Indianapolis, IN
Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti to drive Indy 500 pace car
After leading Indiana football to a 16-0 season and national championship, Curt Cignetti will drive the pace car for the Indianapolis 500 on May 24. Cignetti was announced as the pace car driver for the 110th Indy 500 on Fox during the World Baseball Classic final Tuesday.
Cignetti will lead the field of drivers in the new Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X to begin the race. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway gave the illustrious seat to the man who won 14 of the 17 national coach of the year awards he was eligible for in his first two seasons at Indiana.
Since Cignetti was hired ahead of the 2024 season, Indiana has gone 27-2 and made the College Football Playoff twice. This past season, Cignetti led the Hoosiers to their first Big Ten championship since 1967 and their first national championship ever.
“Coach Cignetti will have our field in a special victory lap formation as he leads the stars of the NTT IndyCar Series to the green flag at this year’s Indy 500,” IMS and IndyCar president Doug Boles said in a news release. “His Hoosiers have been nothing short of remarkable, and their national championship run inspired our entire state. He’s the perfect choice to drive the Chevrolet pace car, and I know his introduction on race day will bring out a special roar of appreciation from our crowd.”
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Cignetti will become just the second football coach to drive the pace car, the first since Jim Harbaugh in 2013. Last year’s pace car was driven by Pro Football Hall-of-Famer and Fox analyst Michael Strahan.
Cignetti drove the Hoosiers to prominence in 2025, and he’ll now drive at the front of the pack to start “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”
Indy 500 pace car drivers: Indy 500 pace car drivers through the years at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
All-time list of Indy 500 pace car drivers
2026: Curt Cignetti, Indiana football coach
2025: Michael Strahan: Former NFL player, television host and Fox NFL analyst
2024: Ken Griffey Jr: Baseball Hall of Famer
2023: Tyrese Halliburton: Pacers player
2022: Sarah Fisher: Former race car driver
2021: Danica Patrick: Former race car driver
2020: Mark Reuss: President of General Motors
2019: Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Former race car driver
2018: Victor Oladipo: Pacers player
2017: Jeffrey Dean Morgan: Actor
2016: Roger Penske: Racing team owner, businessman
2015: Jeff Gordon: Race car driver
2014: Dario Franchitti: Race car driver
2013: Jim Harbaugh: NFL player, NFL and college coach
2012: Guy Fieri: Celebrity chef
2011: A.J. Foyt (Mari Hulman George passenger): Former race car driver
2010: Robin Roberts: Broadcaster, morning show host
2009: Josh Duhamel: Actor
2008: Emerson Fittipaldi: Race car driver
2007: Patrick Dempsey: Actor
2006: Lance Armstrong: Former professional bicycle racer
2005: General Colin Powell: U.S. Secretary of State, chairman joint chiefs of staff
2004: Morgan Freeman: Actor
2003: Herb Fishel: General Motors’ racing executive director
2002: Jim Caviezel: Actor
2001: Elaine Irwin Mellencamp: Supermodel
2000: Anthony Edwards: Actor
1999: Jay Leno: Comedian, Tonight Show host
1998: Parnelli Jones: Former race car driver
1997: Johnny Rutherford: Race car driver
1996: Bob Lutz: Automotive executive
1995: Jim Perkins: Automotive executive
1994: Parnelli Jones: Race car driver
1993: Jim Perkins: Automotive executive
1992: Bobby Unser: Race car driver
1991: Carroll Shelby: Race car driver, designer
1990: Jim Perkins: Automotive executive
1989: Bobby Unser: Race car driver
1988: Chuck Yeager: Test pilot, Air Force general
1987: Carroll Shelby: Race car driver, designer
1986: Check Yeager: Test pilot, Air Force general
1985: James Garner: Actor
1984: John Callies: Automotive executive
1983: Duke Nalon: Race car driver
1982: Jim Rathmann: Race car driver
1981: Duke Nalon: Race car driver
1980: Johnnie Parsons: Race car driver
1979: Jackie Stewart: Race car driver
1978: Jim Rathmann: Race car driver
1977: James Garner: Actor
1976: Marty Robbins: Country music singer, NASCAR driver
1975: James Garner: Actor
1974: Jim Rathmann: Race car driver
1973: Jim Rathmann: Race car driver
1972: Jim Rathmann: Race car driver
1971: Eldon Palmer: Indianapolis-area car dealer
1970: Rodger Ward: Race car driver
1969: Jim Rathmann: Race car driver
1968: William Clay Ford Sr.: Executive chairman of Ford motors
1967: Mauri Rose: Race car driver
1966: Benson Ford: Automotive executive
1965: P.M. Buckminster: Automotive executive
1964: Benson Ford: Automotive executive
1963: Sam Hanks: Race car driver
1962: Sam Hanks: Race car driver
1961: Sam Hanks: Race car driver
1960: Sam Hanks: Race car driver
1959: Sam Hanks: Race car driver
1958: Sam Hanks: Race car driver
1957: F.C. Reith: Automotive executive
1956: L.I. Woolson: Automotive executive
1955: Thomas H. Keating: Automotive executive
1954: William C. Newburg: Automotive executive
1953: William Clay Ford Sr.: Automotive executive
1952: P.O. Peterson: Automotive executive
1951: David A. Wallace: Automotive executive
1950: Benson Ford: Automotive executive
1949: Wilbur Shaw: Race car driver, president of IMS
1948: Wilbur Shaw: Race car driver, president of IMS
1947: George W. Mason: Automotive executive
1946: Henry Ford II: Automotive executive
1941: A.B. Couture
1940: Harry Hartz
1939: Charles Chayne: Automotive executive
1938: Stuart Baits: Race car designer
1937: Ralph DePalma: Race car driver
1936: Tommy Milton: Race car driver
1935: Harry Mack: Automotive executive
1934: Willard “Big Boy” Radar: Long distance test driver
1933: Byron Foy
1932: Edsel Ford
1931: Willard “Big Boy” Radar: Long distance test driver
1930: Wade Morton: Race car driver
1929: George Hunt
1928: Joe Dawson: Race car driver
1927: Willard “Big Boy” Radar: Long distance test driver
1926: Louis Chevrolet: Race car driver, founder of Chevrolet
1925: Eddie Rickenbacker: Race car driver, owner of IMS
1924: Lew Pettijohn: Test driver
1923: Fred Duesenberg: Founder of Duesenberg
1922: Barney Oldfield: Race car driver
1921: Harry C. Stutz: Founder of Stutz
1920: Barney Oldfield: Race car driver
1919: Jess G. Vincent: Engine designer
1916: Frank E. Smith
1915: Carl Fisher: Created IMS
1914: Carl Fisher: Created IMS
1913: Carl Fisher: Created IMS
1912: Carl Fisher: Created IMS
1911: Carl Fisher: Created IMS
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – A mother who lost her only son in a traffic crash is asking parents and teenagers to take simple steps to avoid “the 100 deadliest days” of driving.
Tammy Guido McGee said her 16-year old boy, Conner, died in 2019 while traveling as a passenger with another teenager from school. “All he did was accept a ride,” McGee said.
Because of that tragedy, McGee has become a traffic safety advocate, talking to people across the country.
“Don’t think it’s not going to happen to you,” McGee said. “Because that was us, and here we are.”
Along with the National Road Safety Foundation (NRSF), McGee is warning families to be mindful of the “100 Deadliest Days”. It’s the period from Memorial Day to Labor Day, when fatal teen crashes see a significant spike.
Teen traffic fatalities increase more than 20% during the 100-day period, according to NRSF, averaging nine deaths a day.
A coalition of advocacy groups, including NRSF, Impact Teen Drivers, Students Against Destructive Decisions, and FCCLA, is leading a nationwide push to buck the trend, making it “The 100 Safest Days”. The groups are raising awareness of how avoidable dangers, like drowsy driving, impaired driving, and speeding, turn fatal too often.
“We want teenagers to buckle up, put that phone away,” McGee said.
But she said the largest contributing factor to a crash is having too many passengers. “Especially now in the summer. Everybody is jumping in the car, they want to go to the beach,” McGee said. “We want them to have fun. We just want them to understand the real dangers.”
The groups launched www.100safestdaysofsummer.org to shine a light on traffic safety issues putting teens at risk, with resources for parents as well.
“Talk about this,” McGee said. “So another teenager doesn’t have to lose their life.”
The Indianapolis Colts have a full quarterback room for the foreseeable future after Anthony Richardson Sr.’s time spent on the trade block failed to land any suitors during the 2026 NFL Draft.
While Richardson has since returned to the team and just wrapped up OTAs, his trade request has not yet been rescinded, so there’s technically a chance he could be traded for anytime before the mid-season trade deadline.
Richardson and second-year quarterback and 2025 sixth-round pick Riley Leonard will continue battling it out for the backup role under starter Daniel Jones, who is working back from his Achilles rehab.
With Jones out for the majority of team work (i.e., 11-on-11 periods) for the summer, with a fully healthy projection scheduled for training camp, valuable reps will be provided to Richardson and Leonard as they work on their respective professional trajectories.
Richardson is entering the final year of his rookie contract, a pricey $10.8M cap hit for a backup, whereas Leonard is entering the second year of his. While the two are in incredibly different situations entering 2026, both have reasons to earn the QB2 role directly under Daniel Jones.
Leonard is viewed as the better fit for this version of head coach Shane Steichen’s offense with Jones at the helm, and the subsequent backup of the future, whereas Richardson remains the unrefined, oft-injured project that could be fun to fix.
Ranking Anthony Richardson Sr. Among Backup QBs
Sports Illustrated’s Gilberto Manzano recently dropped his ranking of backup quarterbacks across the league, and ultimately put Richardson in his top 10 (at No. 10).
“Yes, Richardson has struggled throughout his career and has been unable to stay available. He had a golden opportunity last year when Daniel Jones ruptured his Achilles, but he wasn’t around due to a freak accident with an elastic exercise band,” Manzano wrote.
“Still, I can’t get over how dominant Richardson was in the first month of his rookie season in 2023. There were shades of Cam Newton and Josh Allen with his arm strength and massive 6’4″, 244-pound frame. In a spot start or in relief, Richardson’s game could give teams plenty of fits—that’s if he’s available. There’s also a possibility that the Colts trade or cut Richardson, who has 15 career starts, before the end of training camp.”
Anthony Richardson has 2,400 passing yards, 11 passing touchdowns, and 13 interceptions on an abysmal 50.6% completion rate through three years in the league so far. Couple that uninspired statline with his plethora of injuries sustained, major or minor, and it’s hard to see why someone would continue betting on him, but as Manzano mentions, the potential is hard to quit.
So yes, while Riley Leonard has the inside track to winning the QB2 role due to his fit, durability, and loyalty (i.e., not requesting a trade), Richardson still has enough on his resume to warrant keeping around.
Most have jumped off the Richardson train by this point, but there are still plenty of people, Colts general manager Chris Ballard included, who believe he can rebound from this brutal start to his career. Furthermore, the Colts would greatly benefit from having two viable backups in Richardson and Leonard, given that Daniel Jones is just as prone to injury at this point in his career.
The Colts may be taking on nearly $11M in cap to keep Richardson around, and there’s certainly a chance he reinjures himself whilst not playing a snap (circa 2025), but this regime is in a make or break year, so having as many viable options at the sport’s most important position seems like a fair tradeoff.
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St. Paul’s five-game winning streak came to a close Friday night as Indianapolis defeated the Saints 8-3 at CHS Field.
It was the first win in three tries so far for the Indians, who had fallen to St. Paul in the first two matchups of their six-game series.
Indianapolis never trailed in the game, holding a 1-0 lead after the first inning and a 4-1 advantage after two off of Saints starter Ricky Castro. Castro (0-1) lasted just 2 2/3 innings and saw his ERA balloon from 4.32 to 6.55 after allowing four earned runs on seven hits while striking out six.
St. Paul scored all of its runs off solo homers as part of its eight-hit night. Two of the blasts came from Kyler Fedko, one apiece in the second and seventh innings, before Kaelen Culpepper launched his round-tripper in the eighth.
The Saints fell to 32-28 with the loss, while the Indians improved to 25-36 with their initial victory of the week.
The two teams return to the diamond on Saturday, with St. Paul sending Aaron Rozek to the mound for a 6:37 p.m. start.
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