By Steve Keating
INDIANAPOLIS (Reuters) – Sweden’s Marcus Ericsson survived a two-lap shootout to win a dramatic Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, as the Brickyard reclaimed the mantle of the world’s biggest single day sporting event, living up to its billing as the ‘Greatest Spectacle in Racing”.
On a day of twists and turns on the 2.5 mile oval, the biggest came just six laps from the end when Jimmie Johnson got down on the grass and spun up into the wall bringing out a red flag sending the cars onto the pit lane.
When the debris was cleared, the drivers returned to the track and with 300,000 spectators on their feet for a breath-taking two-lap winner-takes-all sprint, the 31-year-old Swede held off hard-charging Mexican Pato O’Ward to put his car on Victory Lane.
“I had to do everything there at the end to keep them behind,” said Ericsson, after drinking the traditional quart of milk. “I can’t believe it, I’m so happy.”
Ericsson, a former-Formula One driver, becomes the second Swede to win the Indy 500 after Kenny Brack in 1999.
(Reporting by Steve Keating Indianapolis. Additional reporting Rory Carroll in Los Angeles, Lewis Franck; Editing by Clare Fallon and Toby Davis)
