How Marcus Ericsson joined the racing immortals with Indy 500 victory Car News

THE DARK HORSE EMERGES

Now out of the pack came Ericsson, Ganassi’s pit work propelled him into third place and the Swede then went to work to demote compatriot Felix Rosenqvist and the late Mexican Pato O’Ward, teammates at Arrow McLaren SP , sister team of the F1 team. In those moments, Ericsson found beneath him what every racing driver desires: a fully plugged-in race car powered by a mighty Honda engine that had just its feet on McLaren’s Chevrolets. He stretched and his family’s excitement behind the wall began to turn into celebration.

But wait: it’s the biggest race in the world. Victory does not come so easily.

A SPICE IN THE TAIL

On lap 194, just six from home, Ganassi’s Jimmie Johnson lost control and slammed into the wall hard.

The seven-time NASCAR champion had just created Ericsson’s idea of ​​hell. Determined to finish the event in race conditions, Indy officials did what Michael Masi failed to do in Abu Dhabi last year and raised a red flag.

Victory was almost at hand; Now Ericsson has been down pit road for the longest 10 minutes of his life, his advantage gone and facing the prospect of a frenetic restart with O’Ward, Rosenqvist and another Ganassi hero, 2013 winner Tony Kanaan, breathing down his neck.

Ericsson was furious – but after quieting the words of wise old heads on the pit wall, he refocused and prepared for what would be a two-lap race for glory. O’Ward, 23, is IndyCar’s most exciting young talent and possibly destined for a McLaren F1 seat – possibly sooner rather than later if Daniel Ricciardo doesn’t pull himself together.

But ahead of F1, O’Ward is desperate to win Indy and on the restart he gave it his all. Ericsson slammed down the long straights in his attempt to break the tow, looking for a second destined to crash into the end of the pit wall. O’Ward still came, weaving alongside on the way to Turn 1 – only to back out.

On the outside line, he knew Ericsson, intentionally or not, would have pushed him into the wall. The race was over even before Sage Karam crashed in the final seconds, meaning the race ended on bail anyway. Ericsson walked through the brick yard – the last remnant of Indy’s original track surface laid for the first 500 in 1911 – to start his new life as an Indy winner.