Домой United States USA — Science Newgarden's win felt inevitable in unpredictable Indy 500

Newgarden's win felt inevitable in unpredictable Indy 500

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Josef Newgarden has achieved practically everything he’s set out to, except for winning the Indy 500. Now he can cross that off his bucket list too.
INDIANAPOLIS — What would you do if all your dreams came true?
No, for real. If there was only one item left on the checklist of «Stuff I want to do when I grow up» that you scribbled onto a sheet of paper in your childhood bedroom, and you were able to finally cross that last one off, what would you do?
That’s what happened to Josef Newgarden on a sunny, frantic, extended, exhausting Sunday afternoon at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The 32-year-old overcame a so-so month of May and a record three red flags to rocket around defending champion Marcus Ericsson as they approached the race’s final two turns, then swerving and weaving to hold on to that lead and win the 107th Indianapolis 500.
«In a dream life, truly a dream life, there was that one last accomplishment that I couldn’t grab,» he said moments after the victory, standing alongside the Borg-Warner Trophy that will add a silver likeness of his face before the race’s 108th running. «So, when it happened, when the dream came true, my first thought was, ‘You know what? I am sharing this with everyone here.'»
And he did. Stopping his Roger Penske-owned Chevrolet by the finish line and pulling a parkour move reminiscent of his 2016 appearance on «American Ninja Warrior,» Newgarden slid through a gap in the catchfence to climb into the grandstands and celebrate with the 300,000 fans in attendance like no driver had before.
«I had never allowed myself to really think, ‘OK, Josef, when you win the Indianapolis 500, this is how you’ll drink the milk or kiss the yard of bricks’ or any of that,» he explained, all while his shoulders were still wet with milk and his lips still carried a bit of grime from those bricks. «You don’t let yourself think about it or rehearse it because deep down you also think, well, maybe it’s never going to happen. But I will admit that I did think that, hey, if I ever do win it, I want to go into the crowd.»
In his mind’s eye, he saw himself scaling his way to the top of the main frontstretch grandstands. In reality, he barely made it to the stands at all, immediately enveloped in those fans who were rushing down out of the aluminum seats to greet him.
«It got out of control pretty quickly and I thought maybe the best thing was for me to get out of there!» he recalled moments later.

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