Hardee’s Meet the Driver with Jake Query
Do you know who is behind the wheel on that two-and-a-half-mile track?
Welcome to Meet the Drivers, presented by Hardee’s.
It’s officially Racing Season in Indy and we’re kicking May off in a BIG way! 🏁
We’ve teamed up with Hardee’s to bring you closer to the action with an inside look at the faces fueling the Indy 500. Get to know the personalities, stories, and stats that make this field one to watch!
Dive in and meet the drivers before they take the track!
1. Felix Rosenqvist | #60 Meyer Shank Racing
Meet the Sweden native who’s raced his way through Europe, racking up over 40 wins in various formula championships! He made his Indy 500 debut 7 years ago and has led laps in four different Indy 500s. He has two top-five finishes at Indy and his musical tastes include listening to Slipknot and Coldplay.
2. Graham Rahal | #15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Meet the only driver in the field whose wife may have driven faster than he has! He owns a high-end car dealership that’s equipped with a coffee shop in Boone County. He’s won PGA Pro Am golf tournaments and he won his first IndyCar race at the age of 19, at the time, the youngest winner in series history! A veteran of 18 Indianapolis 500s, this driver is also married to NHRA royalty.
3. Will Power | #26 Andretti Global
Meet the driver named after his great-grandfather who raced motorcycles. His father competed as a Formula 2 driver in the 1980s. His wife is a Hamilton Southeastern graduate, and his brother is a standup comic—but there’s nothing funny about his Indianapolis 500 résumé, which includes 18 starts, 145 laps led, and seven top-10 finishes!
4. Pato O’Ward | #5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet
Meet the driver who failed to qualify despite three attempts in his first try in 2019, but bounced back the following year with a sixth-place finish in his Rookie Indianapolis 500! Since then, he’s twice been a runner-up, finished third a year ago, and has led 95 laps across six Indy 500 starts. A self-proclaimed foodie with a love for sushi, the Mexico native who attended high school in San Antonio has started in the front three rows for 4 consecutive years!
5. Takuma Sato | #75 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Meet the driver who began his racing career on bicycles, winning high school championships on two wheels…not four! GQ once named him Man of the Year in his home country and he was also a goodwill ambassador by the British Embassy in his hometown. A native of the worl’s biggest city, his motto is “No attack, no chance,” a mantra he’s used to win this, the biggest race in the world, twice!
6. Josef Newgarden | #33 Team Penske
Meet the driver who doubles as an author, listing Japan and Denmark as his favorite vacation spots! He holds dual citizenship in the United States and Denmark, has been on American Ninja Warrior and has worked with the Pacers Slam Dunk Team. He’s gregarious and personable but a self-confessed introvert.
7. Rinus VeeKay (Van Kampalen) | #76 Jucos Halting and Racing
Meet the driver whose racing surname is an abbreviated version of its authentic pronunciation! He possesses a unique ability to speak while saying words backwards. He started in the first two rows of his first four Indy 500s and scored his first and only-to-date IndyCar win at IMS.
8. Alexander Rossi | #20 Ed Carpenter Racing
Meet the driver who’s an only child, now married with a daughter. A devout Christian, he woke up before church to start watching Formula 1 races as a kid! He graduated from high school at the age of 16 to pursue racing in Europe, and while living abroad, developed fandom for the New England Patriots, the team most commonly televised.
9. Scott McLaughlin | #3 Team Penske
Meet the driver who won three straight sports car season championships in Australia before joining IndyCar in 2021! His sports fandom is eclectic. He roots for the New York Knicks, Wisconsin Badgers, and Carolina Panthers. He’s a veteran of five Indy 500s and in 2024, he started on pole and led a race-high 66 laps. And a year ago, he became a dual US citizen with his native New Zealand.
10. Christian Lundgaard | #7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet
Meet the driver who in his four Indianapolis 500 starts, has never failed to finish higher than where he started! His father was the 2000 European Rally Champion, and he himself became Denmark’s first Indy 500 qualifier. His girlfriend is a Carmel native that graduated from Georgetown and golfs as a graduate student for Tulane.
11. Helio Castroneves| #06 Meyer Shank Racing
Meet the driver who once graced the cover of ESPN The Magazine and has also been featured in Esquire, Cosmopolitan, and Details! He’s played tennis with Anna Kournikova, Kim Clusters, and Martina Hingis. He’s fluent in three languages and his sister is his business manager. In 2004, he had an audience with the Pope, and later spoke to Congress about Catholicism. He’ll be 51 when the green flag flies on this year’s Indy 500 and he’s one of four men with four wins.
12. Kyle Kirkwood | #27 Andretti Global
Meet the driver from Jupiter, Florida who’s starting to take the racing world by storm! He won five different championships before landing an IndyCar in 2022, and his first IndyCar win came a year later on the streets of Long Beach. He’s made four Indy 500 starts and has led laps in the last two years. He began karting at a young age and won his first title at the age of 14.
13. Santino Ferrucci | #14 A. J. Foyt Racing
Meet the driver who was featured in GQ Magazine as a karting prodigy at just 11 years old! He holds an Indianapolis 500-mile race record by running seven races and completing all 500 miles all seven times. In his seven 500 starts, he’s never finished outside the top 10. He bought a motor home that once belonged to Elvis Presley. He’s run for Dale Coyne, Rahal Letterman, Dreyer & Reinbold, as well as A. J. Foyt Racing.
14. David Malukas | #12 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet
Meet the driver that’s an avid biker, and enjoys high-fidelity music + video games! His father owns a large fleet trucking company in Chicago and he himself was the star of a reality show about rising cart stars at the age of 14. He landed a breakthrough ride with McLaren but was released due to a broken wrist from a biking accident. Now he’s in one of the most coveted seats in motorsports.
15. Ryan Hunter-Reay | #31 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet
Meet the driver whose brother-in-law nearly won the Indy 500 but fell a half lap short on fuel! He himself has started 17 Indies and a year ago, a fuel shortage may have cost him the win. A Texan by birth, he grew up in Florida and is an avid diver and fisherman. He’s led 219 Indy 500 laps, 27th all time just ahead of two-time winner Tommy Milton, but he himself has a 500 win.
