Series roars toward the end of May with next Sunday’s (May 30) Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix at 12:30 p.m. ET with coverage to air on FOX.
Brad joined Frontstretch.com in 2020 and contributes to the site's 5 Points To Ponder column and other roles as needed. A graduate of the University of Georgia's Henry W. Grady School of Journalism and Mass Communication, he has covered sports in some capacity for more than 20 years with coverage including local high school sports, college athletics and minor league hockey. Brad has received multiple awards for his work from the Georgia Press Association.
The difference between third and fourth was .0066 seconds.
My jaw literally (yes literally) dropped open when Rosenqvist overtook Malukas coming to the finish. I didn’t see any way that could happen. Arguably the best Indy 500 I’ve had the pleasure of seeing.