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Rahal Letterman Lanigan searching for speed at Indy | Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

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Rahal Letterman Lanigan  searching for speed at Indy | Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette


INDIANAPOLIS — There was a quiet sort of confidence among the four drivers at Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing on the eve of Indianapolis 500 qualifying this year.

The team had invested heavily over the previous 12 months, shoring up parts of its program that had fallen behind, and there was a steadfast belief there was speed in their cars.

But by the end of the weekend, Graham Rahal nearly found himself in the exact same spot as last year.

That was when the son of team co-owner Bobby Rahal was bumped from the 33-car field on the final run of qualifying, though he would ultimately race as the replacement for injured Stefan Wilson. And it was then that the elder Rahal told Steve Eriksen, the team’s chief operating officer, “In 30 days, I want a plan for how we’re going to turn this ship around.”

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The plan involved investments in technology. Infrastructure. Most importantly, people. The team built out its engineering department so that Rahal and teammates Takuma Sato, Christian Lundgaard and Pietro Fittipaldi wouldn’t sweat qualifying.

“It was a big investment for Mike and I,” Bobby Rahal said of co-owner Mike Lanigan, “but we’re not here just to be here.”

The gains appear to have translated to the track for some of the drivers. Sato, a two-time race winner, put his car in the Fast 12 that raced for the pole, and he will start 10th on Sunday. Lundgaard and Fittipaldi will start in Row 10, deep in the field but in a position that allowed them to avoid the pressure of bump day.

Then there was Graham Rahal, who was among the four drivers left fighting for three spots last Sunday.

As the last-chance qualifying session was drawing to a close, Rahal found himself holding onto the 33rd spot as 19-year-old rookie Nolan Siegel headed out for a last try. The similarity to last year, when then-teammate Jack Harvey was attempting to bump him from the field, was not lost on Rahal, who was left to watch his fate unfold from pit road.

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The wait wound up being short. Siegel crashed on his qualifying run and Rahal was in the field.

“I know a lot of you guys are probably sitting in here thinking I’m out of my mind, but we did make gains this year. It’s that simple,” Rahal said. “We were five to six miles an hour off. We’re not there anymore.”

They are still well back of Team Penske, though, which nailed down the first row, with Scott McLaughlin setting a pole qualifying record of 234.220 mph. Rahal, by comparison, ran a four-lap average of 229.974 to get himself into the field.

In that respect, Rahal was still left wondering what the issue might be. His team swapped Honda engines, changed everything from gear ratios to aerodynamic bits and yet still couldn’t seem to figure out why the No. 15 car had struggled to find speed.

“There’s a lot of little bits to this that make a difference,” Rahal said, “and then you guys see how close it is. It’s very, very, very close. A mile an hour makes I don’t know how much of a spread, but a ton of cars (on the race track).”

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When asked why Sato has been able to run closer to the front, Rahal replied: “I think Takuma is an anomaly. You can see that. Takuma, he’s got a hell of an engine, man. Unfortunately or fortunately. But compared to the rest of us? You see where the other three cars are the same, right? There’s one that’s different. That’s just the way it goes sometimes.”

But it’s not supposed to be the way it goes. Not after all the investments Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing has made since last year, when Bobby Rahal called qualifying “embarrassing” and “hell,” and Lanigan admitted, “It was ugly.”

The speed and depth to which the team sank remains head-scratching. Sato gave RLL its second win in the race in 2020, when it was run in August because of the pandemic. The following year, Rahal was leading just past the midway point when his tire came off after a pit stop, sending him careening into the Turn 2 wall and ending such a promising day.

So what happened? What left RLL in such a bind?

“We got caught sleeping, frankly,” Lanigan said. “Very depressing winter. Bob and I totally committed to the resources required for this to not happen again, and quite frankly, the sting will not go away until one of these guys are on the podium.”

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    Graham Rahal looks at the speeds of cars before climbing into his car during a practice session for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
 
 
  photo  Graham Rahal is greeted by his family after qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
 
 
  photo  Takuma Sato, of Japan, stands behind a screen in his pit box during a practice session for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Monday, May 20, 2024, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
 
 
  photo  Takuma Sato, of Japan, drives into Turn 2 during qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Sunday, May 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
 
 
  photo  Christian Lundgaard, of Denmark, waits in pit lane during qualifications for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
 
 
  photo  Helio Castroneves, from left, of Brazil, Christian Lundgaard, of Denmark, and Conor Daly talk before a practice session for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Monday, May 20, 2024, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
 
 
  photo  The crew for Christian Lundgaard, of Denmark, push tires back to the garage during a rain-delayed practice session for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Tuesday, May 14, 2024, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
 
 



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Indianapolis councilman says ‘No Data Centers’ note was left at his home after someone opened fire

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Indianapolis councilman says ‘No Data Centers’ note was left at his home after someone opened fire


The home of a councilman in Indianapolis was shot at early Monday in what local police said was an “isolated, targeted incident.”

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The incident came less than a week after the Indianapolis Metropolitan Development Commission voted 6 to 2 on April 1 to approve rezoning to allow the construction of a data center.

Ron Gibson, a Democrat who represents District 8 on the council, spoke out in support of the rezoning and the efforts to build the data center in his district.

“Earlier this morning, between approximately 12:45 a.m. and 12:50 a.m., just a few hours after Easter Sunday, an individual fired 13 rounds at the front door of my home and left a note on my doorstep that read, ‘No Data Centers,’” Gibson said in a Monday statement.


“No Data Centers” note, according to a photo taken by Councilman Ron Gibson. 

Councilman Ron Gibson

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The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said it was called to the home on Monday morning, and officers found evidence that gunshots had been fired at the house. Police said no injuries were reported.

“I understand that public service can bring strong opinions and disagreement, but violence is never the answer, especially when it puts families at risk,” Gibson said in his statement.

The Indianapolis-Marion County City-County Council did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.

The data center is set to be built by Metrobloks, a data center developer based in Los Angeles. Following the vote last week, Gibson shared a statement on social media promoting the project.

“Metrobloks has the potential to bring significant investment, create jobs, and generate long-term tax revenue that supports infrastructure, housing, and essential services,” the statement said.

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A data center boom is happening across the US, with companies pouring billions into building the infrastructure to keep up with demand in the era of AI. The data centers have faced increased opposition, with critics pointing to the high resource costs, from water to energy, and other issues like noise pollution, as detailed in a Business Insider investigation.





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Recorder Rewind: NCAA Division III basketball championship (Photos)

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Recorder Rewind: NCAA Division III basketball championship (Photos)


The University of Mary Washington men’s basketball team won the 2026 NCAA Division III national championship on April 5, defeating Emory University 75-73 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis to secure the first national title in program history.



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Indianapolis City-County Councilor says IMPD officer shoved him during protest

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Indianapolis City-County Councilor says IMPD officer shoved him during protest


INDIANAPOLIS — An Indianapolis City-County Councilor says he was shoved by a police officer during a protest Saturday night.

In a post on Facebook, Jesse Brown — who represents council district 13 — indicated that a member of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department approached a group of protestors and began shoving and grabbing them.

“Tonight, an IMPD officer approached a group of protestors from behind/beside them, did not identify himself or issue verbal orders, but started grabbing and shoving people and cussing at them to move (we were stuck behind other people blocking the sidewalk),” Brown wrote on Facebook.

Brown added that he asked the officer for his badge number and told him he was a City-County Councilor.

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“I told the IMPD officer who was shoving people that I wanted his badge number,” Brown wrote. “He refused to give it. I told him I was a City Councilor. He said that he didn’t care WHO I was and grabbed my arm to shove me as well.”

Brown finished his post by confirming that he filed a formal incident report on his encounter with the officer. He also offered some criticism for the officer in the final sentence of his post.

“Officers have a difficult job, but if this is how he treated two white male candidates / elected officials, I do not trust him to serve the public and de-escalate tense situations.”

Jackson Franklin, who is running for Indiana’s fifth district seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, was also involved in the incident. He made a Facebook post with greater detail on the incident.

Franklin said he, Brown and others were protesting near Lucas Oil Stadium ahead of Saturday’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Final Four games. Franklin said he and other protestors were at the Final Four “to demand the NCAA stop using the same airliners that ICE uses to break apart and deport families in this racist injustice system.”

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A report from The Athletic that was syndicated by Yahoo Sports indicates that at least one airliner has contracts with the NCAA to transport student-athletes to tournaments and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to deport undocumented immigrants.

In his post, Franklin said the officer involved in the incident “shoved/assaulted many of the protestors, including Indianapolis City-council person Jesse Brown.” Franklin added that the officer did not provide any warnings before he began shoving protestors

“I thought initially it was going to be some MAGA person just walking past that was offended by our anti-ICE chants, but I turned around and noticed that he was wearing a uniform,” Franklin wrote in his Facebook post. “It was only then he gave his commands to continue to move and he immediately went to push around many others, using his uniform as an excuse to harass those he disagreed with politically.

“There was absolutely no need for violence and the protest organizers filed a complaint, but I have no hope of any action occurring because of this complaint. While the lone officer assaulted us, there were about 10-15 other officers looking around awkwardly unsure of what to do, not protecting our first amendment right while also probably realizing the officer was way out of line and should have just asked us nicely to keep the movement on the public sidewalk going quicker rather than using violence as the first and only answer.”

FOX59/CBS4 reached out to IMPD for a statement on Brown and Franklin’s comments. As of this article’s publication, the agency had not responded to those inquiries.

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Brown has been at the center of multiple city-county council disputes over the last 14 months. In February 2025, Brown — whose district encompasses portions of downtown and the near east side of Indy — said the city-county council’s democratic caucus expelled him from their ranks.

Brown also introduced a motion to remove the council’s president and vice president in July.

As of this article’s publication, no additional information on the incident Brown, Franklin and others were involved in had been made available.

This is a developing story; check back for updates.

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