Indianapolis, IN
Newgarden building legacy with instant-classic Indy 500 win
SPEEDWAY, Indiana — It thundered. It rained. It rocked. Precisely four hours after the green flag was meant to wave over the field of 33 drivers at the 108th Indianapolis 500, an instant classic was authored from the opening lap as a record-setting 18 leaders spent time up front in the spotlight over the 200-lap thriller.
Delayed by a menacing storm, the dinnertime Indy 500 saw the checkered wave as 8 p.m. ET approached, and in those long evening shadows, more than 300,000 spent and weary fans stayed and took stock of the unhinged action that turned a beloved race into an adrenaline-depleting affair.
Crashes, blown engines, rampant aggression — including multiple 200-mph trips into the grass — ruled the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Three drivers failed to make it through the first corner on the opening lap. Honda motors trailed smoke and stranded three more. Veterans Marco Andretti, Colton Herta, and Will Power also smacked the walls as general mayhem meant 47 laps were burned behind the safety car across eight caution periods.
And after each instance of madness was cleaned up, the restarts where were indelible memories were made. Fanning four wide or wider into Turn 1 drew as many cheers as gasps; the risks taken by champions and rookies alike were shocking. It was a gift to the throngs of fans who waited through the long delays.
Mexico’s Pato O’Ward, IndyCar’s most popular driver, commanded the loudest roar as he took the lead in the closing moments, and as more wild swings of fortune were revealed, he was left a tearful, crestfallen mess as his lead was surrendered with two turns left to complete. There’s no taste more bitter in motor racing than the one experienced by the 500’s first loser.
O’Ward, his eyes red from another runner-up result at Indy, was nearly inconsolable. A life so nearly changed in perpetuity, felled by a 0.3417-second deficit at the finish line.
“It’s been a tough month,” O’Ward said after matching the second place he earned at Indy in 2022. “So much goes into this race. I’m somebody that wears my heart on my sleeve. I don’t really hide anything. It’s just when you’ve come so close and it just doesn’t seem to — you just can’t seem to get it right, it’s just a lot of emotion.”
In the end, the team that swept the front row in qualifying ultimately led 90 laps and fired defending winner Josef Newgarden of Tennessee back into victory lane to make him the first back-to-back winner since 2002.
An astonishingly brave pass around O’Ward in Turn 3 — one that normally leads to a calamitous outcome — held and Newgarden sealed his second consecutive Indy triumph in a span of 12 months. The last to do it was one of his mentors, four-time Indy winner Helio Castroneves.
With the sun fading over the vast grandstands, Newgarden’s greatness at the coliseum that made Andretti’s and Foyt’s and Unser’s was confirmed. He’ll need more IndyCar championships and at least one additional 500 win to cement his status as an all-timer, but that quest — one that’s realistic — officially sparked to life May 26, 2024.
“I had let go of the thought of winning this race last year,” Newgarden told ESPN. “It’s so difficult to win. There are no guarantees. It doesn’t matter how good you are or how well you execute. It does not guarantee a victory at Indianapolis ever. Last year I really started focusing on just the opportunity and saying, you know, this is so fun that we get to show up here and we’ve got great cars, we’ve got a great crew and we have an opportunity to win the race. I know we did last year, and I definitely know we did this year.
“I focused on that. I said if we win it, that’s great, but it’s the opportunity that’s the joy of it. I say that because it is very difficult to win the race. It’s very difficult to win it back to back. I’m over the moon. I’ve got no words for what we’ve been able to do.”
Everything Newgarden does going forward is about legacy, which fans at the largest single-day sporting event in the world bore witness to in central Indiana. It was a day they won’t forget.
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Indiana State Police have arrested a man in connection with two attacks, including one deadly, near Monument Circle in downtown Indianapolis earlier this month.
29-year-old Michael Willis is facing two counts of attempted murder. Police say that the attacks happened on June 19 and June 26, both happening on N Senate Ave. near Monument Circle.
According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by News 8, on June 19, Willis was walking in the area near Monument Circle around 2 a.m. when he approached a person laying down and repeatedly stomped on them. Police say that this first victim was transported to the hospital in critical condition.
The first victim died on Sunday due to their injuries sustained from Willis’s attack, documents say.
Police also say that on June 26, Willis attacked a different person at the same location near Monument Circle. Police believe that the second victim was repeatedly kicked and stomped on while they were lying down as well. This second attack also took place around 2 a.m.
Indiana State Police detectives shared surveillance photos of Willis from the attacks with other police agencies in an attempt to identify him. Police say Willis was identified by a Greensborough Police Sergeant after Willis had asked the sergeant to use his cell phone.
Police then approached Willis and detained him. Police say that when Willis was detained, he was wearing the same clothes that were seen in the surveillance footage of both attacks. Officers also noticed blood on Willis’s socks.
In an interview with detectives about the July 26 attack, Willis at first said that he was only “nudging” the victim. Police say that according to Willis, he was trying to wake the victim up because he was concerned about them.
Later in the interview, Willis admitted to attacking both victims. Willis said that he was frustrated that he had been homeless and unemployed for around the past 6 months. According to police, Willis also said that the people in the area were “mean and rude” to him.
Police say that Willis told detectives that he was the only person involved in these attacks.
Willis is currently in custody of the Marion County Jail.
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana is under a heat advisory with temperatures in the 90s throughout the week.
Many cooling centers will open throughout the state for those that need to find relief from the heat. Hoosiers looking to find cooling centers in their area can contact Indiana 211. To learn more, call 211 or (866) 211-9966.
Avaliable cooling centers can also be found by clicking here.
Marion County
For those living in Indianapolis, Indy Parks has several cooling centers across the city.
Those Cooling Centers are:
- Broad Ripple Park Family Center
- Brookside Park Family Center
- Christian Park Family Center
- Frederick Douglass Park Family Center
- Garfield Park Burrello Family Center
- Krannert Park Family Center
- Grassy Creek Environmental Education Center
- Pride Park Family Center
- Rhodius Park Family Center
- Riverside Park Family Center
- Stanley Strader Park Family Center
- Washington Park Family Center
- Windsor Park Family Center
- Watkins Park Family Center
- Thatcher Park Family Center
For addresses and hours of operations of these cooling centers, click here.
Beech Grove will also have two cooling Centers for residents starting Monday, June 29. Those hours and locations are:
- Beech Grove Senior Center, 602 Main St
- 8 a.m. – 4 p.m., Monday through Friday
- Hornet Park Community Center, 5245 Hornet Ave
- 8 a.m. – 6 p.m., Monday through Friday
Other Central Indiana Cooling Centers
For addresses and hour of operations of cooling centers below, click here.
Marion
- St. Martin Community Center
- Grant County Family YMCA
- Grant County Rescue Mission
Kokomo
- The Kokomo Rescue Mission
- The Excel Center in Kokomo
Peru
- Community Resource Center
- Miami County Courthouse
- Miami County Health Department
- Miami County YMCA
- Peru City Hall
- Peru Public Library
- Peru Schools Administration Building
INDIANAPOLIS (WRTV) — The National Weather Service out of Indianapolis has issued a Heat Advisory for all of Central Indiana and a High Heat Warning for parts of northern Indiana. The Advisory and Warning will go into effect at 12 PM on Monday and will run through 8 PM Thursday.
WRTV
A Heat Advisory means that temperatures in the 90s with dew points in the 70s, will lead to Heat Index values reaching 106. Hot temperatures and high humidity may cause heat illnesses.
Stay cool:
Drink plenty of fluids, check up on relatives and neighbors, and stay in an air-conditioned room when possible. If outside for extended periods of time, make sure to take frequent breaks in the shade as much as you can.
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