RACER Debrief Audio Podcast

Eleven-time Indianapolis 500 starter and Indy car race-winner Oriol Servia talks up the teams and drivers who can make Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou sweat for a fifth NTT IndyCar Series title in 2026. Plus, as a former Indy Lights champion and now a driver manager, Oriol explains his role in helping young wannabe IndyCar stars achieve “the best versions of themselves” and negotiate the thorny path of dealing with the demands of ...

The RACER Debrief caught up with not one, but two 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series nitro class champs – Top Fuel’s Doug Kalitta and Funny Car’s Austin Prock. Both are now two-time NHRA champs and give us the lowdown on sealing the deal, getting hot when it counts, drag-racing dynasties, and the challenge of taming a 13,000hp, 330mph-plus racecars. NOTE: Interviews were recorded before Austin Prock’s bombshell exit from Jo...

Saturday night on the Las Vegas Strip will be crunch time in the battle for the 2025 Formula 1 World Championship drivers’ title. Lando Norris leads the points, but can his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri or resurgent Red Bull Racing ace Max Verstappen narrow the gap in Sin City? With just three grands prix and one sprint race remaining, the Las Vegas Grand Prix could make or break a s...

Rhys Millen has raced the Baja 1000 in the Pro UTV classes and no-holds barred Class 1 buggies, and he’s a class winner in the Class 7 truck class. For 2025, he’s back with a Rhys Millen Racing-built, Toyota-powered Class 7 entry and hoping to emulate his class win on this year’s Baja 500. Rhys joined the RACER Debrief to talk about the challenge of taking on the world’s greatest off-road race and an ever-versatile career beyond th...

Christopher Polvoorde is one of the rising stars of SCORE desert racing’s headlining Trophy Truck class. This year, the 25-year-old Californian once again teams up with Baja legend Bryce Menzies to take on the 58th Baja 1000. After an early exit from the race in 2024, the duo have unfinished business and, as Polvoorde tells the RACER Debrief, they’re going all-out for victory this time around. What’s the game plan for hustling a 1,...

It’s the final race of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series and a champion will be crowned Sunday afternoon at Phoenix Raceway. Will it be Chase Briscoe, William Byron, Denny Hamlin or Kyle Larson lifting the trophy on Sunday?  Kelly Crandall joins the RACER Debrief to run the rule over the Championship 4 contenders and set the scene for a desert shootout.

#NASCAR #Playoffs #FinalFour #Champion #racing #motorsport #RACERdebrief #RACERpodcast...

The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs are into crunch time with the Round of 8. Eight drivers are still in the hunt, with just three races to decide who makes it into the winner-takes-all Championship 4 finale.  RACER’s NASCAR expert, Kelly Crandall, joins the Debrief to rate the contenders, lay out the potential curveballs ahead (Talladega’s high-speed lottery included!), and mark your cards for the pressure-packed weekends ahead.  ...

As a professional racecar driver and a life-long motorsports fan, JR Hildebrand sees racing from all sides. The 12-time Indy 500 starter joins the RACER Debrief to talk about bringing back the awesome to open-wheel racing – for drivers and for fans – and gives us his take on a potential solution for resetting the spectacle and the challenge: the Blackbird 66 Mk.1.   

#JRHildebrand #IndyCar #indy500 #racing  #motorsport  #RACERpodca...

We get the lowdown from 11-time Indianapolis 500 starter Oriol Servia on what made Alex Palou a force of nature in the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series. And as the Chip Ganassi Racing ace racked up the wins – eight in total, including the Indy 500 – and a fourth IndyCar title, why couldn’t a stacked field put up a fight against the rampant Spaniard? Plus, Oriol and the RACER editors give us their take on the surprise packages and the bigges...

Next stop for professional Fun-Haver Vaughn Gittin Jr. and off-road and rock-crawling master Loren Healy are the 56th annual Polaris Crandon World Championships. The duo are bringing their spectacular Ultra4 4400-class Ford Broncos to Wisconsin’s legendary Crandon International Raceway, and they’re giving the RACER Debrief a masterclass on how to chase wins and put on a show. Plus, we look back on a first  Baja 500 for the duo and ...

Off-road racing Hall of Famer Johnny Greaves and his multi-title-winning son, C.J., set the scene for short-course off-road racing’s biggest weekend of the year, the 56th annual Polaris Crandon World Championships.  It’s the event everybody wants  to win, and while Pro 4 points leader C.J. is the man to beat in 2025, Johnny’s ready to pull out all the stops to add to his haul of Crandon wins, too. Father and son unlock some of the ...

Forty years ago, World Rally Championship legend Michѐle Mouton made history with her victory in the 1985 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. The trailblazing win was the first for a woman at the “Race to the Clouds” and the first for a non-American driver. In 2025, Michѐle will be inducted in the Pikes Peak Hill Climb Hall of Fame. But before heading to Colorado, she took time out to talk with RACER Debrief to talk about that ’85...

In a storied career, Romain Dumas is a two-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner, WEC champ and multiple ALMS title-winner. But right now, the Frenchman’s focus is on a sixth Pike Peak International Hill Climb victory. Romain joined the RACER Debrief to talk about his all-electric Ford Super Mustang Mach-E, the unique challenge of the Race to the Clouds, and what his perfect racing year would be.

For the ultimate Pikes Peak experience, s...

When you think of the history and the legends of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, you think of the Unser family. Three generations of Unsers have earned 26 overall wins at The Race to the Clouds, and now a fourth-generation Unser, Loni, is looking to make her mark on the Colorado mountain, too. As she gets ready to ascend the 14,110ft peak for a fourth time, June 22, Loni joins the RACER Debrief to talk about her journey to...

GT World Challenge America powered by AWS features several excellent Pro-Am pairings, including Regulator Racing’s Jeff Burton and Philip Ellis. The pair sat down with RACER editor-in-chief Laurence Foster to discuss how they came together, how they work strategy to maximize potential, and what their mindset is on any given race weekend.

#regulatorracing #jeffburton #philipellis #sro #GTamerica #racing #motorsports #sportscars #mer...

Are we in the platinum age of IMSA sportscar racing?

RACER's Editor-in-chief, Laurence Foster sat down with John Doonan, IMSA President right before the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. Doonan talks about growing up a sportscar racing fan, being a racer at heart and the importance of bringing that vision and mentality to IMSA. 

- Valkyrie

- Hypercar vs LMDH/GTP regulations

- Torque sensors

- Importance of the North American market f...

Meyer Shank Racing founder Michael Shank has seen his team make a sparkling start to the NTT IndyCar Series season, with Felix Rosenqvist currently fourth in the rankings, while in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the MSR Acuras offered the strongest opposition to the Porsche Penske Motorsport freight train at both Daytona and Sebring. Ahead of the team’s return to the site of its first IndyCar victory with Helio Castro...

Can reigning champ Alex Palou make it four NTT IndyCar Series titles in five seasons? After dominating the opening races of the 2025 season, it’s looking good for the Chip Ganassi Racing driver. But as the Spanish ace tells RACER Debrief, he’s only focused on the next race. Keep on delivering every weekend, and the championship will take care of itself.     

#AlexPalou #IndyCar #Indy500 #RACERpodcast #RACERdebrief #GrandPrixLongB...