Indianapolis

Indiana Republican Gov. Mike Braun called Monday for state lawmakers to return to Indianapolis for a special session to redraw the state’s congressional boundaries, escalating a national fight over midcycle redistricting.

President Trump has ramped up pressure on Republican governors to draw new maps that give the party an easier path to maintain control of the House in the midterms. While Republicans in Texas, Missouri and North Carolina have moved quickly to enact new districts and California Democrats are seeking to counter with their own redistricting plan, Indiana lawmakers have been far more hesitant.

Braun called for the General Assembly to convene Nov. 3 for the special session. It’s unclear whether enough of the GOP majority Senate will back new maps.

The White House held multiple meetings with Indiana lawmakers who have held out for months. The legislative leaders kept their cards close as speculation swirled over whether the state known for its more measured approach to Republican politics would answer the redistricting call.

National pressure campaign

Vice President JD Vance first met with Braun and legislative leaders in Indianapolis in August and Trump met privately with state House Speaker Todd Huston and state Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray in the Oval Office weeks later. Vance also spoke to state lawmakers visiting Washington that day.

Vance returned to Indianapolis on Oct. 10 to meet with the governor, as well as the Republican state House and Senate members.

Braun is a staunch ally of Trump in a state the president won by 19 percentage points in 2024. But Indiana lawmakers have avoided the national spotlight in recent years — especially after a 2022 special session that yielded a strict abortion ban. Braun previously said he did not want to call a special session until he was sure lawmakers would back a new map.

“I am calling a special legislative session to protect Hoosiers from efforts in other states that seek to diminish their voice in Washington and ensure their representation in Congress is fair,” Braun said in a statement Monday.

Typically, states redraw boundaries of congressional districts every 10 years after the census has concluded. Opponents are expected to challenge any new maps in court.

State lawmakers have the sole power to draw maps in Indiana, where Republicans hold a supermajority in both chambers. Democrats could not stop a special session by refusing to attend, as their peers in Texas briefly did.

Republican opposition to redrawing the maps again

A spokesperson for Bray said last week that the Indiana Senate lacked the votes to pass a new congressional map and she said Monday that the votes are still lacking, casting doubt on whether a special session will achieve Braun’s goals.

With only 10 Democrats in the 50-member Senate, that means more than a dozen of the 40 Republicans oppose the idea. Some state Republican lawmakers have warned that midcycle redistricting can be costly and could backfire politically.

Republicans who vote against redistricting could be forced out of office if their colleagues back primary opponents as punishment for not toeing the party line. Braun’s move to call a special session could force lawmakers who haven’t commented publicly to take a stance.

Indiana’s Republican legislative leaders praised existing boundaries after adopting them four years ago.

“I believe these maps reflect feedback from the public and will serve Hoosiers well for the next decade,” Bray said at the time.

Indiana Senate Democratic Leader Shelli Yoder decried the special session and threatened legal action over any maps passed by the Legislature.

“This is not democracy,” she said in a statement. “This is desperation.”

Redistricting balloons

Democrats only need to gain three seats to flip control of the U.S. House, and redistricting fights have erupted in multiple states.

Some Democratic states have moved to counter Republican gains with new legislative maps. The latest, Virginia, is expected to take up the issue in a special session starting this week.

Republicans outnumber Democrats in Indiana’s congressional delegation 7 to 2, limiting possibilities of squeezing out another seat. But many in the party see it as a chance for the GOP to represent all nine seats.

The GOP would likely target Indiana’s 1st Congressional District, a longtime Democratic stronghold that encompasses Gary and other cities near Chicago in the state’s northwest corner. The seat held by third-term Democratic U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan has been seen by Republicans as a possible pickup in recent elections.

Lawmakers in Indiana redrew the borders of the district to be slightly more favorable toward Republicans in the 2022 election, but did not entirely split it up. The new maps were not challenged in court after they were approved in 2021, not even by Democrats and allies who had opposed the changes boosting GOP standing in the suburbs north of Indianapolis.

Mrvan still won reelection in 2022 and easily retained his seat in 2024.

Republicans could also zero in on Indiana’s 7th Congressional District, composed entirely of Marion County and the Democratic stronghold of Indianapolis. But that option would be more controversial, potentially slicing up the state’s largest city and diluting Black voters’ influence.

Volmert writes for the Associated Press.

Former USC quarterback and current Fox NFL analyst Mark Sanchez was stabbed early Saturday morning and is being treated in an Indianapolis hospital.

Fox Sports said in a statement that Sanchez, 38, is recovering and in stable condition.

“We are deeply grateful to the medical team for their exceptional care and support. Our thoughts and prayers are with Mark, and we ask that everyone please respect his and his family’s privacy during this time,” the Fox Sports statement read.

Sanchez, who was Indianapolis ahead of an assignment to cover the Raiders-Colts game, was injured following a fight in downtown Indianapolis at around 12:30 a.m.

The Indianapolis Metro Police Department released a statement that read: “Detectives believe this was an isolated incident between two men and not a random act of violence.”

Sanchez, who was born in Long Beach, led Mission Viejo to a 27-1 record as a starting quarterback, winning a Southern Section Division II title in 2004.

He played at USC from 2006-08, passing for 3,965 yards and 41 touchdowns. During his final season at USC, he passed for 3,207 yards and 34 touchdowns as the Trojans posted a 12-1 record and won the Rose Bowl.

Despite objections from then-USC coach Pete Carroll, Sanchez left school early to enter the NFL draft. He was selected by the Jets with the No. 5 pick and went on to play eight NFL seasons, posting a 37-36 record as a starter.

He spent four seasons with the Jets, starting each of his 62 games while throwing for 12,092 yards and 68 touchdowns with 69 interceptions. The Jets lost in the AFC championship in each of Sanchez’s first two years in the league.

Sanchez also appeared in games with Philadelphia, Dallas and Washington. He finished his playing career with 15,357 yards passing, 86 TD passes and 89 interceptions.

The Jets and several of Sanchez’s former teammates posted message of support on social media on Saturday.

“Sending our thoughts and love to Mark Sanchez and his family. Hoping for a speedy recovery, 6,” the Jets said, using Sanchez’s former jersey number.

“Send prayers up for my former teammate mark.. sucks so much to see this,” Kerry Rhodes wrote.

“So sad. Pray for his recovery,” Nick Mangold wrote.

Associated Press contributed to this report.

July 5 (UPI) — Two teens are dead and five others wounded after a mass shooting in downtown Indianapolis early Saturday morning.

The shooting killed two boys, ages 16 and 15, at about 1:30 a.m. near the intersection of South Illinois and West Washington streets in downtown Indianapolis, the Indianapolis Star reported.

Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Chief Chris Bailey blamed parents for allowing hundreds of teens to go unsupervised while out at night.

“This kind of violence … is completely unacceptable and unnecessary,” Bailey told media.

“We are not your children’s keepers. You are,” he added. “Parents and guardians have got to step up.”

The 16-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene, while the other boy died after being taken to a nearby hospital.

Four other shooting victims also were taken to local hospitals, and a fifth walked into a hospital.

Police found the victims while responding to a report of a fight at the same location and said four of the surviving shooting victims are teens, and the other is 21.

Two of the teens are 19-year-old adults, and the others are ages 16 and 17.

Police have not determined a motive but detained seven for questioning and recovered several firearms.

The mass shooting was among several violent incidents that occurred after the annual Independence Day fireworks ended on Friday night.

Bailey said police made 20 arrests during the night and recovered firearms from two juveniles in the downtown area before the mass shooting happened.

He said one was carrying a semi-automatic rifle that was stuffed into the youth’s pants.

INDIANAPOLIS — Alex Palou took the ceremonial swig of milk in victory lane at the Indianapolis 500. His wife had a sip, she in turn gave a sip to their baby, and team owner Chip Ganassi ended up with the bottle and took a drink, as well.

“Whole milk,” he said before switching to Spanish. “Esta muy, muy buena.”

Then, the first Spaniard to win “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” took a victory lap with them around Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the back of a pickup truck. At one point, Palou climbed onto its roof and raised his arms in triumph, the winning wreath draped around his neck. He briefly lost his balance and Ganassi instinctively reached out to grab his star driver.

No need.

Palou rarely makes a wrong move.

“All my family around, it’s amazing, honestly,” he said, smiling. “All the team around, they make me look really good on the track.”

Palou came to the speedway as the two-time defending IndyCar champion — he has three titles in four years — and had opened this year with victories in four of the first five races. It’s the kind of start not seen since 1964, when A.J. Foyt won the first seven races of the season, including the Indy 500.

But until Sunday he had never won at an oval track like Indy.

“I’m glad that today was our day,” he told The Los Angeles Times. “I think I had tools to to to win at other oval races, but today was the first one that we were able to put everything together and and get it.

“This has been the biggest win. By very, very far.”

Without an Indy 500 win, he said, his career would be incomplete.

“Like he said last week, if he was to go through his whole career and not win here at Indianapolis, it wouldn’t be a complete career,” Ganassi said. “I don’t want to say his career is complete now — he’s got a lot in him yet. Look at the last five, six races we’ve had. It’s just incredible. He’s on a roll.”

Palou was in fuel-saving mode over the closing laps, following former Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Marcus Ericsson. Palou got tired of staying put with 16 laps remaining and charged ahead — a move Ericsson said “will keep me up at night. What I did and what I didn’t do.” Palou was never challenged from there, taking the checkered flag as a crash brought out a caution.

“You never know you have it until you cross the start-finish line,” he said. “I knew I had an amazing car. I knew that I was going to have a chance at the end. But I didn’t know that we were going to have a chance to win until we crossed that start-finish line.”

He stopped the car just beyond the Yard of Bricks, climbing out of it and nearly losing his balance as he raised his arms in triumph. Palou jumped down and took off in a run down the front stretch, pulling off his gloves and tossing them behind him, and ultimately was engulfed by his father, Ramon, and his team in a jubilant celebration.

Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti both hugged him, a pair of former Ganassi Indy 500 winners welcoming him into their exclusive club.

“I cannot believe it. What an amazing day. What an amazing race,” Palou said. “I cannot believe it. It was tough. Tough conditions out there, especially if you were like, third or fourth in the pack. Even leading, the fuel consumption was super high, so they didn’t want me to lead. I wanted to lead, honestly, so yeah, made it happen.”

Marco Andretti loses control of his car on the start of the Indianapolis 500.

(Michael Conroy / Associated Press)

Meanwhile, Ericsson climbed from his car in pit lane and pressed his hands to his face, the disappointment of coming oh-so-close to a second Indianapolis 500 victory etched across his face. David Maluks was third for A.J. Foyt Racing.

“It’s pretty painful,” Ericsson said of his second career Indy 500 runner-up finish. “I need to look at it again. You replay it in your head a million times after the finish, wondering what I could have done differently. Second means nothing in this race.”

Josef Newgarden’s bid to win three consecutive Indy 500s ended with a fuel pump issue. He was trying to become the first driver to come from the back row to win because he and Team Penske teammate Will Power were dropped to the back of the field for failing inspection before the final rounds of qualifying.

Power wound up 19th, the highest-finishing Penske driver on a miserable day for the organization owned by Roger Penske. He earlier this week fired his top three IndyCar executives for a second technical infraction in just over a year, and has had to defend the optics of his teams failing inspections when he also owns IndyCar, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indy 500.

Penske has won the Indy 500 a record 20 times.

It was the sixth Indy 500 win for Ganassi, who has been on a dominating wave since hiring Palou before the 2021 season. Palou won the championship in his first year with the team, added two more titles, and now seems on pace for a fourth one.

“I’ll tell you what, that kid’s a good driver. I think he’s off to a good start,” Ganassi said. “We’re gonna have a good season. It might be OK. Yeah, might be okay. Might be looking at a championship.”

Ganassi also vowed that winning the Indy 500 win “is going to make Alex Palou’s career. It is going to make his life.”

Palou started the race tied with Pato O’Ward as the co-favorites, listed at +500 by BetMGM Sportsbook. O’Ward finished fourth — the fifth time in six career starts the Mexican has finished sixth or higher. Kyle Larson won’t complete “the double” after crashing out of the Indianapolis 500 before he headed to North Carolina to compete in the Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR race.

At the top of a hill in a sprawling Santa Clarita industrial park in the shadow of Magic Mountain’s roller coasters, a significant chapter in the history of motorsports was written.

But the story isn’t finished yet.

From the outside, the building is nothing special. Behind its walls, however, Honda Racing Corporation has designed, tested and built the engines that have won 14 of the last 21 IndyCar championships and all five IndyCar races this season. In Sunday’s Indianapolis 500, a race Honda has won 15 times since 2004, four of the top six starters will have Honda engines, including two-time winner Takuma Sato, who qualified second.

It’s a level of dominance unmatched in IndyCar history — in a series Honda probably helped save.

A technician works on an engine at Honda Racing Corporation. All of Honda’s engines for North American racing series are built in Santa Clarita.

(Robert Hanashiro / For the Times)

Amid the open-wheel civil war between Championship Auto Racing Teams and the Indy Racing League, Honda was prepared to walk away. Robert Clarke, who started Honda Performance Development (before it was renamed HRC in 2024) and made it a cutting-edge research and development facility, convinced American Honda president Koichi Amemiya to supply engines to IRL teams in 2003 after Honda left CART in 2002.

“It just was not Honda’s image of what a race car should be. That’s why Honda initially didn’t want to be involved,” Clarke said. “In my discussion with the president it was ‘OK, we developed all these skills and know-how. Are we just going to give that up and just walk away?’ That’s crazy.

”We invested literally billions of dollars. And we’ve seen the success.”

Chevrolet and Toyota eventually did quit, leaving Honda as the only IndyCar engine manufacturer for six seasons. Amemiya then doubled down, funding Honda’s move to its 123,000-square-foot home while expanding its workforce to 250 from an original staff of fewer than 10.

Honda hasn’t looked in the rearview mirror since.

Clarke, 75, left Honda in 2008 though he’s still something of an executive emeritus, one who wears the brand on his sleeve and often refers to the company with the collective pronoun “we.”

Robert Clarke, left, speaks to IndyCar driver Dario Franchitti at Mid-Ohio Race Course in July 2007.

(Jay LaPrete / Associated Press)

He was 10 when his father took him to his first race to watch a friend run in an amateur open-wheel event. When young Robert was invited into the garage and allowed to work on the car “I was hooked,” he said. “My bedroom walls were covered with pictures of Formula One cars and all kinds of racing.”

He took the long road to Honda racing, though, studying architecture and art/industrial design in college, then teaching for five years at Notre Dame. His first job at Honda was in the motorcycle accessory and product planning departments but when the company announced it was going to enter open-wheel racing, Clarke volunteered and he was soon tasked with building the program from the ground up.

That was in 1993. By the time Clarke left Honda 15 years later, the company’s place as a major force in IndyCar racing was secure and Honda’s two-story hilltop headquarters became his legacy.

The focus of work in the building now is mainly on supporting Honda teams in IndyCar and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. As such, it has become a one-stop shop for racing teams, housing comprehensive engine research and development operations; prototype and production parts manufacturing; engine preparation and rebuilding; a material analysis facilities; more than a half-dozen engine dynamometer test cells; a machine shop; electronics lab; parts center; multiple conference rooms; and administrative offices.

A view of the machine shop at the at the Honda Racing Corporation in Santa Clarita.

(Robert Hanashiro / For the Times)

Next year it will provide support for Honda’s effort to supply Formula One engines to Aston Martin.

Mostly the building is a maze of quiet office space where engineers sketch out their designs on computer screens, well-lit assembly bays where mechanics assemble the prototypes, and the noisy high-tech dyno rooms where those prototypes are tested. Every stage of a racing engine, from conception and construction to being shipped to the track, is managed at the facility.

“We develop the technology quickly,” said David Salters, the British-born engineer who heads HRC. “We try them. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t work and you try again. The point of having a racing facility inside your company is you can be agile. You can try stuff. You can train the people.

“The people are the most important thing of all this.”

The whole process is more NASA than NASCAR in that there’s not a speck of grease or oil on the bright, white vinyl flooring and everybody’s hands are clean.

David Salters, president of Honda Racing Corporation.

(Michael L. Levitt / LAT Images via American Honda Motor Co.)

“This is a world-class facility. It needs to be clinical and professional in the processes and systems we have here,” said Salters, who was head of engine development for the Ferrari F1 team and held a similar position at Mercedes-Benz before joining Honda a decade ago.

“It’s like an operating theater. We’re basically dealing with engines or electrical systems, which are like jewelry. They cannot tolerate dirt or anything like that. Everything has to be spotless and clean and well-organized. This is aerospace.”

And when the engines don’t work, they’re brought back to HRC and the engineering process is repeated in reverse in search of flaws. As for why they’re doing all that in a sleepy bedroom community better known for its paved bike paths and rustic hiking trails than for its motorsports history, that’s easy: Location, location, location.

Clarke originally expected to recruit engineers from Indianapolis and Charlotte, N.C., the heartland of American racing, while Honda insisted on keeping its operations near its corporate offices in Torrance. Clarke feared dropping people from the Midwest and South into L.A.’s traffic-clogged sprawl would be such a culture shock, he’d lose his best engineers.

So he chose Santa Clarita, which was isolated enough to not feel like L.A., but close enough to Torrance to be accessible. And the building came with an “Only in L.A.” feature: It shares a driveway with the studio where the popular TV series “NCIS” is filmed.

“Every so often a helicopter will land in the car park and we’re all told we can’t go outside in case we get swept away,” Salters said with a chuckle. “There was some ‘Star Trek’ thing where they decided our foyer could be useful. So for a few weeks we had a movie set in our foyer; we rented it out.

“You’ve got to look at business opportunities.”

Adi Susilo, chief engineer of powertrain at Honda Racing Corporation, looks over large monitors before the start of the 12 Hours of Sebring in March.

(Robert Hanashiro / For the Times)

It’s early on a chilly Saturday in March and HRC’s headquarters is mostly empty save for one corner on the building’s second floor where nearly a dozen people, some wearing headphones, have gathered behind computer screens facing six giant TV monitors.

A continent away, in central Florida, more than 50 cars are lined up for the 12 hours of Sebring. Each driver with a Honda engine has an engineer monitoring their car’s performance.

Before the pandemic, engineers would travel and work with race teams on site. But for the last four years the engineers have been working mostly at HRC, monitoring in-car telemetry that provides real-time information about everything from engine status and tire pressure to suspension behavior.

“Data is king,” said Adi Susilo, one of the HRC engineers. “Humans make mistakes. Data rarely does.”

F1 teams have monitored telemetry remotely for years, but it didn’t become common in IndyCar racing until 2023. Now it’s a vital part of every major racing series, including NASCAR.

Powertrain chief engineer Adi Susilo looks at a full-size mock up of an IMSA prototype at Honda Racing Corporation.

(Robert Hanashiro / For the Times)

Engineers work out of what looks like a college classroom, only quieter. When the sound of a disembodied voice does cackle out of a headphone, it sounds like NASA Mission Control, the tone flat and unemotional, the conversation short and to the point.

“It’s better for solving problems,” said Susilo about working away from the track. “If there’s a problem, you just walk downstairs and talk to the guy who built the engine.”

That won’t be the case Sunday. For the Indy 500, Susilo said it’s all hands on deck, so most of Honda’s race-day engineers are in Indianapolis where the telemetry will be broadcast to their work stations in trailers at the track.

“A few of the IndyCar races are run that way,” he said, “but the 500 is almost always run that way just because everyone’s out here for the event. We’re also testing a new, hopefully more robust, telemetry streaming as it’s much harder to make sure we get 15 car’s worth of data.”

At first, the idea of having engineers looming electronically over the timing stand was a hard sell. Trusting someone with clean fingernails watching the race on monitors thousands of miles away wasn’t easy for some crew chiefs.

“What happens for people like me is that you have to erase the old-school way of thinking,” said Mike Hull, a former mechanic and driver who is now the managing director for Chip Ganassi Racing and chief strategist for driver Scott Dixon, a six-time IndyCar champion. “You’re electronically shoulder to shoulder with them.

“If you don’t listen to what somebody has to say, it stifles free thinking. Free thinking sends you down a path that you may not have originally been on, but makes you stronger at what you’re doing.”

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1. Race engines being assembled at Honda Racing Corporation. 2. A technician in the HRC machine shop works on an engine. 3. Engineers monitor data during the 12 Hours of Sebring in March. 4. A engineer monitors telemetry remotely from HRC headquarters. (Robert Hanashiro / For the Times)

Dixon, the 2008 Indy 500 champion who will start Sunday’s race in the second row, agrees. Which is he why he’s made several trips to HRC to personally thank the engineers who design his engines and those who help direct his races.

“You always feel like there’s a big group behind you,” he said. “You just don’t get to see all them in one place but you know the machine is there, working pretty hard.”

One drawback, Dixon said, is you have to be careful what you say on the radio during races because you never know who’s listening.

“Twenty people at home, just on the team side, will be listening just on that one car,” he said. “So the communication is very wide open. You definitely have to watch your Ps and Qs.”

Two years later race teams have grown so comfortable with people looking over their shoulders, the engineers have become as much a part of the team as the cars. So when a nearby wildfire forced the evacuation of the building, Honda rented rooms at a nearby hotel, set up their TVs, computer monitors and a coffee machine in a conference room and worked from there.

“We’re pretty blind without it. The race teams are pretty competitive,” Susilo said. “They feel that instinct still does work. But it’s more data-driven.”

Honda powertain engineer Jake Marthaler monitors data during the 12 Hours of Sebring in March.

(Robert Hanashiro / For the Times)

Given the investment, the pressure can be intense.

“Every two weeks we want to have the latest development. We want to have made progress,” Salters said. “Every two weeks you have a deadline and the deadline does not move. It’s not like they’re going to say ‘OK, we’ll just delay the race a week.’ The flag drops, you’ve got to be ready.

“It’s sort of an engineering sport isn’t it? It’s like a true sport; the best team will win.”

If the IndyCar-Honda marriage has mostly been good for both sides, it has recently hit a rocky patch.

Honda’s supply contract with IndyCar ends next year and the company hasn’t hid its distaste over the cheating scandals that have recently tarnished the series. Last week Team Penske drivers Josef Newgarden, the two-time defending Indy 500 champion, and Will Power were forced to the back of the field for the start of Sunday’s race after illegally modified parts were found on their cars. Team Penske, which uses Chevrolet engines, was also caught cheating at the beginning of the 2024 season.

On Wednesday, the team fired three of its top racing executives. IndyCar, which is owned by Roger Penske (also the owner of Team Penske) said it is exploring the creation of an independent governing body absent of Penske employees.

Scott Dixon drives into the first turn during practice for the Indianapolis 500 on Friday.

(Michael Conroy / Associated Press)

That may not be enough to restore trust in the series. Honda, which supplies engines to 13 full-season IndyCar entries and three Indy 500-only cars, has declined to comment on the rules violations, but confirmed its continued participation in the series beyond 2026 may depend on Penske’s ability to separate himself from policing the series he owns and also competes in.

Honda said in a written statement Thursday that it has many concerns, among them “the relatively high overall cost to participate as an engine supplier” and “the potential (perceived or real) conflict of interest which may exist” with Penske’s ownership of the racing series, three of the cars competing in the series and his “significant stake” in Ilmor Engineering, which designs and manufactures engines for Chevrolet, Honda’s biggest competitor.

“Honda continues to have ongoing negotiations with IndyCar’s management and technical teams regarding our future as an engine supplier for the series,” said Chuck Chayefsky, manager of Honda & Acura Motorsports.

Whatever road Honda takes with IndyCar, it’s unlikely to change most of the day-to-day work at HRC, which is heavily involved with IMSA and will soon be working on F1 power-unit development.

So while the cars may change, the racing will never stop.

The car Ryan Hunter-Reay drove to victory for Andretti Autosport in the 2014 Indianapolis 500 sits on display at Honda Racing Corporation in Santa Clarita.

(Robert Hanashiro / For the Times)

“Thirty years ago our sole purpose in life was to look after racing in North America for Honda and Acura,” Salters said before last week’s events in Indianapolis. “Last year we changed that. We’re now part of a global racing organization. That’s another opportunity for associates here.”

“The automotive world, it’s pivoting,” he continued. “We are trying some new stuff. We’ll see how it goes.”

One chapter has been written. But the story isn’t finished.

INDIANAPOLIS Colts owner and CEO Jim Irsay has died at the age of 65, the team has confirmed.

The franchise said Irsay “passed away peacefully in his sleep” on Wednesday afternoon.

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Details surrounding his death have not yet been released, though he had been battling various health issues in recent years.

Irsay took control of the Colts in 1997 following the death of his father, Robert Irsay, who bought the team in 1972 for $12 million.

“We are devastated to announce our beloved Owner & CEO, Jim Irsay, passed away peacefully in his sleep this afternoon,” the Colts said in a statement.

“Jim’s dedication and passion for the Indianapolis Colts in addition to his generosity, commitment to the community, and most importantly, his love for his family were unsurpassed.”

“Our deepest sympathies go to his daughters, Carlie Irsay-Gordon, Casey Foyt, Kalen Jackson, and his entire family as we grieve with them.”

Irsay’s career with the team began decades earlier when he worked in every department before becoming the NFL’s youngest general manager in 1984, just as the Colts moved from Baltimore to Indianapolis.

After assuming full ownership in the late 90s, he helped guide the team to its first Super Bowl title in Indianapolis and oversaw a string of division championships.

“Jim’s love and appreciation for the NFL in addition to its history, tradition, and principles influenced him to become a steward of the game throughout his 50-plus years in the League,” the statement continued.

He was also known for his philanthropy and passion for music.

“He made philanthropy a daily endeavor. He never hesitated to help countless organizations and individuals live better lives.

“Music was one of Jim’s passions and the ability to share his band and collection with millions of people across the world brought him tremendous joy. ”

“Simply put, he wanted to make the world a better place and that philosophy never wavered.”

“Jim will be deeply missed by his family, the Colts organization, and fans everywhere, but we remain inspired by his caring and unique spirit.”

“NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said: “We were deeply saddened to learn of Jim Irsay’s passing today.

“Jim was a friend, and a man deeply committed to his family, the game, the Colts, and the Indianapolis community. 

“On behalf of the entire NFL, I extend my heartfelt condolences to Jim’s daughters and their families, and to his many friends throughout the NFL.”

Irsay was arrested in 2014 for driving under the influence, a charge he later claimed stemmed from being singled out as “a rich, white billionaire.”

He maintained that a recent hip surgery—not alcohol—was the reason he failed the field sobriety test.

More to follow… For the latest news on this story, keep checking back at The U.S. Sun, your go-to destination for the best celebrity news, sports news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures, and must-see videos.

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