Ray Evernham and Tony Stewart took great care in extending invites to the made-for-TV league they had co-created. They thoughtfully pulled in a dozen of the most iconic names in modern day motorsports. Never did they expect the reigning Indianapolis 500 winner to be in the field.
Eight of the 33 starters in this year’s Indianapolis 500 had F1 experience. Drivers expect that number to grow in upcoming years.
The largest crowd in the world for a sports event showed up in joyous force on Sunday, 135,000 of them packing the stands at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The Brazilian joined A.J. Foyt, Al Unser Sr. and Rick Mears, his former mentor at Team Penske, as the only four-time winners of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” Mears was the last driver to join the club in 1991.
Much like NASCAR dealt with its own racial reckoning last year, IndyCar is moving to create a more diverse workforce throughout all levels of a series that has had just two Black drivers race in the Indy 500, its showcase annual event that dates to 1911.
IndyCar’s current deal with NBC Sports is in its final season and contract negotiations are unclear. There have been reports Penske will take a higher rights fee from a new partner and that NBC has fallen out of the running on a renewal.
There has been a seismic shift in IndyCar this season with an authoritative arrival of a brand new wave of drivers. They are kids in this series alongside six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon, considered the greatest driver of his generation.
IndyCar at the end of the session announced Takuma Sato, Graham Rahal and Santino Ferrucci will all be parked for the first 30 minutes of Friday’s critical practice, when the engine power is boosted and teams get their first true look at their speeds ahead of qualifying.
The deal solves one of the looming financial questions facing Roger Penske in his second year as owner of the series.
Conor Daly and Ed Carpenter were among the fastest drivers Wednesday at Indianapolis 500 practice. Both are from Indianapolis with deep ties to Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The collaboration with Undefeated, a popular L.A.-based designer in sneaker and streetwear culture, aims for a younger, hotter demographic.
The event was scheduled for July 9-11 but can’t take place because of pandemic restrictions in Canada.
There will be fans at this year’s Indianapolis 500, Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Roger Penske said Monday, but how many remains a moving target based on COVID-19 restrictions. More than 170,000 tickets already have been sold for the May 30 race, he said.
The former CART rivals see an opportunity to attract young Mexican talent to racing and put IndyCar back in Mexico.
A Marion Superior Court Judge on Tuesday dismissed all counts against three of the four defendants in the defamation lawsuit involving a racial slur, but threw out only one of six counts against former Colts game announcer Bob Lamey.
Driver James Hinchcliffe on Tuesday announced a 10-race partnership with Genesys that gets him back into a full-time ride. Sponsorship of the No. 29 Honda for the remaining seven races on the IndyCar schedule will be announced at a later date.
A new IndyCar racing team dedicated to giving women opportunities to work in motorsports has submitted an entry for this year’s Indianapolis 500. Simona de Silvestro, the 2010 Indy 500 rookie of the year, will drive the No. 16 car.
Team Penske will mentor a new entry in the IndyCar ladder series that will be owned by a Black businessman as part of a new “Race for Equality & Change” initiative.
Helio Castroneves has said he wants to return to IndyCar, where he raced full-time from 1998 through 2017.
Joe Hale will oversee the museum’s operations, programming, partnerships, communications and advertising efforts.
