Indy 500: Simon Pagenaud Wins 103rd Running of Indianapolis 500

After 200 laps and 500 miles, Simon Pagenaud took home the title at the 2019 Indy 500.

This year’s Indianapolis 500 was fraught with fear of delays, drama and anticipation, but in the end a winner was crowned as usual. The race ruled over memorial day weekend, and in the end Simon Pagenaud came out victorious.

Pagenaud fought back and forth with Alexander Rossi for the leader position in the final stretch of the race. The finish was set up for true drama after a lengthy caution in the wake of an accident that took out five drivers.

Fans were overjoyed by the victory, and they took to social media to celebrate. Twitter soon filled up with praise for Simon Pagenaud, who will be considered the best IndyCar driver in the country for the next year.

“Hell yeah!!!!! Way to go Simon!!!!” one fan wrote after the race.

“Is anyone else crying??? I am sooooo happy for Simon!!!!” another fan wrote. “[Simon Pagenaud] this is awesome!!”

The Indy 500 is considered the biggest IndyCar race of the year, and perhaps the biggest event in auto racing. The race always falls on Memorial Day weekend, although as fans learned this year there are layers of rules in place to determine what happens in the event of rain.

Obviously, any amount of rain makes it unsafe to to undertake a race of this speed. If rain falls on the track before the race begins or within the first 200 laps, the event will be delayed until the following day. If it rains again the next day, this continues until suitable conditions are found.

The holiday weekend gives fans some wiggle room to watch the race on Monday, but if it goes beyond that they will be forced to catch up after work. In 1973, the Indy 500 was delayed three times for rain, finally taking place on Wednesday afternoon. At the time, fans had no DVRs to catch the race later, so only those at the track got to watch.

On the other hand, if rain begins to fall after the drivers have made it past the halfway mark of the race, the results will be counted whenever a stop is called. The Indy 500 can end with at few as 252.5 miles raced, and whichever car is in the lead is deemed the winner. This has happened on a few occasions, including the 1976 race when the cars only made it 102 laps, leading fans to dub it the “Indy 255.”

Last year, Will Powers won the 2018 Indy 500. The racing veteran celebrated his victory humbly, making fans praise him all the more.