Simon Pagenaud wins 103rd Running of the Indianapolis 500

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Posted: May 26, 2019 / 03:57 PM EDT / Updated: May 26, 2019 / 04:31 PM EDT

Simon Pagenaud/IMS Productions

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INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Simon Pagenaud made a furious late charge to win the 103rd Running of the Indianapolis 500, holding off hard-driving challengers Alexander Rossi and Takuma Sato to take the checkered flag.

It looked like Rossi, who had a great car all day, would catch Pagenaud in the end, but Pagenaud found just enough speed to cross the finish line first. It capped off a successful May for Pagenaud, who also won the IndyCar GP earlier this month.

It was a relatively clean race until late.

On lap 180, a crash involving Sebastien Bourdais and Graham Rahal caused the red flag to come out. Felix Rosenqvist, Zach Veach and Charlie Kimball were also affected. Bourdais was cited for making avoidable contact, though that is small consolation for Rahal, who was visibly angered by the crash.

Kyle Kaiser, whose racing team was the Cinderella story of the Last Row Shootout, went out of the race after his car crashed into the wall on lap 74.

Driver Ben Hanley had to retire for the day after his car had a driveshaft problem. Colton Herta had problems almost immediately and left the race with a mechanical problem.

There were also several problems in the pits. Helio Castroneves and Will Power were both assessed penalties for separate incidents. Rossi, whose car ran well all day, was livid after his pit crew had trouble during a refueling stop.

A pit crew member for Jordan King was taken out of pit row on a stretcher after being hit by a tire. The pit crew member, identified as Chris Minot, was taken to IU Health Methodist with what race officials described as a leg injury.

Unofficial results: