Josef Newgarden set quick time early at 226.632, followed by Scott Dixon and Conor Daly.
Several cars made qualifying simulation runs today, and tomorrow everyone will make qualifying practice when the boost is turned up.
Christian Rasmussen brought out the first yellow flag of the week. He lost the rear of his car in turn 2, scraped the wall and came to rest in the infield.
Payo O’Ward and Conor Daly think that Andretti cars, especially Colton Herta and Kyle Kirkwood, could be pole contenders.
Santino Ferrucci continues to struggle. He ran just 16 laps today. Graham Rahal also is not finding speed. He was the slowest car on track today.
INDIANAPOLIS (Thursday, March 6, 2025) – Two-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion and back-to-back winner of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge Josef Newgarden celebrated Southwest Airlines’ first nonstop flight from Indianapolis to Nashville when he unveiled the ticket for the 109th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge on Thursday, March 6 at Indianapolis International Airport (IND). Newgarden earned his second victory in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” last May and became just the sixth driver to win the Indianapolis 500 in consecutive years. He powered the No. 2 Shell Powering Progress Team Penske Chevrolet to the back-to-back victory with another last-lap pass. One of the many honors bestowed upon the winner is unveiling the ticket for the next year’s race. Featuring the winning driver on the next year’s “500” ticket dates to Mauri Rose’s appearance in 1948. Nashville native Newgarden pushed a button to unveil a larger-than-life digital rendering of the colorful ticket in Civic Plaza, IND’s community gathering area. From there, Newgarden and INDYCAR and Indianapolis Motor Speedway President J. Douglas Boles engaged with Southwest passengers and race fans at the gate as they boarded the flight from Indianapolis to Nashville, taking the celebration to Newgarden’s hometown. Designed in house by Senior Art Director Mandy Walsh, the ticket celebrates the back-to-back wins with full-color images, including Newgarden’s Victory Podium celebrations and his almost identical liveries. Vibrant images from 2024 are shadowed by similar images from 2023. “It’s very cool to be here in the Indianapolis International Airport,” Newgarden said. “Indiana and Tennessee are my two homes, so the fact we have the Indianapolis 500 in Indiana and the (NTT INDYCAR SERIES) championship finale in Tennessee is a great parallel. To top it all off is seeing this beautiful ticket from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Indy 500. It’s an incredible-looking ticket. “To see my likeness on there, to see our team represented, it’s a very special feeling. You don’t know if that day will ever come when you drive into the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The fact we’ve been able to pull it off twice, back to back, and that it’s been celebrated on this ticket, I’m super, super thankful.” Once arriving in Nashville, Newgarden and Boles will visit Indianapolis 500 ticketholders and media in Nashville and conclude the day with a Fan Event at Big Machine Distillery and Tavern, where the 2025 Indianapolis 500 ticket and the Borg-Warner Trophy will be on display. Newgarden and Boles will be on hand to meet with fans and conduct a brief question-and-answer session. Newgarden will attempt to become the first driver to win three consecutive Indianapolis 500s on Sunday, May 25 in the 109th Indianapolis presented by Gainbridge at IMS, with live coverage starting at 10 a.m. ET on FOX, FOX Deportes, FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network. Tickets for the Indy 500 and all Month of May activities are on sale at IMS.com, by calling the IMS Ticket Office at 317-492-6700 or by visiting the ticket office.
IndyCar started the year with a very busy week. Content Days were followed by A.J. Foyt’s 90th birthday (I’m not that old- how can he be that old?), and a presence at the Detroit Auto Show, which has moved back to its traditional January date.
The main highlight from Content Days was the universal praise for FOX and the preseason prep they have been doing. The drivers involved in shooting the promos were impressed by the level of professionalism and attention. Other drivers also feel very good about the switch to the new network.
A. J. at 90
Considering the era in which Foyt raced, it is remarkable that he survived it. The 50s and 60s were two of the deadliest decades in the sport.
His accomplishments have been well documented, and I won’t rehash them here. Ibn y humble opinion, there has never been a better all-around driver then A. J. Foyt.
I think Foyt’s competitiveness is keeping him going. Paul Goldsmith dies last year at age 98. I’m pretty sure Foyt wants to beat that.
Baby Borgs
Yesterday at the Detroit Auto Show Josef Newgarden and Roger Penske received their baby Borg trophies for winning the 2024 Indianapolis 500.
David Malukas also appeared at the show.
Notes
Single day tickets are now on sale for the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. The opening race of the season is the weekend of February 28-March 2.
Testing
Full field Indycar tests:
February 17-18 Sebring
April 23-24 IMS
Individual teams may also have private tests scheduled.
Next week is the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Several IndyCar drivers and teams will participate.
From IMS. I will have more on this event tomorrow.
INDIANAPOLIS (Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024) – 2024 Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge winner Josef Newgarden unveiled his likeness on the Borg-Warner Trophy on Dec. 4 in Indianapolis, one of the most significant honors since he won his second Indy 500 on May 26 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Newgarden, a native of Nashville, Tennessee, earned his second victory in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” in the No. 2 Shell Powering Progress Team Penske Chevrolet. This was the 20th Indy 500 victory for Team Penske, and Newgarden is the first back-to-back winner since Helio Castroneves won his second Indy 500 while driving for Team Penske in 2002. The unveiling ceremony took place at COhatch Polk Stables, a coworking space for entrepreneurs and startups located in downtown Indianapolis. The bas-relief, sterling silver image of Newgarden is the 111th face to be affixed to the iconic trophy, awarded annually to the winner of the Indianapolis 500 since 1936. “Having my face added to the Borg-Warner Trophy is one of the coolest parts about winning the race,” Newgarden said. “Seeing the finished product, with two side-by-side images of my face, is an unbelievable honor, and I look forward to hopefully adding a third likeness to the row after this year’s Indy 500.” Renowned sculptor Will Behrends created Newgarden’s image, as he has for every winner since 1990.Each face on the trophy is unique, even for a back-to-back winner like Newgarden. Behrends starts from scratch each year and begins his creative process by studying a series of 360-degree photos of the winner to get a baseline for sculpting before constructing a full-scale model of the driver’s face. Normally a driver would visit Behrends’ studio in Tryon, North Carolina, for an in-person session. This year’s visit was impacted by Hurricane Helene, so Newgarden and Behrends met virtually to make the final adjustments to the full-scale model. This life-size clay version is used as reference for Behrends to construct the smaller model, a piece created out of a mixture of oil-based clay. The smaller clay model is turned into a mold and cast in wax before being sent to a jeweler to be transformed into sterling silver. Behrends completes his process by polishing and buffing the sculpture before attaching it to the trophy. “Today is a special day for Josef and BorgWarner,” said Michelle Collins, global director marketing and public relations for BorgWarner. “Josef is one of only six drivers to win back-to-back Indianapolis 500 victories in the race’s 113-year history, and unveiling his face on this spectacular trophy cements his mark not only in INDYCAR, but all of motorsports. BorgWarner is honored to uphold the tradition of the Borg-Warner Trophy and celebrate Josef’s historic 2024 Indianapolis 500 win.” Originally designed in 1935, the sterling silver trophy measures over 5 feet, 4-3/4 inches tall and weighs more than 110 pounds as it carries the sculpted face of every victor since 1911. Early next year, Newgarden will receive his BorgWarner Championships Driver’s Trophy, also known as a “Baby Borg,” a miniature replica of the large-scale Borg-Warner Trophy. Tickets for the 109th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge and all Month of May events at Indianapolis Motor Speedway are on sale at IMS.com.
Scott McLaughlin will be on the point for the start of this afternoon’s first Milwaukee 250, while teammate Josef Newgarden will move to 11th after taking a nine place grid penalty.
Tomorrow, Newgarden has the pole and McLaughlin starts second, as Team Penske continues their oval domination in the 2024 season.
Race 1 Qualifying Results:
The 11 mile an hour speed separation between McLaughlin and last place Pietro Fittipaldi means that the leaders will encounter lapped traffic very early in the race.
David Malukas will move up to the front row for the start this afternoon.
Sunset is at &:27 pm Central time. Barring a long red flag or a race with lots of yellows, the race should easily finish before sundown. Ifr not, Indycar may declare a timed race.
Remember, kids, today’s race is exclusively on Peacock at 5 pm Central.
Race 2 Results
As of now there are no penalties assessed for Race 2, so this should be tomorrow’s starting lineup.
Notes
I talked to a couple of peoples in a Dunkin Donuts this morning who are in town for the race. They are originally from Indy but now live in Texas. They flew to Milwaukee for the race.
I drove to the track a little before 10 and there was a line toget in.
I heard that garage passes are sold out.
Thanks to Dale Coyne Racing for providing me workspace this weekend.
Milwaukee’s schedule has accomplished something oval tracks have had difficulty with. There is minimal downtime once cars get on track. Indycar follows Indy NXT after a brief transition, and the action is virtually nonstop. The only change I would make is to have Sunday’s race start an hour earlier.
Josef Newgarden had the fastest lap in the only practice session for the Milwaukee double header. Newgarden was a tenth of a second faster than Scott Dixon.
The 90 minute session ran uninterrupted until Christian Rasmussen spun and hit the wall in turn 3 with six minutes left.
Newgarden said in the post practice media conference that the track feels different because the cars are heavier, but he thinks the track is the same.
The top half of the field:
The track and fairgrounds look very nice, much nicer than I remember from 2015. I had forgotten how flat the turns are here.
Thata will do it for me for today. I’ll be back in the morning with a preview of a very packed Saturday.
One streak continues, and another restarts. Josef Newgarden broke his two race oval losing streak with a come from behind win at World Wide Technolgy Raceway, his fifth win at this track.
Newgarden beat Scott McLaughlin out of the pits on a late stop and held the lead the rest of the way.
The race had many dimensions, cautions, questionable moves, and a red flag which resulted in a seven lap shootout in which newgarden ran away from the field.
Tonight’s race was the best race since the introduction of the hybrid. There was a lot of overtaking, multiple pit strategies, and the winner was in doubt until near the end. There were also heartbreaking stories- David Malukas, Nolan Siegel, and Conor Daly, to name a few.
Alex Palou looked as if he would take a huge hit on his points lead, but thanks to Will Power’s mishap near the end, he once again extends his lead.
In the post race press conference Newgarden said that the second lane worked tonight, and he is hopeful that Indycar can get other tracks to put on a good show. He felt relieved that he didn’t hit the wall when he spun.
I will have more thoughts on the race tomorrow morning.
A cool damp track made for a tricky warmup session this morning. Josef Newgarden edged Colton Herta for the fastest lap with a 1:02.0463 circuit. Herta was just 184 ten thousandths slower.
Early morning rain left the track still damp, especially near the walls. Many cars got sideways but the drivers were able to recover.
The session ended 90 seconds early when Theo Pourchaire had trouble refiring his car after ending up in a runoff area.
Televison coverage begins at noon on USA and Peacock. green flag is set for 12:45 Eastern..
From IMS Back-to-Back Winner Newgarden Receives Largest Payout in ‘500’ History
INDIANAPOLIS (Monday, May 27, 2024) – The Indianapolis 500 purse record was shattered for the third year in a row after a weather-delayed 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, with two-time race winner Josef Newgarden of Team Penske earning $4.288 million from a total purse of $18,456,000.
After record-breaking payouts in 2022 and 2023, this is the largest purse and largest winner’s payout in the century-plus history of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” The year’s average payout for NTT INDYCAR SERIES drivers was $543,000, which also exceeds last year’s average of $500,600.
In 2023, the Indianapolis 500 purse was $17,021,500, and the year’s winner payout was $3.666 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.
Second-place finisher Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren took home $1,050,500, exceeding the take-home prize for last year’s second-place finisher.
“The Indianapolis 500 is the greatest race in the world, and this record-breaking purse is reflective of just how monumental competing in and winning at Indy is for these drivers,” Penske Entertainment President and CEO Mark Miles said. “Despite weather challenges, the Month of May featured packed grandstands and intense on-track action. Presenting this purse is the ideal end cap to an epic month.”
NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson earned Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year honors for his performance during the Month of May. Larson, driving for Arrow McLaren/Rick Hendrick, made his first attempt to complete “The Double,” by racing both the 108th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge and the NASCAR Cup Series Coca-Cola 600. Larson earned a $50,000 bonus for being named Rookie of the Year, adding to a total take-home prize of $178,000.
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 JW Marriott in downtown Indianapolis Monday night.
Newgarden’s purse included a $440,000 rollover bonus from BorgWarner for earning back-to-back wins in the “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” The jackpot increases by $20,000 each year but has only been awarded one other time since its inception when Helio Castroneves won the Indy 500 in both 2001 and 2002.
The next NTT INDYCAR SERIES race is the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear on Sunday, June 2 on the streets of Downtown Detroit. The race will be broadcast live on USA Network, Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network starting at noon (ET).
The Pit Window by Mike Silver 