The 2026 Indy 500 and round 7 of the IndyCar season has been completed at IMS, view the full race report here.
Green flag flies at the Indy 500
It was a great start for Alex Rossi as he quickly took the lead from Palou. The Spaniard and American then engaged in swapping of the lead. Having moved up to P3, Ferrucci saw Rosenqvist and Malukas pass him to drop back to 5th.
From 23rd on the grid, Josef Newgarden made good progress early doors and was up to 16th.
First caution appears
The yellows appeared on lap 18 as Ryan Hunter-Reay and Katherine Legge crashed. The McLaren driver lost it in turn 2 and eventually hit the wall, with the Brit having to take evasive action but unfortunately found the wall herself.
Palou, Rossi, Rosenqvist, Malukas, Ferrucci, Daly, McLaughlin, O’Ward, Dixon and Simpson was the top 10 before everyone boxed.
For the #20, he had a very slow stop as the right rear proved to be an issue.
VeeKay, Grosjean, Collet and Harvey decided not to box. Rossi had dropped all the way to 17th. Teammate Christian Rasmuseen had to make a second stop, too.
In P7 before the stops, Scott McLaughlin jumped all the way up to a net 3rd, behind Palou and Rosenqvist.
The yellow appears rapidly again
On the restart, Ed Carpenter crashed as he was in the middle of a sandwich involving Will Power (inside) and Takuma Sato (outside). The Japanese driver did not leave lots of room for the ECR team owner. He was furious after getting out of the car.
In front of all that, Rosenqvist and McLaughlin swept around the outside of Palou. However, on the second one, the defending race winner repassed both, along with Grosjean.
The Frenchman and Caio Collet went off strategy and stayed out. VeeKay and Harvey decided to give up on it.
Running in 14th before the second restart, Newgarden quickly made light work of Simpson, Dixon, O’Ward, Dixon, Rosenqvist and Ferrucci to move into P7. Meanwhile the #60 went from the net lead down to 9th.
Things settle down
Once Collet and Grosjean pitted, the top 10 order was Palou, Daly, Malukas, McLaughlin, Newgarden, Rosenqvist, Ferrucci, Dixon, Simpson and O’Ward.
Dixon makes massive gains
As the pit cycle under green took place, Rosenqvist and fuel saving master Scott Dixon vaulted up to 2nd and 3rd. Newgarden briefly led the Team Penske drivers, before Malukas took P4.
The #9 then cleared Rosenqvist to take 2nd, before he started swapping positions with teammate Palou as they worked together.
Daly and Ferrucci (slow stop with a right front issue) had dropped them back to 7th and 11th.
Palou, Dixon, Rosenqvist, Malukas, Newgarden, McLaughlin, Daly, O’Ward, Ericsson and Simpson was the top 10 on lap 75.
Power and Rossi out of the 2026 Indy 500 race
The caution came again on lap 92 as Will Power had a mechanical failure when running in 14th. He spun on the pit exit lane pulling off but thankfully did not head back on the track as the car grinded to a halt.
Heartbreak also hit Alex Rossi. He pulled into the pits with an engine failure.
Dixon, Palou, Malukas, Newgarden, McLaughlin, O’Ward, Rosenqvist (down four), Ericsson, Daly and Armstrong was the top 10 following the dash to the pits. Championship contender Kyle Kirkwood had moved up to 11th.
Red flag
On lap 105, spits of rain forced the red flag to be brought out. They had already been running behind the pace car under yellows.
Race resumes
Following that short delay for small rain drops, the action got going again on lap 110.
It was a bad restart for Dixon as Palou, Malukas, Newgarden and a rampaging Daly cleared him. The #23 went from P9 to P3 in two laps.
The caution came again on lap 116 as rain drops were reported at turn 4. Malukas, Palou, Daly, Newgarden, Dixon, Rosenqvist, McLaughlin, O’Ward, Ericsson and Armstrong was the top 10.
A big name crashes out of the 2026 Indy 500 race
With the race getting go again ten tours later, Josef Newgarden immediately brought out the caution again as he touched the rumble strip at turn 4 with the left front wheel and ended up in the wall. He had been P4 from 23rd on the grid.
A big split happened as some big names boxed and some did not. Pato O’Ward, Felix Rosenqvist, Marcus Armstrong and Santino Ferrucci decided to pit.
Malukas got swallowed up on the restart, dropping from 1st to 6th. Daly and McLaughlin got aggressive, moving into P1 and P2. Palou, Dixon, Ericsson, Malukas, Kirkwood, Simpson, Castroneves and Armstrong was the top 10 on lap 134.
McLaughlin and Palou then became the top 2, with Malukas also getting in front of Daly to take 3rd. The Kiwi and Spaniard continued to swap spots. Rosenqvist was back in 10th on the alternate strategy and less than 4s off the lead.
On lap 147, Malukas took the lead from Palou. McLaughlin, Daly, Ericsson, Dixon, Kirkwood and Simpson followed.
The two Penske drivers boxed at the end of that lap, with Palou, Daly and Ericsson followed a lap later. Kirkwood went a lap further, with Dixon managing to go even further than that.
Rosenqvist, Simpson, O’Ward, Armstrong, Hauger, Ferrucci, VeeKay, Lundgaard, Siegel and Sato was the top 10 as the alternate strategy runners moved to the front with less than 50 laps to go.
O’Ward came in with 36 laps left, rejoining just behind the leaders on the other strategy. Rosenqvist went two laps further, coming out just behind the Mexican. He had a critical fuel advantage.
O’Ward led Rosenqvist, Armstrong, Grosjean, Ferrucci, Sato, VeeKay, Malukas, Palou and Collet with 20 laps left. The #12 was 25s away, however.
With 15 laps left, Rosenqvist took the lead away as he picked up the pace as the Mexican was massively fuel saving. Marcus Armstrong was 4s back in P3 as Meyer Shank Racing had two in the top 3.
A huge twist leads to a red flag
As the race got into the final 10 laps, Caio Collet crashed out of P11. The red flag got thrown with 8 laps left. It was a horrible crash for the Brazilian rookie as he lost the car in turn 2, with the #4 machine catching fire such was the hardness of the hit. He got out of the car.
Rosenqvist, O’Ward, Armstrong, Malukas, Grosjean, Palou, Ferrucci, Sato, VeeKay and McLaughlin was the top 10 on the restart with five to go. Daly was P11.
Armstrong and Malukas used a massive tow on the run down to turn 1 and moved into P1 and P2. The yellow was quickly back out as Sato grazed the wall at turn 1.
Green flag for a one-lap shootout
David Malukas looked set for victory as he passed Marcus Armstrong on the restart. Going side-by-side with the Kiwi through turns 1, 2 and 3 before getting it done into turn 4.
The Swede then used a monster slipstream on the run to the line to take the victory from David Malukas just before the line in an astonishing final lap. McLaughlin took 3rd from O’Ward and Armstrong on the run to the line.
