Rosenqvist wins Indy 500 over Malukas in race's closest-ever finish

Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian driver Felix Rosenqvist (60) celebrates after winning the 110th Running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images

Felix Rosenqvist wins Indianapolis 500 over David Malukas in race's closest-ever finish

By Samuel Stubbs | Last updated May 24, 2026 4:36 PM ET

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The 110th edition of "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing" had one of its greatest finishes ever on Sunday.

In a one-lap shootout to decide the 110th running of the Indianapolis 500, Felix Rosenqvist beat David Malukas in a thrilling photo finish, earning just the second win of his NTT IndyCar Series career and the second win in team history for Meyer Shank Racing.

Rosenqvist spent much of the final lap battling with his MSR teammate, Marcus Armstrong, for second, but cleared Armstrong in Turn 4. He got enough of a run on Malukas to beat him to the line by only 0.02 seconds, the closest margin of victory in Indy 500 history.

The race for the win was a one-lap shootout after the caution came out with only four laps to go. Before the previous yellow with eight laps remaining, Rosenqvist led Pato O'Ward as the two tried to save enough fuel to make it to the end of the race.

THE CLOSEST FINISH IN INDIANAPOLIS 500 HISTORY!

IT'S FELIX ROSENQVIST! pic.twitter.com/exA3UpH81b
— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) May 24, 2026

"I don't even know what to say," Rosenqvist told Fox Sports. "Massive thanks to the team. I think we were the best car today. I had a flat-out lap on the high line and it stuck. It was the perfect situation for us before that. At the end, everything flipped upside down. You just have to think forward."

Notable results

Malukas, Scott McLaughlin, O'Ward and Armstrong rounded out the top five, with Rinus VeeKay, polesitter Alex Palou, Santino Ferrucci, Romain Grosjean and Takuma Sato completing the top 10.

Malukas was understandably dejected and emotional on pit road post-race.

"I don't know what else we could've done," Malukas said. "We were the fastest car that whole race. I have it 150 percent. I almost crashed this damn car every lap. I don't know what else I can give. I give everything to this team, man. They give me so much support. I can't believe it, just so close. This place, man."

Other notable finishers in Sunday's race include Conor Daly in 12th, Scott Dixon in 15th, Mick Schumacher in 18th, Helio Castroneves in 25th and Josef Newgarden in 28th. Twenty-four of the 33 cars that started the race finished the race, with 23 doing so on the lead lap.

Samuel Stubbs

Hailing from the same neck of the woods as NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin, Samuel has been covering NASCAR for Yardbarker since February 2024. He has been a member of the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) since October of 2024. When he’s not writing about racing, Samuel covers Arkansas Razorback basketball for Yardbarker

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