DANIA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Matthew Tkachuk's daughter, born just a few weeks ago, probably had her afternoon nap interrupted on Friday.
See, there was some noise over the house. The walls probably shook a bit, too.
That's what happens when an F-16 flies over the family home, repeatedly — and Tkachuk didn't mind whatsoever.
The star forward for the Florida Panthers was a civilian passenger with the Air Force’s air demonstration squadron Friday, getting to ride in the back seat of a Thunderbirds F-16 Fighting Falcon ahead of this weekend's Fort Lauderdale Air Show. Tkachuk was part of a practice flight with Lt. Col. Tyler “Wrath” Keener, even getting his name on the side of the jet.
“A truly unbelievable experience,” Tkachuk said.
He's had a bunch of those in the last couple of years — like the 2024 Stanley Cup, the 2025 Stanley Cup and an Olympic gold medal from the Milan Cortina Games earlier this year, along with getting married and becoming a father. Keener asked Tkachuk if he wanted to fly over his home; Tkachuk didn't hesitate to say yes.
Sorry, Millie. Your nap can wait.
“We went over the house a bunch,” Tkachuk said. “And I know it’s loud because I think they were practicing a few days ago and I could hear it clearly. They were shaking the house. So, I don’t know, hopefully one day she thinks I’m pretty cool.”
The Thunderbirds didn't take it easy on Tkachuk. He was upside down at times, felt more speed and power than he thought were possible, and Keener even let him take the controls — briefly — for some spins.
He didn't get sick in the air, and he didn't black out, either.
“Almost,” he acknowledged.
The Panthers have deep ties to the military. Owner Vincent Viola is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and the team pays tribute to a veteran at every home game.
That was one of the reasons why making Tkachuk a Thunderbird for a day made sense.
“He had the best seat in the house,” Keener said. “And he knew it the whole time.”
The Panthers brought the Thunderbirds a commemorative jersey; Tkachuk brought his Olympic gold medal for them to see and pose with. When the flight was over, the Thunderbirds presented him with a photo of them flying past Mount Rushmore — and a pin commemorating that he withstood more than 9 G's of force during the trip through the South Florida sky on Friday.
“On the way out there, we were talking about a lot of the shared tendencies and behaviors that we have between teams,” Keener said. “They play 82 regular-season games. We fly over 60-plus shows per year. We were talking about how to get ready for a day, how to be cohesive as a team, all the important traits of teamwork and getting better every day.”
Later this month, Tkachuk will try to become the first American in hockey’s Triple Gold Club. After the Stanley Cups and Olympic gold, he will play at the world championships — and is slated to be the only member of the Olympic team to play at worlds.
He said having another chance to wear “USA” on his chest was a blessing.
“If I’m not the most, I’m right up there for the most patriotic guy,” Tkachuk said. “I love this country. It's the best country in the world. It’s all thanks to everybody that works behind the scenes here and that gives us the freedom to enjoy the best place in the world.”
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Florida Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk, right, admires a pin given to him by Lt. Col. Tyler Wrath Keener after Tkachuk flew as a passenger in a Thunderbirds F-16 Fighting Falcon, Friday, May 8, 2026, in Dania Beach, Fla., in advance of the Fort Lauderdale Air Show. (AP Photo/Tim Reynolds)
Florida Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk exits a Thunderbirds F-16 Fighting Falcon after flying as a civilian passenger, Friday, May 8, 2026, in Dania Beach, Fla., in advance of the Fort Lauderdale Air Show. (AP Photo/Tim Reynolds)
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — IndyCar officials hope this week's rule change on the push-to-pass button creates more intrigue in Saturday's Indianapolis Grand Prix.
Whether it works will depend on how fast three-time defending race winner Alex Palou and the other starters adapt — and, naturally, how much risk they're willing to take on the first lap of the race.
The move comes in the wake of last month's software failure at Long Beach, where a dozen drivers illegally used extra turbo boost during a midrace restart. That led series officials to make the modification that allows drivers to use their push-to-pass on all restarts once the race has started and they've reached the alternate start-finish line in Turn 11 on the first lap. An early push will result in a penalty, even if there is another malfunction.
And that's caused confusion in Gasoline Alley.
“If I push it and it works because someone else does a mistake, it’s my fault? Yes?” Palou asked, jump-starting a minutes-long debate among the top five drivers in the standings. “I didn’t read the rule, sorry.”
Drivers will still get 200 total seconds of green-flag racing to give their cars a boost of about 60 horsepower throughout the race, though the button is not supposed to be operable until they pass the alternate start-finish line, potentially making the race into Turn 11 as harrowing as the first turn of the race. Then drivers can allocate their turbo boost however they choose around Indianapolis Motor Speedway's 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course.
The change essentially eliminates a possible repeat of the 2024 controversy that cost two-time series champ Josef Newgarden a season-opening victory at St. Petersburg when officials determined he used push-to-pass on a restart.
At Long Beach, nearly half the field took advantage of the software error. Others insisted they weren't even aware the push-to-pass button was working on the restart.
During last week's test session on Indy's 2.5-mile oval, Santino Ferrucci told reporters he realized the button worked only when he tried to fend off Marcus Armstrong's pass on a Lap 61 restart. Ferrucci said he tried it and continued using it. Neither Armstrong nor Ferrucci was penalized and Palou wasn't either, even though he said he used it three times on the restart. Palou wound up winning his third race of the season.
“Let’s set the record straight,” Kyle Kirkwood said. “Everybody would have used it if they’d known it was active. Every driver would have. I wish I’d have known it was on. I would have used it.”
On Saturday, everyone has — or should have — a strategy for how to deal with the new rule.
Palou, the four-time series champ from Spain, begins race weekend as the favorite. He has a 17-point lead over Kirkwood, an American, after winning the last two races, has six straight top-five finishes at Indy including last year's sweep of the grand prix and Indianapolis 500, and is trying to become the second driver in Brickyard history to win the same race four straight times.
The only other driver with four straight wins is seven-time Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher. He won the U.S. Grand Prix every year from 2003-06 and his son, Mick, is scheduled to make his Indy debut Saturday albeit on a differently configured road course.
Palou had the fastest lap in both of Friday’s practice sessions, posting a top speed of 124.953 mph in the morning and a best lap of 124.632 in the afternoon before rain arrived, forcing qualifying to be moved to Saturday. Kirkwood had the second-fastest lap in the afternoon, 124.443, as he tries to change his road-course reputation.
“So why do I suck on road courses?” Kirkwood joked Thursday. “That’s a good question. Appreciate that. Quite honestly, we just haven’t been that good on road courses. That’s been across all of our cars in recent years. But Barber was much better. I can’t say there’s been any other ones, but I feel like we’re constantly improving.”
And getting a little power boost on Saturday's restarts certainly won't hurt.
“You might want to save it a little bit more and maybe not use it as much on in-and-out laps, trying to overtake people knowing if a restart comes at any point, you need to have it, or else you’re going to get passed,” Kirkwood said. “So people might be hoarding it a little bit more.”
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
FILE - Kyle Kirkwood (27) drives during an IndyCar auto race Aug. 31, 2025, at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV, File)
FILE - Kyle Kirkwood leans on a tool box as he waits for is turn during qualification for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, May 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)
FILE - Alex Palou celebrates after winning the IndyCar championship Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025, at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV, File)
