500 Recap
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Term
lean map
A “lean map” means the car is set up to use less fuel by mixing in less fuel with the air. Race teams change these settings to stretch fuel and still keep the engine running well.
Term
lifting on the straights
“Lifting on the straights” means backing off the gas a bit when the track is straight. It saves fuel, which helps you avoid running out later in the race.
Term
fuel number
A “fuel number” is the fuel target the team is trying to hit so the car can finish the race. If you’re running low or high, the driver changes how hard they accelerate to stay on plan.
Term
gears
“Gears” are the different ratios in the gearbox that control how the engine pulls. The right gearing helps the car accelerate well and stay efficient depending on how you’re driving.
Term
trim
“Trim” is an adjustment to the car’s aero setup, like how much the wing is angled. More trim can help grip in corners, while less trim can help the car go faster on straights.
Term
big toe
“Big toe” basically means driving with more throttle—staying on the gas more. If you’re doing that, you often need the gearing set so the engine stays in the right rev range.
Term
straight line speed
“Straight line speed” is how quickly the car accelerates and maintains speed on non-cornering sections. Aerodynamic setup (like trim/downforce) and gearing strongly influence it, which is why drivers adjust settings based on whether they’re trying to stay in front or fight through traffic.
Term
234 car tow
“234 car tow” is about running in a draft behind other cars. Being in the right spot can make it easier to go faster because the air resistance is lower.
Term
under caution
“Under caution” means there’s been an accident or hazard on the track, so cars drive slower and follow race rules. Passing is usually limited, and teams often use this time to pit.
Term
pits
“Pits” means the pit lane where the team stops the car during the race. They may change tires or refuel, and when you do it can strongly affect your position.
Term
downforce level
“Downforce” is the aerodynamic push that helps the tires stick to the road. The “downforce level” is how much grip the car is getting from its aero setup, which affects how well it can corner and overtake.
Term
pit lane
Pit lane is the part of the track where the team works on the race car. If something breaks and the car stops there, it usually means the team can’t keep racing normally.
Term
high pressure fuel line
This is the fuel pipe that delivers fuel to the engine under high pressure. If it pops off, fuel can spray out and hit hot parts, which can cause a fast fire.
Term
roll hoop
A roll hoop is a safety structure meant to protect the driver if the car rolls. If it gets melted, that’s a sign the fire was intense and the car’s safety parts were exposed to extreme heat.
Term
ECU
The ECU is the car’s main computer for the engine. If it melts from a fire, the engine systems can’t be controlled anymore, so the car won’t run.
Company
team Penske
Team Penske is a well-known IndyCar racing team. They hire drivers and run the cars that compete in races.
Place
barber
Barber refers to Barber Motorsports Park, a road course in Alabama used for IndyCar racing. It’s known for technical corners and elevation changes, which make qualifying and race execution especially important.
Place
Indianapolis
Indianapolis is the famous IndyCar oval track (Indianapolis Motor Speedway). It’s a big deal because the racing is intense and the track is very high-profile.
Term
highest qualifying
“Highest qualifying” means you did the best in the qualifying session. That usually gives you a better starting spot for the race.
Term
teammates number
“Teammates number” means you’re beating your teammates. Since teammates are on the same team, it’s a strong sign you and your car are working better.
Term
pedaling
“Pedaling” means the driver is quickly easing off and back on the gas to keep the car from losing grip. It’s a way to stay in control while still going fast.
Term
short oval
A “short oval” is a smaller oval race track. Because the laps are shorter, you run into other cars more often, so driving decisions have to be quicker.
Term
bottom
In oval racing, “the bottom” means running close to the inside edge of the track. That line can offer the shortest path through the turn, but it also depends heavily on tire grip and how much speed you can carry without sliding up into traffic.
Term
lane two
On a track, “lane two” just means a particular side of the racing area. Different lanes can behave differently, so drivers may avoid one if it’s harder to control or harder to pass from.
Term
impossible situation
An “impossible situation” here means the driver felt like no option was safe. If they don’t back off, they might hit someone; if they do back off, they lose position or still risk contact.
Term
run out of four
“Run out of four” means how fast you can get going again after Turn 4. If you exit that corner well, you build speed for what comes next. They’re saying Felix needed that good exit to get into position behind David.
Term
restart
A “restart” is when the race starts again after a caution. Everyone has to get back up to speed together, and where you are when it happens can decide who can pass. They’re saying the leader was in control during each restart.
Term
yellow in turn one
A “yellow” is when the race is under caution, usually because of an incident. Cars have to slow down, and that can change who has a chance to make a move. They’re saying near the end they were hoping for a caution at Turn 1.
Brand
Porsche dealership
Porsche is a car brand that makes performance sports cars. A “Porsche dealership” means an official store where you can buy or service Porsche cars.
Term
out of tolerance condition
“Out of tolerance” means the car ended up not meeting the allowed measurements in the rulebook. It’s often caused by something breaking or moving during the race.
Term
pre race tech inspection
Before the race, officials inspect the cars to make sure they follow the rules. Passing that check means the car looked legal at the start, but parts can still break or shift during the race.
Term
mechanical assembly error
A “mechanical assembly error” is basically a build mistake—something wasn’t assembled correctly. Officials often penalize these less harshly than intentional cheating.
Term
intentionally modified spec part
This means a team changed a rule-approved part on purpose, not by accident. Since the goal is usually extra speed, officials treat it more severely than a random mechanical problem.
Term
performance advantage
A “performance advantage” is anything that helps the car go faster or handle better than it’s supposed to. If it looks intentional, the punishment tends to be bigger.
LIVE
This is off track.
Tim has limited time to edit this episode,
so he again foolishly asked us to not swear.
I'm going to try to be I'm going to try to be kind.
I don't know if I'll say that.
OK, all right, I'll be good.
I've sworn I sworn enough the past.
You got it. I'm good.
Guys, so much to unpack on this week's episode.
Tuesday will not be on Tuesday.
It'll be on Wednesday and it's also not going to be an interview.
That's going to be on Thursday, which we're going to do on.
What does it matter?
We're breaking down the 500
We're breaking down the 500 lots to unpack.
But as is always the case, Alex,
I would like the floor to be yours.
I don't want the floor.
The floor is yours.
We can talk about just the event first, if you want another sellout crowd,
the vibe in the place on race day.
Wow.
Yes, another sellout crowd.
Two years in a row.
Unbelievable.
I think there is no question whatsoever
that people are really into the Indianapolis 500.
I think that's from the fans to Fox, to the partners,
to the people that are showing up who previously didn't know IndyCar from Adam.
Not that this really matters to me personally,
but it matters to me professionally from the growth of the series.
I've never seen so many like social media influencers in my life
at an IndyCar race, which is like awesome,
because that's that's a huge part of what like kind of skyrocketed Formula One.
And and and we had a little bit of of that.
So that's that was really cool to see.
And everyone.
Was rewarded with, I think, the best Indy 500,
at least that I've ever watched.
And granted, I'm no Indy 500 historian, but like that race was awesome.
And it didn't matter that there was a couple red flag or a red flag.
No, a couple red flags in there.
It didn't matter that one, just the one.
No, no, it's red.
I did 101 for the wet and then one for the ass.
All right. Yeah. Yeah.
It didn't matter that there was all of this kind of chaos
that was surrounding it with the weather question marks and all this sort of thing.
Because that last lap is we all have seen a multitude of times
was the greatest lap I've ever seen around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Hands down and not just from Felix,
from David, from Marcus, from McLaughlin, from a multitude of guys.
It was sick.
The fact that the top five
could all fit into like two.
There was like one frame would fit the top two.
And then the next frame fit 34 and five.
Like the the action across the finish line was was bonkers.
We'll get to that.
Let's let's do this in somewhat chronological order.
Actually, before we do, people are going to ask.
So I'm just going to ask you to say whatever you want.
How how is the foot?
How is the hand?
How is Alex Rossi today?
My hand and foot are fine.
Good. OK. Get that out of the way.
So.
Let's go through your race
as brief as it was.
Again, started started again.
Tragedy started up front.
Great view of turn one.
You and Palo and
who else is mixing it up there at the beginning?
I feel like Malukas fell back.
Who else is?
Was it was a few looks?
Yeah. Oh, yeah, he was just kind of chilling up in third.
You guys just did exactly what the plan, I imagine, was for that first.
It right. Was this something that you had talked about with anyone up there?
Or is this just accepted and understood to be the plan?
It's the.
No one wants to lead, but also you want to play ball with someone
and not early in the race.
Like it doesn't matter because it doesn't matter.
If one guy goes a lap longer than you in the first stint or not,
like it's not going to change your race.
So.
Alex and I had had various conversations across the week,
not specific conversations,
but always conversations of like, yeah, it always sucks when you have guys
out there who don't want to lead or yeah, it always sucks.
Or it's awesome when someone just sits up there the whole time sort of thing.
So like we were all we were both on the same page.
And, you know, I made a very specific decision to.
I mean, I guess this is foolish, but I've made a decision
to set the car up to kind of be in the front all day.
Um, you know, the front being the top 767
And so I didn't really want to fall further back than that.
Um, at the same time, the Felix and third didn't really have any urgency
to do anything.
So we were all just, just doing the thing.
Right.
There was no, I know feel it.
I know Alex was probably in a lean map because I was in my leanest race, non-yellow
map, you're lifting on the straights to kind of hit a fuel number.
So everyone was just kind of cycling around and it's all nice.
So when you say you set up the car to be in there, like what, what type of
setups do you do that's unique to running in the top seven?
Uh, gears, trim level, those two things.
Yeah.
If you're, if you're going to be, if you think you're, if you're starting
mid-pack or backpack and you know, you're going to be in traffic 99% of the
day, you're going to start with a higher downforce level.
You're going to have to gear appropriately for big toe.
Um, if you're starting up front and playing to stay up front, you can be a
little bit more aggressive on your trim, try to keep that straight line speed.
You're not going to have the massive toe.
So you kind of gear a little bit more to be in a 234 car tow versus
a 10, 12, 15 car tow.
Uh, those, those are the big things, right?
It's, it's kind of just, um, yeah, how aggressive you want to be with those
things and it makes perfect sense.
And it was going great, uh, until stop one, which unfortunately it came
under caution, uh, Hunter Ray, unfortunately lost it, uh, Catherine nowhere to
go avoidable or avoided a collision and unfortunately lost control.
And, and, uh, that put an end to trying to complete the full 1,100 miles of the
double, but you know, still a valiant effort of doing both, but coming to the
pits and yeah, pits up problems at Indianapolis just seem to go hand in
hand with AR sometimes.
Well, now seems that fire does as well.
I've graduated, um, a drop wheel net.
I'll show you.
Let's make this dramatic.
Well, no, let's do them both.
Like why just, why just have one?
Uh, so yeah, I came in for the first stop, second, uh, left in 17th.
Um, there's nothing that I need to say about that.
Um, it is what it is.
Uh, actually we were further behind than that.
I think we were like 20 second because there was some guys that stayed out and
didn't take the yellow.
Um, and then we, we kind of made our way back up to 15th.
Some guys pitted and then I got through a couple cars and then I was, I was kind
of stuck.
Um, I didn't, for the various reasons that I discussed the downforce level was fine.
I didn't really have the gear to just go by people.
Um, so that was not the end of the world because like we were, we were hitting a
decent number.
The other problem that I had is I didn't really have a radio.
Um, so I didn't really know what was going on, but that's neither here nor there.
Um, so I was just pitting on fuel alarms.
And I don't know if I could have gotten extra lap or not, but that's what I was
doing. So that was the, uh, so anyways, um, all of this ended up being irrelevant.
Like, did I think we were an amazing car?
No, did they rebuild a car that was more than capable of mixing it up of
potentially being one of the alternate strategy guys and in clean air, could it
do a good enough number to win the race?
Absolutely.
So like I, I just, I am so thankful to the organization for giving me that
opportunity when I kind of threw it away on Monday, because at the end of the day,
James, we've, we've touched on this a couple of times.
All you want in Indianapolis is a chance, right?
Like we all know that there's only going to be one guy that wins.
We all know there's going to be 32 dudes or girls that are disappointed.
All you want is the chance.
And so I feel like I got that, um, because I had a car that was pretty bad
ass, I still got to start second.
Um, I showed, I think everything that I need to show and the fact that my foot
and my hand was fine and that I could compete and go racing.
Um, and happens in racing.
So like there's no point in really dwelling on it because for a moment in
time there, it didn't look like I was even going to be able to start the race.
Um, so I don't really have that much, uh, emotion towards it other than I'm
obviously sad for the group.
Um, and I'm disappointed that two years in a row with a team that is really
good around here, it's really, really good around here to have two races.
I don't even get to the halfway point because the thing that just on fire.
Sorry, Tim.
Um, so what, what was the,
the failure that stopped you on pit lane before the car caught on fire?
Oh, no, James.
No, no, when I was in fire, what was going on, you will be blown away.
So, um, the high pressure fuel line came off.
Oh, it was just pissing fuel over everything that's hot and the entire,
the entire car is burned to a crisp.
The entire thing, every wiring loom, damper, gearbox, engine, everything.
The roll hoop was melted.
Um, which is why it was so difficult for me to get out of the car for obvious reasons.
So it's difficult for me to get out of the car, but also when I went to touch,
it was hot, sorry.
When I went to touch the wall, it was really, really hot, like really hot.
And I was like, Oh, now what?
Um, fortunately I was in friendly territory.
Yeah.
I was an ally, allied airspace number 27 guys and, uh, they came over
and, and, and did a little extraction for me, which was really nice.
But yeah.
So I came in because ultimately, uh, the ECU melted.
And so I thought the engine had detonated, but it just turns out it was,
it was just on fire doused with fuel.
Um, and then eventually I obviously lost the steering like electronics.
So I couldn't downshift anymore.
The clutch didn't work and I know power and I was in third gear.
So obviously it was just going to come to a halt somewhere.
It's not like I could get into neutral and coast to my box.
So that's just kind of where I ended up.
Yeah.
Well, that's, I guess, uh, could have been worse places to stop and could have
been worse outcomes.
Uh, glad you got out.
Okay.
And Mike, uh, no, who was it?
Somebody did Miller end up at the car when it was still on fire?
I forget.
Cause it was all the 27 guys were still there.
To be honest, the first pit stop, we were also on fire, but that was okay.
So maybe that's what I, I heard that he was on fire again.
Your fueler who was on fire last year on fire again.
Yeah.
What was, what was really sad for Kelly, uh, well, she was watching the race and
her boss and she was like, Oh, this is, this is a nice little replay.
Then she was like, he's on crutches.
That's live.
That's right.
Now I shoot.
Sorry, Tim.
I'm so sorry.
I'm not doing this on purpose.
You know what?
You got on fire.
You earned a few.
That's fair.
I'm not, I'm not trying to be mean.
Anyways.
So dude, that's it.
I, I gotta say, um, you don't, you won't say it.
So I'll just say it for you, uh, one of the coolest parts of the, the whole
pre-race thing for me was driver intros as always as a driver is one of the coolest
things.
We always talk about that, but it was awesome to hear the crowd reaction to you
coming up and being introduced.
Cause I think there are a lot of people that, uh, enjoyed and appreciated and
respected the level of badassery that it takes to get a minor procedure on a
Monday and then crutch yourself into your Indy car to strap in for the 500 a
week later, uh, definitely some, some fans really dug that and, and I appreciate
that they appreciated the effort and, and what you are committing yourself to.
So well done, but well done on a, on a good month, uh, from behind the wheel.
Um, all right.
So let's, let's get to the rest of the race.
The everything's pretty standard and status quo until that it was like lap
one 30 or whatever.
That was kind of the deciding yellow where strategies split top I'm making
numbers up 12 ish, I think stood out, uh, or stayed out.
Sorry.
And the rest of the guys pit and I think we made a comment in the booth at that
point, it was like, remember this stop.
This is either going to be like a make or break for these drivers.
And man, it, it worked.
Uh, the, the fuel save strategy at Indy once again was the right call.
It didn't matter at the end of the day, but it was the right call in that moment.
It, well, yes, I, I'm glad you brought up that point because regardless of the
final red flag that occurred from Colette's crash, that was the strategy
that was going to win the race.
Correct.
What we got from the red flag was this incredible finish.
However, the same guy won this and this is, yeah, go ahead.
This has been my point all along was that your heart, I mean, Felix was cruising
to a victory, right?
He was cruising to the win when the red came out and six seconds.
Oh yeah.
Easy.
And that would have been over like Pato, like the Malukas, who was the top
guy on the, on the run hard strategy was, was still going to be 15 seconds
back and fourth or fifth.
Yes.
What, so when, when you see a guy in that situation and the red comes out and he
gets, and you're like, Oh my God, he's going to get, he was, that was it.
He was done.
He was good.
And then this is someone else's mistake is going to totally hose them and it's
all going to come unglued.
We obviously know the end result.
It just makes you, it just makes you realize that the right guy won, that the guy
that was supposed to win that race one that Indy chose that day to be Felix's
day and what, what I, the caveat I put to that is Malukas was to me, the best
car of the whole race, Felix's car was insanely fast, but when back in traffic,
there was nobody that could move like David, he was doing such a good job.
He did one restart in first fell down to six by the end of the first lap.
Hard to make it up from six within 10 laps.
He was at the point again, like nobody was coming through traffic the way he was,
especially in the second half of a stint.
And that last lap dude did everything you could humanly possibly do.
And it just was not his day.
It was not supposed to be his day.
There's nothing I don't think he could have done differently.
You know, I know, you know, I've been there, a race lost on the last lap by the
slimmest of margins.
You, you were played a hundred times in your head, a thousand times in your head.
You lose sleep over it, but he's going to look back on it.
And eventually I hope realize that there was just nothing he could do.
And I thought the way that he handled the last lap, I thought the way that he
handled everything that comes after that pure didn't finish it, pure class,
um, pure professionalism.
And I think he earned a lot of respect and a lot of fans with how that all went down.
I, I, I, I agree, man.
Um, I, this was the, this was the race that
impressed me.
So, so there's been this whole, this whole like, I don't know what the right word
is, um, ambiance or this bubble around David of like how he's the future, right?
He's, he's Penske's golden boy and he's going to be the future of the sport
and all this sort of thing.
And like we all know these fast.
We've all talked about his, his talent and all this sort of thing, but it's like
you're replacing will power.
You haven't won a race yet.
You still haven't won a race yet, but he drove a race that was worthy of winning
the Indy 500 from, that's the, that's the first time I've, I've seen it.
You know, he had a really good, you know, one third of a race in gateway, you
know, when he was at Meyer shank and then had to get together and crash and
whatever, but like, yeah, at the beginning of the race, there's a lot of guys
that are good, right?
To, when the intensity ramps up in the final stand, you've got to restart with
tend to go and you've got all of these things happening.
Like it's a different ball game than the first 70 laps of a race.
And this was the first time where I sit back and watch a race.
I'm like, okay, I get it.
Like I see it.
Um, and, and he's so deserving of everything that is coming his way.
Um, and, and I think that you're right.
The way that he handled it still as a, as a super young individual, um, and
his dealt with the pressure, especially like, it's one thing to, to have the
pressure of, you know, getting promoted to team Penske and driving the 12 car at
barber, you know, it's, it's another thing to, to be the highest qualifying
Penske car at Indianapolis.
It's another thing to quite honestly, like have your teammates number through
the whole race at Indianapolis, like he did it.
He's, he's here.
He's got it.
And, um, I think that's a, that's a super cool moment for him.
And I echo everything.
I think that's, that's really well put.
You know, I, um, the other thing that I really like about what he's done this
year in general is, you know, you move to Penske, especially as a young guy,
especially as a, as a less proven guy than a lot of people than Penske, you
know, compared to a lot of people, Penske's hired.
Um, like you say, hasn't won a race yet.
We're placing will power.
Um, there's a tremendous amount of pressure, right?
That comes along with that.
We talk about Penske perfect.
There's a lot of Penske pressure that comes with that role.
And a young guy could be like super amped up and, and put a lot of pressure on,
on themselves to try to perform immediately and justify that decision and all that.
Dave doesn't act like he's got that on his shoulders.
He's, he, he walks around more with this, this he's kind of, he's calm.
He's very confident without being cocky and he's just like, Hey man,
I'm enjoying this, this opportunity and I'm giving it my all.
And, and if I do all my, if I get all my ducks in a row and do my job, right,
it's all going to come.
He's not trying to force it, I guess is probably what, what I'm trying to say.
And, and I think that's such a mature approach for a young guy and a guy
early in his career and it's working.
I mean, he's second in points, man.
He's ahead of both his teammates and closest guy to pillow.
Like he is, and he hasn't won a race yet.
Imagine once he breaks that duck and gets that first win and you know,
is, is, is right up there.
It's a lot of, a lot of good things.
Last point on, on, on Malukas saw an interesting stat today on Twitter.
You know, Dave came up second last year, technically not on the road,
but he's classified as second last year.
Um, he's a third driver to win, or to come back to back, uh, second places
at the Indy 500.
First was Bill Holland and 47 and 48.
Second was Dan Weldon and nine and 10.
Both those drivers won the 500 the next year.
If you're in a numerology, obviously you hope that's not the case, but I'm
just saying it's a thing that's happened at this point.
I'm just trying to finish fair.
Um, so let's, let's go back to Felix's last lap because I, I'm pretty
speechless about the whole thing.
The, the, the tire rub with Armstrong going into one still makes me like,
it makes me wet myself when I see it.
Like that could have ended so poorly, but then at a one lane race track,
a famously one lane race track to hang it out on the outside for all four corners
with a guy that's also up to speed.
Like you could see a guy hang it out in one and two.
If there's a checkup in the first lane and he's just kind of rolling the high
side, I mean Armstrong could be flat based almost like based on where he was
in relation to Malukas and Felix just hung it out for four straight corners.
I, I wasn't, my jaw didn't hit the floor until turn three.
So you got to remember what, yes, you're absolutely right.
Armstrong was probably flat on the bottom.
Felix is in lane two, but you're still coming from first gear out of turn four.
So you're still very much accelerating.
You're probably 20, 30 miles an hour down on what you usually are through one and
two.
So that, that was like, all right, hell yeah, but he's so hosed here when he
gets to three, when he kept it lit in three, because I, I made a couple passes
around the outside of three earlier in the month and it is so loose.
Like you can do it, but I wasn't flat and I was pedaling it like walking the
dog kind of up the track just to get it done.
I remember what Joseph did to win the race with Pado.
You know, it was a super late short oval type arc, but he got down to the bottom.
Like he was like, screw you.
I'm coming down.
You better lift or both crashing.
Cause he didn't want, and Joseph of all people didn't want to be in lane two.
Felix was just like, no, I guess this is where I'm at.
He's in lane one and I'm not lifting.
So, right.
So here we go.
And that for me was like, and I, and I truly think that Armstrong was so
surprised by it.
So there was this, there was this clip of, of, of Marcus and he was pretty
frustrated at the end of like immediately after, and I'm not criticizing him for
this because immediately after a race, all of those emotions, you take the
restart on the last lap and the lead, you finish fifth.
Like I get it.
I'm not holding any of this against him, but he was like, I was putting an
impossible situation there.
Do I take out my teammate or do I lift?
But I bet in that split second, he was like, holy cow.
I can't believe that he's still there.
Like at some point this has got to go bad.
Right.
And probably had that, like just that intuitive like lift, which was just
enough for Felix to kind of arc down and get behind David and get the run out of
four, um, because Felix doesn't win that race.
If Armstrong keeps his foot in it, because there's, he would have never been
able to have the angle down and get David's toe soon enough and all of this
sort of thing.
So like all of the stars lined up for Felix, not that he got lucky, but that
was, that was a, a big moment for Felix and he needed
that because he needed to be able to get down at that point.
Cause by turn four, you are up to speed and I don't know, like maybe, maybe he
could have, I will never know, but he wouldn't have one point.
He wouldn't have one.
I give Armstrong a lot of credit for, for making the right decision and doing
the right thing, because if he keeps his foot in it and they touch Armstrong
doesn't win Felix is probably in the wall, maybe Armstrong's in the wall.
That's a really awkward conversation when you get back to the truck and neither,
neither guy win in any circumstance, right?
So our Armstrong, look, man, we saw every restart.
The leader was host every single restart on Sunday.
The leader was not going to be first across the bricks.
It's just as soon as you knew there was a one lap to go and you were at the
point, you had to hope for a yellow in turn one and you know, it just, it wasn't,
it wasn't the case.
So again, completely understand the immediate post-race frustration, but
I do think he made 100% the right decision, both for the day and for the future.
And, um, you know, he'll hopefully get an opportunity moving forward.
Um, couple other things, the battle.
So if we're going to give Malukas credit for his last lap, we're going to give
feel us credit for his last lap.
We got to give McLaughlin credit for his last lap going into turn four and
fifth and crossing the line and third sporty is pretty good.
Time to write deployed it right unbelievably close between those three
cars across the line.
Um, I really was trying to get a replay of that into the broadcast afterwards,
but like obviously once the race is over, you, you've got one story to tell,
right?
So you never got to it.
But, um, yeah, great, great last lap from him.
Um, shout out to Mick Schumacher, rookie of the year, always a cool thing to
have a high finishing rookie.
Um, and it was, that was, that was a tough decision, I think, for everybody
because Kyle Collette had had such a good month that qualified in the top 10 and
obviously had to start at the back was running well, whatever, but had his crash
ultimately and, um, Mick did a great job in the race, he had a trouble, so credit
to him.
Um, and what I want to do now is, uh, golf clap for race control because that,
that day through a couple of curveballs up at race control and in my opinion,
not that my opinion matters.
Uh, I think they handled every one of them bang on.
I think, you know, the red flag for rain was obvious, um, every one credit to
everyone at IMS and the safety team and, and the whole grounds crew there
forgetting the track tried quickly.
It was not a long delay.
Got everybody back out in great condition.
Um, the, the decision to red flag after Kyle's accident, 100% the right call.
The yellow flag when Mitch brushed the wall, Mick brushed the wall.
Again, we have to be consistent with this, right?
If that hadn't been on the run to the last lap kind of thing, I'd have been,
you know, you'd have been like, well, why didn't you throw a yellow there?
A car brushed the wall.
He could have bent a toe, they can hook down in front of traffic, whatever.
The, to have the, to have the guts and the commitment to make that call, knowing
that it was going to compromise potentially the end of the race.
100% great.
And then they got it cleared up, ready to go.
And a green, white checkered finish, all that stuff at the end.
Uh, I just want to give, you know, big credit to everybody and race control
and, and, and Kyle Novak and, and the whole team up there.
I thought it was handled very well.
Yes, I agree.
I have no notes.
No job guys.
Good job team.
Um, Alex, how was the banquet?
Well, um, I did my best Marco Andretti impression.
And he went off the stage, went, went up third, fourth and left.
Cool.
Um, I did see Felix.
I spent a little bit of time with him.
Um, so I feel like I set my peace, congratulated him.
Oh, that sort of thing.
But Lord, I was not sticking around.
Dude, I had, I had the ice elevate and rest.
Come on.
I get it, man.
No, I get it.
You got bigger things to worry about.
Yeah.
Um,
I do want to mention the prize money thing.
Ooh, let's talk about that.
Let's talk about that.
Let's talk about that.
James, the biggest purse that's ever been released in Indy car in D 500 history.
Yeah.
So we've got to stop doing this in my opinion.
We've asked, we have all asked multiple times because it's very hard for some of
us that have, well, not anymore, but at one point in time, it's very hard for
some of us to have investors when the P and L comes out, you know, at the end
of the year and they're like, yeah, but you made and 1.99 trillion dollars
in Indy 500 and they get like six grand, the check that you hold on the stage
and the number on the P and L for Indy 500 prize money, do not match.
Do not even close, not even close.
Um, it's not nice.
It's not nice.
It's not a good position to put anyone in.
And I don't know when that became acceptable.
Uh, I mean, until, yeah, well, okay.
I don't want to get into the politics of it in that sense, but I think it's
important to explain what we mean.
So a, a, a face.
I'm just wondering if, if I'm going to get a text later, it's like, hey,
you got to cut all that.
No, we'll try to be, be good about this.
So it was a purported, like, what was it 30% increase, 50% increase in the
price money from a 20 something million, like 20 point something million
dollar pot to a 30 point something million dollar pot.
The thing is the leader circle money, which is given to the top 22 cars and
entrance points from the previous year is included in that amount.
So there's a portion of that check that the driver quote unquote gets at the
end of the night that already is in prize money.
It's a, it's a not insignificant six figure number that doesn't count as
prize money, it counts as leader circle money.
So as your dry, as your driver contract will stay, you get like 50% of prize
money or something like that.
If you have a shirt, it was more than six figures, pal.
I think the cash element that's included in that check is a six figure number.
Um, but much money, you know, great on the series in, in 2026, they increased
the leader circle money for each team pretty significantly, like a half
million bucks per car times 22 cars.
It's an 11 million dollar jump.
The prize money per spun up by 10.6 million.
So I'm not saying that the entire half million, uh, increase came purely in cash
and was included just in that number.
So the is very likely that there is still more hard cash going to the
quote unquote prize money element of that number that you get at the end of
Indy, but you know, 4.34 million or whatever was what Felix quote unquote
one, it's what he gets a cut of is significantly less than that.
And I don't know why we have to do that.
I don't know why we have to put on that show.
Like, like, let's, but, but, but, but we're, it's still a really impressive
amount of money.
Like let's just call it obvious that there's something weird going on is
that I finishing 29th made more money than the whoever finished 20th, right?
Like 20th was a one off.
It was, it was Jack Harvey and they don't get a leader circle money for Connor.
Right.
Does it also take into account like qualifying positions?
Do you get a bonus for that?
Or laps led certain things like that?
My point is I didn't get a million, a 1000000 dollar bonus over Connor
daily who finished 17 spots higher than me because I qualified second and led six laps.
So there's, there, there is like a, an algorithm formula that's never been
published as to like how these numbers are determined.
There's a couple of things, you know, like if you, um, like the qualifying money,
like the pull money, I think it's included in that number.
And, um, they're contingency at contingency prizes and 10 grand here, five
grand there, rookie of the year, 50 grand, $200,000 deduction.
If you're Connor daily, yeah.
Right.
So, uh, there are, there are, uh, there's a lot of things that go
into deciding what that number is.
I think they know previous winners, maybe get something extra or like whatever it is.
But I just wish they were a little bit more transparent about the whole thing
because to Alex's point, like it's tough for investors.
If you have them, which a lot of guys do, it's also just like not accurate at all.
So why lie to the public?
Uh, I think we're past that, um, cause everybody talks about it every year.
Like they crack jokes about it on the stage.
I mean, Connor's the best.
Like he holds his up and just like, yeah, I'm not seeing any of that.
You know, it's just, it's just silly and it's unnecessary.
So it's also, it like in the, in the, um, the program, like it has
like lifetime Indy 500 earnings listed and I'm at like 36 million dollars.
No, it's just, just like, what?
Okay.
I'm done getting dinners.
No, but like, no, you're not.
Anyways, um, you know, there, uh, great night for Felix.
Good for him.
Great night for Felix and, and really just a fantastic month for Indy car.
Um, I, it's really cool.
James, like I feel, I feel a little bad for you in the sense that like you can feel
it as a driver now, like it's different than it was a couple of years ago.
Like there is a, there's a level of, of excitement that, that exists past the,
the normal people that you come to know at Indianapolis or the heartbeat of
Indianapolis and you see every year, but it's like some of the, the partners that
are coming in and some of the, the articles that you see in the people that
reach out to you.
It's like, wow, this is actually making an impact on pop culture, right?
Which is like, it's what you have to do to try and compete against the, the, the
championships and the sports leagues that we're trying to compete against.
And it's a, it's just an exciting time for the series, man.
And like the, the broadcast, the pre-race show, oh my God, the pre-race show was
just unbelievable.
Like it's, it's as good as, as what we just watched for three months,
two months for college football playoffs.
It's as good, if not better in some respects, like the, some of the pieces that they
did, like I didn't see, um, you know, we did that historical car shoot.
I never saw that until the bank when they played that.
I'm just, my jaw is on the floor.
Yeah.
It's such a high level of production quality that is going in to the
storytelling and to the making, I'll give you an example.
A friend of mine, uh, lives in New York, um, works in the fashion industry is
very removed from anything Midwest, anything, anything like that.
Right.
But, uh, he heard about my injury and, you know, reached down and was like,
are you still going to race?
And I was like, yeah, and, and let's just say this is not his thing.
And he was expecting the race to be on, you know, at some point in the afternoon
and clicked it on in the morning, um, to just see like what time it was on.
So he went to Fox and it was like, it was going to go to the guy and see what
time it was on.
It was like, he saw Indy 500 pre-race and he turned it on and it was like, bro,
I sat there for eight hours.
I watched every minute of it and I'm like, in love with the Indianapolis 500 now.
Like, that's amazing.
I want to go to another race.
And I was like, well, let's just come to India next year.
Now, so passionate about it was like, I had no idea.
And that's all down to Fox and what they're producing.
So amazing job guys.
Um, yeah, I mean, I, that pre-race show is so much fun to be a part of because
like you say, you see the level of, of value and effort that goes into it.
Um, things like that, historic car piece, like, I know you shot it.
I know what's happening.
They don't show us a lot of these segments and until it plays on air because
they, they want genuine reactions from some of us on certain pieces, which is
really cool.
Like last year, that brick by brick mini movie that they made about the, the
building of the speedway, which was unbelievable.
Um, didn't see that until, till live on the day, which was incredible.
Um, but no, it's the, the effort guys that goes into that pre-race show is
monumental.
Like this is the same team that does Super Bowl pre-game shows.
And like this is a, uh, a half of a year's worth of, of work and effort and
preparation to execute.
And again, I think the team did a great job.
Uh, it's, it's such, such a fun thing to be part of that group and to, uh, you
know, to get to, to be a part of that, that part of the broadcast.
Um, and that's, that's a great story, man.
I'm going to share that with everybody on our next call because that's, that's
exactly what we want.
That's exactly what we're trying to do is, is build these stories, get, you
know, capture people's attention, capture their passion, you know, get them
emotionally invested in the race, the cars, the drivers, whatever it is.
Just, just get them hooked.
And, uh, and I think, I think it did a good job of that.
The broadcast itself during the race, I also thought was excellent.
You know, you can see the progress that we've made as, as a company from year
one to year two, um, the call, I've watched two of them from my couch at home
now, and I can say this year was another step above last year.
Big jump, big jump.
Buckson's call the last lap was great.
You know, is there a stat for what happens to somebody who's caught
on fire two years in a row?
Next year, I'll send that out to my stats guy and see what we can do.
We're probably going to show back up.
Yeah.
I think Connor used to catch on fire a lot.
It's pretty early out there.
That's actually, so you got to look forward to what we're talking about.
Connor, can we just talk about the whole suit thing?
I mean, are we surprised?
I guess, I guess here, here is where I'm surprised, James.
I'm surprised to the man that owns two Porsches only has one suit.
How can you have two Porsches in one suit?
So for those that don't know, he left his, he brought a suit in to
get dry clean for the banquet on Monday, forgot the memorial day was a holiday
and the place was closed.
This is the amazing part.
Tweeted out, Hey, does anybody know the owner of this particular
location of this strike leader?
And amazingly, somebody did and they figured it out and he got his suit
in time for the banquet.
So I mean, good on him for figuring it out.
Couldn't he have borrowed one of Doug Bowles's 10,000 suits?
Well, here's the thing.
I think he actually fit well, but I think he has a second suit because
I've seen him in a blue suit, but he wanted his tux.
That was a tux.
And I'll be like, I don't own two tuxes.
So maybe he could have just used his blue suit.
Do you maybe maybe I need a backup tux just in case.
Actually, that's not true.
That's not true.
I have a few different types of tuxes.
Yeah.
I got one like complete black everything tux, but I also have like a blue tux,
two blue tux jackets to go with black pants.
So you're sorted.
Yeah, I'm sorted.
Yeah.
Get together, Connor.
Sorry.
Sorry.
I just want to know, do you think he walked into the Porsche dealership in the
same suit to buy the second one?
Lastly, do we think he went in, in shorts?
Well, hold on.
12 okay.
Yeah, definitely not in a suit.
Um, may hangover.
The may hangover is a very real thing.
These as tough as your job is, man, and like as tough as my job is having to talk
about this stuff considerably tougher the past 10 days, seven days.
Yeah.
Well, yeah, you made your job harder for yourself.
Yes, I sure have.
The, the mechanics, the officials, the people on the TV production, like I, I,
I know people in our production.
Podcast producers.
No, that, that packed up the TV compound and went straight to Detroit.
It's exhausting.
Like I was texting with some of my old mechanics, like they were in the
shop Monday morning, prepping cars for Detroit.
This and like, and then it's, there's like a test and then it's straight to,
no, it's straight to St. Louis.
Then there's a test.
Like these guys aren't getting like a weekend off until July.
It's, I don't like it.
And I've, we've said this so many times.
I'm going to say it again.
The weekend after the 500 should be a weekend off.
Testing should be banned and everybody should just get a chance to chill.
I also think it gives the series a full week to exploit your winner and talk
about how great and any 500 you had rather than having.
Don't worry.
They will still do that.
And people will not know that Detroit exists.
Well, fair.
And more Felix is going to show up to Detroit.
Absolutely smashed and everybody's just tired, man.
Everybody's tired.
Uh, the may hangover is a real thing, Alex.
I hope you've been able to rest these last couple of days in the buildup to
Detroit.
I guess you have a great excuse to cancel anything else.
So that's good.
I'm not going to the sim tomorrow.
Nice.
So one good thing that's come out of this wins all around wins.
All right.
You are going to, you're just going to do minor fractures after every race.
Now I'm not one.
Uh, uh, last thing I've got was just wanted to address the post race penalty
on the 10 car because there are a lot of people on the internet that are like,
Oh, so a front wing and fence and fraction that got Calomai lot tossed from
the race last year with like a 100000 dollar fine and his crew chief
was banned for a race and all this sort of stuff.
The 10 car got, was it like five points and 10 grand or something like that?
I might be getting, getting the specifics, uh, slightly off,
but it was, it was something in that row.
I think that's right.
Um, and so here's the difference.
So I actually reached out, I try to be like an actual news outlet here.
And I've reached out in a professional manner to Indy car to ask for clarification
cause I'm sure they released some statement, but I'm sure a lot of people
won't read it.
Um, so it was, it was basically, it says a mechanical assembly error that
resulted in an out of tolerance condition after the car had previously
passed pre race tech inspection.
So essentially it passed pre race inspection, something failed during the race.
So while it was out of tolerance, it was not intentional.
It was something that broke or yeah, I said, it says an assembly error.
The 2025 incident was the use of an intentionally modified spec part
utilized for performance advantage, which is why that penalty was so much
harsher.
So just to get all the conspiracy theorists in the internet, on the internet, uh,
to stop talking, that is why there was a difference in the penalty.
Indy car, once again, doing their job and doing a good job on that type of thing.
Very good.
James, thank you for clarifying.
You're welcome.
Um, anything else, man?
No.
I'm not sure y'all happened, but we don't have time to talk about it.
So congrats, Kimmy, on another win.
He might actually be on his way to a world championship, but better than George.
You both won't have to talk about, we don't have time to talk about that next
week either.
So, so have a good trip to St.
Detroit.
We'll see you in Detroit.
About this episode
Episode 500 recap opens with race-day energy, calling out “another sellout crowd” and the vibe in the place. The discussion then moves through Indy 500 race strategy and turning points—fuel alarms, lean maps, downforce choices, and a “deciding yellow” that split strategies—plus late-race throttle/lane decisions and a green-white-checkered finish. Between on-track chaos (fires, lost steering, pit issues) and off-track talk (broadcast hype, prize-money accounting, and penalties), the hosts tie it all back to what made Indy feel huge.
Original notes
While Rossi's race didn't go as he would have hoped, the guys still have a lot to go over in recapping the 110th the running of the Indianapolis 500.
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Off Track with Hinch and Rossi
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