In a race, the lead lap means the cars that are still running the same lap as the first-place car. If a car is behind by a lap, it means it was passed by the leader.
In some races, drivers use special tires called 'Reds' that help the car stick better to the track but can wear out quickly. Using them at the right time is important.
The Indy 500 is a big car race in the United States where drivers race around a big oval track. It's very famous and important in racing.
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The St. Pete GP just ended and we're going to do IndyCar news in five minutes.
If you didn't watch the race, Alex Polo won.
He didn't really dominate the entire weekend.
He started in fourth, but by the end of the first round of pit stops, he was in the lead
and from there he just won.
The top five were Alex Polo, Scott McLaughlin, who had started on pole, Christian Lindgard,
Kyle Kirkwood, and Pat O'Award.
Six through 10, Erickson, New Garden, Grosjean, Renus VK, and Dennis Hauger.
19 cars finished on the lead lap.
Let's discuss some winners and losers.
A clear winner here is Dale Coyne Racing.
I mean, a team like Dale Coyne finishing eighth and tenth with Roman Grosjean and rookie Dennis Hauger,
neither one of which raced IndyCar's last year.
What an amazing result.
So they have that guy, Michael Cannon, as engineer, and it seems to really be working.
Dale really can pull together a great team out of nowhere.
Another winner, of course, Alex Polo.
I mean, another brilliant race.
Was it flawless?
It was close to flawless.
Another winner, Scott McLaughlin.
He looked like a really serious contender all weekend long, qualified on pole, finished second,
and it's a really strong weekend for him.
And then a final winner, Renus VK.
He got a ninth place, a top 10 in a Hongkos Hollinger car in the first weekend he's raced for them,
you know, since his junior series four goes.
And they were fast all weekend.
So not just in the race, he was just fast all weekend.
So definitely a winner.
Let's do some losers.
Whether there's winners, there's always losers.
Stingray Rob caused a first lap crash that took out himself, Santino Frucci and Mick Schumacher.
So definitely not great.
Will Power, surprisingly, just was never in the pocket all weekend.
Whether he was having trouble with the car or he was making maybe it was small mistakes.
I'm not really sure.
And I'm not sure what took him out of the race, but something happened.
Either way, the 26 was just never near form and his other teammates were doing well.
So hopefully we'll see better out of Will.
And the final loser, Nolan Siegel, his two teammates finished in the top five.
And Nolan was 20th, the only car that ran the whole race and didn't finish on the lead lap.
So he was lapped on pace.
So, I mean, everyone worse than him had crashed.
That's not a good weekend.
So not good for Nolan.
What's given award for people that worked really hard today?
I thought Marcus Erickson worked really hard today.
He was up front trying for the lead, but they waited too long on the Reds.
And he burned the tires up and they just didn't have any grip left.
So by the time they pitted, he had lost a couple of spots.
And then he just had to fight back to finish sixth in the end.
So I think a really strong workman like Ryde from Marcus.
Joseph Newgarden also worked really hard.
He had a really terrible qualifying.
He started 23rd, but he finished the race in 7th just by pushing and pushing.
And then Lungard and Kirkwood, they moved up from 12th and 15th to finish 3rd and 4th.
So they worked hard.
And Alex Pillow worked hard all day.
Gapped everybody because of it.
So who got burned badly in St. Pete?
Mick Schumacher got burned bad.
So this was the day he was supposed to just get out there, turn all the laps, you know, run some laps in traffic,
get more familiar with the car, run it all, you know, just get some racing in and in any car.
And what happened was he was taken out in the first lap, fourth corner of the first lap.
So that's awful.
His rookie of the arrivals finished 10th and 17th, which is quite good.
Hauger in the top 10 and Kaio Collette in 17th.
And then next week we're going to a short oval in Phoenix where Mick's run before run there,
but he's never raced a short oval, whereas Kaio Collette is quite experienced in ovals.
And Dennis Hauger raced Indy Weitz last year and did well on ovals.
So Mick Schumacher got burned bad today.
Any gossip?
Yeah, there's some gossip.
I was at the track.
Supposedly there's some drivers that were there only to try to secure Indy 500 rides.
So these guys were spotted.
I spotted Connor Daly.
I spotted Calomai Lott, who I talked to him and he said he's still under contract with Prema,
but I also heard he's not getting paid.
So not much of a contract if they're not paying you.
I heard Linus Lundquist was there.
I liked Linus, but I didn't see him personally and I saw Devlin Defrancisco there.
So that's Indy Connor News in five minutes.
Coming up this week is Phoenix.
I'll post on the IndyCarDad Instagram during the week and during the beginning part of the race weekend,
but I won't do a podcast until after the Phoenix race is over.
So thanks for watching.
I'm IndyCarDad.
You'll find me on all the social channels under IndyCarDad.
About this episode
Alex Palou clinched victory at the St. Pete GP after starting fourth, with Scott McLaughlin and Christian Lundgaard rounding out the podium. Dale Coyne Racing impressed with strong finishes from Roman Grosjean and rookie Dennis Hauger. Notable struggles included Stingray Rob's first-lap crash and Will Power's off weekend. Mick Schumacher was taken out early, hampering his race experience. The episode also touched on driver efforts, team performances, and some behind-the-scenes gossip about drivers seeking Indy 500 rides. Upcoming coverage will focus on the Phoenix short oval race.
The conversation covers the St. Pete GP winners and losers, including Dale Coyne Racing's success and notable individual driver performances. It also highlights Mick Schumacher's tough race and shares gossip about drivers at the track.
