Nashville, Games, & Charters
About this episode
Hosts kick off by recapping Milwaukee and previewing Nashville, then swap travel stories—European heat, lake cooling, and a Nashville wedding where the bar opening delay led to improvised liquor distribution. The conversation pivots into racing: Nashville’s 1.33-mile, concrete-and-bumpy feel, how alternate tires and a mid-corner bump shape strategy, and why oval driving demands scaled inputs and patience. They also discuss IndyCar’s charter market, iRacing and console access, and broadcast timing around major sports.
Hinch and Rossi both gear up to head to Nashville for a race with one hell of a lead-in, assuming the weather holds. Plus, IndyCar is working with iRacing on a new video game, that Hinch may or may not be involved in. Then, Hinch breaks down the story behind RLL reportedly working on selling their charter to DRR. All that and more!
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Nissan Juke
"... location, same atmosphere, different by the same juke. But they're talking about opening a Goodwood in ..."
The Nissan Juke is a small car that sits a bit higher than a regular hatchback, like a crossover. It’s made for everyday driving, but it has a bold, unusual look. People mention it because it’s easy to recognize.
The Nissan Juke is a compact crossover/SUV-style car known for its distinctive, sporty-looking design. It often comes up in discussions about “small but different” cars because it stands out visually and is aimed at drivers who want something more characterful than a typical compact hatchback. In a podcast context, it may be referenced as a recognizable model when talking about a specific setting or theme.
street course
"That seems appropriate because when we raced in Nashville on the street circuit, that was often like a two plus hour street course race because of all the questions and race as well."
A street course is a race run on regular city streets that are temporarily turned into a track. It usually has tighter corners and more interruptions than a dedicated race circuit.
A street course is a race track laid out using public roads, usually with temporary barriers and markings. Because it’s not a purpose-built circuit, it often has tighter turns, more traffic-like constraints, and can produce more caution periods and red flags.
alternate
"How do we feel about the, uh, alternates on ovals in general? Ah, so I was explaining this to somebody, um, the other day and it's kind of a, a nothing burger in the sense that, you know, when you think about the alternate and you think about the performance gain that comes from it, you on a road and street course, there's performance that comes from deceleration, cornering speed, acceleration, change of direction, all this sort of thing that compounds lap time over the lap."
An alternate is a different type of race tire than the main one. Drivers may use it for strategy, but it can feel different—like wearing faster or vibrating more—depending on the track.
In racing, an alternate (tire) is a different compound or specification than the primary tire, typically used to manage strategy and performance over a stint. The host argues that on road/street courses the alternate’s performance differences can compound lap time more than on ovals, where the performance delta is smaller.
oval
"Whereas on an oval. You only have one of those things on two corners and you only have turning."
An oval is a track that’s mostly long, sweeping turns. Instead of lots of different corner types, you mainly focus on staying fast and stable around the bends.
An oval is a track shape where the racing is dominated by long, sweeping turns with relatively consistent direction changes. On ovals, lap time is driven more by sustained speed and traction than by frequent braking and corner-to-corner change of direction.
softer compound
"Um, and it's a little annoying because I don't know what's going to happen this year because it's a different tire than we've had in the past, but usually a softer compound, what it does is it starts vibrating a lot, um, just because it wears a little bit quicker and the vibration isn't dangerous."
A softer tire compound usually grips the road better. The downside is it tends to wear out faster, so the car can start feeling worse as the tire ages.
A softer tire compound is formulated to provide more grip, which can improve performance. The tradeoff is that it typically wears faster, which can lead to issues like increased vibration later in a stint.
stints
"And so like the alternate and having to run two sets just means you're going to have at least two stints with like a massive vibration by the end"
A stint is how long a car stays on one set of tires before changing. If the tire wears quickly, the car can start feeling rough near the end of that stint.
A stint is a continuous period of running on a specific tire setup before switching to another set. Tire wear and track conditions often determine how long a stint can be, and the host notes that using alternates can mean multiple stints with significant vibration by the end.
super speedways
"Every discipline in IndyCar is different. There's street courses, road courses, super speedways and short ovals."
Super speedways are the largest, fastest oval circuits in IndyCar, designed for sustained high-speed running. Aerodynamics and drafting effects become especially important, and teams often optimize for stability at speed rather than heavy braking zones.
road courses
"Every discipline in IndyCar is different. There's street courses, road courses, super speedways and short ovals."
Road courses are tracks with a mix of left and right turns, braking zones, and varying corner types. In IndyCar, that means car setup emphasizes mechanical grip and braking/turn-in behavior more than pure high-speed oval stability.
DW12
"...n of car, right? Like go back to the start of the DW12 and so have everything from 2012 through 2019, yo..."
The DW12 is a race car used in IndyCar competition. It’s not a road car you’d buy—it’s built for racing and used for a set of seasons. The podcast is likely talking about the timeline of that particular racing car generation.
The DW12 is a purpose-built IndyCar race car chassis used in the IndyCar Series during the 2012–2019 era referenced in the podcast. It’s significant because it represents a specific generation of the series’ technical package, so discussions often focus on how the car evolved across those seasons. The “go back to the start of the DW12” wording suggests the episode is organizing history by that race-car platform.
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