Sunday, 2-time IndyCar series champion Josef Newgarden became only the 6th driver to win the Indianapolis 500 two years in a row, and he did so in a late-race shootout with native of Mexico Pato O’Ward, who grew up in San Antonio,Texas. The winning margin, 341 thousandths of a second for Newgarden’s Team Penske Chevrolet, over O’Ward’s Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. The two men swapped the lead in the legendary Greatest Spectacle in Racing, 4 times over just the final 8 laps.
O’Ward says he had a wild week that culminated in Sunday’s 500. He’d been getting over the flu, not sleeping well with a fever for 5 straight nights, but he said after that wild ride he felt good enough Sunday to “almost” get the job done. O’Ward added that he’ll be back next year, and he was just frustrated after having done so much work, only to end the 500 in such a narrow loss. He added it was overall really cool to have run in the event.
Newgarden became the first driver to capture Indy in back-to-back years since Helio Castroneves back in 2001 & 2. He appreciates both victories, saying in part, “you can’t win this race on a whim. It rarely happens that way. There’s no guarantees when you show up, and when you’re on the grid today, it’s about getting every little detail right. We didn’t make mistakes today, we didn’t make mistakes last year, and I think the team deserved both of them. So, I’m just proud to be part of it– really, really proud. You have no idea.” Along with a purse that last year was around $3.6 million for winning the 500, Newgarden gets an additional $440,000 bonus for the back-to-back victories.
Locally on this holiday, there’s sectional high school baseball tournament action to take in. This morning, our coverage begins at 9:45, of two semi-final games as South Decatur faces Waldron in Sectional 60 at Jac-Cen-Del, and right after that on the same field, North Decatur will take on Southwestern, Shelby. This evening, completing our triple-header, Batesville squares off with Greensburg in Lawrenceburg, for their sectional’s championship. That broadcast begins at 5:45, also here on the Sports Voice, 103.9 WRBI.
Major league baseball saw the Reds pull off a series sweep of the Dodgers over the weekend. They won 9-6 Friday, 3-1 Saturday, and 4-1 Sunday. Cincinnati will host the Cardinals in a new series beginning this afternoon.
And in the NBA, the Pacers need to win 4 in a row to stay alive in the playoffs, down 3 games to none, to the Celtics. Game 4 is tonight in Indy.