Ericsson holds off Pato O'Ward, Tony Kanaan to win 106th Indianapolis 500
Ya, sure! Sweden now has something more to brag about other than just ABBA.
Let’s explain:
So much had been said heading into Sunday’s Indianapolis 500 about four of Chip Ganassi Racing’s drivers, namely pole sitter Scott Dixon, Jimmie Johnson (making his first Indy 500 start), Tony Kanaan and defending NTT IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou.
Seemingly lost in the conversation was CGR’s fifth driver, Marcus Ericsson, the seemingly quiet driver of the Ganassi quintet. Think of him almost as the late George Harrison, known as “the quiet one” of The Beatles.
But Ericsson will be quiet no longer as the native of Kumla, Sweden, held off a hard and late charge by both Pato O’Ward and Kanaan to capture the 106thrunning of the 500.
“I can’t believe it, I’m so happy,” Ericsson said with both a smile on his face and a welling of tears in his eyes. “It’s going to take a while to take it in. It’s just so incredible. I’ve worked so hard to do well in the Greatest Spectacle In Racing. My whole family and girlfriend were here. It’s just unbelievable.”
Marcus Ericsson (8) leads the field at Indy.
Justin CasterlineGetty Images
Ericsson essentially had to earn his third career IndyCar win twice. He had a major lead when Jimmie Johnson crashed with six laps to go, bringing out a red flag race stoppage. And then when the race resumed and Ericsson was roaring to finish the last lap, Sage Karam spun in Turn 2, bringing out the caution and causing the race to be finished under yellow.
“I thought I had it,” Ericsson said of the win before Johnson’s mishap. “This place never lets you get it easy. I was praying not for the yellow to come out and then it did.
“We had a three-second advantage. The only thing that could stop us was a caution. Those 10 minutes sitting there in the pit lane during that red flag was some of the hardest 10 minutes of my life probably, thinking what to do, thinking that I’m leading the biggest race in the world, and I’m that close to win it.”
Then, when the race resumed, Ericsson said about the final lap, “There was no way I was going to lift.”
Ericsson’s strategist, Mike O’Gara, was effusive over his driver’s accomplishment.
“He just got it done,” O’Gara said. “Marcus understands race craft. This is his third year with us. He gets it. When we’re on the radio, I don’t have to explain why we’re staying out or why we’re pitting or saving fuel or pushing. He gets it.
“I think between him and Brad Goldberg, his engineer, myself, we just click. He understands what to do at different stages of the race. Obviously got shuffled back a little bit today. He just stayed with it. We had amazing pit stops, got him to the front. The rest was all him.”
Ericsson spent five years in Formula 1 driving for B-tier teams. With his career going nowhere, he thought he’d take his talents across the Atlantic Ocean and to IndyCar. In a sense, anything for him would be better than the struggles he had in F1.
“It’s been tough, I did five years in Formula 1, almost a hundred Grand Prixs, running for small teams, towards the back most of it,” Ericsson said. “You don’t get a lot of credit running in the back in Formula 1. People think you are not very good.
“I came over here and people probably didn’t think much of that. I had to work my way here as well, learning American racing. Moved here, put my whole life into trying to become an IndyCar and mainly Indianapolis 500 champion.
“It’s been tough. It’s been not easy. But I’ve been working extremely hard. It feels good to show that hard works pay off. Yeah, winning the Indy 500, it’s not bad for a pay driver, so it’s good.”
Sunday was a full affirmation that Ericsson made the right choice—and he will now be forever ingrained in IndyCar history and on the Borg-Warner Trophy, the spectacular testament to all drivers who have claimed a win in the Indy 500.
“It’s still tough to sort of take in,” Ericsson said after all the post-race ceremonies, including spilling milk all over his face and head. “Obviously it’s the biggest race in the world, something we all work so much towards, we all dream of winning this race.”
Much had been said about the 31-year-old Ericsson not being a real big fan of oval tracks on the IndyCar schedule. Prior to his win in the biggest race in the world, Ericsson’s best finish on an oval was third earlier this season at Texas Motor Speedway.
But now, Ericsson’s thinking about ovals has changed significantly: “I love them,” he said with a big smile.
Ericsson becomes the second Swedish driver to win the 500 (the other was Kenny Brack in 1999). Brack joined Ericsson on a post-race conference call.
“You finally put your talents to good use today,” Brack joked, before getting serious, adding, “It was a good drive, Marcus, and I was very pleased for you. It was a great race, very well deserved.
“It’s great to see and big congratulations. I don’t think you realize what it will mean for your career, but I think you will learn about that in time.”
The top 10 finishers—six powered by Honda and four by Chevrolet—were Ericsson, O’Ward, Kanaan, Felix Rosenqvist, Alexander Rossi (best finish of season), Conor Daly, last year’s 500 winner Helio Castroneves, his teammate Simon Pagenaud, Alex Palou and Santino Ferruci.
Marcus Ericsson called his Indy 500 victory his biggest racing win, ’by a million miles.’
Jamie SquireGetty Images
“It’s the biggest win of my career—by a million miles,” Ericsson said. “I raced five years in Formula 1. Then I came here to IndyCar. It’s been hard and tough.”
In addition to receiving his multi-million winner’s check on Monday, Ericsson is also looking for something else: “They say winning the 500 is life-changing, so I’m looking forward to that.”
When asked if he had any advice back to his countrymen in Sweden, Ericsson said with a smile that can be adapted worldwide: “Dream big and work hard.”
As for the man who believed in Ericsson enough to hire him away from Schmidt Peterson Racing (now Arrow McLaren SP), Ganassi was asked how Sunday’s win ranks in terms of all his wins as a team owner (this year marked Ganassi’s 40th year at the 500 as either a owner or driver):
“I haven’t really given it that much thought. It’s currently my favorite one as of right now, I can tell you that,” he said with a big laugh.
Keyword: Move Over ABBA, Sweden Has a New Superstar: Indy 500 Winner Marcus Ericsson