The Fire Starts Now

Today’s theme music: “Prologue (World Anthem)” - X Japan

Hi! If you’re reading this while it’s new, congratulations on being one of the first to see it. If you’re not, congratulations on going all the way back in the archives to find it—your dedication is both admirable and a little terrifying.

Either way, I’d like to welcome you to the beginning of The IndyCar Afterburn, the biggest and best IndyCar newsletter on Beehiiv. (Why Beehiiv? Because Substack is run by weirdos who I don’t want to be in business with.) As I write this, we’re about a month and a half from the start of the 2025 IndyCar Series, so while things are relatively calm, I’d like to take a moment to plant my flag and preview what you’ll be getting in your inbox should you choose to subscribe.

First, a bit about myself. My name’s Connor, I’m a third-generation Yankees fan, my favorite car is the Acura NSX, and in my dream world, I’d be playing shortstop, wide receiver, or striker for one of my childhood favorite teams. However, my talents turned out to be better suited to the page than the pitch, so instead I’ve settled for writing about sports and becoming a very minor investor in a couple USL Championship teams. In terms of my racing fandom, I am unshakably convinced that IndyCar is the greatest racing series on the planet, and my ideal podium would consist of Colton Herta, Pato O’Ward, and Katherine Legge in some order. I also maintain at least a passing interest in Formula One, Formula E, IMSA, WEC, V8 Supercars, and WRC.

In 2024, I started the Afterburn’s original incarnation over at Australian publication The Roar, where I recapped the season’s events and had the incredible opportunity to cover my local race, the Grand Prix of Monterey, in person. I also spliced in a little news here, a bit of opinion writing there, and even an interview with Lindsay Brewer, conducted on what I desperately hope doesn’t turn out to be the day of her final professional race. It was a great run, and I’ll still be at The Roar to cover soccer and various other sports, but this year, I wanted to take my IndyCar work to another level, and putting it into a newsletter seemed like the best way to achieve that.

So what can you, dear reader, expect here at the Afterburn? Obviously, there’ll be recaps of every IndyCar race once the season starts, covering the day’s major players and storylines. Readers from The Roar will be happy to know we’re also continuing the Sicko’s Guide to DNFs, where race cars crashing is always funny as long as no one gets hurt.

On top of that, now that I don’t have to worry about crowding other racing series out of a shared motorsports section, you can expect a steady stream of pieces in between race weekends, including shorter bits of news, medium hits of analysis and opinion, and longform explorations of achievements and storylines past. I’ll also have the space to follow IndyCar drivers into other racing series and cover their exploits there, especially in the world of IMSA, where they’ll be popping up quite a lot this year—in fact, later this month, you can expect an overview of all the IndyCar drivers who entered the 24 Hours of Daytona and how they performed at America’s greatest endurance race. I’m also putting together a guide to all the teams and drivers, which should come out a bit after Dale Coyne announces his other driver, but knowing him, that might take a while.

This should be another wild year of IndyCar, and whether you’re a longtime fan of the sport or just dipping your toes in the water, I hope you’ll subscribe and come along for the ride. Thanks again for being here for my little torch-lighting ceremony. I can’t wait to see where this flame goes.