Josef Newgarden grabs late lead to win Indy 500

Josef Newgarden celebrating his first career Indianapolis 500 win. (WRBI Photo)

In his 12th career Indianapolis 500 start, Josef Newgarden took down reigning Indianapolis 500 winner Marcus Ericsson by .0974 seconds (fourth-closest finish all-time) to win the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” for the first time in his career.

The exciting finish came in a one-lap showdown after the third red flag when Newgarden passed Ericsson on the back straight away with an outside move just before Turn 3 and snaked down the front straightaway to take home the victory.

Newgarden’s win extends Team Penske’s event record to 19 victories in the race.

Santino Ferrucci finished in 3rd, pole sitter Alex Palou took 4th, and 2016 “500” winner Alexander Rossi grabbed 5th to round out the top 5.

Benjamin Pederson was the best finisher among the four “500” rookies, placing 21st.

In his 22nd and final Indy 500 start, Tony Kanaan finished 16th.

Complete race results can be viewed here.

The next NTT INDYCAR SERIES race is the Chevrolet Grand Prix of Detroit on Sunday, June 4th.