(Indianapolis) — During an eye blink, the human eye is closed for about one-tenth of a second.

Cut that down by a fifth, an you know how close the finish of the 2026 Indianapolis 500 was.

On a day that featured a record 70 lap changes, the final one came in the final 50 feet — not laps, not miles, not yards, but feet — as Sweden’s Felix Rosenqvist passed American David Malukas at the finish line to win his first Indy title.

“That last yellow didn’t help,” admitted Rosenqvist, whose crew used a brilliant fuel strategy to help keep him in the lead. “It worked out the right way when I got back to third and then I just had a flat-out lap on a high line and it stuck. It’s the coolest way to finish and win the Indy 500”

Markus Armstrong led the race when the yellow came out with four laps to go, and it stayed out until the race went green in the final lap. Malukas surged past Armstrong as the green flag fell, and held the lead through the first three corners, with Rosenqvist and Armstrong side-by-side. Rosenqvist was finally able to slingshot past Armstrong in turn four, and as Malukas tried to stay tight to the inside, Rosenqvist took room on the outside and separated just enough at the finish.

The top five drivers all finished within a half-second of one another.

“I don’t know what else we could have done,” said a tearful Malukas afterwards, as the 24-year-old finishes second for the second year in a row. “We were the fastest car that whole race. I gave it 150 percent. I almost crashed this damn car every lap, and we still ended up with a P2. I can’t believe it. I don’t know what else I can give.”

The 34-year-old Rosenqvist has enjoyed a month of firsts. His wife gave birth to the first child, Stella, earlier in May. Now Rosenqvist enjoys his first oval win on the sport’s biggest stage.

“I still don’t believe it…this whole month, becoming a dad and winning the 500,” beamed Rosenqvist afterwards. “We joked about it in the beginning ‘oh, maybe we’ll win the 500 and have a baby’ and it’s just unreal.”

The wild finish actually featured two restarts in the final eight laps. Rookie Caio Collett slammed into turn two and his car burst into flames on lap 192. IndyCar officials came out with the red flag rather than have the race end under caution.

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