Marcus Ericsson’s challenging May ended Sunday the same way it began — with a crash.
It was a precursor of what was to come for Andretti Global
at this year’s Indianapolis 500.
Ericsson, the 2022 Indianapolis 500 champion and 2023
runner-up, failed to complete a lap as rookie Tom Blomqvist’s car got too low
on the rumble strip coming through the first turn, spun up the track and
collided with Ericsson’s No. 28 Honda. Before the day ended, two of Ericsson’s
teammates, Colton Herta and Marco Andretti also had hit the wall, while a
third, Kyle Kirkwood, saw his hopes end with a penalty for avoidable contact on
pit row.
“I can’t believe it, it’s unbelievable,” the Swedish driver
said. “It’s so frustrating. We were fighting all last weekend. We were fighting
so hard. I can’t believe it. I just can’t believe it.”
Team owner Michael Andretti must have felt the same way,
judging from his reaction after his son’s crash capped another nightmarish race
day on the 2.5-mile oval where his family has had so much trouble, they’ve been
continually asked about the Andretti Curse.
Fate or not, the result was the same Sunday — even for
previously employed Andretti drivers.
Ryan Hunter-Reay, the 2012 Indy winner and IndyCar Series
champ with Michael Andretti’s team who now drives for Dreyer Reinbold Racing,
struggled with the car’s balance and was knocked out on Lap 108 when he tapped
wheels with six-time series champ Scott Dixon while battling for position
coming through the second turn.
“I haven’t looked at a replay yet to see if I could have
done anything differently other than pulling out his way,” Dixon said after
finishing third.
Still, the incident caught Hunter-Reay off-guard.
“I’ve been racing Scott Dixon for close to two decades and
I’ve never seen something close to that on the speedway,” Hunter-Reay said. “He
knows I was there. I don’t know where he was going, and how that wasn’t a
penalty was beyond me.”
It was that kind of day following a four-hour rain delay.
Ericsson, Blomqvist and Pietro Fittipaldi all got collected
in the first-lap crash. Rookie Linus Lundqvist of Chip Ganassi Racing hit the
wall in the first turn of Lap 28. Even Will Power of Team Penske, a two-time
series champ and 2018 Indy winner, couldn’t avoid crashing — hitting the wall
between the first and second turns on Lap 148.
But nobody endured more bad luck Sunday than the Andretti
team.
Herta, the 24-year-old Californian and one of the pre-race
favorites, spun coming through the first turn on Lap 86 and after being cleared
to drive at the infield medical center climbed back into the cockpit of the
repaired No. 26 Honda and completed 170 laps.
Kirkwood’s penalty, for hitting Callum Ilott’s car in the
pits, was announced on Lap 92. Marco Andretti, the 2020 Indy pole winner,
desperately tried to save his wiggling car on Lap 113 before barely tapping the
wall in Turn 4 as his father, Michael, rubbed his head.
For Ericsson, it was yet another chapter in a stress-filled
May that started with a crash May 16. He made a similar mistake in practice to
the one Blomqvist made on race day.
Crew members scrambled to get Ericsson’s No. 28 Honda back
on the track for the first day of qualifying but he couldn’t qualify fast
enough to make the top 30.
When he returned last Sunday as one of four drivers fighting
for the final three starting spots, his first attempt was thrown off when he
mistakenly thought he’d completed the four-lap run after only three laps and
slowed down so much he was later bumped out of the race. Ericsson spent the
next 45 minutes waiting anxiously to make amends and finally moved into the No.
32 spot.
Then Sunday, he wound up in the wrong place at the wrong
time — again.
“Obviously, not a lot,” said Blomqvist of Myer Shank Racing
when asked about what he experienced in his first 500 start. “I’m just so
disappointed for the guys.” AP