The 107th Indy 500 is officially in the books, as Josef Newgarden won the race in the final lap, getting past last year’s winner Marcus Ericsson.
There are plenty of Memorial Day traditions in the sports world. For racing fans, they look forward to the Indianapolis 500. This year was the 107th edition of the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” at the Indianapolis Super Speedway.
In 2023, there was a first-time winner of the Indy 500, and that was Josef Newgarden of Team Penske. To accomplish this feat, he drove past the 2022 winner, Marcus Ericsson, in the final lap. With that, Newgarden could do the customary kissing of the bricks and drinking the milk.
This is Team Penske’s 19th Indy 500 victory.
As for Ericsson, he missed out on becoming the first driver to ever win the Indy 500 in back-to-back years.
Meanwhile, Alex Palou, who held the pole position, finished in fourth place.
Indy 500 final results
Let’s take a look at the final results of the 2023 Indy 500.
- Josef Newgarden
- Marcus Ericsson
- Santino Ferrucci
- Alex Palou
- Alexander Rossi
- Scott Dixon
- Takuma Sato
- Conor Daly
- Colton Herta
- Rinus VeeKay
- Ryan Hunter-Reay
- Callum Ilott
- Devlin DeFrancesco
- Scott McLaughlin
- Helio Castroneves
- Tony Kanaan
- Marco Andretti
- Jack Harvey
- Christian Lundgaard
- Ed Carpenter
- Benjamin Pedersen
- Graham Rahal
- Will Power
- Pato O’Ward
- Simon Pagenaud
- Agustin Canapino
- Felix Rosenqvist
- Kyle Kirkwood
- David Malukas
- Romain Grosjean
- Sting Ray Robb
- RC Enerson
- Katherine Legge
Nasty crash between Kyle Kirkwood and Felix Rosenqvist
There was a scary crash late in the race between Kyle Kirkwood and Felix Rosenqvist with 16 laps remaining in the race. Rosenqvist spun out and Kirkwood collided with him. As a result, Kirkwood crashed into the wall, with his car flipped upside down.
There was also a terrifying moment when a tire flew over the fencing and out of the track. Fortunately, the NBC broadcast revealed that no fan was hurt, as it avoided the stands. However, the tire did hit a car in the parking lot.
Kirkwood was taken to get checked out by a medical team and was deemed okay. He spoke with NBC, saying “I’m just glad I’m so safe.”
Indy 500 red flag
A red flag is when the race comes to a stop and all driers remain in the same order once they return. Kirkwood’s and Rosenqvist’s collision was one of three red flags drawn late in the race.
Indy 500 prize money
The prize money for winning the Indy 500 is not straight-forward and relates to factors like laps lead, sponsors and more.
However, last year’s winner took home more than $3 million.
This year’s purse is estimated at $16 million, per Sporting News, but we don’t know the exact figure for Newgarden yet.
Why do they drink milk after the Indy 500?
Drinking milk at the Indy 500 has become a tradition. Here is what the Indianapolis Star says about when the tradition came to be:
“The tradition started in 1936 when Louis Meyer drank buttermilk in Victory Lane because his mother said it would refresh him on a hot day, according to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. A dairy industry executive saw a marketing opportunity and milk has been part of every race since 1956.”
And there you have it, that’s why drinking milk in the Indy 500 has become a tradition.
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