SPEEDWAY — Spare a thought for Marcus Ericsson. He was put in the loneliest position in the Indianapolis 500 field with two laps left.
He was the leader.
Unfortunately for Ericsson, he led when the last of three red flags flew to stop the race.
Race officials made the unprecedented decision to flag the field with just two laps left. There would be no warm-up lap when the race resumed. Cars blasted out of the pits and took the green flag with one to go.
Given the aerodynamic principles of the cars, the second-place car has an advantage as it can use the draft from the leader to make a pass while not being encumbered by the dirty air and turbulence that keeps cars further back in the pack from doing the same.
Ericsson wouldn’t have time to recover if he lost the lead on the restart. Sure enough, Josef Newgarden passed Ericsson on the backstretch to go to the front. Try though Ericsson might, he couldn’t get past Newgarden as the American driver serpentined his way to his first 500 victory.
Ericsson won the 500 in 2022 under similar circumstances when he managed to hold off Pato O’Ward on a late-race restart.
Naturally, being on the wrong end of a race control decision didn’t sit well with Ericsson. So hear him out as he makes his case.
“I think it wasn’t enough laps to go to do what we did. I don’t think it’s safe to go out of the pits on cold tires for a restart when half the field is sort of still trying to get out on track when we go green,” Ericsson said.
Fair point. Go on.
“I don’t think it’s a fair way to end the race. I don’t think it’s a right way to end the race. So I can’t agree with that,” Ericsson said.
Ericsson makes a good case, a case based in sporting integrity, even race safety. It’s fair to think the end of the Indianapolis 500 was gimmicky. A great moment contrived but not earned, not with several decades worth of races that ended under yellow in similar circumstances.
Point taken but not accepted.
The Indianapolis 500, as with all sporting events, is a spectator sport, a show. Sporting integrity and precedence aside, what keeps fans coming back is when they get maximum entertainment.
There is nothing entertaining about a yellow-flag finish.
Call it a gimmick if you want, but it created a moment we wouldn’t have had otherwise. Newgarden’s pass, protect and celebratory journey into the crowd will be iconic, the moment the 2023 race is remembered for.
Ericsson (or any other driver) taking the yellow-checkered flag is never memorable, even if there are moments that lead to late-race yellows that might be.
It seems IndyCar has learned a lesson over the years. Other drivers acknowledged what having a green flag finish means for the paying customers.
“We need to think about the show. The biggest complaint we have every year was we shouldn’t finish a race under the yellow,” retiring 22-time Indianapolis 500 starter and 2013 champion Tony Kanaan said. “Could have they called it earlier? Yes. Could have, should have, would have, but we ended under green, and that’s what the fans kept asking us every time.”
“I don’t mind what IndyCar did. I think they did a great job,” third-place finisher Santino Ferrucci said. “I think Marcus has a slightly different opinion, which is totally cool because he finished second.”
Obviously, Newgarden had no objections.
“There’s so many different ways that this could have played out, and you could have said this is fair or that’s fair. I’ve seen it all. At this point, I’m just really thankful they did it the way they did,” Newgarden said. “I don’t really care. I’ve seen a lot of situations where it didn’t go our way. Today went our way, and I’ll take it. I’ll take it all day.”
What shouldn’t be forgotten is how Ericsson took the lead in the first place. Ericsson had just barely inched ahead of Newgarden on the penultimate restart when back markers collided on the front straightaway. The restart hadn’t even reached Turn 1 before another stoppage was required.
The back marker crash had zero to do with the action at the front but could have determined the winner if the race would have finished under yellow as it has in years past.
Is that what we would have wanted? Would that have been a satisfying way for Ericsson to win back-to-back 500s?
Of course it wouldn’t have been. The vast, vast majority of fans want the winner decided by on-track, green flag action — passes if necessary or strategy otherwise.
No one wants a 500 determined by a random event in the back of the field. IndyCar and race officials made the right decision to show the red flag. Perhaps it should have occurred a lap earlier, but at least it was shown.
Feel for Ericsson for being on the wrong end of that decision, but it’s doubtful anyone was apologizing for the final lap thrill they got instead.