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Curt Cignetti jokes he had to ‘coach the hell out’ of undefeated Hoosiers to be Indy 500 pace car driver

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Indiana head football coach Curt Cignetti added yet another bucket list moment for himself on Sunday afternoon, as he jumped into the cockpit of the Indianapolis 500 pace car as its honorary driver.

Cignetti was in charge of leading the way in his USA-themed Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X for the 33-car field that would embark in the 110th running of the signature IndyCar race.

OutKick’s Dan Dakich caught up with the Hoosiers’ head coach at Indianapolis Motor Speedway before the race, which Felix Rosenqvist won in the closest finish of all time, where he asked Cignetti if there’s something people don’t know about his 2025 team that went 16-0 and won the title.

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“I’m going to go off topic here since we’re at the [Indy] 500. I had to coach the hell out of that team so I could be the pace car driver,” Cignetti joked. “Look, we had a great bunch of kids. When you get 11 guys doing their job at a high standard, play in and play out, consistency and performance. They accomplished a lot of things, and you can’t lose a game before you win it. We made the plays that had to be made and won the close games.”

Dakich followed up with Cignetti about his latest side quest, which is a prestigious honor. However, it’s one that the entire state of Indiana loved seeing after leading the Hoosiers to its first-ever national championship in football.

INDIANA COACH CURT CIGNETTI IS PUTTING IN SOME PACE CAR REPS BEFORE THE INDIANAPOLIS 500

There has been a star-studded group of honorary pace car drivers over the years, including Dale Earnhardt Jr., Danica Patrick, Ken Griffey Jr. and Michael Strahan. Cignetti, as you’d expect, took the role very seriously, which began days before the race to make sure he was up to snuff with the vehicle.

“We hit 177 [mph] yesterday, so we’ll see how it goes today,” he told Dakich.

Cignetti added that he was supposed to go 175 miles per hour, followed by 190 twice, and the last lap would be “sort of TBD,” as he wasn’t sure what exactly the pace would be.

Either way, Cignetti, like his players on the gridiron, made sure to make the best of practice before the big day.

“Well, I had two different sessions,” he told Dakich. “So, it took me a while to get to know the track, the car. My biggest thing on the turns is where I need to work because it’s natural to want to slow down. The car will take the turn, so you just got to let it.”

When the race came down to its final lap, after dealing with rainy weather and multiple caution flags on the track, Rosenqvist overtook American David Malukas down the final stretch to spoil the youngster’s first-ever IndyCar win and pick up his first Indy 500 victory.

Rosenqvist finished 0.023 seconds ahead of Malukas, with Scott McLaughlin and Pato O’Ward finishing in third and fourth place, respectively.

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Arkansas Teen Sailor Killed At Pearl Harbor Will Finally Be Laid To Rest After Nearly 85 Years

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Luker Received A Long List Of Posthumous Decorations
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Comedian recalls ‘most terrifying night’ of her life after 600-pound fridge fell on her while her kids slept

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Laura Clery recalled the “most terrifying night” of her life after surviving a near-death event.

The comedian admitted her “biggest fear came true” after she was “very seriously hurt and stuck while home alone with my two young kids,” in a video shared on Instagram.

Clery, 39, praised God and thanked the first responders who rescued her after a 600-pound fridge fell and pinned her to the counter.

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Clery was in the process of getting ready for bed when the massive fridge “slammed into me and pinned me against the counter.”

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“I couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe right,” she wrote on social media. “Was impossible to get off and I could feel myself losing consciousness. My kids were in the house. I genuinely didn’t know if I was getting out of that alive.”

“Thank God my phone was in my pocket and I was able to call 911. Thank God it didn’t fall on my kids. It took three firefighters to lift it off me. I’m still shaking.”

Clery shared clips from the rescue where firefighters carried her out of the house and into an ambulance.

From the back of the ambulance, Clery praised the first responders while wearing a neck brace and noted that she was “crushed” by a massive fridge.

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“This was right after the fentanyl hit and all of my pain [went] away (instantly),” she wrote. “I just need to say thank you to these amazing firefighters who saved my life!! Truly.

“They got there so fast, broke through my garage door, and 3 of them pushed a 600 pound fridge off of me and got me safely to the trauma unit before things got worse.”

Clery added, “I keep thinking about how differently this could have gone and I just feel overwhelming gratitude. No broken bones, my kids are okay and safe, I can walk… I’m so lucky!

“They were calm, kind and just handled everything like absolute heroes!”

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Wyndham Clark nearly makes PGA Tour history en route to victory at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson

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After winning the 2023 U.S. Open, it seemed like PGA Tour player Wyndham Clark was about to vault his career into a new stratosphere. But it never quite took off the way many thought it might. On Sunday, Clark won the CJ Cup Byron Nelson at TPC Craig Ranch, his first PGA Tour victory since February 2024. He shot 30-under for the event, beating Si Woo Kim by three shots.

There’s a common saying in golf that “some tournaments are won and some tournaments are lost.” Clark won the CJ Cup Byron Nelson by shooting a ridiculous 11-under 60 in the final round. He nearly holed out on the 72nd hole, which would have been an eagle and a round of 59. Had his final approach gone into the hole, Clark would have become the 16th player to post a sub-60 round in PGA Tour history.

Kim entered the final round with a two-shot lead over both Clark and Scottie Scheffler. Kim did his part, shooting an impressive six-under 65. But he just couldn’t keep pace with Clark’s near-historic performance. This was a tournament Clark won, not a tournament Kim lost.

The win represented a major turnaround for Clark, who missed the cut at the PGA Championship earlier in the month. He hadn’t won an event since the 2024 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and hadn’t won a 72-hole tournament since the 2023 U.S. Open.

One month prior to that major victory, Clark earned his first win on the PGA Tour, finishing first at the 2023 Wells Fargo Championship. In February 2024, Clark captured the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am by shooting a course-record 60 during the third round. The tournament’s final round was rained out, the event was shortened to 54 holes and Clark was declared the winner.

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Clark nearly won the 2024 PLAYERS Championship, finishing in a tie for second. In other words, a 29-year-old player who had not won a PGA Tour event in his life captured three titles in less than one calendar year, nearly winning a fourth, and one of the wins included a major. Clark even found himself on the 2023 U.S. Ryder Cup team.

But newfound success meant newfound expectations, not just from fans but from Clark himself. Unfortunately, the run between 2023 and 2024 didn’t carry over. The now-32-year-old Clark never came close to winning in 2025, posting just two top-10s in 24 tournaments. He missed the cut at the 2025 U.S. Open and made headlines after destroying a locker at the prestigious Oakmont Country Club in frustration.

WYNDHAM CLARK ACCUSED OF DAMAGING LOCKERS IN CLUBHOUSE AFTER MISSING US OPEN CUT

Clark addressed his past struggles in his post-round interview with CBS golf reporter Amanda Balionis.

This is a major step for Clark, who was left off the 2025 U.S. Ryder Cup team, but he needs to improve his performances during the season’s biggest events. While he did post a top-5 finish at the 2025 Open Championship, Clark has missed the cut in five of his past 10 major starts. The T4 at the Open represents the only top-10 he’s had in a major since the U.S. Open victory in 2023.

Clark’s next opportunity to take that step comes in the 2026 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, which starts on June 18.

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