The Month of May is finally here which means the NTT IndyCar Series will spend the next three weeks at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Instead of taking to the famous 2.5-mile oval, the drivers will first run the Sonsio Grand Prix on the 2.439-mile, 14 turn road course. 

Last week, Alex Palou took the win at Barber Motorsports Park in dominating fashion, leading 81 of the 90 possible laps, for his third win of the season. Now, Palou and the rest of the No.10 Chip Ganassi Racing crew look to continue their historic run tomorrow at Indianapolis, vying for their third win in a row on the IMS road course.  

It’s hard not to keep an eye on the Spaniard each and every race week. Even when it may seem like he is having an off day, he will come back and prove why that’s not the case. In qualifying on Friday, Palou claimed the top spot, his second pole of the season and in a row. Palou managed to set the fastest time of the weekend at 1:09:34, gapping the field by four tenths of a second. 

“The car has been really, really fast all day, but especially qualifying,” Palou said. “Qualifying was really, really good. I had a couple of moments there locking a couple of tires, especially in the Fast Six. I’ve been struggling. I think everybody has been struggling a little bit. I think the track grip is super high. It gives you a lot of confidence, so we start pushing, pushing, pushing, but we get to a point where the tire says ‘no’, which makes it really fun to drive, but then suddenly you get moments like that where. the tire doesn’t like it. We’re going to have to use that tire tomorrow, so it’s going to be exciting.” 

Despite the blistering lap and gaining tenth after tenth on each run, Palou, surprisingly, could not extract more from the car.

“I think the tires were already on the limit, like, you had two good laps,” Palou said. “In our case it was the second lap. Locking up  on the first one didn’t help, but we didn’t really lose a big first lap because we were always, like, two-tenths slower. Then after that the tires just started giving up.”

Making up half of the Firestone Fast Six (the final round in IndyCar’s knockout qualifying),was Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. The three car team of Graham Rahal, rookie Louis Foster and Devlin Defrancesco took second, third and fifth, respectively. The IMS road course has suited the RLL team for years and Friday’s qualifying result is a result of months-and-months of hard work. 

“Huge day for us,” Rahal said. “I’m really happy for these two guys [DeFrancesco and Foster], as well as everyone on our organization. It’s been a lot of hard work. Coming into this weekend, we expected to be good here, but I don’t think we unloaded necessarily in a good place this morning. Battling the rear of the car and it’s cool so it’s hard to tell conditions-wise. We battled hard today, with a lot of improvements and a lot of great feedback.” 

The RLL crew will look to maximize on the momentum as they look to have their best weekend of the season so far, as well as carry it into the Indianpolis 500, where improvement is much needed. 

Scott McLaughlin piloted the No. 3 Sonsio Chevrolet for Team Penske to fourth, breaking up an all-Honda Top Five. 

Another storyline to look out for is a new rule for this weekend only. drivers are now required to use two sets of the alternate, red compound tire and the primary, black, tire during the race. Normally, teams are allocated five sets of black tires and four sets of red (or green on street courses) tires. That remains un-changed for the IMS road course. The rule was set in order to drum up better racing at the Indy road course and give teams extra strategy options.

With perfect weather tomorrow, its all to play for to see who can stop Alex Palou. Will it be the RLL crew? Or will one of the three Team Penske drivers start May on the right foot? The green flag flies at 4:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

There was once a time in F1 history when NASCAR superstar Jeff Gordon was in consideration for a seat among the “best drivers in the world.” And this week, lead commentator for IndyCar on FOX and experienced Formula 1 journalist Will Buxton spoke with NASCAR legend Kevin Harvick on his podcast, Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour, about Gordon’s potential forays into open-wheel racing, in both IndyCar and Formula 1.

“Jeff was going to come over to Team Cool Green in IndyCar and a run a season or two in IndyCar, and Dario [Franchitti, three-time Indy 500 winner] was going to go over to BAR [British American Racing] in Formula 1,” explained Buxton. “And the long-term plan was that the lineup for BAR in Formula 1 was going to be Jeff and Dario. And he was going to do a couple seasons in IndyCar to train himself up.

Advertisement

“Now that would have been box office, and that would have broken F1 in America 20, 30 years before it finally broke through with Drive to Survive. You get Jeff Gordon racing in Formula 1 alongside Dario Franchitti — these two great all-time champions out of American open-wheel and stock car racing. And they’re racing as teammates in Formula 1? Boom. Job done. It would have been huge.”

Gavin Ward, Competition Director, Arrow McLaren, Kyle Larson and Jeff Gordon, Vice Chairman of Hendrick Motorsports

Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images

This deal supposedly was going to take place around 1999, right after Gordon had won three of the last four Cup Series titles. BAR competed in F1 from 1999 through 2005, never winning a Grand Prix but collecting 15 podiums with drivers that included Jenson Button and Takuma Sato.

Advertisement

Gordon never had the opportunity to actually race in F1, but he did take part in a ride swap with Juan Pablo Montoya (who later left F1 for NASCAR), driving a Williams FW24 in 2003 at the Indianapolis Road Course, impressing the engineers with his pace.

Larson’s potential

On the show, they also touched on current NASCAR superstar Kyle Larson, who once called himself a “better all-around driver” than four-time F1 World Champion Max Verstappen due to the various different disciplines he competes in. Larson also ran strong as a rookie in the 2024 Indianapolis 500 before a late-race speeding penalty derailed his day. McLaren F1 team boss Zak Brown has even talked about wanting to get him in a car for an F1 test or a simple ride swap.

“I’d love to see the best that NASCAR have (go and) try and make the jump to Formula 1,” commented Buxton. “I’d love to see someone like a Kyle Larson not just attend the Indy 500, but go and attempt the Monaco Grand Prix or whatever. I’d love to see kids from IndyCar transition over to Formula 1 or from endurance racing or from Formula E — whatever it might be. I hate the fact that we have such a restrictive licensing system in place. It stops the possibility of transitioning.”

Advertisement

He added that there’s no excuse that an F3 title is worth more on the super license scale than being a NASCAR Cup Series champion or being top-three in the IndyCar standings. The system prevented American IndyCar star Colton Herta from a possible F1 switch due to not having enough points to qualify for a super license.

Read Also:

Why Kansas is now the best race on the NASCAR Cup schedule

To read more Motorsport.com articles visit our website.

Dryshine Automotive Detailing Products is proud to announce that driver Alex Tagliani has officially become the spokesperson for Dryshine, a Canadian company whose formulas have been created and manufactured in Canada for nearly 20 years.

Alex Tagliani has built an exceptional career, competing in nearly every category of auto racing. A renowned driver and entrepreneur, he has consistently pushed boundaries both on the track and in business. One of his notable achievements is the creation of Tag E-Karting and Amusement, the first amusement center to feature electric karts on a three-story track.

Building on his extensive experience and inspiring career, Tagliani remains actively involved with businesses, young talent, and educational institutions. With Alex Tagliani on board, Dryshine is aligning itself with a personality whose human and entrepreneurial values, commitment to community, communication skills, passion, good humor, and energy reflect the very principles Dryshine stands for. More exciting news will be shared soon.

What’s Happening?

Friday Morning, the legal teams of both NASCAR and the two teams suing them, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, went to court for oral arguments in NASCAR’s appeal of a Dec. 18 ruling that allowed the teams to race as chartered entries in 2025.

The two sides met today as part of the ongoing lawsuit filed by 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports on Oct. 2. As part of the early stages of this lawsuit, the two teams, which were held out on signing the 2025 NASCAR Charter Agreement, motioned for a preliminary injunction to compete as chartered teams throughout the lawsuit.

This gives them access to revenue sharing and automatic entry into every NASCAR Cup Series race for each of their three entries. This ruling was in spite of a release in the NASCAR Charter Agreement that said the two teams could not sue NASCAR while racing as chartered teams. The Dec. 18 ruling also allowed the two teams to be granted charters they had purchased from the now-shuttered Stewart-Haas Racing.

During the hearing, each side’s lawyer was allowed 15 minutes to discuss their claims to a panel of judges from the Fourth Circuit of Appeals.

In NASCAR’s Feb. 12 appeal brief, they claimed that the court’s Dec. 18 decision “was fraught with errors, both legally and factually.” They also claimed that the court altered the status quo by making NASCAR grant the teams Charters, though the teams did not agree to “many of the Charter’s material terms.”

NASCAR repeated this sentiment today, with attorney Christopher Yates stating that he was going to focus on three facts:

• “No court has ever held that a release of claims provision can be anticompetitive conduct in violation of section two of the Sherman Act.”
• “A release does not harm competition. A release, of course, just focuses on the claims between the two parties.”
• Yates also stated that the injunction was mandatory and guaranteed payments to teams that did not sign the 2025 charters, thereby harming NASCAR and other racing teams.

23XI and FRM attorney Jeffrey Kessler claims, “there’s no legal dispute, this is a factual dispute.” However, his claims did see pushback, with the main question being whether the teams, by getting the contract but not the release, were attempting to have their cake and eat it too.

Judge Paul Niemeyer said he doesn’t see how the release addresses competition, saying, “If you don’t want the contract, you don’t enter into it, and you sue. Or if you want the contract, you enter into it, and you’ve given up past releases. But I think our Omega* observation is you can’t have your cake and eat it too.”

You can listen to the entire video via YouTube above. Yates (NASCAR) begins at 15:30 and Kessler (23XI and FRM) at 31:00.

The teams and NASCAR are set to meet for a two-week trial in December. However, there are active counterclaims, with NASCAR filing a counterclaim on Apr. 17. Hopefully, this suit should be completed prior to the start of the 2026 season.

If the two teams lose this appeal, they will have to compete as open teams this season. We have covered this lawsuit extensively via the link below.

*Editors note: This is in reference to Omega World Travel vs TWA, a precedent case being used.

Let us know your thoughts! Join the discussion on Discord or X, and remember to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube for more updates.

Rookie Lochie Hughes led all 35 laps of the Indianapolis Grand Prix Race 1 to earn his first career INDY NXT by Firestone victory on Friday on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

2024 USF Pro 2000 champion Hughes, from Australia, drove his No. 26 McGinley Clinic/USF Pro Championship car fielded by Andretti Global to victory by .7229 of a second over the No. 76 HMD Motorsports car of veteran Caio Collet.

SEE: Race Results

“This is an awesome weekend so far,” Hughes said. “I can’t thank the whole team enough. It’s been a tough jump to this series. It’s a big step from what I was in, so I’ve been playing catch-up for a while.

“It’s nice to finally get a win, especially around here. What a day. My parents are here, as well, this weekend, and they’re not usually here, so I think it’s the first time they’ll see me win in a long time because they don’t come over (to America) much. Pretty cool.”

Veteran Myles Rowe finished a career-best third in the No. 99 Abel/Force Indy machine. Callum Hedge (No. 17 Abel Motorsports) and Salvador de Alba (No. 27 Grupo Indi of Andretti Global) rounded out the top five.

Hughes started from the pole and opened a 1.6813-second lead before a caution on Lap 10 when Juan Manuel Correa and Niels Koolen went off course in Turn 1. Hughes then led the field to green on the Lap 12 restart and quickly built a 2.3395-second advantage by the halfway mark on Lap 18. His lead blossomed to 2.6693 seconds before teammate James Roe crashed in Turn 14 on Lap 29, collecting 16-year-old Nikita Johnson and triggering the second and final caution of the race.

Hughes kept the lead on a restart, this time on Lap 31, and held off Collet for victory. Andretti Global has won 12 of the last 14 INDY NXT by Firestone races, dating back to Race 2 of last year’s Indianapolis race weekend.

“I was pretty annoyed when I kept seeing the yellow come out,” Hughes said. “I was just trying to get a good jump off the last corner there and brake late into (Turn) 1 and make sure I don’t get passed.”

Hughes pulled to within three points of series leader and Andretti Global teammate Dennis Hauger with the victory. Hauger, who won the first two races of the season, finished eighth in the No. 28 Rental Group car.

Hauger started second but had contact with Hedge in Turn 1 on the opening lap, forcing his car off track. He returned to the racetrack last in the 21-car field. He steadily climbed through the day and was in 13th at the first caution and eighth by the second yellow.

Race 2 of the doubleheader, another 35-lap contest, starts at 1 p.m. ET Saturday on FS1, the FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network. Hughes and Hauger once again will share the front row, with Hughes on the pole.

IndyNXT PR

Dade County High School’s Coed Varsity Bass Fishing team made waves this season — and none bigger than the performance of standout anglers River McBryar and Jake Harris, who were officially named Anglers of the Year at the Northwest Georgia High School Anglers Association’s end-of-season banquet on Thursday.

The talented pair clinched the top honor by finishing 1st place out of 58 total teams, representing 13 schools from across the region. Their consistent performances throughout the season earned them the highest cumulative score, showcasing not only their skill but also their dedication to the sport.

Held annually, the banquet recognizes outstanding achievement in high school bass fishing, a growing competitive sport that blends strategy, teamwork, and a deep respect for the outdoors. This year’s event celebrated a season of strong competition and camaraderie among young anglers.

The Northwest Georgia High School Anglers Association extended congratulations to all participants, praising the sportsmanship and effort of every student who competed.

As the season concludes, Dade County High’s bass fishing program can take pride in its growing success — and look forward to another year of casting, competing, and conquering.