November 18, 2025 • 43 mins
Tonight, on another edition of Trackside with Curt Cavin and Kevin Lee, they talk about Ryan Hunter-Reay officially joining Arrow McLaren in the #31 Chevrolet for the 2026 Indy 500, and how great of an opportunity this is for both McLaren and Hunter-Reay. They also talk about that MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi had an opportunity to get Hunter-Reay’s seat. They later talk about the remaining open seats for the Indy 500.
In the second segment, Kevin is joined by Ryan Hunter-Reay to talk about him going to Arrow McLaren to compete for the 110th Indianapolis 500.
To wrap up another edition of the show, Kevin talks about which IndyCar drivers competed in the recent IMSA testing at Daytona.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
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 five the fan.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
What we're trying to build here, Aaron McLaren, since I've
been here, is to grow the team as far as
you know, winning, winning the championship, all the things that
every team will set up go ahead the beginning of
the lead.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
The intention of running that car.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
To me, it was like, I need a winner. I
need a guide that is going to be able to
win the five hundred, and there's not many guys that
are available right now. And I call Ryan and today,
you and I we are going to negotiate you and
I and we happy they still do it and we
may have.
Speaker 4 (00:39):
That's Aaron McLaren. Team principal Tony Kannan on the confirmation
of Ryan Hunter Ray joining their lineup in a fourth
car for the Indianapolis five hundred and Ryan will be
on the show in just a few minutes, so what's
left will discuss. There's more sports car news for Indy
car drivers and teams. Ten of them we're testing at
(01:00):
Daytona over the weekend, and your Twitter questions from the
Xbox all coming up. Hello, Welcome, Thanks for joining us
landon Coons is in our studios downtown, Kevin Lee, Kurk
Cavin ready to chat.
Speaker 5 (01:13):
For just a little bit. Let's get into it.
Speaker 4 (01:15):
We've got a lot to cover in the second before
Ryan joins us. Confirmation one of those where sometimes I
throw one against the wall with I'd say it was
an educated opinion, but it was really just kind of
common sense. I thought Aera McLaren was probably ready to
move on from the superstar driver and get what is
(01:37):
most needed for them to compete and win their first
Indy five hundred since Johnny Rutherford and alas it is
Ryan Hunter Ray.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
It does help in several different forms. I do think
they probably explored some other options, but Ryan made good sense.
I think he helps most of all. He helps Poto Award.
He will help Christian Lutinguard as well. I mean Christian
probably needs the most help of the two of those obviously,
(02:07):
but I think he'll be a good sounding board for
Potter war that you know Potto didn't have last year
running with you know, still a very inexperienced oval driver
in Linguard, a very inexperienced IndyCar Series driver in Nolan
Siegel and Kyle Larson. So it'll be good for a
(02:31):
couple of different aspects of that organization. And I don't
think we can discount this. I think Hunter Ray could
win the race, literally win the race. He'll have a
good car. He was pretty well positioned last year. I know,
you know, things still have to play out. They basically
(02:51):
ran out of fuel on his last He was going.
Speaker 4 (02:53):
To be leading after the last pit stop.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
So you like your chances whether or not he holds
on well, I mean, he's deal is going to have
to beat Pod of Award and he's still going to
have to beat Alex Pelow and Marcus Erickson.
Speaker 4 (03:05):
Some of the guys that have the two Ray haul
cars a picks, but he would have been in pretty
good shape.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Yeah, so you like, you like it on all fronts,
and I just you know, I saw the photos of
how to Ray.
Speaker 4 (03:18):
It just he just looked happy. I haven't talked to
him yet.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
We'll talk to him a little bit, but he's he
just looked like invigorated. I mean, he's had some good
decent runs here lately, but a couple of unfortunate situations,
what two years ago on the backstretch. But I think
he can win the race.
Speaker 4 (03:39):
I chatted with him a little bit setting up the interview,
and he said, I listened.
Speaker 5 (03:43):
To the show.
Speaker 4 (03:45):
I heard your predictions and I wanted to tell you.
He said, you are one of the first that was
on this, and I wanted to tell you, but I
knew I I shouldn't and I can't. And I said,
that's the way I like it. It's more fun if
I can guess. And I'm I'm going to be wrong
sometimes on these things, but it's more fun if you
get to guess on that front. I think that's an
excellent point about Potto, you know. I think I had
(04:08):
thought it's a lot about helping Nolan Siegel, and it's
a lot about taking loan Guard to that final level.
But you're right, when you're a driver that's come so
close so many times, or even if you've wanted before,
if you're just a top level driver, you want someone
else to confirm, Hey, this doesn't feel right today, what's
(04:28):
going on?
Speaker 5 (04:28):
And you have Ryan Hunter Ray in the car.
Speaker 4 (04:31):
Who's done this for different teams. That's going to be big.
So I think this is a huge get. It's great
for Ryan Hunter Ray. You know, in some ways I
would say this is a no brainer. However, he was
in a really good situation and for just a moment
you could debate, all right, do I want to be
(04:51):
in someone's fourth car with part time people, or do
I want to be the premier focus for a team.
This is kind of the selling point that is not
just talk. I think it's real for Dryan Reinbold that
they have a full time crew, they have key people
in this. You're still going to choose the Aera McLaren
(05:12):
situation because of all the resources and being able to
bounce it off other teammates. But it's not like, oh
I was in a bad spot. I need to get
out of here as soon as I can. This now
creates a really good opportunity in a premiere opening for
the ND five hundred.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
So no matter how I say this, this is going
to sound degrading to Dryan Reinbold. And I don't mean
that because I think they've got an excellent group of
guys scals. But they're only doing one race a year,
So there is that element just a little bit factored in.
And the other thing is as much as hownter Ray
(05:49):
will help podd Award Poddle Award will help Hunter Ray,
and it's it's beneficial in that direction as well, that
that Hunter Ray can say to Potto, are you feeling
what I'm feeling now? That isn't to say Jack Harvey
couldn't do that as well. But we all agree that
Potter Ward has been one of the best drivers of
(06:11):
the last six years at Indy. So this flows both ways. Again,
I mean no disrespect to what Dennis, Ryan Bolden and
friends have put together because it's admirable and I think
they can be a top five car. Maybe they could
have won last year's Indy five hundred. Certainly we can
(06:31):
debate that and dream of what could have been, but
the reality is it didn't happen for them, and so
this is a golden opportunity not only for Aero McLaren,
but also and maybe more importantly for Hunter Ray.
Speaker 4 (06:47):
Now to the higher profile opportunities.
Speaker 5 (06:52):
So I'm looking for this tweet.
Speaker 4 (06:54):
From jennaf Fryer. Has this been deleted? No, it has not.
Speaker 5 (06:59):
I don't think so. So it was rumored.
Speaker 4 (07:02):
I think Nathan Brown wrote this in the Indianapolis Star
that Zach Brown told him there's a driver we're trying
to get for a rookie test and it would be awesome,
and we all kind of guessed on who that could be,
and it was around that same time I said, I
don't think it's going to be one. I think it's
going to be Ryan Hunter Ray. That makes a lot
more sense to me. There's just a lot of challenges
(07:25):
when you've not won the race to try to get
someone up the speed. Well, Jenna says that that would
have been Valentino Rossi, the legendary Supercross a Moto GP writer,
and there's really no story it's but I also know
that Jenna has really strong sources from Zach Brown, so
(07:47):
I think that's plausible. Because Rossi is driving race cars now,
he's driving GT three cars, He's done a test in
a hypercar for BMW. I think that would have been
a pretty steep learning curve from him, and not sure
whether he could do that or not, but it is
somewhat plausible. One story going around was that there was
(08:10):
really never ever a Superstar driver. Zach was just having
fun with people. I don't think you have fun with
the Indianapolis Star. That would surprise me. I could see
him throwing it out in some other outlet, but that
would surprise me. So I suspect this is what it is,
that he was applying that path, and if that's true,
(08:33):
I think this is best for the organization. They have
a better chance to win the race now with Ryan
Hunter Ray than one of the greatest Moto GP riders
of all time.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
I mean, I know we have seen motorcycle racers excel
in Indy cars. We have seen that Jeff Ward won
a race, obviously Joe Leonard. I mean, there have been some,
but I can't envision a scenario we're Valentino Rossi in
a firm opportunity to race an Indy car can be
(09:03):
competitive at Indy. I just can't.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
I can't.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
I can't make that connection. I know he's tested a
race car. I'm sure he can drive a sports car.
I don't think he can compete at Indy. I just don't.
Speaker 4 (09:16):
Sorry, I think it can be really hard. Now, it
may have had some blocks in it, you know, this
may have been and one of the reasons why he
wouldn't throw out a name at the time, because we're
going to try to get him a test as quietly
as possible, see how he feels, and then take it
from there and as far as I know, it never
(09:37):
got to that point. So that's what that is. That
would have been massive internationally in America. Probably doesn't matter,
does it.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
No, it matters to some degree, but it doesn't have
some It doesn't.
Speaker 4 (09:56):
Guess an awful lot of our listeners don't know who
that is.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
It's not it's not Alexander Rossi's second cousin.
Speaker 4 (10:04):
Exactly does he is? He's like the Michael Schumacher Ayrton
Senna of Moto GP.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Right, Yes, and he'd make he'd make Elio's English sound
like he was from Central Indiana. But you know, it's
it's a great idea. I'm sure Zach Brown was approached
by the idea, tinkered with the idea, maybe even went
down some channels to see how it would work. But again,
(10:31):
you want to win the Indy five hundred. He's not
winning the Indy five hundred, and he's not helping win
the Indy five hundred. And if if anything, he's probably
detracting from the Indy five hundred. Ryan Hunterray does not
detract in any sense. And this idea that he's in
the fourth car, I'd argue he's in the second car.
(10:51):
He's in the second car, because in terms of they'll
have really good people, they'll have and even if they
don't have their best or their second best group of people,
just the experience that Ryan brings will help bridge the
gap where gaps exist.
Speaker 4 (11:09):
And I know in past years. I don't know that
I asked about this last year, but I can recall
as recently as twenty three twenty four, they had a
bit of a rotating pit crew and they would have
tryouts throughout the year, and they essentially had four full
time teams for the three cars, and they would rotate
(11:32):
in and out, maybe give someone some time off, but
mostly just you got to earn your spot if you're
changing the outside front tire the outside rear tire from
race to race. So the people that are on the
fourth team are plenty, plenty goods, So yeah, this is
going to run a quality entry.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
Let me ask you something and I should know this,
but they've changed it and you've been on pit roads,
so you're a person to ask, how how will race
car be in terms of pit selection at Indy?
Speaker 4 (12:05):
What's based on qualifying? So he could still be could
still be P one, he could still have pit out.
That's the one race that has nothing to do with
the previous race.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
I just want to make sure that was the case,
because that is as significant as you know. Is your
left e or tire changer the best in the business.
I mean, having position on pit road is a huge
element to this race. You just for a variety of reasons.
It takes longer to explain, but if you're in the
(12:34):
back half of the field, you've got a very difficult
challenge to win the race over somebody who's in those
first five pit stops, the pit boxes.
Speaker 4 (12:43):
So here's where we stand for still available Indy five
hundred seats, a fourth and ready. That maybe is for
Colton heard it, but I can't swear that it is.
I think there's I think there's every chance that they
have not decided yet that they're holding it open. They
want away things now. If you want to get to Kumasado,
(13:07):
you need to go get him right now. If he
is not already signed with Ray Hall, Leedhiman Lanigan, and
he may already have, but that could be something to pursuing.
But if that is something they want to do, they
have to make a decision immediately because Soto will be
snapped up if they want Connor daily. I think they
have to move quickly as well, because Dryan Rhinebold if
(13:29):
Connor doesn't have a full time seat, which I still
think he could, And that's going to be another difficult
decision for Connor to make. As these Indy five hundred
seats start to go away, He's going to get Dryan
Reinbold saying hey, are you in or are you out?
And it was last year, right, or maybe it was
two years ago. Has he done full time the last
(13:51):
two years years?
Speaker 1 (13:52):
Yes?
Speaker 4 (13:53):
No, it was this time last year because this year
was his only full time year. Remember he was a
late fill in in twenty four for Hunkos. So we
had to decide around this time last year, am I
still trying to get this full time seat with Hunkos
Or am I going to take the sure thing with
Dryer and Ryanbold? And he said, you know, I'm going
to gamble with myself. I am going to see if
(14:17):
we can make this happen full time. He's probably faced
with that similar situation at this point. Maybe, ANDRETTI, you
would love to get the F two season started, in
the F one season and see how it's going for
Colton and make this decision in late March, but that
leaves you without any of those other options. But I'll
(14:37):
throw this one out there. And this is again where
I've just been trading messages with this person all day.
I ain't asking him about this because he doesn't need
to tell me. Could James hinchclipp be your backup plan?
Could you be thinking we're probably going to run Colton
hurt up and if we decide that's not best for
him and for Cadillac, F one could always go to
(15:01):
a really popular playan b in James Hinchcliffe. And I
say this not knowing if hinch still wants to do it.
We've not talked about this for over a year, but
I know how race car drivers are, and almost all
of them, if they are presented with an opportunity to
run with a top flight team and are not required
to bring budget and pound on doors and everything else,
(15:24):
they're going to say yes. Second part is, I don't
know if hinch is full time employer would allow it.
I don't know if Fox would say Nope, you have
signed up for a job, we need you in the
booth and that's that and that would be the end
of it. Or they might say No, this would enhance
the broadcast, This would make you more valuable the rest
(15:44):
of the season, and we would do two in car
hits during the race. And how cool would this be.
So I highly doubt that as possible or likely, but
I'm just throwing that out there. If they didn't feel
like if they wanted Colton but wanted to leave him out,
and maybe there's someone else I'm not thinking of that
is high profile that could be available in that circumstance.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
Yeah, I like your logic. It seems it seems like
low percentage of Hinchcliff would be in the car.
Speaker 4 (16:15):
I mean, he's I think that's the scenario. Whereas if
they went down the Colton path internally and decided, you
know what, we need him for some other things. So
we shall see. If it's not Colton, it is an
awfully good opportunity for someone else. And then, if you're
Connor Daily, are you saying I might be able to
(16:36):
get something full time with dale Coin Racing in their
second car, or I could have a legitimate chance to
win the Indianapolis five hundred with Andretti.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
What are you taking Keep in mind that Andretti Global
finished second on track in the Indy five hundred last year,
and I was just about to look up because I
can't remember where was Where was Kyle Kirkwood at the finish?
Speaker 4 (17:00):
Was he like six? Feel like he was fifth or sixth?
Speaker 1 (17:02):
He was me? Two?
Speaker 4 (17:03):
Me too?
Speaker 1 (17:04):
And then of course they were both penalized, sent to
the back, and the rest of the documents suggest they
finished thirty first and thirty second, but they were better
than that. They were very positioned to win the five hundred.
Speaker 4 (17:17):
So it's good seat, it's a great seat. So that's
in TBD. So that's one. The ray Hall car. We
need confirmation. We all suspected SODO would make perfect sense,
but we need confirmation on that second Dryer Rhinebould car.
I assume that they're running one, and the possibilities there.
It starts with Connor Daily. If Prema doesn't field cars,
(17:43):
Callum I Loot is in the mix for all of
these openings that we talk about. Linas Lunquist is in
the mix, maybe Toby Sowy or Uri Vipps. That probably
applies more to the ray Hall situation. Viips was in
their McLaren GT three car testing over the weekend, by
the way, so there's still a bit of a relationship there.
(18:03):
I believe Toby Swary's reserve driver contract ended at the
end of this season or sometime in October, but they
could always renew that and they obviously have a relationship there.
So those are the three guaranteed openings. We'll talk about
Prema in a moment. There's a little bit of information there.
And if Prema doesn't show, then you have thirty two cars.
(18:28):
So then it's going to take aj Foyd Racing Fielding
a third car, maybe in association with Penske, and maybe
that's Miles Row or maybe it's someone I've mentioned. And
here are the other names that I think would all
be in play for the five hundred. If Jacob abel
is not a full time driver, he obviously would have
the budget to do the ND five hundred. And I
(18:50):
think they even maybe still own a chassis that they
could bring to a team if somebody says we're short
on chassis. Devilin di Francesco, what does he want to
do if we don't think there's a spot for him
at ray Hall, Lethman Lanigan, is he in play for
Coin or Hunkos or anyone else? If not, might he
(19:12):
Combo a sports car program. He was not a Daytona
this weekend, but he's driven GT three cars. He driven
P two cars. Didn't have to be there, but he
could be a one off. James Row is a master
at raising budgets. He is fully partner funded. He's brilliant
with top Con and other partners, and I think he's
(19:33):
got the budget to do the Indy five hundred, along
with Indy Next and sports cars and other things. So
keep an eye on James Row. He had a solid
test in the Indy Car at the road He did
a nice job for Hunkhos on the road course. Recently
I mentioned Miles Row. Hunter mcilray is always someone still looking.
I've heard Zach Veeach's name come up, and I would
(19:55):
just say this in general regarding Zach or anybody else,
if you have been an IndyCar driver and are still
actively driving, you would still like to do the Indy
five hundred. So that's why I'm including devilind Francesco, Zach Veach,
Benjamin Peterson, who is in a Vassar Sullivan Lexus this weekend.
I've not talked to him to know if that's in play,
(20:15):
but they have an opening because Parker Thompson, who came
up through the road Dandy is getting an even better
opportunity to do LMP two and to do GT threes
in Europe and a lot more. Jerr Hildebrand, I think
would still be open to doing the INNDY five hundred,
and probably you would have some budgets surrounding him. And
if ramagro Jean does not end up in that coin car,
(20:38):
then he could be a one off for the Indy
five hundred. So those are the names that I have
there now. As far as premam motorsport dot com had
some quotes from the head of Premo Racing, Rene Racine today.
Jamie Klein was the writer and says they are evaluating
different solutions to remain on the Indy car grid in
(20:59):
twenty amid speculation regarding its future, and it mentions they've
had some problems with the parent company d C Racing Solutions.
Against that backdrop, Racine said, the team is quote working
hard to ensure that it's spell in any card does
not end up being limited to a single season. Quote.
Speaker 5 (21:17):
Honestly, we're looking at and.
Speaker 4 (21:19):
Evaluating different solutions. We are working really hard and we
will see soon what the future brings. Push to say
if he felt confident about Prema being back on the
grid next season, Racine replied, we are working on it.
That's all I can say. And he clarified that if
they're there, it's Ie Lood and shortsmen because they're under
multi year contracts, so no comment needed there. That's just
(21:41):
some information beyond just speculation as to where things are at.
We have news on some of what Team Penske is doing,
but not everything. Marshall Prue had a story yesterday on
racer dot com. As expected, there are promotions for two
of their top engineers, Will Powers, longtime engineer David Faustino
(22:06):
is going to be the technical director overseeing their indiecar
R and D programs, and Ben Bretzman. His title is
going to be Engineering Manager of Competition. They are not
going to be on a car. The team has not
said who will be on any of the cars, including
Joseph Newgardens. We will learn that later. And there are
(22:28):
some other promotions from within, and I think the story
basically said, of the three people we fired, it's taking
seven to replace them, so we've elevated assistant engineers and
others into those positions that will shore things up. But
now we need lead engineers, so stay tuned on that.
That's still a big part of what's going to happen
(22:51):
next season. All Right, we need to get to Ryan
Hunter Ray. That's coming up in a moment, and then
we'll check back and see what we missed before we
finished track Side ninety three to five, one oh seven
to five. Hi, this is Poto Award and you're listening
to truck Side. Thanks for staying with us as Trackside continues.
Ninety three five and one seven five the fan joining
us now newsmaker from last Thursday confirmed in the fourth
(23:12):
Errol McLaren Indy Chevrolet, the number thirty one, A former winner,
a former champion looking to add to that resume.
Speaker 5 (23:20):
It's Ryan Hunter Ray.
Speaker 4 (23:21):
Congratulations Ryan, Thanks, Kevin, appreciate it.
Speaker 6 (23:24):
Yeah, massive opportunity, super it's pumped to be here and great,
great group of individuals involved in this whole thing, and yeah,
we got it done in a short amount of time.
And like you said, I mean the four the fourth card.
Aaron McLaren has been definitely a headliner and hopefully we'll
continue to do that by by winning any five hundred here.
Speaker 4 (23:47):
So I'm psych We'll pretend like all these questions are
new to you because you're on interview number forty three
of the tour since it started in the middle of
last week. And I'm curious about the timeline because when
we've been talking and I just love to throw things
against the wall, and I could have just simply texted
(24:08):
you and asked you and you probably would have told me,
but I didn't. And I've been saying, this just makes sense.
They've gone with the Star route and NASCAR driver things
like that, but I kind of felt like they needed
to go find the best driver available and that was you.
When did this all come together.
Speaker 3 (24:29):
In pieces kind of?
Speaker 6 (24:30):
But then all of a sudden, a massive just just.
Speaker 3 (24:35):
Rushed at the end.
Speaker 6 (24:36):
I mean it came together, you know, it kind of
really organically started. After the race, after coming so close
with Ryan Rainbold to winning, I was just dejected, exhausted
mentally and physically. After the race, I was in the
parking lot of the bus lot kind of moped my
way back to the motorhome, and.
Speaker 3 (24:59):
TK and Dario we're out there, you know.
Speaker 6 (25:01):
Talking, and they're, you know, just one leg up on
the golf car tire just one of those kind of conversations,
and Dario and TK were like because they you know,
they've both had long careers as well, Tony's career very
similar to mine, and he's like, ry, what do we
how really are like what are you going to do?
(25:21):
Like what do you really need to do?
Speaker 1 (25:23):
This?
Speaker 6 (25:23):
You know this, that and the other DA, And I'm like, man,
it just means the world to me, means everything to me,
and and and I. It was obvious to me again
because I know it's all I think about, but it
was obvious to me even after the fact how important
it was to me, because of how much of it
impacted me. You know, I didn't sleep for days afterwards,
(25:47):
very little, I should say, I haven't watched one replay
the race since because yeah, it's it's a it's a
fresh wound. But that's when it started, and just nothing
happened from there. We talked, I think maybe late in
the season, before the end of the season, before Nashville
kind of and said, hey, what's your deal?
Speaker 3 (26:08):
What are you doing?
Speaker 6 (26:09):
You know, I told him my status Da da da da,
And then all of a sudden, a few weeks later
or two weeks later something like that, it was just like, Hey,
this is happening, Let's get this done. And then Tony
and I just worked it out on the phone, just
between him and I because you know, we have a
massive amount of trust and we just worked we worked
everything out on the phone and got it done in
(26:31):
a few days. And you know, I want to express
my gratitude as well, you know, to Zach, Tony, Kevin,
everybody at the team. Everybody kind of just pushed in
the right direction, like full throttle, and it was it
was unique in the case that I don't think I've
ever had a deal come together that quick.
Speaker 4 (26:50):
Ryan Hunnarray is joining us, would you have considered a
full time opportunity? Is that still something you would do
in the right circle stance? And granted those are few
and far between with someone that doesn't bring budget with him,
but is that was that even on the table at
(27:10):
any time? Or is it No, I'm going to just
look for the right Indy five hundred program at this point.
Speaker 3 (27:17):
That's a good question.
Speaker 6 (27:18):
I mean, I've just been focused on, you know, just
doing the Indy five hundred kind of like the model
I've been doing with Ryan Reinbold, right, so that that
could kind of fit, just fit into this fourth car.
Speaker 3 (27:28):
It was never really it was relative, never.
Speaker 6 (27:31):
Discussed as a full time deal. Never say no, it
would have to be you know, stars aligning everything perfect,
perfect for I think for me to consider the full
time deal on it.
Speaker 3 (27:47):
But this just this just fits really well.
Speaker 6 (27:50):
You know, I've I've worked with Tony as well in
a massive and a really big organization, right and over
my years at Indie and work at different teams. This
is my tenth IndyCar team, believe it or not, that
I've worked with and you know, I can apply that,
I can apply that here and I have a lot
of experience with working with big groups and different personalities
(28:11):
and that's a big deal.
Speaker 3 (28:12):
You know, an.
Speaker 6 (28:12):
IndyCar in competition competitive sports, especially motor racing's it is
a team sport and it matters, right that atmosphere and
the chemistry that you have working within that environment, not.
Speaker 3 (28:24):
Only on the car that you're on, but the entire.
Speaker 6 (28:28):
Outfit as a whole, and how that works and how
efficiently it works over a weekend or a week.
Speaker 3 (28:33):
Preparing for Indy.
Speaker 6 (28:35):
So you know, I look forward to hopefully having an
impact in that regard as well.
Speaker 4 (28:40):
Do you like working with young drivers. I have to
believe that's one of the incentives.
Speaker 6 (28:43):
Is.
Speaker 4 (28:44):
Yes, they've got Potto who's nearly almost won the thing
a few times, but loom Guard is relatively young and
Noland is still very young.
Speaker 3 (28:52):
Yeah, I mean it depends, right.
Speaker 6 (28:53):
It's not a scenario where I come in and say, hey, guys,
this is how you have to.
Speaker 3 (28:58):
Drive turn two.
Speaker 6 (28:59):
It's more of a big picture mentality working together as
a team. When you have strength and numbers, it can
really work well if you use it effectively and efficiently.
Speaker 3 (29:07):
Right if you if you if you.
Speaker 6 (29:09):
Can develop a setup and you you kind of divvy
up you know who does what on what day, and
then you start combining those changes and a ba ing
in them as we call amongst different different guys. Everybody's
going to have their bit of an offset on setup.
But if you can and we've done it successfully at
Andretti before on occasion wasn't every year.
Speaker 3 (29:30):
But if you can.
Speaker 6 (29:31):
Effectively and efficiently pull that that maximum potential out of
everybody and actually work together, you have an advantage strengthen numbers.
Speaker 3 (29:40):
Especially on the other side of it.
Speaker 6 (29:43):
You got a lot of guys that you know come
from Europe, and their mentality immediately is my teammate is
my number one enemy, and I am. That's what I'm
focused on, is just making sure that he gets as
little information as possible. If I make a change on
track and it's better, I'm going to do whatever I
can to give him misinformation on it. That is a
short sighted approach. I've seen it happen many times. I've
(30:04):
watched it work. I've watched it. I should say I've
watched it not work.
Speaker 3 (30:08):
At Indy.
Speaker 6 (30:09):
You want to be in a position where you're fighting
your teammates at the end, because that means you guys
have all worked together to give yourselves the best package
possible to be in that shootout at the end. So
I don't necessarily would say that it's working with young
drivers that I like. I really like working with drivers
that have an open mind towards being better as a
cohesive unity.
Speaker 4 (30:30):
And I would just say, what you can bring to
them is one more car that's going to be sorted,
one more knowledgeable input and gathering data. So that's just
executive to the entire program. Right then a raise joining us.
I'll ask you this because I get to ask this
a lot on the account of people like you, why
aren't they doing more sports car racing? And my answer is,
(30:51):
it's not like it used to be. Early in your career,
it seemed that most of the time when in Indy
car driver raised his hand, they could find to see,
certainly in the endurance races and maybe full time when
they transitioned out of full time IndyCar racing. How hard
is it to find a sports car seat?
Speaker 3 (31:10):
Now, you're a great point, Kavin.
Speaker 6 (31:13):
I mean, it's it is such a unique time with
that because for years, I think I did, I did
thirteen or fourteen Daytona twenty fours, twelve hours of cebring
one that one. Overall, you know, these teams would just
pluck IndyCar drivers. You had probably eight or nine sitting
on the grid in the top category being that let's
call it prototype or Daytona Prototype.
Speaker 3 (31:33):
Or whatever you want, DPI, LMDh.
Speaker 6 (31:36):
I don't know how many renderings have gone through of that,
but it shifted with this new the hypercar, since it
went to the HyperCard deal. A lot of these manufacturers
that came in they have their own you know, they
have their own network of drivers that they bring up
their own farm system. So to speak, and they bring
them up either from the GT category or for whatever categories.
Speaker 3 (31:56):
They had in Europe.
Speaker 6 (31:58):
And now if you look at it, like in the
Hypercar Closs, if you just aside from the accurate entry
that has Polo Dixon.
Speaker 3 (32:07):
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't. I don't.
Maybe Colton in the BMW, I don't think there's.
Speaker 4 (32:13):
Colton's in a Cadillac. He's in a Wayne Taylor Cadillac.
All okay, all right? Is running with Shank again?
Speaker 3 (32:20):
Yeah? I thought that was.
Speaker 6 (32:21):
I mean, they've been they've been together for so long. Yes,
back together, but it is not the same as it
used to be in that regard. You know, I had
a really good home. I had my time at Wayne Taylor.
I had a really good home at Mazda. And when Mazda,
you know, for so many years Maza was terrible and
they did a lot of work, spent a lot of money,
and then we started really firing and we were doing
(32:42):
well when the races. That's how we won the twelve
hours of Sebring overall. And finally, you know, they did
it and it was just like wow, we outspent ourselves
here and left and then I went to Ganassi with
the Cadillac and had a good home there and then
you know, they split the team in two. Cadillac did
GM and sent one to WEK and the other one
stayed home and Dixon had my seat and that obviously,
(33:06):
you know, and as expected. So yeah, it's you know,
it's just been one thing or another, and now the
category has changed.
Speaker 3 (33:15):
There's there's not many indie car drivers in it.
Speaker 6 (33:17):
I see McLaughlin and new Gardner in what the Tower,
pietzfew maybe again.
Speaker 4 (33:23):
You know, they're they're testing the Porschapinskey Prototype, but they're
not confirmed for the race, and I honestly think they're
going to be asked by Porsche because of what you said.
Porsche has their people, They're going to have to prove themselves.
Roger and Jonathan Dogood don't just get to say there
are drivers they're in. They're going to have to be
better than the other people that have been in the
(33:45):
Porsche program for a long time and are on their spot.
Speaker 3 (33:49):
That was the same thing with Rayhull and BMW.
Speaker 6 (33:51):
And in that case, BMW wasn't even trying out any
car drivers. They were just they had their network of
guys and that's you know, they're under contract. They came
through their system. The guys same thing. Porsche, like you mentioned,
Porsche is one of them. That's that's done that for years.
So yeah, limited opportunities there for sure. And to be
honest with you, I really haven't been after the Ganassi
(34:12):
Cadillac deal. I really haven't been shopping in Well, you're
coaching football.
Speaker 4 (34:16):
We got bigger and better things to do, right.
Speaker 6 (34:17):
Football, and you know when in you know pee wee
Football Championships.
Speaker 3 (34:22):
Priority.
Speaker 4 (34:22):
That's right. I'm glad you got your priority straight. I
wasn't sure if I wanted to bring this up, but
I'm going to last year's five hundred because it didn't
get the coverage that it should have.
Speaker 5 (34:33):
It's one of those things.
Speaker 4 (34:34):
There's so many things going on and I think it
slipped under the radar. But you could have should have
won the race. We're not going to focus on that part,
but we're going to focus on the success story that
it was your pit stop practice car that you almost
won the ND five hundred with. This would have been
a bigger story maybe I think it would have been,
(34:55):
or a more unlikely story than the Allens are nineteen
eighty seven show car that we always talk about so much. Well,
that show car wasn't brought out on Saturday morning. That
show car was there for the entire month being prepared.
That team replaced a burned down car, and you were,
I think going to be ahead. You're going in your
(35:16):
last pit stop leading and you're going to be ahead
of Ericsson and Polo and the two ray Hauls that
were right in front of them that were a lap down.
So you don't have to talk about the heartbreak again,
but let's go up to that point of did you
really think there was any kind of a shot to
be competitive in that race?
Speaker 6 (35:35):
You know, I've been I've been in so many unique
scenarios and racing over the years. I've learned to you know,
a lot of is mental right. And if you get
into the car with an ounce Let's say it's been
dry all weekend, all of a sudden it starts raining
right before the race, you haven't had a lap in
the ring. You can either go into that with the
right mentality you better get it right real quick, or
you can go into it with some doubts, any bit
(35:58):
of negativity.
Speaker 3 (35:59):
Oh my last race.
Speaker 6 (36:00):
Maybe I locked the tire and got into the barrier.
I better not do that again. You start focusing on that.
Just like as they say, you know, you go where
your eyes are right. If the car starts to turn
on you and you're looking at the wall, you're gonna
end up at the wall. But I just knew that
I had to focus on, you know, going one hundred
and twenty percent. I knew it was going to be
something where I had to adapt to the car a
(36:21):
little bit as it went, and we might have to
add some front wing, take some out, whatever it was.
But I was talking to the guys when I went
over at Dryan Rabal, but when I went over to
go pick up my seat, even this morning when I
dropped off a helmet that unless you're embedded in the situation,
nobody really has a real feel for what actually went
down there.
Speaker 3 (36:42):
It was absolutely I agree with you.
Speaker 6 (36:44):
I think it would have been one of the most
remarkable stories, and I think it deserves even like a
documentary on what happened.
Speaker 3 (36:49):
Because it burned down. We didn't have a backup car.
There was no backup car.
Speaker 6 (36:53):
They were lowering it out of the truck in the
in the in the lot, and I was going buy
my golf cart and I jokingly said to them as
it was coming down, like my god, that's.
Speaker 3 (37:06):
Not our race car, and they laughed.
Speaker 6 (37:09):
They laughed and they said, I think it is, and
I thought they were joking, and then I see it,
you know, a half hour later, being rolled into the garage.
Speaker 3 (37:16):
It had an electric motor in it still for the you.
Speaker 6 (37:18):
Know, for being in the in the in the just
like these guys do here at Aaron McLaren doing the
pitstop practice in the shop.
Speaker 3 (37:26):
So it was wild.
Speaker 6 (37:28):
I went through one corner basically in an install check,
and then I went into the biggest race in the world,
having no idea what the balance was, any idea that
the underwing, the you know, the tunnel in the car
was efficient and how that would he react in traffic.
And it was wild. Honestly, it was completely wild, and
it did go unto the radar. That's unfortunate, because I
(37:49):
talked about this earlier on the press conference, is that
the hardest thing for spectators to follow Indy car, to
follow Indy the Indy five hundred, to follow even I
think sometimes on a street circuit is pit strategies. When
you have an early yellow and Indy five hundred, and
then you have it followed by another yellow within it
with that didn't completely go the full stint on tires.
Speaker 3 (38:11):
Right, Let's say it's twenty laps.
Speaker 6 (38:13):
You're going to have a split field at that point
on strategies, and then after that you're going to have
guys picking to short stint or long stint stretch it,
and it's going to continue to kind of migrate from there.
And at that time, I'm not blaming it on you
or Fox or anything else, but because you guys can't
possibly be watching every different scenario in every different strategy.
Speaker 3 (38:34):
But they were filming.
Speaker 6 (38:37):
They had a shot a plow and I said, and
here's the effective leader. Meanwhile, you look on the leaderboard
over on the top and there's you know, P one
is a car twenty three hundred. Ay, we were actually
the effective leader at that point. It's just that it
was so hard to follow the strategy. We were just
on the other side of the racetrack. We were running
with cars that had been running in the top ten,
top seven, that were on the same strategy as me,
(38:58):
like Connor Daily and stuff that we just weren't with
the polo ericson group, right, So we're rotating like that,
and like you said, we would have come out right
in front of the two lap cars and then Polo
and Ericson would have been behind them, So I would
have even had a little bit of a buffer to
work with and try and use those guys as you know,
(39:20):
as a wedge between us, kind of as a block.
Speaker 3 (39:24):
But yeah, it could have been, should have been, would
have been.
Speaker 6 (39:26):
That's why INDI's cruel and it's the most rewarding place
on Earth at the same time.
Speaker 3 (39:30):
But.
Speaker 6 (39:32):
The story that that would have been unbelievable. I mean,
it doesn't happen. It doesn't without anything happening, without any issue.
I mean I was in the garage at the middle
of the night doing seat fittings. These guys did not
sleep for forty eight hours straight building the car, so
you would think mistakes would happen.
Speaker 3 (39:51):
Then, right, they're all tired. Mistakes happen. It's a new car.
Speaker 6 (39:55):
This doesn't fit the same Da da da unbelievable five
hundred mile race and we were one of the quicker
cars track.
Speaker 4 (40:00):
Yeah, second fastest lap I think. And you mentioned didn't
sleep after you didn't see any name, but Friday night
before I saw you on Saturday evening and you say,
I looked like two hours, So.
Speaker 3 (40:09):
It was a zombie. I was a zombie going.
Speaker 4 (40:11):
That was remarkable, and that's why we're back again, and
we'll go for one more time in twenty six. I
hope you still have time to join us in the
Fox Indie Next booth.
Speaker 6 (40:20):
Well, I hope so too. I had a really good
time with you and Jack. I learned a lot. I'd
love to do some stuff on the Indy Car side.
I know that's less flexible you guys, don't. You know
on the Fox deal. You guys don't just plug in
folks there. But it was a tremendous opportunity with the
Indian Next deal because I had I had never kind
of done done the in the booth, you know, live
(40:42):
action throwing it back and forth. I'd always done kind
of you know the pit lane thing or whatever where
you can cueue up your thoughts right down. But I
learned a lot from you and from Jack on it,
and it was a great opportunity, and I think I've
got I've got a lot of experience to fall back
on that can come naturally in the form of information
on a broadcast and it's a matter of applying that
(41:05):
in a smooth in a smooth manner like, Yeah, how
you do reading those intros and stuff is just wild
to me, but we get there.
Speaker 4 (41:13):
Well, you help me get Jack to do some of
those because he's still reluctant, so that's going to be
out for twenty six.
Speaker 6 (41:17):
Absolutely make him do the baseball with the super complicated
last names.
Speaker 3 (41:21):
That's the hardest part.
Speaker 4 (41:23):
Well, next summer, we'll hopefully introduce you as two time
Indianapolis five hundred winner when you join us in the broadcast,
and then you can ask for a raise in that circumstance. Congrats, Ryan,
this is super cool. Looking forward to seeing you more
and Papaya in twenty six and we'll see it at
racetrack soon.
Speaker 3 (41:39):
All right, thanks my friend, I appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (41:41):
I have a good one, Ryan Hunter. Ray will be
in the number thirty one is original champ Car IndyCar
number back in the day for Aerol McLaren Indy in
twenty twenty six for the Indianapolis five hundred. We'll see
what we missed and more coming up next.
Speaker 6 (41:53):
On track side, Hi, this is Felix trosen Quist and
you're listening to track side.
Speaker 5 (41:58):
Okay, what we missed.
Speaker 4 (41:59):
I was going to into all the IndyCar drivers there
were a Daytona and what their prospects are for sports cars.
Ran out of time, but I will notice and mentioned
that Nolan Siegel was back in a sports car in.
Speaker 5 (42:12):
A P two car, Louis Foster in a P two car.
Speaker 4 (42:16):
We had wondered if Graham ray Hall might be in
the ray Hall Letterman Lanigan McLaren and one report said
that was a plan and was being explored. They may
have found some other options, one being Max Esterson, who
was really quick. He is an American kid who's been
racing in Europe, and you're a hips who I talked about.
Callum Ilot was in a Porsche GT three car, So
(42:39):
we'll talk more about that as we move on. Also,
the NASCAR start times came out this week, and that
tells us a couple of things. CODA on March first
is three point thirty, so I think that tells us
Saint Pete is going to be twelve twelve thirty. And
the NASCAR Cup race on Fox is two pm the
same day as Long Beach, so I would think I
(43:00):
think that means that's a good lead in for Long Beach,
probably at five pm easternichhe two pm West Coast time.
So there you go, all right. We'll see you again
next Tuesday night at seven on track Side
This is track Side with Kirk Cavin and Kevin Lee
on ninety three five and one oh seven five the fan.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
What we're trying to build here, Aaron McLaren, since I've
been here, is to grow the team as far as
you know, winning, winning the championship, all the things that
every team will set up go ahead the beginning of
the lead.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
The intention of running that car.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
To me, it was like, I need a winner. I
need a guide that is going to be able to
win the five hundred, and there's not many guys that
are available right now. And I call Ryan and today,
you and I we are going to negotiate you and
I and we happy they still do it and we
may have.
Speaker 4 (00:39):
That's Aaron McLaren. Team principal Tony Kannan on the confirmation
of Ryan Hunter Ray joining their lineup in a fourth
car for the Indianapolis five hundred and Ryan will be
on the show in just a few minutes, so what's
left will discuss. There's more sports car news for Indy
car drivers and teams. Ten of them we're testing at
(01:00):
Daytona over the weekend, and your Twitter questions from the
Xbox all coming up. Hello, Welcome, Thanks for joining us
landon Coons is in our studios downtown, Kevin Lee, Kurk
Cavin ready to chat.
Speaker 5 (01:13):
For just a little bit. Let's get into it.
Speaker 4 (01:15):
We've got a lot to cover in the second before
Ryan joins us. Confirmation one of those where sometimes I
throw one against the wall with I'd say it was
an educated opinion, but it was really just kind of
common sense. I thought Aera McLaren was probably ready to
move on from the superstar driver and get what is
(01:37):
most needed for them to compete and win their first
Indy five hundred since Johnny Rutherford and alas it is
Ryan Hunter Ray.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
It does help in several different forms. I do think
they probably explored some other options, but Ryan made good sense.
I think he helps most of all. He helps Poto Award.
He will help Christian Lutinguard as well. I mean Christian
probably needs the most help of the two of those obviously,
(02:07):
but I think he'll be a good sounding board for
Potter war that you know Potto didn't have last year
running with you know, still a very inexperienced oval driver
in Linguard, a very inexperienced IndyCar Series driver in Nolan
Siegel and Kyle Larson. So it'll be good for a
(02:31):
couple of different aspects of that organization. And I don't
think we can discount this. I think Hunter Ray could
win the race, literally win the race. He'll have a
good car. He was pretty well positioned last year. I know,
you know, things still have to play out. They basically
(02:51):
ran out of fuel on his last He was going.
Speaker 4 (02:53):
To be leading after the last pit stop.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
So you like your chances whether or not he holds
on well, I mean, he's deal is going to have
to beat Pod of Award and he's still going to
have to beat Alex Pelow and Marcus Erickson.
Speaker 4 (03:05):
Some of the guys that have the two Ray haul
cars a picks, but he would have been in pretty
good shape.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Yeah, so you like, you like it on all fronts,
and I just you know, I saw the photos of
how to Ray.
Speaker 4 (03:18):
It just he just looked happy. I haven't talked to
him yet.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
We'll talk to him a little bit, but he's he
just looked like invigorated. I mean, he's had some good
decent runs here lately, but a couple of unfortunate situations,
what two years ago on the backstretch. But I think
he can win the race.
Speaker 4 (03:39):
I chatted with him a little bit setting up the interview,
and he said, I listened.
Speaker 5 (03:43):
To the show.
Speaker 4 (03:45):
I heard your predictions and I wanted to tell you.
He said, you are one of the first that was
on this, and I wanted to tell you, but I
knew I I shouldn't and I can't. And I said,
that's the way I like it. It's more fun if
I can guess. And I'm I'm going to be wrong
sometimes on these things, but it's more fun if you
get to guess on that front. I think that's an
excellent point about Potto, you know. I think I had
(04:08):
thought it's a lot about helping Nolan Siegel, and it's
a lot about taking loan Guard to that final level.
But you're right, when you're a driver that's come so
close so many times, or even if you've wanted before,
if you're just a top level driver, you want someone
else to confirm, Hey, this doesn't feel right today, what's
(04:28):
going on?
Speaker 5 (04:28):
And you have Ryan Hunter Ray in the car.
Speaker 4 (04:31):
Who's done this for different teams. That's going to be big.
So I think this is a huge get. It's great
for Ryan Hunter Ray. You know, in some ways I
would say this is a no brainer. However, he was
in a really good situation and for just a moment
you could debate, all right, do I want to be
(04:51):
in someone's fourth car with part time people, or do
I want to be the premier focus for a team.
This is kind of the selling point that is not
just talk. I think it's real for Dryan Reinbold that
they have a full time crew, they have key people
in this. You're still going to choose the Aera McLaren
(05:12):
situation because of all the resources and being able to
bounce it off other teammates. But it's not like, oh
I was in a bad spot. I need to get
out of here as soon as I can. This now
creates a really good opportunity in a premiere opening for
the ND five hundred.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
So no matter how I say this, this is going
to sound degrading to Dryan Reinbold. And I don't mean
that because I think they've got an excellent group of
guys scals. But they're only doing one race a year,
So there is that element just a little bit factored in.
And the other thing is as much as hownter Ray
(05:49):
will help podd Award Poddle Award will help Hunter Ray,
and it's it's beneficial in that direction as well, that
that Hunter Ray can say to Potto, are you feeling
what I'm feeling now? That isn't to say Jack Harvey
couldn't do that as well. But we all agree that
Potter Ward has been one of the best drivers of
(06:11):
the last six years at Indy. So this flows both ways. Again,
I mean no disrespect to what Dennis, Ryan Bolden and
friends have put together because it's admirable and I think
they can be a top five car. Maybe they could
have won last year's Indy five hundred. Certainly we can
(06:31):
debate that and dream of what could have been, but
the reality is it didn't happen for them, and so
this is a golden opportunity not only for Aero McLaren,
but also and maybe more importantly for Hunter Ray.
Speaker 4 (06:47):
Now to the higher profile opportunities.
Speaker 5 (06:52):
So I'm looking for this tweet.
Speaker 4 (06:54):
From jennaf Fryer. Has this been deleted? No, it has not.
Speaker 5 (06:59):
I don't think so. So it was rumored.
Speaker 4 (07:02):
I think Nathan Brown wrote this in the Indianapolis Star
that Zach Brown told him there's a driver we're trying
to get for a rookie test and it would be awesome,
and we all kind of guessed on who that could be,
and it was around that same time I said, I
don't think it's going to be one. I think it's
going to be Ryan Hunter Ray. That makes a lot
more sense to me. There's just a lot of challenges
(07:25):
when you've not won the race to try to get
someone up the speed. Well, Jenna says that that would
have been Valentino Rossi, the legendary Supercross a Moto GP writer,
and there's really no story it's but I also know
that Jenna has really strong sources from Zach Brown, so
(07:47):
I think that's plausible. Because Rossi is driving race cars now,
he's driving GT three cars, He's done a test in
a hypercar for BMW. I think that would have been
a pretty steep learning curve from him, and not sure
whether he could do that or not, but it is
somewhat plausible. One story going around was that there was
(08:10):
really never ever a Superstar driver. Zach was just having
fun with people. I don't think you have fun with
the Indianapolis Star. That would surprise me. I could see
him throwing it out in some other outlet, but that
would surprise me. So I suspect this is what it is,
that he was applying that path, and if that's true,
(08:33):
I think this is best for the organization. They have
a better chance to win the race now with Ryan
Hunter Ray than one of the greatest Moto GP riders
of all time.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
I mean, I know we have seen motorcycle racers excel
in Indy cars. We have seen that Jeff Ward won
a race, obviously Joe Leonard. I mean, there have been some,
but I can't envision a scenario we're Valentino Rossi in
a firm opportunity to race an Indy car can be
(09:03):
competitive at Indy. I just can't.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
I can't.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
I can't make that connection. I know he's tested a
race car. I'm sure he can drive a sports car.
I don't think he can compete at Indy. I just don't.
Speaker 4 (09:16):
Sorry, I think it can be really hard. Now, it
may have had some blocks in it, you know, this
may have been and one of the reasons why he
wouldn't throw out a name at the time, because we're
going to try to get him a test as quietly
as possible, see how he feels, and then take it
from there and as far as I know, it never
(09:37):
got to that point. So that's what that is. That
would have been massive internationally in America. Probably doesn't matter,
does it.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
No, it matters to some degree, but it doesn't have
some It doesn't.
Speaker 4 (09:56):
Guess an awful lot of our listeners don't know who
that is.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
It's not it's not Alexander Rossi's second cousin.
Speaker 4 (10:04):
Exactly does he is? He's like the Michael Schumacher Ayrton
Senna of Moto GP.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Right, Yes, and he'd make he'd make Elio's English sound
like he was from Central Indiana. But you know, it's
it's a great idea. I'm sure Zach Brown was approached
by the idea, tinkered with the idea, maybe even went
down some channels to see how it would work. But again,
(10:31):
you want to win the Indy five hundred. He's not
winning the Indy five hundred, and he's not helping win
the Indy five hundred. And if if anything, he's probably
detracting from the Indy five hundred. Ryan Hunterray does not
detract in any sense. And this idea that he's in
the fourth car, I'd argue he's in the second car.
(10:51):
He's in the second car, because in terms of they'll
have really good people, they'll have and even if they
don't have their best or their second best group of people,
just the experience that Ryan brings will help bridge the
gap where gaps exist.
Speaker 4 (11:09):
And I know in past years. I don't know that
I asked about this last year, but I can recall
as recently as twenty three twenty four, they had a
bit of a rotating pit crew and they would have
tryouts throughout the year, and they essentially had four full
time teams for the three cars, and they would rotate
(11:32):
in and out, maybe give someone some time off, but
mostly just you got to earn your spot if you're
changing the outside front tire the outside rear tire from
race to race. So the people that are on the
fourth team are plenty, plenty goods, So yeah, this is
going to run a quality entry.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
Let me ask you something and I should know this,
but they've changed it and you've been on pit roads,
so you're a person to ask, how how will race
car be in terms of pit selection at Indy?
Speaker 4 (12:05):
What's based on qualifying? So he could still be could
still be P one, he could still have pit out.
That's the one race that has nothing to do with
the previous race.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
I just want to make sure that was the case,
because that is as significant as you know. Is your
left e or tire changer the best in the business.
I mean, having position on pit road is a huge
element to this race. You just for a variety of reasons.
It takes longer to explain, but if you're in the
(12:34):
back half of the field, you've got a very difficult
challenge to win the race over somebody who's in those
first five pit stops, the pit boxes.
Speaker 4 (12:43):
So here's where we stand for still available Indy five
hundred seats, a fourth and ready. That maybe is for
Colton heard it, but I can't swear that it is.
I think there's I think there's every chance that they
have not decided yet that they're holding it open. They
want away things now. If you want to get to Kumasado,
(13:07):
you need to go get him right now. If he
is not already signed with Ray Hall, Leedhiman Lanigan, and
he may already have, but that could be something to pursuing.
But if that is something they want to do, they
have to make a decision immediately because Soto will be
snapped up if they want Connor daily. I think they
have to move quickly as well, because Dryan Rhinebold if
(13:29):
Connor doesn't have a full time seat, which I still
think he could, And that's going to be another difficult
decision for Connor to make. As these Indy five hundred
seats start to go away, He's going to get Dryan
Reinbold saying hey, are you in or are you out?
And it was last year, right, or maybe it was
two years ago. Has he done full time the last
(13:51):
two years years?
Speaker 1 (13:52):
Yes?
Speaker 4 (13:53):
No, it was this time last year because this year
was his only full time year. Remember he was a
late fill in in twenty four for Hunkos. So we
had to decide around this time last year, am I
still trying to get this full time seat with Hunkos
Or am I going to take the sure thing with
Dryer and Ryanbold? And he said, you know, I'm going
to gamble with myself. I am going to see if
(14:17):
we can make this happen full time. He's probably faced
with that similar situation at this point. Maybe, ANDRETTI, you
would love to get the F two season started, in
the F one season and see how it's going for
Colton and make this decision in late March, but that
leaves you without any of those other options. But I'll
(14:37):
throw this one out there. And this is again where
I've just been trading messages with this person all day.
I ain't asking him about this because he doesn't need
to tell me. Could James hinchclipp be your backup plan?
Could you be thinking we're probably going to run Colton
hurt up and if we decide that's not best for
him and for Cadillac, F one could always go to
(15:01):
a really popular playan b in James Hinchcliffe. And I
say this not knowing if hinch still wants to do it.
We've not talked about this for over a year, but
I know how race car drivers are, and almost all
of them, if they are presented with an opportunity to
run with a top flight team and are not required
to bring budget and pound on doors and everything else,
(15:24):
they're going to say yes. Second part is, I don't
know if hinch is full time employer would allow it.
I don't know if Fox would say Nope, you have
signed up for a job, we need you in the
booth and that's that and that would be the end
of it. Or they might say No, this would enhance
the broadcast, This would make you more valuable the rest
(15:44):
of the season, and we would do two in car
hits during the race. And how cool would this be.
So I highly doubt that as possible or likely, but
I'm just throwing that out there. If they didn't feel
like if they wanted Colton but wanted to leave him out,
and maybe there's someone else I'm not thinking of that
is high profile that could be available in that circumstance.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
Yeah, I like your logic. It seems it seems like
low percentage of Hinchcliff would be in the car.
Speaker 4 (16:15):
I mean, he's I think that's the scenario. Whereas if
they went down the Colton path internally and decided, you
know what, we need him for some other things. So
we shall see. If it's not Colton, it is an
awfully good opportunity for someone else. And then, if you're
Connor Daily, are you saying I might be able to
(16:36):
get something full time with dale Coin Racing in their
second car, or I could have a legitimate chance to
win the Indianapolis five hundred with Andretti.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
What are you taking Keep in mind that Andretti Global
finished second on track in the Indy five hundred last year,
and I was just about to look up because I
can't remember where was Where was Kyle Kirkwood at the finish?
Speaker 4 (17:00):
Was he like six? Feel like he was fifth or sixth?
Speaker 1 (17:02):
He was me? Two?
Speaker 4 (17:03):
Me too?
Speaker 1 (17:04):
And then of course they were both penalized, sent to
the back, and the rest of the documents suggest they
finished thirty first and thirty second, but they were better
than that. They were very positioned to win the five hundred.
Speaker 4 (17:17):
So it's good seat, it's a great seat. So that's
in TBD. So that's one. The ray Hall car. We
need confirmation. We all suspected SODO would make perfect sense,
but we need confirmation on that second Dryer Rhinebould car.
I assume that they're running one, and the possibilities there.
It starts with Connor Daily. If Prema doesn't field cars,
(17:43):
Callum I Loot is in the mix for all of
these openings that we talk about. Linas Lunquist is in
the mix, maybe Toby Sowy or Uri Vipps. That probably
applies more to the ray Hall situation. Viips was in
their McLaren GT three car testing over the weekend, by
the way, so there's still a bit of a relationship there.
(18:03):
I believe Toby Swary's reserve driver contract ended at the
end of this season or sometime in October, but they
could always renew that and they obviously have a relationship there.
So those are the three guaranteed openings. We'll talk about
Prema in a moment. There's a little bit of information there.
And if Prema doesn't show, then you have thirty two cars.
(18:28):
So then it's going to take aj Foyd Racing Fielding
a third car, maybe in association with Penske, and maybe
that's Miles Row or maybe it's someone I've mentioned. And
here are the other names that I think would all
be in play for the five hundred. If Jacob abel
is not a full time driver, he obviously would have
the budget to do the ND five hundred. And I
(18:50):
think they even maybe still own a chassis that they
could bring to a team if somebody says we're short
on chassis. Devilin di Francesco, what does he want to
do if we don't think there's a spot for him
at ray Hall, Lethman Lanigan, is he in play for
Coin or Hunkos or anyone else? If not, might he
(19:12):
Combo a sports car program. He was not a Daytona
this weekend, but he's driven GT three cars. He driven
P two cars. Didn't have to be there, but he
could be a one off. James Row is a master
at raising budgets. He is fully partner funded. He's brilliant
with top Con and other partners, and I think he's
(19:33):
got the budget to do the Indy five hundred, along
with Indy Next and sports cars and other things. So
keep an eye on James Row. He had a solid
test in the Indy Car at the road He did
a nice job for Hunkhos on the road course. Recently
I mentioned Miles Row. Hunter mcilray is always someone still looking.
I've heard Zach Veeach's name come up, and I would
(19:55):
just say this in general regarding Zach or anybody else,
if you have been an IndyCar driver and are still
actively driving, you would still like to do the Indy
five hundred. So that's why I'm including devilind Francesco, Zach Veach,
Benjamin Peterson, who is in a Vassar Sullivan Lexus this weekend.
I've not talked to him to know if that's in play,
(20:15):
but they have an opening because Parker Thompson, who came
up through the road Dandy is getting an even better
opportunity to do LMP two and to do GT threes
in Europe and a lot more. Jerr Hildebrand, I think
would still be open to doing the INNDY five hundred,
and probably you would have some budgets surrounding him. And
if ramagro Jean does not end up in that coin car,
(20:38):
then he could be a one off for the Indy
five hundred. So those are the names that I have
there now. As far as premam motorsport dot com had
some quotes from the head of Premo Racing, Rene Racine today.
Jamie Klein was the writer and says they are evaluating
different solutions to remain on the Indy car grid in
(20:59):
twenty amid speculation regarding its future, and it mentions they've
had some problems with the parent company d C Racing Solutions.
Against that backdrop, Racine said, the team is quote working
hard to ensure that it's spell in any card does
not end up being limited to a single season. Quote.
Speaker 5 (21:17):
Honestly, we're looking at and.
Speaker 4 (21:19):
Evaluating different solutions. We are working really hard and we
will see soon what the future brings. Push to say
if he felt confident about Prema being back on the
grid next season, Racine replied, we are working on it.
That's all I can say. And he clarified that if
they're there, it's Ie Lood and shortsmen because they're under
multi year contracts, so no comment needed there. That's just
(21:41):
some information beyond just speculation as to where things are at.
We have news on some of what Team Penske is doing,
but not everything. Marshall Prue had a story yesterday on
racer dot com. As expected, there are promotions for two
of their top engineers, Will Powers, longtime engineer David Faustino
(22:06):
is going to be the technical director overseeing their indiecar
R and D programs, and Ben Bretzman. His title is
going to be Engineering Manager of Competition. They are not
going to be on a car. The team has not
said who will be on any of the cars, including
Joseph Newgardens. We will learn that later. And there are
(22:28):
some other promotions from within, and I think the story
basically said, of the three people we fired, it's taking
seven to replace them, so we've elevated assistant engineers and
others into those positions that will shore things up. But
now we need lead engineers, so stay tuned on that.
That's still a big part of what's going to happen
(22:51):
next season. All Right, we need to get to Ryan
Hunter Ray. That's coming up in a moment, and then
we'll check back and see what we missed before we
finished track Side ninety three to five, one oh seven
to five. Hi, this is Poto Award and you're listening
to truck Side. Thanks for staying with us as Trackside continues.
Ninety three five and one seven five the fan joining
us now newsmaker from last Thursday confirmed in the fourth
(23:12):
Errol McLaren Indy Chevrolet, the number thirty one, A former winner,
a former champion looking to add to that resume.
Speaker 5 (23:20):
It's Ryan Hunter Ray.
Speaker 4 (23:21):
Congratulations Ryan, Thanks, Kevin, appreciate it.
Speaker 6 (23:24):
Yeah, massive opportunity, super it's pumped to be here and great,
great group of individuals involved in this whole thing, and yeah,
we got it done in a short amount of time.
And like you said, I mean the four the fourth card.
Aaron McLaren has been definitely a headliner and hopefully we'll
continue to do that by by winning any five hundred here.
Speaker 4 (23:47):
So I'm psych We'll pretend like all these questions are
new to you because you're on interview number forty three
of the tour since it started in the middle of
last week. And I'm curious about the timeline because when
we've been talking and I just love to throw things
against the wall, and I could have just simply texted
(24:08):
you and asked you and you probably would have told me,
but I didn't. And I've been saying, this just makes sense.
They've gone with the Star route and NASCAR driver things
like that, but I kind of felt like they needed
to go find the best driver available and that was you.
When did this all come together.
Speaker 3 (24:29):
In pieces kind of?
Speaker 6 (24:30):
But then all of a sudden, a massive just just.
Speaker 3 (24:35):
Rushed at the end.
Speaker 6 (24:36):
I mean it came together, you know, it kind of
really organically started. After the race, after coming so close
with Ryan Rainbold to winning, I was just dejected, exhausted
mentally and physically. After the race, I was in the
parking lot of the bus lot kind of moped my
way back to the motorhome, and.
Speaker 3 (24:59):
TK and Dario we're out there, you know.
Speaker 6 (25:01):
Talking, and they're, you know, just one leg up on
the golf car tire just one of those kind of conversations,
and Dario and TK were like because they you know,
they've both had long careers as well, Tony's career very
similar to mine, and he's like, ry, what do we
how really are like what are you going to do?
(25:21):
Like what do you really need to do?
Speaker 1 (25:23):
This?
Speaker 6 (25:23):
You know this, that and the other DA, And I'm like, man,
it just means the world to me, means everything to me,
and and and I. It was obvious to me again
because I know it's all I think about, but it
was obvious to me even after the fact how important
it was to me, because of how much of it
impacted me. You know, I didn't sleep for days afterwards,
(25:47):
very little, I should say, I haven't watched one replay
the race since because yeah, it's it's a it's a
fresh wound. But that's when it started, and just nothing
happened from there. We talked, I think maybe late in
the season, before the end of the season, before Nashville
kind of and said, hey, what's your deal?
Speaker 3 (26:08):
What are you doing?
Speaker 6 (26:09):
You know, I told him my status Da da da da,
And then all of a sudden, a few weeks later
or two weeks later something like that, it was just like, Hey,
this is happening, Let's get this done. And then Tony
and I just worked it out on the phone, just
between him and I because you know, we have a
massive amount of trust and we just worked we worked
everything out on the phone and got it done in
(26:31):
a few days. And you know, I want to express
my gratitude as well, you know, to Zach, Tony, Kevin,
everybody at the team. Everybody kind of just pushed in
the right direction, like full throttle, and it was it
was unique in the case that I don't think I've
ever had a deal come together that quick.
Speaker 4 (26:50):
Ryan Hunnarray is joining us, would you have considered a
full time opportunity? Is that still something you would do
in the right circle stance? And granted those are few
and far between with someone that doesn't bring budget with him,
but is that was that even on the table at
(27:10):
any time? Or is it No, I'm going to just
look for the right Indy five hundred program at this point.
Speaker 3 (27:17):
That's a good question.
Speaker 6 (27:18):
I mean, I've just been focused on, you know, just
doing the Indy five hundred kind of like the model
I've been doing with Ryan Reinbold, right, so that that
could kind of fit, just fit into this fourth car.
Speaker 3 (27:28):
It was never really it was relative, never.
Speaker 6 (27:31):
Discussed as a full time deal. Never say no, it
would have to be you know, stars aligning everything perfect,
perfect for I think for me to consider the full
time deal on it.
Speaker 3 (27:47):
But this just this just fits really well.
Speaker 6 (27:50):
You know, I've I've worked with Tony as well in
a massive and a really big organization, right and over
my years at Indie and work at different teams. This
is my tenth IndyCar team, believe it or not, that
I've worked with and you know, I can apply that,
I can apply that here and I have a lot
of experience with working with big groups and different personalities
(28:11):
and that's a big deal.
Speaker 3 (28:12):
You know, an.
Speaker 6 (28:12):
IndyCar in competition competitive sports, especially motor racing's it is
a team sport and it matters, right that atmosphere and
the chemistry that you have working within that environment, not.
Speaker 3 (28:24):
Only on the car that you're on, but the entire.
Speaker 6 (28:28):
Outfit as a whole, and how that works and how
efficiently it works over a weekend or a week.
Speaker 3 (28:33):
Preparing for Indy.
Speaker 6 (28:35):
So you know, I look forward to hopefully having an
impact in that regard as well.
Speaker 4 (28:40):
Do you like working with young drivers. I have to
believe that's one of the incentives.
Speaker 6 (28:43):
Is.
Speaker 4 (28:44):
Yes, they've got Potto who's nearly almost won the thing
a few times, but loom Guard is relatively young and
Noland is still very young.
Speaker 3 (28:52):
Yeah, I mean it depends, right.
Speaker 6 (28:53):
It's not a scenario where I come in and say, hey, guys,
this is how you have to.
Speaker 3 (28:58):
Drive turn two.
Speaker 6 (28:59):
It's more of a big picture mentality working together as
a team. When you have strength and numbers, it can
really work well if you use it effectively and efficiently.
Speaker 3 (29:07):
Right if you if you if you.
Speaker 6 (29:09):
Can develop a setup and you you kind of divvy
up you know who does what on what day, and
then you start combining those changes and a ba ing
in them as we call amongst different different guys. Everybody's
going to have their bit of an offset on setup.
But if you can and we've done it successfully at
Andretti before on occasion wasn't every year.
Speaker 3 (29:30):
But if you can.
Speaker 6 (29:31):
Effectively and efficiently pull that that maximum potential out of
everybody and actually work together, you have an advantage strengthen numbers.
Speaker 3 (29:40):
Especially on the other side of it.
Speaker 6 (29:43):
You got a lot of guys that you know come
from Europe, and their mentality immediately is my teammate is
my number one enemy, and I am. That's what I'm
focused on, is just making sure that he gets as
little information as possible. If I make a change on
track and it's better, I'm going to do whatever I
can to give him misinformation on it. That is a
short sighted approach. I've seen it happen many times. I've
(30:04):
watched it work. I've watched it. I should say I've
watched it not work.
Speaker 3 (30:08):
At Indy.
Speaker 6 (30:09):
You want to be in a position where you're fighting
your teammates at the end, because that means you guys
have all worked together to give yourselves the best package
possible to be in that shootout at the end. So
I don't necessarily would say that it's working with young
drivers that I like. I really like working with drivers
that have an open mind towards being better as a
cohesive unity.
Speaker 4 (30:30):
And I would just say, what you can bring to
them is one more car that's going to be sorted,
one more knowledgeable input and gathering data. So that's just
executive to the entire program. Right then a raise joining us.
I'll ask you this because I get to ask this
a lot on the account of people like you, why
aren't they doing more sports car racing? And my answer is,
(30:51):
it's not like it used to be. Early in your career,
it seemed that most of the time when in Indy
car driver raised his hand, they could find to see,
certainly in the endurance races and maybe full time when
they transitioned out of full time IndyCar racing. How hard
is it to find a sports car seat?
Speaker 3 (31:10):
Now, you're a great point, Kavin.
Speaker 6 (31:13):
I mean, it's it is such a unique time with
that because for years, I think I did, I did
thirteen or fourteen Daytona twenty fours, twelve hours of cebring
one that one. Overall, you know, these teams would just
pluck IndyCar drivers. You had probably eight or nine sitting
on the grid in the top category being that let's
call it prototype or Daytona Prototype.
Speaker 3 (31:33):
Or whatever you want, DPI, LMDh.
Speaker 6 (31:36):
I don't know how many renderings have gone through of that,
but it shifted with this new the hypercar, since it
went to the HyperCard deal. A lot of these manufacturers
that came in they have their own you know, they
have their own network of drivers that they bring up
their own farm system. So to speak, and they bring
them up either from the GT category or for whatever categories.
Speaker 3 (31:56):
They had in Europe.
Speaker 6 (31:58):
And now if you look at it, like in the
Hypercar Closs, if you just aside from the accurate entry
that has Polo Dixon.
Speaker 3 (32:07):
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't. I don't.
Maybe Colton in the BMW, I don't think there's.
Speaker 4 (32:13):
Colton's in a Cadillac. He's in a Wayne Taylor Cadillac.
All okay, all right? Is running with Shank again?
Speaker 3 (32:20):
Yeah? I thought that was.
Speaker 6 (32:21):
I mean, they've been they've been together for so long. Yes,
back together, but it is not the same as it
used to be in that regard. You know, I had
a really good home. I had my time at Wayne Taylor.
I had a really good home at Mazda. And when Mazda,
you know, for so many years Maza was terrible and
they did a lot of work, spent a lot of money,
and then we started really firing and we were doing
(32:42):
well when the races. That's how we won the twelve
hours of Sebring overall. And finally, you know, they did
it and it was just like wow, we outspent ourselves
here and left and then I went to Ganassi with
the Cadillac and had a good home there and then
you know, they split the team in two. Cadillac did
GM and sent one to WEK and the other one
stayed home and Dixon had my seat and that obviously,
(33:06):
you know, and as expected. So yeah, it's you know,
it's just been one thing or another, and now the
category has changed.
Speaker 3 (33:15):
There's there's not many indie car drivers in it.
Speaker 6 (33:17):
I see McLaughlin and new Gardner in what the Tower,
pietzfew maybe again.
Speaker 4 (33:23):
You know, they're they're testing the Porschapinskey Prototype, but they're
not confirmed for the race, and I honestly think they're
going to be asked by Porsche because of what you said.
Porsche has their people, They're going to have to prove themselves.
Roger and Jonathan Dogood don't just get to say there
are drivers they're in. They're going to have to be
better than the other people that have been in the
(33:45):
Porsche program for a long time and are on their spot.
Speaker 3 (33:49):
That was the same thing with Rayhull and BMW.
Speaker 6 (33:51):
And in that case, BMW wasn't even trying out any
car drivers. They were just they had their network of
guys and that's you know, they're under contract. They came
through their system. The guys same thing. Porsche, like you mentioned,
Porsche is one of them. That's that's done that for years.
So yeah, limited opportunities there for sure. And to be
honest with you, I really haven't been after the Ganassi
(34:12):
Cadillac deal. I really haven't been shopping in Well, you're
coaching football.
Speaker 4 (34:16):
We got bigger and better things to do, right.
Speaker 6 (34:17):
Football, and you know when in you know pee wee
Football Championships.
Speaker 3 (34:22):
Priority.
Speaker 4 (34:22):
That's right. I'm glad you got your priority straight. I
wasn't sure if I wanted to bring this up, but
I'm going to last year's five hundred because it didn't
get the coverage that it should have.
Speaker 5 (34:33):
It's one of those things.
Speaker 4 (34:34):
There's so many things going on and I think it
slipped under the radar. But you could have should have
won the race. We're not going to focus on that part,
but we're going to focus on the success story that
it was your pit stop practice car that you almost
won the ND five hundred with. This would have been
a bigger story maybe I think it would have been,
(34:55):
or a more unlikely story than the Allens are nineteen
eighty seven show car that we always talk about so much. Well,
that show car wasn't brought out on Saturday morning. That
show car was there for the entire month being prepared.
That team replaced a burned down car, and you were,
I think going to be ahead. You're going in your
(35:16):
last pit stop leading and you're going to be ahead
of Ericsson and Polo and the two ray Hauls that
were right in front of them that were a lap down.
So you don't have to talk about the heartbreak again,
but let's go up to that point of did you
really think there was any kind of a shot to
be competitive in that race?
Speaker 6 (35:35):
You know, I've been I've been in so many unique
scenarios and racing over the years. I've learned to you know,
a lot of is mental right. And if you get
into the car with an ounce Let's say it's been
dry all weekend, all of a sudden it starts raining
right before the race, you haven't had a lap in
the ring. You can either go into that with the
right mentality you better get it right real quick, or
you can go into it with some doubts, any bit
(35:58):
of negativity.
Speaker 3 (35:59):
Oh my last race.
Speaker 6 (36:00):
Maybe I locked the tire and got into the barrier.
I better not do that again. You start focusing on that.
Just like as they say, you know, you go where
your eyes are right. If the car starts to turn
on you and you're looking at the wall, you're gonna
end up at the wall. But I just knew that
I had to focus on, you know, going one hundred
and twenty percent. I knew it was going to be
something where I had to adapt to the car a
(36:21):
little bit as it went, and we might have to
add some front wing, take some out, whatever it was.
But I was talking to the guys when I went
over at Dryan Rabal, but when I went over to
go pick up my seat, even this morning when I
dropped off a helmet that unless you're embedded in the situation,
nobody really has a real feel for what actually went
down there.
Speaker 3 (36:42):
It was absolutely I agree with you.
Speaker 6 (36:44):
I think it would have been one of the most
remarkable stories, and I think it deserves even like a
documentary on what happened.
Speaker 3 (36:49):
Because it burned down. We didn't have a backup car.
There was no backup car.
Speaker 6 (36:53):
They were lowering it out of the truck in the
in the in the lot, and I was going buy
my golf cart and I jokingly said to them as
it was coming down, like my god, that's.
Speaker 3 (37:06):
Not our race car, and they laughed.
Speaker 6 (37:09):
They laughed and they said, I think it is, and
I thought they were joking, and then I see it,
you know, a half hour later, being rolled into the garage.
Speaker 3 (37:16):
It had an electric motor in it still for the you.
Speaker 6 (37:18):
Know, for being in the in the in the just
like these guys do here at Aaron McLaren doing the
pitstop practice in the shop.
Speaker 3 (37:26):
So it was wild.
Speaker 6 (37:28):
I went through one corner basically in an install check,
and then I went into the biggest race in the world,
having no idea what the balance was, any idea that
the underwing, the you know, the tunnel in the car
was efficient and how that would he react in traffic.
And it was wild. Honestly, it was completely wild, and
it did go unto the radar. That's unfortunate, because I
(37:49):
talked about this earlier on the press conference, is that
the hardest thing for spectators to follow Indy car, to
follow Indy the Indy five hundred, to follow even I
think sometimes on a street circuit is pit strategies. When
you have an early yellow and Indy five hundred, and
then you have it followed by another yellow within it
with that didn't completely go the full stint on tires.
Speaker 3 (38:11):
Right, Let's say it's twenty laps.
Speaker 6 (38:13):
You're going to have a split field at that point
on strategies, and then after that you're going to have
guys picking to short stint or long stint stretch it,
and it's going to continue to kind of migrate from there.
And at that time, I'm not blaming it on you
or Fox or anything else, but because you guys can't
possibly be watching every different scenario in every different strategy.
Speaker 3 (38:34):
But they were filming.
Speaker 6 (38:37):
They had a shot a plow and I said, and
here's the effective leader. Meanwhile, you look on the leaderboard
over on the top and there's you know, P one
is a car twenty three hundred. Ay, we were actually
the effective leader at that point. It's just that it
was so hard to follow the strategy. We were just
on the other side of the racetrack. We were running
with cars that had been running in the top ten,
top seven, that were on the same strategy as me,
(38:58):
like Connor Daily and stuff that we just weren't with
the polo ericson group, right, So we're rotating like that,
and like you said, we would have come out right
in front of the two lap cars and then Polo
and Ericson would have been behind them, So I would
have even had a little bit of a buffer to
work with and try and use those guys as you know,
(39:20):
as a wedge between us, kind of as a block.
Speaker 3 (39:24):
But yeah, it could have been, should have been, would
have been.
Speaker 6 (39:26):
That's why INDI's cruel and it's the most rewarding place
on Earth at the same time.
Speaker 3 (39:30):
But.
Speaker 6 (39:32):
The story that that would have been unbelievable. I mean,
it doesn't happen. It doesn't without anything happening, without any issue.
I mean I was in the garage at the middle
of the night doing seat fittings. These guys did not
sleep for forty eight hours straight building the car, so
you would think mistakes would happen.
Speaker 3 (39:51):
Then, right, they're all tired. Mistakes happen. It's a new car.
Speaker 6 (39:55):
This doesn't fit the same Da da da unbelievable five
hundred mile race and we were one of the quicker
cars track.
Speaker 4 (40:00):
Yeah, second fastest lap I think. And you mentioned didn't
sleep after you didn't see any name, but Friday night
before I saw you on Saturday evening and you say,
I looked like two hours, So.
Speaker 3 (40:09):
It was a zombie. I was a zombie going.
Speaker 4 (40:11):
That was remarkable, and that's why we're back again, and
we'll go for one more time in twenty six. I
hope you still have time to join us in the
Fox Indie Next booth.
Speaker 6 (40:20):
Well, I hope so too. I had a really good
time with you and Jack. I learned a lot. I'd
love to do some stuff on the Indy Car side.
I know that's less flexible you guys, don't. You know
on the Fox deal. You guys don't just plug in
folks there. But it was a tremendous opportunity with the
Indian Next deal because I had I had never kind
of done done the in the booth, you know, live
(40:42):
action throwing it back and forth. I'd always done kind
of you know the pit lane thing or whatever where
you can cueue up your thoughts right down. But I
learned a lot from you and from Jack on it,
and it was a great opportunity, and I think I've
got I've got a lot of experience to fall back
on that can come naturally in the form of information
on a broadcast and it's a matter of applying that
(41:05):
in a smooth in a smooth manner like, Yeah, how
you do reading those intros and stuff is just wild
to me, but we get there.
Speaker 4 (41:13):
Well, you help me get Jack to do some of
those because he's still reluctant, so that's going to be
out for twenty six.
Speaker 6 (41:17):
Absolutely make him do the baseball with the super complicated
last names.
Speaker 3 (41:21):
That's the hardest part.
Speaker 4 (41:23):
Well, next summer, we'll hopefully introduce you as two time
Indianapolis five hundred winner when you join us in the broadcast,
and then you can ask for a raise in that circumstance. Congrats, Ryan,
this is super cool. Looking forward to seeing you more
and Papaya in twenty six and we'll see it at
racetrack soon.
Speaker 3 (41:39):
All right, thanks my friend, I appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (41:41):
I have a good one, Ryan Hunter. Ray will be
in the number thirty one is original champ Car IndyCar
number back in the day for Aerol McLaren Indy in
twenty twenty six for the Indianapolis five hundred. We'll see
what we missed and more coming up next.
Speaker 6 (41:53):
On track side, Hi, this is Felix trosen Quist and
you're listening to track side.
Speaker 5 (41:58):
Okay, what we missed.
Speaker 4 (41:59):
I was going to into all the IndyCar drivers there
were a Daytona and what their prospects are for sports cars.
Ran out of time, but I will notice and mentioned
that Nolan Siegel was back in a sports car in.
Speaker 5 (42:12):
A P two car, Louis Foster in a P two car.
Speaker 4 (42:16):
We had wondered if Graham ray Hall might be in
the ray Hall Letterman Lanigan McLaren and one report said
that was a plan and was being explored. They may
have found some other options, one being Max Esterson, who
was really quick. He is an American kid who's been
racing in Europe, and you're a hips who I talked about.
Callum Ilot was in a Porsche GT three car, So
(42:39):
we'll talk more about that as we move on. Also,
the NASCAR start times came out this week, and that
tells us a couple of things. CODA on March first
is three point thirty, so I think that tells us
Saint Pete is going to be twelve twelve thirty. And
the NASCAR Cup race on Fox is two pm the
same day as Long Beach, so I would think I
(43:00):
think that means that's a good lead in for Long Beach,
probably at five pm easternichhe two pm West Coast time.
So there you go, all right. We'll see you again
next Tuesday night at seven on track Side
Popular Podcasts
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.