Inside The Indy 500's Dramatic, Terrifying And Impressive Side-By-Side Last Lap

In Driver's Eye with James Hinchcliffe , the six-time INDYCAR winner will bring you inside the mind of a racer while breaking down the nuts and bolts of the sport for fans.

Wow. Wow, wow, wow, wow. 

I am not sure what you were expecting from this year’s Indianapolis 500, but I have to be honest: A record-breaking, hair-raising, crowd-screaming drag race to the finish was far more than I thought we had in store!

As always, the Indy 500 was not short of storylines. From weather being a constant threat all day long, to multiple red flags, to a split fuel strategy and a one-lap shootout for all the glory, the 110th Running of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing had all the dramatic bases covered.

But I want to focus on something very specific. I want to talk about the last lap. 

I want to talk about how tough, dangerous and terrifying it is to run on the outside of all four corners of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, inches away from another car doing 220 miles per hour… with the added complication of your teammate being in that other car.

Enter Felix Rosenqvist and Marcus Armstrong. 

Let’s start with racing side-by-side for a whole lap. It’s not uncommon on a restart, when you are still getting up to speed, to see a car hang it out through Turns 1 and 2. Then, when you get down to Turn 3, there can be a big line checking up on the low lane, and maybe you can still hold it out there.

But when both cars are in pretty clean air — the leader had a solid gap on them at this point — trying to stick it to the guy on the inside is mind-boggling. Indy is a one-groove track once you’re up to speed, but I guess no one told Felix! 

There is a reason that every driver who’s raced around the 2.5-mile speedway was applauding that