Tag: Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Indianapolis 500 Veteran Treadway Dies at 56 

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From IMS:

 INDIANAPOLIS (Monday, June 1, 2026) – Rick Treadway, who started the 2002 Indianapolis 500, died May 30 in a motorcycle accident. He was 56
.Indiana native Treadway, the son of 1997 Indianapolis 500-winning team owner Fred Treadway, started 17th and placed 29th in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” in the No. 5 Sprint/Kyocera Wireless/Airlink Enterprises G Force/Chevrolet fielded by his father’s team and as a teammate to two-time Indy 500 winner Arie Luyendyk. Treadway and Tony Kanaan were eliminated from the race in an accident in Turn 3 on Lap 90.
The Indy 500 start was the highlight of Treadway’s INDYCAR SERIES career, which consisted of 11 races in the 2001 and 2002 seasons for his father’s teams Treadway-Hubbard Racing and Treadway Racing.
He made his INDYCAR SERIES debut in 2001 at Kentucky Speedway and his final start in 2002 at the season finale at Texas Motor Speedway. His best finish was fifth at the 2001 season finale at Texas.
Before joining the INDYCAR SERIES, Treadway competed in Formula 2000 junior formula racing and in various short-track open-wheel series, including the USAC Silver Crown and National Midget Series. He also raced in SCCA competition.
Treadway, a graduate of Indiana State University, worked in business development and as a commercial pilot for his charter air service. He also served as an Federal Aviation Administration-certified flight instructor.

Kirkwood Leads Choppy Session

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Kyle Kirkwood emerged with the fastest lap of the weekend in a morning practice interrupted by several red flags.

Rinus VeeKay lost an engine to bring out the second stoppage of Detroit Grand Prix practice. The first one was to retrieve a blue flag dropped by a corner marshal.

Christian Lundgaard lost his engine during the first group practice. It has been a difficult month for Chevy engines beginning with the Open test in late April.

Kirkwood had scraped the wall with his right rear tire, but he returned before the end of the group round to set the quickest lap. Just 4 tenths of a send separate Kirkwood from fourth place Alex Palou.

Results:

Qualifying Groups;

Group 2 looks brutal. One contender might get knocked out.

Saturday at Detroit

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SATURDAY, MAY 30

8-8:45 a.m. INDY NXT by Firestone practice #2, FS1(live)

9:05-10:25 a.m. NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice #2 (45 minutes all car session followed by two 10-minute group sessions), FS1 (live)

Noon-12:30 p.m. INDY NXT by Firestone qualifying (Two groups, 10-minute session), FS1 (live)

1-2:30 p.m. NTT INDYCAR SERIES qualifying for NTT P1 Award (Three rounds of knockout qualifying), FS1 (live)

IMSA Race 4pm NBC

Practice Groups

Group A goes first in the split sessions following the entire grid period.

Notes

For the 2026 season to date, five drivers- Palou, Kirkwood, Newgarden, Lundgaard, and Rosenqvist- have won races. The drivers represent five different teams- Penske, Andretti, Ganassi, Arrow McLaren, and Meyer Shank. At this point last year only Palou and Kirkwood had won races.

Indianapolis 500 leftovers:

Sincde 2020 only four different teams have won the Indianapolis 500- Rahal Letterman Racing (1) Team Penske (2), Meyer Shank Racing (2), Chip Ganassi Racing (2).

Six different drivers have won the race, none from the pole.

I’ll be back with Practice 2 results and qualifying groups later today, and qualifying results this evening.

Indianapolis 500 Purse Payout

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1. Felix Rosenqvist $4,340,500

2. David Malukas $1,682,500

3. Scott McLaughlin $1,414,500

4. Pato O’Ward $1,279,000

5. Marcus Armstrong $1,206,500

6. Rinus VeeKay $1,178,500

7. Alex Palou $1,399,000

8. Santino Ferrucci $1,164,000

9. Romain Grosjean $1,150,000

10. Takuma Sato $137,000

11. Nolan Siegel $1,132,000

12. Conor Daly $138,000

13. Marcus Ericsson $1,125,500

14. Kyffin Simpson $1,183,500

15. Scott Dixon $1,218,500

16. Kyle Kirkwood $1,102,000

17. Christian Lundgaard $1,105,500

18. Mick Schumacher $218,800

19. Dennis Hauger $159,800

20. Graham Rahal $1,105,500

21. Louis Foster $1,105,500

22. Jack Harvey $102,000

23. Sting Ray Robb $155,300

24. Jacob Abel $103,000

25. Helio Castroneves $102,000

26. Caio Collet $1,126,500

27. Christian Rasmussen $1,110,000

28. Josef Newgarden $1,105,500

29. Will Power $1,105,500

30. Alexander Rossi $1,141,000

31. Ed Carpenter $102,000

32. Ryan Hunter-Reay $105,500

33. Katherine Legge $102,000

Indianapolis 500 Purse Soars to New Increases by More than 50 Percent

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 INDIANAPOLIS (Monday, May 25, 2026) – The Indianapolis 500 purse record was broken for the fifth consecutive year for the 110th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, with first-time winner Felix Rosenqvist of Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian earning a record-high $4.34 million from a total purse of $30,906,400.This is the largest purse in the history of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” on the heels of four consecutive record-breaking years.
This year’s average payout for NTT INDYCAR SERIES drivers was $936,500, which also exceeds last year’s average of $596,500.In 2025, the Indianapolis 500 purse was $20,283,000, and the year’s winner payout was $3.8 million.
In 2024, the Indianapolis 500 purse was $18,456,000 and the winner earned $4.3 million, which included a $440,000 roll-over bonus from BorgWarner for earning back-to-back wins.
In 2023, the Indianapolis 500 purse was $17,021,500, and the winner earned $3.7 million. In 2022, the Indianapolis 500 purse was $16,000,200, and the winner earned $3.1 million.
Prior to 2022, the largest Indianapolis 500 purse was $14.4 million for the 2008 Indianapolis 500.
“The Indianapolis 500 continues to make history, in more ways than one,” INDYCAR and IMS President J. Douglas Boles said.
“The Month of May featured a back-to-back grandstand sellout crowd – our largest crowd since the 100th Running in 2016 – and intense on track action with the most lead changes ever in the Indy 500. Felix Rosenqvist added his name to the history books in stellar fashion, with the closest finish in Indy 500 history and now the largest purse. There’s no better end to a memorable month.”
Mick Schumacher of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing earned Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year honors for his performance during the Month of May. Schumacher earned a $50,000 bonus for being named Rookie of the Year, adding to a total take-home prize of $218,800.
The Indianapolis 500 purse consists of Indianapolis Motor Speedway and NTT INDYCAR SERIES awards, plus other designated and special awards.
Purse awards are presented annually at the Victory Celebration, held this year at the Indiana Convention Center in downtown Indianapolis Monday night.
The next NTT INDYCAR SERIES race is the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear on Sunday, May 31 on the streets of Downtown Detroit. The race will be broadcast live on FOX, FOX One and INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls at 12:30 p.m. ET.

110th Indianapolis 500 Wrap Up

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The Indianapolis 500 ending people dream of, followed by the victor’s unbridled joy, and the runner-up’s dejection, was the perfect ending to a compelling race. It was a day tha many thought would not happen on this particular Sunday, with storm clouds looming and pessimistic forecasts even from the most optimistic of forecasters.

Here are the highlights from my perspective from the back of the media center.

The Agony of Defeat

David Malukas’s heart rending post-race interview with FOX was tough to watch, but I admire his outpouring of what he was going through at the time. We rarely get such a heartfelt interview with the second place driver anymore. David’s time to win is coming, perhaps as soon as June 7 at Gateway.

The Fall of 500 Favorites

Things tend to run in cycles, but the drop-off in results from ECR and Andretti Global is painful to watch.

ECR used to be a qualifying powerhouse, with two poles and a consistent top nine presence. While Alexander Rosswi grabbed the middle of the front row and led a few laps, his car, the same one he drove in last year’s race. caught fire as did in 2025.

His teammates also watched the end of the race from the pits. Ed Carpenter was knocked out after being squeezed by Takuma Sato in turn 1 on a restart, and Christian Rasmussen leaving the fray with mechanical issues.

Andretti Global started the practice week strong, but lost speed every day, and were relegated to the back of the starti9ng grid. Will Power lost5 an engine before t5he halfway point, and Marcus Ericsson and Kyle Kirkwood soldiered on all day, improving their positions. Ericsson finished 13th, and Kirkwood 16th.

I hope both teams can find some answers for next May. The race will be even more fun with these two teams mounting a challenge.

The Other Photo Finish

I did not see whether FOX covered the race for third or not- I’m guessing they didn’t because of the incredible finish, but Scott Mclaughlin, O Pato O’Ward, and Marcus Armstrong crossed the line in a near photo finish for third, fourth, and fifth. McLaughlin beat O’Ward by0.0066 seconds for third, and O’Ward nipped Armstrong by another 0.0089 seconds. The difference from third to fifth- 0.0155 seconds.

The Race

Many years ago (around the time Joe Dawson won) I created my guidelines for a good race- No driver leads more than a third of the laps, and caution periods consume no more than 25% of the day. Yesterday fit those criteria.

The yellows came at just the right times to trigger multiple fuel strategies, and they were spaced just right to allow teams to fine tune their plans. When the early leaders fade because of pit strategies, we are going to see a great race.

besides the record 70 lead changes, many of which I dismiss as merely a fuel saving tactic by the leader, not real competition passing, there was close racing throughout the field.

Yesterday’s 500 was one of my favorite all time races. It did not change my top three of 1986, 2024, and 2014- but it will definitely be in the top 10, perhaps as high as fifth.

The Pre Race and Pace Laps

Maybe it’s the old man who lives inside me talking, but the opening ceremonies seemed overly long this year. The speech by the army officer was much longer than necessary and devolved into propaganda and jingoism. I think this part of the program can be eliminated.

While I was disappointed to see the helicopters ruining the pace laps again, I was glad that there were only two instead of four and that they left after just a couple of laps. The speedway should continue to eliminate two helicopters each year.

369 More Days- UGH

Now we wait a very long 369 more days until the 111th Indianapolis 500, w2hen the race runs on its proper date. I always feel gypped when the race is on the 24th.

Thanks to everyone who followed along during the fortnight of May.

Quick Thoughts- 110th Indianapolis 500

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Some quick thoughts tonight and a more detailed analysis tomorrow.

Last night I created this tableau for our pre race party.

I had no idea how prophetic this turned out to be.

Let’s start at the end. Felix Rosenqvist went outside of David Malukas on the front stretch. He didn’t follow the “snake” move Malukas used, and a s a result, we have the closest finish in 500 history.

“Unreal; I still don’t believe it,” Rosenqvist said. “It kind of worked out the right way when I got back to third, and then I just had to flat-out lap on the high line, and it stuck,” Rosenqvist said. “It was just the coolest way you can finish and win an Indy 500.”

The record 70 lead changes isn’t impressive when most of them were allowed by the leader to save fuel.

I have seen heartbroken runners-up before, but FDavid Malukas’s heart rending post race interview captured the agony of coming oh so close to winning the biggest race of the all.

The race was playing out a fuel strategy affair, and the last 25 laps would have been a crazy scramble anyway.

I normally don’t care for red flags within the last 10 laps of a race, but I could see some justification for throwing one for Collet’s accident. That was one of the loudest hits I have ever heard. This race needed to finish under green, although I expected a different intriguing ending.

I wasn’t as thrilled with red flag for moisture. In turn 2 we only felt a few sprinkles which lasted just about a minute. For a while I thought IndyCar was having the cars run under yellow just to tick off laps and stay within the television window.

It’s not unusual for a washout forecast to turn out to be completely wrong. I remember several races in the 80s and 90s with a gloom and doom forecast which were run under sunny skies.

Fans cannot ask for much more from a race than we saw today. The race had multiple fuel strategies brought about by yellows outsid normal pit windows, an exciting down to the wire finish, a jubilant winner, and a distraught, heartbroken runner up.

I will have more on today’s race tomorrow afternoon. Congratulations to Felix Rosenqvist on a great race and a thrilling finish.

Race Day 2026

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Good morning from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The key words this morning are weather and whether. Weather will decide whether we get the full race in. IndyCar can be quite deliberate in deciding how to proceed. In the ned, they will make the best decision for everyone involved,

I haf a bit of an emotional moment as I entered the Speedway roundabout and saw the words to “Back Home Again in Indiana” lit up. You would think after 58 previous races, thingslike that wouldn’t affect me. I’m ready to get the day going.

The schedule:

5 a.m.-1 p.m.: INDYCAR Credentials Office Open

6 a.m.-4 p.m.: Public Gates Open

6 a.m.: Cannon Blast & Pyrotechnics

7 a.m.: Coors Light Snake Pit Gates Open

8:15 a.m.: Wax Motif Begins – Coors Light Snake Pit

8:55 a.m.: Borg-Warner Trophy March to the Bricks Begins

9 a.m.: DJ Slater Hogan Begins on Pagoda 3

9:05 a.m.: Borg-Warner Trophy reaches Checkpoint 2 – Pagoda Plaza

9:10 a.m.: Borg-Warner Trophy reaches Checkpoint 3 – IMS Midway

9:15 a.m.: It’s Murph Begins – Coors Light Snake Pit

9:20 a.m.: All Cars to Pit Lane, Engine Warm Up #1 Begins

9:38 a.m.: Borg-Warner Trophy reaches Checkpoint 4 – Band Gate

10:10 a.m.: Borg-Warner Trophy arrives at Yard of Bricks

10:26 a.m.: “On the Banks of the Wabash” – Purdue University Band

10:30 a.m.: Crankdat Begins – Coors Light Snake Pit

10:36 a.m.: Green Flag Lap Rolls Out

10:37 a.m.: Indy 500 Winners Lap

10:43 a.m.: Honorary Starter Receives Green Flag form IU Health Patient – Trackside Stage

10:55 a.m.: All Cars on the Grid

10:59 a.m.: Historic Cars Lap

11:25 a.m.: Chevrolet Military Appreciation Lap

11:47 a.m.: Driver Introductions Begin

12:07 p.m.: U.S. Army Golden Knights Parachute Team Begins Descent

12:07 p.m.: “God Bless America” by Indiana National Guard Quartet with Purdue Band – Victory Podium

12:08 p.m.: Military March on Pit Lane

12:13 p.m.: Military Address by Lt. Gen. Jonathan Stubbs, U.S. Army – Victory Podium

12:17 p.m.: Invocation by Indianapolis Archbishop Charles Thompson – Trackside Stage

12:18 p.m.: Rifle Volley and “Taps” – Victory Podium

12:20 p.m.: “America the Beautiful” by Ephraim Owens – Pylon Stage

12:24 p.m.: National Anthem by Jordin Sparks

12:26 p.m.: Flyover – F-16 Jets of the 175th Fighter Wing

12:33 p.m.: Drivers to Your Cars Command by Caitlin Clark

12:37 p.m.: “Back Home Again in Indiana” by Jim Cornelison

12:38 p.m.: Second Flyover – F-16 Jets of the 175th Fighter Wing

12:38 p.m.: “Drivers, Start Your Engines” – Roger Penske, Victory Podium

12:39 p.m.: Flyover Lap, 38th Combat Aviation Brigade, Indiana Army National Guard

12:45 p.m.: Green Flag, 110th Indianapolis 500 by Gainbridge. Honorary Starter Brendan Fraser

12:50 p.m.: Zedd Begins – Coors Light Snake Pit

2:20 p.m.: Wooli Begins – Coors Light Snake Pit

A Word about The Start

Last year, the pace laps were ruined by the presence of several army helicopters which followed the field around the track, at times dipping dangerously low. With all due respect to our brave men and women in the military, I sincerely hope we don’t see this again. The parade and pace laps at the start of the Indianapolis 500 is, in my opinion, the most beautiful moment in sports. It does need any so-called enhancement. It is amazing by itself.

The helicopters added nothing except concern for safety. they were distracting. I heard of some veterans in the stands who were triggered by the sight of guns on the bottom of the copters.

My opinion may be in the minority, and I’m fine with that. The military is honored throughout the opening ceremonies in a beautiful, respectful presentation. When the drivers start their engines. it is time to focus on the race. End of rant.

I am staying with my pick of Alexander Rossi today, but I will watch out for Conor Daly, David Malukas, and Pato O’Ward.

I will post weather updates as I receive than and keep you posted on any rescheduling. Have a great race da. Stay safe and dry.