INDIANAPOLIS — Roger Penske delivered a forceful command for drivers to start their engines at the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday after the most trying of weeks for his own race team, only to watch Team Penske driver Scott McLaughlin crash out before it even began.
McLaughlin was warming up his tires on the parade laps when he lost control and hit the inside retaining wall.
“I have no idea what happened,” said McLaughlin, one of the pre-race favorites despite an earlier wreck in practice, who climbed from his car, cradled his helmeted head in his hands and appeared to be nearly inconsolable on the infield grass.
“Just really upset for my team,” he said. “They built me a fantastic car again. I’m really sorry to my sponsors, my fans, my family. I don’t know what happened. I can’t believe we’re out of the race. I had so much hope today. It’s the worst moment of my life.”
Penske, who also owns IndyCar, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indy 500, had been scarce in public since qualifying weekend, when the cars of two-time defending winner Josef Newgarden and former winner Will Power were found to have an illegally modified part. Both were penalized and sent to the rear of the 33-car starting grid.
Penske went even further after the second scandal to engulf his team in just over a year, firing team president Tim Cindric and Team Penske officials Ron Ruzewski and Kyle Moyer, who had served as the strategist on McLaughlin’s car.
McLaughlin did not have the illegally modified part on the car that he wrecked in the final round of qualifying.
The start of the 109th running of the Indy 500 was delayed when a cloud of light rain that passed over the speedway, where a crowd of about 350,000 people had arrived early and packed the sold-out grandstands. Trucks with huge dryers were sent onto the track, and it was declared ready by race control after a delay of about 35 minutes.
Penske received a warm ovation when he finally stepped to the microphone and delivered the starting command.
McLaughlin, who was starting on the inside of the fourth row, was swerving back and forth across the track to warm up his tires when his car suddenly kicked left at the end of the front stretch. It slammed into the inner barrier, destroying his suspension and ending the race he wants to win more than any other before it had even started.
It was reminiscent of the 1992 Indianapolis 500, when pole-sitter Roberto Guerrero spun out and crashed while trying to warm up his tires during the parade laps. And just like McLaughlin, he was unable to take the green flag to start the race.
“I know it’s probably dramatic,” McLaughlin said after leaving the infield care center, “but it’s just like — I put so much into the race. Everyone does. And I didn’t even get to see the green flag.”
At the same time that McLaughlin was being tended to, smoke and flames began shooting out from under Scott Dixon’s car. It was not clear what the issue was for the Chip Ganassi Racing driver, who is the 2008 race winner.
When the race went green, Marco Andretti made contact with first Jack Harvey, which caused him to spin, before Marcus Armstrong hit Andretti on the first lap. His father and grandfather, Michael Andretti and Mario Andretti, just shook their heads in disbelief.
It makes for back-to-back DNF’s for Andretti in the race his grandfather won in 1969.
Penske delivered the command for drivers to start their engines after a 42-minute delay for rain — a pause that initially appeared to put Kyle Larson’s attempt to complete “the double” and race 1,100-miles in one day in jeopardy.
The NASCAR star needed to leave the Indianapolis Motor Speedway by 4 p.m. to make it to Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina, 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.
This year’s bid ended with a crash before the midpoint of the race in Indy.
Meanwhile, a swarm of people poured through the Indianapolis Motor Speedway gates as soon as it opened. Some were shirtless, some wore American flag overalls, others checkered flag mini-skirts.
As they entered the main tunnel nearly five hours before the race, a large group began a thunderous “Let’s Go Pacers!” chant; The Indiana Pacers host Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals against the New York Knicks a few hours after the 109th running of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”
The grandstands are sold out for the first time since 2016 and IndyCar expects 350,000 people will be on IMS property for Sunday’s race. One tunnel at the speedway had to be closed to motorized vehicles four hours before the race to handle the pedestrian volume.
Pato O’Ward, a two-time Indy 500 runner-up, and two-time reigning IndyCar champion Alex Palou are the co-favorites, listed at +500 by BetMGM. O’Ward starts 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.
Robert Shwartzman, a dual national of Israel and Russia, will be the first rookie to lead the field to green since 1983 in the Indianapolis 500 debut for Prema Racing. The Italian team is dominant in Europe but new this season to IndyCar, and Shwartzman has never raced on an oval.
The 25-year-old drives under the Israel flag and is the first Israeli in the field. He was out of the race before the midpoint.All eyes will be on Penske drivers Newgarden and Power, who started 32nd and 33rd following inspection failures that dropped them to the back of the field. Newgarden is the two-time defending race winner and trying to become the first in history to win three-straight Indy 500s.
No driver has ever won from starting on the last row. Rivals have already declared the Penskes the fastest cars in the field and have said they look forward to watching them pick their way through traffic.
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