INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – MAY 24: Felix Rosenqvist, driver of the #60 Meyer Shank w/ Curb-Agajanian Honda crosses the finish line to win ahead of David Malukas, driver of the #12 Team Penske Chevrolet during the NTT IndyCar Series 110th Running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 24, 2026 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)

In what will go down as the most exciting finish in the history of the Indianapolis 500 miles race, Felix Rosenqvist scored only his second IndyCar race of his career, but it was the most important one as he crossed the bricks side by side with David Malukas to win the Indy 500 in the closest finish ever, 0.0233 seconds. The race had 70 lead changes, the most ever in the Indianapolis 500 and the third most lead changes in IndyCar Series history.  Defending Indy 500 winner and IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou took the lead and battled with 2016 Indy 500 winner Alexander Rossi. The two swapped the lead until lap 18, when 2014 Indy winner Ryan Hunter-Reay spun in Turn 2 and collected Katherine Legge, who tried to avoid Hunter-Reay’s car. Both drivers walked away unhurt.

The race went back to green on Lap 26, and Rinus VeeKay took the lead by staying out on older tires. But on the restart, Ed Carpenter in the No. 33 Splenda Chevrolet barely touched two-time Indy winner Takuma Sata going into Turn 1 and triggered another caution. VeeKay pitted on Lap 29, handing the lead over to Dale Coyne Racing’s Romain Grosjean.

Grosjean and Brazilian rookie Caio Collet led back and forth for five laps before Romain had to pit. Collet led for one lap before going in for service. On Lap 40, Alex Palou retook the lead until his pit stop on Lap 62 and gave his teammate Scott Dixon the top spot. After a round of stops, Palou charged back to the front on Lap 66.

The two Ganassi teammates played a high-stakes chess match until Lap 92, when Will Power’s car started leaking fluid, bringing out the caution. Some drivers were racing to stay in front and possibly win a rain-shortened race after 100 laps, making an official end of the Indy 500. On Lap 105, weather caused the red flag to fly with 2008 Indy 500 winner Scott Dixon out front, and possibly winning his second 500-mile race, but the race was only halted for 12 minutes after a light rain fall.

When racing resumed on Lap 109, Dixon got passed by several cars, and Team Penske’s David Malukas emerged as the new leader on Lap 110.Just as the field got up to speed, the rain started against, and the yellow flew again on Lap 115. The top five were: David Malukas, Alex Palou, Conor Daly, Josef Newgarden, and Scott Dixon.

The green flag dropped once more on Lap 123, but Josef Newgarden, who was hoping to win his 3rd Indy 500-mile race, hit the curb in Turn 4, spun hard, and slammed the SAFER barrier. Josef got out of the car unhurt but was angry and walked into the medical car unassisted. The lead changed between Scott McLaughlin, Alex Palou, and Conor Daly—until David Malukas seized control on Lap 146 but had to pit on the next lap, giving the lead back to Palou.

On Lap 154, Felix Rosenqvist who was playing a fuel-saving strategy, took the lead and looked unstoppable — until he pitted for service on Lap 166. The lead was handed straight over to David Malukas. Pato O’Ward, a two-time second-place runner-up from 2022 and 2024, went head-to-head with Rosenqvist in a blistering lead battle until his Arrow McLaren team told him to “Save fuel.”

With just 8 laps to go, rookie Caio Collet made heavy contact in Turn 2, his car erupting in flames across half the bodywork. The final yellow flag flew, and officials wasted no time throwing the red flag to ensure the end of the race was dramatic. The race went back to green, and Marcus Armstrong passed his teammate Felix Rosenqvist with 4 laps to go, and his appear that Armstrong would win until a brief yellow flag came out after Mick Schumacher brushed the wall in between turns 1 and 2.

Then on the final lap, David Malukas passed Marcus Armstrong to take the lead, and it appeared that he was on his way to scoring his first career IndyCar win, but Felix Rosenqvist got a run on the outside coming off of turn 4 and was able to pass Malukas on the yard of bricks to win the closest finish in Indy 500 history.

A disbelief Rosenqvist, who recently became a father of a daughter, Stella, became the 3rd Swedish driver to win the Indy 500, joining Kenny Brack in 1999 and Marcus Ericsson in 2022.

“I haven’t seen a finish like that ever,” Rosenqvist said. “So initially, I was like ‘OK, I’m second’ because this never happens, you never have enough time to get that pass. But it happened, and it’s just incredible.”

Rosenqvist’s victory was the second for his team Meyer-Shank Racing, which they won in 2021 with Helo Castro Neves