Ericsson had guile to win the 500 — twice

Picture, if you will, what must have been going on in Marcus Ericsson’s head on Lap 195?

After lingering near, but not among, the leaders for most of the Indianapolis 500, the race had broken his way after the last round of pit stops. He blasted past fellow Sweden countryman Felix Rosenqvist with 17 laps to go and had the Indianapolis 500 won. No one was going to catch him as he nursed a threesecond lead with six laps to go.

Then? The usual Indy cliffhanger. A late yellow, and then, red flag.

Gone was the gap. Gone was the late dominance. Gone was any sense of security. With IndyCars slipstreaming as they do? Being in first place on a restart is not the best place to be. With only two laps of green flag to finish? Ericsson was even-odds to be a sitting duck.

In effect, he was going to have to win the Indianapolis 500 again. Under pressure and under completely different circumstances than the manner in which he took the lead in the first place.

It was going to take guile. It was going to take daring. It was going to take defensive driving to the max. It was going to require zero quarter given against the most trimmed-out driver in the field (Pato O’Ward), his steady teammate (Rosenqvist) and a savvy Indy veteran (Tony Kanaan) seeking glory as the sun sets on his career.

So Ericsson reached down and did it ... with style as it turned out. After playing offense to take the lead to start with, he showed he could play defense with aplomb too. His Indianapolis 500 win was born of a good car with a pilot that didn’t flinch when the pressure was cranked up.

“I had a plan to break his tow and I was going to stay low and make [O’Ward] stay on the outside of me. I knew I had a car that could stay flat,” Ericsson said.

The first 495 miles confirmed that confidence in Ericsson’s mind. The Tumla, Sweden native had been near the top of the field all day, and as he explained after the race, he had playing possum to some degree by running in fuel-save mode. Ericsson had fallen out of mind as a contender. After the final set of pit stops? All eyes were on Scott Dixon, O’Ward and Rosenqvist, the contenders for much of the day.

Savvy veteran Dixon played against type and made the rookie mistake — he was caught speeding entering pit row and his race was done after a drive-thru penalty.

O’Ward and Rosenqvist, who had rode their superior fuel mileage and rock-steady Arrow McLaren Chevrolets to the front of the field, were in an intra-team clash to see who would win the in and out laps and the pit stop sequence. O’Ward had won so many battles throughout the race, but it was Rosenqvist who cycled in front.

Ericsson would remain out of sight and out of mind no longer. He emerged from the

pit stop sequence in third and rocketed past O’Ward. He quickly hauled in Rosenqvist too to take the lead for the first time on Lap 183.

Ericsson showed remarkable power as the laps checked off. With 11 laps left, Ericsson had amassed a 3.5-second lead. O’Ward was in second, but was struggling with handling with very little downforce in his Honda. Kanaan was charging with the fastest car on the track, but he was too far back, trying to make up a near-five-second gap with not enough laps to do it.

“I was hoping that was the race-winning move,” said Ericsson on the pass of Rosenqvist. “We had it covered. The only thing that could stop us was a caution.”

Cautions in the final 10 laps at Indy have an inevitable feel. Sure enough, Ericsson’s teammate, Jimmie Johnson, threw a spanner into the works as he crashed in Turn 2.

So many classic 500s have turned on a late plot twist and Ericsson was in the crosshairs. Indy chucked in another headache from’s Ericsson’s point of view, the red flag to allow the track to be cleaned up and assure a green flag finish.

“I was angry. I thought I had the race won. I couldn’t believe it was one of the Ganassi cars. I was like, ‘Guys, can’t we communicate and say we have a car winning the 500 with a big gap? No risks, right?’ I’m not trying to put the blame on Jimmie, but it was tough to take in the moment,” Ericsson said.

Red flag or yellow flag, you could also raise your conspiracy theory freak flag if you so choose. The fastest car in the field at the time of the crash? Kanaan by nearly a full mile-per-hour. Kanaan is also noted for his aggression and restart prowess. It goes without saying that a second Kanaan Indy 500 victory would have popularity on a scale that was dwarf Ericsson’s maiden victory.

Race fans of a certain ilk might also recoil at the thought of what could be considered a contrived red flag, but it wasn’t unprecedented. The red flag flew under similar circumstances in 2014. Purists hate it, but few of the sixfigure crowd are racing purists. They want a show and Indianapolis was going to give them one. Kanaan and O’Ward also signaled their approval of the decision after the race.

What debate there is to be had was immaterial to what confronted Ericsson as he sat in the cockpit of his red Honda-powered Ganassi vehicle.

There’s a million things that can go wrong while leading a restart. Awash in what he called the hardest 10 minutes of his life, Ericsson recalled a conversation he had with a mentor, three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti.

“I was talked with Dario over dinner last night about this scenario. What do to do? How to break the tow? That was in my mind while I was sitting there,” Ericsson said.

Ericsson was stout. He didn’t allow O’Ward to get a run on him coming out of Turn 4 on the restart. Kanaan was left exposed to the southerly breeze as Rosenqvist tucked in behind O’Ward to get a tow. Once Rosenqvist and Kanaan ended up side-byside entering Turn 1? They were both out of it.

To break the draft, Ericsson snaked his way through the final two laps. The serpentine race line is the smart play, but it was aggressive. From SAFER barrier to grass, Ericsson worked his advantage.

Still, O’Ward, the young hotshot who seemingly has an Indianapolis 500 win destined in his future, was in pursuit. The future was now for O’Ward.

Despite Ericsson diving extremely close to the pit entrance attenuator coming out of Turn 4, O’Ward got aside Ericsson and briefly nosed ahead of him after the start-finish line. However, O’Ward was on the outside line and Ericsson gave no quarter on the inside. O’Ward had to lift.

What did O’Ward think of the weaving?

“The weaving was a lot more aggressive than it usually is. Last year I was in Tony [Kanaan’s] spot looking at [Alex] Palou and Helio [Castroneves] and they were a lot more gentle with it. Marcus? I think he right into where the pit lane is, into the pit commitment line, which ...” O’Ward paused asking aloud about what race control might think.

“My job is to follow and get a tow, but it was a lot more aggressive than I thought,” O’Ward said.

Kanaan chimed in to refute the question, and perhaps, maybe O’Ward a bit as well.

“It’s the last lap of the Indy 500. Anyone would have done the same,” Kanaan said.

Once Ericsson had the measure of O’Ward? It was over. He pulled away on the final lap. Sage Karam wrecked in Turn 2 to bring out the yellow, but by then? The outcome was academic unless Ericsson made a grave error. The 500 was his ... again.

Not that he knew it in the moment.

“I thought there was going to be another restart. I was angry, but once I found out that was not the case? It was an explosion of emotions,” Ericsson said.

Ericsson had the fortitude to get the job done ... twice as it turned out. He showed the heart of a champion.