Marcus Ericsson becomes a 'legend forever' with Indianapolis 500 victory

As for O’Ward, he did not seem to be too surprised at just barely missing out on the win.

“Sadly, they have the faster car.,” the 23-year-old Mexican said of Ericsson. “We need to do a better job. We need to come back next year and give it hell again. I'm proud of the job we did today. It's my best result in the 500. It's a bit of a tough pill to swallow after such a long race, doing everything correctly.”

Ericsson’s win marked the fifth Indy 500 win for Chip Ganassi Racing, but for the majority of the race, teammate Scott Dixon looked to be on track to claim his second 500 victory.

A six-time series champion, Dixon won his lone 500 in 2008 and has been on the hunt for number two ever since. He started Sunday’s race from the pole position and led a race-high 95 laps. Doing so, he also passed Al Unser Sr to become the all-time Indy 500 lap leader.

But Dixon got nailed with a speeding penalty on pit road when he came in for his final stop, effectively ending his chances to win.

“It’s just heartbreaking, to be honest,” Dixon said. “I must have been very close. I just came into the pit and locked the rears and kind of locked all four and I knew it was going to be close. I think it was (one mph) over.

“Just frustrating, The car was really good all day. We had really good speed. The team did an amazing job on strategy. I just messed up."

Ganassi still took two of the three podium positions, however. Tony Kanaan finished third behind Ericssonn and O’Ward in what might have been his last 500.

“I think next year probably, if I can make it happen, will be really the last one,” Kanaan said, hopeful that he can gain sponsorship. But, he cautioned, “As of right now, this was the last one.”

Felix Roseqvist finished fourth, while Alexander Rossi finished fifth, his best showing of the season. Conor Daly, 2021 champ Helio Castroneves, Simon Pagenaud, Alex Palou, and Santino Ferrucci rounded out the top 10 finishers.

But while the afternoon was pleasant for some drivers, it was also disappointing for others.

The first driver to retire from the race was Rinus VeeKay, who started on the outside of the front row and lasted just 39 laps before he got loose in the middle of Turn 2 and made contact with the outside wall.

Turn 2 then claimed two more victims later in the race: on Lap 70 when rookie Callum Illott experienced a nearly similar incident, as did Romain Grosjean on Lap 107.

“Just disappointed to finish that way,” Grosjean said. “I don’t know what happened, the rear end snapped on me without any warning. I guess a few guys got caught out in the corner, but it was a corner where the car was pretty good over the race.

"I don’t know what happened, I wasn’t trying anything different. I was happy with the balance of the car. I’m going to try to analyze and move on from that.”

Other drivers who prematurely exited the race included Colton Herta, whose car was severly underperfoming. Herta was forced to start in an untested backup car after he destroyed his primary car in a crash on Friday's Carb Day.

“We just weren’t fast enough,” Herta said. “They parked us because we were slow.”

Scott McLaughlin also retired after hitting theTurn 4 wall and sliding acoss the track, nearly hitting Ed Carpenter in the process.

“Just a bruised ego and the Pennzoil Chevy is a bit dented and stuff,” McLaughlin said. “We were having a rip of a run there and had made our way into the top 10 and just caught a big puff of wind and spun out and boom.

“I am a little sore, but I got checked out and I am good. But you know, it's hard to come out straight away after a shunt like that and that is why this place is so scary, and why we love it. I will be back stronger and better next year.”

But perhaps the most disappointing incident of the afternoon came with just six laps remaining when Jimmie Johnson touched the outside grass in Turn 2, sending his car into the outside wall. The seven-time NASCAR champion was making his Indy 500 debut.

“A tough day at the office today,” Johnson said. “Track position was way more important than I thought it would be, and I struggled to really advance in the field and then sadly the car just got away from me in the race and we had a crash there in Turn 2.”

While it was Johnson's first Indy 500 appearance, his 28th place finish was also the worst of his to-date 18-race IndyCar career.

With his victory in the 500, Ericsson now leads the overall point standings with a 13-point lead over O’Ward. The next race on the NTT IndyCar Series calendar is the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix on June 5.