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Baby Ben and Mid-Ohio
Baby Ben and Mid-Ohio
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About this episode
Alex Rossi shares his experiences juggling fatherhood with a demanding IndyCar schedule, discussing the challenges and joys of early parenthood. The conversation then shifts to the Mid-Ohio race, highlighting issues with practice group splits, tire strategies, and race incidents including a mysterious first-corner crash. They analyze team performances, particularly GSI's dominance and Penske's struggles, and debate IndyCar's racing rules on side-by-side battles. The episode wraps with reflections on recent F1 races, Lando Norris's mental strength, and Scott Dixon's remarkable streak of wins, setting the stage for the upcoming double-header at Iowa.
Topics:
fatherhood and racing schedule
mid-ohio race analysis
practice group splits
tire strategy challenges
race incidents and crashes
team performance and dominance
indycar racing rules
f1 race highlights
lando norris mental strength
scott dixon winning streak
Cars:
Toyota Tundra
Rossi came on this week with Baby Ben for the guys to recap the race in Mid-Ohio and get ready for the Iowa double header.
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Technical
Too Afraid to Ask
Car
Toyota Tundra
"...p cycle you're in. Or you can just set it to like tundra, which is what I did last night. Um, and it was a..."
Select text to request an explanation
This is, is off track .
We really need lighter mic stance. 'cause dang.
Hold on. Put it, put it back down on the table.
Put it over his head. Just put it as close to you. No, no.
Like . Put it on the edge
of the table. Just try talking.
Hello. That's fine. Right?
That's good. That's good. Yeah.
You can sit upright with an ab workout for You.
No, that no. Is that bad? He will not.
Well, he would not like that. For
People listening, we're joined by a very special guest attached to Alex needs a little, he needs exactly Alex Rossi's chest 17 degrees of reclining .
Oh. So he's as picky as his dad.
Oh my God. It's incredible. .
Now there was, there was a period of time where, not a period of time, so he gets to the eight week mark and there's, they're like starting to show signs of like, tracking with their eyes and you should start to see some amount of smiling and this sort of thing.
And like, obviously when you get to like eight weeks, you're like, all right, today's the day.
And he wasn't doing it. And I was just thinking in my head,
man, did I pass that down to him too?
I think that would be, that'd be unfortunate. .
I'm not gonna do what you expect me to do. I'm gonna .
Yeah, .
No, Yeah. I am gonna break all the rules.
B I'm just not gonna pay attention to anything you want me to pay attention to.
Mm. Um, so, dude, this is, it's awesome.
Little dude's just there. How's it being a dad?
I feel like we don't talk enough about the fact that you're a dad now.
Well, I don't know that I really know that yet because That's True.
Um, our, our schedule's pretty intense, so, um, I know what it's like to be a dad.
Uh, no, I know what it's like to be a mom support animal.
Right. . Um, but you know,
it's unfortunately with the way it all works out, like I think the most consecutive days that I spent with him had been during the month of May, which obviously is not the most conducive time to be, you know, adding, uh, That's such a good point.
Yeah. And then after that it's been, you know, home
for three or four days and then you've got Detroit and Road America, and obviously the stretch we're on.
And then in between that you've got days in Charlotte and the sim or you've got, you know, media obligations or whatever.
So it's, it's been hit and miss from a, from a, getting into a rhythm standpoint.
Um, but I will say like, all the days that I have had are awesome.
So it's, I still feel as excited about it as I did on May 7th when he was born.
Are, are you at that point already where it's like all the days away suck and like in the sense that like you just, you kind of wish you were back.
Not that you're like not happy to do your job or whatever, but are you like that much more anxious to get home and are you like that much more bummed when you have to leave on a Thursday kind of thing or fly to Charlotte on a Tuesday?
Um, I think the, You don't have to think about it like that.
Yeah. I mean, I think the days that you're coming home,
you're more excited than maybe you would've been.
Um, just to see like his level of progression, whether that's right.
Progression from a personality standpoint, which not really.
It's more progression from a how is he growing? Like what
Physical, Yeah.
What does this <inaudible> look like now?
Like what, what is he, like how long are his naps?
Like all these things and metrics that are like important to like, the development of what does his look like? This? Well, I mean, it's,
I mean, that's a pretty important thing. Yeah.
It's, it's a pretty important thing. Like, yeah.
So I, because he's not, he's still kind of a potato.
Like I don't have that sadness when I leave yet.
'cause it's not like he knows I'm leaving. Right.
Um, I think that'll come later on once they realize that, oh, why aren't you taking me with me sort of situation. Yeah,
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
They started doing like what the dogs do and sit on your suitcase. Mm-hmm . Yeah.
Yeah. And you're like, yeah. Then the guilt comes
Right.
And then eventually they're just like, nah, you can go.
Right, right.
. So they're like, dad have fun interviewing Creed.
I'm gonna go watch the weenie 500 . Yeah. Right. Yeah.
Uh, is he sleeping well?
Yeah. No, he
Not like at the minute.
I can see he's pretty good at right now, but I can, No, he's fast at right now.
No, he, um, he's down to kind of two wake events a night, which I think is pretty good for two month old .
Will you say it like that?
It sounds like he's wearing a whoop .
You had two wake events last night.
I mean, he does wear some kind of whoop device on his ankle, so. Yeah.
Does he really? Um, yeah, yeah. Yeah.
It's more to That's cool. Alert you if he stops breathing.
Right. Not to track like heart rate variability.
I'm new to kids. That's bad. It's frowned upon. I love
It. You
Like, you generally like the breathing that's uh, Yeah. Yeah.
Soothing. When, when you build the kid, it's one
of the boxes, like at the top it Yeah. Like up there.
You're like, yeah, definitely that one.
Maybe even though It's like $35,000 extra , you still, you Still take that option. You have to have
Like Right, right.
It's like buying a car where breaks get an extra, but you kind of have To Sure.
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Um, so yeah, I mean, if he goes like, last night we went to bed at nine ish and he woke up at, when he wake up, he woke up at one and 5, 1 30 and five.
Is this a bed? Um, so yeah, I mean it's,
it's definitely manageable.
Um, you don't, I mean, I'm looking forward to the go to bed at nine and wake up at nine program. Right. We're a little
Now, you know, when I get there.
Yeah.
you, you've been there for like 30 years.
No, I haven't. . I bet she goes to bed on nine,
but she still gets up at like six 30.
Oh no, I meant you personally.
Oh yeah, no, yeah, yeah.
Um, . So like, is it like what a lot of parents say
where when you go away to races, the best part about going away is having a bed and not having to wake up and sleep. Like a
absolute .
Incredible. So, um, Thursday
before mid Ohio, I slept 11 and a half hours like I was in, because the other thing is like, we can't, he's still sleeping in our bedroom because again, the whole, he's up every four hours and the breathing thing.
Breathing thing. Yeah.
Um, so we can't have our AC set to 61 degrees anymore, so that's tough. Oh
My God. That's right.
Right. So I mean, 68 is kind of the lowest, I mean,
it's 68 to 72, so I pin it at 67 'cause like, you know, we like to push limits in this house, put in a blanket .
Right. Um, well no, you can't do blankets either,
because I'm joking hazard.
Um, I did end up buying because of this predicament.
A heat lamp from like a fast food joint or something?
No. Have you seen, I'm sure you've seen all the ads
and like the endorsements for eight sleep.
No, No. What is that?
Well, it's essentially, imagine James a IndyCar cool suit compressor, but instead of for your body, for your bed and instead of not working it works. , .
That last part seems important.
Got it. Got it. Right. Yeah.
Right. Understood. So it's essentially,
it's essentially a fitted sheet that's got like water coils in it. Yes.
I have heard of This. These things
and then adjusts your, it adjusts the bed's temperature to like whatever your sleep cycle you're in.
Or you can just set it to like tundra, which is what I did last night.
Um, and it was awesome because my room was at 70 degrees, but my bed was probably like 58. Yeah.
So that Was pretty, pretty awesome.
But no, and to answer your question, um, going to the bus, sleeping in a dark room, quiet room, cold room.
Yeah. Slept for almost 12 hours.
And this is, this is like the thing, this is where I feel like the moms really get the short end of the stick.
Right. Because it's not like you could be like, oh,
I'll just take 'em for a night, honey.
And you go check yourself into the, you know, to the four seasons for a night and just sleep for 12 hours.
That's not really a thing she can do at this point.
No. 'cause like you get that freedom as, as much
as breathing is important, apparently sore boobs.
Yeah. The feeding part is also eating is like, oh lord.
Really? I,
I've, I've definitely lived by that Yes.
Motto. Yeah.
Um, fried. Hey Ben.
Hey buddy. What's happening?
There he is. There he is. Uh, all right.
Well, um, ukuleles are dumb.
I mean, we knew that. Yeah.
Was there ever a question about that?
Unicycles are also dumb. Yeah. Yeah.
And unitards, if we're being honest, I think they have a purpose.
I don't agree with them. Hmm. I had
Had to wear a lot when I rode in high school.
Oh, Oh, oh. Are there picks
Now?
I like them less. Do you? Is that what you wanna see?
Is that something We called it a uni suit. We called it a uni
Suit.
Wouldn't I wouldn't hate whatever.
Have to sleep at night for Like his birthday.
Oh sure. Yeah. I'm sure I could find some. Don't
Worry.
We'll, we'll talk to Joan. We'll get some,
we'll get some real winners. What's
The difference between unitard?
What's a weird word to spell And leotard?
We're asking the big questions here.
Is the length of the legs a leotard hard?
Is it kind of like only kind of like, goes to the way, like covers up like a swimsuit kind of bottom?
Yeah. Where unitard goes all the way down.
Oh, then that's not what I was to, because mine was, we called ours uni suits.
No. So you wore Like short sleeve version.
Uh, no sleeves goes down to your thigh.
The legs went all the way down.
No, it just went down to your thigh.
Tard. So it's more like a unitard.
'cause it doesn't have like the i The pictures.
It's more like, it's more like a, uh, what are they called?
I should really know this. Um,
It's like what you wear for wrestling, Like the bibs that you wear cycling.
Yes. Yeah. Or like tri. Yeah, like triathlons.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Exactly. That's what he was wearing.
So it's like an athletic unitard.
Hmm. Or Athletically. Aard. Yeah.
Oh my goodness gracious.
I can definitely tell that's you by the hair.
The Dude. You,
When we, I don't know if we told this part of the story.
We were in England when we were meeting up.
We were like in a crowded, touristy area outside the London eye.
And I called him and asked him where he was and I was like looking up over this massive crowd of people and I was like, nevermind, I can see you.
And it was just his hair. Yeah, I could see his hair.
I'm six two with like pretty noticeable hair. Yeah.
guys stick out in crowds.
You're honestly probably six five with the hair .
The hair adds a couple inches.
That is all un undoubtedly true. Look,
I'll take inches where I can get 'em.
But there was a race this weekend.
Uh, there was, Try to talk about it.
There was a couple, but we'll talk about the IndyCar one first.
Alex, why don't we as usual start with your weekend?
How did it go in mid Ohio?
MidOhio, uh, Schmidt, Ohio.
Well first of all that track, we really, we really gotta get split groups going.
Like it's just in practice. In practice. Yeah.
It's so ridiculous.
I didn't, I didn't do a lap in practice one, like I saw turn five through eight once.
And that was in the split group on reds. Yeah.
I didn't do it once on blacks.
And so it's just, it's, it's really difficult to have any kind of understanding of Where you're at or your balance or, or anything going into Saturday.
Um, just because with 27 cars and a 60 whatever it is, five second lap, um, while it's not the shortest track we go to, it's, it's, it's up there and the way the layout is it just the accordion effect of guys getting gaps, which there, there's nothing wrong with it.
I'm not criticizing that you're supposed to do that.
Um, it's just not, it's just not possible.
So it was brought up in the driver's meeting, um, that split groups for kind of all practices in 2026 would be a thing.
Um, and we would set qualifying order based on qualifying from the previous event, which I thought was a really good idea because then it's not championship order.
So it's not always the same groups. Yes. James,
What do you, what do you mean qualifying from the previous?
What what do you mean qualifying order Meaning?
Oh, sorry. Qualifying groups.
So group one and group two would be based on qualifying from the previous event.
'cause right now it's based on practice two classification.
Right. And so they didn't have a solution.
They were, that was always the thing as to why practice two couldn't be a split session is because then the people in the second group would have an advantage and they would then that advantage would probably transfer into qualifying because they would be the quicker lap times.
Right. But if you do it based on qualifying at the previous
event, it's gonna be enough of a shakeup from weekend to weekend.
You're not always gonna be pinned in the same group.
Whereas if it was championship order, it's a very real possibility.
Most of the year you're gonna be kind of in a similar situation.
So anyways. Yeah, that makes sense.
Um, I think that's a good idea. That's not obviously coming
this year, but it's on their radar there being IndyCar's radar.
So that's, that's a good thing.
Um, so before, before I get into, well no, we can, we can just finish mine.
Um, right. Yes.
Sorry. Why can't they do it this year?
Oh, that's not how we do things anyways.
Um, so going into Objectively disagree, we've done several things just switching Middle.
That's actually, that's a really good point.
Uh, I don't know.
They've been have an opinion on this.
Like if everyone, if it's unanimously agreed that like when we go to Toronto to not have to like That's a good point.
Maybe I'll bring that up this weekend. Weekend. We like,
We're our own boss.
Like we can kind of do whatever we want If everyone agrees.
No, you're right. We do. I mean, we do things on
a whim at all times. You're completely right,
Like pretty regularly, so Yeah.
Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah.
I mean, usually not do the next week for this conclusion on that.
Usually not things that make sense though.
Right, right, right, right, Right, right, right.
Those are less whimsical.
Nothing that we've all talked about and agreed on .
That's not true. That's not fair.
Um, no, that's, that's the point.
We, we should, we should, uh, I'm just Getting an email now that there's gonna be a new tire compound for this weekend.
Oh, I mean, yeah. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. There is.
Oh, there is. I forgot. There is.
There is. I was like, I
wouldn't be surprised if there's an email.
Oh, it's okay buddy. I know.
It's, it's not funny to make Tim fun.
Tim's voice is just so grading. I know.
Um, Don't, don't try to poison Ben against me.
So practice two, I'm gonna Be the cool uncle.
Practice two. We, uh, we're pretty good.
Um, I didn't, I didn't really do a good job, but, you know, we felt, we felt confident with the cars that we had that showed in qualifying.
Um, it was the first time in a very long time that ECR got both cars into the top 12.
Um, which was good. Uh, we guys
Made a pretty, because you guys found something in Road America in warmup.
Yes. Like from a Sunday. That was good.
And so was that carried over and that worked Here as well?
It was, while, while it didn't look promising in practice, like we were, we were really happy with kind of the feel of the car and, um, all of the problems that we had had on Friday and Saturday and Road America were not there anymore.
So yes, a lot of what we learned in on Sunday and Road America did transfer and, and that was super exciting.
So qualifying, we, there was a decision that was made on, on the 20 car that was a, a pretty big error.
We tried to, basically with all of the gapping issues and everything that was going on, we thought that if we kind of do our own program and leave pit lane and push, Do our prep lap kind of pushing, we could just fuel it for one time lap instead of doing out prep, push push.
So most cards were doing their fastest lap on the second or third, um, time lap.
Time lap on our, on reds.
Usually it was kind of the third time lap though.
So we tried to do it on the second.
Um, and for whatever reason, even though we left kind of on our own, we couldn't get a gap.
There was cars in front of us going slow.
There was cars behind me coming quickly.
I also didn't have a radio for all of qualifying.
Um, so that made some things difficult.
So anyways, in the fast 12, we were one lap short on what should have been the optimum thing to do.
Right. And we didn't have any front tire temp in for the lap
that we were gonna try and do it.
So anyways, we ended up 12.
Honestly, in a perfect session, we probably maybe could have been seventh or eighth.
We weren't getting into the fast six.
I don't think so all in all a very good performance for the team.
Again, first time in a long time, both cars in the fast 12 Christian was 10th, I was 12.
Um, Christian unfortunately had a grid penalty because of an engine failure in Detroit.
Um, so he started 16th and going into warmup, even though IndyCar extended this race by 10 laps to get rid of a two stop option, we felt that a two stop was still possible.
Um, because of the fact that in 2024, the two stop was the way to go.
It was super easy and it was an all green race, albeit the race was a little bit delayed by two laps because Dixon had his hybrid failure mm-hmm .
But from there it was an all green race and it was a pretty easy two stop.
So we thought this will transition pretty quickly to a two stop.
If there's kind of any yellow, any yellow, but like seven laps of yellow would make this kind of the, the golden the golden two stop opportunity.
Um, sure enough, there was a yellow at the start and we were like, oh, this is, this is gonna be a two stop.
Like this is pretty, pretty straightforward, um, the way this is gonna go.
And We couldn't hit the mileage.
Um, we couldn't hit the mileage and go quick enough.
Like I, I started that stint trying to, to hit the number that we needed.
I got passed by three cars. I was going backwards.
I was like, this is not, there's a lot of guys pushing.
Um, I'm gonna lose more spots if I continue to hit this number.
Like we can't, we can't, we can't get there right now.
Um, so we ended up bailing on the two stop with the three.
It just sucks because you've already lost a couple, you lost some track position and it's, I mean, yeah, I lost three spots, like whatever.
Um, and so then we, we kind of carry on to that first stint because we had saved quite a chunk in the beginning.
Um, which was a detriment ended up actually working out for us pretty well, uh, with the overcut side of things.
So we were able to, to have pretty good pace at the end of the stent and went like six, seven laps longer than kind of the cars that we were racing.
Um, both Christian and I did.
And, uh, we, we gained quite a few spots in that exchange.
Um, I had a slow fueling, um, stop with an issue that we had on the fuel rig.
Christian had an even bigger issue on the fuel rig in the sense that they plugged in and then no fuel went in the car and he left and then he ran out of fuel, which is Oh, that's why he ran out.
Really upsetting. Yeah. Like it's, yeah.
So that's a disappointing situation.
Um, because I think he was, you know, I mean ultimately the way the day ended up, we weren't race winning cars, but, you know, I think he obviously would've been better than 25th.
So that sucked.
And then his yellow is kind of when things started to split a little bit.
And what ultimately happened was there was some Hondas that were on, uh, a two stop program, um, that that yellow really helped.
And then there were some other cars that took Christians yellow, um, which kind of put them on like a two and a half stop program.
Right. And we, we didn't,
and so we were kind of on like a true three stop with like no advantage on anyone with anything.
Um, and just the, that's the way the kind of race worked out with that specific situation.
So ultimately we thought Christian jail was gonna be good for us.
'cause we had stopped like, well, three, four laps before that mm-hmm .
Um, and there had been cars that had been out there for like 12 to 14 labs.
So I was gonna get all that track position, but unfortunately that gave them a fuel advantage to get home on one more stop.
And I still had to get home on two more stops.
'cause I was a few lap short and I couldn't hit the number to make up that, uh, three, four lap difference.
So we were kind of just caught between like the two and the three, um, yeah.
And ended up 15th, like the car was, was good.
Um, the stops aside from the small issue we had on the first one was good.
We couldn't get the mileage.
I think, well not, I think the only cars that could get the mileage were Honda cars.
Um, Patto did a really good job with his recovery, but he was kind of on that two and a half stop program where he took Christian yellow and then got home on one more.
Um, so yeah, we just, were not, we weren't on the really on the right side of it, but the encouraging thing is that the cars were significantly better than they were in Road America.
And what we learned there did translate, which is always a huge concern, um, that like, just because something is good somewhere doesn't mean it'll apply somewhere else.
So Yeah. Positives leaving there.
Yeah. I mean, middle Ohio is a bit
of a unique one too, right.
So it's, it's not uncommon that like a road course baseline car is not exactly what you need at that place.
So Yeah. It's good that whatever you had worked. Yeah.
So yeah, one of those days kind of got caught between a, a weird yellow and a bad fuel number on annoying fuel number.
Yeah. But like, it's, it's a little,
it's a little concerning.
I mean this is, I I I haven't felt a beat down like this honestly since Arrow Kit days when I was in a Honda Arrow kit versus a Chevy Arrow kit.
And that was an engine that was just arrow kit.
Like, it, it feels Pretty tough right now.
A lot of people were still also winning that.
I mean, Hondas were still winning.
They were still pulling out wins.
They shouldn't have been winning for sure.
Like mid Ohio, like Road America. Mm-hmm .
Um, dude, it's, it's unreal.
Like, I don't know if the shining light is he made a mistake finally.
Mm.
Kind of. No. I mean, yeah, not kind of.
He did, he did, but I mean it, he threw it away.
Like he was gonna win that pretty handily Pretty easily.
And so again, he was gonna win it from Pole. Like this is .
I I've run at it like I don't, uh, in 1964 or something I think was the last, I mean, had he didn't win, so, but like had he won that race would've been like 1964 was the last time somebody won seven in the first 10 or something like that.
Like, I forget this dad, but it was something insane.
And it was back when they were running, you know, quarter mile dirt tracks and, and stuff with like foy and whatever.
But dude, his, his pace on on the hards is tough to like, it's tough to understand on the Reds.
He is perfectly human.
We saw that Road America, we saw it here, we've seen in other places.
But for some reason when you throw on the hards, that guy can just rail off lap time, hit a number, take care of the, make 'em last, whatever.
And it's, it's, it's nothing anyone else is able to do.
I mean, they're his preferred tire, even though they're Yes.
Borderline is second slower. Yeah.
Correct. They're often not the preferred tire.
They're sometimes his preferred tire.
Um, Alex, why don't you talk about the start while I go take care of this situation.
Oh, take care of the situation Is his food Guys, we're going old school today.
Is it Panera Or Win?
This is not for you Sally. Get outta here.
Get your beautiful nose here. So
Let's talk about the start James.
The start from, from my, from my side was pretty uneventful, but there was obviously a first corner incident.
Uh, I have seen the replay.
Um, I you talking about with Joseph, going off with Joseph, with Joseph, I find it hard to believe that that was driver error, but maybe it was.
Um, because like if something like that was gonna happen and it'd be a car failure, would it not have happened at any of the points where he was warming breaks?
Maybe not. I don't know.
It just, it was a weird, it was a weird one. What, what?
It was very weird. Did did,
did he talk to you guys afterwards?
So he did. We would have some. He did. Oh, okay.
Um, he hadn't spoken to the team.
You know, he came outta medical so he didn't really have any information.
Uh, that is, you know, shined any light on it.
But I'm with you man.
Like when I saw the first replay from the, you know, outside camera, I'm like, oh, something broke.
Like that was weird. And then you watch the onboard
and it was when you hit the brake, it was immediate two wheel lockup and two wheel, two wheel rear lockup.
And like it didn't, you know what it's like man, normally when you get rear lockup you kind of like do this and you're like, it sucks, but you're kind of just chasing it into the corner or into the back of somebody.
I can't remember the last time I saw someone have rear lock that just hooked them and sent 'em into the wall.
It's not typical. So
Because you generally don't want to hit the wall, is my understanding, it's, It's less ideal, uh, Suboptimal if You will first lap, if you'll got It second laps.
Okay. Um,
More more preferable.
'cause at least you got one lap of data out of the whole got, you know, got it.
Lost day. But no, it's, he, so they drive through a bunch
of, um, oil dry right before that point from the, I assume the unbelievable accident that happened in Indy next.
That was insane.
Uh, luckily both guys got out of that, but I'm not sure if that played a part in it.
But yeah, he hit the brakes and it's like, it was like pulling the knee brake.
So I don't know, I don't know if it was just drive rare.
It seems like a bit of a weird one.
I'm inclined to think there's slightly more to the story, but whatever it is it , I can't believe, you know, we talk about the broadcast a lot and I, I feel bad about how much we're talking about it, but it's still just such a story how horrible the season Penske's having.
Yeah, yeah.
Just wild. And then unfortunately
Graham was caught up in that.
Yeah. So first turn exit for hometown guy,
which sucked. Hmm. Um,
Do you think the owner of the series might bail Penske out?
How Mount out some way?
Not anymore. What I mean on that note
of Penske having a horrible year, like let's talk about, I mean, McLaren's having a great year, but it's going to go down as um, not remembered ultimately because No, and this is nothing against them.
Like I, I had No, you're right.
Huge credit to TK and Patto and Christian Nolan <inaudible> two fast sixes on the year.
Like great, great job from him.
Um, but Sie and Andretti, but really GSI is just, is just making everyone else look so subpar and I, this is not to take away anything from Alex.
We, he's proven it's not just the car at this point.
We obviously know what Dixon's capable of because Exactly.
He's the best. Um,
but like Kiffin has shown an incredible step forward this year and I know he's put a lot of work into it.
It's not just the car. You,
you have to go out there and drive the car.
Um, and quite frankly, like he's out qualifying Felix and Marcus in the same equipment quite frankly.
Yeah. So he is doing a really good job.
But like that is, that team right now is, is operating on such a level, um, that even teams like McLaren, like Foyt, like ECR quite frankly, that are having years that are, or seasons that are, you know, a, a decent step up coin improvement.
Yeah. From where they've been, um,
is just gonna be completely forgotten in 2025 because of what is happening basically at the hands of one, kind of one and a half teams. Because,
Because here's the thing that I was also thinking about.
I'm like man, they also just, every one of the, because we have two weeks in a row now, we've had had a tricky strategy races, right?
Like it's do you pit on this yellow, do you not field get split, whatever, whatever.
And they're always on the right side of it.
But I was thinking about it yesterday on the drive home and I'm like, no.
'cause part of it is when you're that fast, your strategy Strategy looks Good.
Open up, right? Yeah.
'cause when I was looking at him verse Dixon, the one verse two, it only worked if he could pull out a 27 second gap on Dixon, which he did.
Like, had that been a 15 second gap and he came up behind him and had to catch him and pass him.
He wasn't gonna do it. We saw
that he couldn't pass him once Dixon got around him with five laps to go, so like track positions everything.
He was so a eight.
The fact he left himself exposed, he was in the danger zone for like eight laps or something when the last Pitters had started to come in.
But he needed that gap to Scott before he.
And so it's just like, yes, it looks like they're calling all the strategies, right?
But when you can hit the fuel number, make the lab time, do whatever, like yeah, your strategy options are kind of endless.
So he does deserve a tremendous amount of the credit because we know what Dixon's capable of and he is handling Dixon right now.
Um, I'm Deb glad you brought up ki though 'cause that was gonna be on my list.
He is having such a, a strong run.
Like that was a really, really impressive day for him.
I actually just saw him and um, you know, he made a little mistake.
He was running third, he made a little mistake, lost some track position and then unfortunately had an issue in the pits where the car stalled and you know, he should have been way higher up than he was.
But I'm with you man.
Like, you still gotta get in and and wheel the thing.
And he was doing a great job and it's, it's been a really kind of steady progression over the last two years for him.
And it's great to see, uh, the kid is working hard.
He is putting in the time away from the racetrack and it's great.
Um, and you also mentioned, uh, DDCR and, and with Dale Coin and reus another top 10, they just keep ripping off these amazing Sundays man.
And it's really, really impressive from the team, from him, from everybody.
Um, yeah, it was a bit of a weekend to forget for Foyt.
I don't know if, did you see the whole uh, Santino O'Connor thing? ?
I sure did. I sure did. Um,
There's gotta be something else that happened before that.
Or maybe there's just like some history because like, no, Santino got Him in four and Connor gave him room and then just drove him off The track.
Much, much like, uh, Tim Connor does not, does not care for Santino.
Um, and so I think, not, not that Connor did anything wrong, but like Santino knows that.
And so there's just a little bit of, of underlying animosity, um, between the two of them.
Um, as was made very clear on the old Twitters afterwards when Connor, uh, made it clear his feelings, which was kind of hilarious, although also kind of uncalled for, but neither here nor there.
Um, that was super got penalty for it. Yeah.
Cino got a penalty for it.
He should have, like IndyCar has made it very clear, um, and has for a while, we've talked about this at length.
If you're side by side with a guy, IndyCar is gonna allow the guy on the inside to open his hands and run the racing line.
Um, if he deems that he wants to do that, um, what Santino did was he did that and then also drove himself off the track, which is where the penalty came from.
So like, I mean, definitely took it too far, but like, you know, I had the, the incident, it probably wasn't on TV 'cause it was a battle for 15th, unfortunately.
But I was coming outta the pits and Louie was on the inside of me for turn two and I was on cold tires and I tried to hang it around the outside and he opened his hands and I go in the dirt and I lose two spots and like yeah, I mean it's on me to, to not hang it on the outside.
I didn't think that he being a rookie would do it, but I guess he's watched enough IndyCar races that he is like, oh, this is the thing that we do.
So I mean fair play to him.
Like you can't, you can't get mad at the guy for doing the thing that's gonna guarantee your track position that's within the rules, right?
Yeah. Like it's not, there's no point yelling it over it.
Um, but yes, Santino took it literally eight feet too far.
Um, but also you, you just gotta move on.
Like you can't hold grudges in this sport. Like it's dumb.
Yeah. Like just, he's gonna
Be there next week and they're gonna be and he's gonna week after that.
You don't want a short o he's gonna ship it in there again. So
Dude, the two of 'em actually on a short oval, it could be, could be fireworks as they're usually both up front on that point though, of how the rules kind of are written and how it's been discussed.
Are you okay, how do you feel about a rule where if two guys are side by side, let's say dead even, or the inside guy has a wheel in front, so it's leading edge of front tire to trailing edge of front tire, right?
On the outside per the rules as they're written as I understand it and what you're, what you're saying, the guy on the inside can still just open his hands and basically drive the guy off the trap.
It's only if the guys Run, run them, run them out of room, not like, not like plowing into them.
Right. But that's like two wheels in the dirt.
Yeah. Yeah. Okay.
So what you're doing there is, in my opinion, that eliminates a lot of good opportunity for some fun side by side racing and for some, ultimately for some passing, right?
Like if a guy's got to the point where he's, again, within a wheel with length of wheel diameter of being dead even in a corner, so you can see him like he's in your peripheral bag, he's there, you're cool with a set of rules that's like, nope.
And just boom, when like if that situation, if you had to at least give him a car width at the exit, you're gonna create more opportunities for guys to have some passes and that makes the OnTrack product a little bit more entertaining. Maybe, maybe
Not.
Yeah, I think I I a hundred percent hear what you're saying.
Um, but where Yes, you're, you're right, you're a hundred percent right.
I, I don't mind it.
Um, because so there's certain drivers that you, you have an issue with whether that be like kind of the the Santino O'Connor situation.
But but more so, I'm not saying an issue from previous events or months or years, but it, that driver in a race could do some things to you that are pretty <inaudible> and like IndyCar isn't known aside from on ovals and really not even on ovals.
They're not known for like their blocking calls. Right?
And so there's a lot of really aggressive movements and reaction that happen.
There's a lot of aggressive, um, situations like that in breaking zones and, and, and at high speed and honestly quite quite dangerous scenarios.
And when you're dealing with that and you get a run on someone and you're up the inside, like it's nice to know that you can like move them out of the way as like a you for all of the, that you quite honestly started.
And I almost wonder if some of that is what went down with the Santino and Connor situation.
'cause bless his heart, Connor loves to defend very hard against the people that he wants to defend very hard against.
And so I think there may have been something that led up to it, but like have, and, and I don't, I don't like retaliation in a race car, like using your car as a weapon.
We've talked about how that, how stupid that is.
But like being able to get, even if that's the correct phrase, by running someone a little wide on the corner exit and they drop some wheels and you can move on with your day 'cause they're not gonna now rechallenge you.
It's, it's nice to have that option, if that makes sense.
It does make sense. It's just, it's,
I The is not pass.
Well I mean what did you do to Lou? I I don't
What did Louis do to me? You mean ?
No, what did you do to Louis? Like to get him back.
Nothing. Yeah, nothing.
But he just was like <inaudible> and drove you off. Yeah.
So like that's, yeah, I, I don't, I, it is nice having that ability to like sorted out a little bit with someone that's been ruining your day.
But like, if it's just, if you're just doing it to everybody Yeah.
At all times. It's like, but I don't,
don't think are we hurting the, are we hurting the product?
I don't think it's every That's the question one at all times.
Okay. I don't,
But I think that, Yeah, I, I would agree with that.
It's become, I think it's become more common.
More common because it's not penalized, but I don't think every pass is someone firing someone into the dirt.
I don't, I think this was all born out of turn five at Barber.
Mm. I think the number of incidents on the exit
of Turn five at Barber, they're probably like, Because there's so much grip on the outside that like the outside works like a lot of corners the outside.
Like if you're hanging it out there, it's a really low percentage situation in the first place, which is kind of race control's point.
It's like you've pretty much lost the battle already.
What are you trying to win here?
Mm-hmm . So, I don't know. Fair.
Um, like I've, I've had many passes where you pass someone, you outbreak 'em on the outside of a breaking zone and like you've got the momentum and like, I haven't gotten driven into doing that.
Like it's really the guys on the inside that are getting squeezed that are like, no dude.
Like you've made my life. Hell, you're squeezing me move.
Yeah. I dunno. That's how I see
It.
Yeah. Cool. Okay.
Uh, that's that We have a double-headed Iowa coming up.
Are we, I mean we kind of talked about the test.
I don't know how much more we want to go into it 'cause we kind of know roughly always up all call.
We, oh yeah, I Don't care about Iowa.
Let's talk to Ben. How are we doing bud?
Dave? I don't dunno if he has anything else to say.
Oh. Oh, look at Paul. Hey pal.
Living his best life.
Just, just chilling. Um, all right, so whatever.
We'll talk about IY after I, 'cause we already talked, talked about it after the test.
Um, we'll just briefly end on F1.
Crazy Race. Orlando wins at home.
Kinberg first podium, all very cool in my opinion.
Championship battle. He tightens up. Everybody wins.
I don't think, I don't think you gotta hope for a better result.
Much like, much like Palolo aff and showed he's human.
Yes. Wow. Finally did, so did Ptri.
Not that we haven't seen that ever, but like he's been pretty robotic of late and he made a misjudgment that cost him a win, essentially.
But yeah, max just good old fashioned spinning out on his own, still came back up and like picked up five spots but in a terrible car.
Um, but no man, I thought it was great.
I thought, I really think that this weekend highlighted something I've already kind of thought about Lando in that, you know, people love kind of harping on his quote unquote mental strength and this that and the other.
I feel like when it comes to OnTrack battles, his ability to handle pressure is actually phenomenal.
And when he has issues, it's when he's battling himself, right?
It's qualifying, it's, you know, it's, it's thinking he's made a mistake he's gotta make up for or something like that.
That's kind of when he seems to have his issues.
But like, go the way back to Australia in those mixed conditions.
Ptri breathing down his neck, he handled it really well.
You go back to Austria last year in that battle with Tappin, I thought he handled that very well and it was Max that pushed that one over the line.
Um, and then this was a, again, you know, Monaco was faultless in qualifying in the race and then here with everything going on, different points of the race, having pressure, whatever.
And that last stent, I mean, he drove away from Oscar, so yeah, fine, there was a penalty that caught him in front, but it was ultimately, you know, up to him to not screw it up, not drop a wheel, not make a mistake in the race.
And I know he did obviously in, uh, in Montreal, but I think when he's in front and he's dealing with pressure behind, he's pre pre stout, which is a really important trait to have when you're fighting for a championship.
Yes. I, yeah, I, I don't disagree with that at all.
I think that with all that being said, he's got his hands full with Oscar, I think without the penalty.
He still doesn't beat Oscar. Nope.
Um, so like yeah, but he better continue to bring it because Oscar is just as capable, um, in all phases of the weekend at this point as he is.
So it'll be, it'll be fun to watch it play out.
I think we're finally at the point of the season where it's, it's gonna get contentious and mm-hmm .
And a little bit bickery and a little bit catty and a little bit, Well you heard, you heard, you heard Oscar's radio message at the end of the race.
He was like, I'll probably get banned for life if I say what I had to say.
Yeah. Like, I don't want to talk about this.
Like, this is, or essentially like I'm, and Then I'm pissed and apparently like in the post-race interviews and press conference, he didn't once mention Lando or sorry.
Yeah. Didn't once mention Lando.
All he talked about was Hulking burg getting his first podium, and everything.
So it's like, oh yeah, yeah. Oh yeah. Okay.
Look, I mean, Lando, it's not like they had a, like a contentious battle on track.
There's no reason to be mad at Lando, but No, but Now it's, I mean that was a, that was a win.
That that's the guy you don't wanna see it go into your teammate. Yeah.
Which is what happened in both the races this weekend had , IndyCar and F1.
Don't think blow is under much threat, unfortunately. No, he's not his
Teammate.
No, he's not point. But he did make a mistake
that led his teammate win the race .
Um, and then shout out SVG won again in Chicago, which everybody kinda had.
Yeah. There was a friend, there was a friend of ours.
Sorry, sorry, Tim. There was a friend of ours, Alex,
who has a friend that made a not insignificant wager.
Mm-hmm. Um, I know you don't know much about sports betting,
but uh, he did something called a parlay, uh, where multiple things have to happen in order to win.
And he had a not insignificant amount of money, uh, on a Hello.
SVG Parlay. , ah,
Well if it's the friend that I think is the friend that was quite a Hit, it's a big hit.
And apparently he had already lost a not insignificant amount of money on the Nathan's hot dog eating contest on Friday.
So he was really hoping for a dub on Sunday .
Um, also though, I feel like we gotta mention Scott Dixon a win in how, what, 21 or 22 years now.
21 consecutive seasons with a win. There's not even words.
Like I I I didn't ever doubt that that was gonna happen this year.
So like, maybe we should be making a bigger deal about it than we are, but like we finally have a third winner in the season, which is crazy to say. Did you ever doubt
I kind of did with how much po been dominating?
No, it's Dixon man.
He's always, he's always gonna sneak one past the goalie. There he is gonna get it done.
I saw somebody on Twitter say, polo may be inevitable, but Dixon is inevitable. .
Yeah. No, it's, uh, 21 consecutive.
I mean, he's done more races in IndyCar than anybody.
He has, uh, done more consecutive races in IndyCar than anybody.
Second most on wins, second most on championships, 21 consecutive seasons with a win.
I mean, the guy is incredible.
He's just, he's just the best. Uh, but we know that.
All right, Iowa, good luck.
I hope it's better than we think it's gonna be.
I hate to say that, but cautiously pessimistic about what the weekend's gonna be.
Um, and we'll have twice as much racing action to discuss next week.
So make sure you tune In for twice as much.
Sorry, twice as many laps lapping, but less asrac action. twice as,
Yeah, twice as many laps to talk about.
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