The Indianapolis 500 is always good for some drama, and this year's edition didn't disappoint in that regard.
Marcus Ericsson took the checkered flag at the 106th running of the legendary race on Sunday after leading the final 11 laps, but it was far from easy goings at the end for the Swedish driver. A red flag with five laps remaining put Ericsson within touching distance for all the other drivers, leading to a two-lap sprint to the finish when the race restarted.
Ericsson had to fend off Pato O’Ward over that final sprint, with the race ending under a yellow flag for a wreck unrelated to the red flag incident.
Regardless, the end result was Ericsson crossing the finish line 1.7929 seconds ahead of O'Ward, giving the 31-year-old his first Indy 500 victory.
Ericsson admitted that the way the race ended added stress to an already tense situation, but he had anticipated more obstacles as the final laps progressed.
"You can never take anything for granted and obviously there were still laps to go [when the restart happened after the red flag], and I was praying so hard there wasn't going to be another yellow but I knew there was probably gonna be one, and it was hard to refocus," Ericsson told NBC Sports immediately following the race.
"But I knew the car was amazing ... but it was still hard. I had to do everything then and there to keep them behind. I can't believe it, I'm so happy."