Bruce Martin
Particular to FOXSports.com
INDIANAPOLIS — Ending second within the greatest race on the earth would appear like a cause to have fun.
However ending second within the Indianapolis 500 normally makes a race driver cry.
That’s what Marcus Ericsson of Andretti International did when he pulled into pit lane and climbed out of his No. 28 Andretti International Honda on Sunday on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Ericsson received the Indianapolis 500 in 2022. He completed second in 2023 however was extra upset with the way in which INDYCAR Race Management dealt with a late Purple Flag as a way to have a one-lap restart in that race, as Josef Newgarden captured the primary of his two Indianapolis 500 wins.
In Sunday’s 109th Indianapolis 500, Ericsson was battling together with his former Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Alex Palou.
You could know him as the driving force that at all times wins in INDYCAR. And on Sunday, he received the Indianapolis 500 for the primary time in his profession.
Ericsson was within the lead from Lap 170 to Lap 186 earlier than Palou handed him on Lap 187. From that time till the yellow and checkered flags waved after 200 laps, Palou used all of the talent, savvy and expertise to drive to victory and deny Ericsson the second Indy 500 win of his profession.
Ericsson completed 0.6822 of a second behind Palou’s No. 10 DHL Honda.
For Palou, it was joyous.
For Ericsson, it was heartbreaking.
Ericsson sat on pit wall and hung his head with the helmet nonetheless on. That’s as a result of tears have been flowing down his face.
When he took off the helmet, his eyes have been stuffed with tears.
It’s proof that dropping hurts worse than profitable feels good.
“This race is greater than only a race. It means all the pieces to me,” Ericsson advised me. “To be that near profitable once more. It’s the second time I completed second right here.
“It’s painful to overlook out. The winner takes all of it. That’s the way it works right here.
“Nobody cares about who completed second.”
Ericsson tried to match his two second-place finishes.
“They each harm very a lot,” Ericsson stated. “It’s powerful to be that shut. We bought ourselves out within the lead. It’s powerful with the lapped vehicles in entrance of us. They performed an enormous half and Alex took the chance.
“I’m simply offended with myself that I didn’t hold the place.
“It was my race to win.”
“I got here out of the pits within the lead and misplaced it on the finish,” Ericsson advised me after the race. “It was a troublesome race, and we have been within the again there for a bit battling the automotive. We saved preventing, and the crew did a extremely good job, and we bought again within the battle.
“We have been again within the lead there, however it’s painful to not win.
“It will have been good to get the win. We have been very, very shut.”
Ericsson was grateful that his workforce saved preventing, even when the automotive was within the again. By means of their onerous work, he was in place to win the race.
On the ultimate pit cease, the workforce bought him on the observe forward of Palou. It was the large second for Ericsson and it was his shot at victory.
“I gave all the pieces on the finish,” Ericsson stated. “I’m dwelling proper now at how I ought to have saved that place. The workforce gave me all the pieces to win that race with that pit cease.”
Ericsson then adopted with a heavy sigh.
“I ought to have achieved higher,” he stated.
A number of toes away stood Ericsson’s workforce proprietor, Dan Towriss. He had a smile on his face, to cover the frustration of ending second.
He believes the important thing was the 2 lapped vehicles that Palou craftily used to assist pull his automotive ahead via the draft whereas he saved gasoline. That was simply sufficient velocity to maintain Ericsson’s Honda from making a severe run for the lead.
“It’s powerful. It’s the Indy 500. It must be earned,” Towriss advised me. “I’m simply gutted proper now for Marcus, the hassle that he put in.
“I’m simply gutted for him proper now.”
Towriss was actually pleased with his workforce, with two drivers within the high 10, together with Ericsson in second place and Kyle Kirkwood in sixth.
“Actually skilled groups and skilled drivers excel within the Indianapolis 500,” Towriss continued. “There’s a lot that goes into this. Chip Ganassi brings a quick automotive to the Indianapolis 500. Alex Palou has achieved what he has achieved. He’s clearly a particular driver, a generational expertise, however we need to beat him.
“We gave it our greatest shot, and we’ll get them once more subsequent 12 months.
“You need a battle between the heavyweights, the showdown on the finish. That’s what the followers bought. We got here out on the dropping finish this time. We’ll get them subsequent time.”
One other driver who admitted he had tears afterward was 23-year-old David Malukas of AJ Foyt Racing. He completed third within the No. 4 Chevrolet.
“I used to be crying coming into the pits,” Malukas advised me on pit lane. “It’s unbelievable, however it comes all the way down to this observe choosing the winners. Palou comes behind us, we’re a sitting duck sitting in first with out a tow and two lapped vehicles come behind. It’s straightforward work for him to make use of the tow from the 2 lappers.
“That’s how this place is. It didn’t play in our favor.
“I needed to get this automotive again into Victory Lane on the Indianapolis 500 and simply really feel barely quick.”
Malukas was concerned in a number of of the four-wide restarts going into Flip 1 that thrilled the sellout crowd of 350,000 followers.
However Palou performed it cool, used his head and expertise and celebrated his first Indianapolis 500 victory.
Palou is the primary Spaniard to ever win the Indianapolis 500.
Malukas was trying to turn out to be the primary driver from Chicago to win the Indianapolis 500 since Billy Arnold in 1930.
From Palou’s unbridled pleasure and celebration to the tears of disappointment from the second- and third-place drivers, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as soon as once more proved it’s the world’s largest theater of human drama.
Bruce Martin is a veteran motorsports author and contributor to FOXSports.com. Observe him on X at @BruceMartin_500.
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