Indianapolis, IN
‘It’s gonna be high pressure’: Ericsson, Rahal, Coyne compete for final spots in Indy 500
INDIANAPOLIS – After six hours of qualifying time and three qualifying attempts, Graham Rahal shot out of the priority lane at pit row as time expired. As soon as Rinus VeeKay of Ed Carpenter Racing shocked the field by moving into the Fast 12 with just seconds to spare, Rahal was on the oval track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
He was in the bottom four, staring the last chance qualifying round set for Sunday — the four slowest cars competing for three spots in the Indy 500 — in the face for the second year in a row. After the first lap of Rahal’s dramatic final attempt, he knew it wasn’t enough, expressing his frustration to his Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing crew over his headset.
“When the car just doesn’t want to pull, there’s nothing you can do,” Rahal told NBC Sports moments later.
Qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 is a game of inches – or milliseconds. 2022 Indianapolis 500 winner Marcus Ericsson stared blankly at the table in front of him in the DEX Imaging Media Center just moments after his fate was sealed. His frustration wasn’t with his No. 28 Honda, it was with himself.
Ericsson’s crash Thursday during practice destroyed his primary car, sending him into qualifying with a backup car.
“I can only blame myself,” Ericsson said. “… Our car, for some reason, it’s not really got the speed or the grip at the moment. We just kept trying things, I thought we made some progress, but not enough.”
Yet Ericsson, now representing Andretti Global, felt that he took a step back in improving his backup car after his first round of qualifying. Feeling good going into qualifying given the circumstances, Ericsson was confused about his first-round finish in the bottom of the pack.
“We went out today and we were a lot slower than yesterday,” he said. “It doesn’t make sense to us. … It’s really hard to go from a car they worked on for 12 months to a car they had to build over 24 hours.”
Ericsson posted a 230.342 mile-per-hour average lap speed on his second qualifying attempt, slotting in 30th of 34 drivers before being bumped into the bottom four soon after, a hole he couldn’t escape despite multiple attempts after.
Nolan Siegel and Katherine Legge of Dale Coyne Racing finished with two of the bottom four qualifying times after the first round. The 19-year-old rookie was in the same situation as Ericsson, driving a backup car after his crash on Turn 2 during Fast Friday. Siegel’s average lap speed of 226.621 mph was the worst of the first round, and his 228.276 speed on his second was still the slowest of the group.
“(The car is) really difficult to drive right now,” Siegel said. “It’s partly my fault, but we’ll figure it out. … At 230 mph, every bit of friction and drag matters.”
Legge “kissed” the outside wall on Turn 4 during her final lap of the first round of qualifying, almost suffering the same fate as her teammate did the day before, however, she finished the lap and posted an average speed of 230.244 mph.
“When you get in the (inside curbing) it just sucks you in, but it was corner four so I did what any sensible person would do,” Legge said. “I was staying flat come hell or high water.”
The No. 51 Honda driver said her strategy did not need to change going into the second attempt later in the day but she was concerned about her car. She said she certainly didn’t help the Dale Coyne engineers any by causing some light damage during her Turn 4 bump, but Legge also said some of the issues under the hood are more than could be fixed in a day.
“We’re quite a bit off right now. If we knew why, we’d be two mph faster,” Legge said.
An average lap speed of 230.830 mph was Legge’s second qualifying attempt, but it was less than a fifth of a second behind Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Pietro Fittipaldi, who posted a 231.100 mph average lap speed in round one. She went out to try twice more to no avail.
It was Rahal who posted the third-lowest average speed of the first round. After being bumped out of qualification for the Indianapolis 500 last season, Rahal said his frustration from 2023 continued to build after a poor finish during round one. He knew he would have to return to the track for a second try at qualifying after finishing with a 230.233 mph average lap speed, but his second attempt wasn’t good enough either, posting a 230.388 mph average to stay in the bottom four.
“For me, it’s disappointing,” Rahal said. “We shouldn’t be in this situation.”
Rahal’s biggest source of frustration from his first attempt boiled down to an unexpected mechanical issue. Shaking his head while in the car on the track, Rahal didn’t hide his exasperation; a feeling that stuck with him the rest of the day.
“It should have pulled fifth gear without any issue and it just simply didn’t,” Rahal said. “… It certainly seems like we’re just slow.”
Ericsson, Rahal, Legge and Siegel make up the official bottom four heading into the final day of qualifying, where the final three positions in the upcoming 108th Indianapolis 500 will be determined during a last chance qualifying round from 4:15-5:15 p.m. Sunday, May 19.
“This place is tough, I think everyone can say that,” Ericsson said. “… It’s hard, but if it was easy anyone could do it. It’s gonna be high pressure tomorrow, but I’ve done this long enough to know how to deal with that.”
Contact Kyle Smedley with comments via email at kmsmedley213@gmail.com or on X @KyleSmedley_.
Trump repeals landmark EPA climate endangerment finding
President Trump’s repeal of the endangerment finding eliminates the legal basis for regulations that target air pollution from greenhouse gases.
Indianapolis and the surrounding metropolitan area failed a number of critical air pollution measures in the American Lung Association’s latest State of the Air report.
The ALA’s annual nationwide report published each spring gives the Indianapolis-Carmel-Muncie metro area an “F” in smog and soot pollution. The report analyzes emissions data over a three-year period from 2022 to 2024.
Smog is ground-level ozone pollution and soot is particulate matter. The two comprise two of the six commonly found air pollutants in the United States according to the EPA.
Both pollutants form in part when coal-fired power plants and diesel engines burn fossil fuels. Smog and soot can cause premature death and other serious health hazards such as heart attacks, strokes, preterm births, asthma and cognitive decline, according to the ALA.
The lung health report ranks the central Indiana metro area in a number of categories with the region performing poorly in most. Indianapolis-Carmel-Muncie ranked the 11th most polluted area for year-round particle pollution and 14th for short-term particle pollution.
Indiana children at risk from air pollution
And the rest of the state fares little better.
More than 670,000 Hoosier children breath unhealthy levels of air pollution, the report says.
This year’s report focus on the risk to youth that polluted air can pose. Small lungs are particularly vulnerable, said Tiffany Nichols, ALA director of advocacy.
“Infants, children and teens have lungs that are still developing, which makes them more susceptible to the impacts of unhealthy air,” Nichols said.
To prevent today’s youth from developing diseases related to polluted air, the American Lung Association has been asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to stop rolling back clean air rules put in place by previous administrations. The Indiana chapter has also asked state lawmakers to take steps to protect air quality.
Nichols grew up on the northwest side of Indy where the neighborhoods had been demolished to build I-65. Nearby trees were torn down to make way for the highway that would bring cars and trucks emitting harmful exhaust.
“So, then you have these areas that are essentially like a pocket of unhealthy air, and then those neighborhoods also had a lot of factories,” Nichols said. “That exacerbated health conditions in many of those communities that are oftentimes less fortunate already.”
Data centers and rollbacks
While air pollutants have existed for centuries, the rise of data centers poses a new threat. State and local lawmakers, Nichols said, should also pay attention to these new potential sources of pollution both in Indiana and across the country.
“We’re asking that those companies that are interested in putting data centers in communities work with the local community,” Nichols said. “Since data centers have the potential to be another source of pollution we also ask that they use renewable, zero-ignition energy sources.”
The ALA report also urges the U.S. EPA to recommit to protecting people’s health from harmful air pollution.
This year, the EPA has gone on what Administrator Lee Zeldin has characterized as a deregulation campaign that environmental advocates in Indiana have charged will lead to “death by 1,000 cuts.”
The current EPA, the American Lung Association report says, has “retreated from its public health foundation by rolling back clean air protections.”
Karl Schneider is an IndyStar environment reporter. You can reach him at karl.schneider@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @karlstartswithk or BlueSky @karlstartswithk.bsky.social.
IndyStar’s environmental reporting project is made possible through the generous support of the nonprofit Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust.
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Eagle Food & Beer Hall, a Southern-inspired restaurant at 310 Massachusetts Ave. in Indianapolis, is preparing for a Kentucky Derby party on May 2 and promoting a catering deal alongside its signature menu items.
The restaurant is known for its all-natural, brined and hand-dredged fried chicken, comfort-food sides, craft beer selection, scratch-made cocktails, and a blues-inspired atmosphere. It is part of Cincinnati-based Thunderdome Restaurant Group, which operates nine concepts across more than 50 locations nationwide.
Ricky Tindell, regional managing partner for Thunderdome Restaurant Group, highlighted the restaurant’s catering services and upcoming events. He said catering orders range from small gatherings to large events.
“We do a lot of catering. We do it anywhere from six people all the way up to 400,” Tindell said. He added that customers can take advantage of a promotion offering a $25 rebate on orders of $250 or more through July 4, 2026.
Tindell also described the preparation of The Eagle’s fried chicken, which is brined in-house for 24 to 36 hours, double-dredged, and pressure-fried. He said the restaurant uses a proprietary seasoning blend.
He also discussed the Mac and Cheese Burnt Ends Bowl, a popular menu item made with a five-cheese sauce, cavatappi pasta, pork burnt ends, lemon thyme ranch, crispy onions, and chives. Tindell said the dish developed from customer preferences and repeated add-ons to the restaurant’s mac and cheese.
He said the burnt ends are slow-roasted for two hours, deep-fried, and tossed in a Texas-style barbecue sauce. Portions are designed to be shareable for two to three people.
Tindell said the restaurant’s appeal in Indianapolis comes from its Southern comfort food offerings.
“It’s Southern comfort food. So people get that feeling,” Tindell said. “That’s why The Eagle is one of the top four or five reasons people recommend when asked where to eat in Indianapolis.”
He added that he personally craves the chicken if he goes a week without it.
The Kentucky Derby party is scheduled for May 2 from 11 a.m. to midnight and will feature contests, prizes, and giveaways, including a “Win the Eagle for a Year” promotion offering a $50 monthly gift card for 12 months.
The catering promotion, offering a $25 rebate on orders of $250 or more, is available through July 4, 2026.. For more information, visit eaglerestaurant.com/locations.
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — State Sen. Andrea Hunley, a Democrat representing Indianapolis, has announced her candidacy for a bid to run for mayor of Indianapolis in 2027.
Hunley, who had previously teased a mayoral run, has scheduled a launch event for May 8 as her official kickoff her campaign to lead the city, said her campaign website. The Assistant Minority Leader in the Senate announced in January that she would not seek another term in the Indiana Senate, to which she was elected in 2022.
Hunley’s website says, “Indianapolis is my city. Our city. As someone who knows this city, someone who has served this community as a public school teacher leading our children and supporting families, I am committed to the future of the people of Indianapolis.
“Indianapolis is the economic driver and a key cultural hub for our state. Our city boasts creative entrepreneurs and long-standing local businesses, vibrant neighborhoods and corporate headquarters, community-centered nonprofits and public schools. I aim to champion a better quality of life by listening to and working alongside the people, businesses and neighborhoods that make up our great city.”
Mayor Joe Hogsett has not disclosed if he’s seeking a fourth four-year term.
City-County Council Member Vop Osili in January announced his campaign for the Democratic nomination.
In the same month, Pike Township Trustee Annette Johnson announced her intention to seek the Democratic nomination to run for mayor. She’s running this year to continue in the trustee’s job, which she has held since 2019.
Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears, who had been mentioned as a possible Democratic candidate for mayor, announced in January he would seek another four-year term this year for his current job. However, he did not rule out running for the Democratic bid for mayor in 2027.
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