October 14, 2025 • 47 mins
Tonight, on a Monday night edition of Trackside with Curt Cavin and Kevin Lee, they talk about Rinus VeeKay moving to Juncos Hollinger Racing as their lead driver in 2026, replacing Conor Daly. They later recap testing from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course with Mick Schumacher in the spotlight. They also talk about what’s next and the latest contract words for Daly, Sting Ray Robb, Nolan Siegel, Devlin DeFrancesco, Romain Grosjean, Caio Collett, and Schumacher.
In the second segment, they talk about the recent updates from the Zak Brown/McLaren vs. Alex Palou court case.
To wrap up another edition of the show, Kevin talks about the recent TV numbers from this past weekend, and later answers fan questions on X.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
This is track side with Kirk Cavin and Kevin Lee
on ninety three to five and one oh seven five
the Fan.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
It's been notice good, get to get to know the car,
get to know the team. I think we really managed
to get through all the run plan and all the
test items we wanted to do, so obviously very happy
about that.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
Then.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Yeah, I think we're stoked about what the lap times
were doing. And I think it wasn't a main target,
but still it went pretty well. Yeah, happy about today.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Hello, welcome, thanks for joining us on track side ninety
three to five and one oh seven five the Fan
in Indianapolis, and that's where Mick Schumacher was the former
Formula one driver FIAF two champs, son of the legendary
Michael Schumacher. He was at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway along
with six others testing Indy cars on the road course yesterday.
(00:52):
That's one of the topics. We have another confirmation we
have more testing coming up and some not a lot,
with some activity on the oval at the Indianapolis Motor
Speedway next week. Hey, you're joining us Kevin Lee, urd
cabin landon coons Is in our Indianapolis studio. We need
(01:13):
to have some sort of racing event now because this
is perfect weather. I look forward to seeing snow within
at least a week.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
Yeah, it's supposed to go downhill a little bit starting Sunday,
but hey, we could still have a nice event before
the weekend. And yeah, it's just been beautiful. It was
so nice to be out of the racetrack yesterday, even
I say even as a road course. Of course, every
time at IMS, we always like to see the oval,
but we'll see that next week to some extent. So
(01:44):
here we go, it's October and we're still talking about
cars on racetracks.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
So we'll go ahead and look at the long range
forecast since it was so perfect. Next week the oval test,
and there's not a lot of it. I haven't seen
any kind of list anybody's reported, but from what I've heard,
it's not even ten, which is I think maybe what
(02:11):
we had last year, because I was talking to a
team owner recently that was disappointed that they were not
eligible or invited to participate, and I think it was
something along the lines of top two in the championship
for manufacture or something along those lines. And then it
might also be a situation where if you're a technical
(02:33):
partner then you're not going along along those lines. So
I haven't seen the list yet, but we shall see.
We know this Will Power will not be participating unless
he unless team Penske wants them. But it's probably going
to be Penske, Ganassi Andretti McLaren wul those have been
the tops in the championship. That's two Hondas, that's two Chevyes.
(02:56):
But that's TBD. So you mentioned it's supposed to get
a little chillier this weekend. Not too bad though, I'm
seeing according to ACI Weather, next Tuesday low of forty seven,
high of sixty seven. Wednesday low of forty four, high
of sixty eight. So if it says we're going green
(03:17):
at nine am, don't bother. They're not going green at
nine am, but maybe something around eleven am or ten
am or something like that, and then it will be
nice in the afternoon. And here's even better. So you
can't just look at the day of, you got to
look the day before. There is a sixty percent or
so chance of rain Saturday and Sunday in Indianapolis this weekend,
(03:39):
but Monday zero percent, Tuesday one percent, Wednesday zero percent,
Thursday zero percent, Friday one percent, on and on. Wow,
not again until Monday, the twenty seventh. So looking good
for that. And someone will always ask, they always do.
It's always the same. The mountains are always open, right,
(03:59):
the mound is always going to be open. Any time
that the gate closes, I assume in the evening, but
anytime during business hours if the museum is open, then
that gate is going to be open. And you can
stand on the south end and watch cars go around
if you choose to do so. So we'll get to
(04:20):
what happened yesterday at the test, but we have news
from today, a confirmation that we all assumed was happening.
Surely renas Vik doesn't tell one of the few teams
that has an Indy car seat available, no thanks, I'm
not interested, which he apparently did right at the end
of the season the last weekend in Nashville, if he
(04:40):
did not have something lined up. And it was announced
this morning at ten o'clock that Honkos Hollinger has signed
renas Vik as their lead driver. They put that in
the release for twenty twenty six. This is a reunion.
That's where he went to what was then called Pro
Mazda Championship in twenty eighteen. I had really a fantastic
(05:01):
Indie Light season there in twenty nineteen, finished as the
runner up. Who was that to is that? Oliver ask
you that years? Yes, with you know, honestly a deeper
andretty team so to be able to fight and that
was early on in the generation for Hunkos at that level.
(05:23):
So he has some history there and he's back, and
you know, I think people keep asking, well, wait a minute.
Dale Coin Racing finished higher in the championship. They have
Michael Cannon. They now have a bit of a relationship
with Andretti. Although it may only be for Dennis Hauger,
but surely some things could trickle down. Why did he
(05:46):
leave dale Coin Racing for who goes hauling a racing?
Speaker 3 (05:49):
Well, and I'm as intrigued by the fact that they
listed him as a lead driver. I don't know if
that's just creative writing or if there's something that speaks
to one one driver is the preferred or the one
in charge so to speak. I don't know, that's not
really the right phrase, but you know, he's got a
relationship there. You know, when all things I have trouble myself.
(06:17):
I have trouble with like no Michael Cannon, no Andrettic connections.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Well, you know my answer to everything. When we don't
have an answer, what do you think? The answer is money?
The answer is always money, Kurt, and it only it
does not mention multi year contracts. Maybe it is, but
if it includes an option where he can exit, because
that's if you're not He's made it very clear as
(06:45):
all racing drivers want, he wants to be with one
of the big teams that can win a championship. And
that's kind of what this year was. But one there
weren't any other options, and he got the deal with
dale Coin Racing Bear late, and I know he's very
grateful for that opportunity and they did some really nice
(07:05):
things together. But he wants, since he did not get
an invite to one of the big teams this year,
to really cash in and have a chance to compete
for a championship. No disrespect, but Honkos Hollinger is not
competing for a championship right in twenty twenty six. That's
not too harsh to say that they're not going to
(07:25):
be all the Ganassi and Penske and Andretti and McLaren
Cars and so on and so forth. So then you
get back to all right, if this is not likely
to be my long term home, if I'm still hoping
to this show, I can punch above my weights. And
if I am eligible to be signed by a bigger
(07:49):
team with more funding, with more resources, on and on
and on for twenty twenty seven, then what am I
looking for? What a lot of us are. All he's
looking for is what's best for my family, what's going
to pay me the most? And I can't imagine that
dale Coin Racing is in a position where they can
(08:10):
pay a significant salary to their drivers. And if Brad
Hollinger decides that he really wants to move this team forward,
this is not going to be a hardship for Brad
Hollinger to pay Rinu's VK anywhere from three hundred thousand
dollars to one point five million dollars. No idea what
(08:33):
it is, but I have a feeling that the offer
from dale Coin Racing is going to be more in
the five hundred thousand dollars range down to one hundred
thousand dollars, you know, somewhere in that range, and Honestly,
there are racing drivers at the IndyCar level that have
driven for meal money. It happened, you know that, And
(08:53):
really it's the adverse of that. You are asked to
bring several million dollars. So then it's just how you
want to get creative with the people. If you're a
driver that are supplying the budget required to operate the car.
What drivers prefer to do is if the team is
asking for seven million dollars for you to be in
(09:15):
the car, then you need to come up with eight
million dollars of sponsorship money. So that way you have
carved out a salary, and many do do it that way,
but sometimes it's we could only raise four million dollars
and a team is going to because they're desperate, take
that four million dollars and give me the whole season.
So you decide to bet on yourself and you're not
(09:36):
taking a salary this year. That happens, unfortunately more than
it should. So I think that's what it comes down to,
that there is just more of an opportunity, and then
you get into things like we are going to make
you are lead driver, so we put that in the
pressure release and we're going to tailor the entire program
to your needs, and we're going to do this, that
(09:58):
and the other, and that's where we're at.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
So also interesting that they didn't list to second driver.
You and I both had a chance yesterday to speak
to sting ray Rob, who it's been pretty clear they
have spoke. He and his manager have spoke about multi
years with the organization. A friend of mine likes to
speak of contracts as suggestions. You know, we'll So what
(10:26):
does it mean? Do they have a second driver? Is
it stingray Rob, Is it's not stingray Rob. Is it
going to be someone else?
Speaker 1 (10:33):
I can't say definitively on this, so yes, many people
have noted that the second driver is not mentioned in this.
Now it could be simply that the team's perspective on
this is, well, we announced sting ray Rob with a
multi year contract last year. We do not need to
repeat this. So that could be one. Two could be well,
(10:58):
this was an announcement about re this VK and we'll
do something later, But I'm not really buying that. I
think you'd have to go back to one that we
already announced that. But unfortunately, this is where I think
we are at. Since so many people made note, meaning
(11:19):
journalists like Marshall Pruet of racer dot Com and Nathan
Brown of the Indianapolis Star made note of that if
it was one hundred percent on lockdown that Stingray Rob
was returning as their driver. I think the team would
have probably reached out to Nathan Marshall anyone else posting
(11:41):
that has a major platform and said, we just didn't
put it in there because we announced it last year.
Stingray is our driver next year. Now I think sting
Ray will be their driver next year. However, back to
the contracts or suggestions, it sometimes is differer than that too.
It's I believe when his manager Peter Rossi says, we
(12:06):
have a multi year agreement, but what are the outs?
What are the options? Most contracts have buyout clauses or
team related options, whether it's based on performance results or
you know, it could just be simply be who knows,
(12:27):
but that's what we don't know. And my guess is
that Nathan and Marshall and Bob Pocras have asked the
team for something and they probably haven't gotten anything because
they probably they want to be vague on this. And
here's my theory on this, And like I said, I
think sting Ray Rob will be in that car next
(12:47):
year because he has a I think a good amount
of budget surrounding him, and he's a very pleasant young man,
and I don't know that he's had the full opportunity
to show what he is capable of. They still have
some work to do in their program, but I think
who comes Hollinger is one of those teams that is
(13:09):
looking for outside investment, like Ed Carpenter Racing God with
Ted Geloff. And if that were to come together and
someone came in that took over a big portion of
the ownership, maybe even majority ownership, And if they are
having any discussions that have any chance, they probably would
(13:30):
like that new group to have some say on who
is going to be in that seat. And if you're
flush full of resources, just like Penn State buying out
James Franklin for fifty million dollars, if somebody comes in
with unlimited money and says who is the best driver available,
and I don't care what it costs, I want us
(13:51):
to go get him and create a seat. That's my
theory on that. And you know, I know Peter has
reached out to some that have written these things and said, Nope,
it's a lockdown contract. He's going to be back and
that's his job to do so. And I'm sure he's
doing that again today. And like I said, I don't
(14:11):
disagree with that. I think that's going to be what
they find is their best option. But it's possible that
there is some possibility where, in the perfect scenario, they
could create that space. And I feel bad for that,
but I'm sure that's what's going on right now. Is
Peter Rossi, who's been reaching out to journalists, is trying
(14:33):
to get someone and who goes Hollinger, please make a
statement so people stop talking about my driver potentially being
on the outs.
Speaker 3 (14:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
I think we're to the point now where there's not
really anywhere else to go, and we'll get to that
in a moment.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
Yeah. And I think that seat in some form is
going to come down to money, because as you mentioned,
it seems likely that Arenas VK Camp didn't bring money
and only they're paying for it. So the extra money
has to come from somewhere. Is that an outside investor,
(15:06):
Is that a driver like Stingray Rob and his budget
somewhere there's going to be some more somewhere. There's a
need for some money in this program.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
And they are good seats. By the way, going back
to Rena's available, we think in twenty twenty seven, Marcus
Erickson is down to one year on his contract. Nolan
Siegel is probably one year at Errow. McLaren Marshall Prue
had mentioned openings Chip Ganassi racing or in and opening.
I guess Italic's plow. Yeah, we've seen his contract is
(15:36):
up at the end of twenty twenty six, and these
court proceedings. Maybe Dixon is up. And when you're in
your mid forties, you always I think it's fair to
say it's year to year. I'll be surprised if Dixon
only does one more year. I think he's got multiple
years still left in him, but that's always a question
mark until you know he says and tells the team
I'm definitely coming back at this point. So we y'all see, Oh, Joseph, Joseph,
(16:03):
That's what I've wondered about. I don't Joseph's either got
one or two years and unless things turn this year,
there's going to be a change in that car. He's
gonna want it and they're gonna want it if things
don't aren't different in all aspects in twenty twenty six,
and then I think filand frozen Quist is up after
(16:24):
one more year at Meyer Shank Racing, so three seats
remain to be confirmed. I guess you could say it's
four when you include this thing, right rob situation, so
I guess you'd call it four. Likely at least two
and maybe only one are open. So the four at
(16:45):
aj Foyd Racing. Kyle Collette tested yesterday for the second time.
Don't know anything but one that kind of tells me
that this isn't just another evaluation day. So this test yesterday,
Kyle Collette already did his indie next evaluation test. This
(17:08):
is the rookie test for this team in twenty twenty six.
If they were to bring on another rookie, that rookie
would not get a test next year, So that means
it's serious and they'd be short a day for next season.
I believe Kyle Collette is going to do races, if
not the full season for them. I didn't ask him
(17:28):
to confirm it or not. I'm going to let him
give that information. But by the way, he's been good
in both tests, and I also think there is some
budget behind him. There should be. Brazil has been a
great market for IndyCar for a long time, and someone
that's finished second in the Indie Next Championship has shown
well in two tests. I would think they can come
(17:50):
up with something for him. Is it full season or not,
we'll get to that. The fifty one of dale Coin
Racing we know is still open. I asked romango Jean
again this week among our other chats about sportscar racing,
any progress, anything done, and nope, doesn't mean it won't happen,
but I would I'm not willing to say we're just
(18:12):
waiting for the announcements. I think that one is still TBD,
and I'll go back to money. If I'm Roman Grojean,
who I think has probably done pretty well with a
decade in Formula One, I would think he'd want to
get paid a little bit. So then it comes down
(18:34):
to what is the team willing to pay and they're
going to weigh that over. There are other options. How
much do we want Roman Rojean, what's he going to
do for our program at forty how much will we
pay for that? Or Connor Daily, who can bring a
little bit of budget and will be good on the
ovals and can do things on rodent street courses as well.
(18:59):
I like Connor as an option there. I like Lenis
Lundquist as an option. He was there yesterday. He was
going to chat with the team as of he doesn't
have a massive lead, but he's had conversations. He was
at Rhode Atlanta as well. Kind of looking into sports cars,
I'd keep an eye on Toby Salary, who had a
(19:19):
really good couple of races with them. Was that that
was the year before last, that was twenty twenty four.
Toby did well and I know this, Toby is impressed
in LMP two in sports car racing this year. Those
are higher drives. When those are the cars that are
funded by oftentimes billionaires and at least multi multi millionaires,
(19:42):
they are hiring the people around them. So Toby and
Hunter mcilray, those kind of guys are getting hired to
drive race cars. So that that says something there. And
I think he's done pretty well the other seats, so
I don't know where that that's going to end up at.
(20:02):
And that goes back to Mick Schumacher, and like we said,
I don't think this was one of those. We want
to gather some data because we can use the evaluation
day like Aara McLaren is somewhat doing tomorrow with Nzo
Fitapaldi at Seabring. But also it's a long term plan.
You know, they're thinking about twenty twenty seven options for
(20:23):
Enzo Fittipaldi, who I think is doing Indie next this year.
He tested a couple of weeks ago out Audubon. I
don't know if he's signed yet. I saw Pietro this weekend.
I didn't ask him that they'll announce that when they
want to announce, but I suspect that's going to happen.
But Ray Hall, I suspect invested in this, so they
(20:48):
in my mind, I know devil In di Francesco's deal
was announced, his multi year, but I've not heard anyone
saying he's coming back. Could he He could? Here's just
my opinion. I don't think he is. I think it's
Mick Schumacher or someone else in that seat. And I'll
(21:10):
go back to a Toby Salary or a Linis Lungquist
or Yuri Hipps. Toby and Yuri have both been reserve
drivers or Connor daily in that car this year. So
I would never say never, but it doesn't seem super
likely from what I'm hearing about Devlin and just kind
of reading the tea leaves. Is this Mick Schumacher seat
(21:33):
if he wants it? I think so, I think it.
I think it is, you know, he flat out said.
Yesterday he said, you know, we both have over the
next few days and weeks, where it was his exact terminology,
we both have to decide, you know, where this is going,
(21:54):
if at all. And then he said, but obviously it
probably falls on me first. Do I want to do this?
He said, It's fun, I like the challenge. I want
to be in single seaters. I'm willing to do oval racing,
which is something I was dying to hear him say,
because his father was so adamant against it. Not that
(22:16):
he was disrespectful, but he just I had a lot
of conversations with him about the Indy five hundred, and
he appreciated it, and he wanted to see it thrive
and all those things. He just didn't want to do it.
The walls were too close, and he had accomplished too much,
and by that I mean his bank account I mean,
he was exactly.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
He didn't.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
People tell me yesterday that if you know, if Michael
was still well, that Mick would not be doing this,
and I said, I don't know about that. I don't
know because he would recognize one his son's an adult
and they might have a relationship where he just says
I'm gonna I wouldn't do it, but if you feel
(22:58):
like you want to do it, go for it. And
it's all about circumstances. I know several drivers who did
not want to do oval racing Alex Polo, but they
needed a job. They needed a job and that was
the job that was available and it included racing on ovals.
And Mick Schumacher might need a job right now, right well.
Speaker 3 (23:19):
You know, I could see him being back in sports cars.
I didn't ask him specifically about his path. We didn't
get that kind of time or access to him, meaning
I didn't get a chance to sit down and talk
to him one on one and just you know, really
feel him out. But you know, he doesn't have a
path back to single seaters unless it's Indy car and
(23:39):
he could be a sports car driver.
Speaker 1 (23:41):
I'm sure.
Speaker 3 (23:42):
I'm sure they could raise a budget for him, but
you know, he is very intrigued by this, and I
think by all accounts he got shown a red carpet
treatment because that's what Jay Fry would have done and
the team at ray Hall Letterman Land. Again.
Speaker 1 (23:59):
I saw the video of.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
Jay welcoming him to the to the shop on Friday,
and I'm sure they had a good visit and I'm sure, hey,
look mix a pro. I really was impressed. That's my
first time to spend time with him yesterday. He says
the right things. He's very well spoking spoken, you know,
in terms of an accent. His dad always had one.
(24:23):
Obviously he's German. You know, Mick doesn't even have one.
He sounds like he's ready to go, and he kept
saying this was fun, this is fun. I'm ready to
you know, ready to give this a serious thought. And
so I think it is his to choose, and if
he wants to do it, I think ray Hall wants
him to do it.
Speaker 1 (24:45):
I can't guarantee that all it takes is him saying
I'm in.
Speaker 3 (24:48):
I didn't say all guarantees, but I think that's the
that's the biggest, that's the best, that's where.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
It needs to start. They need to find out if
he wants to do it, then it's okay, how do
we pay for this? Now, maybe they already have a plan.
I hope they do. I hope they already have a
sponsor that says if you can get Mick Schumacher, then
we're in, or two or three different partners that says
we're in to pay for the budget that car. Because
keep in mind, Devlind Francesco was bringing a good portion
(25:17):
of the budget through their partners and the companies that
they work with, So you not only need to pay
the driver a little bit, you need to say goodbye
to the money that Devon was bringing if you want
to do that now. I noticed that there was a
logo on mixed hat, so he has at least one partner,
so hopefully there is some he can bring along, or
(25:40):
maybe he has personal sponsorship that kicks in if he's
driving at a high level, including the ND five hundred
to where the team doesn't have to pay him that
much of a salary and then it's just operating the car.
But that's still a lot. You know, you need to
find you got the leaders circle that helps. Oh wait
a minute, no, you don't you don't have the leader
circle of that car are already one point seven million
(26:02):
ish in the hole for next year, actually one million,
because I think the leader circle from last year that's
I don't know. That was a report from Racer that
it's moving up. But is that to be paid in
twenty twenty six? Here we go. This is from a
(26:24):
story from last week informed its entrance of a plan
to add five hundred thousand dollars each to each leader
circle contract for twenty twenty six.
Speaker 3 (26:34):
Regardless your point is well taken. That's money that you
need to you need.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
I'm just curious if the teams are getting that in
twenty twenty six or if this is for twenty twenty
seven based on whoever's in the top twenty two this year.
But yeah, that's not going to be there, and that
is a point. That's why, you know, the two cars
that we've talked about with drivers that were said to
be on multi year contracts did not make the leader circle.
(26:59):
So that's one of the reasons why they are in question.
The teams are going to not always look inward, They're
going to look outward. Can't be us, must be them,
So we need to change the driver in this case,
so they're they're looking to see if there are any
other options around. He did well. Let's see times that
(27:20):
were unofficial from yesterday. Dennis Hauger was the quickest, good
for him in his second test with dale Coin Racing.
Rossi was next. He was a tenth off. Schumacher was
two tenths off. Kyle Collette was three tenths off. Lockie Hughes,
(27:41):
we'll get to him in a moment. He was six
tenths off. Christian Rasmussen, who had some mechanical electric issues
something he didn't do a whole lot of laps, was next.
He was about seven eight tenths off, and then James
Rose and Hukos Hollinger car was a and a half
tens off. I would call that well done. First time
(28:03):
in an Indy car for James Row. You're inside a
second of the champ and you're within a tenths of
Alexander Rossi, who's won a race and been very fast
at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. So before I forget Lockey Hughes,
was I think were you standing there at the time
after he finished his little media scrum, I didn't hear
(28:25):
any of it, and I said how to go, and he's,
uh uh, my arms don't reach the steering wheel. So
he wasn't nearly as quick. I didn't see any times
in the morning, but he just said, you know, the
we're using my Indie next seat and I can reach it,
but my arms are very straight and there is a
(28:45):
lot of steering load. You know, it's a heavier car
than the Indy next car, so they can adjust the
caster and make it easier, but then that takes away
some performance. You know, then you're not able to be
as precise to simplify it a bit if you lessen
the caster or so he eventually parked a little bit
earlier because this is a waste of time, and then
they were going to see, you know, what can we
do to move the steering wheel a little bit closer
(29:07):
to me to put I don't think it's like you know,
form the forward racing or the Skip Barber series where
you can put a blanket in the bottom of the
seat and move them closer, but maybe effectively that's what
they're doing. So must have gotten better because he was
relatively in pace. So I'm happy that Lockie got something
out of that that was news from last week. He
(29:27):
was confirmed to return to Andretti for Indy Next. There
were some Ganassi rumors that were floating around out there
about moving to their program, so maybe that was one
of the incentives that kept him there. He gets a
day in the IndyCar. I had wondered if this was
part of the scholarship at one point, first, second, and
third in the scholarship got IndyCar test days. He said, no,
(29:49):
Third definitely does it, and I don't. I'm not even
sure that second does. I don't know if first does
or not. Maybe they do, but that wasn't the case there.
And he's also the Andretti IndyCar RESI driver, which is
a little bonus to the deal, and you know, kind
of allows him to want it. Looks good on the resume,
and I'm sure he'll spend even more time on the
(30:10):
IndyCar stand during the season this year. What else on that,
But yeah, Schumacher looked good. So now we actively wait
and see and the team may have simply been using
this let's see how he goes. And he's relatively quick,
and I'm sure they're looking at what were the impressions.
You know, there were some extra media out there for
(30:31):
a test day. I don't know what kind of attention
this got in Europe, in Germany and elsewhere, but they
can go and see, and they did their media with
him as well. If this got a lot of attention
and impressions, as we say, then that's something you use
ammunition if you don't have it sold yet, and that's
probably more likely. So all right, now we've got a
(30:53):
few weeks. Let's see if we can go sell this
and help make this happen.
Speaker 3 (31:00):
I can tell you when I went to do a
little research last couple of days, just to make sure
I had all my information lined up, Mick was mentioned
in a lot of publications that I'm not accustomed to reading. Globally,
the idea that he was going to test an IndyCar
drew attention in some places that at least multiple on
(31:25):
the websites. So I think it's a big deal globally.
As I might even said to you yesterday, I think
it's a bigger deal globally than it is here in
the States.
Speaker 1 (31:35):
So we'll see, we'll see. Yeah, I don't know that
it's a massive deal in America, but it could be
a big deal globally. And bottom line is Rayel is
looking for a good driver and that's what they're evaluating.
I think as well. And we've seen a lot of
success from F two drivers that have come over here
and have done well.
Speaker 3 (31:52):
Yeah, he's been an F two champion. Let's don't let's
say he can be a Schuemacher. He can be Bill Jones.
He still won an F two time. And the other
thing is, I think it's pretty impressive yesterday to be
that close. You know, you talk about, you know, a
driver having not been in an IndyCar before, He's not
(32:13):
seen this racetrack, he's not been in an Indy car,
he's not been with this team before Friday. I think
that's an admirable job for day one.
Speaker 1 (32:22):
What's going on with Alex Polo in the McLaren court case,
That and more coming up on track side. Hi, this
is Rene Speke and you're listening to trek sythe Okay,
I'm not going to go through all the quotes that
we've seen. Motorsport Magazine has been a really good resource
for the McLaren versus Alex Polow court case. But we've
learned of the disappearing message function on WhatsApp that I
(32:45):
was not familiar with, but apparently that is corporate policy
and Gavin Ward let that fly. And is it Jeff Papone,
the Canadian journalist, Yes, yes, he took some strays in
this somehow his text messages with and the former team
principal McClary made it out that yeah, that's what we
do to cover our butt in these certain situations. So
(33:08):
this still all comes down to and what I've seen.
I feel like it's looking better for Alex Polo, but
I don't know. It's going to depend on what the
contract is. Alex Polo asserts that he did this for
the prospect of getting to Formula one and he was
led to believe by Zach Brown that had a great
(33:31):
chance of happening. And Zach Brown says there were no
promises made in that regard. So what's written down and
what stands in a court of law in this case
for verbal assessments and how do you prove that?
Speaker 3 (33:47):
So the only thing I keep coming back to this
is anything based on law or knowledge of the case
other than what I've read. But it just stands to
reason that somebody would listen to this case. Hear both
sides and one have a hard time coming up with
the dollar figure that Aero McLaren professes to have lost.
(34:10):
And two it does seem obvious that Alex would go
to McLaren because he thinks there's a path that Formula
one and if you can in any way show that
you've been led to believe and then clearly that path
is not there, I think he'll get the benefit of
(34:31):
the doubt. Ultimately, that's just a prediction. Yeah, see what happened.
Speaker 1 (34:35):
I don't see twenty one million being charged to him.
He's probably going to have to pay something, yep, because
they probably have a case about we signed in TT data,
which by the way, we took from your previous team,
which is kind of standard operating procedure in motorsports. But
that was his sponsor at Ganassi. But we're losing them.
(34:57):
We're losing them at the end of twenty twenty six.
Although Alex Polo is a free agent in twenty twenty six,
you could try to sign him back. In that regard,
we're learning what all the other driver's salaries are. Polo
has said, I've had to take a lesser salary than
what I should get from Ganassi because this has been
confirmed they are covering this. So you know, Alex Polo
(35:20):
is not going to work for free forever, but he's
not quite making top dollar because of this. Now. Luckily
for him, this should be settled by the time he's
a free agent and old boy. If he's free and clear,
what that'd be interesting too. Is there a clause in there?
If I'm Ganassi, if I have to pay twenty one
(35:41):
million dollars for you, you're not a free agent in
twenty twenty six. You've just had your contract extended at
the same rate if we want you to be extended,
So that'd be a clause i'd be interested in. Is
he an outright free agent at the end of that time?
Hard to say, but I'm sure we'll eventually kind of
find out. It is interesting to learn. I'm sure he
(36:03):
did take a not a pay cut. They just they
just said, you're not getting what you should You're not
getting what Poto's getting exactly, not getting what Colton Hurda
is getting. Yeah, it's still pretty nice. Yeah, he's not
out on the street. I mean, he's not for a
guy with this hanging over his head to still be
crushing everyone. Can you imagine what he might do when
(36:24):
he's free and clear and has no more concerns.
Speaker 3 (36:28):
Yeah, he just might not be free and clear top on,
depending on what this costs Canassy, Well.
Speaker 1 (36:33):
I mean free and clear of the uncertainty of movie.
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah. Just when this is over,
he's obviously oh yeah yeah, mentally strong enough to just
kind of be able to deal with this.
Speaker 3 (36:43):
I think he's as mentally strong as as this Paddock has.
Speaker 1 (36:47):
I put Dixon in that category.
Speaker 3 (36:49):
And obviously there's a lot of other great, great drivers
in the sport, but you'd be hard pressed to find
one tougher than Alex Polo. He's as even as I
tell people all the time, when you're around Alex Plow,
you get the same Alex Plow, you know this better
even than I do. On good days, bad days, anything
(37:10):
in between, you get the same Alex below.
Speaker 1 (37:12):
Yep, he's professional. This I think is impactful in our world.
It's a sports car story. Porsche is exiting the World
Endurance Championship and that affects Team Penske. They have been
the partner in that the factory program they are going
(37:33):
to continue in IMSA. So I've wondered about this all summer,
and I think when Jonathan do Good was first name,
he's been running the sports car program as the head
of the Indiecar program, I wondered, huh, And I think
I had also asked some people, and yeah, there's a
little bit uncertainly about what's going on with Porscha. If
(37:54):
they're going to continue. I wonder if they're was a
sense that one of the programs, either IMSA or WEK,
was going away that would free up a little bit
of his time because he was in charge of this
worldwide global program and IndyCar, so that lessens his and
(38:16):
his played a little bit. There is a possibility Penske
could still figure out a way to do LAMA, but
that's going to include probably helping to fund some privateer teams.
There have to be two Porsches that take place in
the Porsche in the World Endurance Championship to guarantee the invite.
(38:37):
So that's the only thing that Roger Penske hasn't done
is win LAMA. So TBD and if they're going to
get a chance to do that, but they'll continue in WEK,
I'm sorry, in IMSA, and obviously the IndyCar program as well,
and speaking of the IndyCar program, we kind of wondered
if Simon Pageno might end up there in a management role,
and I forgot to mention this last week, but he
(38:58):
has taken on a pro role with Formula one and
Cadillac their simulator program, which seems like the perfect role
for him. Pietro Fittipaldi and sports car driver Charlie Eastwood,
who's a GM Corvette factory driver. Those are the others involved.
Speaker 3 (39:14):
Yeah, his resources and his talent should not go untapped.
I mean, he's got so much to give to this sport.
He has given so much, and I'm really happy for Simon.
Speaker 1 (39:28):
I'm happy that he feels well enough to spend time
in the simulator. That's exact huge sign right there, because
that is if you've had a head injury, I got
to think that's maybe even harder to do than driving
a race car. Totally agree, Totally motion involves. So that's
fantastic news that Simon is feeling well enough to be
able to do that. So positive thoughts on where he's
(39:49):
headed in life at this point. I was going to
do one question and maybe you would know an answer
to and I'll get to the rest coming up in
a moment and it was from IndyCar Ken. I've heard
that there's some out there, But when do you expect
the new car rendering to be made available to the public.
I have not seen anything on that. Ask that. Maybe
(40:11):
ask that in the office and give us an answer
next week. Yeah, I'll try to see that.
Speaker 3 (40:16):
I think they're going to be vague about it, honestly,
but I would think before the perfect time. In my mind,
it'll be the start of the month of May, somewhere
in the early part of the month of May. Okay,
I mean they if you look at the history of
the rollouts in the last eight to ten years, there's
a lot of new car stuff that is discussed at
(40:37):
the Indy five hundred yep.
Speaker 1 (40:39):
Okay, all right, we'll see what we missed and we'll
get to some of your Twitter questions via x. Next
on trackside, Hi, this is Graham ray Hall and you're
listening to trackside on ninety three five and one oh
seven five the fan Okay, final segment, and I'm going
to try to start making these a little more substantive,
meaning longer than thirty seconds or minutes. We've got a
few minutes to chat here of some things we've missed.
(41:01):
I saw Adam Stern of Sports Business Journal posted the
television ratings for motorsports and a lot of angst among
NASCAR fans that NHR topped the Cup series on USA
one point seven million for Cup and NHR got one
point eighty seven million on Fox, and Adam didn't know.
(41:22):
And this is what I've always talked about, the one
that the circumstance, it intrigues me. For IndyCar, if you
found the right events and you could get Fox to
guarantee a four to thirty Eastern time start after the
one o'clock NFL games, there was a seven point two
million viewer lead in with the NFL. Now, the afternoon
slot usually gets well. I think it's like eighteen million
(41:47):
if you have that afternoon game, and that's how you
get that. They've done that once or twice every season.
It's brilliant strategy. My guess is that the number. And
I'm not ripping on NHR because it would be somewhat
similar for Indiecar. IndyCar typically rates a little higher than
an HR, but it would be a sliding scale. It
would start out at five or six million for people
(42:09):
that can't find the clicker, or have multiple TVs and
just leave one on and it would end up at
whatever whatever your typical rating is against the NFL at
the end of the day, at you know, a few
hundred thousand or something like that, but the average still
comes out to one point eight seven million. So that
is just something to think about down the road. If
(42:33):
the circumstance happens. I don't think it makes a lot
of sense for Fox or I don't think it's likely.
As I mentioned before, most of the people that work
on IndyCar on the production side are doing NFL games
in very significant roles in NFL games. Amy tweets at
Indie Underscore. Amy, how do we get counter Daily to
(42:53):
see for next year?
Speaker 2 (42:54):
Well?
Speaker 1 (42:54):
I would love to see him full time. I know
the budget is always the issue. Is splitting the season
between two drivers still an option? So we can at
least get him on the ovals, maybe with Collette or Grosjean,
So I would say maybe. And as I mentioned before,
and if you missed the beginning of the show, I
think the top story was Rina's VK was announced for
Hunkos Haulinger Racing and there was no announcement of who
(43:15):
the teammate is or who was out. It was Connor
Daily and Stingray Rob last year. Sting Ray Rob is
the one who has a multi year contract. Whether they're
options and out, we do not know. But Connor has
been clear that his was a one year contract and
I think the scenario for him to continue would be
if they found the means and the motivation decide that
(43:40):
they want to explore cutting ties with Stingray, then Connor
would be able to bring some budget, but not as
much as Stingray. The Collette Foight thing is a maybe.
I think Collet's definitely got money and he's going to
do races for aj Foyd Racing, so I could see
that as being a possibility. I would think Connor is
(44:01):
still a prospect for dale Coin Racing. Again, solid driver
that can bring some budget. Don't know what the number is,
but I think it's more than a million. It's probably
two million or so, maybe more than that, and it
can grow depending on how it goes. I'd be surprised.
I think I have another question here about splitting with Schumacher.
(44:21):
I'd be surprised if that happens in one because Schumacher
was asked if that was something he would want to do.
Some drivers come over like Grojan the first year, like
Jimmy Johnson the first year and only did the road
courses and street courses, and he said, no, if I'm
going to do this, I want to do them all.
I'm all in. And obviously it's easier to bring a
budget together if you're doing the DY five hundred, and
(44:42):
that's the race that everybody knows, Uh what else that's
saved from? I think last week Stephen Pankew says, or
ask any word on what Gavin Ward is up to.
Seems like he'd be a hot commodity as far as
engineers go, and he's been a fable for over a year.
Great question. You know, we brought him up because his
(45:03):
name's surfaced and test messages in the McLaren Poalou trial. Yeah,
his gardening leave, his non compete should be over now
because it has well, it's been right exactly the year.
I think he separated in October. It's possible though, that
that contract went through the end of the year. It's
(45:24):
possible he had a full year and he's not eligible
until January first, so I think that's when we start
looking into it. I wouldn't be surprised if Gavin was
okay with just taking a break. I miss Gavin. I
really like him. I think he's a smart guy, and
I agree whenever he wants to work again, he is
(45:44):
going to have options, and I think people lined up
to have him work. Lynn says, okay. Lynn asked the
question about Schumacher and Connor answered that one. Richard says,
what race you're looking forward to be at except for
the Indy five hundred next year? Always Long Beach. I'd say, actually,
always Saint Pete. It's the first race of the year.
(46:06):
I love that event. You could put it at the
end of the season, or in the middle of the
season or whenever, and I would love that. But since
it's the first, yeah, it's the first day of school
if you really liked school, and Long Beach is up there,
I want to see what Arlington is. I think that
has the possibility of being a fantastic event as well.
AJ asks about Connor's options. Foyd McLaren Indy five hundred
(46:28):
ride question Mark, I give that a chance at McLaren
If Ryan Hunter Ray is not going there, If Connor
Zillig is not going there. If they want some budgets,
then yeah, Connor is there. I think Connor and Hunter
Ray be my guest. We're in McLaren Dryer and Ryan Bold,
(46:48):
whichever one is in which and some of that's dependent
on who needs budget and so forth, but both very
very competent. Muhammed asked about Rena's VK and about engineers.
We don't know about engineers at this point, but they
have a solid staff. This is this is a program
that can grow in that regard. All right, any other
specific questions, I think that is all that came in today,
(47:12):
so we'll talk again next Tuesday. We've come to the
end of my motorsports broadcast season. It's been a lot
of fun and as I posted on social media, I
am really thankful. You know, a year ago, didn't know
what I was doing. I knew I would have some
work with NBC on sports cars, but the fact that
they let me do every race that I was available for,
and Fox let me do races on NBC while paying
(47:35):
me full time throughout the year, And hopefully we can
do that again next year and looking forward to it,
and we still have plenty of things to talk about
in the off season. We need to find out about
Honda and a lot more. We'll talk about that next
Tuesday on track Side
This is track side with Kirk Cavin and Kevin Lee
on ninety three to five and one oh seven five
the Fan.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
It's been notice good, get to get to know the car,
get to know the team. I think we really managed
to get through all the run plan and all the
test items we wanted to do, so obviously very happy
about that.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
Then.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Yeah, I think we're stoked about what the lap times
were doing. And I think it wasn't a main target,
but still it went pretty well. Yeah, happy about today.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Hello, welcome, thanks for joining us on track side ninety
three to five and one oh seven five the Fan
in Indianapolis, and that's where Mick Schumacher was the former
Formula one driver FIAF two champs, son of the legendary
Michael Schumacher. He was at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway along
with six others testing Indy cars on the road course yesterday.
(00:52):
That's one of the topics. We have another confirmation we
have more testing coming up and some not a lot,
with some activity on the oval at the Indianapolis Motor
Speedway next week. Hey, you're joining us Kevin Lee, urd
cabin landon coons Is in our Indianapolis studio. We need
(01:13):
to have some sort of racing event now because this
is perfect weather. I look forward to seeing snow within
at least a week.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
Yeah, it's supposed to go downhill a little bit starting Sunday,
but hey, we could still have a nice event before
the weekend. And yeah, it's just been beautiful. It was
so nice to be out of the racetrack yesterday, even
I say even as a road course. Of course, every
time at IMS, we always like to see the oval,
but we'll see that next week to some extent. So
(01:44):
here we go, it's October and we're still talking about
cars on racetracks.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
So we'll go ahead and look at the long range
forecast since it was so perfect. Next week the oval test,
and there's not a lot of it. I haven't seen
any kind of list anybody's reported, but from what I've heard,
it's not even ten, which is I think maybe what
(02:11):
we had last year, because I was talking to a
team owner recently that was disappointed that they were not
eligible or invited to participate, and I think it was
something along the lines of top two in the championship
for manufacture or something along those lines. And then it
might also be a situation where if you're a technical
(02:33):
partner then you're not going along along those lines. So
I haven't seen the list yet, but we shall see.
We know this Will Power will not be participating unless
he unless team Penske wants them. But it's probably going
to be Penske, Ganassi Andretti McLaren wul those have been
the tops in the championship. That's two Hondas, that's two Chevyes.
(02:56):
But that's TBD. So you mentioned it's supposed to get
a little chillier this weekend. Not too bad though, I'm
seeing according to ACI Weather, next Tuesday low of forty seven,
high of sixty seven. Wednesday low of forty four, high
of sixty eight. So if it says we're going green
(03:17):
at nine am, don't bother. They're not going green at
nine am, but maybe something around eleven am or ten
am or something like that, and then it will be
nice in the afternoon. And here's even better. So you
can't just look at the day of, you got to
look the day before. There is a sixty percent or
so chance of rain Saturday and Sunday in Indianapolis this weekend,
(03:39):
but Monday zero percent, Tuesday one percent, Wednesday zero percent,
Thursday zero percent, Friday one percent, on and on. Wow,
not again until Monday, the twenty seventh. So looking good
for that. And someone will always ask, they always do.
It's always the same. The mountains are always open, right,
(03:59):
the mound is always going to be open. Any time
that the gate closes, I assume in the evening, but
anytime during business hours if the museum is open, then
that gate is going to be open. And you can
stand on the south end and watch cars go around
if you choose to do so. So we'll get to
(04:20):
what happened yesterday at the test, but we have news
from today, a confirmation that we all assumed was happening.
Surely renas Vik doesn't tell one of the few teams
that has an Indy car seat available, no thanks, I'm
not interested, which he apparently did right at the end
of the season the last weekend in Nashville, if he
(04:40):
did not have something lined up. And it was announced
this morning at ten o'clock that Honkos Hollinger has signed
renas Vik as their lead driver. They put that in
the release for twenty twenty six. This is a reunion.
That's where he went to what was then called Pro
Mazda Championship in twenty eighteen. I had really a fantastic
(05:01):
Indie Light season there in twenty nineteen, finished as the
runner up. Who was that to is that? Oliver ask
you that years? Yes, with you know, honestly a deeper
andretty team so to be able to fight and that
was early on in the generation for Hunkos at that level.
(05:23):
So he has some history there and he's back, and
you know, I think people keep asking, well, wait a minute.
Dale Coin Racing finished higher in the championship. They have
Michael Cannon. They now have a bit of a relationship
with Andretti. Although it may only be for Dennis Hauger,
but surely some things could trickle down. Why did he
(05:46):
leave dale Coin Racing for who goes hauling a racing?
Speaker 3 (05:49):
Well, and I'm as intrigued by the fact that they
listed him as a lead driver. I don't know if
that's just creative writing or if there's something that speaks
to one one driver is the preferred or the one
in charge so to speak. I don't know, that's not
really the right phrase, but you know, he's got a
relationship there. You know, when all things I have trouble myself.
(06:17):
I have trouble with like no Michael Cannon, no Andrettic connections.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Well, you know my answer to everything. When we don't
have an answer, what do you think? The answer is money?
The answer is always money, Kurt, and it only it
does not mention multi year contracts. Maybe it is, but
if it includes an option where he can exit, because
that's if you're not He's made it very clear as
(06:45):
all racing drivers want, he wants to be with one
of the big teams that can win a championship. And
that's kind of what this year was. But one there
weren't any other options, and he got the deal with
dale Coin Racing Bear late, and I know he's very
grateful for that opportunity and they did some really nice
(07:05):
things together. But he wants, since he did not get
an invite to one of the big teams this year,
to really cash in and have a chance to compete
for a championship. No disrespect, but Honkos Hollinger is not
competing for a championship right in twenty twenty six. That's
not too harsh to say that they're not going to
(07:25):
be all the Ganassi and Penske and Andretti and McLaren
Cars and so on and so forth. So then you
get back to all right, if this is not likely
to be my long term home, if I'm still hoping
to this show, I can punch above my weights. And
if I am eligible to be signed by a bigger
(07:49):
team with more funding, with more resources, on and on
and on for twenty twenty seven, then what am I
looking for? What a lot of us are. All he's
looking for is what's best for my family, what's going
to pay me the most? And I can't imagine that
dale Coin Racing is in a position where they can
(08:10):
pay a significant salary to their drivers. And if Brad
Hollinger decides that he really wants to move this team forward,
this is not going to be a hardship for Brad
Hollinger to pay Rinu's VK anywhere from three hundred thousand
dollars to one point five million dollars. No idea what
(08:33):
it is, but I have a feeling that the offer
from dale Coin Racing is going to be more in
the five hundred thousand dollars range down to one hundred
thousand dollars, you know, somewhere in that range, and Honestly,
there are racing drivers at the IndyCar level that have
driven for meal money. It happened, you know that, And
(08:53):
really it's the adverse of that. You are asked to
bring several million dollars. So then it's just how you
want to get creative with the people. If you're a
driver that are supplying the budget required to operate the car.
What drivers prefer to do is if the team is
asking for seven million dollars for you to be in
(09:15):
the car, then you need to come up with eight
million dollars of sponsorship money. So that way you have
carved out a salary, and many do do it that way,
but sometimes it's we could only raise four million dollars
and a team is going to because they're desperate, take
that four million dollars and give me the whole season.
So you decide to bet on yourself and you're not
(09:36):
taking a salary this year. That happens, unfortunately more than
it should. So I think that's what it comes down to,
that there is just more of an opportunity, and then
you get into things like we are going to make
you are lead driver, so we put that in the
pressure release and we're going to tailor the entire program
to your needs, and we're going to do this, that
(09:58):
and the other, and that's where we're at.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
So also interesting that they didn't list to second driver.
You and I both had a chance yesterday to speak
to sting ray Rob, who it's been pretty clear they
have spoke. He and his manager have spoke about multi
years with the organization. A friend of mine likes to
speak of contracts as suggestions. You know, we'll So what
(10:26):
does it mean? Do they have a second driver? Is
it stingray Rob, Is it's not stingray Rob. Is it
going to be someone else?
Speaker 1 (10:33):
I can't say definitively on this, so yes, many people
have noted that the second driver is not mentioned in this.
Now it could be simply that the team's perspective on
this is, well, we announced sting ray Rob with a
multi year contract last year. We do not need to
repeat this. So that could be one. Two could be well,
(10:58):
this was an announcement about re this VK and we'll
do something later, But I'm not really buying that. I
think you'd have to go back to one that we
already announced that. But unfortunately, this is where I think
we are at. Since so many people made note, meaning
(11:19):
journalists like Marshall Pruet of racer dot Com and Nathan
Brown of the Indianapolis Star made note of that if
it was one hundred percent on lockdown that Stingray Rob
was returning as their driver. I think the team would
have probably reached out to Nathan Marshall anyone else posting
(11:41):
that has a major platform and said, we just didn't
put it in there because we announced it last year.
Stingray is our driver next year. Now I think sting
Ray will be their driver next year. However, back to
the contracts or suggestions, it sometimes is differer than that too.
It's I believe when his manager Peter Rossi says, we
(12:06):
have a multi year agreement, but what are the outs?
What are the options? Most contracts have buyout clauses or
team related options, whether it's based on performance results or
you know, it could just be simply be who knows,
(12:27):
but that's what we don't know. And my guess is
that Nathan and Marshall and Bob Pocras have asked the
team for something and they probably haven't gotten anything because
they probably they want to be vague on this. And
here's my theory on this, And like I said, I
think sting Ray Rob will be in that car next
(12:47):
year because he has a I think a good amount
of budget surrounding him, and he's a very pleasant young man,
and I don't know that he's had the full opportunity
to show what he is capable of. They still have
some work to do in their program, but I think
who comes Hollinger is one of those teams that is
(13:09):
looking for outside investment, like Ed Carpenter Racing God with
Ted Geloff. And if that were to come together and
someone came in that took over a big portion of
the ownership, maybe even majority ownership, And if they are
having any discussions that have any chance, they probably would
(13:30):
like that new group to have some say on who
is going to be in that seat. And if you're
flush full of resources, just like Penn State buying out
James Franklin for fifty million dollars, if somebody comes in
with unlimited money and says who is the best driver available,
and I don't care what it costs, I want us
(13:51):
to go get him and create a seat. That's my
theory on that. And you know, I know Peter has
reached out to some that have written these things and said, Nope,
it's a lockdown contract. He's going to be back and
that's his job to do so. And I'm sure he's
doing that again today. And like I said, I don't
(14:11):
disagree with that. I think that's going to be what
they find is their best option. But it's possible that
there is some possibility where, in the perfect scenario, they
could create that space. And I feel bad for that,
but I'm sure that's what's going on right now. Is
Peter Rossi, who's been reaching out to journalists, is trying
(14:33):
to get someone and who goes Hollinger, please make a
statement so people stop talking about my driver potentially being
on the outs.
Speaker 3 (14:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
I think we're to the point now where there's not
really anywhere else to go, and we'll get to that
in a moment.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
Yeah. And I think that seat in some form is
going to come down to money, because as you mentioned,
it seems likely that Arenas VK Camp didn't bring money
and only they're paying for it. So the extra money
has to come from somewhere. Is that an outside investor,
(15:06):
Is that a driver like Stingray Rob and his budget
somewhere there's going to be some more somewhere. There's a
need for some money in this program.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
And they are good seats. By the way, going back
to Rena's available, we think in twenty twenty seven, Marcus
Erickson is down to one year on his contract. Nolan
Siegel is probably one year at Errow. McLaren Marshall Prue
had mentioned openings Chip Ganassi racing or in and opening.
I guess Italic's plow. Yeah, we've seen his contract is
(15:36):
up at the end of twenty twenty six, and these
court proceedings. Maybe Dixon is up. And when you're in
your mid forties, you always I think it's fair to
say it's year to year. I'll be surprised if Dixon
only does one more year. I think he's got multiple
years still left in him, but that's always a question
mark until you know he says and tells the team
I'm definitely coming back at this point. So we y'all see, Oh, Joseph, Joseph,
(16:03):
That's what I've wondered about. I don't Joseph's either got
one or two years and unless things turn this year,
there's going to be a change in that car. He's
gonna want it and they're gonna want it if things
don't aren't different in all aspects in twenty twenty six,
and then I think filand frozen Quist is up after
(16:24):
one more year at Meyer Shank Racing, so three seats
remain to be confirmed. I guess you could say it's
four when you include this thing, right rob situation, so
I guess you'd call it four. Likely at least two
and maybe only one are open. So the four at
(16:45):
aj Foyd Racing. Kyle Collette tested yesterday for the second time.
Don't know anything but one that kind of tells me
that this isn't just another evaluation day. So this test yesterday,
Kyle Collette already did his indie next evaluation test. This
(17:08):
is the rookie test for this team in twenty twenty six.
If they were to bring on another rookie, that rookie
would not get a test next year, So that means
it's serious and they'd be short a day for next season.
I believe Kyle Collette is going to do races, if
not the full season for them. I didn't ask him
(17:28):
to confirm it or not. I'm going to let him
give that information. But by the way, he's been good
in both tests, and I also think there is some
budget behind him. There should be. Brazil has been a
great market for IndyCar for a long time, and someone
that's finished second in the Indie Next Championship has shown
well in two tests. I would think they can come
(17:50):
up with something for him. Is it full season or not,
we'll get to that. The fifty one of dale Coin
Racing we know is still open. I asked romango Jean
again this week among our other chats about sportscar racing,
any progress, anything done, and nope, doesn't mean it won't happen,
but I would I'm not willing to say we're just
(18:12):
waiting for the announcements. I think that one is still TBD,
and I'll go back to money. If I'm Roman Grojean,
who I think has probably done pretty well with a
decade in Formula One, I would think he'd want to
get paid a little bit. So then it comes down
(18:34):
to what is the team willing to pay and they're
going to weigh that over. There are other options. How
much do we want Roman Rojean, what's he going to
do for our program at forty how much will we
pay for that? Or Connor Daily, who can bring a
little bit of budget and will be good on the
ovals and can do things on rodent street courses as well.
(18:59):
I like Connor as an option there. I like Lenis
Lundquist as an option. He was there yesterday. He was
going to chat with the team as of he doesn't
have a massive lead, but he's had conversations. He was
at Rhode Atlanta as well. Kind of looking into sports cars,
I'd keep an eye on Toby Salary, who had a
(19:19):
really good couple of races with them. Was that that
was the year before last, that was twenty twenty four.
Toby did well and I know this, Toby is impressed
in LMP two in sports car racing this year. Those
are higher drives. When those are the cars that are
funded by oftentimes billionaires and at least multi multi millionaires,
(19:42):
they are hiring the people around them. So Toby and
Hunter mcilray, those kind of guys are getting hired to
drive race cars. So that that says something there. And
I think he's done pretty well the other seats, so
I don't know where that that's going to end up at.
(20:02):
And that goes back to Mick Schumacher, and like we said,
I don't think this was one of those. We want
to gather some data because we can use the evaluation
day like Aara McLaren is somewhat doing tomorrow with Nzo
Fitapaldi at Seabring. But also it's a long term plan.
You know, they're thinking about twenty twenty seven options for
(20:23):
Enzo Fittipaldi, who I think is doing Indie next this year.
He tested a couple of weeks ago out Audubon. I
don't know if he's signed yet. I saw Pietro this weekend.
I didn't ask him that they'll announce that when they
want to announce, but I suspect that's going to happen.
But Ray Hall, I suspect invested in this, so they
(20:48):
in my mind, I know devil In di Francesco's deal
was announced, his multi year, but I've not heard anyone
saying he's coming back. Could he He could? Here's just
my opinion. I don't think he is. I think it's
Mick Schumacher or someone else in that seat. And I'll
(21:10):
go back to a Toby Salary or a Linis Lungquist
or Yuri Hipps. Toby and Yuri have both been reserve
drivers or Connor daily in that car this year. So
I would never say never, but it doesn't seem super
likely from what I'm hearing about Devlin and just kind
of reading the tea leaves. Is this Mick Schumacher seat
(21:33):
if he wants it? I think so, I think it.
I think it is, you know, he flat out said.
Yesterday he said, you know, we both have over the
next few days and weeks, where it was his exact terminology,
we both have to decide, you know, where this is going,
(21:54):
if at all. And then he said, but obviously it
probably falls on me first. Do I want to do this?
He said, It's fun, I like the challenge. I want
to be in single seaters. I'm willing to do oval racing,
which is something I was dying to hear him say,
because his father was so adamant against it. Not that
(22:16):
he was disrespectful, but he just I had a lot
of conversations with him about the Indy five hundred, and
he appreciated it, and he wanted to see it thrive
and all those things. He just didn't want to do it.
The walls were too close, and he had accomplished too much,
and by that I mean his bank account I mean,
he was exactly.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
He didn't.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
People tell me yesterday that if you know, if Michael
was still well, that Mick would not be doing this,
and I said, I don't know about that. I don't
know because he would recognize one his son's an adult
and they might have a relationship where he just says
I'm gonna I wouldn't do it, but if you feel
(22:58):
like you want to do it, go for it. And
it's all about circumstances. I know several drivers who did
not want to do oval racing Alex Polo, but they
needed a job. They needed a job and that was
the job that was available and it included racing on ovals.
And Mick Schumacher might need a job right now, right well.
Speaker 3 (23:19):
You know, I could see him being back in sports cars.
I didn't ask him specifically about his path. We didn't
get that kind of time or access to him, meaning
I didn't get a chance to sit down and talk
to him one on one and just you know, really
feel him out. But you know, he doesn't have a
path back to single seaters unless it's Indy car and
(23:39):
he could be a sports car driver.
Speaker 1 (23:41):
I'm sure.
Speaker 3 (23:42):
I'm sure they could raise a budget for him, but
you know, he is very intrigued by this, and I
think by all accounts he got shown a red carpet
treatment because that's what Jay Fry would have done and
the team at ray Hall Letterman Land. Again.
Speaker 1 (23:59):
I saw the video of.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
Jay welcoming him to the to the shop on Friday,
and I'm sure they had a good visit and I'm sure, hey,
look mix a pro. I really was impressed. That's my
first time to spend time with him yesterday. He says
the right things. He's very well spoking spoken, you know,
in terms of an accent. His dad always had one.
(24:23):
Obviously he's German. You know, Mick doesn't even have one.
He sounds like he's ready to go, and he kept
saying this was fun, this is fun. I'm ready to
you know, ready to give this a serious thought. And
so I think it is his to choose, and if
he wants to do it, I think ray Hall wants
him to do it.
Speaker 1 (24:45):
I can't guarantee that all it takes is him saying
I'm in.
Speaker 3 (24:48):
I didn't say all guarantees, but I think that's the
that's the biggest, that's the best, that's where.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
It needs to start. They need to find out if
he wants to do it, then it's okay, how do
we pay for this? Now, maybe they already have a plan.
I hope they do. I hope they already have a
sponsor that says if you can get Mick Schumacher, then
we're in, or two or three different partners that says
we're in to pay for the budget that car. Because
keep in mind, Devlind Francesco was bringing a good portion
(25:17):
of the budget through their partners and the companies that
they work with, So you not only need to pay
the driver a little bit, you need to say goodbye
to the money that Devon was bringing if you want
to do that now. I noticed that there was a
logo on mixed hat, so he has at least one partner,
so hopefully there is some he can bring along, or
(25:40):
maybe he has personal sponsorship that kicks in if he's
driving at a high level, including the ND five hundred
to where the team doesn't have to pay him that
much of a salary and then it's just operating the car.
But that's still a lot. You know, you need to
find you got the leaders circle that helps. Oh wait
a minute, no, you don't you don't have the leader
circle of that car are already one point seven million
(26:02):
ish in the hole for next year, actually one million,
because I think the leader circle from last year that's
I don't know. That was a report from Racer that
it's moving up. But is that to be paid in
twenty twenty six? Here we go. This is from a
(26:24):
story from last week informed its entrance of a plan
to add five hundred thousand dollars each to each leader
circle contract for twenty twenty six.
Speaker 3 (26:34):
Regardless your point is well taken. That's money that you
need to you need.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
I'm just curious if the teams are getting that in
twenty twenty six or if this is for twenty twenty
seven based on whoever's in the top twenty two this year.
But yeah, that's not going to be there, and that
is a point. That's why, you know, the two cars
that we've talked about with drivers that were said to
be on multi year contracts did not make the leader circle.
(26:59):
So that's one of the reasons why they are in question.
The teams are going to not always look inward, They're
going to look outward. Can't be us, must be them,
So we need to change the driver in this case,
so they're they're looking to see if there are any
other options around. He did well. Let's see times that
(27:20):
were unofficial from yesterday. Dennis Hauger was the quickest, good
for him in his second test with dale Coin Racing.
Rossi was next. He was a tenth off. Schumacher was
two tenths off. Kyle Collette was three tenths off. Lockie Hughes,
(27:41):
we'll get to him in a moment. He was six
tenths off. Christian Rasmussen, who had some mechanical electric issues
something he didn't do a whole lot of laps, was next.
He was about seven eight tenths off, and then James
Rose and Hukos Hollinger car was a and a half
tens off. I would call that well done. First time
(28:03):
in an Indy car for James Row. You're inside a
second of the champ and you're within a tenths of
Alexander Rossi, who's won a race and been very fast
at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. So before I forget Lockey Hughes,
was I think were you standing there at the time
after he finished his little media scrum, I didn't hear
(28:25):
any of it, and I said how to go, and he's,
uh uh, my arms don't reach the steering wheel. So
he wasn't nearly as quick. I didn't see any times
in the morning, but he just said, you know, the
we're using my Indie next seat and I can reach it,
but my arms are very straight and there is a
(28:45):
lot of steering load. You know, it's a heavier car
than the Indy next car, so they can adjust the
caster and make it easier, but then that takes away
some performance. You know, then you're not able to be
as precise to simplify it a bit if you lessen
the caster or so he eventually parked a little bit
earlier because this is a waste of time, and then
they were going to see, you know, what can we
do to move the steering wheel a little bit closer
(29:07):
to me to put I don't think it's like you know,
form the forward racing or the Skip Barber series where
you can put a blanket in the bottom of the
seat and move them closer, but maybe effectively that's what
they're doing. So must have gotten better because he was
relatively in pace. So I'm happy that Lockie got something
out of that that was news from last week. He
(29:27):
was confirmed to return to Andretti for Indy Next. There
were some Ganassi rumors that were floating around out there
about moving to their program, so maybe that was one
of the incentives that kept him there. He gets a
day in the IndyCar. I had wondered if this was
part of the scholarship at one point, first, second, and
third in the scholarship got IndyCar test days. He said, no,
(29:49):
Third definitely does it, and I don't. I'm not even
sure that second does. I don't know if first does
or not. Maybe they do, but that wasn't the case there.
And he's also the Andretti IndyCar RESI driver, which is
a little bonus to the deal, and you know, kind
of allows him to want it. Looks good on the resume,
and I'm sure he'll spend even more time on the
(30:10):
IndyCar stand during the season this year. What else on that,
But yeah, Schumacher looked good. So now we actively wait
and see and the team may have simply been using
this let's see how he goes. And he's relatively quick,
and I'm sure they're looking at what were the impressions.
You know, there were some extra media out there for
(30:31):
a test day. I don't know what kind of attention
this got in Europe, in Germany and elsewhere, but they
can go and see, and they did their media with
him as well. If this got a lot of attention
and impressions, as we say, then that's something you use
ammunition if you don't have it sold yet, and that's
probably more likely. So all right, now we've got a
(30:53):
few weeks. Let's see if we can go sell this
and help make this happen.
Speaker 3 (31:00):
I can tell you when I went to do a
little research last couple of days, just to make sure
I had all my information lined up, Mick was mentioned
in a lot of publications that I'm not accustomed to reading. Globally,
the idea that he was going to test an IndyCar
drew attention in some places that at least multiple on
(31:25):
the websites. So I think it's a big deal globally.
As I might even said to you yesterday, I think
it's a bigger deal globally than it is here in
the States.
Speaker 1 (31:35):
So we'll see, we'll see. Yeah, I don't know that
it's a massive deal in America, but it could be
a big deal globally. And bottom line is Rayel is
looking for a good driver and that's what they're evaluating.
I think as well. And we've seen a lot of
success from F two drivers that have come over here
and have done well.
Speaker 3 (31:52):
Yeah, he's been an F two champion. Let's don't let's
say he can be a Schuemacher. He can be Bill Jones.
He still won an F two time. And the other
thing is, I think it's pretty impressive yesterday to be
that close. You know, you talk about, you know, a
driver having not been in an IndyCar before, He's not
(32:13):
seen this racetrack, he's not been in an Indy car,
he's not been with this team before Friday. I think
that's an admirable job for day one.
Speaker 1 (32:22):
What's going on with Alex Polo in the McLaren court case,
That and more coming up on track side. Hi, this
is Rene Speke and you're listening to trek sythe Okay,
I'm not going to go through all the quotes that
we've seen. Motorsport Magazine has been a really good resource
for the McLaren versus Alex Polow court case. But we've
learned of the disappearing message function on WhatsApp that I
(32:45):
was not familiar with, but apparently that is corporate policy
and Gavin Ward let that fly. And is it Jeff Papone,
the Canadian journalist, Yes, yes, he took some strays in
this somehow his text messages with and the former team
principal McClary made it out that yeah, that's what we
do to cover our butt in these certain situations. So
(33:08):
this still all comes down to and what I've seen.
I feel like it's looking better for Alex Polo, but
I don't know. It's going to depend on what the
contract is. Alex Polo asserts that he did this for
the prospect of getting to Formula one and he was
led to believe by Zach Brown that had a great
(33:31):
chance of happening. And Zach Brown says there were no
promises made in that regard. So what's written down and
what stands in a court of law in this case
for verbal assessments and how do you prove that?
Speaker 3 (33:47):
So the only thing I keep coming back to this
is anything based on law or knowledge of the case
other than what I've read. But it just stands to
reason that somebody would listen to this case. Hear both
sides and one have a hard time coming up with
the dollar figure that Aero McLaren professes to have lost.
(34:10):
And two it does seem obvious that Alex would go
to McLaren because he thinks there's a path that Formula
one and if you can in any way show that
you've been led to believe and then clearly that path
is not there, I think he'll get the benefit of
(34:31):
the doubt. Ultimately, that's just a prediction. Yeah, see what happened.
Speaker 1 (34:35):
I don't see twenty one million being charged to him.
He's probably going to have to pay something, yep, because
they probably have a case about we signed in TT data,
which by the way, we took from your previous team,
which is kind of standard operating procedure in motorsports. But
that was his sponsor at Ganassi. But we're losing them.
(34:57):
We're losing them at the end of twenty twenty six.
Although Alex Polo is a free agent in twenty twenty six,
you could try to sign him back. In that regard,
we're learning what all the other driver's salaries are. Polo
has said, I've had to take a lesser salary than
what I should get from Ganassi because this has been
confirmed they are covering this. So you know, Alex Polo
(35:20):
is not going to work for free forever, but he's
not quite making top dollar because of this. Now. Luckily
for him, this should be settled by the time he's
a free agent and old boy. If he's free and clear,
what that'd be interesting too. Is there a clause in there?
If I'm Ganassi, if I have to pay twenty one
(35:41):
million dollars for you, you're not a free agent in
twenty twenty six. You've just had your contract extended at
the same rate if we want you to be extended,
So that'd be a clause i'd be interested in. Is
he an outright free agent at the end of that time?
Hard to say, but I'm sure we'll eventually kind of
find out. It is interesting to learn. I'm sure he
(36:03):
did take a not a pay cut. They just they
just said, you're not getting what you should You're not
getting what Poto's getting exactly, not getting what Colton Hurda
is getting. Yeah, it's still pretty nice. Yeah, he's not
out on the street. I mean, he's not for a
guy with this hanging over his head to still be
crushing everyone. Can you imagine what he might do when
(36:24):
he's free and clear and has no more concerns.
Speaker 3 (36:28):
Yeah, he just might not be free and clear top on,
depending on what this costs Canassy, Well.
Speaker 1 (36:33):
I mean free and clear of the uncertainty of movie.
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah. Just when this is over,
he's obviously oh yeah yeah, mentally strong enough to just
kind of be able to deal with this.
Speaker 3 (36:43):
I think he's as mentally strong as as this Paddock has.
Speaker 1 (36:47):
I put Dixon in that category.
Speaker 3 (36:49):
And obviously there's a lot of other great, great drivers
in the sport, but you'd be hard pressed to find
one tougher than Alex Polo. He's as even as I
tell people all the time, when you're around Alex Plow,
you get the same Alex Plow, you know this better
even than I do. On good days, bad days, anything
(37:10):
in between, you get the same Alex below.
Speaker 1 (37:12):
Yep, he's professional. This I think is impactful in our world.
It's a sports car story. Porsche is exiting the World
Endurance Championship and that affects Team Penske. They have been
the partner in that the factory program they are going
(37:33):
to continue in IMSA. So I've wondered about this all summer,
and I think when Jonathan do Good was first name,
he's been running the sports car program as the head
of the Indiecar program, I wondered, huh, And I think
I had also asked some people, and yeah, there's a
little bit uncertainly about what's going on with Porscha. If
(37:54):
they're going to continue. I wonder if they're was a
sense that one of the programs, either IMSA or WEK,
was going away that would free up a little bit
of his time because he was in charge of this
worldwide global program and IndyCar, so that lessens his and
(38:16):
his played a little bit. There is a possibility Penske
could still figure out a way to do LAMA, but
that's going to include probably helping to fund some privateer teams.
There have to be two Porsches that take place in
the Porsche in the World Endurance Championship to guarantee the invite.
(38:37):
So that's the only thing that Roger Penske hasn't done
is win LAMA. So TBD and if they're going to
get a chance to do that, but they'll continue in WEK,
I'm sorry, in IMSA, and obviously the IndyCar program as well,
and speaking of the IndyCar program, we kind of wondered
if Simon Pageno might end up there in a management role,
and I forgot to mention this last week, but he
(38:58):
has taken on a pro role with Formula one and
Cadillac their simulator program, which seems like the perfect role
for him. Pietro Fittipaldi and sports car driver Charlie Eastwood,
who's a GM Corvette factory driver. Those are the others involved.
Speaker 3 (39:14):
Yeah, his resources and his talent should not go untapped.
I mean, he's got so much to give to this sport.
He has given so much, and I'm really happy for Simon.
Speaker 1 (39:28):
I'm happy that he feels well enough to spend time
in the simulator. That's exact huge sign right there, because
that is if you've had a head injury, I got
to think that's maybe even harder to do than driving
a race car. Totally agree, Totally motion involves. So that's
fantastic news that Simon is feeling well enough to be
able to do that. So positive thoughts on where he's
(39:49):
headed in life at this point. I was going to
do one question and maybe you would know an answer
to and I'll get to the rest coming up in
a moment and it was from IndyCar Ken. I've heard
that there's some out there, But when do you expect
the new car rendering to be made available to the public.
I have not seen anything on that. Ask that. Maybe
(40:11):
ask that in the office and give us an answer
next week. Yeah, I'll try to see that.
Speaker 3 (40:16):
I think they're going to be vague about it, honestly,
but I would think before the perfect time. In my mind,
it'll be the start of the month of May, somewhere
in the early part of the month of May. Okay,
I mean they if you look at the history of
the rollouts in the last eight to ten years, there's
a lot of new car stuff that is discussed at
(40:37):
the Indy five hundred yep.
Speaker 1 (40:39):
Okay, all right, we'll see what we missed and we'll
get to some of your Twitter questions via x. Next
on trackside, Hi, this is Graham ray Hall and you're
listening to trackside on ninety three five and one oh
seven five the fan Okay, final segment, and I'm going
to try to start making these a little more substantive,
meaning longer than thirty seconds or minutes. We've got a
few minutes to chat here of some things we've missed.
(41:01):
I saw Adam Stern of Sports Business Journal posted the
television ratings for motorsports and a lot of angst among
NASCAR fans that NHR topped the Cup series on USA
one point seven million for Cup and NHR got one
point eighty seven million on Fox, and Adam didn't know.
(41:22):
And this is what I've always talked about, the one
that the circumstance, it intrigues me. For IndyCar, if you
found the right events and you could get Fox to
guarantee a four to thirty Eastern time start after the
one o'clock NFL games, there was a seven point two
million viewer lead in with the NFL. Now, the afternoon
slot usually gets well. I think it's like eighteen million
(41:47):
if you have that afternoon game, and that's how you
get that. They've done that once or twice every season.
It's brilliant strategy. My guess is that the number. And
I'm not ripping on NHR because it would be somewhat
similar for Indiecar. IndyCar typically rates a little higher than
an HR, but it would be a sliding scale. It
would start out at five or six million for people
(42:09):
that can't find the clicker, or have multiple TVs and
just leave one on and it would end up at
whatever whatever your typical rating is against the NFL at
the end of the day, at you know, a few
hundred thousand or something like that, but the average still
comes out to one point eight seven million. So that
is just something to think about down the road. If
(42:33):
the circumstance happens. I don't think it makes a lot
of sense for Fox or I don't think it's likely.
As I mentioned before, most of the people that work
on IndyCar on the production side are doing NFL games
in very significant roles in NFL games. Amy tweets at
Indie Underscore. Amy, how do we get counter Daily to
(42:53):
see for next year?
Speaker 2 (42:54):
Well?
Speaker 1 (42:54):
I would love to see him full time. I know
the budget is always the issue. Is splitting the season
between two drivers still an option? So we can at
least get him on the ovals, maybe with Collette or Grosjean,
So I would say maybe. And as I mentioned before,
and if you missed the beginning of the show, I
think the top story was Rina's VK was announced for
Hunkos Haulinger Racing and there was no announcement of who
(43:15):
the teammate is or who was out. It was Connor
Daily and Stingray Rob last year. Sting Ray Rob is
the one who has a multi year contract. Whether they're
options and out, we do not know. But Connor has
been clear that his was a one year contract and
I think the scenario for him to continue would be
if they found the means and the motivation decide that
(43:40):
they want to explore cutting ties with Stingray, then Connor
would be able to bring some budget, but not as
much as Stingray. The Collette Foight thing is a maybe.
I think Collet's definitely got money and he's going to
do races for aj Foyd Racing, so I could see
that as being a possibility. I would think Connor is
(44:01):
still a prospect for dale Coin Racing. Again, solid driver
that can bring some budget. Don't know what the number is,
but I think it's more than a million. It's probably
two million or so, maybe more than that, and it
can grow depending on how it goes. I'd be surprised.
I think I have another question here about splitting with Schumacher.
(44:21):
I'd be surprised if that happens in one because Schumacher
was asked if that was something he would want to do.
Some drivers come over like Grojan the first year, like
Jimmy Johnson the first year and only did the road
courses and street courses, and he said, no, if I'm
going to do this, I want to do them all.
I'm all in. And obviously it's easier to bring a
budget together if you're doing the DY five hundred, and
(44:42):
that's the race that everybody knows, Uh what else that's
saved from? I think last week Stephen Pankew says, or
ask any word on what Gavin Ward is up to.
Seems like he'd be a hot commodity as far as
engineers go, and he's been a fable for over a year.
Great question. You know, we brought him up because his
(45:03):
name's surfaced and test messages in the McLaren Poalou trial. Yeah,
his gardening leave, his non compete should be over now
because it has well, it's been right exactly the year.
I think he separated in October. It's possible though, that
that contract went through the end of the year. It's
(45:24):
possible he had a full year and he's not eligible
until January first, so I think that's when we start
looking into it. I wouldn't be surprised if Gavin was
okay with just taking a break. I miss Gavin. I
really like him. I think he's a smart guy, and
I agree whenever he wants to work again, he is
(45:44):
going to have options, and I think people lined up
to have him work. Lynn says, okay. Lynn asked the
question about Schumacher and Connor answered that one. Richard says,
what race you're looking forward to be at except for
the Indy five hundred next year? Always Long Beach. I'd say, actually,
always Saint Pete. It's the first race of the year.
(46:06):
I love that event. You could put it at the
end of the season, or in the middle of the
season or whenever, and I would love that. But since
it's the first, yeah, it's the first day of school
if you really liked school, and Long Beach is up there,
I want to see what Arlington is. I think that
has the possibility of being a fantastic event as well.
AJ asks about Connor's options. Foyd McLaren Indy five hundred
(46:28):
ride question Mark, I give that a chance at McLaren
If Ryan Hunter Ray is not going there, If Connor
Zillig is not going there. If they want some budgets,
then yeah, Connor is there. I think Connor and Hunter
Ray be my guest. We're in McLaren Dryer and Ryan Bold,
(46:48):
whichever one is in which and some of that's dependent
on who needs budget and so forth, but both very
very competent. Muhammed asked about Rena's VK and about engineers.
We don't know about engineers at this point, but they
have a solid staff. This is this is a program
that can grow in that regard. All right, any other
specific questions, I think that is all that came in today,
(47:12):
so we'll talk again next Tuesday. We've come to the
end of my motorsports broadcast season. It's been a lot
of fun and as I posted on social media, I
am really thankful. You know, a year ago, didn't know
what I was doing. I knew I would have some
work with NBC on sports cars, but the fact that
they let me do every race that I was available for,
and Fox let me do races on NBC while paying
(47:35):
me full time throughout the year, And hopefully we can
do that again next year and looking forward to it,
and we still have plenty of things to talk about
in the off season. We need to find out about
Honda and a lot more. We'll talk about that next
Tuesday on track Side
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