For the second time in the history of the Indianapolis 500, a Swede was victorious. On the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, 31-year-old Marcus Ericsson of Kumla, Sweden was the first driver to cross the finish line after 200 laps.
Ericsson, who competes for Chip Ganassi racing, follows Kenny Brack of Arvika, Sweden, who won the 1999 Indianapolis 500 for A.J. Foyt Enterprises. This was Ericsson’s third IndyCar Series race victory. He previously won the 2021 Detroit Grand Prix, and the 2021 Music City Grand Prix in Nashville, Tennessee.
This was the fifth Indianapolis victory for Chip Ganassi Racing. The prior winners were Juan Pablo Montoya of Bogota, Colombia (2000), Scott Dixon of Auckland, New Zealand (2008), Dario Franchitti of Bathgate, Scotland (2010 and 2012). Dixon had the pole leading into the 2022 Indianapolis 500, and finished 21st.
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Scott Dixon
Ericsson, who started fifth on the pole (in the middle of the second row) only led 13 of the 200 laps. Dixon led the most laps in the race (95), but was penalized for failing to slow down enough by the pit-road speed limiter on lap 175 according to Brian Haenchen of IndyStar on Sunday.
During the Indianapolis 500, it was a record-breaking performance for Dixon. He set the record for most laps led in the history of the Indianapolis 500 when he broke Al Unser Sr.’s record of 644 laps on lap 133. Dixon’s current record is now 665.
Final Laps
After the Dixon penalty, Ericsson had control until NASCAR legend Jimmie Johnson crashed with four laps to go. At the time of the restart, Ericsson did a wonderful job in maintaining the lead and preventing attempted passes by Pato O’Ward of Mexico. Then on the final lap. a yellow flag came out again when Sage Karam of Nazareth, Pennsylvania crashed, securing Ericsson the win.
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