Curt and Kevin Talk Power & VeeKay Not Returning & Recapping a Music City Championship!

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
This is track side with Kirk Cavin and Kevin Lee
on ninety three five and one oh seven.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
The bank car has gone around in the wall.

Speaker 3 (00:13):
Rasmussen the first time winner last time out, he's a
winning or pinute driver and this time he's in the
wall and out before we've even completed a lamp. Oh
and Alex Blow has a flat from right. A man
from second place has.

Speaker 2 (00:28):
The PREDI and o't no no, and that is Foster.

Speaker 3 (00:36):
Not willing to give that position of rookie, ultimately getting
in stiff take up Lucas disaster for the race leader.
Pato Award is out. Pato Award high onto the marbles,
runs up into the wall, and from a dominant day
in which he's led more laps on one day than
he ever has in an afternoon, he is out of

(00:58):
the race.

Speaker 2 (00:59):
Out of the lee. Oh he goes hi, Hi, he
really high. He led into the wall. He might be okay,
he fairly touched it. But Joseph, you.

Speaker 3 (01:07):
Good will awaken from what has been a nightmare.

Speaker 2 (01:10):
Year to the most beautiful dream. It will be a win.

Speaker 3 (01:15):
Wall hat home in Nashville for Joseph Newgarden, and he
is doing what he's so desperately wanted to do in Indianapolis.
He will celebrate not just with any crowd, but.

Speaker 2 (01:26):
With his crowd. Your champion, alex Is tenn and got
Assi Racing, one of, if not the most one sided
championship is over. So is twenty twenty five. Yeah, we
did see a seventh different winner on Sunday at Nashville
Super Speedway, and Joseph Newgarten's nightmare season at least has
a pleasant awakening. Now it's next. Will Power is officially

(01:50):
out at Team Penske, the winningest driver ever, their most
successful driver statistically this season, their most recent champion. Where
is he headed? What about Colton Herda? There's Rena's VK news.
I'll take some guesses at open seats and much more. Hello, Welcome,
thanks for joining us. Highlights courtesy of Fox Sports of

(02:11):
Nashville Super Speedway season finale on Sunday afternoon. Another banger,
the kids would say, especially beginning and end with some
moments in the middle as well, and Joseph Newgarten breaks
through and gets to win. I'm Kevin Lee kirkavn is
with us landon Coon's in our Indianapolis studio. Kurt we
would normally talk about the race and go through things.

(02:32):
I believe that's going to need to wait a little bit.
I think it could most Yeah, people saw it. Well,
I think we have enough things to talk about. That
could be our three of a two hour show. I
just don't it could be next week. And you know,
there's a lot of good things that happened in that
race at Nashville. There was much entertainment and there was

(02:56):
significant drama, I guess you could say, but all of
that as in comparison to you know, we're a fan
base of Okay, what's next? And I think the last I.

Speaker 1 (03:06):
Don't know, twelve twenty four hours, it pretty much provided that.

Speaker 2 (03:11):
Well, let's start with Willpower the first. As they like
to say, Domino has fallen. A confirmation this morning at
I'm going to say a little bit before ten o'clock.
I think it was almost exactly at ten o'clock clock,
Team Penske announced that Power will depart the team prior
to the twenty twenty sixth season. They will announce their

(03:33):
plans for the number twelve Horizon Chevrolet at a later
dates from Roger Penske. As we sat down to talk
about our future together, Will felt that it was time
for him to make a change beginning with next season.
That's probably the one that stands out, and obviously glowing
quotes from Willpower as well. So we'll start there. I

(03:53):
think a lot of people are talking about that state
been in saying, well, that's the wrong way to go
about it. You're firing him, You're kicking him out the door.
Why are you saying that Will left? Remember when Will
at Portland, I think sort of slipped and said maybe

(04:14):
it is my decision, and then asked about it later
he said, you know, he didn't really want to get
into that. I've said this for a while. I thought
he was I thought he was gone, But I still
gave it a chance that they would find something for him,
either something unexpected happening and creating a seats, or they

(04:40):
would work together with David Milucas to delay his arrival
for a year, or he would have a Penske supported
program at aj Foyd Racing. By reading this and by
what I think, I know, I think that was part
of the plan. I also, oh think it's possible Roger

(05:03):
Penske is not highly disappointed at this outcome because he
knew he ran the risk of losing will and I
don't think he would hold it against him for quote
leading or moving on when there was no assurance for
much of the time. And I think I've said this
before on this show that the best outcome in this

(05:29):
circumstance for Penske Entertainment Team Penske, the series, which is
owned by Penske Entertainment, is will finding another good seats
because they clearly would like to look to the future
and feel like they need to have David Malucas on
their program and in their program in a proper Penske
car next year. But will Power is a part of

(05:53):
the family, and he's good for the sport. You want
to keep him involved. So this could simply have been, hey,
if you don't have anything, we're going to figure out
a way for you to drive full time next year.
Or maybe, if you want to talk semantics, maybe it
was he was just going to be offered a chance
to do the eighty five hundred, So you could technically
say he is still choosing to move on the program,

(06:16):
But I still think common sense was going to allow
him to do something, and we'll get to what some
of those others. Some things could be at all thoughts
on this, that and the other.

Speaker 1 (06:28):
Well, let's start with the idea that we've talked about
this now for better part of six months. You and
I have had I think, at some point in every
other conversation on this show, we've talked about willpower and
does willpower continue? And yet, in spite of all those,
you know, conversations, this morning at ten o'clock or a

(06:50):
couple minutes before when I first got wind of it,
I'm still shocked. How is the driver who has won
forty two races two hundred two championships has been you know,
he has won three or more races nine times. In
five of the races five race seasons, he's been the

(07:11):
lead driver in terms of race wins. One year he
won six races and his two decorated teammates didn't win
any So all the polls that he's won a team
Penske the most successful, how does this happen? I'm still
just shocked. I will also go back to something we've
talked about ad nauseum. I think we were absolutely right.

(07:33):
I think Roger Penske offered him one more year. I
think if truth ever comes out, and I've said before
that I think Will will eventually spill the beans and
talk about because that's who Will is. He's extremely lovable
and quirky that he's going to talk about kind of
what happened. And I think he was offered one year deal,

(07:56):
and I think in his heart he's been I don't
know if embarrassed is the right word, but uncomfortable with
the rhetoric, the questions over the last two months, three months,
go back to India if you will, And I think
he's thought, I don't want to do this again. I
don't want to be in this spot starting in May

(08:17):
of twenty twenty six being asked once again, is David
Miluka's replacing you? I just don't think. I don't think
that was comfortable. I don't think it was professionally, you know,
something that someone of his stature would enjoy. And I
just think, you know, they offered him one year. I

(08:37):
think we were right about that, and I think he said,
I want more than that, or I can go look elsewhere.

Speaker 2 (08:44):
And I think so the one year scenario is acceptable
for Willpower. If there are no options with the Big
three or four, whatever you want to say, then I
think he would have taken it because there was a
point where, you know, we were worried about Will because
there were no seats said to be available. There were

(09:07):
no openings in Andretti, there were no openings at Ganassi,
there were no openings at McLaren. So in that scenario,
I thought a one year would be acceptable. And I've
had that conversation with Will. And here's another thing that
as we started hearing through the weekend more and more
as to what is happening. I had pretty honest conversations,

(09:33):
much of it off the record, throughout the year, and
in the last month Will has been a little bit
more tight lips of saying to me. He's been saying
to me what he's been saying publicly. You know, I'm anxious.
I want to know, but logic will say, you know,

(09:56):
I know he said I can't talk to anybody until
the thirty first. There are no tampering rules in this sport,
and they don't listen to those. How is the NFL
or the NBA free agent opening at twelve oh one?
I think they've actually changed one of them to now
four o'clock. And at twelve oh six, Schefty is tweeting

(10:19):
that so and so has reached agreement on a deal
or woes or whoever. Oh really, they got a ninety
seven million dollar contract negotiated in four minutes. Okay, then,
so no one adheres to that. So will has known
for a while what options were out there. Now. I'm
sure he didn't sign anything until he was technically allowed

(10:44):
to sign anything, and he may not have even agreed
to anything, wink wink. But by the time it got
down to it, I also think it's very possible that
they've known this for a little while last best offer
came in. By that point, he had found some options.
Here's also what I think. I think will Power had

(11:07):
multiple options. I think what I thought was wrong that
there are no seats available, but when a Willpower becomes available,
people will create an opening some way or another. Let's
think of this too. The trend has been set to

(11:31):
essentially farm out a driver and maintain their rights. It's
happened before, way back in the day, but in recent years.
You know, Kyle Kirkwood for a year with aj Foyd Racing.
Chip Ganassi confirmed this weekend Marcus Armstrong is a chip
Ganassi employee. That's what I thought, but now we know it.

(11:53):
They still have the rights to him, which is good
for them because he's the perfect scenario. I think there
is budget attached to him and he's really good. So
this could be a long term plan for chip Ganassi
and it works with the relationship that they have with
with Meyer Shank Racing. I think Dennis Hauger is going

(12:13):
to maintain an Andretti driver. I'll tell you one of
my predictions. I think he's going to be in a
dale Coin car, especially since we've learned now that Renas
Vick is definitely not going to be in a dale
Coin car. So I think there were some scenarios and
just I don't even have to name names, just look
at the points charts, and I think anyone there at

(12:36):
the back, it's possible. And it's also possible that they
could still maintain employments and a relationship with the team
that they're with, but could be convinced, hey, this is
best for all parties concerned, and you know, otherwise this
is going to be the last contract or they're often

(12:59):
out and clauses in these contracts. So that's where I
think there were some scenarios where something like that could
possibly happen. So next prediction, as far as I know
need to keep refreshing the Twitter box. As far as
I know, we've not seen any announcements on what Power
is doing. So this time last week is when we

(13:21):
first started hearing about VF two rumor, and I said
on this for Colton Hurda, and I actually went back
and listened to what I said last week, trying to
remember what I said on the air, and then also
what I think and my opinion has changed from last Tuesdays.
I talked to more and more people. I said, this
seems unlikely, but it is plausible. And then as I

(13:44):
listened to myself more and going through my thoughts the time,
I know this is true and it sounds like it.
I was kind of talking myself into it, saying this
could be possible. And then I talked to Colton on Wednesday.
So I often will set up a call with drivers
in my pit section to just get some notes that
I can use for the race broadcast in case I

(14:05):
can't really get a good quality fifteen minutes with them
on race weekend, and we covered a lot of ground
as the defending winner, and I eventually said, you know,
I got to ask you, is there anything to this
F two roomor and I probably wrote down what he said,
but he essentially said I'd really rather not comment on that,
and I just said, Okay, that tells me all I

(14:26):
need to know, and he laughed. Now, I went through
the entire weekend not knowing if that's happening. But you
start to put some things together, and I don't think
Alex Plow is leaving for Red Bull, or if he is,
it is certainly not sets well. We'll discuss that in

(14:48):
a moment. So I do not believe there is an
easy option at Ganassi. That's not to say the Chip
didn't reach out. I think everyone at least talked to
will Power. I don't know who has offered him a deal.
So I'm going on here based on common sense, connecting
dots and from the public comments from Dan Towers and

(15:14):
Colton Hurda over the weekend. I think Colton's going to
have two, and the more I think about it, I
think it can make some sense, and it might be
at the behest of his employer as much as anything.

Speaker 1 (15:30):
It is a.

Speaker 2 (15:33):
Tough decision for Colton, and I've seen the comments of that.
You know, this is embarrassing for Indie car I get it.
And I am concerned if he finishes tenth in that
championship what that says, and that is possible. I know,
I said this last week. I think finishing top three
or four is going to be hard. I assume they'll

(15:55):
get him with a great team. I saw one internet
report said Prema today. I don't know if that's true.
I don't even I didn't recognize the person. It said
journalist in Europe and I didn't recognize the name. But
I think Prema is one of the good teams. And
I saw there are other reports from I think Chris
Medlin of Racer covers for me. The one said that

(16:18):
TWG had been reaching out to multiple F two teams
looking to place Colton. But even with these, if he's
with a good team, it's going to be hard. Now,
I think where the difference is with IndyCar is fifth
through twenty five, if not twenty seven are all really good.

(16:40):
You know, twenty one is better than fifth and F
two super licensed points don't say that, but that's kind
of how they do it, and I don't blame them
for doing it. They're protecting their ladder system. Maybe that's
kind of a point that we should be doing with
our ladder system over here, is that you can't just
come straight from F two and get to IndyCar. You
need to do a season of Indie ne like Dennis

(17:00):
Hauger did or something like that. You know, you can
make a case for Colton that maybe he does want
to shake up, and I don't know that it's accurate
to say this has always been his dream. I have
noted comments from Colton since he was fourteen years old,
and I think every driver just wants the best opportunity
and you're not going to say no. But he abandoned

(17:22):
that pretty quickly, and at the time he said, really,
my goal has been to do IndyCar. That's what I know,
That's what my dad did. So I don't know that
he feels like he has to do it. Let's look
at logic too. He said, to be making seven million dollars,
he's basically on a Formula one contract. The theory is
that he was given that amount of money, which at

(17:42):
time was probably three million more than anyone else in IndyCar,
to keep another Formula One team from going after him
because he was very close to a Formula one deal.
I think they thought they were going to be in
Formula one a little sooner didn't happen. He's still on that.
The logic would when that contract is up after I

(18:03):
think he's got two more years left, he's going to
have to take a pay cut unless things change in
Indy Car and maybe that now becomes the top salary level.
And if he has, you know, finished in the top
three in the championship both years and shows that he
is worthy of that kind of a contract. So the
only way to stay on that salary structure is probably

(18:24):
to get to F one. And this would not be
a financial risk. I would think he's going to be
making the same amount of money while every other driver
is asked to bring three million dollars from their family
or their backers, or maybe the team gives it to
them because they're part of a program. It's basically a

(18:44):
ten million dollars swing for Colton Murda. And I did
say this to him, and I didn't. I said, you're
not going to comment on this, but I said, you know,
if someone I said at first, I said if you,
and then I said, how about I amend that if
someone we're going to go to F one for IndyCar,
going to F two would be a smarter way to

(19:06):
do it. Year one for Cadillac. F one is probably
not going to go very well, and they really need
veteran drivers, and they did the right thing by getting
two veteran drivers that have won races, that have driven
from multiple teams and can help get them going. And
they're both what thirty five thirty seven years old. They

(19:27):
may have they probably have multi year deals, but there
could be options in that regard. He can learn the tracks.
That's not a big of a deal, but he can.
I'm presuming it's a Pirelli tire as well in F
two that has more similar characteristics to the Formula one tire.
Everyone tells me that's the biggest thing. The drivers that
have been over there have been in that system that

(19:48):
you have to understand that tire. So if it were
to happen, this is actually probably better than just going
straight to F one and dealing with the content sequence
is there. So I think it makes sense, and I
also think Dan Towis would like to shake things up

(20:09):
on the IndyCar program. They're really good on street races,
okay at times otherwise sometimes lost on weekends and when
will power became available, this is a way to upgrade
the program. So that's why I think it is happening.
I think power is going to be at Andretti in

(20:31):
my opinion, and Colton Hurda is going to have two.

Speaker 1 (20:35):
I think all of that is true. I do think
it's a risk for coldon if he's got to have
super licensed points and they're not as easy to come
by as finishing what is it top five or six.

Speaker 2 (20:48):
I saw he only needs to finish like ninth. If
that's the case, that's doable. But if he's got to
finish it, it's other seventh or ninth. Maybe it's seventh.

Speaker 1 (20:56):
If he's got to finish in the top five or six,
I think to your point, I think that's a challenge.
I think that's a big challenge. And let's say say
let's say he has races where he's just not competitive.
That's not going to look good for him. So there
is some risk. But I think Towers, to your point, one,
wants to shake up the IndyCar program or at least

(21:19):
get a different set of eyeballs on this. Two sees
the opportunity to sign will Three needs to have Colton
ready at the right time, and then four I don't
think you can discount the money factor that you outlined.
I think I think it's going to be a case
for Colton. Do you want to go down this Formula

(21:40):
one path by way of Formula two and we'll continue
to pay you at the rate you're making, or you're
going to need to take a pay cut.

Speaker 2 (21:49):
And what if he was offered an extension, I would
not rule that out because here's the other scenario where
it becomes less of a risk for Colton because there's
no guarantee he gets there. What if Perez and Botas
are great, yeah, and overachieve and there's no spot, Well,
Marcus Erickson has one more year on his contracts, they

(22:11):
could simply say we will find a spot for you
back here in IndyCar. I think.

Speaker 1 (22:17):
I think if all this happens, he gets an extension.
I agree with that.

Speaker 2 (22:21):
Yeah. And and and it's just with TWG, it's either
and if Marcus has a great year, you know, maybe
they look at this as maybe it's two year program
n F two. I think that's unlikely, but you never know.
You never know. And will Power is forty five years old.

(22:43):
Does he do more than two years? I think it's
very possible, but you you just never know. I think
you're at the points where it's kind of year to year.
I'd be shocked if it's one and done for Will,
because I think we should put this on a loop,
show me respects blow yea. That is going to be

(23:04):
his mindset and this assuming it happens, And I'm not
the only one that thinks this. Everyone thinks this. This
is going to be a fascinating season. And you want rivalries,
you got it, Yeah you've because while Will's done a
fantastic job of saying and doing all the right things

(23:27):
out of this, but in his mind he has to
be hurt that I won as many races as anyone
last year. Everyone always gets an extension to continue. And
I don't even believe there was a one year offer.
You don't think over the winter last winter. Yeah, he

(23:48):
may he may have gotten one here in the last
week or two, but I don't believe there was anything offered.

Speaker 1 (23:55):
Oh I think now, I think I think I mean
over the winters kind of you know, you can define that,
but I think around May he would have gotten a
one year offer. I think they said we'll have you
one more year. To me, you know to me if
he feels disrespected, he didn't get a farewell tour. He

(24:17):
didn't get This is how I think Will thinks. It's
been awkward the last two months.

Speaker 2 (24:26):
It's been very awkward. But I don't know that he
would want a farewell tour. He's not farewelling. He's going away,
so you know what, I do a farewell tour. I
think that is even more clumsy when they are showing
you the door. Farewell tours are for people that have

(24:49):
agreed that we're moving on. Why couldn't they have had
just Devil's advocate. Why couldn't they in May have gotten together.
They do this in their little get together, or maybe
it's right after May and said, look, we only wanted
to do a one year deal. Will thinks he's got
a better offer because I think there was a chance
he came back next year, and I think it was

(25:11):
offered to him in the last week. Okay, in some form.
I don't think they wanted to be pinned into that,
and I'm not sure that Will would have wanted that
because he was still fighting to continue either with that
team or another team. I think they wanted to leave

(25:31):
their options open. This has been a tumultuous season. Yes,
let's get to that fourteen penske. Maybe we get to
it next. Someone sent a Twitter question saying, what is
this Paddock wide understanding about Joseph nugartan allabouts? Who sent that? Marcus?

Speaker 1 (25:49):
Did Marcus Armstrong or Marcus Erickson?

Speaker 2 (25:55):
He sent this as a direct message. I won't give
his last name, by the way, just send the regular
Twitter direct messages are for other things. They're not for
questions for the show, just a personal thought because I
miss them a lot of times. They're not on my
regular feed. I don't go back to them. So if
you want your questions answered, and I'm not really in
Twitter doesn't pay, I don't if I didn't get the things.

(26:17):
Sometimes I'll respond to one on Twitter. But it's not
a Q and A session that because I have a
radio show. Yeah, if I didn't have a radio show,
maybe I would do a Q and A on Twitter.
But that's what the radio show in the podcast is
for us to kind of discuss things and see what
people are talking about. Nathan Brown, I should find this

(26:38):
and see the exact quote on this said something along
the lines. There are a lot of Paddock whispers about
Joseph Nugart. Now I'm going to look it up. I'm
going to find the quote while I let you talk
about this or whatever you'd like to for just a moments.
So what I'm getting to is, I think you wanted

(27:01):
some insurance in case something happened. So that's another reason
why you wanted to wait until the end of the season.
I think they also might have wanted to see how
David Milucas does and make a decision based on what's

(27:22):
best in the team. In the headline from the tweet,
there was not a signif there was not insignificant number
of folks in the past whispering they thought he may retire.
So I'll admit I'm one of them. Did I think
he was going to retire? No, But what I would

(27:43):
say and have said to friends is I cannot rule
that out because he seems miserable. He has doesn't really
interact with anyone else in the paddock at this point.
And I'm not saying that's wrong. This guy won two

(28:05):
Indy five hundreds by changing the way he approached things,
and he was pretty friendly with a lot of people
in the paddock. And you know, we all know the
unfollowed everyone on Twitter, ended the bus bros, ended the
media company that he had with a longtime friend, and
just kind of shut everyone out and said I need
no distractions. And he won the next two Indy five hundreds.

(28:26):
So yeah, that might be the right approach. But no
one really knows much about Joseph other than the comments
are very quick. He does not look happy. I know
he's a great competitor, and I know it's been an
awful season, so I don't expect him to be happy.
And I didn't want to have to try to interview
him anyway because there's not really anything to ask other than, oh,
you said he disappointed. Yeah, we know you are, but

(28:48):
unfortunately that's what this business is when you're representing partners.
It's part of the deal for everyone. So I gave
it a two percent chance just meeting. He's one of
the those guys that won't surprise me that he says
on Tuesday, I'm out and we never see him again.
Obviously a lot of other people thought the same thing,

(29:08):
and some other people have wondered does everyone need a
change of scenery. A lot of things have changed since
Saint Pete twenty twenty four, or Barber twenty twenty four
and that press conference which was not necessarily on message
from Joseph with what everyone else has said. And that's

(29:29):
why I honestly still don't know what happened. There's a
lot of me that I believe they convinced Roger Penske
at the time that this was an accident, and I
think it is plausible that it was an accident, But
I still don't know what's happening happened there, And that's
the thirty for thirty that we would love to see

(29:49):
what happened and what was the fallout, because it eventually
led to three of the most tenured and distinguished people
in the paddock losing their jobs and the worst in
this century for the team, and that all started at
Saint Pete. What happened at Indy this year doesn't happen
if Saint Pete twenty four doesn't happen. And I think

(30:14):
everything has changed for Joseph Newgarden since then, So one
could argue if another big team would have a spot
for him in a winning situation, one could argue, if
will power was still available, that it might be best

(30:35):
to shake things up on that team. Do I think
that's happening. I do not do I say there's no chance.
I do not. I think it's unlikely. It's very unlikely.

Speaker 1 (30:50):
But that's it. We just don't know. I think there's
a chance. So you're telling me there's a chance. But
I think everything that has to do with Joseph ties
back to what happened over those two incidents and how
it was handled, how he feels about his relationship, particularly

(31:12):
with Tim Sindric, and the bond that they had, the
working relationship that they had, how this team looks and feels.
I just you can't. You can't have this discussion without
this part of the conversation.

Speaker 2 (31:31):
Yeah, so this sport is always full of surprise. This
is what I mentioned. There could be a bombshell last
week on the show. I don't think you're with me,
or there could be something that nobody's talking about. That
was it. That was it, and I didn't give it
much of a chance. But those two scenarios, I had
a driver tell me that they thought Joseph was going

(31:52):
to retire after this race, and then he won and
he changed his mind. I don't know how they would
know that that that was decided in the six hours
after the race, from when the race ended and when
I saw this driver. But you know that was the discussion.
This isn't just media chuckleheads that are talking about this.

(32:16):
But that said, they're all guessing too, because Joseph isn't
telling any of these people or the other drivers what
his plans are. And what he did say is basically
I want to go home and hide for a while
and learn what did he say, learn to love the
sport again or learn to let me see. I actually
think I did a cutting paste on that quote. I'd

(32:42):
like to go away and start to miss it again.

Speaker 1 (32:46):
Well that tells you what the last several months have
been for Joseph. The only thing I go back to
is he's he'll be thirty five in December. He's got
I know, he's made a lot of money. Hire early.

Speaker 2 (33:01):
It's a lot of money for us, Yeah, but in
professional athletes landscape, he's been a relief pitcher. Yeah for
four years.

Speaker 1 (33:14):
Yeah, I mean if he's made you know, what do
we hear in the LAO tax case that Elio had
at the time of that had like nineteen million dollars.
Let's say Joseph is close to that. It doesn't go
very far. It doesn't go very far when you're thirty
five years old. Does it just depends on what type

(33:37):
of lifestyle exactly? No, No, no. I I assume that
we all kind of understood he wasn't going to live
on our salaries.

Speaker 2 (33:47):
But I don't know what type of lifestyle Joseph leeds.
He might decide, you know what, I need one hundred
and seventy five thousand dollars per year. I budgeted this,
and I've invested well, and the money I have is
going to make that per year. I don't need anything.

Speaker 1 (34:04):
He might. He might, but he if he if that's
the way he thinks and has budgeted, because I'm sure
he's invested well, let's don't let's don't get ourselves. He's
got good people around him. He makes good decisions, as
far as we can tell, uh, he has. He's a
smart guy. So I don't he's not been out buying
airplanes and buying you know, he doesn't have a collection

(34:26):
of cars that has would dazzled all of us, at
least to our knowledge. But but if he thinks that way,
meaning I'm going to live on quote unquote one hundred
and seventy five thousand dollars a year. He's different than
ninety five percent of the athletes that we know and
have been around.

Speaker 2 (34:46):
Yeah, but it's a much smaller percentage of race car drivers.
Race car drivers are smarter because they are business people.
They've had to work to get to this level, so
they are less likely to who blow their money. I'll
share a story of my friend Paul Tracy. People think
Paul's this wild, reckless guy. Paul invested wonderfully. Paul has

(35:11):
done great. He made a lot of money in his career,
but he's living the good life. Paul did not waste
his money. He invested well. And I think most drivers
are like that because this is a business more so
than any other sport, and you get to really interact
with a lot of smart people, and you have to
become a businessman if you want to last in this sport.

(35:31):
Last thing on this is I want Joseph Newgarden to
be happy. We've known him since he was a kid.
I am hoping he finds his joy again, and I'm
hoping it's driving a race car, because he like will
power is good for the sport. And I'm not saying
this as I said, I think the chances are incredibly
slim that he is doing anything other than driving the

(35:55):
two car. But two years ago, I would have never
said that. You know, it's to one hundred percent to
one hundred percent, and that's what we'd say for a
lot of other drivers that are in that situation. So
I hope he's happy. It's hard to be happy when
you had the type of season he's had, when you've
had the success, but that's part of it. You have

(36:18):
to figure out how to deal with that adversity because
it's not always going to go the way you would
like it. And the good thing is it's often not
been his fault, so he should be able to hold
his head up and they'll eventually figure it out and
things will start to break. And what has he said,
I you know, I've been afraid just to turn around
and somebody hits me in the face with a baseball

(36:39):
bat and it didn't happen. And that's how he was
able to win a race. And there will probably be
more of them coming up. Okay, well, a very long segment,
so we'll we'll sneak away and get into some of
the other things that we think are going on and
much more trackside ninety three five, one oh seven five
to the fan.

Speaker 1 (36:58):
Hi, this is what power? And you'll listening to tracksod okay,
what's next and you mean there's something, there's something more.

Speaker 2 (37:07):
So we've given opinions on what we know. We know
Will Power is leading team Penske. And by the way,
didn't feel like I needed to do. I loved watching him,
but didn't feel like we needed to do a career
retrospective or celebrate him. That's fine if we do, because
he should be celebrated. And it is amazing. You know,

(37:28):
he's wanted what a dozen more races than any other
driver of the most storied team.

Speaker 1 (37:34):
I do think there's I do think there's a pause
moment for how great that relationship has been. So I
don't think you know, it's not writing off his career.
It's not saying the boys walking away and he's never good. No,
but you can't. This guy spent eighteen years with the
most successful team in our sport, won forty two races,

(37:57):
two championships in indy five hundred. He is a legend
by any definition, and this is a stop and pause
and celebrate the moment, even if he isn't willing to,
and you know, I just think getting back to I
just want to clean up two quick things. I don't
think he looked for a farewell tour, but I do

(38:20):
think he would have enjoyed the last month of kind
of everybody understanding and celebrating what a great relationship this
has been for eighteen years. He didn't get a chance
to talk about Verizon. He didn't get a chance to
talk about how great it was to drive for Team
Penske until right at the very end. He'll have some
time during the offseason, but just a little time to

(38:42):
celebrate that. And the other thing I would say is
hopefully Joseph isn't doesn't get upset for people talking about
how he's going to spend his money the rest of
his life. I hope Joseph does what Joseph wants to do.
But I do think that at thirty five, as somebody
who's already looking toward what retirement looks like, I think
that's a it's an interesting conversation to have, and therefore

(39:05):
we probably overstepped our bounds, but it's a radiation.

Speaker 2 (39:08):
I thought of that too, Yeah, that it's not our
place to get into his business. That's unfortunately part of
what being a public figure is. People talk about those things.
But yeah, I'm uncomfortable with that part of as well.
But the point I was just trying to make is
I feel like he's going to be okay, and he
has the option. Yeah, he does something that makes him

(39:30):
happy and whatever he whatever that is, I hope it's
it's what's best for Joseph. And that's not trying to
hint I think he's going away. I've just wondered. I've
just wondered about what's going on, and we'll see.

Speaker 1 (39:51):
I do hope, I do hope that the power rivalry
that we will make it to be next year. He
has a right in this sport, a rivalry that, you know,
this burning fire that will has inside of him already.
I hope we get to see that. I hope we
get to see. That's what this sport needs. We talk

(40:12):
about it all the time. We need we need a
little juice, we need a little rivalry. We need we
need a non Penske driver to lean on a Penske
driver once in a while, whether it's a street race
in Long Beach or you know, let's just let's have
a little of that.

Speaker 2 (40:28):
When the three of the top four or five cars,
which we've had at times are with the same.

Speaker 1 (40:34):
Team, yeah, not good.

Speaker 2 (40:35):
It's a little harder to lean into when the two
champions are for the same team. You know that that's
not quite the same thing. So we want parody in
many ways. That's why, you know, I was hoping Joseph
would stay longer at at Carpenter Racing, Uh, hoping that
you just spread it around me, Lucas stays at point
for another year, and so on and so forth. So yeah,

(40:59):
I think your point is right about Power would have
probably enjoyed that, and he mostly would have enjoyed not
answering questions about getting fired, because really that's what we
had to do. I'll say this before I did the
interview in the pre race, you know, just asking me
about your emotions in what might be your last start
with Team Penske before we went on air, because at

(41:19):
that time I did not have I thought he was
going to Andretti. But I'm more confident now. At that
time I wasn't sure what was happening. So I said,
you know, this time last year, I didn't have a
job either, and I worked out fine. It's going to
be fine for you, and he's kind of laughed. But

(41:40):
that goes back to over the last few weeks, he's
not seemed concerned. So I think enough inquiries have been
made that he knew he had options. He could maybe
choose to stay if the offer was granted, or there
was going to be another good seats available. Uh what

(42:02):
else Renus vik has. I think Marshall pro reported this
at racer dot Com. I've heard this as well, but
would not have had enough to say it definitively. So
Marshall had this, so he had he had a quote
from the agent said that Renus has informed dale Coin

(42:23):
that he will not be returning. So what that means
is that Renas has a job lined up. You know,
he's smarter than that. He There was an announcement on
Friday with one of Todd Alt's companies being involved, and
I think there was a hope that they could announce
Rena's returning and we did not happen. I'm good well,
and I thought this was also plausible because that was

(42:44):
at the time where I was not one hundred percent
sure sure that power was going to ANDRETTI. I'm ninety
nine percent sure that Polow is staying, but until I
see Red Bull announce their drivers, I just wouldn't want
to commit to anything with other possibilities that are out there.

(43:08):
So here's my best guess on Rinus, and I wrote
these down in the morning, and then then I see
other people are opening the same thing. I think he
is replacing David Malucas at Foight, and this might go
back to Joseph Newgarden. I think this is Joseph Newgarten insurance,

(43:30):
not just for now, which is unlikely, but he might
have one year left on his contract. I don't know
if his contract ends after twenty six or twenty seven.
But the Foight people seemed pretty optimistic about the future
as I chatted with them throughout the weekend, So that

(43:52):
leads me to believe that because two weeks ago there
was concern about where's the funding going to come from
from that team. I think Penske has been funding the
Number four car and Marilyn Sexton unfortunately passed away. We
don't know what the situation is with the company moving
on with Sexton properties now. Maybe it's simply the family
has said nope, we're going to continue supporting. But I

(44:13):
think more likely is the technical partnership continues with Penske
and they are going to place a driver in the
number four car, and my guess is that that is
Renus Vk. It's my guess. I have no sourcing to
report this. I think Marshall Pruitt wrote that he expects
that to happen, and then the next thing, I saw

(44:40):
a headline that he wrote something about Coin. So before
I read the story, I wanted a first guest and
I wrote down who I think is going to be
in what car, and I wanted to compare it to
what else is out there. Here's what I've written down.
I think DK will be in the four, Malucas will
be in the twelve. By the way, no no timeline

(45:01):
on when they're announcing that when Team I think Team
Penske's release said at some point before next season, we'll
tell you who's going to be in the twelve car
for dale Coin Racing. My guesses are Dennis Hauger and
Romandro Jean. And I don't have that on any authority
other than asking dale Coin about Dennis Hauger and he
just smiled like he's done with others before and said, hey,

(45:23):
you never know, but I think he will remain Andretti property,
I think that makes more sense than taking him to
a Chevy team with Hunkos and dale Is. He understands
that if somebody goes well, he gets him for one
year anyway, so might as well have it contractually written
in so we can start planning for the next year.

Speaker 1 (45:42):
So the only thing, and Grojan is apparently you know,
dropping tea leaves that he'd like to be back in IndyCar.
The only thing is Lena sun Quist has seemed pretty
happy lately. Why is Leida's quiz.

Speaker 2 (45:55):
Because he's having good conversations with whom goes Hollinger? Yeah, okay,
making sure Renus VK is not going to Hunekos Hollinger,
which I think also could be a possibility, But I
don't know that he would have left dale Coin for Honkos.
That's why I think it's foight with the Penske partnership.

(46:15):
The other one. I would say it's possible it's Ray
Hall Letterman Land again, but that's not as clear. That
means that they have to decide. Going back to what
I said last hour, can they do they want to?
Can they place Devlin de Francesco or do they have
an option just in that you know, nothing gets Devlin,
but you just look at we just lost the leader

(46:36):
circle again, so you know, the performance didn't and by
the way, he didn't go great for the other teammates too,
so this is not all on Devlin. But they need
to shake up in that program. So I won't rule
them out from doing something there for Hunkos. They need budget.

(46:56):
They are trying to find investors, maybe a merger or
something like that. If that happens, then I think Lenas
has a good chance of being their guy. And then
we will see on the other car. Does that come
in place of Connor Daily Not necessarily so just stand

(47:20):
by same thing, no real reporting or information, but just
looking at where they are at. And I asked Dale
this because I think he said this to that press conference.
I said, you you believe you will be solidly in
the leader circle next year with your two cars, And
he says, yes, I do. We are going to take
a big step forward next year. I don't know if

(47:41):
Dale is always that bold.

Speaker 1 (47:42):
No, he's not.

Speaker 2 (47:43):
No, he might think, you know, I think there's been
an influx of cash with a Todd Alt partnership and
they feel like that they can go out and hire
and there might be some financial help with Andretti to say, hey,
you know you're renting this driver, so we're going to
help a little bit with the budget. Maybe we're going
to place one of our partners on this car as well.

(48:04):
And plus there's a scholarship they get the scholarship money. Yeah,
and Dennis may have some personal partners to help with that.
Do you want to get to Prema. We got to
save that, okay, because we're like six minutes over. We'll
preview what's to come and more next on track side. Hi,
this is Rena Speke and you're listening to tre hythe
coming up in our number two. We'll try to finish

(48:26):
our number two before the second hour is over, but
we'll talk more about silly season, what we think. I'll
think if I can share anything on the schedule that
won't get me in trouble. There have been some reports
out there, so we can simply say reports and cite
other people on that front. And yeah, Kurt mentioned Prema.
We'll get to some Twitter questions from the Xbox and

(48:49):
plenty more all coming up. Oh, we'll talk about the
season finale at Nashville Super Speedway, won by Nashville native
Joseph Nugarten. That Moore coming up track side ninety three
five one oh seven to five of the fan. Hi,
this is justin Newgarten and you're listening to trackside our
number two track side ninety three to five and one
oh seven five the fan in Indianapolis with Landon Kun's
in the studio, Kevin Lee, Kurk Cavin, Kurt, do you

(49:10):
have any idea when next.

Speaker 1 (49:11):
Week's show is? No, but I think we'll say we'll
hopefully get to the Nashville results by then because they're
insignificant compared to everything else we have talked about and
still have yet to come.

Speaker 2 (49:24):
Well, I want to get to the Xbox and I
actually really was hoping you knew when the show was
and we can mention that, but stand by, I'll tweet
it on the day of the show. Our conflict would
be if there is a Fever game on Tuesday, then
we bounce to another date. So that is need to
know information. Twitter questions at Kevin Lee twenty three at

(49:48):
Kurk Cavin. Steven Terrell says VK to Foyds looks like
predictions here v K to Foyd, power to and Ready
Well Lucas Depenske and he, by the way, wrote this
before the show started, So yeah, we've kind of thought
the same, says the silly seasons have to une questions.
Who will be the drivers at coin Will de Friend
Chess go be back at RLLL, Will Prema have cars?

(50:11):
What's up with Honda? What else to talk about? This winner? Well,
that seems like plenty. I said who I think will
be in the coin cars? The one I should also
have said. The one I'm much more confident about is
Dennis Hauger. I will be surprised if Dennis Hauger is
not in the coin car. And Dan Towers on the
stage if you didn't see the championship celebration for Indy

(50:34):
Next on FS one said something along the lines of,
you know we have He said, we're going to maintain
a relationship with Dennis this is how I read it,
and make sure he has a seat next to an
Indy car.

Speaker 1 (50:49):
So good.

Speaker 2 (50:50):
Yeah, So I think that's one. The Grogan one I'm
not as certain about. That probably depends on all of
the funding being there, because Grojan is you know, he's
not just suggesting he might come back. He's always been
looking to come back. He's been at races, he's been
a quote prima reserve driver or whatever the case might be.

(51:11):
So I've seen him several times this year, and that
sports car program he's been involved in is in a
lot of flux. It may not return next year and
I can't remember. Maybe it is going to do endurance races,
but it's not full season like they were hoping for.
So he definitely wants to be back, and I know this.
I didn't ask Dale about Grojean on Sunday, but I

(51:33):
asked him about it last fall because there were a
lot of rumors about grojan there, and he said, I
would really like to find an opportunity to work for him.
But they didn't have budget together and they didn't what.
They hired Renas two weeks before the season or something
like that. Once the ask ROI budget from todd All
became available, that's what allowed them to be able to

(51:55):
hire Renus and not require that someone brings budget. So
that's my best guess for Coin, but I do think
there are other possibilities in the second seat. I would
keep an eye on Kyle Colletts. He's working on budget,
and you know, he said he's not coming back to
Indy Next because I won. I think I've done everything

(52:16):
I can do. And I agree, he's won races, he
finished second in the championship, and he's legit good. And
he said it'd be hard to raise that money anyway.
He would do it if somebody wants to give him
a seat. But they said, well, isn't it going to
be a little easier for you to raise money for
an IndyCar program? And he said, yeah, certainly. You know,
I may not be able to raise a million for
Indy Next. It's really more like one point three to

(52:39):
one point six million, But I think I can raise
that or more for IndyCar. So I think he could
have some possibilities there. If VK doesn't end up at Foight,
then you know, I would think he is a possibility there.
Who else is out there? You know, obviously, I'm sure

(53:00):
there is hope for him to be able to stay
at who goes Hollinger And surely they'd like to have him,
but it's always the race of how much budget can
they have. If they find an investor on the team,
then it probably won't take any more budget, maybe even
less than what Connor brought this year, and I would
give him a really good chance of being back with

(53:23):
that team. He has proven he gets it done on
ovals and has helped that program, and I think they're
getting closer on the road courses. But you know, it
takes more than just Connor. That's going to be some work,
and he's performing his teammate most of the time, if
not all the time. In that situation, I mentioned to
keep an eye on lean his Lundquist. He's got a chance.

(53:46):
I saw Uri Hipps. He's trying. You know, he knows
it's going to take some budget to make something happen.
Toby Sowury the same, Hunter mcelray is trying. What F
two drivers or former F one drivers are going to
come over here? Mick Schumacher, here's another reason why I

(54:07):
think Colton Hurda is headed F two. Where did let
me cite the report that had this today, but the
European media, I think the race had this reported that
Mick Schumacher was on the verge of joining Cadillac as
a reserve driver for the Formula One team while also
racing in the World Endurance Championship with Cadillac Team Joda,

(54:31):
and that deal has collapsed and they didn't know why
in this story, but I think I know why is
because Colton Hurda is going to be the reserve driver
I think for Cadillac F one. And by the way,
that sweetens this a little bit. You know, if you
talk about why are you doing this if you're Colden Hurda,
because they are doubling the amount of required rookie free

(54:54):
practice one tests next year. I believe in Formula One
it's two this year, So next year, Colton hurd It
could drive the car four times on Friday morning practice
in Formula One. So that also makes it easier for
him to gain that super license because you can get
points out of that and it does not require him
to finish his high in that championship. The other thing

(55:17):
where the Schumacher thing plays into our world is that
he would have some interest in IndyCar. He still wants
to get to Formula one, wants to drive Formula cars.
But I'm wondering if that also in a way, could
that be a landing spot for callum I loot they
need a replacement for Jensen button the former F one
champ who is exiting full time racing. That's the seat

(55:38):
that Callum turned down last year to come and run
for Prema. And that's why you asked before and then
also what was just asked from Steven what's up with Prema?
I don't know. I heard that they are still having
positive talks and they are optimistic that an investor has
been found. Whether that's a buyer of the team, I

(56:02):
think essentially Deborah Mayor, the owner who put a lot
of money into this, has moved on and she wants out.
I don't know if the Rosines are going to be
involved or not, whether they're bringing the investor or whether
they're just selling and someone else is going to come
in and run the team. Pierce Phillips is there, who

(56:25):
we know who's been around the IndyCar world and sports
car world for a long time. So I think there
is a chance. But as I think I said last week,
the challenge is going to be unless they told everybody
on Sunday night we're good, than anybody that is attractive
for another team is going to be offered a job

(56:47):
and they're going to leave. So you're going to be
somewhat starting over. In that case, Marshall pro wrote about
the possibility of a merger with who goes houling her?
And you know, unless they get an investors sorted soon.
If the investor comes later, that might be good for
both parties because they're going to not have enough people.
They're going to be starting all over trying to find

(57:09):
the right people. And we saw how that went when
you had new people last year. Cars on fire, penalties
and fines for installing things the wrong way for a
safety issue, lots of time not on track at the
beginning of the season. Second half of the season, Yes,
they had pretty good pace, very encouraging. Yes, they also

(57:30):
won the poll for eighty five hundred as well. Oh,
by the way, yeah, they were pretty solid on OVAL's
Calamilot had a great finish to the season. And what
a quandary this must be for him if there is
an offer to go back to sports car racing. Those
are paying jobs, those are good jobs, they have a
longer shelf life. But he's a single seater driver and

(57:52):
I think he had a pretty good deal this year.
But if there's not an assurance now it's also possible
someone else goes after him. There's still some seats available,
but he does not bring budget. How many are out there? Well,
I said, I think that would that. Don't think that's
going to be an option to go back to who
goes HO longer? Don't think that's going to be there.

(58:15):
Could Coin hire him? Could Foid hire him? As a
Pence could could Because I don't know that that's where
Retas is headed. I just think that could. There are
rumors two or three years ago about Penske being interested
in that's right. I think you're absolutely right. So maybe
that is a situation. So I can't rule that out.

(58:37):
But you know, at some point now maybe that sports
car seat doesn't need to be sited right now. Maybe
there's a little bit of time on that. But no,
not really, don't think there's a lot.

Speaker 1 (58:48):
Hey, you know the one conversation driver slash Money slash Future,
we're just sting right, Rob end up in this conversation.
He's one guy you can count on, or at least
have been able to count on, to be qualified to
do this and has budget to do so.

Speaker 2 (59:08):
I hate to put it this way, but it comes
down to how much money does he have? And I
have defended Stingray on this program before and would publicly
and privately he's very competent. Is he a top ten driver?
He's not. No, But he's not been in any kind
of program that would be able to show you what

(59:29):
he can do at this point. But I don't know
if the budget he has is ten million, is it
five million? You know, if it's ten million, it would
seem he is going to have a place. But these
teams are trying to find they're trying to do what
Ed Carpenter did and find their Ted Gehloff and use

(59:54):
the charter system as there is something of value that
hopefully down the road, especially with Foxes involvement, now that
this is going to increase in value. NASCAR charters were
originally being sold for about two and a half to
three and a half million dollars and they've been going
for twenty five to forty since then. Do we expect

(01:00:16):
IndyCar to go to that level? We don't, but might
it go up significantly? It might and it should. So
if all these teams find investors, they're going to want
to hire drivers and they are going to turn down Yeah,
they might. They might turn dow down drivers with budget

(01:00:36):
they probably wouldn't turn down ten, but it's going to
be easier to turn down six at this point. And
it's three straight years that I don't think he's made
the leader circle again. Not all his fault three different teams,
three different teams with three different teams. You know, if
if Foight does not have a partnership with Penske, including funding,

(01:00:59):
then I give that chance of happening of coming back there.
But I don't know, and I don't know about Jacob
Abel either. I don't think he's going to be back
at Coin. I would give Foight as a possibility there.
I'd like to see Jacob get another chance because I

(01:01:21):
know his teammate outperformed him by a lot. But logic
would say the top people were all going to be
on that program. They're trying to make everything equal, and
they're not sabotaging him or not paying attention to what
he can do. But just logic says, you put your best.

(01:01:42):
This is at every level of racing that the best
effort and time goes towards the number one car. You
get that prep first because it's got the best chance
to get a result, and you hope there is time
and resources for everything else. So by the way, Dale
is paying for a lot of so same thing, you know.

(01:02:04):
So those are some of the uncertainties at this point. Honda.
I don't know anything more about Honda. I think there's
a chance. This is dependent on whether they go to
NASCAR or not. I'm optimistic. I think the partnership with
Fox helped greatly. I think some of the things I'm

(01:02:26):
hearing about potential events. By the way, everything you've read
about what might happen in twenty six not necessarily true,
but these things are being discussed for the future. I
just don't know if all of the things and reports
you've seen are going to happen by next year. But
it's still fluid. When is the schedule coming out? I

(01:02:47):
do not know. I don't think it's fully done at
this point. I am above fifty to fifty on Honda staying,
but I don't know how much above that. And I
don't know if they can do NASCAR and IndyCar and
continue an IMSA and in Formula one and everything else
that they're doing. So I don't know if it's an

(01:03:08):
either or or if they just need to be convinced
because IndyCar is going to be way cheaper NASCAR is
massively expensive. So one could say that, well, this is
not that much of an expense, and if they did
some cost containment issues to help the engine manufacturers, and
maybe if they have a third lined up that we're
not aware of, that brings down some costs as well.

(01:03:32):
So I give it a decent shot. But I don't
really know, and I don't know what the timeline is
at this point, so.

Speaker 1 (01:03:40):
I don't either of any indefinitive. My gut tells me
the same thing. It's north to fifty percent. I wouldn't
go up to one hundred percent level, but I do.
I'm optimistic. I don't know what I know about the
schedule to be on or off the record, so I'll
let you pontificate about the schedule.

Speaker 2 (01:04:00):
Well. I gave some opinions a couple of weeks ago,
and I looked when the NASCAR schedule came out, and
I said, looking hard at that for possibilities. And I
know I talked about Phoenix and other people writing about that.

Speaker 1 (01:04:14):
We've been talking about Phoenix, and I think that's the
place I.

Speaker 2 (01:04:16):
Feel like Watkins Glenn is going to happen. And I'm
wondering because I heard a lot of chatter about that.
I'm wondering was that an option if they couldn't get
anything done for Toronto. So there are I think it's
not a report. It's been a media notice shared with
people that the city of Markham, a suburb of Toronto,

(01:04:39):
officials with Green Savary Well host of press conference tomorrow
to announce a motorsports events. Gee, I wonder what that
could be.

Speaker 1 (01:04:46):
I wonder.

Speaker 2 (01:04:47):
So the deal with the exhibition place, the downtown Toronto
location is not only is that where a World Cup
event will be in that football stadium. They're European football.
I know it's over by a certain date early July,
but as I understand it, the World Cup event owns

(01:05:12):
that space for even another two or three weeks after that,
So the build it's not just finding out when that
game is, whether it's July fourth or whatever, the last game,
it's two or three weeks beyond that, so it's just
not available. That space is not available. So there have
been a couple of other places mentioned, and I should

(01:05:34):
have googled this, but I was told by a Canadian
friend that mark Them is pretty big city, like three
hundred thousand people.

Speaker 1 (01:05:40):
It's north of It's just north of what we would
we'd call it Carmel in Indianapolis. It's north of it's
north of town. It's on the bypass. I have read that.
You know, it's it's pretty hip, got some tech to
it that you might alter fined. It's it's a more

(01:06:01):
accessible than you than exhibition place that it probably will
draw a better crowd. Not better in terms of numbers,
but better in terms of your.

Speaker 2 (01:06:14):
Oh, I think it's draws better. That's not been yet,
No well attended, but you're demographic, it's it fits the
demographic better. I feel like, unfortunately, much of Toronto does
not know about this event anymore. I don't know how
because the roads are shut down. But if you don't
get down the lake shore that week, then I guess

(01:06:37):
you don't notice. As they call it, the Moulson and
d e used to be massive. And I don't know
how many people we've come across the last couple of
years of restaurants asking, like servers, why is it so crowded?
You know, no idea that this event is in town anymore.
So unfortunately does not have the juice. So the first
thought would be terrible to leave downtown. And I'm to

(01:07:00):
the point where actually it might be better to be
a bigger deal in a smaller town. There's so much
going on in Toronto, you know, whether it be the
Blue Jays or everything else going on that I like
this idea, and this has been discussed about some other
markets before. But let's find a mid size city and

(01:07:24):
make that their big event of the year and how
to get on the map a little bit. Be a
big fish in a little pond rather than a small
fish in a big pond.

Speaker 1 (01:07:33):
Just keep in mind, though I don't think we're talking
about small pond here. I mean this is part of
as I understand it. It's yes, it's a suburban Toronto. Yeah,
still Toronto.

Speaker 2 (01:07:43):
You're going to miss out on the people in the
city a little bit and just wandering down because I
think that's one of the great things about street races
at Saint Pete. You can't miss it in the area
because you see the construction at Long Beach. You see
the construction that is going on down there on Long
Beach is a totally different story. And I think Saint

(01:08:04):
Pete is in that too because of how long the
events have been there. But Toronto has mostly had that
as well. Been unfortunately a couple of times when it
went away after this the merger and then because of COVID,
and that has had an impact on people. Once it's
not there, then it's not there and they move on

(01:08:27):
to other things. Mike stoops, what's your knowledge of attendance
at Nashville? And I kept hearing Milwaukee was a sellout,
but I saw a lot of empty seats. Fox must
say Indy Car is a diamond and the Rough having
purchased a third what do you think their plan of
attacked prop up IndyCar is so attendance? Oh so, so
the Milwaukee sellout? I believe the way that was actually

(01:08:48):
announced was was it general admission tickets were sold or
one facet of tickets was sold out, but it was
never announced. It was never announced as a sellout. Just
because somebody wrote it on Twitter doesn't mean that it's true.
When the track announced, did they announce that? Do you

(01:09:10):
recall this? It was either general admission grand stand tickets
or maybe it was reserved grandstand tickets, but there were
others still available that included a seat or the option
to sit in a seat, So it was never announced
to sell out.

Speaker 1 (01:09:26):
I wondered I wondered about it, and then the race happened,
or race weekend kind of got rolling, and I didn't
think to go back and try to dissect the press relation.

Speaker 2 (01:09:35):
I saw the original announcement it I read it clearly,
and it was not announcing that we are sold out.
So maybe that's kind of a note that people see
the word sellout and think it is I doubt it.
It was a great incoming. It was a great crowd.
It was a very good crowd. Saturday was good. It
was the best Saturday that I have seen on an oval.
It did not include a race in I don't know when,

(01:09:58):
maybe ever, maybe ever. That's been one of the challenges.
It was highly encouraging. Nashville was okay. I can't compare
it to last year because I was in the booth
last year. I always get a better look looking from
Pitt Lane up to the stands. I'm going to guess
the stands are about half full. I don't know what
that stand seats. Is it twenty thousand, is it three?

Speaker 1 (01:10:22):
I think it's twenty five roughly.

Speaker 2 (01:10:24):
Okay, And when I say about half, I might be
wrong by ten or fifteen percent. Either way, I think
it was at least half, because there was a section
in the middle that was seventy five eighty percent, and
then it was a little more sparse on the outer edges,
you know, maybe a third or something like that, but

(01:10:44):
I feel like it was probably acceptable. I talked to
Scott boord Schett for a while about other things, a
lot of music. Jack Harvey had a lot of music
questions for him, and I was going to ask him
about the prospects of going back downtown. He mentioned that
publicly that that is still a possibility and they have

(01:11:04):
interest in that, so I won't rule that out. Someone
else told me that the footprint is going to be
really hard to do that with the new football stadium,
but I do think that's a possibility. I probably not
until after the football stadium is done, but that's one.
And then Mike also as plan an attack for Fox.

(01:11:26):
What I've read is one thing they want to help
invest in events. They want big events in big markets,
so I would. And then you've seen Adam Stern write
some things on that. I'm not sure if anything is
happening by next year. Don't think that's done, but I
think there are some things in the pipeline Washington, a

(01:11:47):
DC has been publicly mentioned, dever has been in the
works for a while. I think I've read people speculating
about Philadelphia. I just think a lot of things are possible.
Think football stadiums. That's the easiest way to do a
temper place because you have a lot of space and
you're not shutting down as many streets, so it's a
little simpler to get it done through permits in a

(01:12:10):
city and dealing with one group there. Mike also says,
I know overall viewing numbers are up much due to
improved Indy five hundred numbers, but the last few were
in the mid seven hundred thousand range. One was right
around USA network numbers. I've got to believe this must
be a little disappointing since it was all network broadcasts.
I do not know whether that is disappointing or not.

(01:12:34):
That has not been shared with me. As I've said before,
I think both things can be true. It's fine to
compare the network NBC numbers to the network Fox numbers,
and we would all hope that they would have stayed
at the nine hundred thousand to a million level, But
there are different factors involved. A lot of it is

(01:12:54):
to head the head, it's the lead in, it's that
the championship has been over since April, so on and
so forth. I think it's also fair, and this is
the way I lean the reason they did this deal
is because it was all on network. So while you
might be seeing some seven hundred thousands now, you've not
seen a seventy five thousand, you've not seen a ninety

(01:13:14):
two thousand, you've not seen a two hundred ninety two thousand,
you've not seen a three hundred and fifty thousand. I
think all of those were a part of our world
last year. And the total number, which I think is
what matters, is up seven or eight million, fifteen million
to twenty two million, and that's not counting practice shows.

(01:13:39):
I think you add another four or five hundred thousand
per weekend when you're talking about practice shows between Indiecar
and Indie Next. Maybe that's on the high side. Maybe
it's three or four hundred thousand, but both are accurate.
But to say that this is going horribly when you've
added seven million in viewers, I don't really think is

(01:14:02):
quite accurate either.

Speaker 1 (01:14:04):
I bet they're policing.

Speaker 2 (01:14:05):
You look both numbers.

Speaker 1 (01:14:06):
I bet they're policed for a lot of reasons.

Speaker 2 (01:14:08):
I bet they just bought a third of the sport
after seeing the numbers, So I think that means they're
not wanting to run away. So yeah, that would lead
me to believe and they obviously do see upside As
I've said a thousand times, sports are the best resource
for advertisers. People see commercials in sports, they don't for

(01:14:30):
scripted programs. Okay, let's uh, I got more I want
to get to but I need to recess. See how
much time we have left, and maybe we'll talk about
the race too. Coming up on track side. This is
Alex below and you're listening to truck site. Okay, we'll
continue down to the twitter box. I'm trying to make
an effort to make sure that we answer more of

(01:14:52):
the questions that I feel people might be interested in.
Next is the sensy Buckeye asks is vice champion? This
is from an HMD post. Kyle Collett, your indie next
vice champion? Is vice champion? A Kurk Cavin creation. If so,
he may need to have a talk in r P one.

(01:15:14):
Why would you be blamed for that? I'm not sure
vice champion is a European thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I didn't.

Speaker 1 (01:15:21):
I didn't. I don't. I don't like that. I'm not
you know, and I'm not big on Q one, Q two,
P one, P two. I think a lot of those
are Europeans conversations. I'm not saying. I'm not saying I'm
down on it. I'm just saying, yeah, I wish I
wish we had kind of and I know there are
a lot of American races.

Speaker 2 (01:15:41):
That's why I like P one and P two because
I like brevity. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:15:46):
P one, P two is not as bad. I do
think there are people that wish we didn't sound like
a Formula one broadcast. Not broadcast. I don't mean like
it's the broadcast fault. I mean that sometimes the vernacular
is F one. That's all.

Speaker 2 (01:16:01):
And half of the people in the paddock came from
that world.

Speaker 1 (01:16:04):
I agree. I know where it came from.

Speaker 2 (01:16:06):
It's fine, that's kind of part of it. Yeah, yeah,
because you know, you here drivers all the time say
FP one.

Speaker 1 (01:16:13):
We don't have a big one, and I've.

Speaker 2 (01:16:15):
Had why is it free practice? Well, it's free because
it doesn't count. Okay, I get that. That's that's why
it's called free practice one because it's not setting a lineup.

Speaker 1 (01:16:25):
Isn't practiced by nature free there you go.

Speaker 2 (01:16:29):
Yeah, well it's p one brevity that one line It
takes a long time. IndyCar Ken says, what do you
know about IMS testing in October? I've heard the twenty
seventh for IndyCar, twenty eight for next and now just
heard the twenty ninth for ANDRETTI. This certainly has to
do with WP Willpower. Yeah, I don't. I don't know.
I know that Chris Griffiths test is set.

Speaker 1 (01:16:50):
I haven't seen a date, so I haven't seen a date.
I would also tell you, getting back to one thing
about Willpower. I think with their street course, he's going
to be dynamite at Saint Pete Dynamite yep.

Speaker 2 (01:17:07):
I believe the USF combine is the twenty fifth and
twenty sixth, which is Saturday and Sunday. Maybe the next
day is Indie Next testing, or maybe it's the Friday before.
Usually there is some testing on the road course in
the fall, so that's when the road course is set up.
Is there an Indie Oval test? I do not know.

(01:17:27):
They don't have anything big that they have to do
for next year. But that's we've got time. We've got
time to sort all those kind of things. Muhammed asks
at Moke Motorsport, big VK fan here, amazing race by him.
But seriously, he said against against Dutch media, he will
probably return to Coin if there is not any better

(01:17:48):
seat available. He denied the offer of Coin and I
think he's on the way to roll or AJ Foyd
with Penskey supports. So we're on the same lines there
that I think he's going to Foy with Penske support
as well, well, but I do not know that, and
he says ps to that. Okay, yeah, it's official. Kleaves DCR.
We have documented that. At this point, John A. J. T.

(01:18:12):
Doling says this is face saving spin. I think he's
referring to the Penske release saying Will chose to move on.
I also think Will John Wrights has had some seriously
rage filled breakdowns, most recently the plowing incident with Kirkwood
and Troit. I think the organization has finally had enough. Well,
as I said earlier, I think there is truth to

(01:18:32):
that now. I took him a long time, but I
think there was something available to Will and obviously not acceptable,
and that would be because he has something else that
he finds much better. You will is always a little
bit different. There's there have been quick bouts of rage,

(01:18:53):
but he has I'm sure been on edge this year
and I wouldn't rule that out for what happened at Detroit.
And then a half hour later he's yucking it up
with Kyle Kirkwood. So he gets over it pretty quickly.
And that's what I have tried to do, and I'll
be honest. I tried to let Joseph do that too
this year. When I was asked to interview him, I

(01:19:14):
would follow him because I do think it's unfair that
a mic Crohne is stuck in your face after you
get out of the car. So I went to give
them as much time to process things that happen. But
that didn't get anywhere, and eventually, in one of the
cases he did come back out fifteen minutes later and
talk to Jack. But I've done that with McLaughlin a

(01:19:35):
couple of times when he was pretty upset, and he
said later he said that actually really helped. I would
not have been It would not have been great for
me to talk when I first stepped out of the car,
but by you walking back to the transporter, letting me
vent to myself for three minutes and give me a
little bit of time, that helped the cause and he
ended up doing a great interview. And Will's been the

(01:19:57):
same way that. Sometimes even after ten minutes, it still
gets a little bit out of control. But I try
to be respectful of them and not put them in
a bad position. Even though you know the TV guy,
you know you're gonna want you want drama, and there
are people too, So there's there's a I don't know
what the right answer is. There's a happy medium somewhere

(01:20:18):
in that too. I think I'm trying to be fair,
trying to be fair, and I'm trying not to burn
bridges because I need him again the next week.

Speaker 1 (01:20:25):
Some of Will's quirkiness shows up in the all of
it actually shows up in that in those moments. But
if he didn't get, if he didn't get released after
releasing the Double Birds at New Hampshire a decade ago,
he wasn't gonna get it, wasn't gonna get fired or
dropped or not re signed because he threw a water
bottle at your feet. He's just not Yeah, I mean

(01:20:49):
he survived double birds.

Speaker 2 (01:20:51):
There is a value to his authenticity, There is a line,
but I don't know that he's really ever crossed.

Speaker 1 (01:21:01):
Oh no, he's one of these emotional but very harmless people.
I mean, he's harmless. And let me just of all
the things we could say anecdotally, here's the fact that
holds true. Verizon has stayed with him for eighteen years.

Speaker 2 (01:21:23):
That's as big a deal as anything.

Speaker 1 (01:21:24):
I do believe.

Speaker 2 (01:21:25):
Am sponsor on the car for I think all but
like three races.

Speaker 1 (01:21:29):
Yep.

Speaker 2 (01:21:30):
When his first race in a Penske truck rental livery
and I think I've got the note of what the
other one was.

Speaker 1 (01:21:37):
Well, I think he had a couple of Penske truck rental.

Speaker 2 (01:21:40):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:21:42):
The point is Verizon, you know, we talk all about
these sponsorships. Verizon was like, we love quirky will power.
We don't care if he throws about water bottle at
Kevin Lee's feet. We all want to do that.

Speaker 2 (01:21:56):
It was warm too. It was nice refreshing since he Buckeye,
says Team Penske blew to pr management of this story
all year long. If you don't think so, look at
the blowback they're getting and the blowback that built up
this could have been a thank you year, not now
kind of talked about that. They don't do that either.
Eliot didn't get a thank you year, and he was
also going to continue on for another year in the

(01:22:18):
ND five hundred. But that's the way, and who's to
argue with the way they do business. That's the way
they've done business. They announced things, especially when it ends
after the season, and I think there still was a
pathway to stay involved at what level. What was the
contract offer? Don't know, but I tend to believe that

(01:22:42):
statement that ultimately it was what Will said in Portland.
He got to make the decision in the end. Had
the offer come several months ago, he might have made
a different decision. But once it became known that he
was available, I think the phone started ring for someone,
whether it's him, whether it's Orial Servia, and they knew

(01:23:05):
that when available, they were going to be not just options,
but good options and possibly better options. Keep this in
mind too, They finished tenth eleventh or ninth, tenth and twelve, no,
what is it? Ninth eleven to twelfth in the championship.
So while we say Andretti needs something to change. They

(01:23:28):
were better than that this year in most cases, in
two of the three cars they were. So that's what
I think. When that will be announced, I think if
this is happening, Colton needs to be announced first. Is
there any restriction on when Will can be announced? I'm

(01:23:48):
still guessing sooner rather than later. Well, especially if especially
requested today.

Speaker 1 (01:23:53):
Yeah, especially if they have a test at the Speedway
next month, then you'll want you'll want that to have
been done.

Speaker 2 (01:24:01):
But by the way, since he Buckeye put the team
Penske logo on the Cracker Barrel logo that was not
I saw that, Well, how is that? Wow?

Speaker 1 (01:24:11):
I like Cracker Barrel, you know, the thing is, and
I get the public pushback. You just maybe different than
the other drivers that that left Penske. It just feels
like Will's because the way Will carries himself. And you
see the emotion in his face from the outside, and

(01:24:33):
I think this is accurate, by the way, but I
think from the outside it looks like he was dangling,
and we don't like to see our legends dangling, you know,
we like we like our guys to be you know, really,
you know, you can see why the fan base reacted
as it did.

Speaker 2 (01:24:53):
Yeah, we get to know these people. Even if you
don't know them, you feel like their family. And if
you've been to races, they're all a lot of fans
that actually do know will Power. They he has stopped
and chatted with them and they have a relationship. Not
people with the credentials, people that just have paid to
have the paddock pass every once in a while.

Speaker 1 (01:25:12):
And the story of he and Liz and what they
endured in twenty twenty three is something any of us
could have could have could have endured.

Speaker 2 (01:25:22):
Uh Paul says, well, there are many great drivers in
Indycarpolow made the Molok average. Who will provide the challenge
to Plow in twenty six Alex below, I'm giving lun Guard, Yeah,
but if Polo's back, you know, he's very very likely
to win the championship. I give lung Guard a great chance.

(01:25:43):
I give the Potto a great chance. I'm giving will
Power a chance.

Speaker 1 (01:25:49):
I give Lungard more chance now because the last couple
over races have been better. I don't know if he's
ready to win the Indy five hundred. Poto certainly can
Potto can win Poto is the real answer? Because Potto
could win three of the five or six oval races
and be but he's gonna have to be better than
he's been on some of the other circuits. He's been

(01:26:11):
pretty good on the ovals, but either one of those
two but will power he's complete enough. And I mean this,
if he could win three of the street races next year.
They've been that good on street races and he is.
If you don't know this Saint Pete history, look it up.

Speaker 2 (01:26:29):
And by the way, one of the other great ones
on street races, Colton Hurda, is not likely to be there. Yeah,
it takes away one contender. All right, we'll see what
we missed and what else is happening and more coming
up next On track Side how.

Speaker 1 (01:26:46):
This is Scott McLachlin and you're listening to truck Side
on ninety three to five and one.

Speaker 2 (01:26:50):
I seven five the fan Okay final segment one. I
have learned when next week's show is on. It's Monday
night seven till nine, I think seven. I guess I
didn't get an answer on the exact time. I don't
know if there is an IU Coaches football show on Mondays,
but I'm hoping it's seven to nine on Monday, but

(01:27:10):
at least we know a date. Two quick race recap.
We'll do some of that more next week. But really
really entertaining race again, I think, especially the end and
a lot of good parts throughout the middle. Alex Polow
cuts a tire and still comes back running third, ultimately
finishes second in the race. A shame about power. He

(01:27:32):
made a mistake getting into pitt Lane and then he
told me that I think he said he put it
in second gear when he was trying to exit the pit,
so just just simply made a mistake. It all kind
of went wrong there when he came in a little
bit hot, was askew and then stalled the car, so
that took away his chances. Pottle Award was maybe gonna
run away with the race before he had a tire

(01:27:53):
go down. What else an amazing battle with McLaughlin and
Kiffin Griffin that was impressive. They were not simply contense
to finish fifth. Listening to the conversation on Kiffin Simpson's radio,
it was you're good, go get them. They were really
I think that's a huge step forward that it wasn't

(01:28:15):
simply protect car bringing home. You're done great, it's no,
we're there, let's go try to win the race. And
he battled one of the greats. McLaughlin lost out just
bare at the end. Another awesome drive for Connor Daily
on the Oval, he and McLaughlin had to finish on
the softs and there was a big fear about them

(01:28:36):
going more than twenty five or thirty laps before they
really started to slow down. So for Connor to finish
fifth in that situation going whatever it was, forty five
or forty or something like that, and the same for
McLaughlin is really good. Kirkwood rosen Quist had solid days.
For Rucci had the issue when he tried to pit

(01:28:58):
off turn three instead of turned four. Send him back.
Still finished eighth hurd, It was going to be in
the mix. He had a penalty though exiting the pit
box and getting in Jacob Abel's way, or he might
have been better as well. We talked about Calumilott, what
a great day that he had as well, and then
the unfortunate for Potto and Power. We said that could

(01:29:22):
have been winners. Malucas was running up there, came together
with Foster, thought that was pretty clearly Foster's issue coming up.
I understand how Foster then feels like he went down
and came down on him after that, but Foster was
penalized in that circumstance. So we can talk more about
the race next week, and I'll ask for Kurt's thoughts

(01:29:42):
as well, a big picture thought on the season. So,
as I mentioned with Will, it was a much more
enjoyable finished the season with much less angst in that
my employment does not mostly end right after the race
is over. Now nothing is guaranteed thing and certainly in
this business, but I feel good about all of us

(01:30:05):
and the reaction and the conversations that we've had with
Fox executives. So I am someone also that's not super
big on change, and I was, as I've said, quite
happy with the status quo and the way things were
at NBC. And Matt has nothing to do with moving
to the boot that was In general, I love being
on Pit Lane with Lee Diffy is a part of
our coverage and I would have been happy for that

(01:30:26):
to continue for many many years. All of that said,
this season has been wonderful. There's something to be said
when the CEO of the company, Eric Shanks, is all
in on IndyCar and convinces the people even above him
that we need to invest in this sport and get

(01:30:47):
even more involved. That's why I think the future is
very bright. And it's fun for us, not just the announcers,
but everyone on the crew to interact with the top
level people at the company and they are involved. Yes,
we all know the NFL is king and there's a
lot of money to be made from there. But that's
one of the reasons why I'm so optimistic. There were

(01:31:10):
new technologies this year, and things beyond my level of
understanding that had no connection with the new technologies. If
just the transfer from one network to another and how
things are broadcast, so that takes some time, it will
get even better next year. These are massively talented and
creative people behind the camera, behind the scenes, so I

(01:31:32):
am excited about that in the discussions that we will
have for next year, and it's just been a wonderful year.
Now I'll go back to NBC a little bit and
I've got a couple of sports car races and then
we'll see what happens for the winter, and we will
continue this program, including next Monday night. I think it's
seven right here at ninety three to five and one
oh seven five the fan

All Episodes

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

24/7 News: The Latest

The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show

The Charlie Kirk Show

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Curt and Kevin Talk Power & VeeKay Not Returning & Recapping a Music City Championship!

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

.css-r6mb8g{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:1;overflow:hidden;}24/7 News: The Latest

The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show

The Charlie Kirk Show

All Episodes

Curt and Kevin Talk Power & VeeKay Not Returning & Recapping a Music City Championship!

24/7 News: The Latest