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INDYCAR HEADQUARTERS (Indianapolis) — Anyone who has watched INDYCAR’s rollout of its 2028 car probably already knows what the buzzwords (or buzz slogan) is for its new machine. Track Records. To say that INDYCAR is focused — maybe even a little obsessed — with setting track records with its new car (the IR-28 is what it is called) would be accurate. The Indianapolis 500 qualifying record was set in 1996 by Arie Luyendyk, whose 237.498 mph qualifying lap and 236.986 mph four-lap run have lasted for 30 years. To INDYCAR officials, that’s been long enough. And they hope to start breaking track records in 2028, and not only at Indianapolis. “One of the first things [among our goals] was to break track records,” INDYCAR SVP Mike Sibla, who oversees the car’s development, told me and other reporters last Friday. “We felt that was something that we were ready to do. “We felt the technology was there where we could do this safely, responsibly, and it’s a good way to really continue the momentum that the sport’s under right now.” The car, of course, can only do so much when it comes to posting fast speeds. The tires and the weather at the track certainly influence how fast a car can go at any particular time. But what about the 2028 INDYCAR is designed to make it go faster than the current version? Well, it starts with safety. The car, designed by Dallara, has to be safe enough for INDYCAR officials to land on an engine configuration capable of approaching 240 miles an hour on the speedways. The safety elements of the aeroscreen, as well as other safety devices to keep the car from lifting, have been incorporated into the design of the car. That means that the air should flow over the car more seamlessly. INDYCAR and Dallara have worked on the aerodynamics of the car to allow for less dirty air that would impact cars further behind if they are running single file. That has included the shape and endplates of some of the wings. In the simulator, INDYCAR and Dallar put in the data to be able to simulate multiple cars. “Although two cars haven’t been on track at the same time, the best science that we can use to determine if the car is going to be a good race car and a raceable car, everything we’ve seen so far is pointing to that we’ve made some gains there,” said INDYCAR VP Mike O’Gara, who leads the group working on the new car. The tub has been tested to handle crashes at high speeds. The cockpit is bigger to allow for more padding to protect the driver. And then there’s the engine, as INDYCAR goes from a 2.2-liter V-6 engine to a 2.4-liter V-6. The hybrid unit, made by Helix, which was not involved in the current INDYCAR hybrid, won’t produce any additional horsepower. But it has 14 times the amount of power storage, meaning the amount of boost the car gets from the hybrid is going to increase dramatically. With the engine regulations finally settled on by INDYCAR, Honda and Chevrolet just a few weeks ago, the target for the engine is 760 horsepower, which is 60-100 more than the current engine. It is expected as they continue to develop the engines that they could reach closer to 800 horsepower. The hybrid and push-to-pass systems can add up to 120 horsepower. The hybrid is about 20 pounds lighter and the gearbox is 25 pounds lighter. Those are the most dramatic changes that bring the car back to approximately 1,700 pounds. That weight is about what it was originally with the current chassis. “You’re taking weight out, you’re increasing the horsepower, and I think the biggest thing for us, a lot of people will say, ‘OK, safety, that’s great, but is it that exciting?’” Sibla said. “We wanted to make this car safe so that we could break records. And that’s what we’ve done here.” And it could be lighter. After the initial validation tests at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course last weekend and upcoming tests on the IMS oval, a shorter oval and a street course in the next couple of months, INDYCAR will analyze the spec parts and pieces to see if it can take out even more weight from the car. For instance, the aeroscreen was reduced by a few pounds in its latest iteration. “We learn from these initial tests, you know what can be optimized, what can be changed, and that’s where you get that weight out,” Sibla said. How will the teams tune the car to make it go faster? They used to design and manufacture (or outsource) their own dampers, which are suspension pieces that impact how the car handles. They will no longer be doing that, as the suspension pieces and dampers in this car will be provided by one company (Custom Axis). But the options when it comes to those pieces, which ones the teams use and how they are installed are well into the thousands. The wheels will also be different, with a stronger wheel that handles more loads. And the car is designed to potentially evolve with speeds. “Some of the magnesium wheels we have are at the very peak of their stress levels at some of the tracks we run at right now,” O’Gara said. “So, the wheels are more robust, the suspension is going to be more robust. “There are also things like we currently aren’t going to run brake-by-wire, which is a thing a lot of hybrid race cars run currently. The car is future-proof for it. There’s a spot under the sidepod for a brake-by-wire system. And as the car evolves, as the engines make more power, as the hybrids make more power, then we can introduce some of those other systems.” The current testing is being done with an old 2.4-liter engine developed by Ilmor from when INDYCAR was going to change engine packages about four or five years ago. So in these initial tests, they won’t know if the car is truly faster. Chevrolet and Honda should get cars early next year. “This engine … is an older version so you can’t really read too much into that,” Alexander Rossi said in a video news release following his test Saturday on the IMS road course. “But all in all, it’s been incredibly smooth and it’s a joy to drive.” What About Power Steering? Maybe one of those most debated issues is whether the cars should have power steering. Many forms of racing have it, but INDYCAR does not. It certainly challenges the drivers and gives it a little bit of gladiator effect. But it has also been cited as a reason few women attempt to go the INDYCAR route. Jamie Chadwick won the 2024 Indy NXT race at Road America and tested an INDYCAR. She cited the physical challenge as one of the reasons that making a move to INDYCAR would have been difficult for her to compete on road courses. O’Gara said the new car is set up to add more of a “power assist” element that sports cars use but there is no guarantee it will be in the car. “It’s not a full hydraulic system like Formula 1 cars run,” O’Gara said. “It’s an electric assist system similar to what’s been run in sports cars throughout the world. So the system exists. “The car doesn’t currently have it. We have some basic testing we’re to do without the power assist, and then later in the testing phase, we plan on introducing it. … We need to test it at a few different places to see one, if it’s needed, and two, where it’s needed. Is it a road-course only thing? Do we require it everywhere or only certain track types? So that’s going to come with track testing as we run.” IN THE NEWS — Joe Gibbs Racing withdrew a pivotal allegation against Spire Motorsports and Chirs Gabehart as part of its suit: “A Spire employee has informed a JGR employee that Gabehart is in charge of and/or significantly participating in Spire’s competition strategy and decisions.” Gabehart is prohibited from doing similar work at Spire as he did as JGR competition director, so that would have violated that order. JGR, in a court filing, said after Spire asked for evidence that “it does not possess non-privileged information sufficient to support the allegations.” — Front Row Motorsports announced Chandler Smith won’t return to its truck team next season. His future landing spot has not been announced, but it’s expected to be in an O’Reilly car at Richard Childress Racing. — Tommy Baldwin, on the podcast “Door Bumper Clear” that he co-hosts, said he has parted ways with Rick Ware Racing. Baldwin was the competition director there. Social Spotlight They Said It “We’ve all been waiting for this for a long time. Drivers, fans, teams, sponsors and all of you have been looking forward to it, and now it’s finally here. It’s like Christmas morning.”— Alexander Rossi after testing the IR-28​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

The fun of NFL training camp is the bustling enthusiasm of the coaches, the players and the media. But it also makes it difficult to cut away the fiction from fact. It’s hope season and hype season. It’s also the season for catastrophe and doom. A perfect example? A.J. Brown dropped a pass in his first practice as a New England Patriot. Brown and quarterback Drake Maye then proceeded to struggle for a few days and on Boston sports radio and social media, it was like The Citgo Sign was falling. Things turned around as soon as the pads came on. Brown and Maye have been beating up New England’s defense, even with superstar corner Christian Gonzalez in coverage. So you get it. Things were horrible until they were incredible. There was nothing in between. (And I’ll have more on Brown, Maye and the Patriots.) That’s happening in all 32 NFL training camps. So let’s do what we always do here with the Sound Smart column. I’m here to spin it forward, dive deeper, think outside the box and read between the lines. Patriots quarterback Drake Maye recognized the pressure coming off the right side. It was cornerback Marcus Jones, one of the fastest players on the field. The play came in a red-zone drill — 11 on 11 — in full pads last week on the practice fields at Gillette Stadium. Whether or not Maye knew the blitz was coming before the snap, the QB knew exactly what to do with the ball when it hit his hands. He looked to his right to find A.J. Brown, who’d created just enough separation on a slant route. Maye fired the ball at the star receiver, acquired in June in a trade that included a first-round pick. Brown managed a catch-and-run that put the Patriots inside the 5-yard line. I couldn’t help but wonder: What might that play have looked like without Brown? It doesn’t take that much imagination. It was a series of corner blitzes that devastated the Patriots in the Super Bowl, when they fell behind against the Seattle Seahawks. Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon finished with six blitzes, four pressures and one sack. One of the best cover corners in the league, Witherspoon made an effective — albeit shocking — pass-rusher. Maye never seemed to have an answer, not even deep into the game. But in camp, Maye did. And that’s especially important because … well, guess who the Patriots will see in Week 1. To open the NFL season. On a Wednesday. Yeah, it’s the Seahawks. It’s also in Seattle, probably the least hospitable stadium in the league. The last time they saw each other, the Seahawks owned the Patriots. But New England has upgraded its roster sizably since then. Receiver Romeo Doubs is an upgrade at WR2. Defensive lineman Dre’Mont Jones and guard Alijah Vera-Tucker aren’t flashy players, but they will be excellent starters at their respective positions. Brown is the biggest upgrade. There’s no way around it. Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels can build a system that gives Maye answers, but somebody has to make a play. Brown is showing the Patriots they can trust him to do just that. “I want to say I’m 90 percent [comfortable in the offense],” Brown said last week at Pats camp. Brown struggled to connect with Maye in the early practices at camp. But that just goes to show how difficult it is to make a real evaluation after just a few sessions. Because Maye and Brown were firing when the pads went on. I asked Brown if he had to change the way he played his position, depending upon his quarterback. “You have to. You have to do what your quarterback likes,” Brown said. “As far as my game, my game will be my game. But as far as what he likes and what he needs, that’s the thing that I got to get on the same page with him and continue to work on.” It’s surely no coincidence that, just 24 hours after delivering this quote, Brown caught a fade for a touchdown against Christian Gonzalez, the No. 1-rated cornerback in Madden 27. Brown gives the Patriots answers, especially against a defense as good as Seattle’s. New England is currently a 3.5-point underdog for the season-opener. I’d say that underestimates the Patriots. This seemed — at least to me — to be a good year to pick the San Francisco 49ers to go to the Super Bowl. Their defense improved significantly over the offseason. Their offense got healthy and added veteran receiver Mike Evans. It just felt like this could be the year when they could make their own luck (or overcome their inevitable bad luck) and make a deep run. But San Francisco seems to have nothing but bad headlines. Most recently, there was the news about receiver Ricky Pearsall, whose PCL injury had not healed correctly and will need season-ending surgery after just a few practices. It seems like the 49ers have been preparing for this possibility — drafting receiver De’Zhaun Stribling in Round 2 and, immediately after the news broke about Pearsall, signing veteran receiver Deebo Samuel. But of course, Stribling is dealing with a hamstring injury. Then there was coach Kyle Shanahan’s car accident. He crashed head-on into another car after taking his attention off the road by dropping his phone. He suffered three broken ribs, a broken left hand, a concussion and a head wound that required 40 stitches, per ESPN. Shanahan is participating on a limited basis at the training camp. Finally, there’s receiver Brandon Aiyuk, whose behavior — so far as we can see from social media — is troubling. He has refused to report to the 49ers’ facility since he suffered an injury, and his outbursts on social media have rendered him totally untradeable. This has gone on long enough that Aiyuk is no longer much of a distraction. But even on the back burner, it’s still there — particularly as the team sorts through the drama at the receiver position. This isn’t to say that the 49ers can’t overcome this tumultuous patch. We’re still over a month from a regular-season game. But in the competitive NFC West, a slow start feels like a bad start. By all accounts, the Cowboys’ offense is humming in training camp. Best of all, there’s no ho-humming. At this time last year, we were waiting for the tension to resolve between superstar Micah Parsons and team owner Jerry Jones. And it didn’t with Jones trading Parsons in a massive blockbuster after the All-Pro edge rusher posted regularly on social media to provide updates around the failed contract talks with the Cowboys. It felt like history might repeat itself, with All-Pro receiver George Pickens set to play on the franchise tag. Pickens could’ve fought for a new long-term deal and caused unrest in many of the same ways as Parsons. And Pickens would be justified in doing so. Instead, the receiver has been torching the Cowboys’ defense alongside Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb. And Pickens is remaining patient and confident that his agent and the Cowboys will get a deal done. The offense could be even better than it was last year. So if the defense is better — and it should be, given the additions of safeties Jalen Thompson and Caleb Downs and edges Rashan Gary and Malachi Lawrence — then the Cowboys could win their division. But Prescott has bigger plans. He’s thinking about the Super Bowl. He invited discussion by wearing a Super Bowl XXX shirt (when the Cowboys last won it all) to the team hotel to start camp. When he faced a question about it, Prescott spoke freely. “The tone’s been set,” he said. “I knew you [reporters] would like it. Didn’t know how many of the teammates would see it. It’s just the manifesting thing. We want stuff in life a lot of times, but then when people start talking about it, you kind of hesitate. Should I say that if they’re going to hold me to it? Well, absolutely. Playing in this organization, being in it 10 years, going into Year 11, I’m not going to shy away from it. “When you don’t have it, it sucks. When you don’t get to play for it, when you’re watching other teams play in the playoffs, there’s nothing worse than that. I said I’d be the quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys when I was 6 years old, and said I’d be in the NFL, and I got here. A lot of things in my life, I said I’d do and I did it. And so why shy away from that now? Why shy away from asking people to hold me to the same standard that I believe that I can accomplish and this team can accomplish? “I don’t know if the T-shirt was [saying], ‘This is it.’ … It was an energy thing.” The Chiefs will almost definitely start cornerback Mansoor Delane at CB1 after trading up to draft him in Round 1. But that move — pushing draft pieces into one big acquisition — might normally mean that a draft class is less likely to produce a handful of instant-impact players. Yet early in camp, the Chiefs are giving youngsters every opportunity to prove themselves. Edge R Mason Thomas appears to have a direct path to a starting spot, getting plenty of work with the first team. It’s something of a surprise that a second-rounder has earned the trust of defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo so quickly. But there’s an even bigger surprise: rookie receiver Cyrus Allen. The Chiefs took Allen on Day 3 of the draft. And he has been sensational, according to reporters on the scene — and the social-media video clips that have leaked out of camp. “The quarterbacks trust him,” Andy Reid told reporters. Most importantly, Patrick Mahomes trusts Allen. Kansas City doesn’t exactly have proven entities at receiver, even with Xavier Worthy having his first-round status and even with Rashee Rice producing when he’s on the field. (Because Rice can’t seem to stay on the field between his injuries and his suspension.) It’s early. But Allen is making a surprising push to get a real workload and target share. And then there are other names popping into the starting lineup, per The Athletic’s Jesse Newell. The Chiefs are experimenting with tackle Kahlil Benson and receiver Andrew Armstrong, among others. It’s likely that the Chiefs are thinking about the long haul of the season. That probably means the rookie work is to 1) rest veterans and 2) give young players exposure in the event of an injury. But given the way GM Brett Veach has a tendency to find draft gems beyond the first round, it’s likely that we’ll see the Chiefs get major contributions from rookies, perhaps even relatively unknown ones. For all you fantasy football owners out there, Allen might just be one of those guys to monitor — and draft. When it comes to the 2025 quarterback draft class, Jayden Daniels has turned into the forgotten man. There’s all this hype about Drake Maye, who is fresh off a Super Bowl appearance. There’s all this hype about Bears QB Caleb Williams, appearing on the Madden cover after nearly taking down the Rams in overtime. There’s hype for Bo Nix, whose ankle injury left us wondering “what if” as the Broncos might’ve been capable of winning the AFC Championship if they’d only had their QB. Even J.J. McCarthy is holding up against Kyler Murray in a QB competition in Minnesota. And McCarthy — as rough as he was last year — is stirring national conversation. Daniels — who missed 10 games in 2025 due to a dislocated left elbow, a knee sprain and a hamstring strain — isn’t really making headlines. Expectations are low for him — and his Commanders. I’m not here to say that Washington is going to shock people this year, but I do wonder what Daniels can do for this offense under new OC David Blough. Daniels doesn’t have a proven weapon on offense other than two-time Pro Bowl receiver Terry McLaurin. How much can Daniels do? The good news is that Washington’s defense looks totally rebuilt — and with legitimate starters. So I’d at least hope the Commanders can be pesky, in part because of their rebuilt defense — but also because their young QB will have reinserted himself into the discussion as one of the league’ elite signal callers, like he did at the end of the 2024 season (and playoffs).​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports