( CNN ) -- Ryan Hunter-Reay won the Indy 500 Sunday , holding off three-time champion Helio Castroneves at the finish line . The margin of victory was .06 seconds , the second-closest finish in the race 's history . `` I knew we had a good race car . We ran to the front ; I was just biding my time , '' said Hunter-Reay , who started 19th . `` We did everything right today . I 'm thrilled . This is as big as a championship for me . '' Marco Andretti , the third generation of the famous motor racing family to race at the Brickyard , finished third and is still looking for his first victory at the historic event in Indianapolis . Castroneves was trying for a record-tying fourth win in the IndyCar race . A.J . Foyt , Rick Mears and Al Unser Sr. are the other men to win four Indy 500s . `` Second is good , '' Castroneves said of his high finish in the Indianapolis 500 . `` But second sucks . '' The race was a back-and-forth battle between Hunter-Reay and Castroneves after a restart from a red flag that halted the race with 10 laps to go . After the race went back to green with six laps remaining , they traded places several times with Hunter-Reay reclaiming the top spot just before the final lap began . It was Hunter-Reay 's first win in the 200-lap race . Last year , he was third , his best finish in the event until Sunday . Carlos Munoz was fourth . Juan Pablo Montoya was fifth . Kurt Busch , who was also driving in NASCAR 's Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday evening , was sixth .
Ryan Hunter - Reay credits team for doing everything right . Finish to the race was second - closest in Indy 500 history . Runner - up and two - time champion Helio Rossi says finishing in second ` ` sucks '' Third place to Marco Andretti .