Newgarden wins storm-delayed Indy 500 on final lap

Josef Newgarden won his second successive Indy 500 with a final lap overtake in a dramatic, much-delayed race.

The historic race, consisting of 200 laps of a 2.5-mile oval track at the Brickyard in Indianapolis, was delayed by four hours because of multiple storms.

But the full-length race was still completed shortly before the 20:15 curfew - and was decided on the last lap.

Team Penske's Newgarden overtook Pato O'Ward to become the first back-to-back winner of the race for 22 years.

"There is no better way to win a race than that. I've got to give it up to Pato as well," Newgarden told NBC.

"He's an incredibly clean driver. He could have easily won this race, too, but it just fell our way and I am so proud of everybody, proud of the whole team."

The American swept past his Mexican opponent to become the first driver to seal consecutive Indy 500 wins since Helio Castroneves in 2001 and 2002, and only the sixth in the event's 108-race history.

New Zealand's Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing was third.

Newgarden and his competitors had to wait to race because of heavy rain and lightning in Indiana.

And when it finally commenced, there was a chaotic opening lap in which British rookie Tom Blomqvist caused a crash - ending the race of several drivers, including former F1 driver Marcus Ericsson of Sweden, the 2022 winner.

When the race finally got going in earnest, the lead changed 87 times over 500 miles with 16 different leaders - before Newgarden eventually triumphed again.