Kyle Larson crashed out of the Indianapolis 500 near the midway point Sunday while Ryan Hunter-Reay ended the first half at the top of the leaderboard, looking for a second victory in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”
Hunter-Reay, in a one-off entry for DRR-Cusick Motorsports, won the Indy 500 in 2014 as a driver for Andretti Global. Him leading Sunday with 100 laps remaining was fitting for a race that was first briefly delayed by rain and then hit with a rash of weird incidents.
Scott McLaughlin crashed on the warm-up lap while swerving to get heat in his tires. Scott Dixon had a brake fire before the race went green and then Marco Andretti was crashed on the first lap.
It was reminiscent of the 1992 Indianapolis 500, when pole-sitter Roberto Guerrero spun out and crashed while also trying to warm up his tires during the parade laps.
“I really have no idea what happened,” a heartbroken McLaughlin said. “I can’t believe we’re out of the race. I had so much hope. It’s the worst moment of my life.”
The bizarre only continued as Alexander Rossi went to pit road with smoke coming from the back of his car, only for it to erupt into flames and his fueler caught fire. Rossi angrily flung his gloves over the pit road wall as he fled from the flames.
Rinus VeeKay lost his brakes and crashed on pit road and then Robert Shwartzman, the first rookie to start from the pole since 1983, lost control entering his pit stall and hit several of his Prema Racing crew members.
“As soon as I touched my brakes, the whole front just locked and I ran into my guys,” Shwartzman said. “It was really scary because when I braked, I was just a passenger.”
Shwartzman, a dual national of Israel and Russia and first rookie to lead the field to green since 1983, was making his oval debut. The 25-year-old drives under the Israel flag and is the first Israeli in the field.
On the next restart, Larson’s attempt to complete “the double” of 1,100-miles on the same day when he was collected in a three-car collision. It ended his Indy 500 and allowed Larson to head to the airport to get to Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina in time for the Coca-Cola 600.
“Just bummed out,” Larson said. “Try to get over this quickly and get on to Charlotte and just forget about it.”
Two-time defending race winner Josef Newgarden, meanwhile, carved his way through traffic from starting on the last row into the top-10 by the 80th lap of the race. Newgarden and Team Penske teammate Will Power were dropped to 32nd and 33rd for the start for failing an inspection ahead of qualifying.
Newgarden is trying to become the first driver to win the 500 in three consecutive years; no driver has ever won from the last row.
Roger Penske delivered the command for drivers to start their engines after a 42-minute delay for rain — a pause that had already put Larson’s double attempt in jeopardy.
The NASCAR star had a 4 p.m. deadline to leave Indianapolis to make it to Charlotte, where the Coca-Cola 600 is his priority. Only one driver has ever completed all 1,100 miles — Tony Stewart in 2001. Larson’s bid failed last year because a rain delay in Indianapolis made him miss the Coca-Cola 600.
Larson could be seen checking his watch from inside his car as he waited for Penske’s command. He’s starting second in Charlotte and started 19th in the Indy 500.
Pato O’Ward, a two-time Indy 500 runner-up, and two-time reigning IndyCar champion Alex Palou were the co-favorites, listed at +500 by BetMGM when the race began. O’Ward started third and would be the first Mexican winner; Palou, winner of four of the first five races this season, would be the first Spanish winner should he earn his first career victory on an oval track.
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