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Roger Penske delivered a forceful command for drivers to start their engines at the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday after the most trying of weeks for his own race team, only to watch Team Penske driver Scott McLaughlin crash out before it even began.
McLaughlin was warming up his tires on the parade laps when he lost control and hit the inside retaining wall.
“I have no idea what happened,” said McLaughlin, one of the pre-race favorites despite an earlier wreck in practice, who climbed from his car, cradled his helmeted head in his hands and appeared to be nearly inconsolable on the infield grass.
Absolute devastation for Scott McLaughlin as he crashes on the pace laps in the #Indy500. pic.twitter.com/4eUiySkvHZ
— INDYCAR on FOX (@IndyCarOnFOX) May 25, 2025
“Just really upset for my team,” he said. “They built me a fantastic car again. I’m really sorry to my sponsors, my fans, my family. I don’t know what happened. I can’t believe we’re out of the race. I had so much hope today. It’s the worst moment of my life.”
Penske, who also owns IndyCar, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indy 500, had been scarce in public since qualifying weekend, when the cars of two-time defending winner Josef Newgarden and former winner Will Power were found to have an illegally modified part. Both were penalized and sent to the rear of the 33-car starting grid.
Penske went even further after the second scandal to engulf his team in just over a year, firing team president Tim Cindric and Team Penske officials Ron Ruzewski and Kyle Moyer, who had served as the strategist on McLaughlin’s car.
McLaughlin did not have the illegally modified part on the car that he wrecked in the final round of qualifying.
The start of the 109th running of the Indy 500 was delayed when a cloud of light rain that passed over the speedway, where a crowd of about 350,000 people had arrived early and packed the sold-out grandstands.
Trucks with huge dryers were sent onto the track, and it was declared ready by race control after a delay of about 35 minutes.
Penske received a warm ovation when he finally stepped to the microphone and delivered the starting command.
McLaughlin, who was starting on the inside of the fourth row, was swerving back and forth across the track to warm up his tires when his car suddenly kicked left at the end of the front stretch. It slammed into the inner barrier, destroying his suspension and ending the race he wants to win more than any other before it had even started.
It was reminiscent of the 1992 Indianapolis 500, when pole-sitter Roberto Guerrero spun out and crashed while trying to warm up his tires during the parade laps. And just like McLaughlin, he was unable to take the green flag to start the race.
“I know it’s probably dramatic,” McLaughlin said after leaving the infield care center, “but it’s just like — I put so much into the race. Everyone does. And I didn’t even get to see the green flag.”
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In 2023 an employee from Andretti UK called Mark Haskins, called me at my home in Carmel to tell me that “if I wanted to have business in Indiana I needed to sponsor Andretti”.
Yup.
The British Andretti rep continued to share that “since Formula One is expensive and the State of Indiana cannot sponsor a Fomula One team, the IEDC came up with an INNOVATIVE way to pay for Andretti Formula One, by using sustainability grants via the Battery Innovation Center” and he added “BECAUSE SUSTAINABILITY GRANTS ARE UNLIMITED IN INDIANA”.
Andretti and the IEDC Battery Innovation Center had been selling our economy to benefit themsleves.
Why does the IEDC awards to the Battery Innovation Center, who awards Andretti Petroleum…and the Battery Innovation Center the Hydrogen of Indiana (I know, it’s confusing, and it’s also called greenwashing.)
Indiana Hydrogen Ecosystem Initiative
PROJECT SUMMARY:
Over the last two years ESN has completed an extensive Indiana Hydrogen Ecosystem Report that details the economic, environmental, and innovation benefits of building out a hydrogen economy in Indiana. Hydrogen economy strategies and policies are becoming common place across the globe including in a number of US states (TX, OK, CA, etc.). Indiana has an opportunity to help shape and participate in this new energy marketplace drawing on some competitive advantages that exist in the state including a robust trucking and logistics industry and interstate highway network, large number of renewable energy developments (wind and solar) for green hydrogen production, access to an interstate ammonia pipeline, and a number of industrial use cases for hydrogen. Over the next two years ESN will lead the formation and begin the implementation of a hydrogen ecosystem pilot project
that will move Indiana into a position of strategic leadership in demonstrating and validating this high growth global market opportunity.
The pilot project will focus on the following objectives:
• Recruit and secure commitment from companies that want to part of an Indiana
Hydrogen Ecosystem program with the goal of developing a commercial scale green
hydrogen production facility (goal of ~50 MW electrolyzer co-located with a solar or wind
farm)
• Recruit and secure commitment from companies to develop small green ammonia plant
on site (hydrogen to anhydrous ammonia)
Hydrogen corridor with H2 fueling station sites located along a major route in Indiana.
Indiana Economic Development Corporation
21st Century Research & Technology Fund • Partnership with H2 fuel cell truck fleet pilots leveraging the Hydrogen corridor
• Identify what long term regulatory and policy tools are needed to support further
expansion of Indiana hydrogen marketplace
• Coordinate pursuit of federal funding through DOE Hydrogen Hub program in partnership
with IEDC, industry, and academia.
• Support Purdue research and analysis around the use of green hydrogen for industrial
thermal needs, aviation fuels, and to green fertilizer to reduce CO2 footprint of ethanol.
Proposed Partners
Green Hydrogen Production Site: Cf Industries, Duke Energy, Koch Nitrogen, NuStar Pipeline, Avina,
Hoosier Solar, Cummins, Itochu, BIC, Praxair
I-69 Hydrogen Corridor: Itochu, Toyota, Cummins, Avina, Andretti Group, BIC
https://secure.in.gov/apps/iedc/transparencyportal/viewtaxgrantloancontract/63d18e9c65b6ec11983e001dd804cef0