Josef Newgarden Wins Wild, Red Flag Plagued Indianapolis 500 On Final Lap

The Greatest Spectacle in Racing delivered — as it always does — with Josef Newgarden taking his long-awaited first-ever Indianapolis 500 win.

The two-time IndyCar Series champion finally got the monkey off his back by taking the lead on the backstretch in a one-lap shootout.

And to say he was pumped is an understatement. He parled his No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet on the Yard of Bricks and jumped into the stands to celebrate with the fans after what is easily the biggest win of his career.

This also marks the first win for Team Penske since Roger Penske purchased the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

However, there were a few nasty crashes including one that put the hearts of everyone watching right in their throats.

Kyle Kirkwood's No. No. 27 Andretti Autosport Honda went upside down in a scary crash at this year's Indianapolis 500. (Jef Richards-USA TODAY Sports)

There Was A Cavalcade Of Red Flags At This Year's Indianapolis 500

There was a scary moment with 14 laps left when McLaren's Felix Rosenqvist— who looked to be in contention for a win (and had been my pick for the win) — lost control and went into the wall in the short chute between turns 1 and 2.

He was a passenger as his car went down the track and spun upon hitting the apron. Andretti Autosport's Kyle Kirkwood clipped him with his left rear tire which flew over the catch fence. Meanwhile, Kirkwood wound up sliding through Turn 2 with his cockpit up against the wall.

Terrifying stuff. Fortunately, both drivers were okay.

The tire that flew off of Kirkwood's car thankfully missed the stands (it's horrifying to even think about what could have happened had it hit the bleachers). However, it appeared to have found a car parked outside the track.

Thankfully, there were no reported injuries.

Newgarden overtook both Pato O'Ward and Marcus Ericsson on the following restart. However, on the following lap, O'Ward spun out in turn 3 while wheel-to-wheel with Ericsson. He went hard into the wall which brought out the second red flag of the afternoon

On the ensuing restart, there was yet another crash that brought out a red flag.

That wreck involved multiple cars including Benjamin Pederson, Ed Carpenter, and Graham Rahal (who has had one hell of a week).

For a moment, it looked as though Marcus Ericcson had won his second-straight Indianapolis 500. However, race control sent them out for one final restart, and that's when Newgarden took over and earned himself a spot on the Borg-Warner Trophy.

As I said, the Indianapolis 500 never disappoints, and the 107th running was no exception.

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