2022 Indianapolis 500 – Marcus Ericsson tastes the thrill of victory, others the pain of defeat
INDIANAPOLIS – Richard Petty once said, “I can’t remember too much about the 200 races I won, but I can tell you every little detail about the 1,000 races I lost. That’s it. the reason that all of our riders. It’s sick, isn’t it?”
The King didn’t drive on Sunday’s 106th run of the Indianapolis 500, but as a race winner Marcus Ericsson Climbing up from the cockpit of his Honda on Victory Lane, Petty’s general condition is displayed beneath Ericsson’s seat, visible from one end of the tunnel to the other.
Scott Dixonwho started from turret and led almost half of the lap only to see his day complete with a tunnel speed penalty to finish 21st, rubbing his red face and tears welled up as his wife watched and cried. on behalf of.
“You do all you can and hope that the holidays come your way, and sometimes they don’t,” says the six-time always-composed IndyCar champion. The 41-year-old driver grinned as reporters asked questions regarding “You’ll win, what happened?” and “You still only win this race once” and rank him with career stats like 1 to 20 at Indy. “Today, the breaks were going our way … until they didn’t,” he said.
Helio Castronenves, the defending champion, who had waited decades for his third and fourth Indy wins, was free to solo his way from 27th to Saturday but his advancement was halted by a late warning series. He took his postseason to walk the length of the pit slowly, waving to the fans still remaining who numbered more than 300,000 in attendance at the original green flag. “I want to say thank you,” the 47-year-old explained. “And I also want to clear my mind that I can’t complete the transaction today.”
Tony Kanaan was behind the wheel of a ride but was the fastest car on the field as the “lap to go” counter entered unique digits. Yet he was out of breath and had to settle in third place. Sweaty-heads, the 47-year-old 2013 Indy 500 winner fended off posthumous questions about retirement (“I have a year to figure that out”) and spoke at length about race strategy (” We’re all playing chess out there”) before resting his elbows on the top of the box, shaking his head, and wearily saying, “I left it all there. That’s all I was.” can do. “
Pato O’Ward, who had literally been running the wheel with Ericsson with one lap left, was soulless asked, would it be bad to finish second? “Monday is a very honorable result. It was a hard pill to swallow, but it was a great day,” he replied. Moments later, as he stepped away from the microphone and camera to leave the press box, he said to those who followed him into the elevator, “But it must be obvious, second, that it sucks.”
It has. In any race. But the difficulty of coming to Indianapolis is like a Taser. That’s hurt. And it takes a long time to shake off that pain – if it goes away at all. The Indianapolis 500 is one of 17 races on the IndyCar Series schedule. There are many titles and salaries to be won throughout the year. There is a championship season to win. But only one of 365 days on an IndyCar racer’s calendar is a potential gateway to immortality.
They don’t assign an artist to sculpt your face from silver to be placed on a 6-foot high art deco trophy alongside beauties like AJ Foyt and Mario Andretti when you win the Music City Grand Prix or Hy-Vee Salute to Farmer 300. Only one Borg-Warner Cup. It will now be adorned with the faces of 106 winners. Meanwhile, the cups of the nearly 3,500 losers can be found in pits, in Gas Alley, couch homes or in graves, all in a far different mood than the pound sterling.
Indy is Indy. A place so enchanting that somehow even winning the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” award is not enough.
“This is where if you win it once, it just makes you so much more desperate to win it back,” explains Alexander Rossi, 2016 Indy 500 champion, finished fifth on Sunday. In seven career starts, he’s finished seventh or better five times, including a runner-up attempt in 2019. He looks into the distance as he talks, replays the final laps of the race. in mind and sounded like a man in a dentist chair without Novocain: “When the leader is right there, where you can see him, and you know the checkered flag is coming, but you couldn’t catch them There was nothing you could do years to see if that happens.”
Ericsson, the leader Rossi could see but failed to catch, has yet to enter the “much more desperate to win again” phase of his new life as the Indy 500 champion after he Finish the traditional winning lap atop a speedcar decorated with a garland and a milky mustache. But he admits that falling into Indy’s agony was on his mind before that victory officially became a reality.
The 31-year-old Swede came to IndyCar from Formula 1 in 2019 with an acknowledged fear of oval racing. His two career wins have both come on track, in Detroit and Nashville, and his average result across 13 oval starts is 14th, with an Indy 500 best as a number 14th. 11. He seems to have won with only six laps left when Indy 500 rookie Jimmie Johnson Hit the wall to bring out the red flag.
“As I sat there under the red flag running through all the scenarios and thinking about the guys that would attack on the reboot, I thought about a conversation I had [three-time Indy 500 winner and mentor] Dario Franchitti, “Ericsson recalls.” We actually talked about what I should do if I’m late. Playing defense. Keep them behind me. Make them work, make a mistake, just make sure I didn’t. “
In an angry two-round shootout, Ericsson knocked out all challengers, including a battle with O’Ward as they rushed into Round 1 to bring fans in the stands to their collective. . Moments later, Ericsson flashed under the checkered flag.
As the sun rises over the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, many believe it will be the day when Ericsson boss, four-time Indy 500 team owner, Chip Ganassi, will finally tackle the drought. puzzling his ten years, a decade agonized by the hunger of that winner. Only they believe victory will come to one of Ericsson’s four more senior teammates: Dixon, Kanaan, the defending series champion Alex Palou or even Johnson.
In Monaco, where the media and fans watched Indy’s action on TV after the Monaco Grand Prix had just finished, it is believed that a driver in the 2018 squad of the team formerly known as Sauber F1 will Win one of Earth’s most prestigious races. Only they thought it would be Charles Leclerc (currently driving for Ferrari) right here in Monaco, not Ericsson. Leclerc finished fourth.
So all their predictions came true. They just have the racers and all the wrong positions. It was Ericsson, the career zeroth F1 driver, oval hater, who won the day by claiming the race’s coveted event. And gives a big help to the least coveted feeling of the race. The disease has no cure – and the only treatment is a bottle of milk that is prescribed to only one person once a year.
“Our goal as racers is to win, no matter what,” Ericsson added before heading into Indianapolis evening to celebrate with his family. He recalls that when he won the Detroit Grand Prix in June 2021, it was his first win of any kind since 2013. Eight did not lose. “What it took to get here was a lot of heartache. So much heartache.”
Then the newest Immortal Indy smiled.
“But today, right now, it’s worth it.”
