After three red flags, Newgarden decisively passed Marcus Ericsson in the one-lap shootout that decided Sunday's showpiece. A robust defence exiting Turn 4 ensured he held off Chip Ganassi Racing's defending winner to secure his first and team owner Roger Penske's 19th Indy 500 victory.
Analysis: How Newgarden rose to be a thorn to Ericsson’s double Indy 500 bid
Remarkably this was just the sixth race in the role for Newgarden's Australian race engineer Luke Mason, who joined Team Penske at the start of 2022 as a performance engineer. Elevated to Newgarden’s race engineer this year, it took just two races for the combination to earn their first victory together at Texas. Now Mason has won the biggest prize in American open-wheel racing at his first attempt with the 2017 and 2019 champion.
In an exclusive interview with Autosport, Mason describes the critical decisions taken ahead of the start. Decisions that helped his driver take control of the race from 17th on the grid and add his face to the Borg Warner Trophy, all while snaring $3.6 million in prize money.
Source: Autosport