INDIANAPOLIS — Felix Rosenqvist had 2.5 miles to get from third to first to win the , and the one factor that mattered was intuition.
Rosenqvist put no thought into how harmful it was to spend the ultimate lap on the excessive facet at . He was going to maintain his line.
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It doesn’t matter what.
“I’ve by no means had that feeling earlier than the place I simply wish to win this so unhealthy that I actually do not care about crashing,” Rosenqvist advised IndyStar on Monday. “It is cool that you could get to that time the place you sort of lose your sense of considering in a means.”
All through Rosenqvist’s profession, closing races and race weekends hasn’t been a ability of his. He referred to as himself a “Saturday man” due to his tendency to qualify effectively however not observe by way of on race day. Rosenqvist entered Sunday with seven profession poles, but only one win. Going again to 2022, he had 5 straight years qualifying on the entrance three rows of the Indy 500, however he by no means had a podium end within the race (or on any oval).
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See Felix Rosenqvist, winner of the 2026 Indy 500
Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian driver Felix Rosenqvist (60) prepares to make his run Sunday, Could 17, 2026, throughout qualifying for the a hundred and tenth operating of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
(Garrett Corridor/For IndyStar)
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See Felix Rosenqvist, winner of the 2026 Indy 500
Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian driver Felix Rosenqvist (60) prepares to make his run Sunday, Could 17, 2026, throughout qualifying for the a hundred and tenth operating of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
(Garrett Corridor/For IndyStar)
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See Felix Rosenqvist, winner of the 2026 Indy 500
Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian driver Felix Rosenqvist (60) walks pit lane Monday, Could 18, 2026, throughout observe for the a hundred and tenth operating of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
(Mykal McEldowney/IndyStar)
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Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian driver Felix Rosenqvist (60) drives into flip three Monday, Could 18, 2026, throughout observe for the a hundred and tenth operating of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
(Edwin Locke/For IndyStar)
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Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian driver Felix Rosenqvist (60) pit crew does a pit cease on Friday, Could 22, 2026, on Carb Day forward of the a hundred and tenth operating of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
(Bob Goshert/ For IndyStar)
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Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian driver Felix Rosenqvist (60) and Andretti International driver Kyle Kirkwood (27) discuss Monday, Could 18, 2026, forward of observe for the a hundred and tenth operating of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
(Bob Goshert/For IndyStar)
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Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian driver Felix Rosenqvist (60) competes within the high 12 Sunday, Could 17, 2026, throughout qualifying for the a hundred and tenth operating of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
(Garrett Corridor/For IndyStar)
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See Felix Rosenqvist, winner of the 2026 Indy 500
Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian driver Felix Rosenqvist (60) celebrates his qualifying run Sunday, Could 17, 2026, throughout qualifying for the a hundred and tenth operating of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
(Grace Hollars/IndyStar)
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See Felix Rosenqvist, winner of the 2026 Indy 500
Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian driver Felix Rosenqvist (60) prepares to get in his automotive Sunday, Could 17, 2026, throughout qualifying for the a hundred and tenth operating of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
(Kristin Enzor/For IndyStar)
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See Felix Rosenqvist, winner of the 2026 Indy 500
Andretti International driver Will Energy (26) talks with Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian driver Felix Rosenqvist (60) on pit lane Sunday, Could 17, 2026, throughout qualifying for the a hundred and tenth operating of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
(Gary Mook/For IndyStar)
However that modified when Rosenqvist outdueled Marcus Armstrong in Flip 4 and barely snuck by David Malukas — crossing the end line 0.0233 seconds earlier than Malukas, the closest margin the Indy 500 has ever seen. Rosenqvist claims he blacked out on the ultimate lap, which is doubtlessly the very best within the historical past of IMS, and relied on muscle reminiscence to take the checkered flag.
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“Adrenaline takes over and also you’re additionally keen to danger so much at that time,” he stated. “I believe Indy is the one place that may get that out of you in that sense, the place you simply do not care concerning the aftermath of your actions. So it was fairly simple for me. I simply sort of let the adrenaline do its factor and yeah, it was a extremely cool second.”
Rosenqvist, who stated he didn’t assume he listened to his spotter in any respect within the remaining lap, knew that the excessive line was his solely choice to get his No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda to the bricks first.
Outdoors of the apparent magnitude of profitable the Best Spectacle in Racing, Rosenqvist wanted to get his first win since 2020 for validation. The win proves that, though Rosenqvist’s IndyCar profession has been unstable — together with having simply two top-10 finishes within the first seven races of this 12 months — he and this MSR staff are able to competing for wins on their strongest days.
“I sort of wanted simply to show to myself that I can win on an oval, I can win a race once more after being very shut many occasions,” Rosenqvist stated. “I don’t assume we — both the staff or me — stopped believing, however we had been actually certain that we are able to get this carried out, at any observe, actually. And it was only a matter of time. It took lengthy, it was undoubtedly overdue, however we have simply been in such rhythm after Lengthy Seashore, and we really feel like we unlocked one thing new on the 60 automotive.”
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Over the past 5 weeks, Rosenqvist — who’s now in seventh within the IndyCar standings — has had probably the most spectacular exhibiting.
It started with a pole and second-place end on the Grand Prix of Lengthy Seashore that would’ve been a win if not for an . He then parlayed that into beginning on the second row within the Sonsio Grand Prix on the IMS street course, however he induced a multiple-car crash on the primary flip of the race and positioned twenty third after ultimately crashing once more later within the race. Final weekend, Rosenqvist certified on the within of Row 2 of the Indy 500, which arrange his triumph.
For a lot of the race’s remaining 50 laps, it appeared that Rosenqvist’s victory was going to come back largely uncontested. He and his crew, led by strategist Adam Rovazzini, perfected their fuel-saving strategy, which acquired him comfortably within the lead with one other gas to take it residence. However the technique, which Rosenqvist stated was “like enjoying chess,” acquired thrown out the window when rookie driver Caio Collet crashed and induced a warning with eight laps to go.
In a state of affairs much like what misplaced Rosenqvist the race in Lengthy Seashore, Rosenqvist now not had the higher hand.
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“At first, you’re irritated,” he stated. “You’re controlling the race, greatest race on the earth, and every thing simply sort of falls on its face.”
Rosenqvist felt that, by being in first, he was in a disadvantageous place as a result of these behind him may work off his automotive’s draft and discover area to move. The race’s chief was handed inside two laps of the sixth of Sunday’s seven restarts in a race that set the Indy 500 document with 70 complete lead adjustments. Rosenqvist gave up the lead on the penultimate restart, with Armstrong and Malukas passing whereas Rosenqvist went down to 3rd.
However one other rookie mistake (this one a lot much less extreme) by Mick Schumacher opened a window for Rosenqvist to strike once more. Schumacher grazed the surface wall in Flip 1 on Lap 197, which led to race management deploying one other warning, regardless of Schumacher remaining within the race. This time, Rosenqvist didn’t permit the sample of earlier mishaps, at IMS and elsewhere, to proceed.
“I attempted to not likely let the adverse ideas take over,” Rosenqvist stated. “And I attempted to persuade myself third may really be precisely the place you wish to be, as a result of it usually permits you to get a extremely good run when the 2 main automobiles go facet by facet and mainly need to punch a gap within the air, each of them. And the third man at all times will get slingshot.”
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Rosenqvist acquired that slingshot and took benefit of it to win the Lap 200 shootout over Malukas and Armstrong. Initially believing it’d be a two-lap shootout, Rosenqvist made it stick on the surface, staying two-wide with Armstrong on all 4 turns of the ultimate lap after Malukas took the lead from Armstrong heading into Flip 1.
“I used to be like, ‘Oh, we’re gonna need to make some fast work right here if that is gonna be ours,’” Rosenqvist stated. “And I felt like we ran out of time, however the final run was simply excellent sufficient to get it.”
Rosenqvist drove in his eighth Indy 500 begin with extra confidence than he did in any of his first seven. His refusal to second-guess himself and as an alternative depend on instincts for the whole thing of the shootout has immortalized Rosenqvist in Indy 500 lore.
