Latest news with #autoRacing
Daily Mail
25-05-2025
- Automotive
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Spain's Alex Palou wins Indianapolis 500 in his first race on an oval track
Alex Palou is the first Spaniard to win the biggest event in American auto racing, and he did it on his very first crack at an oval track. The 28-year-old star of the Chip Ganassi Racing team won the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday. Ryan Hunter-Reay was the leader at the halfway point of the Indianapolis 500 as he looked for a second victory in "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing." Hunter-Reay, in a one-off entry for DRR-Cusick Motorsports, won the Indy 500 in 2014 as a driver for Andretti Global. Him leading Sunday with 100 laps remaining was fitting for a race that was first briefly delayed by rain and then hit with a rash of weird incidents. Scott McLaughlin crashed on the warm-up lap while swerving to get heat in his tires. Scott Dixon had a brake fire before the race went green and then Marco Andretti was crashed on the first lap. It was reminiscent of the 1992 Indianapolis 500, when pole-sitter Roberto Guerrero spun out and crashed while also trying to warm up his tires during the parade laps. "I really have no idea what happened," a heartbroken McLaughlin said. "I can´t believe we´re out of the race. I had so much hope. It´s the worst moment of my life." The Indianapolis 500 has sold out its grandstands for the first time in nearly a decade, and the local TV blackout that has been in place since 1951 has been lifted so fans in central Indiana will be able to watch the race live. Indianapolis Motor Speedway president Doug Boles said Monday that while its roughly 230,000 grandstand seats had sold out, general admission infield tickets were still available. He expects a crowd of about 350,000 race fans - or about 1 for every 1,000 people living in the U.S. - will be at the track Sunday for the 109th running of "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing." "From our longest-tenured ticket-holders who have been coming to the Racing Capital of the World for generations to new fans who've recently fallen in love with this iconic event, everyone has contributed to this exciting and historic moment," Boles wrote in a letter to fans. "I am grateful for the support and passion you have for this race and this place." The lifting of the local TV blackout was good news for Fox, which will be broadcasting the race for the first time, as well as NBA fans in central Indiana. Normally, the race would be aired locally after its conclusion Sunday evening, creating a conflict with the Pacers set to host the Knicks in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference final the same night. "Fox Sports is all in on IndyCar, and this is an incredible accomplishment to celebrate with our first Indy 500 broadcast," Fox Sports chief executive Eric Shanks said. "As a lifelong fan, I am also personally thrilled to see the grandstands filled on race day and look forward to broadcasting the race live in central Indiana." The first sellout since the 100th running in 2016 had been imminent with Boles telling fans late last week that few grandstand tickets were still available. And the biggest reason for such fevered anticipation is that storylines abound.
Reuters
25-05-2025
- Automotive
- Reuters
Kyle Larson crashes out of Indy, en route to Charlotte race
May 25 - Kyle Larson's dream of completing auto racing's classic double on Sunday ended early after he crashed on lap 91 of the Indianapolis 500. Larson was heading into Turn 2 after the IndyCar race returned to green on that lap. He lost control as he went low into the turn and downshifted. That led to Larson spinning and crashing into Sting Ray Robb. Larson got out of the car on his own. He said he will head to Charlotte, N.C., where he is scheduled to race in NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday evening. "I got loose and just kind of got all over the place," Larson said on the FOX broadcast. .".. I got a little too eager there on the restart and caused that crash. I hate it for everybody that got caught up in it. "Bummed out. (Will) try to get over this quickly and get on with Charlotte. Try to forget about it and win the next one." Larson left the Indy 500 grounds a short time later via helicopter to start the journey to Charlotte. Earlier in the race, Larson's car stalled during a pit stop, costing him time and positions. --Field Level Media
New York Times
23-05-2025
- Automotive
- New York Times
Josef Newgarden, in face of controversy, doubles down on Indy 500 history hopes
INDIANAPOLIS — Josef Newgarden offered a firm handshake, pulled up a chair and appeared the picture of confidence, as always. He was sitting in an interview room in the back of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway media center, and Newgarden — the man who has won the last two Indianapolis 500s — was running straight toward the pressure. Steady eye contact. Direct phrasing, without hesitation or verbal hiccups. Advertisement 'The facts are the facts,' he said. 'We have an opportunity to do it.' 'It' is history. 'It' is winning the Indianapolis 500 three times in a row. And 'it' feels like it has very long odds, considering it's never happened in the 108-year history of the world's biggest auto race. Rather than try to push the talk aside or deflect, Newgarden has openly embraced the idea. He wants to talk about it. He wants you to talk about it. The pressure, the spotlight? He relishes all of it. By the way, he added in a near-casual tone, he also wants to be the greatest of all time. 'I dream of winning this race five times,' he said. 'That doesn't fade.' Except there's a problem. A big problem. Two days after he sat in that room with The Athletic, Newgarden's car was found to be illegal. During pre-qualifying inspection before Newgarden ran for pole position, IndyCar officials spotted an unauthorized modification made to the attenuator — a safety device that cannot be manipulated — on the back of his car. Newgarden's car was pulled from the pit lane. Instead of making a qualifying run on the racetrack, television cameras spotted Newgarden going for a run in the infield as rivals made their laps. It gets worse. The next day, Newgarden and Team Penske teammate Will Power, who was found with the same illegal part, were penalized heavily. They lost their starting positions and were relegated to the last row of the 33-car starting field. Their teams were fined $100,000 each. And their race strategists were suspended for the Indy 500; two days later, those men were among three senior leaders fired from the organization altogether. In the meantime, photos began circulating. It turns out Newgarden's car not only had the modified attenuator earlier this week, earlier this month and earlier this year — but last year as well. The illegal part is even visible to the naked eye on his 2024 Indy 500-winning car displayed in the speedway's museum. Advertisement None of the controversy seems particularly helpful to someone who carries the ambitions Newgarden does. But there he was again on Thursday morning at media day, as determined and confident as ever despite what seemed like a potentially crippling setback. 'I just see a bigger mountain. That's all I see,' Newgarden said of the challenge in front of him. Can he still win the Indy 500 after all of this? Can he really overcome the track position of starting 32nd? 'Oh, absolutely,' he replied. 'Absolutely.' No one has ever won the Indy 500 from that far back in the field. The lowest a winner has started is 28th. And only four drivers in 108 years of Indy 500s have started lower than 22nd. But Newgarden still thinks he can do it, even with all the distractions and national headlines and giant swirl of drama surrounding Team Penske. When asked how he can compartmentalize it and keep the noise out, the Newgarden sitting on stage at the front of the media center appeared to be the same person he was in the back room. 'Well, it's the same challenge as always: You have to focus on what you can control,' he said. 'The difficult part about the Indianapolis 500 is how do you stay focused on what is in your control? That can look very different every year. There can be different stressors that push you. 'If you can just get yourself to a place where you are focused (on) the task at hand, you know what's in front of you and you know what you're in control of, then you set yourself up mentally to have the best day possible. That's what we're doing.' It's the mindset that would be espoused by Newgarden's sporting role models, Tom Brady and Derek Jeter (his 'ultimate hero'). Prior to a recent promotional appearance for Fox Sports in New York, Newgarden spent an hour in a room with Brady, Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz. Advertisement He was immediately struck by the obvious similarities between them: Polite. Very focused. Very driven. Good leaders. Good teammates. Those traits were zero surprise for Newgarden, but rather served as a confirmation of how he fashions himself. Those were the precise ingredients, he said, of 'what it takes to be doing something great for a very long period of time.' And that's exactly what he plans to do. It's the sort of high-achiever approach that separates the exceptional from the average in any field, and Newgarden won't settle for anything but excellence. 'I don't know how you do this job unless you are the most elite, competitive person in the world,' he said. 'You can't have someone requesting you to put in the effort. Everything has to be, 'What am I doing to get better?' That's how competitive people operate.' But there was a time, Newgarden said, when he grew too obsessed with the results of his tireless work. The relentlessness swung too far toward the outcome rather than the process, and he robbed himself of the enjoyment being a race car driver once provided. 'I started not to like my job anymore,' he said. 'I was just a miserable person.' That has changed now. Newgarden 'rewired' his brain by asking himself what he enjoyed about the process and rediscovered some happiness while retaining his ultra-competitiveness. He likes getting up earlier than most. He likes being the fittest driver. He likes every bit of IndyCar's competitive pressure. So, although it might have sounded weird, Newgarden told reporters in the aftermath of the penalties and firings he was trying to 'remain happy.' Happy? Really? 'I love this race,' Newgarden said. 'My goodness, I've been enjoying being here this whole time. I look forward to it every year, as we all do. … Ready to go racing. So that's what I've got to say.' Advertisement Of course, there's also a reason for his optimism. Despite the loss of personnel and poor starting positions, the Penske cars are still among the fastest in the field. If anyone can start 32nd and win the race, it's Newgarden. IndyCar driver and longtime friend Conor Daly said Newgarden 'knows exactly what he wants.' 'He's a great champion, and he's very smart,' Daly said. 'So yeah, I can't fault him for being confident.' Last year, Newgarden made one of the great Indy 500 passes of this generation. He had been passed by a hungry and determined Pato O'Ward of Arrow McLaren Racing, and Newgarden decided he could not wait until the frontstretch to go for the winning move. So he improbably tried passing O'Ward on the outside in Turn 3, and it worked sensationally. WHAT A FINISH!! Incredible racing between Josef Newgarden and Pato O'Ward 👏 — (@Motorsport) May 26, 2024 Newgarden said it was the car, not him, that allowed it to happen. 'It's not some heroic thing I did. I didn't put the car on my back,' he said, matter-of-factly. 'The race car can either do that move or it can't.' A reporter pushed back. Yes, the car had to be capable. But isn't it true there also had to be a driver behind the wheel willing to risk such a brave gamble? Newgarden leaned forward. 'I didn't know it was going to work, but that's my style: I will put it somewhere, and I'll deal with the repercussions,' he said. 'It's either going to be good or bad, and sometimes it bites me. Last year, it didn't.' But last year, Newgarden started on the front row. Now he's on the last row. He's going to need a lot more of those daring moves, whether he agrees they're heroic or not. 'You have to carry the mentality you're trying to win the race, or you'll wreck the car and you won't come back,' he said. 'At Indy, I'm going for the win at all costs. It's win or nothing.' (Top photo of Josef Newgarden last week at Indy 500 practice: Brandon Badraoui / Lumen via Getty Images)
Associated Press
22-05-2025
- Automotive
- Associated Press
Scott McLaughlin angrily defensive, utterly motivated after Team Penske penalties ahead of Indy 500
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Scott McLaughlin will have a new strategist and engineer for the Indianapolis 500 because of a rules infraction that concerned a part on Team Penske cars other than his own, and that has left him both angrily defensive and utterly motivated. Perhaps doubly so, given the part in question that led to such serious repercussions for one of the most powerful teams in auto racing appears to have done nothing for performance, but was rather an alteration to a spec part primarily for aesthetics. 'Smart people in the paddock know there was no gain, you know? It's frustrating that this is blown up like it has,' McLaughlin said during the Indy 500's annual media day Thursday, 'and it's cost three people that I'm very close with their jobs. But overall, my view on it right now is just to focus forward.' He has no choice. The race is Sunday. That's one week after Team Penske drivers Josef Newgarden and Scott Dixon had their cars pulled from the qualifying line over modifications to the attenuator, a safety part that cannot be changed for any reason. IndyCar has since said there has been no evidence that the seams filled on the piece provided a competitive advantage, yet the series nevertheless responded with serious penalties: the cars were sent to the rear of the 33-car field, they were stripped of points and handed heavy financial penalties. McLaughlin, who had crashed in a practice session ahead of qualifying, was spared the sanctions given to his teammates when the attenuator found amid the wreckage of the No. 3 car had not been altered. He will start 10th. He was still penalized, though, when team owner Roger Penske — who also owns IndyCar, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indy 500 — fired team president Tim Cindric and Team Penske officials Ron Ruzewski and Kyle Moyer on Wednesday. Moyer had been serving as the strategist on McLaughlin's car. 'Ultimately, those three guys are friends of mine and have done a tremendous amount in my career,' said McLaughlin, who drove for Penske in Supercars in Australia and New Zealand before coming to IndyCar. 'I guess you could say there's a sadness from my perspective. At the end of the day, I drive for Roger Penske. I respect the decision. 'I'm disappointed in some of my peers and people in this room,' McLaughlin added, growing a bit heated, 'just how it was taken out of proportion in some ways. At the same time, I think people forget just what Roger's done for this sport in general, and that definitely gets thrown to the side a little bit, which I find a hard time not being passionate about that.' McLaughlin will have Ben Bretzman as his strategist and Malcolm Finch as lead engineer on Sunday. They are plenty familiar with each other, but they will be serving in new roles, and they don't have a whole lot of time left to finish preparing the backup car after McLaughlin put his primary into the Turn 1 wall during practice Saturday. They have one 2-hour practice on Friday — known as Carb Day — before McLaughlin tries to win his first Indianapolis 500. 'It's a brand-new car, brand-new chassis, brand-new speedway car. It's a purpose-built speedway car,' said McLaughlin, who did practice with it a bit Monday. 'Just bolted my race motor, all the race uprights, everything that I had on earlier in practice. 'Honestly,' he said, 'Monday felt very close. We just had a couple things not quite at upright that affected some setup and stuff. Ironed that out, had a good week to prepare, and things should be just as fast.' As for the rest of the drama encircling his team, McLaughlin is done talking about it. All he wants to do now is race. 'What's done is done. This happened. We have to move forward. The penalties are accepted,' McLaughlin said. 'I tell you what: There's that much motivation in our garage, within the team and within my stand.' ___ AP auto racing:
The Drive
19-05-2025
- Automotive
- The Drive
Team Penske's Violations and Prema's Breakthrough Preview a Riveting Indy 500
The latest car news, reviews, and features. You don't need to follow the entire IndyCar season to get caught up in the excitement of its crown jewel, the Indy 500. And while the three-hour race around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is easily the most exciting in any form of auto racing, this year's developments are promising an even more nail-biting (and sold-out) race come Sunday, May 25. From an Italian racing team virtually unknown to most Americans finding success where no one expected it, to the series' most successful drivers failing tech and being sent to the back of the pack after a somewhat shadowy review process, nothing's gone according to expectations. And, well, if you like excitement, that's a good thing. With only 33 starting spots and 34 drivers competing to make the grid for the 109th running of the Indy 500, everyone knew someone would ultimately go home disappointed. Logic dictated it would be one of the under-performing teams, a rookie driver, or a combination of the two. Frankly, newcomers Prema Racing were on the shortlist to walk away empty-handed during the qualifying weekend. IndyCar It was quite the opposite for the No. 83. Rookie Robert Shwartzman embarrassed the best in the game when he set a 232.790 mph four-lap average around the 2.5-mile super speedway, knocking down two-time winner Takuma Sato to second place. The Israeli racing driver was speechless after getting out of the car, practically in disbelief at what he had just accomplished. 'Honestly, it feels like I'm dreaming,' said Shwartzman after his quali run. 'The car felt amazing, so fast.' Series favorite and multiple-time runner-up, Pato O'Ward, will start from third place with a prime, unobstructed view of Turn 1 once the green flag drops. He and Sato will undoubtedly look to devour Shwartzman as quickly as possible. Here's a free tip for Fox Sports: broadcast Shwartzman's heart rate on live TV at the start of the race. It'll be something to behold. Team Penske is owned by Roger Penske, the most successful team owner in the history of the Indy 500. The business and racing magnate also owns the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the IndyCar series. You could say he's kind of a big deal around the place. Unfortunately, that hasn't stopped his employees from making questionable and, per the regulations, wrong decisions lately. Last year, the team and two of its drivers, Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin, were found guilty of having and using Push to Pass during a race when the system shouldn't have been available. It was a whole ordeal, which resulted in loss of points, loss of credibility, and a very emotional press conference by Newgarden. IndyCar Joe Skibinski While IndyCar rightfully penalized the team and drivers, Penske decided to internally go a step further and suspend the engineers and managers involved, including its president, Tim Cindric, for two weeks. As a result, these key figures were not present at the Indy 500. Now, Penske is making headlines for the wrong reasons again, as cars No. 2 and No. 12 of Newgarden and Will Power (both Indy 500 winners) were caught in violation of the rulebook on Sunday as they prepared for the second day of qualifying. On Saturday, the duo managed to get into what IndyCar calls 'Fast 12,' meaning the two Penskes secured their spots in the top half of the field and would not fall any lower than 12th regardless of their performance on Sunday. As they prepared to go out on Sunday, however, it was noted that team mechanics were grinding away an adhesive on the car's attenuator, which had been used to seal together two body components. Reportedly, the adhesive was used to seal the gap between the two parts and improve aero performance. This is not allowed by the rules. The issue was reportedly discovered in Power's car during the tech inspection, which it ultimately failed. And despite the team trying to correct the issue on Newgarden's car (hence the grinders and torches in pit lane), Penske decided to withdraw that car too. Failing tech and withdrawing the other car ultimately sent both cars to the back of the grid—no, not the entire grid—the Fast 12 grid. This move, which ultimately saw Penske go penalty-free for violating the rules, was seen as unfair by the rest of the field. IndyCar 'They [Penske] weren't accidentally doing it because they had the blowtorch right there in order to get it out,' said McLaren's Pato O'Ward after Sunday's qualifying session. 'Honestly, I feel for [Jacob] Abel and for everybody that did the disqualifications or the last chance qualifying. Those (Penske) cars weren't in regulations. 'I'm not an engineer, so I can't tell you what they were doing, how much speed that it is or if it is any speed,' said O'Ward. 'Obviously it's not in regulation. The rule is pretty black and white. Those cars should have been in the last chance qualifier. Like, those cars should have never — obviously they didn't do anything in the Fast 12, but they should have been brought into the LCQ because they had that yesterday, I guarantee you. Until someone pointed it out today. Those cars, if they're disqualified today, they should have been disqualified yesterday.' IndyCar Matt Fraver O'Ward didn't mince words, and rightfully so. His mention that he felt bad for Jacob Abel is accurate, too, as Abel was ultimately knocked out for being too slow. Had the Penskes been found guilty of rules infringement on Saturday, Abel's outcome may have been different. It's clear that there were some long and tough meetings held Sunday night, as IndyCar made the decision Monday morning to send both Penske cars to the back of the grid—the very back, this time. Newgarden, who won the race in 2023 and 2024, will start the race from the 32nd spot, and Power, who won the race in 2018, will start dead last. 'The integrity of the Indianapolis 500 is paramount, and this violation of the INDYCAR rule against modification to this part and using it 'as supplied' is clear,' IndyCar President J. Douglas Boles said. 'The penalty should be more than simply starting where the cars might have qualified anyway, if given the opportunity. The cars belong in the field as two of the fastest 33; however, starting on the tail of the field is the appropriate penalty in this instance.' Got a tip? Email us at tips@ Jerry Perez is the Deputy Editor at The Drive, overseeing the site's daily and long-term content initiatives in addition to writing his own features and reviews. He's been covering the automotive industry professionally since 2015 and joined The Drive in January 2018.
