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Another Q & A
About this episode
James Hinchcliffe and Alexander Rossi answer fan questions in a lively Q&A session covering a wide range of topics from racing preferences and favorite race cars to personal anecdotes about being recognized in unusual places. They share insights on their favorite moments during the month of May at the Indy 500, discuss the challenges of commentary between F1 and IndyCar, and reveal fun hypotheticals like which driver would win MasterChef or who they'd pick on a deserted island. The episode also touches on TikTok feuds, upcoming live events, and teases a Rossi special at Cracker Barrel.
Topics:
fan q&a
indycar commentary
favorite race cars
indy 500 experiences
driver personalities
racing trivia
off track live events
tiktok and social media
racing anecdotes
food and cooking hypotheticals
We asked you guys for questions and man did you deliver. This week we dive into such pressing issues as: how would you spend time with your pet if they became human for a day? What's your favorite race car? And why Tim?
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Car
Chevrolet Tahoe
"...rest of your life, what would you choose? A Chevy Tahoe at? Indianapolis Motor Speedway. That's terrible...."
Car
Volkswagen Jetta
"... they used to. So dude, you watch the onboards of Jetta and like, and basically every race now where you'..."
Select text to request an explanation
This is off track.
Alright, golf. Tim .
What is, oh, is this, sorry, is this Tim Track with Tim and Tim now?
Jesus. Yeah. What are you doing?
Ridiculous, Tim. I Want everybody to know Tim Track.
I hit record. Alex goes,
Hey Tim, why don't you intro this one. . Nope.
Didn't have, I don't remember that.
That's not what I heard. Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm. Allegedly. All
Right, well we finally have both of you here for a Tuesday show. That's nice.
No guess. And This
Off track with HCH and Rossi and No guess.
Uh, all right, well we put out the call on Twitter asking people for q and as I tagged you guys, so you should also be able to see them on That.
Oh, we're seeing, we're seeing, I have Everything needed.
We should get right into it. Any, any jump out to you yet?
So many. There's some really good ones. Guys.
We're gonna have to make a, a list here 'cause we're not gonna be able to get all through all these. Let's,
Let's just start, and let's alternate the answers.
Let's rapid fire this sucker.
All right. We have Twinkle Tires asked If your pet great
name suddenly became human for 24 hours, what would you do together?
A whole party. That is a great question. That's a
Great question.
I'd have to have a long chat with Teddy about what he can tell other people about.
'cause he seemed too much .
Like What? Um,
He doesn't, he doesn't think that me going to the bathroom is a private activity.
He likes to be a part of that.
Yeah, that's, yeah. They all do that.
I think that's normal. Well, me,
we watch them go to the bathroom. Yeah. Yeah.
That's true. That's true.
And at least he doesn't go pick mine up.
Hmm. That is an amazing question.
I, I would just wanna just talk all day about all of the things that they had questions about.
I, I would, I, yeah. I'd wanna explain,
if I leave you, I'm coming back.
When I say know it's for your benefit, please listen.
I would, I would somehow find a human way to, I would play catch with Lucy 'cause she just loves fetch, so she'd be able to throw back and let her use those opposable thumbs.
Let them have a really nice meal sitting at the table, you know, with a knife and fork. Um, but yeah,
I definitely, I would want, I would wanna make sure Teddy knows I've never intentionally stepped on his paw Fair. Like it's,
I feel like it, I feel like then cuddling gets weird though.
Yeah, that could Weird.
Really like, cuddling my dogs, but they were, if they were people, it'd be, it'd be weird. Yeah.
Be it would cha It might change the dynamic a little bit.
All right, next question. . Uh, okay, well,
this one we actually can answer.
Will you guys do another off track live at IMS this year?
Oh, um, yeah, we're working on it.
So we should have some details for that shortly.
Um, at Carb Day.
Uh, all right, James, one for you from Ethan Burns.
What's easier to commentate? Talk about F1 or IndyCar. Ooh,
I just wanna know that. Ethan.
Yeah, great question. Uh, I would say he's still IndyCar
because I know so many more of the people and I'm, you know, obviously more experienced with the tracks and the cars and, and everything.
Um, and there's generally a little bit more going on, you know, if I'm honest, in most of, so I would still say IndyCar is, is easier in that respect for me, for me.
Um, I, I saw one that I thought was funny, uh, for, uh, I guess any of us, which non-American driver has become the most American since joining the grid?
Oh, Simon. Oh, great call. Great call
Without a doubt.
Yeah, he came over super French and he is now American as hell.
That is a great call. So, yeah. Yeah. I mean, yeah.
I, no notes. No notes. .
Okay. Alex, I think this one's for you, uh,
or not think it is for you from, uh, Colleen.
The people wanna know who Rossi's favorite boyfriend of Rory Gilmore is.
This is obviously reference to us finding out that you're a Gilmore Girls fan.
Not this is put to the test. I'm not, ah, I'm not
Gonna talk about, no, I'm not gonna talk about favorite boyfriends.
That's a weird thing for another guy to talk about.
Okay. All right. Well, who's your favorite character
On the camera?
Rory's my favorite character without a doubt.
I'm a Richard Guy, you know. Okay.
I haven't watched it. . Um, I got one
that Cody Brayson in.
It just says, why Tim Fair.
And I, I don't know if that's why Tim, but there's no comma.
It's just why Tim and I'll, so that's not for you.
This is for Alex and I, um, No, I took it to mean like, why, why is Tim just, Yeah, why, why Tim?
Honestly, honestly, because this started as a joke and we were like, the only person that will do this for free is Tim .
Yeah. Do you wanna The
Sad truth?
No. The wonder, the sad, sad truth is
that without Tim, this may have never started .
If you actually go back to the genesis of the show, like, I Think you, he's one that had the, about Liza?
No, Liza, this doesn't start, But he had the Yeah, but he had the, the, I'm not gonna say the company name, but he had the connection at the company that, but you're right.
We may have started it otherwise, but he wouldn't Have had that.
This was Right. Right. You're
Right. I don't
Wanna give a fact.
This is Lizza did. This is a Liza idea. Yeah.
Sorry, Tim. I was trying, but he wouldn't let
Me.
I mean, I'm, I'm gonna dispute that, but We'll, we'll do that in private though.
It definitely would not have happened without Liza.
So that's, that's fair too. Okay. Stacey, St.
John, this is for both of you guys.
Besides the races themselves, what is your favorite thing about the month of May and why?
Oh, race day Morning without a fricking doubt like that is, I, I could do race day morning without the race, just as its own thing.
Go home afterwards. Well, no, I just, I think
that five hours is some of the most like, electric amount of energy that as a human, I, I feel, and it's not just driver intros, it's the entire, like, that place comes alive Sunday morning.
And it's unlike anything I've ever experienced.
And I'll never forget.
And like, I swo, I tell people this all the time, I swear by it.
Like, I remember in 2016 opening my bus door at 7:00 AM and that emotion just as much as I did finishing that race in 2016, like it was the same level for me of like, my mind is blown.
So, race day, morning for sure.
It's, it's amazing because, you know, the, the, the, the place is an, it's an empty vessel at 5:59 AM minus the teams, the workers.
The drivers. Right.
At 6:00 AM the cannon goes off and over the course of the next 3, 4, 5 hours this vacant, it's A living entity. Yeah, yeah.
Thing space becomes like a, life grows in it. Right.
Slowly people trickle in and start filling the difference.
Some life is probably made there and Some is conceived there for sure.
Yeah. But it's, it is watching this thing become,
this living sentient being in real time and being part of it.
You're right, man. It's just, you can feel the
energy in the place.
It is, it is spectacular.
And I am so excited to, you know, just get to do it every year in any capacity.
Mm-hmm . And I'm, I'm really excited for Bucks in this year
because he's never been, he's been, I think for qualifying weekend, but he's obviously always been working Monaco and he's never gotten to see the race.
He's a very passionate Motorsports fan. He's a very passionate
Person.
Oh, he is gonna fall apart. He's gonna stay apart.
Oh, he's gonna be, yeah. He's gonna be in tears.
Like it's in It's incredible man. Incredible. Yeah.
How about that? Your first one you ever see in person?
You're calling live on national television. .
Yeah. No thanks. Was that, is
That the case for Diff too?
Was that he call, I don't know.
I feel like he's, he'd probably been at some point, but I don't know.
Um, I'm bringing, just to piggyback on that, this will be Hazel's first Indie 500 this year.
Oh, very cool. Yeah. Uh, okay.
Ryan Greco state pit wants to know where are you guys Watching from?
Yeah. Obviously. Um,
what is the most random place you have been recognized?
I feel like James, you kind of went into this in your . Yeah.
From Japan. Uh, uh, ni Jojo Temple in Kyoto, Japan. Thank
you. .
I wasn't a part of this episode. Oh,
Yeah, .
Oh, that's right. Somebody came up.
Yeah. So yeah, yeah,
Yeah.
Somebody , Becky and I, after dinner one night, went to this temple in Kyoto that's all lit up with all the cherry blossom trees and whatever.
Really? Picture uss really beautiful, you know,
it's nine 30 at night.
We're standing there looking in, standing in this like, temple structure, looking at this beautiful, you know, scenery, whatever.
And this guy kinda walks up to us and he goes, Hey, are are you James Hinchcliffe?
And I was just like, I kind of laughed and I was Like, you're like, am I I wearing it on my shirt? Yeah.
Like, was like, uh, no, Tim, Tim very cleverly was like, did he recognize you from F1 Indie car or Dancing with the Stars? .
But I was like, I was like, I kinda laughed.
I was like, yeah, yeah.
And, and then he laughed 'cause he thought I was joking.
He was like, yeah, oh, you're serious.
Oh my God, it's actually you . And I was like, no.
Yeah, no, that's actually me.
So yeah, I got, that's, that's potentially the most random one.
Yeah. I don't, I don't know.
I don't, Alex I don't have someone recognizing you at the Magic Castle when we were there years ago.
I don't remember. And like, you and I were just there
to like see a show and, and have dinner and everything.
Somebody came up to you and you ended up talking to the guy for like 10 minutes.
Sounds very unlike me.
My, my favorite, I've told this on the show before, but my favorite thing, like this was Becky and I on our honeymoon and we're in the Maldives, right?
Like, couldn't be further away from where we live.
And we are getting like a massage at the spa in this resort we're at.
And the, the lady that was running the spa, she was like, you know, she's super calming, she's super sweet, super friendly.
And after, and right before we went in, she was like, do you mind if afterwards we get like a picture with you guys and like maybe sign some stuff?
And we were like, yeah, yeah, of course, of course.
And look man, like I was, we both kind of assumed they were talking to me.
Well, we finish our massages and they come up with this, the couple of, like, the people that work there came up with a clipboard with every one of Becky's movie posters she's ever been in.
I don't think they had any idea who I was.
They just wanted pictures with the girl from all the Hallmark movies, <inaudible> and from the total frat movie and from spun out.
Like they had all of her stuff.
And Becky sat there for like 20 minutes signing autographs in the Maldives.
Hilarious. Awesome.
Yeah, I mean, I hang out with you to be closer to Becky, so I get it.
I, oh, I get that a lot. That's totally fair.
Um, . Okay, which driver on the grid would win?
Master Chef. It's from Brooke.
Probably Alex. I was gonna say, I think Alex could
Probably me, but like, but like, does Master Chef include baking?
Because Jack Harvey's a pretty big baker. Big bake guy.
I can't bake. No.
Felix, I call, I wanna be a dick about it.
He's not on the grid anymore.
I mean, he is at Indie, Right? Indy. He is.
Okay, fair enough. Fair
Enough.
Um, yeah, I'm gonna say, it's funny, somebody asked me, I did an interview for a, a podcast, um, earlier today actually. Um, and
I Did you plug off track?
What's that? Did you plug off track?
Um, I obviously not, I didn't have to. They they did it.
It's called Game Time.
Uh, Jack and Josh, two high school kids, um, who have their own, uh, sports related podcast.
Shout out to you guys. Thanks for having me on.
Uh, talked about it a lot.
They listened to the show, so hello.
Um, but no, they a, they asked me a question that was like, you have three drivers, uh, and you're stuck on like, to be stuck on a de like, deserted island with who would you pick and why.
And so I was like, well, hunter ray.
'cause he can fish, right?
He can free dive, he can fish and so he can feed us, right?
And I was like, Rossi, because he'll, he'll be the guy that figures out how to get the fire started, how to keep the pH balance in our drinking water.
Good. And he's really good at like cooking stuff.
Like he's, he'll know how to make the fire and then know how to smoke the, the, the trout that we pull outta the, you know, whatever.
And Patto. 'cause he'll know
all the restaurants on the island.
Well, Pat's got the Jet , Pat's got the jet to get us off of the island.
Um, but yeah, so I, and then I said Charlie Kimball to build, 'cause he's pretty handy and he could probably build like a, a habitat of some kind.
So, but yeah. So just speaking of the cooking,
I actually picked you in that exact category.
Thanks, Val. Earlier today. Thanks Al. Appreciate
You.
And this actually works out because somebody asked us, somebody asked if you were stuck on a deserted island with a driver from the IndyCar paddock, who would it be?
But they did okay. They did say you can't choose Rossi.
So I guess that was a Virgin Island check, but I, I think that one's asked and answered.
Okay. Um, ,
Someone asked what you put in your water bottle in the car, Alex, is it like water?
Is it Gatorade is some sort of jungle juice, some magic concoction?
I don't drink it, so Yeah. Ever.
So I remember a few years ago you talking about how like the water bottle would get too warm and so it wasn't worth having bad. That still an issue so bad.
It's like a million degrees, five laps into the race.
It's so gross.
Um, okay, if You could drive one car at one track for the rest of your life, what would you choose?
A Chevy Tahoe at? Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
That's terrible. Race car?
No, it says drive, drive one race car.
Um, still my favorite race car was that, uh, McLaren four 19 B.
The riken in one that was improved. The MP four 19 B.
Um, at any track?
Probably, probably Suzuka.
Does it have to be a track you've driven and a car that you've driven or can you, can you like, oh, I don't know.
Can you just like, totally wishlist this? Okay. That was
An actual Car you've driven and an actual tracking driven?
No, never driven it. Never driven it.
Oh, you didn't drive it at that one of that, like that Velocity weekend or whatever mm-hmm .
Oh, okay. No. Um, so why it, so why that car?
Um, it's the car I grew that, that's the car that I fell in love with, with racing and Formula One and everything.
That was that car. Yeah.
That was a fun generation of car. Yeah.
D 10 I think was Chrome. Yeah. Yeah.
It was really awesome. Yeah. That was cool.
I liked, I mean the, the current, the current ones are unbelievable in terms of like the lab times they produce, but they're just less, the wow factor isn't there?
Isn't that wild though? But that,
and this is actually brings up a big argument that Townsend and I always have because the cars are faster than they've ever been, but they're not at the, they're not as cool as earlier models that were like, he's, he's big into the sound, which I agree with and, and all that.
But like, he's big on the speed and I'm just like, I don't necessarily agree. I they can't be slow.
But like, I also, I also, I also think the scale of them now, they're just too big.
They don't look Yeah, they don't look as visually impressive as they used to.
So dude, you watch the onboards of Jetta and like, and basically every race now where you're actually pushing, they, they're, they have to give up their necks 20 laps into the race.
Like, they don't even try.
They, they, they train their neck to hold it up under breaking, but for cornering they just kind of like mm-hmm .
Human beings can't go that fast for that long.
It's not spo you're not supposed to do that.
We don't need to, we don't need these cars going any faster.
We need to probably actually slow 'em down and we Need Indy cars to go faster though.
Indy cars could, could step it up a little bit. Yeah.
Um, okay. Liz wants to know,
has Alex seen Christian's tiktoks?
No, I don't have tiktoks.
So I actually, I've, I've now seen these 'cause people have been referencing them for a bit and then no, they'll come up.
So I've checked it out. Alex, I don't know if you're aware
that you're in a very one-sided feud with Christian, with your teammate . He
Posts about what? Constantly.
He's like, I'm gonna beat Rossi at every race.
I'm gonna , you know, I'm gonna, they're all in good fun and they're all pretty funny.
But I, I now I feel like I've kind of ruined his joke by making you aware of it. .
Well, he's Definitely gonna watch out.
Well, I'm still not gonna get, I'm still not gonna get TikTok to care, but that's weird because like I was him all day day. You're should follow golf
Today on Off Track. You should. Uh,
We have a TikTok. We
Do.
James made me make us a TikTok.
All right. Have you been five minutes left.
What else have what else have you been doing It?
Tim, have you been keeping up with our I have.
Uh, I have, I'm trying to find a good one.
TikTok. TikTok. Literally TikTok more questions. Let's go.
I was trying. You can't keep,
No one cares about things you've done or haven't done. Tim.
I was going to Christian's, TikTok. I
Was just, she has a fricking question, Tim.
Oh, do your job. Mr.
Producer . She what?
Why Tim, why Tim? Fair. I'm asking those
T-shirts made like Tim Right now, any day now.
Tim, I'm trying to talk and then you interrupt me. .
What? Okay, yaar 8 1 6 wants to know
what year was the best indie car in terms of overall performance and driving enjoyment? Oh, I
Have no idea. That's a James
Question.
James, you drove from the beginning of IndyCar. , right?
I look Ray Roon was a sweet, sweet man. Um,
He was a little young though, right?
For you? I mean, Roon raising.
Oh, he was a kid. He was a kid compared to me back then.
Mm-hmm . Um, that's a tough one, man.
Like the, the, the 2012 to 14 kit was, was a really nice mix of like performance and race ability.
To be honest, that was probably the kind of best one in my era.
The 15 to 17 manufacturer kit was awesome to drive.
We had so much down force and it was so much fun to drive.
The racing took a bit of a hit as a result of that, but, um, yeah, it was, it was wicked.
But you know, I I'm sure if you talk to the, like TKs and Dario's that were around back in the late nineties, early two thousands, they'll tell you that that era was probably pretty neat too, with big honking engines and thousand horsepower and qualifying special motors and stuff like that.
But yeah, and the, and the stuff that I've done, I would say probably the 12 to 14 was the best mix of racing and performance.
Okay. Um, all right. Here's, here's the last one for Alex.
Uh, this is from Nicole Meningo.
Are we going to get a Rossi special at Cracker Barrel?
I'm gonna add on this. If there was a Rossi special
or a Hinch special, what would they be?
Well, his would be Catfish.
Well, no, but they, because that already exists on the menu.
Yeah. Um, there, there will be at some point. Yes. Um,
Well, there's actually gonna be a Rossi special.
Yeah. And I can't tell you what that's gonna be,
because that would ruin the surprise.
All right. Well, if there was a Hch Cliff
special, what would it be?
Probably pancakes. But they already have that.
I was gonna say it's probably pancakes.
Pancakes and a bourbon.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's not, it's not bad actually.
Just got hungry and thirsty.
Kind of figured out what I'm doing for dinner tonight. Right? Well,
It's not like an Easter thing.
You can have pancakes on for dinner on.
We definitely have champagne, uh, for breakfast at Easter.
What's Pancake Tuesday? Isn't that a thing?
I don't think so. I think tacos.
Let's make a thing for Monopoly on Tuesdays.
Well, it's today. Let's just today
because it's a Tuesday for you're listening to this as it came out.
Have pancakes for dinner and Yeah, send us a picture.
Tag us on social with your pancakes and bourbon.
Um, we encourage, uh, overconsumption of alcohol and once again, breaking any rain.
Nope. Nope. Once. Okay. You gotta stop.
You gotta stop doing that, Tim. That's okay.
We don't encourage those things.
Stop, stop nodding after that. Stop doing that.
This has been off track with Hinch and Rossi.
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