Katherine Legge adds Brickyard 400 to 2025 NASCAR schedule
The effort will be backed by Desnuda Organic Tequila and Indiana-based venture studio Droplight.
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Legge was already planning to run the No. 32 Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet in Saturday's Xfinity race. She has plenty of experience at the IMS oval, but not in stock cars. Legge has four starts in the Indianapolis 500 between 2012 and 2024, finishing as high as 22nd.
Legge has also removed the Richmond Raceway Cup race from her 2025 plans, replacing it with the Las Vegas Motor Speedway event on October 12th. That is expected to be her final start of the 2025 season, ending the year with 13 starts between the Cup and Xfinity Series.
Katherine Legge, Chevrolet
Katherine Legge, Chevrolet
The IMSA GTD winner made her Cup debut at Phoenix in March, but that ended in a crash. By starting that race, she became the first woman to run a Cup race since Danica Patrick took part in the 2018 Daytona 500. Her best result came at the Chicago Street Course, finishing 19th after beating 23XI Racing's Corey Heim for the final open spot on the grid in qualifying. She also ran the road course races in Mexico City and at Sonoma Raceway.
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Legge also has five starts in the Xfinity Series this year, but four DNFs due to crashes so far. In the one race she did reach the checkered flag, Legge finished 32nd. She will be aiming to improve on that in a big way when the series rolls into IMS next weekend.
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Chicago Tribune
13 minutes ago
- Chicago Tribune
These flying taxi companies want to soar over gridlock — for the cost of an Uber
DETROIT — On a recent morning downtown, Eric Allison hopped into the backseat of a sleek six-propeller air taxi and began to explain his company's vision for the future of transportation. Imagine pulling up your Uber app, said Allison, the chief product officer for Joby Aviation, and ticking a 'Joby' option. A car soon arrives and shuttles you to a nearby vertiport. A few other rideshare folks are waiting there, too, and four of you pile into the eVTOL, short for electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, along with a pilot. The 20-mile or so journey over a gridlocked city — perhaps to an airport, where you'll catch a flight — is quiet and quick, as the aircraft takes off like a helicopter before transitioning to airplane mode. After touching down, it's a short walk to your gate. The cost of this convenience, potentially shaving hours of travel time, is expected to be a fraction of the cost of a helicopter ride today. Allison said the aim is for prices on par with Uber Black, the luxury vehicle pickup service. 'The advantage of this is you get the speed, and efficiency, and quietness of an airplane, and you get the kind of runway-dependence flexibility of a helicopter,' said Allison, a former Uber executive and NASA aeronautics adviser. 'Both of these are really important for going after this air taxi market that we're designing this for.' eVTOLs are finally nearing commercial reality — at least in certain restricted environments. The Joby five-seater that was tucked away behind the new Hudson's Detroit complex earlier this month for a gathering of tech, manufacturing and defense executives was just a display model. But other aircraft from the Santa Cruz, California-based company are undergoing rigorous testing. The company recently completed its first transition flights with a pilot onboard, and hopes to transport passengers next year in Dubai. Archer Aviation, another California-based electric air taxi startup at a similar stage as Joby, also attended the Reindustrialize summit. CEO Adam Goldstein said on stage that his firm aims to sell its first aircraft for use in Abu Dhabi later this year, though he acknowledged passenger rides wouldn't occur right away. Archer is also a partner for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, where the company hopes to fly dignitaries and athletes around the city. 'The core concept was always, 'Where are my flying cars?'' Goldstein said. 'And the goal is to bring that dream to reality this year.' Yet there remain major hurdles to overcome for the fledgling industry — which already has watched several well-funded startups go belly-up — before air taxis are crisscrossing major cities. On the technology side, eVTOL companies are working to improve their lithium-ion batteries, given the huge power requirements necessary for an aircraft to hover, said Blake Stringer, who directs Ohio State University's Center for Aviation Studies. A number of challenges have little to do with the aircraft designs themselves, according to the mechanical and aerospace professor who has studied eVTOLs for years. More real-world testing is needed to better understand the vehicles' limits around things like heat or fog, and heavy air traffic. Costly ground infrastructure will need to be installed, like chargers and vertiports, with logistical plans developed for quick turnaround times. Air traffic control systems for air taxis will need to be established. Stringer said this new type of aircraft won't be able to rely on the existing federal air traffic control system, which is already overburdened and grappling with several accidents and close calls this year. Finally, he said, a new crop of pilots and maintenance workers must be recruited to keep fleets of eVTOLs humming. 'I would predict we're at least five years away from seeing these in routine operations, in large urban areas,' Stringer said. For the industry to really take off around the country, he added, a large infusion of government support will likely be needed. Policymakers and regulators do appear to be increasingly focused on eVTOLs. The FAA is working through a years-long process of design, production, and operational certifications with companies including Joby and Archer to ensure the new types of aircraft are safe to carry people. President Donald Trump last month signed an executive order creating a pilot program for testing 'flying cars,' a development that Goldstein said could help accelerate the approval process. 'It signaled to the FAA that this is a clear priority from the administration,' Goldstein said in an interview. 'The FAA has to decide which programs to work on — they have limited resources, and so it gives them the ability to focus on this. It also gives everybody else, all the partners, the trust that this industry is coming.' Michigan hopes to be a player in the growing drone and eVTOL industry. As Reindustrialize was going on, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a directive creating the Advanced Air Mobility Initiative, which is supposed to help the state grow its expertise in drones and eVTOLs. Among the initial projects funded: $1 million for the University of Michigan to create something called M-Air, which will include a 40-mile research skyway between the Ann Arbor campus and Detroit's Michigan Central Station to test drones and other electric aircraft. In a statement, Whitmer described an intense global competition heating up to develop better aviation and autonomous aircraft, and said Michigan could 'lead the way' for the United States. Air taxi vertiports are likely to be positioned around large cities, executives said, allowing faster trips to the airport or other local destinations. eVTOLs, as their range improves, could eventually serve as transportation between cities — in some instances, potentially adding new routes that wouldn't otherwise be profitable for traditional airlines, said Stringer, the Ohio State professor. But eVTOL companies are also increasingly focused on developing versions of the aircraft for the military. Joby CEO JoeBen Bevirt said his company has been investing heavily in autonomous versions of its aircraft that are powered by a hydrogen-electric system that could stay in the air longer in a war zone. 'We think this is game-changing, being able to build autonomous aircraft that have unprecedented range and endurance, and we think this is critical to national security and defense as we look into the future,' Bevirt said on a panel at Reindustrialize. Archer is similarly developing a hybrid version of its Midnight aircraft and has partnered with defense firm Anduril Industries, which specializes in autonomous military systems. 'In the first innings of this industry, the defense side will be substantially larger,' Goldstein said. 'If you look at the first 10 years, and you look at the amount of aircraft that will need to be built … for the West and its allies, it should be quite a large number of aircraft, and so it could end up being bigger than the civil side. But time will tell.' Joby and Archer have inked partnerships with airlines and ride-hailing services, with the idea that an air taxi ride could eventually be packaged with other modes of transportation that could be booked in an app. Major car companies are also involved: Toyota Motor Corp. in the case of Joby and Stellantis NV with Archer. Both automakers have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the respective eVTOL companies and are providing hands-on support as they set up manufacturing facilities, executives said. Joby announced this month that it was doubling its aircraft production capacity at a plant in Marina, California, as it looks to build more aircraft for flight tests. It has several other manufacturing facilities, including one in Dayton, Ohio, a refurbished former postal facility that will soon manufacture and test parts, and eventually churn out as many as hundreds of aircraft per year. Archer late last year completed building a 400,000-square-foot factory in Covington, Georgia, and Goldstein said it has started making initial test versions of aircraft. For the Archer CEO, a key junction for his company and the industry's progress, in general, will be the Los Angeles Olympics in three years. Will the company's Midnight aircraft be zipping between venues, skipping over the city's notoriously hellish traffic, on a televised world stage? 'It acts as like a milestone for everybody,' Goldstein said. 'Everybody wants this to happen. … Maybe the helicopter operators don't want this to happen, but everybody else wants this to happen. So the Olympics is a really good way to show that America leads in aviation, that America is building a whole new industry, which will create a lot of jobs.'
Indianapolis Star
15 minutes ago
- Indianapolis Star
Here's everything Curt Cignetti said after Indiana football's first training camp practice
It's finally college football season. Indiana football opened its fall training camp Wednesday with a morning practice. The Hoosiers are coming off a historic season in which they made their first College Football Playoff appearance. Coach Curt Cignetti has maintained a consistent message leading up to camp: Last season is over and they must earn success this season. It's not unsurprising from a man who has kept the same recliner for more than 35 years. Though some may have been surprised by IU being near the top of the Big Ten, even despite Cignetti's history of winning. And it's possible his team wins plenty in his second season after bringing in standout transfer quarterback Fernando Mendoza, retaining key players on both sides of the ball and filling holes through the transfer portal. Cignetti spoke with reporters following the first practice. Here's a transcript of what he said. Cignetti: Practice 1 in the books. It was hot, and it was humid, but I thought the older guys, experienced guys, pushed through it well. The team, in general, did push through it well. We got our work done. Took a business-like approach. Haven't watched the tape yet. We'll do that after this press conference with the staff, but it's good to be back and good to get going. Q. Curt, you mentioned having those veterans. When you have so much continuity on the coaching staff and you bring back key guys kind of across the roster, does that eliminate some uncertainty you might otherwise have going into fall camp about kind of the team or the roster at all? Cignetti: I think the staff, we know what to expect from one another. The experienced guys that we have a long history with, the same. To bring in experienced guys from other programs is good. We just have assimilate them into our way of doing things, which we began doing last January. You know, you're as good as you are today. Your résumé, your body of work in the past is sort of an indicator, a predictor of what the team is capable of doing, or the staff, but you got to put the work in. You got to find the edge every day. It's that kind of business where the margin for error is very slim, and that's what makes it such a great game and such a great profession. It's challenging. Q. Curt, I recognize some of this probably you only find out with experience, but this is the start of kind of only having 105. Normally you have more walk-ons, which I imagine allows you to do a little bit more in terms of the way you plan scout team and things like that, and of course, you've had success with guys like James Carpenter that joined you as walk-ons and wound up becoming really important players. What are the differences in the way you plan around how you manage your roster in the preseason if you don't have the complement you once did? Cignetti: Truthfully I've always been a small roster guy. I don't think we've ever had 110 guys on our roster, and most years we've been at or below 105. So really it's business as usual. I don't like a huge support staff, coaching staff. I don't like a real big team, 130 guys. I want everybody in the organization on the football team to have a role and be the right kind of people because everybody affects somebody else positively or negatively. For us it's business as usual, and the size of our roster is really no different than it's been most years. Probably a little bigger. There are a number of years I've been in the 90s. Added context: Why roster caps won't impact Indiana football, Curt Cignetti as much as other programs Q. There were a couple of linemen out there that were obviously missing spring in Benson and Evans. I know it's just one day in, but just your thoughts on how they looked out there getting back in the groove of things and your confidence level and the depth that you guys have built on the O-line? Cignetti: Yeah, well, until I watch the tape, I can't really say. We're also practicing without pads, so give us three or four days, but it's good to have both those guys back. They've played successful physical. Gives us more depth. I'm very high on the potential of our offensive line, and Bob Bostad does a good job of coaching those guys. A tough, old-school guy. I think we've got a chance to be good. Q. What are the differences and challenges from a Year 1 like last year to a Year 2 of a program? What becomes, I don't want to say, easier, but more routine, and what new challenges do you have to see to make sure you guys are improving? Cignetti: Well, to me every year you've got to start over regardless of how long your tenure has been or what your record was the previous year. You always start at ground zero and build it from the foundation up. The expectation level, you know, on the outside, some of the noise, is a little different, but I think one of the things we really got to do a great job of is staying focused on the things that affect positive development individually and collectively and kind of block all the other stuff out. It's a great game. It's entertainment. I think taking a business-like approach, checking your ego at the door when you enter the building, being totally focused, being where your feet are, controlling the controllables is the key to the drill. Like I've said before, the season is a marathon. It's not a sprint. You've got to be able to handle success, failure, overcome obstacles, and you have to do that during the game too, good game, bad game. You have to be able to compartmentalize, rip off the rearview mirror, and play the next play. To me it's more of the same than different. Q. Curt, this is only Day 1, but we're only four weeks away from game one. What do you guys have to do every day to get to the point where you want to be with this short time frame? Cignetti: I think we have to have a great sense of urgency, have great focus, and maximize our opportunities across the board and really develop these guys, identify roles, who can do what, build depth, promote competition and then get ready to play the opener against Old Dominion, a Sun Belt team that we're familiar with from JMU. I addressed Old Dominion in the team meeting, the first team meeting, because these Sun Belt teams are very capable. They have a history of knocking off (Power Four), or in the past they were called FBS teams. We beat Virginia. Marshall beat Notre Dame. App State beat A&M. Louisiana beat Mississippi State and on and on and on. They're good teams. When you play them early in the year when they're healthy and they're at full strength, they're especially dangerous. Throw in the first game, certainly the first game what's changed, what's different from last year. So we have to be ready to go, but we will be. Q. Just continuing on that with Old Dominion and the early nonconference games, what's your message to the fan base to kind of generate more enthusiasm about those early games? Cignetti: Well, I just addressed Old Dominion. I'm not worried about anybody else. My focus is on camp, developing this football team, but we are 20 practices away from the opener, which creates a sense of urgency to get a lot done in a short amount of time with an eye on ODU. I really don't have an eye on anybody else. I mean, we did our opponent scout in the spring in the offseason. I expect us to sell out. I know one of those games is a Friday night game. It gets a little tougher to get to the stadium for some people on a Friday night, but we create a lot of excitement around here, and I expect us to have great crowds. The focus right now is getting in the room with the coaches, watching practice tape, evaluating who did what, how we did, putting tomorrow's practice together, installation, and having a great practice tomorrow, all leading toward running out of the tunnel for the first game. Will streak continue? Curt Cignetti hopeful Indiana football sellout streak continues, expecting 'great crowds' Q. Your receiving corps, really good players coming back. Preseason accolades on paper looks really good. What are the key things for Cooper and the whole group to go from really good to maybe moving in toward that elite territory? Cignetti: I think they've got to, No. 1, commit and have the discipline to achieve their goals and understand that you can't rest on your laurels. That just doesn't happen on its own. I always talk about that margin for error, the difference between winning and losing, and how small it is. Every day you've got to relentlessly pursue the edge, what gives you the edge, and discipline, commitment, and work ethic, purposeful preparation create an edge. That's what we need from those guys and all the other key guys that they're going to be playing a lot of football for us. Q. Rolijah Hardy was a pretty late add last year. I want to say it was May 24. When did he land on your radar? Where did he grow last year? Cignetti: Coach (Bryant) Haines found him, evaluated him. I believe we brought him in for a late spring or early summer visit. After the Northwestern game, which was in the middle of the season, he became the third linebacker in our trio package, which we use against two tight ends, 12 personnel. He's got a great future. Q. You mentioned in Vegas about Jamari Sharpe positioning himself to start opposite of D'Angelo Ponds. What has he shown you in the spring and then at the end of last season that has put him in that position to be that? Cignetti: I think he's grown up a lot and improved as a football player. He has a couple of guys breathing down his neck that have a chance to be good players too, so we've got good competition at that field corner spot. Position battle: Who will start alongside Indiana football's All-American cornerback? Curt Cignetti weighs in Q. How has your life changed in Indiana from a year ago when you got here and not that many people knew much about you, and now can you even walk down the street without being recognized or applauded, so to speak? Cignetti: Yeah, well, we did go through that phase. You know, gas at 5 a.m., and two or three selfies at 5 a.m. People waiting for you outside the office when you leave. So that's all part of being successful, I understand. I grew up in this business and been in it a long time. But you don't meet expectations and you don't do as well as you would like, things can turn real fast the other way. I think what's changed the most besides the familiarity with all the people in town — and it's a great town, great college town — is everything in my house works now. We bought a house from a guy named Tom Martin, who was friends of Bobby Knight, and it had a lot of toys in it. It took my wife about a year to get everything to work. Not that he neglected it because he didn't. So we have a lot of new faces on the football team too. That's changed, but I think that's most people across the country now. Insider: Who are Indiana football breakout players for 2025? A 'freak,' a transfer and a bunch on defense Q. Coach, with Pat Coogan, what was it that really intrigued you about him to have him come here, and then has the center position — how much has that evolved over the years? Maybe more responsibilities, more to do? Cignetti: Yeah, well, you know, Pat started at Notre Dame, a great program. Played a lot of football for them. Was an older guy, was looking for a home. He had a girlfriend that went to school here. We were looking for a center. Mike Katic had graduated. It was a perfect fit. Sure glad we got him, and I think he's going to be a great leader for us. I think the center position, like most of the other positions on the football team, have evolved quite a bit as technology has improved and the game has become more sophisticated. I think offense, defense, special teams are more complex than they used to be, but the learning tools and the teaching tools available to the student-athletes have improved also, so their ability to learn faster, quicker, and more has changed as the game has changed. Q. You talk about avoiding complacency time and time again. Twenty practices, how do you avoid that from day in and day out? Cignetti: Well, right now we're looking for consistency in performance. A lot of the older guys have been to it. Some of the guys went through last season, and some of the older guys that are projected to start joined us in January and had a taste of it in the spring. So they're still learning too. But what you're looking for is consistency in performance individually and collectively day in, day out. You want to stay on that kind of a trajectory and keep improving, every play, every drill, every day. When you get 11 guys doing their job the way you want them to do it and teach our brand of ball, there's really no limits on what you can accomplish.
USA Today
43 minutes ago
- USA Today
Michigan's Donaven McCulley, likened to Nico Collins, poised to lead WR corps in offense
When pundits surmise that the Michigan football offense will take a step forward in 2025, it's usually because they have stars in their eyes beholding freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood. But there are other components that the Wolverines added that they hope will pay dividends this year. Of course, the main addition was an offensive coordinator in Chip Lindsey, who has had success at nearly every turn, but perhaps a more unheralded addition is wide receiver Donaven McCulley, who came aboard this offseason from Indiana. He didn't see much playing time last year in Bloomington as new head coach Curt Cignetti brought many of his guys from James Madison, but the 6-foot-5 receiver led the Hoosiers in 2023 with 48 catches for 644 yards and six touchdowns -- making him the second most prolific receiver on the roster (the other being UMass transfer Anthony Simpson). At Big Ten media days, head coach Sherrone Moore said that McCulley reminds him a lot of another Wolverines receiver who showed out during his time, and he anticipates that the transfer will see somewhat of a similar trajectory. "First off, big, tall, strong, fast, explosive, big playability," Moore said. "He gives you what we kind of got with Nico, and Nico that 2020 year we thought was going to take off even more -- and that's what he reminds you of." McCulley rarely gets mentions from the national media as being a big part of the up-and-coming offense in Ann Arbor, but that's a mistake. Many of the pass plays in the spring game helped shape their opinion, but McCulley, on the maize team (led by QB Jadyn Davis), was only targeted once, and he made an impressive catch despite being covered by two defenders. That's only what we've gotten to see, but those who got to take in spring practice insist that it was a regular occurrence. What's more, he's cementing himself as a leader in the wide receiving corps, which could pay dividends with younger wideouts learning from him. "Now, you've got to put in the work to see what he's going to do, but in the spring he flashed more often than not, being a big-play receiver," Moore said. "So we're excited to see what he does. And in the locker room, he's been great. He's asserting himself as a leader. He's an older guy, and he's really taking the reins of that receiver room to be a threat on our offense." Michigan opened up fall camp on Wednesday with eyes on the August 30 season opener against New Mexico at The Big House.
