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70:47
Place
Road America
Road America is a famous race track in Wisconsin. It’s a road course, meaning the track has lots of turns and changes in elevation, so it tests both speed and handling.
Topic
WeatherTech weekend
A “WeatherTech weekend” means a race weekend that’s branded by WeatherTech. It usually includes multiple racing activities happening at the same track over a couple days.
Place
Nashville Super Speedway
Nashville Speedway is a race track in Nashville. The host is saying he has business there this weekend and will be getting into town Friday.
Term
practice qualifying
“Practice qualifying” is a track session where teams test the car and also try to set fast laps. It helps them prepare for the real qualifying later.
Term
Highline practice
“Highline practice” is practice where drivers focus on the best line through the corners—often the faster route higher up on the track. It’s about learning how to go fast consistently.
Term
IndyCar
IndyCar is a major type of American open-wheel racing. The cars are built for high-speed road courses and ovals, and the series has its own rules and schedule.
Term
green flag
The “green flag” means the race is officially starting. Before that, cars may be waiting or running under controlled conditions.
Car
Dodge Challenger
The Dodge Challenger is a sporty car made for fast driving. It’s designed to feel powerful when you accelerate, and it’s known for having big engine options. People bring it up when they’re talking about performance cars and how they compare in driving or racing.
Term
strategy
In racing, “strategy” means the team’s plan for the whole race. It’s about when to go hard, when to save tires/fuel, and how to time pit stops so you finish strong.
Term
1.7 mile track
A “1.33 mile track” means the circuit is about 1.33 miles long each lap. Knowing that helps you figure out how far the whole race is, which changes how teams plan their pit stops and pace.
Concept
Indy 500 terms
They’re comparing this IndyCar race to the Indy 500. The Indy 500 has a different pacing style, so they’re suggesting drivers follow similar timing—don’t go all-out immediately.
Term
first lap
“First lap” means the very beginning of the race. The point is to avoid risky driving right away so you don’t wreck tires or get into trouble early.
Term
lap 200 or 225
“Lap 200 or 225” is a specific pacing marker for when drivers should start shifting from conservative running to more aggressive racing. Using a lap number helps teams coordinate tire/fuel strategy and manage risk as the race progresses.
Term
alternate compounds
A tire compound is the rubber recipe. Different compounds usually grip differently and wear at different rates, so teams can pick the best option for the moment in the race.
Term
alternate tire
Alternate tires are a second tire option teams are allowed to use. They’re usually different in grip or wear, and race rules often force teams to use the main tires at least some of the time.
Term
primaries
Primaries are the main tire option the rules expect you to use. If the rules require a minimum amount of primaries, teams can’t just switch to the alternate tires for everything.
Term
pit stops
A pit stop is when the car pulls into the pits to change tires. If the race requires more tire sets, teams usually end up stopping more often, which affects the whole strategy.
Concept
tire degradation
Tire degradation means the tires get worse as the race goes on. They may lose grip or start wearing out, so teams decide when it’s no longer fast enough to stay out.
Concept
tire longevity
Tire longevity is how long the tires last before they’re worn out or start feeling slower. It’s a key part of deciding whether to use the alternate tires early or save them.
Concept
oval
An oval is a race track that’s shaped like an oval, with long sweeping turns. The speaker is saying crashes happen often enough there that teams plan strategy with that in mind.
Person
Pato
“Pato” refers to a specific IndyCar driver the hosts are talking about. They’re discussing whether he has what a team needs to win consistently, especially on oval tracks.
Person
Christian
“Christian” is another driver the hosts are talking about. They’re saying he may not be helping as much as the team needs on oval races, including in how the car is developed.
Term
develop its cars
“Develop its cars” means improving the race car based on what the driver tells the team. The goal is to make the car work better for the track they’re racing on.
Term
final contract
A “final contract” in motorsport is the last season (or last term) under a driver’s current employment agreement with a team. The host is discussing whether the driver’s current deal could be nearing its end and what that might imply.
Term
initial conversations
“Initial conversations” means early talks about what might happen next. Here, it suggests the driver’s future is already being discussed before the current contract ends.
Place
Arlington
“Arlington” is where one of the IndyCar races in the season took place. The host is using it to reference where the driver finished in the standings.
Place
Phoenix
Phoenix is one of the places IndyCar races during the season. The host is correcting himself and tying the driver’s finish to that specific race.
Place
Long Beach
Long Beach is a famous IndyCar race that runs on city streets. The host is using it as an example of how the driver finished in a specific race.
Term
hybrid
“Hybrids” here means IndyCar cars use a mix of engine power plus extra energy from a hybrid system. That can change how the car is driven and how teams plan for the race.
Topic
standings
“Standings” are the season point rankings for drivers. The host is saying a driver’s place in the standings doesn’t fully match what they’ve shown on track.
Term
engine
“Engine” is the power unit that makes the car go. The host is talking about Chevrolet planning a new car for 2028 and involving the driver in that effort.
Term
paddock
The paddock is the team-only area near the race track. Teams park their cars and equipment there, and drivers and crew often move around between sessions.
Concept
silly season reporting
“Silly season” is when people in racing start talking a lot about who might be switching teams or getting new jobs. “Reporting” on it means watching for clues and rumors about driver moves.
Place
turn ones, one and two, the infield
The infield is the area inside the track’s outer boundary, and “turn one and two” are specific sections of the circuit layout. Fans often target these spots because they’re close to where teams and drivers are active during race weekends.
Term
motor coaches
“Motor coaches” here means the big buses/RVs teams use during race weekends. They can serve as a place to stay and meet, not just transportation.
Place
Mid-Ohio
Mid-Ohio is a race track in Ohio that hosts IndyCar. The host is saying this “who’s meeting whom” behavior has happened there before.
Term
free agents
Here, “free agents” are drivers who aren’t locked into one team yet. During the driver-move season, teams may talk to them about joining.
LIVE
Welcome to the Marshall Pro podcast, your week in any car, listener Q and a recording
this here about to head off to Wisconsin and end up being about a half day that I get to
spend in good old Wisconsin, uh, getting in late, late Thursday and a head over to road
America early Friday, be there for about a half day.
The Dan Gurney Eagle race cars reunion, taking part within the bigger weather tech weekend.
Historic racing, the biggest one of the year road America going to be there about seven
a.m. to about one p.m. one 30 maybe on Friday, supposed to be 40 Eagles there from Dan's
amazing 1967 spa formula one winner to Indy cars of all eras from cart all the way back
to the original original Eagles built in the mid 1960s.
Many of the cars that Dan drove of different marks as well.
There's just going to be a bunch of great stuff there.
So wish I could be there longer, but indeed business calls Nashville Speedway this weekend.
So get into Nashville Friday evening.
And then for those who are going or just following or can't wait, going to be a pretty quick
two day affair Saturday, Sunday only admittedly Saturday is chock full of action.
Nine a.m. to 10 a.m. first practice qualifying early in the afternoon.
Highline practice later in the day, second and final practice in the evening, six till
seven p.m. Then good old Sunday.
We're just talking Indy car.
Keep in mind there's some Indian XT action going on.
But on Sunday, we're looking at a green flag somewhere around four 40 p.m.
local central that'd be five 40 p.m.
Eastern waiting for the World Cup final to become final and then going
effectively green almost right away as soon as they're able to cut away from that broadcast.
So lots of action on Saturday.
Not much at all on Sunday.
There's going to be a watch party at the track, so that part should be cool.
Only thing I would say for those of you who are thinking of going but haven't committed,
it's supposed to be toasty.
Y'all, it's going to be toasty everywhere.
It's been in the mid to high 80s, if not 90s here in California.
It's meant to be 80s to 90s in Wisconsin when I'm there Friday.
And it's meant to be the same similar in Nashville.
So it's going to be toasty, y'all, but hope I get to see some of y'all.
One of our dear friends, one of the true leaders of the Pruday listener group,
Christy Pradayna, her birthday is on Saturday.
So I'm hoping to be able to get out of the track early enough.
I know a number of friends are going to meet up, go have dinner and celebrate Christy.
So I hope that I can at least pop in before they are done.
But yeah, so with all that said, big thanks to y'all for sending in the many questions
up how Jerry Suttath says we've got about a thousand words worth.
He breaks them into the following groups.
And I hope to get to all these Nashville questions.
Any schedule news?
What's the next driver announcement we should expect?
Where his team chemistry proven problematic?
Will Lindgard fight less for the championship now that he may be
a leading candidate for Dixon's car?
What qualities does Ganassi want for that number nine car?
Will we see Michael Cannon back in the series?
What chances do Pelosi's challengers have in catching him?
And do you see any midseason replacements for teams in the leader circle hunt?
And then we have some questions that he's dropped into a group two category
and group three.
Hopefully we can get through all of group one fingers crossed.
It's almost 830 here.
So I'm going to have to see how far I can get y'all.
But get through as many as I can and a huge thank you as well.
As always, not just y'all for the questions you send in and to Jerry for
grabbing them and organizing them in a manner that he thinks would be amusing
or entertaining or informational, but also to our dear supporters
at the Justice Brothers, makers of mighty fond automotive chemicals,
lubricants and cleaners been involved in motor racing.
We won the 8581 years ago.
Rolex twenty fours and just want everything.
So huge thanks to them.
They've been with us 89 years now.
And then also our original partner at being Toronto Motorsports.com.
Please pay them a visit if you love motor racing memorabilia or just want
current gear. Is it still called swag?
I don't know. I feel like that's maybe a dead term now.
But hats, t-shirts, stickers, books, models, Indy car, Imsa F1.
Please pay them a visit Toronto Motorsports.com.
So let's fire into your questions here.
Where are we going to go?
How are we going to open this up?
I think we have our answer and it is indeed going to be courtesy
of our dear friend and somewhat regular contributor to the show with questions.
That would be all right.
He's actually been around for a long time.
I wanted to undersell him a bit.
Lance Snyder, Minister of Merth, says with Indy car racing, the game
released finally announced.
What else can Indy car racing the release?
Maybe Indy car racing the schedule or Indy car racing the LED panels.
How about Indy car racing the cereal or even Indy car racing the musical?
See, you think it's all serious stuff here?
No, Lance, who's our official Minister of Merth.
He always sends in something fun, snarky or both.
I like the idea of Indy car, the cereal, but what would it be?
I need a name because, you know, we can do a little bit better than that.
But what is it? What is it composed of?
Is it part fruit loops part?
I don't know what I feel like we need to know what it is.
Is it just like a really sugary like total gives you a diabetes
within half a ball or is it super healthy granola hybrid cereal?
Right. Is it a virtue signaling cereal that just tastes like you're chewing
on rocks and hay? I don't know.
So tell me, Indy car racing the cereal, let us know what that should be.
Yeah, the schedule, I have it on high authority that we will learn
about next year's schedule before we get to the first race next year,
much like the unveiling of the 2028 car.
I feel totally confident that is going to happen
before 2028 question mark at the end of that sentence.
All right, hey, we're going to move on.
Sean Olmsted, how you doing, Sean?
I understand the new race distance at Nashville is 300 laps.
What kind of strategy will this change?
I don't think it's going to change anything
strategically wise. What you should know is this has gone
from 225 laps to 300.
What that means at a 1.33 mile track for those of you who hate doing math
in your head, gone from a 300 mile race to a 400 mile race.
Don't think you're going to see any drastic change
in how teams approach the race because it is 25 percent longer.
I do think there will be a little bit more of a
let's think of this in Indy 500 terms such as don't be a maniac on the first lap.
It's a bit of wisdom you try to impart every time.
But this one specifically, hey, we got a little bit of extra time here.
Do well, stay in the hunt, but this is going to go longer than usual.
So let's truly think in those terms
and we will wait till say lap 200 or 225 to 50
before we start getting really aggressive.
How does that sound to your drivers?
So I think that's just more of an overarching mindset than actual
how things are going to change on the timing stand with how things are called.
Biggest thing to know and Ed Joris asks about this.
There will indeed be the return of alternate tires, alternate compounds
for Nashville third year in a row.
So this will without a doubt lead to some additional
strategic options because required to use one set of primaries,
two sets of alternates in the race.
Do that and you've satisfied the minimum
where this will open up some options is instead of saying, hey,
225 compared to 300 laps, we're going to do last year.
It was four to five pit stops.
The top three, I think it was Sean were all on four pit stops.
Now this means we're staring at six to seven.
So at least strategy wise, I don't foresee any big changes.
I would just say that strategists,
once they get a feel for speed, tire, degradation and longevity for both compounds,
will decide, hey, are these alternates a liability and we need to get off them
immediately? OK, that's where you might decide to start the race on alternates
and get off of them, thinking that, hey, there could likely be a crash
sometime soon, not uncommon on an oval.
And we will least satisfy the use of one of the two alternates there
that at least give folks a little bit more time to think instead of,
hey, we don't have a ton of pit stops are going to do.
That means we're kind of baked into the one set of primaries for sure.
Two sets of alternates and one or two other sets of tires.
Now you got six to seven stops.
More opportunity to decide when to pull the trigger on that second set
of alternates. Oh, why don't we go to Travioli?
Asking about in scheduling news.
No. And again, I kind of led with that a little bit in Lance's item here,
but haven't heard anything on when this would be released.
I'll be checking in on this this weekend to see if I can learn anything.
Our friends at IndyCar have gotten into a pretty significant.
Conversational lockdown.
So do my best.
Hopefully have some answers for you in next week's episode.
Lynn underscore IndyCar.
Are you doing Lynn after the McLaren announcement?
It's been very quiet.
What is the next driver announcement?
When will the public see the new car?
Yeah, you're funny.
When our house owner will see the 2027 schedule.
Yeah, again.
You know, it's not like July.
Is the lightest month of IndyCar racing for the, I guess.
Folk of the rest of the year.
April is actually the lightest.
We only had only the one race at Long Beach.
I know that Barber kind of started at the end of March and I think finished
at the beginning of April, whatever it was.
But effectively there was one full race weekend in April,
but they weren't ready to show the car then and they certainly didn't have the schedule.
I just share that little note because if you were looking for a place in time
where you didn't have race after race on top of
news cycles and trampling things and trampling a good way,
meaning, hey, we're active and running and the racing is what we should be talking about.
This is the month where things aren't too burdensome that way.
Is that a word? Maybe I forget.
So just say it.
If I was looking for a spot to do things like say, hey, here's the new car.
This month would certainly be a great one to do it.
If you had everything lined up schedule wise,
this would also be a great month to do it.
I can tell you they don't.
It's pretty obvious they would have put it out if they did.
But things like, hey, we're going to go to Washington.
That's going to be a first time, obviously.
We were also told many times when it was announced
and in the immediate months following that it was a one and done
250th birthday of the country.
This is the Freedom 250 special event being put on the president's request.
Boom, there you go.
Thanks, never to happen again.
Have since been told, honestly, was told this a month and a half ago.
I just haven't written the story yet because there's been no super urgency,
but I will. But already been requests to do multiple years of this.
And for all I know, that's already been put out by somebody else.
So that might be old news.
But IndyCar, Pinsk Entertainment's already received requests
from the president, administration there, also local government,
the Washington, DC's mayor.
They've the series has received requests to do a multi year extension
before the first race has even been held.
The decision that I was told about was great.
We appreciate it. Love hearing that.
We want to put that first race in the books, see how it went.
If we think it can be done in a easier, less tiresome manner,
less exhausting manner, then absolutely open to doing that.
But let's get that done first.
So I'd say of nothing else, since IndyCar doesn't like to do
partial schedule announcements, but actual here's the full thing.
Think that the real key here, among other options
that they might be considering for where races could be held next year.
New venues or returning venues.
This is one that, despite all the jokiness about when will we see it?
This I know is one item in particular that is real.
And so with this late August freedom to 50,
they're going to want to get that in, take a deep breath.
Obviously go straight to Milwaukee for a double head of the following weekend
and then straight to Laguna for the season finale of the weekend after that.
I don't know if a do we want to do Washington or not
takes place in that time frame, or if they wait until after Laguna.
Something in there just calendar wise need to get to and through
that Washington DC event, as I'm told before that could be decided on to continue.
And if so,
contracts would probably need to be drawn up and things be serious.
And not just verbal, but actual agreed to properly before any announcement would happen.
That's my best guess.
I'll circle back here as soon as I can get finer answers and all that.
So, Lynn, back to your main question about driver announcements.
I don't know.
I do know that I've asked within the series said, Hey,
is there anything imminent that you've heard of, right?
Won't necessarily say who or what's being announced,
but at least from a keeping a master calendar of announcements.
Teams are plugged into the series and pretty seriously required to tell them,
Hey, we're going to announce driver A, B or C on this date and time
and coordinate that with the series because sometimes the series has major
things they want to announce that way.
Again, they aren't stepping on each other's toes.
My latest check in, just a, what should I be aware of?
Was told that there is nothing imminent on this front.
If I were to take what I think I know in terms of silly season stuff, Lynn.
Also give you a little sidebar here was going to try and hold off on doing the show here
until I got right after I got my next silly season piece done.
I thought that was going to go out Monday.
This is Wednesday night already.
My absolute goal is to hopefully get that file before I fly tomorrow afternoon,
this being Thursday afternoon.
But yeah, there's a decent amount of things going on there.
But if I had to guess and it is purely a guess,
I would think Marcus Erickson and Andretti might be the next to announce
from what folks tell me, keep in mind.
Not something I've heard from the team or the driver,
but I can just say from others who feel like they know.
I've been told by multiple folks that are usually pretty smart
that they understand Marcus is resigning with Andretti.
I know I've written about that, said it here, said it video.
And you name it, like, hey, you got a good thing.
Keep it going.
The chemistry between Kirkwood, Erickson and power
is the best in Dredi chemistry they have had in a really long time.
Marcus, obviously performing at a extremely high level here,
sitting 10th in the championship, two points off of Dixon for ninth.
Heading to a national event where he's always a threat.
Guys doing incredibly well.
With the changes that mentioned revealed, I think last month,
whenever it was about Dennis Hauger, no longer being on the Andretti
bankrolling plan in 2027, no longer intended to step in and replace Marcus.
This all points to things that make sense.
Just coming back to close this from what I'm told, offers been made,
been told and offers been accepted.
I don't know if that's correct or not.
But if all of that is accurate or close to it feels like timing wise,
he could be the next driver that gets confirmed, even if it's
just staying where he's at.
Topic of Lungard, VK and some others.
I don't have an inkling of anything being really pressing or immediate
with answers there, but this is yet again another thing I'm trying to find out
so I can button up my silly season piece or the next silly season piece.
Mark Pethke, how are you doing, Mark?
Says Tony Kanan seems determined to improve the team chemistry at Aaron McLaren
as Rosenkvist is friends with both award and Dixon.
He is and he is at what teams of chemistry issues been a problem
and how much of this is Kanan fondly recalling his quote band of brothers
days at Andretti with Dan Weldon, Brian Hertha and Dario Frankiti.
Just start with the last one here to crack this one open, Mark.
He's definitely recalling those days, but there's a reason for that.
And it's because this was one of the all time greatest.
Brotherly, team, mately, cohesively bonded, multiple, like most teams
have at least two drivers.
This is a rarity where you have four and all four are locked in and truly,
truly supporting each other, spending all their time with each other,
just loving life together.
This was such a unique thing that he experienced.
That it's become a definite superpower in terms of life experience
to then try and recreate whenever and wherever he is able.
So yeah, without a doubt, he's been part of this like model of how things work
the best. So naturally, he's going to be measuring things against that.
Terms of teammates working well together, not working well together.
I'll admit that I'm drawing a bit of a blank here.
And it's not because I want to, it's because I'm just drawn a blank here.
Let me give this some more thought, Mark, and if I have some good examples,
because I know I do, I just I'm failing you and providing a truly interesting answer.
I'll pick this up in next week's episode.
Chris Stinson is an interesting one in the very likely event that Lundgard
lands in the nine car for next season.
How tough do you think you'll fight the rest of this season
to prevent Ganassi from winning another championship?
That is a fascinating question, Chris, more as I see it
as a window into your mindset and how you think things could work.
Then maybe how I think Christian would look at things.
So he's getting the boot from Aaron McLaren.
He could be going to the Ganassi team.
Would he in spite to spite his Aaron McLaren team?
Give an Alex Palo a break or who knows?
A Scott Dixon a break if Dixon's doing well and do something to.
The detriment of his current team to benefit his next team if given the opportunity.
I would say that if Christian were to do that.
He would assuming that there's some sort of clause in a contract be fired
instantly by the Aaron McLaren team if they if it looked like.
And I think it would be somewhat evident if he gave in to ease up and benefit.
Cars and drivers that are currently the number one arch rival
of the team he's employed by, I would also say beyond the negative.
And I would think immediate backlash from his current team.
I would also say this would actually be more problematic from the Ganassi side.
Knowing how simple ship,
Ganassi and Mike Hall look at things, right?
Not saying they're simple people, but they do try and make things very simple
and how they go motor racing.
This is a really so if you're willing to do this.
Even though you're coming to our team next year, if you're willing to do this for them.
Why would we think you'd stop yourself from doing it whenever you would leave us?
Like the amount of problems this would create Chris for himself in the moment.
Reputationally long term and then also in raising a giant red flag
for a Ganassi team or any team he might be going to, if he did something to
give a little bit of help to whomever at that team he's headed to.
This to me would be potential career killing territory.
It's a bit like stealing.
If you demonstrate your willingness to steal from your current employer,
even if you're planning to quit or you've been told your job is going away in a month.
Your next employer should absolutely expect you to steal from them.
And that's something that would in my mind lead to a pretty straightforward,
simple, we're here to race and not fart around and be serious.
But also be respectful and dignified in how you do it type approach that you'd expect
from the reigning champions. I think this would be something that has them going,
yeah, we're going to go ahead and not do this. So yeah, this to me would be
epically stupid. I also and I don't pretend to know Christian super well,
but I can't imagine the kid would think of doing anything like this whatsoever.
What he needs to do to finish on this, what he needs to do is with every single opportunity
he has left between now and the last lap at Laguna Seca on September 7th is proof to folks
he is the most badass, unrelenting driver in IndyCar. I am going to hunt you down,
fight you off, give no quarter, just screw you. That's what he has to demonstrate.
Even if Ganassi decides to hire him, another team decides to hire him. There's been this big
question mark placed over him. Why? Why would this team trade the guy who's winning?
Christians won more races in 2026. Alright, let me rephrase that. Christian has won as many races
in 2026 as Felix Rosenkvist has in IndyCar in his entire career. He's won as many races.
He's won more races in 2026 than Scott Dixon has in the last year and a half.
Why on earth would Aaron McLaren let this guy go? We know the reasons. Written about it,
spoken about it, ad nauseam. You guys know, right? But for those who don't really pay attention to
the backstory or the nuance and just look at the, oh, they're dumping the guy. There must be something
wrong with him. Do not be the guy that does another thing to lead folks to go, yeah, that's
really questionable. That too is bad. If I had a thing that made me wonder if he was going to
act out in any way, it would be to try and I don't know if deny is the word. But hey, if he's in a
position where he's going for the championship and Pato's going for the championship and
he can do something that benefits himself only and disadvantages his soon to be former teammate,
that's the situation where I'm like, okay, I would expect that from a hardcore competitor.
Any hardcore competitor been dropped on the way out and in title contention with the teammate.
Yeah, well, guess what? I screw you. Y'all don't want me great. I'm not trying to help you.
I'm team me. That's the one thing I would expect from someone in this situation.
What do we go to Steve Hooper doing Steve? So as much has been made recently on what
qualities McLaren is looking for by hiring Dixie and fro. So that had me thinking what
qualities are Mike and Chip looking for in the nine car that they don't already have in Polo
and Kiffin Simpson? Well, would say we don't have an answer to that yet. Have spoken with the team
at length. I know the two things that they're considering in terms of which of those two
have they decided upon that's the thing we don't know. So wrote about this, I think extensively
on racer about ganassi has two paths to follow. Do you do short term immediate gains with someone
like a Lundgaard? Maybe even a renus VK, etc. Younger, experienced, been in the series shown well.
It's never demonstrated, though, the ability to knock down a pillow. But hey,
we're probably going to get a win or two or, you know, this is going to be a good compliment
to Alex. But I don't know if this person is going to be someone feared like Alex.
Or do you go with someone young, truly young and relatively if not completely inexperienced
in any car? Formula two front runner, the team is huge on formula two talent. Not because they
dislike Indiana XT, they obviously have a four car team there. Just for what they've seen other
teams have seen. Heck, we've seen it. A high level formula two driver, even someone who's more like
fifth, seventh, eighth place championship level is really fricking advanced and so incredibly
well prepared by the time they leave formula two. We've seen this in Lundgaard in Marcus Armstrong.
We've seen this in others as well. If you have been an F2 in a quality team for a couple of years,
you were showing up and you are at a really high level more often than not of late at a higher
level than someone coming out of F2. So that's the question. Do you hire a very high level F2
kid and build them much like they feel like they've built Alex Palo and potentially have
two Alex Palos? Or do you go shorter term hire a Lundgaard or similar?
Know that you're going to get in that case, probably some road and street wins, but
maybe not oval wins. Go from that perspective, but possibly have someone who is going to be
number two in terms of consistent output to Alex Palo. Or do you try and swing for the fences
with someone young and unproven who just might be another Alex Palo or even better,
but on a longer time frame to get there? So that's the question. Once again, hoping to get some
answers there here soon. Oh, let's see. Steve also says after major overhaul at McLaren
is Pato on the clock. They know he has talent up to the eyeballs, but he seemingly lacks many of
the other qualities a team might want in a number one driver. Is there a time in which Tony and Zach
wonder if they need to find a new face to the franchise? They might, but I would just say this,
need to completely reframe the changes that are happening. These are changes happening
specifically for Pato, not out of fear that he might not be the guy. This is actually Zach
and Tony going farther than honestly any team I can recall to go and attract the people with the
attributes they view as missing from the team and lacking from Pato either in his arsenal of skills
or the support that he needs to be the best version of himself. So this is actually the
opposite, Steve. This is, we think Pato is championship material once he has everything
he needs to become a champion. This is a reckoning. This is very strong belief that despite Christian's
well-known rodent street talents, his lack on the oval side is a detriment to the team,
not just in an oval race, but to helping the team to develop its cars to a higher level on ovals,
because Pato is not known for being particularly helpful or useful when it comes to developing
race cars that applies to roads, streets and ovals. Christian not able to contribute on ovals
in terms of results, but also not able to help develop that car. Well, that's a big gaping
hole to fill. Scott Dixon fills that immediately. Fro does as well. Chemistry wise, we've gone
into that, spoken about that plenty. Pato and Christian will just say they're not friendly.
Pato, like most athletes and a heck, I think most human beings to just feel good and feel the best
and get the best out of themselves, only select few really thrive in an environment where they
feel the world's against them or everything's cold and mean and harsh, whatever, my pick various
shades of that. Pato's not one of those people who loves being thrown to the proverbial wolves and
feeling like, okay, now everyone's against me, I'm going to rise to a new unseen level.
He needs to feel love. I do as well. He needs to feel love and warm and comfy and surrounded
by positivity and upliftment and that is what fro is for him. Said this, I think last week,
I'll say it again. If Christian and Pato were friendly, Christian's driving for that team next
year and years to come. Dixon arrives, Dixon's wanted to be there. This wasn't Aero McLaren
poaching Dixon. This was Scott wanting to leave. This is Scott choosing Aero McLaren over Ganassi.
So that was happening no matter what, totally independent of Lundgaard.
If things were good between Pato and Christian, the team says, hey, we got Dixon here,
he's your new oval Yoda and we're going to tune you up, level you up. He's going to help fill in
all the things that just mentioned that we've been missing, tuning setup, future car development,
all those things, right? He's going to help Pato in so many different ways to help him level up
as a pro in all the areas that Dixon is like, you know, just elite, elite level,
but they hold on to Christian. No question, pro is signing with Meyer Schenck and staying there.
It's not even a conversation. The fact that things chemistry wise, connection wise,
are and have been as bad as they are, that's a main reason why pro is headed there.
So yeah, just understand this is all being done for Pato because they believe in him and they
have no intent of letting him go. And when Pato's contract is up at the end of 2027,
the teams already told me we're going to match any offers he might get. He's going nowhere.
If they were to have a change of heart, if someone else were to become available,
that they felt could do what Pato does, but better has higher potential or higher proven
potential. I mean, it's Kirkwood, Polo, right? Unless it's one of those two, I feel like
Polo might be a bit of a question mark on that happening. They got their guy in their opinion
and they plan to surround him with everything they believe that will help propel him to become
Air McLaren's first champion would also say as poorly as things been going for Polo lately,
that being, you know, a bit of a factor that's different from others, right? A bad day for him
is like fifth, but there's a very real possibility Christian Lengar to Pato Ward could be any car
champions this year. It's very possible. So could David Malukas, so could Kyle Kirkwood,
so could Alex Polo. It's not impossible that Air McLaren could do that this year,
but I think we would all acknowledge Polo's going to have to poop the bed many times between now
and Laguna Seca and same with Kirkwood Malukas. Joseph Newgarden is not too far
behind. There are others charging in behind them like this would have to be an epic collapse,
I think for that to happen, where they're trying to get to is a place where no other driver or
team is a factor in their ability to become champions. To become champs in 2026, they need
lots of failure among their rivals for what they're trying to build. It's the ability to beat them
on just talent and talent alone. No excuses required. Eric Hargrater says Michael Cannon
stepped away from teams. I'm sure he has a lot to give to a team and without revealing anything
personal to expect to see him back in the paddock soon, or maybe at least at a ministry concert.
I don't know. I had a long couple of calls with Michael here, I think couple,
at least one, if not two, and I apologize if I'm forgetting how many, but
yeah, week, week and a half ago had a really amazing call, catch up on a lot of things,
all of a personal nature, celebrated his birthday on Monday.
I don't know if we're going to see him back with any teams this year, just because the seasons
over in what, a month and a half would say that if he's in a place where everything is
well enough on the home front to where he is able. I know that he still loves racing,
and I know that he will always be an asset. I just can't tell you whether that would lead to
any kind of meaningful re-engagement, right? Having started off the year drawing Reinbold,
worked with the Able team later in the month of May at the Speedway,
would think he will always be in demand for the 8500,
can't tell you whether he would choose to do much more than that, or what teams might be in need.
Eric Franklin, as I keep looking for reason to believe that anyone else is a real shot
at dethroning the reigning King of Indycar, but he still has a full race weekend's point lead
with seven to go, and this again is Alex's playground. What hope do other challengers
in the top five have in your opinion? So spoke with Alex about that, and he wishes that the gap
was bigger. Last year was certainly bigger. Coming into the, let's see, after 11 races last year,
I think Pato was closest to him, 105 points behind. Basically two full races worth of points behind.
Kirk was P3, 139 points down, so two and a half-ish, a little over two and a half,
like it was just brutal. It's 56 right now, Kirk's 56 behind, and then it's closer shades here,
Lundgard, Malukas, Pato. Pato's a little bit more distant, I think 94-ish points, but still
we have a real fight on our hands, and so of the many reasons I'm excited to see how this
Sunday's race plays out, we know that Palo's a really serious contender, Eric, on ovals.
The team should be extremely good. Aaron McLaren were monsters there last year. Pato
leading, Tyre Blue, race end, but like, wow, the Andretti team's been really good there.
Hensky obviously winning the race last year, like all the major players we know are really good there.
Fonkos Hollinger, really good there. Rundown that there's some others, ones that aren't in the
title fight. Meyer Schank should be really good there. This is the part that I am excited about,
so yes, Alex is showing up after 11 races with roughly less than half of the points
lead he had last year. One full race plus two points, one full race of maximum points earning
54 plus two. So just thinking about this, the rest have a real shot. It's been a little while,
hasn't it? Since we were like, whoa, not only is that number 10 carve is the fastest thing on the
property, but no mistakes, right? No slow pit stops, no pit lane speed limiting issues, no strategy
calls, no missing the pit entry under full course. Yeah, like run through the range of things or
mid Ohio. Hey, just missed it. Qualified eight, finished fifth, weren't really a factor.
This is the thing. Is this a prolonged blip for Palo? More than any other topic this weekend,
that's the one that I'm looking to see how this plays out. So if we look back to last year, the
year before and so on, Alex's four championships, he's had adversity here or there. But rarely,
Eric, have we seen the, okay, this is three races and okay, kind of four ish races, right?
Him finishing fifth at mid Ohio again, not adversity, but compared to the year before,
pole position led more or less what felt like every lap had that minor blip. Dixon got by,
wins the race, but he still finishes P2, but like that was huge adversity for Alex last year.
He's had some races this year where it's like, hey, you're, you're giving up what could be a
lot of points here. So that's the question. Is this the bleeding, is that going to end? Or
could we see more of this, whether it's team based, right? He made a mistake in the car,
someone else made a mistake on pit lane, or just bad luck. Hey, someone crashed and he was involved
and no fault of his own, but hey, he just finished P22 again. Or is he going to have what we have
not witnessed for a little while now, which is a, all right, that is a classic Alex Polo race.
Realize that he won Detroit, extremely good at Detroit, pole position at Detroit, totally got that.
Barber though, if I'm just talking about a weekend where it felt like he was just on a
different planet, this, this is Barber fourth race of the year, we're heading into the 12th
race of the year. And at least to me, feels like it's been a little while since we've had a
classic Polo exerts mean, mean performance from start to finish event. So looking forward to
learning whether that's possible. And if they're off just a little bit, that's where the championship
really jumps into a super fun lane. Kirk, that guy can absolutely win this weekend. Malukas,
be surprised if he doesn't win this weekend. We know how good he is. Pato, same thing,
New Garden, same thing. Fro, McLaughlin, Dixon, Erickson, VK, Armstrong, right? We got to expect
him on ovals now. Power, Rossi, Raz, like, whoa. So this is a thing I'm hoping for. We know and love
Alex. He's a member of the Prude, all super positive. We give love to him. Every driver.
Strictly thinking from an entertainment standpoint. This championship battle narrowing
after Nashville compared to Alex mollywapping everybody and extending the lead. That would be
a gift to folks. Then head to Portland after that. Alex has been pretty darn good there.
Head to Markham after that. Question mark, but Alex pretty darn good on street courses.
How many of those have we had this year? We've had four of them. How many has he won?
Three of them. What did he do in the other one? Finish second. Again, no one's been there,
but you got to count him in as a factor. Same with DC, another street course. These are playing
to his favor. Milwaukee, right? Hey, he's really good there. Laguna, kind of sort of own that place.
Close here on this. If his rivals are going to make a move, this is the weekend to do it.
Waiting until the remaining races. Most of those fall into the, yeah, the year you're going to
pull those territory for sure. And that's where problems really come into play. AJ Digby, any
mid-season replacements possible for leader circle contenders, whereas everyone entrenched the rest
of the season. Great question. Let me just scroll here and look exactly where we're at.
So Kyle Collette is currently the first driver on the outside looking in on the leader circle. His
number four AJ entry is 23rd. He, his sponsors are paying a significant amount for him to be in
that car. I'm sure there's nothing in his contract that would allow him to be removed.
Number 77, Hongkos Hollinger car, that being driven by Stingray Rob. P24 in the leader circle
needs to be in the top 22, 24th in the entrance championship. Ironclad contract going absolutely
nowhere. Believe his contract though, likely contains a clause that says if do not make the
leader circle, you're on the hook for paying whatever that amount is that we don't earn.
That's something that teams started doing, I don't know, earlier in the decade,
started the decade, something like that when more of the higher paying drivers were coming in who
were very unlikely to make the leader circle and teams basically started writing into contracts
with those drivers who were a question mark of making the top 22. Since you're paying for this
and paying well, if you don't make it, then you, we're not going to lose out on that money. You're
going to be responsible to pay us extra. So can't tell you if it's in there would just be surprised
if it wasn't. And then finally, last tide for last with Stingray, it's just Stingray is in P24
with that entry, mixed Schumacher P25, because between the two, despite being on the same 108
points, Stingray has the better finish of the two with a 14th place as his top where Mick is
currently at a best of 16th. Nonetheless, that driver is very unlikely to be replaced. He is
certainly while he's not paying for anything he's being paid and the team is responsible for finding
all sponsors, the sponsors that are involved from what I understand are very keen on Mick
and are very likely involved because of him and his name and profile. So
knowing that the team lost out on a leader circle last year, Devlin Defranchesco in that car,
I know they don't want to lose out on it again. If there's any kind of
happy way to position this, it would be, you can't lose what you don't have and they don't
have one, they haven't had one to lose. So they could try and gain one, but they wouldn't actually
be forfeiting money that they expected to have because they didn't get it for the season.
I certainly wanted to get it. I didn't think they'd be in this position. I would say that
of the three drivers on the wrong side of leader circle cutoff, I do not expect any driver changes
for that, but would also say that the number 18 entry driven by Romain Gross Jean sitting 22nd,
139 points, Kaio is just on the other side of that 23rd at 132 points.
Hard to say where that ends up, but it feels like Kaio is starting to surge a little bit.
The kid is wicked on ovals. I feel like they could change places for sure. Would also say that
I don't expect Stingray to have vastly improved results here. Mick could, should, might be able to
move up, whether he would be able to move up past Kaio and again, a Romain in that 18 car.
Christian Rasmussen is currently 21st for ECR, but I don't expect that to stay.
I expect him to move up. Nolan as well is right up in 20th. There could be some movement here,
but I feel like of the three who are on the wrong side, I feel like only one in Kaio is really
legitimately expected to bring the team up into the top 22 before the end of the season.
The other two would be a pretty big surprise, but they aren't going anywhere.
Where do we go here to kind of sort of close the show? Last couple of quick ones.
Jamie Alexander is asking, is Alexander Rossi's overall performance is minus
in the 500 and his age such that he could be in his last IndyCar contract?
If so, does he go to IMSA in a couple of years or retire?
I would say don't read anything into young Mr. Rossi's results and draw a conclusion that
he could be in his final contract. Keep in mind that he's not out of contract. I believe he has
one more year, but as I understand, the team loves him, continues to love him, and I've heard
that interest in getting something going to continue beyond this current contract
is already at least initial conversations are taking place. So this is someone who,
in a team that has not been relevant, road and streets, even far too many ovals for a little
while, he's been really, really good. And I mean, I'm just looking at his results this year,
a sixth place, that being what at Arlington, was it? No, Phoenix, I apologize. A ninth at Arlington,
ninth at Long Beach, sixth that wrote America, been very competitive at many other places,
had some adversity, right? Not a big fan of the good old hybrids, we know that.
But yeah, I look at where Alex sits in the standings right now, 16th place, and go,
look, everybody who's outside the top 10 has some sort of bad story to tell, that is genuine,
right? Motors been blowing up a lot, hybrids, just bad luck, contact, whatever it might be.
Everyone has a story, they're all legitimate to some degree. I look at Rossy and go, yeah,
this guy is not a 16th place deserving guy. It feels like something more in the 12th ish place,
11th or 12th would be more befitting of his performances this year, minus a lot of the adversity.
He is loved by Chevrolet, so hearing that talks are already at least formative,
hey, what could we do to continue in the future? Also continue to hear that as Chevrolet is looking
to 2028 with a new car to develop engine, et cetera, that they really want Alexander to be a
very important part of that. So none of those things point to could this be his last contract
to me. And this team is still young in terms of the ownership and investment from Ted Geloff.
They're going to need another year, two years before I think we see
a sizable and consistent leap to where Alexander and Raz are like, hey, wherever we go,
you're top 10. Do I think they're like run of the top 10? I don't. That would be a lot to ask in one
to two years, but pretty much everywhere we go, y'all are finishing 9th, 10th, 5th, 11th, something,
but in that higher grade, I do feel like they are headed there. They just need some more time.
So that's why I'm not grading Alexander in any kind of overly harsh way.
Michael J. Smith, you're wondering if McLaren agreed to sign Fro and then thought their lineup
would be Pato, Fro and Lundgard, but later when Dixie said he wanted to join, they realized
they couldn't back out on Fro without upsetting Pato. They made a choice to take Dixie over Lundgard.
No, not at all. Dixie's been headed there for a while. None of this happened that way. Lundgard,
if anything, has been on thin ice for way longer than I understood before all this really went
down a couple of weeks ago. So no, not at all. What are the odds at Zava Blue asks of
Mick Schumacher staying with RLL in its third seat? I would have to apologize because I mentioned
this in my video podcast with Mike Shank, rumors of RLL selling its third charter, but I probably
should have thought to have mentioned that here towards the start of the show. But you know,
I do have a real genuine sentiment, but if you're a listener of the podcast,
you're not just diving out like you're in. I'm that way with podcasts. I don't listen or watch
to many, but those that I do, I ride with them. So in theory, for those of you who are still listening
at what almost an hour, where are we at right now? Let me check. Yeah, right about an hour.
Apologies that this is coming in basically winding down part of the show. But yeah.
I don't believe Mick will have a ability to stay in the car because I don't think that car will
be there next year. Nothing confirmed. Just saying you're from way too many smart people
that indeed this rumored sale of its third car, I shouldn't say car charter.
I just continue to hear that after a year of this rumor being around,
I hear that it is actually something that is pretty darn serious to pay attention to. So
would say I'd be very surprised. How's this? For those of you going to Nashville this weekend,
I don't pretend to know what's needed to be in the paddock. That's where I work,
it's where I like, that's the main place it operates. So actually knowing the,
do you have to buy a pass? Does a ticket to the event get you in? I apologize for not knowing.
It's just, it's never a thing that I need to know. But if you're able to be in the paddock
and you want to have some fun and do your own silly season reporting or help the show or whatever
you want, towards turn ones, one and two, the infield. That is where at least in
years past, all of the kind of team and driver motor coaches are parked. All are there. If you
want to truly give yourself something fun to do, bring an umbrella or some sort of sunshade,
because it's again, supposed to be pretty hot and humid, go and take note of which driver,
or if you know who their manager happens to be, their manager,
go and take note of who all is stepping in and out of which motor coaches. Now, not all those
motor coaches say team A, B or C, but pay attention. There's also the other option, which is
happens, still happens sometimes, but not as much. And that is meeting up at teams,
hospitalities, those certainly have their names on them, right out in front.
If you want to go do some, forget bird watching or train spotting, but actual
driver silly season spotting, go to these places, make sure your phone is charged,
make sure your phone has a good zoom on it and snap photos of drivers.
From team A, going into the hospitality of team B or motor coach, which again,
unlikely to have a team owner's name or whatever, this is going to be happening a ton in Nashville.
It already started happening at Mid-Ohio. It's not like it didn't happen at other races before
that happened at Road America, it happened at others, but there's a lot of this that's going
to be going on this weekend. I've had some teams tell me who they are planning to meet with or
expect to meet with, not going to share that because those things were told to me in
confidence or privately. But just saying, there's nothing wrong though, and not giving away any
secrets and simply telling you that as you probably expect, there's going to be a heck of bunch
of free agents and or their managers, if not the free agents and their managers meeting up with
folks. You want to have fun since there's not a ton of at least IndyCar on track activity,
be on the lookout. And I would say that Sunday morning comes to mind as a time where a lot of
this is probably happening because there's not a lot going on. There could definitely be plenty
of other times where meetings are happening. So get out there and report, y'all. I kind of know
what's going on, so I don't have a lot of questions there, but I'm sure I can be totally surprised
unaware of some things. But yeah, go have some fun. Hopefully you break some news as well.
Uh, JJ Gertler, silly little thing, but when Mark Armstrong was re-signed,
why did Shank switch him from one car number to another? I was thinking that maybe his contract
is with a sponsor, etc, etc. Seems a little bit odd. It's not. It's not at all. So let's say
Alex Palo decides to leave, retire, whatever it is, and that 10 car becomes available, or at
least the number becomes available. And there's been a young driver who's really leveled up and
the team has said, we're signing you to an extension and we view you as our new number one, our new
team leading driver. We're going to put you in that 10 car. This is what is happening at Myershank
with young Mark Armstrong and that number 66 car getting bumped up to the number 60.
So I believe it is just going to be a number swap, meaning crews and race engineers are not meant
to change. That's what Shank has told me. But this number 60, that is Myershank Racing's long
standingest number that they view. I'm not saying it's their first number, Myershank's first ever
racing number, but this has been their most identifiable number. Sorry, I'm starting to stumble.
I'm just going to keep it in. That's what this is. Felix came to the team in the 60.
Team leader, veteran, Marcus came over in the 66. The true second car, development car,
not the one that's been looked to as its leading entry.
Pro's leaving, Marcus would say has proven to be a match, sometimes even better than
Felix from race to race, signed the kid to a multi-year, something I want to try and catch
been trying to catch up with him about. Secondary thing here, which is really cool too. This is
his first hiring by a major team, right? Came to IndyCar, had a decent budget to bring, but that
budget was important for him to make it into IndyCar. This is his first, we are hiring you
on straight talent and paying you to drive based on talent opportunity. That is why JJ,
he is moving to the 60 car, that is the pro car, the lead driver car, and I think that's just a
really cool statement about their belief in him, but also his performance being recognized by moving
him to that car. There's a fun final item here that I just noticed from Perry Reid, and I don't
know how to answer this because I'd have to look through my phone, but IndyCar adjacent question
says Perry, who is the most famous person in your phone's contacts? I'm gonna have to look Perry,
it's probably gonna be drastically unimpressive, but yeah, I think I know the answer and I don't
want to say it because I probably should have deleted his contact a little while ago, but
I'll try and remember to look through my phone on the flight. I don't know the exact number,
so let me at least look here, just so I can give you a number. This is why I can't exactly think
of anything right now, but if I look in contacts, it says that I have, oh Jesus, 1,834 contacts in
my phone, so yeah, and I'm sure I could probably delete half of those maybe, but yeah, I got a lot
of people's numbers because it's kind of part of the job. Let me just scroll and see who I can
mention here that might be fun. I just saw Raul Boyzell, Gerardo Bonilla, he's amazing,
Nathan Bono, longtime team manager, leader of real-time racing, Terry Borcheller, Scott Borchetta,
uh, the late 84'0, Steve Bortolotti, who runs the Favre Motorsports IMSA team,
I'm not reading all the names, Mark Bones Boursier, Sebastian Borde, John Myron Booslog,
from Team Penske, Terry Bootson, Terry's pretty amazing, former World Challenge president,
Scott Bovee, I haven't tried that number in a decade, I should call it just for fun, wow,
former part of Brian Herda's ownership funding group, David Bowen, Ben Bowlby,
who else, David Brabham, Jeff Brabham, Matthew Brabham, Kenny Brack,
Morgan Brady, former team manager of Corado Sport, Katie Brannon, her husband Kyle Brannon,
who's a kind of good friend forever, Colin Brown, Jeff Brown,
I don't know, I don't know why I'm just reading these off for fun, but yeah,
a lot of really awesome people, I'll try and scroll through here and see if I can find someone
that fits the description, just be prepared to be so drastically unimpressed that it is just a
bit of a condemnation of who I am, so there you go. Alex Brundle, Martin Brundle, how's that?
Just good folks that have known for a long, long time. All right, I'm going to shut up now.
I look forward to seeing some of y'all this weekend at Nashville. We're going to have a lot
to talk about next week after the next silly season update is published, and other than that,
greatly appreciate y'all, Jerry, for putting the show together, you for your questions,
to our dear show partners, the Justice Brothers, and TorontoMotorsSports.com. I'll speak to y'all next week.
About this episode
Road America’s historic racing weekend gets a spotlight, including a Dan Gurney Eagle reunion and a Sunday green-flag window around 4:40 p.m. local central. Nashville’s IndyCar changes drive the strategy talk: the race grows to 300 laps, pacing matters more than wholesale strategy shifts, and alternate tires return with required primary/alternate usage that likely boosts pit stops. The rest is listener Q&A on silly-season rumors, leader-circle contract clauses, and where to spot driver movement in the paddock.
Original notes
It's The Week In IndyCar Listener Q&A show, which uses listener-driven comments and questions covering a variety of topics submitted by open-wheel fans via social media.
TOPICS: Nashville and Silly Season!
NEW show stickers and retro racing memorabilia: ThePruettStore.com
EVERY episode is graciously supported by the Justice Brothers and TorontoMotorsports.com.
If you'd like to join the PrueDay podcast listener group, send an email to [email protected] and you'll be invited to participate in the Discord chat that takes place every day and meet up with your new family at IndyCar events.
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