Race Report: Indianapolis 500

INDIANAPOLIS (May 24, 2026)--The 2026 Indianapolis 500 ended with the closest finish in the history of the 110 runnings of the historic race, and in those .0233 thousandths of a second at over 230 mph one driver's elation became another one's heartbreak.

Felix Rosenqvist snared victory from David Malukas in the final seconds and the tears that flowed from each driver were on both ends of the spectrum. Rosenqvist became the third Swede to win the 500 with Marcus Ericsson winning in 2022) and Kenny Brack bringing A.J. Foyt a fifth trip to victory lane in 1999. Malukas, who finished second last year for Foyt, claimed the runner-up spot again but it was bittersweet.

The highs and lows of the Indy 500 were felt by the AJ Foyt Racing team as well. Santino Ferrucci maintained his top-10 finishing record in the 500 extending it to eight with his eighth place finish but rookie Caio Collet saw a great run end ten laps too early. Katherine Legge's bid to race 1100 miles in one day also fell short.

Starting fifth, Ferrucci was optimistic about his chances in this race and indeed he moved the No. 14 Homes For Our Troops Chevrolet into third in the first lap. He slipped back to fifth after six laps.

The yellow came out on lap 18 for Ryan Hunter-Reay's spin in Turn 2, and Katherine Legge with nowhere to go, spun in trying to avoid him and hit the wall, ending the first half of her historic attempt at The Double much earlier than expected.

Katherine Legge in the No. 11 e.l.f. Cosmetics Chevrolet became the only female driver to run The Double - the Indy 500 and the Coca Cola 600 - on the same day.

“I’m just gutted more than anything," Legge said. "Ryan spun in front of me. He was battling his car for a minute and I was back there chilling out and saving fuel. He spun and went down the track and then started coming back up the track so I had to abort mission and go low and I just didn’t make it.”

Emerging unhurt, Legge left the track and jetted to Charlotte, NC to become the only woman to race in both the Indy 500 and the Coca Cola 600 on the same day, aka The Double. She finished 31st in the race which was shortened by 27 laps due to rain.

Ferrucci ran in the top-10 for the first half of the race but started to complain about the car, so his race engineer Adam Kolesar had the crew adjust the front and rear wings during a lap 130 pitstop that saw him drop from 10th to 18th. About 10 laps later he set his fastest lap of the race, telling the engineers the car "came alive."

Taking his final fuel and tires on lap 165, Ferrucci started moving up as other cars began to pit for fuel. He was up to fifth but dropped back to seventh with 15 laps to go as cars with fresher tires began moving through the field.

Caio Collet experienced the highs and lows of the Month of May all in one race. Starting 32nd, his race engineer Mike Armbrester didn't pit on the initial yellow for Legge. Instead, Collet stayed out and gained track position and vaulted from 29th to third during the caution period. He was running second when the green came out on lap 31 and by its end, he was leading in the No. 4 Combitrans Amazonia Chevrolet. He led for nine laps before ducking into the pits for tires and fuel.

Rookie Caio Collet leads the Indianapolis 500 in the No. 4 Combitrans Amazonia Chevrolet.

The original strategy didn't work, so they readjusted and he (as did Ferrucci) ran the rest of the race on the same fuel strategy. The switch worked for both drivers. By the end of the race Collet was running in the top-10 and outpacing his fellow rookies, looking to give A.J. Foyt two top-10 finishes.

A.J. Foyt watches the action from the pits.

With just ten lap to go, Collet's car got loose entering turn 2 and he made contact with the outside wall. A second impact triggered a flash fire in the car's rear before sliding to a stop. Collet climbed from the car and was taken to the infield care center. He was examined and released.

"I think it was an awesome race up until the crash," said the 24-year-old rookie from Brazil. "We did a gamble there in the beginning with strategy. It didn't pay off with the yellows. I think we had a really good car. We were up a few positions already on the first few laps. Got to lead a couple of laps (he led nine) with the (initial) strategy we took and then we were basically fighting with the good guys there, like head to head, and that was pretty cool. And then, our (first) strategy didn't work out, so we had to bail out of that. We came back from last.

Collet battles with Alex Palou during the race. (INDYCAR Photo)

"So big thanks to the team, they managed to put me back in the race, fighting for the top-10 there at the end. Had to save a little bit of fuel, but I think we had a really good car, and I was just pushing too much, trying to stay in the fight, and ended up losing the rear.  Just a silly mistake from my side, but I'm glad that I'm okay. These cars, they are really safe, because I have to look back at the video, I think it was pretty sketchy. But no, I'm glad that I'm fine. I think we had a really good month, just a little bit frustrating to end like this. I think we can be proud of what we did, and we'll come back stronger."

Due to it being close to the end, the race was red-flagged for a second time (the first being for rain showers just after halfway), and Ferrucci, who had been running seventh, pulled into pitlane along with the rest of the field.

When the race restarted, rookie Mick Schumacher brushed the wall, causing officials to again wave the yellow. Ferrucci lost two spots and was ninth when the green flag was unfurled, creating the one lap run to the checkered and that dramatic finish.

Ferrucci (center) battles with Scott McLaughlin (right) and Malukas (left) early in the race. (INDYCAR Photo)

Ferrucci battled back to eighth to continue his record-setting streak of consecutive top-10 finishes in the 500, now eight.

"Really proud of the Homes For Our Troops crew today," said the 27-year-old from Connecticut. "I mean Larry (Foyt), and everybody (on the crew) I think did a good job. We had a great strategy; everything probably went as good as it could have. The car just didn't really have the speed. I got up front early and  couldn't stay there. There's nothing you can do when you're holding it flat. We just couldn't get off of [turns] two and four.

"We made a call to say let's trim it, see what happens, and it actually woke the car up, and we were able to actually make some progress back, which was good, but it was a little late in the race. Unfortunately, we got really hung up in one of those last restarts, and yeah, just not our day. I'm happy Caio is okay. He was running a great race all day today. I saw him running up front with us at one point. I know he was only a couple spots behind me on the same strategy, and he would have finished in the top-10 with us, so just a bummer for him."

Following Rosenqvist and Malukas across the line were Scott McLaughlin, Pato O'Ward, Marcus Armstrong (Rosenqvist's teammate), Rinus Veekay, Alex Palou, and Ferrucci.

The teams head to Detroit this week for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix which will be broadcast on FOX Sunday, May 31 starting at 12:30 pm ET.

The starting grid of drivers in the 110th Running of the Indianapolis 500.