Overview
- A crash with eight laps remaining produced a red flag that regrouped the leaders and led to multiple frantic restarts before the finish.
- On the final lap David Malukas briefly took the lead but Felix Rosenqvist made a last‑moment pass at the line to win by the smallest margin in Indy 500 history.
- Pato O'Ward finished fourth after racing on a backup chassis that replaced damage from penultimate practice and he defended Arrow McLaren’s fuel and race plan as correct.
- O'Ward said a brake problem that felt like “a parachute” behind the car slowed him on restarts and prevented him from matching the leaders' acceleration.
- The result highlights how late cautions can erase long strategic advantages at the Indy 500 and extends O'Ward's run of top finishes without a Brickyard victory.