The 110th running of the Indianapolis 500 this past Sunday was exciting and unpredictable. A last-lap pass for the lead gave Felix Rosenqvist victory by 0.0233 seconds over David Malukas.
It’s amazing that a month of running and a 500 mile race all came down to a one-lap shootout to the finish. Teams tried different strategies, pitting earlier or later, to try and gain an advantage. Rosenqvist was leading when a wreck by rookie Caio Collet brought out the red flag—any advantage evaporated.
Felix raced hard at the drop of the green flag, catching the leader’s slipstream coming out of Turn 4. One final push to the yard of bricks brought Rosenqvist the biggest win of his career, and it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy or more deserving racer. He’s been a journeyman with several IndyCar teams after an early career in FIA Formula E. Through it all he’s remained humble.
Years ago at Pocono Superspeedway, the Demaras family met Rosenqvist while walking through the infield. Despite being a big shot race car driver, he took time to chat with race fans about Formula E, IndyCar and life in North America compared to Sweden. Such a nice guy.