Some things can happen quicker than we can process.
But what can happen in 0.023 seconds?
In that brief amount of time, you can barely blink. FYI, the average blink of an eye occurs within 0.01 to 0.04 seconds.
However, in that span, light travels about 6,900 kilometres, or about 4,287 miles, which is enough time to cross the Atlantic Ocean from Yorkton!
As well, in that brief time period, a spark can ignite a commercial jet engine.
It’s fitting that an engine can be ignited in 0.023 seconds, because as we found out yesterday, 0.023 seconds is also enough to be the margin of victory in the Indianapolis 500!
Unreal!
Yesterday’s margin of victory broke the old record, set in 1992, when Al Unser Jr. beat Canada’s Scott Goodyear to the finish line, by 0.043 seconds.
Heading into Turn 4, on Lap 200, it looked like Team Penske’s David Malukas had the win, but suddenly, Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist darted out from behind “Little Dave’s” car, pulled alongside, and they nearly touched, before Felix was able to get by and reach the start-finish line by less than half a car length, in a drag race for the ages!
You’ve got to feel for Malukas. To be sooooooo close to achieving racing immortality, and lose it in the final few feet. A heartbreaker for sure.
I’ve talked before about the thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat.
Finishing runner-up at Indy seems like it’d be one of the most painful experiences for a pro. Like losing Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Final in overtime. Or being up by one with two seconds to go in the fourth quarter of Game Seven in the NBA Finals, and losing the championship on a buzzer-beater. Or having a chance to win the Super Bowl with a field goal and the kick goes wide right (sorry, Bills fans). Anyhoo, you get what I’m saying! You can’t help but feel bad for David Malukas, but he’s young, and he’ll have more chances to go for glory at the Brickyard.
But for Felix Rosenqvist? Now and forever, he will be referred to as an Indianapolis 500 winner. And that’s not even the best thing that happened to him this month, as he and his wife welcomed a baby girl into the world! Does it get any better than that?
So, after all the hoopla of the month of May, the 110th running of the Indianapolis 500 is in the books, and I’m already looking forward to the 2027 edition of the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing,’ a title it earned once again yesterday!
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