Indianapolis, IN
Heavier IndyCars bring out frustration in drivers on 3rd day of Indianapolis 500 practice
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — While the top of Thursday’s speed chart was filled with IndyCar’s usual names, many other Indianapolis 500 drivers grew increasingly frustrated with the day’s results.
Graham Rahal complained on the broadcast about how the extra weight in the rear end of his car impacted how it handled around the 2.5-mile oval. Marco Andretti offered a similar critique during his radio communications.
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Santino Ferrucci was so upset with the car, he put all four tires over the white line on the warmup apron, resulting in a drive-thru penalty. Even the seemingly invincible points leader, Alex Palou, went back to the garage to make a change to the No. 10 car.
It was that kind of day on the first day of practice for “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” not interrupted by rain.
“Tough day today but we’re just gonna have to crank up the boost, cowboy up and go find what we need,” Rahal wrote on social media following practice.
Rahal, Andretti and Ferrucci finished Thursday near the bottom third of the speed charts. Palou, of course, was closer to the top.
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Drivers knew navigating the series’ new, heavier hybrid cars around the fastest oval in racing could be problematic as far back as the April’s two-day open test when two experienced drivers crashed— 2021 NASCAR champion Kyle Larson and two-time Indy winner Takuma Sato.
What it all means for Friday when drivers get a power boost to increase their speeds before this weekend’s qualifications — or in the May 25 race — remains unclear.
But even some of the fastest drivers at Indy are fighting to figure it all out.
“You’re 100, 110 pounds heavier. That’s a lot of mass percentage wise that you are adding to this car,” two-time defending champion Josef Newgarden said Wednesday. “It’s saturating the tires more. It’s just moving around. Your weight distribution is shifted depending on where teams put it. That’s what people are trying to figure out right now.”
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Sato’s new battle
Sato isn’t just cramming to learn the new cars, he’s also fighting another battle — rust.
The two-time Indy winner spent seven seasons in Formula One before becoming an IndyCar regular from 2010-2022. In 2023, he raced five times for Chip Ganassi Racing. But he hasn’t suited up since last year’s 500. This year, he’s again driving for Rahal Lannigan Letterman Racing.
“It’s not easy,” the Japanese native said Wednesday. “To get out of the car 11 months, close to 12 months, jump in the car and go 230 mph, you feel the speed for sure. The refresher program helped me a lot. So just getting through the speed with an extra two sets of tires, makes me a little more confident or comfortable to the environment to get up to speed.”
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Sato is trying to become the third foreign-born driver with three Indy titles. Helio Castroneves of Brazil has a record-tying four wins. Dario Franchitti of Scotland won three times.
Familiar voices
FOX Sports announced Thursday that it’s bringing two former IndyCar drivers back to the broadcast booth for next week’s race — Tony Stewart and Danica Patrick.
Both have done broadcast work previously and 500 fans may recall hearing Patrick on NBC’s telecasts of the 500.
Patrick was the first woman to lead the race in 2005 and became the highest female finisher in race history when she was third in 2009.
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Stewart grew up in Indiana and won the 1997 IndyCar title before moving to the Cup Series. He won three NASCAR championships and captured two Brickyard 400 wins at his home track, Indianapolis.
Fast Friday sponsor
Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials announced Thursday they have reached a multiyear deal with Turtle Wax to become the presenting sponsor for Fast Friday, the final practice before qualifying is held Saturday and Sunday.
As part of the deal, Turtle Wax also will provide its car-care products to help maintain the entire fleet of speedway vehicles.
“We’re thrilled about this alliance between two iconic Midwest-based brands — Turtle Wax and Indianapolis Motor Speedway — each with a rich history in the automotive world,” the company’s chief marketing officer Daren Herbert said. “Simply put, it’s a match made in speed and shine, and we’re ready to go.”
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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
INDIANAPOLIS — One person is in critical condition following a shooting on Indy’s near east side.
According to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, around 8:10 p.m., officers were called to the 2000 block of East Washington Street on reports of a person shot.
Upon arrival, police located a 50-year-old man with injuries consistent with a gunshot wound.
He is currently reported to be in extremely critical condition.
No additional information has been made available at the time of this article’s publication.
This is a developing story; check back for updates.
The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission on June 17 gave AES the nod to raise electricity rates enough to earn an additional $71 million each year, a decision that drew reproof from Indiana lawmakers who called it another blow to cost-burdened consumers.
The approved rate represents less than half of the $192 million increase that AES initially requested. It’s also less than the $91 million increase proposed in an October settlement agreement between AES, the city of Indianapolis and major electricity consumers like Kroger and Walmart.
But the new rate is still significantly more than what the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor, the state agency representing ratepayers in the case, recommended in September. The OUCC’s proposal would have capped AES’s annual operating revenue at $21 million less than the current level.
The rate increase authorizes AES to earn a total of nearly $2 billion each year, or an estimated $384 million in profit.
The higher base rate comes as a double whammy for Indianapolis-area households, who are already paying more for electricity this summer after AES temporarily raised rates to account for higher-than-anticipated fuel costs during last winter’s storms. The increase also arrives against the backdrop of inflation, which rose to a three-year high last month, and surging gas prices due to the war in Iran.
Gov. Mike Braun wrote in a Wednesday post to X that he was “deeply disappointed” by the IURC’s approval of the rate increase.
“Hoosiers have spent years tightening their belts and making tough financial decisions,” Braun wrote. “It’s time for utility companies to do the same.”
The IURC’s decision also drew fire from the other side of the aisle. In a June 17 news release, five Democrats representing Indianapolis in the state Senate – J.D. Ford, Andrea Hunley, La Keisha Jackson, Fady Qaddoura, and Greg Taylor – chastised Indiana’s Republican supermajority for failing to rein in rising utility costs.
“Hoosiers pay more. Monopoly utilities collect more. And the leaders in the super-majority who promise affordability over and over again show those are just empty words,” the news release said. “Instead, they continue to defend a system that takes more and more out of our paychecks.”
The consumer advocacy group Citizens Action Coalition also slammed the rate increase. Ben Inskeep, CAC’s program director, said the decision left him “less optimistic that this commission is willing to do things differently and to actually hold utilities accountable.”
He said the IURC should have penalized AES for issues that plagued customers after the utility updated its billing system in 2023, including duplicated withdrawals for the same monthly bill.
The rate increase will take effect in two phases, with rates going up in July 2026 and January 2027. AES officials anticipate the hikes “will be less than $5 per month per phase” for a household that uses 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per month, according to a Wednesday news release from the utility.
“The IURC’s decision reflects a thorough, transparent process and balances the need for continued investment in the electric system with a focus on customer affordability,” the news release stated.
Under a state law that Braun signed in February, AES cannot ask for another increase to its base rate until January 2030 — though electricity bills could still go up for other reasons, like the fuel adjustment charge hitting consumers this month.
Three members of the five-member IURC signed off on the rate increase: Andy Zay, David Veleta, and David Ziegner. Commissioner Bob Deig dissented. Commissioner Anthony Swinger recused himself from the decision because he worked on the AES rate case for the OUCC before he was appointed to the IURC by Braun in January.
“None of this was taken lightly,” Zay, the IURC’s chair, said at the Wednesday hearing, adding that the commission and its staff had carefully weighed concerns about affordability. The commissioners did not go into further detail at the hearing.
But the commission’s order shows some of the debates that played out during the rate case. One point of contention was AES’s authorized return on equity — that is, how much the utility can earn each year in profits. Other disputes hinged on how AES forecasts its operating expenses.
The OUCC accused AES of including more than 100 “phantom hires,” vacant positions it did not necessarily intend to fill in its calculations. Last year, AES said that the rising costs of vegetation management, or trimming trees around power lines, also drove the need to raise rates. The OUCC recommended keeping vegetation management costs flat.
One factor that’s not driving higher prices? Data centers.
AES does not currently provide service to any data centers and did not include them in its calculations, AES president Brandi Davis-Handy said in testimony before the IURC.
Tilly Robinson is a Pulliam fellow for the Indianapolis Star. She can be reached at tilly.robinson@indystar.com.
Interactive radar | Weather alerts by county
WATCH LIVE COVERAGE
(WRTV) — A tornado watch has been issued through 1 a.m. EDT Thursday for much of Indiana, the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center said.
The watch area covers 47 of Indiana’s 92 counties, and includes Indianapolis and its surrounding counties.
Counties in the watch area are Bartholomew, Blackford, Boone, Brown, Carroll, Cass, Clay, Clinton, Daviess, Decatur, Delaware, Fountain, Grant, Greene, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Henry, Howard, Huntington, Jackson, Jay, Jennings, Johnson, Knox, Lawrence, Madison, Marion, Martin, Miami, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Owen, Parke, Putnam, Randolph, Rush, Shelby, Sullivan, Tippecanoe, Tipton, Vermillion, Vigo, Wabash, Warren, and White.
WRTV Meteorologist Ryan Morse says Wednesday afternoon’s rain was the first of two rounds coming to the Hoosier state. A line of supercells were expected to form in Illinois and travel into central Indiana.
In neighboring Illinois, dozens of counties are under a tornado watch until 10 p.m. CDT/11 p.m. EST.
All threats of severe weather were on the table: damaging wind, strong tornadoes, large hail, and flooding.
Severe storms should exit Indiana in the early morning hours.
WISH-TV Meteorologist Keith Gibson says people should have multiple ways of getting alerts and have electronic devices fully charged in case they lose power.
The next chance for rain after these storms could be on Saturday.
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