-
4 days ago | 
frontstretch.com | Tom Blackburn
Where’s the beef? That’s the question that billows out of the NTT IndyCar Series paddock and fandom through the years, as the quest for storylines always turns to the one nugget that seems missing. Rivalries.
-
6 days ago | 
frontstretch.com | Tom Blackburn
Kyle Kirkwood is quickly becoming the king of street course racing in the NTT IndyCar Series after winning the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix on Sunday (June 1). The Andretti Global driver took home his fourth win — all on street circuits — after battling competing tire strategies and his teammate Colton Herta to secure a well-deserved victory. He took the lead from Santino Ferrucci with 22 laps to go.
-
1 week ago | 
frontstretch.com | Tom Blackburn
May is nearly over. Just a few days remain, but the ultimate event tied to this glorious month — the 109th Running of the Indianapolis 500 — officially concluded over Memorial Day weekend. And as Back Home Again in Indiana fades and the milk dries on Victory Lane until next year when another cold bottle is opened, one truth is clear:The 2025 NTT IndyCar Series season is stuck in a time loop. Alex Palou keeps winning.
-
1 week ago | 
frontstretch.com | Tom Blackburn
The 2025 Indianapolis 500 was an odd one. For the second year in a row, there was a rain delay, then with cold temperatures, it seemed a 1992 redux was on tap with a crash before the green. When things finally settled down, the race played out like a massive fuel save and pit strategy affair, with whoever was out front after the last cycle taking the win. That’s what happened. And then, of course, there were the penalties later levied on the second, sixth and 12th place cars.
-
1 week ago | 
frontstretch.com | Tom Blackburn
It’s almost that time. A year of anticipation is culminating with motorsports’ pinnacle event. The Indianapolis 500 is nigh upon the racing scene, as 33 drivers await the magical words to start engines and battle for the Borg-Warner Trophy. No more waiting. This is it. Drivers, crews and machines will be on the edge of control for 500 miles of competition on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s asphalt surface.
-
2 weeks ago | 
frontstretch.com | Tom Blackburn
The Indianapolis 500 is a race that rewards experience and veteran savviness. But there have been times where a rookie, a first-year driver who has never lined up in the 11 rows of three to start, has never conducted a multitude of pit stops and has never endured a 500-mile race, surprises everyone. Last Sunday (May 18), rookie Robert Shwartzman stunned the crowd at Indianapolis Motor Speedway when he took his first pole in the NTT IndyCar Series.
-
2 weeks ago | 
frontstretch.com | Tom Blackburn
He was so close. One position was all Helio Castroneves needed to become the first driver to win the Indianapolis 500 three times in a row. But his dear friend and teammate Gil de Ferran beat him out. The finish for the 2003 Indianapolis 500 had little in the form of splash and intensity. With new cars and engines, the race had melted down into a follow-the-leader affair as Toyota power took hold before mid-race.
-
2 weeks ago | 
frontstretch.com | Tom Blackburn
If Roger Penske was a Nordic god, he just slammed his powerful hammer onto the Indianapolis Motor Speedway so thunderously that the bricks shifted in place. On May 21, his legendary racing operation Team Penske announced the firing of three senior personnel from his NTT IndyCar Series squad. Penske’s IndyCar president Tim Cindric, managing director Ron Ruzewski and general manager Kyle Moyer were all let go. These weren’t middle managers or behind-the-desk comrades, either.
-
2 weeks ago | 
frontstretch.com | Tom Blackburn
Put Jacob Abel into the Indianapolis 500 in a 34th spot. That’s what the NTT IndyCar Series should do to make right over this controversy created at the hands of Team Penske — a mess created by a 20-time Indy 500 winning operation. Yes, add Abel into the starting lineup for Sunday’s (May 25) Greatest Spectacle in Racing. I’ll say this, I don’t like it. Not at all.
-
2 weeks ago | 
frontstretch.com | Tom Blackburn
Thirty years on this exact weekend, Penske was not perfect. In 1995, Team Penske, the NTT IndyCar Series’ most fabled and successful operation that ever lapped the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, was bumped from the qualifying field. It was an embarrassment and the lowest moment in competition the team experienced. Hard to top that. But, this past weekend, it tried. Instead of poor competitive performance, Team Penske made a different choice. It broke the rules.
