The finish of the 110th Running of the Indianapolis 500 is what dreams are made of.
Just ask Felix Rosenqvist.
The 34-year-old Swedish native restarted third in a green-white one-lap shootout and pulled off a masterful charge for the ages by going side-by-side with Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) teammate Marcus Armstrong before reeling in Team Penske’s David Malukas and winning in a photo finish.
The 0.0233s margin of victory by Rosenqvist is the closest in the history of the Indy 500.
Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb Agajanian Honda
Photo by: Penske Entertainment
“What an incredible finish, first of all,” Rosenqvist said. “That’s the way I’ve always pictured it in my head for some reason. It was almost like muscle memory when it happened because I’ve been dreaming about that last lap move. It’s kind of weird, you never really get that last lap move in the Indy 500, and it just played out perfectly.”
Rosenqvist’s #60 MSR Honda was blisteringly quick, which was demonstrated in qualifying last weekend when he set the fastest four-lap average overall but ended up qualifying fourth after not replicating it in the Fast Six. He converted that pace where it mattered, though: in Sunday’s race.
“The car was a rocket,” he said. “Thank you, Meyer Shank Racing, Honda, SiriusXM, all our partners. It takes an army to create a rocket like that. It was so hooked up all day, from the get-go. We actually didn’t change anything all day. It was like, let’s save the time in the pits and leave it as it is. And it was so good. It was a little loose in the end, but I think it was just perfect.
“To race all those guys, I know them all very well, David, Pato (O’Ward) and Marcus, and I know they’re probably pretty bummed right now, but I think it’s really cool when you race against drivers with that level of respect.
Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb Agajanian Honda
Photo by: Penske Entertainment
“We raced super hard. There was some wheel banging and some tire marks on the side pods, which is cool, but no one ended in the wall. I think that’s why it turned out to be such a great finish and such a show for the fans.
“That means a lot to me. Even if that was on another track, I still would have been over the moon. And to do it here in Indy in front of 350K people, that’s just unreal.”
It marks just the second win of Rosenqvist’s IndyCar career, with his only other one coming at Road America in 2020.
Rosenqvist, now in his eighth season in North America’s premier open-wheel championship, hailed the final lap surge as the best of his career.
“Yes,” he said. “I’ll definitely say the balls arrived when they needed to. I’ve never been flat around the high line for more than one corner, I think. Yeah, to do a whole lap on the outside, that was pretty cool. It’s kind of unheard of at Indy.
Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren Chevrolet
Photo by: Penske Entertainment
“Yeah, that’s just how much you want it… it’s hard to explain that feeling, that you want it so much and you have so much adrenaline that you literally don’t care if you’re going to crash. You’re just going all in.
“It was cool that that’s what it took to win it, as well.”
Team co-owner Mike Shank put in perspective how big he felt this career-defining drive was for Roseqvist.
“I’m so happy for him,” Shank said. “He needed this, we needed this. But I’m so happy for him. I really, really hope this breaks the door open and gets some really good things that he deserves. He’s just the coolest cat. He is just cool. I’m really happy for him.”
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: motorsport.com
