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Newgarden, Palou, RHR, & Malukas
Newgarden, Palou, RHR, & Malukas
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About this episode
From Indy 500 grind and qualifying pressure to track-temperature strategy, the conversation bounces between race-week realities and plenty of banter. They talk about being the defending winner versus not, engine changes and Monday practice results, and how cooler conditions can make racing “too easy” while a hotter “sweet spot” moves the pack. Qualifying gets a format shake-up with one shot to reach the top 12, and they also debate Indy 500 career “completion” and favorite drives.
Topics:
Indy 500 drive
Hinch spends Media Day 2026 with Josef Newgarden, Alex Palou, Ryan Hunter-Reay, and David Malukas before the 110th running of the Indy 500
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Technical
Too Afraid to Ask
Concept
Indy 500 drive
"In your opinion, what was your best Indy 500 drive? Because I talk about this with Rossi, who obviously is not on the show today, but 2016, when he won, arguably his worst Indy 500 drive."
They’re talking about how well a driver did in the Indianapolis 500. A “best drive” means the race went really well—good speed, good decisions, and strong execution—while a “worst drive” means the opposite.
“Indy 500 drive” refers to a driver’s performance in the Indianapolis 500, including how they manage pace, traffic, and strategy over the race distance. When they say someone had a “best” or “worst” Indy 500 drive, they’re usually judging the quality of the race execution—qualifying position, race pace, and how well the car was handled in key moments.
Select text to request an explanation
This is Off-Track.
Not be funny. Do you mind putting that down and clapping into this?
Yeah, yeah.
Appreciate it.
See, this is a pro. This is Joseph Newgarden, ladies and gentlemen.
And he's a pro because when I asked him to do the clap, he knew what it was for.
This was, he didn't look at me.
I asked Kirkwood to do the clap.
Kirkwood looked at me like...
Are you laughing because I keep saying the clap?
No, James, can we just, can we take 15 and get room tone?
Yep.
Just real quick for the, for the crew here.
The room tone always kills me.
And they do it way too long, I feel like.
Some guys are like, I need 30 seconds.
And it's always, we're always ready at the end too.
I don't know why it's at the end and not at the beginning.
I feel like everyone's fresh and everything, you know, by the end,
normally you've run late and like people have stuff to do and they want to just keep going
and like, oh yeah, now we need you all, and we're done.
Except we need you to just sit there and complete silence and nothing,
don't move for the next 30 seconds.
Normally the audio guy is extremely serious about it.
Like it's life or death if we get this.
It's a big, it's a big deal.
Like I said, pro.
Kirkwood thought I was like pulling a prank on him.
I'm like, can you clap into my microphone?
He's like, what is that?
A euphemism for?
Not funny.
It's just a real thing.
Who do you think, Joseph, would win in a fight
between Big Bird and Barney the dinosaur?
Well, I'm going to put my money on the dinosaur.
Well, technically they're probably both dinosaur creatures, right?
Big Bird, he's a bird.
Yeah.
Kind of dinosaur-esque.
That's a good point.
If you want to go into the whole like, I don't know, is his Barney a T-Rex?
He seems more, I mean, he doesn't have the tiny arms.
He's like a fat T-Rex.
He's hefty.
He's a doughnut eating T-Rex.
He loves him, the odd, you know, sweet treat.
I'm going with Barney.
I was a Barney fan growing up.
Okay.
Why?
What advantage do you think he's got over, I mean, Big Bird's got,
he's got wingspan on him, like literally, right?
I think Barney's a linebacker.
Okay.
Just from a sizing standpoint, like Big Bird looks like an NBA player.
That's true.
Which is great.
But I just think the brute nature of Barney would crush him.
So do you think that a linebacker would be like a, like a center from, from the NBA?
Yes.
Yeah.
Like a Yao Ming, which is probably like.
It's a dear day to yourself a little bit there.
Okay.
I don't know the new guy.
That's me neither at all.
But yeah, I think the linebacker's going to crush him.
So I go Barney.
Okay.
Would you rather play football or basketball?
Football, but I hate the, you know, the, the impact of football is the only thing that,
you know, you look at it and you go, I would have loved to have played football in my life,
but I, I'm also sort of happy that I, that I didn't play football.
Right.
You picked a sport where like big attacks are not really a thing.
So that's probably,
I know that's also the irony.
Right.
We also struggle with that issue at times or camp.
Oh no.
Who to forbid a guy running 20 miles an hour runs into me.
Meat wall.
Are we going to add a two on the front of that?
Yeah.
Yeah.
No, you're right.
It is the irony of it.
So for the, for the last two years, you've come into this race as the defending winner
and it was a lot of work.
We've talked about that a lot of work that comes out of that.
Are you more like rested this month, not having had all the commitments that come along with
that?
Oh, definitely.
Yeah.
I mean, I think it does make a big difference as far as your obligations, you know, it,
it comes with it.
I always feel bad.
I've kind of been answering questions all this month.
I feel bad complaining about it, but I do, you know, it's, it's a tough part of the job.
I don't think it's tough part of the job for everybody.
Some people love doing this stuff.
I, I love it.
It is like the punishment of winning the race is having to do everything afterwards.
You know, but at the same time, you know, I, I, I really do work hard nowadays to keep
a positive perspective within it.
I mean, it is such a privilege to do all the things that encompass the Indianapolis 500.
But when you are not the defending champion, you definitely have more rest on your side.
You know, you get a lot more freedom.
I've been trying to plug all that time up with working out these days.
So we have seen, we've seen you, we've seen you running a lot.
We regularly feature you on the broadcast running kind of post session.
Yeah.
My wife said she's always telling me, she was like, yeah, they caught you again.
And I'm like, I'm not trying to.
No, I know.
I don't know.
I don't know how they're, how they're finding me.
They keep finding me.
Yeah.
They must have like, well, there's not a lot of places to go.
Like when you leave the bus lot, you're like, you only have so many areas you can run.
But it's been very fun.
I've, I've enjoyed trying to learn how to run a little bit better.
And, and that's probably the easiest thing to do when you're staying here.
Yeah.
You know, to get a workout and it's like, you, anybody can just go out and run for an
hour or so.
You need to shoes.
Exactly.
Yeah.
Are you still doing the high rock stuff?
I am.
I'm very committed to it.
Right.
As I've told you, I've made tremendous progress.
And the running was like one of the big things you were working on.
It's like, it is the main thing.
If you're not an excellent runner, it's so hard to be good at high rocks.
So it's been like my Achilles heel from the very beginning.
I was not running.
I haven't run 15 years of my life.
Um, I was a big like, uh, concept two guy.
Like I was rowing and skiing and that's where I got like most of my conditioning.
And I was a terrible runner when I tried to get back into it.
So it's been a pain in the butt for me to figure out.
It's also been a fun challenge though.
I was like, I've had to work really hard at like getting my legs to cooperate.
And once you start to figure it out, it's, I actually love it.
I wish I would have run more 15 years ago.
I just didn't, you know, I just didn't get into it then.
I love to run.
I'm a big runner.
Do you run still?
Love running.
Yeah.
Okay.
I love the simplicity of it.
I really do.
It's just as you said, it's easy to lace up your shoes.
Go out there.
Yep.
When you travel a lot, it's helpful.
Yeah.
Um, I, I, you had me smiling after qualifying because qualifying, I think didn't quite go
the way you wanted it to, but you were smiling after qualifying.
And I've been there as a driver where it's like the pace is just, you see your teammates,
you know, Dave's obviously on the front row and you're just like, you're 23rd.
And you, but you got out of the car and you weren't like, I've done it, man.
I've had slow car syndrome and you come out kicking and screaming and Hunter Ray, I've
been teammates with Hunter Ray.
I mean, I thought, I mean, he, no one cries and complains and winds and bitches more than
Hunter Ray.
Wow.
Wow.
Was he bad?
He was so bad.
He was awful.
And you're just sitting on there and the timing said, you're just like, you were just like,
yeah, man, that's, that's what it is.
And it's, it was kind of nice.
It was kind of nice to just be like, yeah, there's nothing we can do about that.
That's done.
Let's now focus forward.
So I just, you know, just to give you credit for just being able to laugh it off because
there's nothing you can do at that point.
You get into Monday, you switched engines, right?
Like you said, so Monday practice, not after Monday though.
No, no, after Monday you switched.
Yes.
Yes.
So we had the same engine in Monday.
Okay.
Well, so is it an engine issue or how was the car?
I was just saying the timeline.
How is the car on Monday?
The car was excellent on Monday.
Very, very good.
You know, we had a lot of things to check off early.
So we didn't get group running until that very last 15, 20 minutes.
And I was glad.
I mean, we got a great, I think we did 22 laps in a row, kind of similar to Polo.
You know, he came out late as well.
And it was, yeah, it was where it needed to be.
I mean, I think the peculiar thing this year is that everyone looks pretty good.
Everyone looks better this year than what you normally get.
Normally you have this, you know, grouping where you have like a couple of excellent
people and you have a couple of good people and you have a lot of bad people.
Right.
Whereas this year is like, there's, there's those couple excellent people, but then you
have a lot of good people.
I just don't, I don't see anyone that's bad.
Do you, I've been having this story that I've been throwing around just waiting for
somebody to jump on it with me.
Do you think part of that is because it's been so cool in practice, conditions are just
kind of a little more advantageous.
It's part of it.
It's a, if you look at the race last year and how cool it was, it's part of the reason
why it wasn't that great of a race is because it was too easy.
Right.
Everyone was good.
And when everyone's good, more people back in the line aren't going to go anywhere.
You know, when it's a little bit, when it's that like right level of hot where it's not
too hot and everyone just falls off and it spreads out, but it's like hot enough where
people start to struggle, then you start to see movement in the pack.
But when it's cold, like it's been here and everyone's actually driving flat out, there's
just not a lot of movement because everyone's good.
So you're just all sitting there.
And, and I do, I would agree with you that that's been part of the reason this month.
See?
Yeah.
110 degree track temp.
Be perfect.
That's like the perfect number.
Yeah.
If it's 120.
Then every five.
Then everyone's, you're going to spread out.
Your life and it's bad.
Okay.
Sorry.
23rd.
Last year you started 32nd.
Yeah.
And you got up to like the top five with 60 to go or something stupid.
So no problem.
Yeah.
I mean, I think you can,
You're already 10 places there.
If you're, if you're a great team and you're a great car, you can win from anywhere.
I do think that's true.
You know, what kills me is the qualifying points.
It's got nothing to do with this event.
It has nothing to do with Indianapolis 500.
It's probably the only thing that kills me is that we gave away 12 points in qualifying.
That's my biggest gripe with, with where we sit.
The second biggest gripe is your pit selection.
So like if I was to order it, it goes, want the points, want the pit selection,
and then want the clean air for the start.
You know, others may arrange that differently.
That's how I've arranged it.
But it's okay.
You know, you know, we're behind, we'll power here in the,
I forget who's behind me in the pit box, but we'll make do.
And, you know, we'll start 23rd.
And I think we've got the team to execute on race day without a doubt.
So I think we will be in the fight.
Can't tell you exactly what's going to happen.
I hope nothing bad.
But, you know, if things go our way, then I think we'll be in the fight.
All right.
I think most people would agree with that statement based on your history here.
We wish you the best of luck.
We're going to say goodbye with one last question.
Who do you think has got the World Cup?
Oh man.
Are you a soccer guy?
No, I'm not.
And I don't even know.
So just default to America and go from there.
I would go with you.
Who do you think?
I don't know anything about that.
You don't either.
Oh, that makes me feel a little bit better.
Yeah. Yeah.
They're like, like nothing.
Someone else at Argentina.
So, you know, I'm going to brush up on it as though it hasn't started yet.
Okay.
Let me get through May.
You're going to get a lot of my brain.
You got to cram the last 10 days.
Yes.
I'll do the, I'll do the crash course.
Okay.
All right.
Fair enough.
Yeah.
Go America.
Go America.
Which technically go United States, right?
USA.
Yeah.
USA.
USA.
You want Canada.
Sure.
Of course.
Yeah.
We're in it, right?
We're going to kick your ass.
Canada.
I mean, quite possibly.
I don't even know if we're in here.
I don't know if you're in here.
Maybe.
We'll see.
Hi.
Welcome to the off track with Hinch and Alex.
So close.
The off track is just off track.
Well, but you know, I'm Spanish.
See, so sometimes they put words that doesn't make sense.
That's true.
So that's just like, if he was in Spanish, I would have nailed it.
Yeah.
I guess you said it better in English than I would in Spanish.
100%.
Bienvenue off track.
Bienvenue.
Avec Hinch e Rossi.
That's French.
Sorry.
I get my French and Spanish mixed up sometimes.
And that I don't know any French.
I mean, any Spanish.
I need you to teach me some Spanish.
I'm going to Spain.
Twice.
Where?
Barcelona for F1 and then Madrid for F1.
Oh, I've got a couple.
I have some good restaurants in both cities.
My wife is from Madrid and I'm from Barcelona.
So I'll give you some.
I actually have a list.
Esther has like a list from different cities.
Incredible.
Morning.
Yeah.
And afternoon.
Amazing.
I like that.
I don't need any coffee shop recommendations though.
I just, you know.
Yeah.
I know you're not.
I'm not.
I'm not into that.
Yeah.
You know what I've always wondered?
Who put the alphabet into alphabetical order?
Why are you asking me this?
Like, who decided that A was first?
I can't see.
I don't really.
Have you asked Chagipiti?
No.
You don't ask?
No.
I thought you.
No.
So I don't, I don't really, I don't really know.
Probably someone that was named Alex.
You assume it was an Alex, huh?
Oh, for sure.
So you think intelligence is based on name?
No.
No.
Because otherwise I would have a lot of intelligence.
Like if you're so slow.
Does.
How old are you?
You're typing so slow.
What did I ask the question?
Oh, you, you looked.
No.
Oh, you know.
Wow.
Can I hire this guy?
Yeah, yeah.
Please do.
Get him off of my payroll.
You're going to cut this, right?
Because we're going to cut them.
Yeah, we're going to cut the last 10 minutes.
Who made the alphabet in alphabetical order?
Yeah.
The order was developed over a long period of time.
It was no single person.
Hmm.
Hmm.
The definition of the way I said.
Yeah.
That's basically what you said.
Is it 15?
No.
But a fun clue is that the name of early letters survived.
That's what I said.
That's not at all what you said.
Boom.
You said I'm Spanish.
So I don't know what you're going to cut it now.
But I just said that you're going to cut it.
No.
No.
Just because you said that.
Alex, if IndyCar decided to swap the drink that the victor gets at the Indy 500, what
would you want them to swap it to?
Hmm.
I don't know.
Something, um, I would just go with champagne.
Just champagne?
Just old school?
Yeah.
Old school.
Like, yeah, you could say something stupid, but I wouldn't change it.
That's why I said if IndyCar changed it, then the only option if somebody would change
it would be champagne.
It's the only option.
Yeah.
Everything else would be a step down.
Yeah.
Do you have a preferred champagne?
No.
I don't understand about champagne.
Oh.
It's my friend, so it's not my league.
You only drink Spanish wines.
No, I don't understand anything about wine or champagne.
Okay.
But you would drink it if you were given it at the Indy 500?
Yeah.
Absolutely.
I would love it.
Yeah.
Is there anything that you wouldn't drink?
No.
At the 500?
Yeah.
You can put whatever.
I'll drink it.
You'll drink it?
I won't splash it.
You won't splash it?
No, no.
Is that something gross?
No.
It's more because I feel it's the trophy.
They're giving you the trophy.
Yeah, yeah.
I think it's wasting it if you're...
Did you pour it last year?
No, no, no, no.
You didn't drink?
No.
It's so funny because I thought the same thing.
I'm like, I don't think I'd want to be covered in milk.
That doesn't sound like a good...
For me, it was a respect to the trophy.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But you don't still have milk in that bottle, right?
Right?
What?
Right?
Yes.
Oh, no.
Why?
Are you supposed to drink it?
You're supposed to not have it in the bottle anymore.
It doesn't last that long, pal.
Have you checked on it in a while?
Is it in your freezer?
It's not in my freezer.
You got the milk out, right?
Yeah.
Okay.
Where's the bottle now?
It's in my basement.
I have like a shelf with the mini-bore and the aster.
Like the helmet?
I also have your helmet.
I know you do.
Yes.
Yeah.
It's there.
I have...
Not very clear.
But it's there.
It's around this area.
That's fair.
It's in the same realm as your...
It's all the same shelves.
Okay.
I'll take that.
That's good.
Yeah.
Do you remember how that happened?
Do you remember how that started?
I don't remember how that started, but I remember we did this up here at your bus when it was
raining.
Yeah.
It was your rookie season, and I had taken a picture of...
For some reason, I had like five helmets of mine that I was moving around or something.
They were in my office.
I took a picture and I tweeted it or something or Instagramed it.
And I was like, anybody want to swap kind of as a joke?
And you wrote...
And you commented, you're like, I'll swap with you.
And I was like, done.
Perfect.
And that's how it started.
I hate you.
You hate me?
No.
So I hate...
Oh, you hate me.
Yeah.
You hit me up first.
And I was like, I don't know if this pillow kid's going to go anywhere, but I guess
he was...
He answered.
So I guess we should work that out.
That's pretty cool.
Yeah.
It's pretty cool.
I have a rookie...
A rookie helmet.
Which is like...
A rookie helmet's like rookie baseball cards.
Were there worth more?
They should because I only had two helmets.
It's pretty sweet.
You did put like a ganassi visor on it to make it seem like it was a...
Was it for sure from a rookie then?
Yeah.
I think last week you told me.
We'll go check.
I'm sure there's some marks on the back.
Okay.
We'll figure it out.
Do you still have it?
Yeah.
We just sold it.
No.
It's never.
Never.
And interesting.
If anybody swapped a helmet with me and I needed to get rid of it for some reason, I would
give it back to that person.
Yes.
Don't sell helmets.
My own included.
We chatted last year.
I don't know if you remember.
We filmed a documentary for Vox in IndyCar.
Me and I were walking along the front straight chatting about all things Indy 500.
He does remember.
No.
I remember we were walking together.
I don't remember why.
That's why they said.
That's fair.
What you said was, I don't know how many championships I'm summarizing, paraphrasing.
No matter how many championships or races I win, if I don't win the 500, my career will
not be complete.
Right?
Yeah.
That sound like some of you would have said last year.
Yeah.
Right.
So now you've won the 500.
So are you done?
No.
Careers complete?
Can we start letting everybody else win a couple?
No.
No?
No.
You said if you won the 500, you'd be complete.
No.
Well, you didn't specify that.
I'm just adding now.
Oh, okay.
And after the fact edition, then if I would have looked back and had, let's say, 17 championships
and knowing if I 100, I would be like, it's not complete.
It's not done.
But now if I would have to retire today, I would be like, I did a good job in my IndyCar
career.
Okay.
So just real clear.
I'm not going to let other guys win any of them yet.
No.
Okay.
Especially not the 500.
Well, I mean, you did a pretty good job up to this point.
It's gone.
It's gone pretty well so far.
Last weekend.
What's that?
Not the last weekend.
Last weekend being qualifying?
The GP.
Of course.
Yeah.
To be fair, you were doing a great job.
That wasn't entirely on you.
It's okay.
But talk to me about qualifying because with the new format, it was kind of intense because
you only had one shot to get into the top 12.
That was fun.
I actually, as a fan and like watching from the outside and from the broadcast, we should
keep it that way.
Do you really want to get rid of two days though?
I can't.
No, no, no.
I don't want to get rid of, but I think it's fun that it's only one attempt.
Every run matters.
Yes.
Right?
Because I hate when we get to like 3.30 in the afternoon and the guys that are 10th to
17th are trying to do an extra run and they move up two spots and no one cares.
Yeah, no one cares.
It doesn't matter.
That, everything mattered.
How tough was it to decide like how big to go when the conditions were so different?
But you didn't have another chance.
You couldn't go safe.
No, no.
You had to go aggressive without going overly aggressive because otherwise, you know, you
trim too much and you cannot finish the run and you are like 225 or 226.
So it was very tough.
The only good thing about me going late or last on my team.
Conditions were closer to model.
No, you had the info from me.
That I had the info of like, okay, these guys struggle with understeer and it's going to
be 10 degrees warmer.
Like it's going to go towards even more understeer because of the info we have.
So we need to adjust before doing it, but I went out and I felt so light on that first,
like so light.
I was so close of not completing my fourth lap flat out.
But yeah, it, if I would have lifted a little bit, I would not have been on the fast one
because I was 11th and then you would have had the pole car now starting 13 or 14th.
Like that's, I liked that it was only one.
I liked that too.
I liked that you like it.
So, but was the advantage, you know, you went out in more difficult conditions, how to track
the ball of stuff was the advantage that you went out at a time that was a lot closer to
what it was like for the fast 12, the top 12.
So you had a better sense, certainly than Scott who went out first.
Yes.
Right.
I think it helped me.
I think for sure that gave us an advantage against the people that we're going head to
head for the fast six because we, our track was getting better.
Everybody else for them, the track was getting worse.
So for us, it was like, oh, it's five degrees colder than it was before.
Let's trim a little bit.
And everybody was scared about like how much they could trim or not.
And for me, it was like the car kept on getting better and better, more speed, more grip.
And it was like easier to drive.
So for sure, having my wife pick the 31st helped us.
Brownie points for the wife.
Thank you, Esther.
You have, you've lost this race by inches.
Close.
Thanks for reminding me.
Well, you've, I didn't lose it.
Elliot won it.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
You've, so you've been running up front and had someone else win it by a little bit,
been running up front, had something totally derail your day.
And now you've won it.
Do you feel like you've experienced a little bit of everything here that you're prepared
for almost anything?
No, I think this place just can't throw different stuff at you every year.
Like, you know this, like you think, oh yeah, I know how to win the 500 or I know what the
500 is going to be like.
And then suddenly you go on the first stand and everything is completely different.
And you have another Indie 500 experience.
And so I've not been here for like 15 years, but I know that it's just going to keep on
evolving and keep on changing.
So yeah, I, I don't feel prepared for the 500 yet.
Good.
That means there's still a chance that he won't win it.
Who knows?
But we wish you all the best.
Thanks for coming out.
Thank you.
I need you to put your microphone down and I need you to clap into my microphone.
Okay.
What is this?
One trick pony here?
Yeah.
I need you to put your hat backwards.
Nope.
It was worth a shot.
Can't fool Ryan Hunter Ray, who joins us next.
Well, you can.
I've done that several times.
P22.
Have we thought about driving faster?
Yeah, that doesn't have a great ring to it, does it?
That's not awesome.
Well, 22, like it's a, a palindrome.
Yeah.
It's a palindromic number, which is good, I guess.
Yes.
Well, you know, it's, it's better than I started last year.
So that's true.
Take the positives, you know.
Well, and that's just it.
Like last year went pretty well.
Like you were driving last year.
Where'd you start?
24th or fifth.
I don't remember.
24th or fifth.
You don't remember.
And you were essentially driving like what was a filing cabinet at the shop a couple
days before that, whatever it was.
And then it went pretty well.
Yeah.
So like driving it swiftly.
So that, yes, it was swift and decisive.
Yeah.
Do you feel as well?
I mean, did you feel confident going into last year?
No, no, no.
So is that the secret?
Is the secret to really doubt yourself?
I wasn't doubting.
I just had no idea what to expect.
Right.
You've been in there when you get back in a car in a situation where you're, you have
no idea what the balance is going to be in turn one.
You're just kind of, all right.
Let's just leave it in here and see what happens.
And we had to start conservative.
So that was how a lot of understeer person.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Significant.
Mm-hmm.
Do you know what to expect this year?
Yeah.
Traffic.
Same.
You feel like you know more about what you're getting yourself into than you did last year?
I peaked in that knowledge category a while ago on what to, I mean, it's just, you guys
just got to deal with a whole bunch of cars.
Right.
Some would say you peaked in 2014.
Oh, but not me.
No, well, I almost won it last year.
That's what I'm saying.
Yeah.
So come on.
So, okay.
Okay.
Real question now.
Obviously, you won it in 2014.
You nearly won it last year.
Mm-hmm.
Last year.
Yeah.
Could have won it last year.
In 2016, yeah.
Well, we both could say that, I guess, right?
But this brings out my question.
In your opinion, what was your best Indy 500 drive?
Because I talk about this with Rossi, who obviously is not on the show today, but 2016,
when he won, arguably his worst Indy 500 drive.
Right.
Right.
He had some really good runs since then that.
Yeah.
So was 2014 because that was a pretty.
Yes.
2014 was the best drive.
For sure.
Yeah.
Coming from 19th and leading by halfway.
And then what Elio and I did at the end was just, that was, yeah, that tops it.
So you, had you, had you won last year.
Mm-hmm.
With everything that transpired before the race, you would have still said, no, 2014
was a better drive.
Yes.
I mean, same, but different, right?
They're, they're, they're very different scenarios.
And I mean, I went into last year's race completely exhausted mentally and the unknowns, you know,
when you go into the race knowing you're in a pit stop practice car, you're like, odds
are today's not going to really, there's not going to have a lot of shiny moments.
Great for me.
And you know what?
It was, and that's, I talked to my boys about that after and I was like, you know, it doesn't
matter what the scenario is.
You have to keep the fight in you and you have to go into it.
And without any preconceived notions, you know, I could have went into it like, oh, I'm in
a pit stop practice car.
I'm just going to lift here.
I'm just going to let everybody go and just kind of ride around, but we didn't do that.
That would have been pretty lame if you had done that.
Yeah.
Well, that would have been really lame.
I would have been very disappointed in you.
Yeah.
Well, that was my big thing is I don't want to disappoint Hinge here.
So I'm glad that we still have that bond.
Yeah.
Um, we, we've talked to a lot of different drivers who have been teammates with paddle
award.
This is your first time doing that.
Yes.
Right.
Okay.
You look like that was a confusing stage.
I'm just wondering if you're getting tired of asking people questions yet.
No, not yet.
This is early.
This is early.
We got 47 more to go.
All right.
Cool.
Um, questions just for you.
Not drivers.
Yeah.
Yeah.
No, you're here for a while.
Okay.
Cool.
Um, everybody says that paddles car is super weird to drive.
Yeah.
Have you tried his setup?
Yeah.
Did you like it?
No.
What is it?
What is he doing?
How does he help?
I don't know what he's doing over there.
He's swatting flies in there.
It's wild.
It's just like, he's, but it's fast.
He's like, it works.
He makes it work.
Yeah.
Yes.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
He's, he is, he is writing checks a lot.
Yeah.
And you know, hoping they clear and he's good at making them clear.
You know, he gets the, he gets the funds in the account right before it needs to.
He's got great credit still.
He's got great credit.
Yeah.
That's impressive.
No, I, I do like certain things from the car.
I didn't like others.
And you know, we didn't have time to just piecemeal it and, and try and isolate the, the exactly
what I do and don't like about it just because of the things that happened during the week
with the hybrid failure and all this other stuff.
So, um, yeah, if I had another week on track, I can isolate that and get back to you.
All right.
Well, you got a long day ahead of your media stuff.
One last question.
Sure.
What is worse, more money, your yacht collection or TK's watch collection?
That's a great question.
It's pretty tight, right?
Yeah.
Like you have a couple massive boats, but he's got like dozens, dozens, maybe hundreds
of really expensive watches.
Look at my watch.
Yeah.
Well, all your money is tied up in yachts.
Right.
Exactly.
Well, and with fuel prices now, I had to sell all this crazy, just a ridiculous.
Absolutely.
700 gallons of fuel in that thing.
So, so say the yachts still maybe outpace the watches.
No, no, no.
I mean, every day he's got a different one on.
Yeah.
It's unbelievable.
Yeah.
And they're beautiful.
And I'm like, oh, which one's this?
Yeah.
Yeah.
You're doing pretty well in that category, I think.
I got a few.
This was called, this is an Indianapolis.
This model from Omoligado.
Really?
Is called the Indianapolis little speedometer.
Well, you're pretty key to everybody.
Probably gave you those.
That was free.
That's it.
The Ryan and Ray.
Cool.
I don't like the silence.
Very uncomfortable.
Maybe the silence doesn't like you, David Maluchus.
That is true.
Did you ever think about that?
That's a good thought process, actually, because, you know, racing on track, it's loud.
It's very loud.
Yeah.
You make a lot of noise for a living.
So maybe you will not me specifically.
Well, yeah.
Yeah, you're, I mean, others also, but you are making a lot of noise.
You're pushing silence out of the vicinity that you're in at 720 miles an hour.
What's the speed of sound?
It's like 746.
746 was close enough.
Yeah, it was close.
Yeah.
I'll give you that.
I'll give you that one.
What did silence ever do to you?
Why do you just hate it so much?
No, I actually, no, it's the opposite.
I enjoy sound.
No, I said, what did silence ever do?
Oh, silence.
I don't know.
It just lets my mind wander and think.
Yeah.
That's a dangerous thing, isn't it?
Yeah.
I don't like that.
Yeah.
I don't like to put you on some dark paths.
Yeah.
Yeah.
You know, it's not good.
Yeah.
Um, somewhat related.
Can you tell me how to beat the bongo-bongo in Shadow Temple in Zelda,
Acarina of Time?
Zelda's not.
No, I'm not on, I'm not on the Zelda.
No?
Do you want to give it a whirl at least?
The, what was it, the bongo-bongo-bongo?
Yeah, bongo-bongo.
Bongo-bongo?
Yeah.
How to beat it?
Yeah, if you just give it a whirl, that'd be helpful.
Oh, oh, it's right here.
Yeah.
Am I playing right now?
Yeah.
Get on, Paul.
What?
Uh, B, right?
Oh, okay.
Oh, bongo-bongo.
Okay, so that's a jump.
Dodge.
Dodge.
Dodge.
Dodge.
How's, how do I attack?
Oh, oh, he's, he grabbed me.
He's massaging me.
Was it, was it, your consent?
I don't.
Yeah, I don't know.
He didn't.
Um, yeah.
Oh, I think I might have.
Oh, no, I stood back up.
Oh.
I'm resilient like that.
We know that.
We know this about you.
You don't want to attack.
Oh, I'm attacking.
Boom.
Oh, oh, you got to aim too.
I'm not gonna lie.
This is better than modern games.
I've been bongoed.
I'm still alive though.
I'm kicking it.
Oh, I have a sword.
I'm coming in.
Bongo.
No.
Dodge.
Oh, oh, oh, oh, look, I'm doing it.
I don't know what I'm doing, but I'm doing something.
You're getting it, man.
You're getting after it.
How long am I surviving compared to other guys?
You're the first.
The first of what?
That's tried this game.
Oh, really?
Yeah.
We figured he's massaging me again.
I'll take it back.
I think I'm going to die.
I think I'm going to die.
Thank you, David Maluchus.
Am I looking at this one?
You're looking wherever you want, pal.
You can look at whatever you want.
You're David Maluchus.
Oh, this one.
You're starting on the front row of the 8500.
I know how cool is that.
It's cool.
I'm in the museum now.
You, yeah, that's right.
You're super, well, not yet.
Well, not yet, but I will be.
You still need that car for a little bit.
For another couple of days.
It's going to be in the museum.
It's going to be in the museum.
That was cool.
How many times do you think you'll go visit your car in the museum?
As much as I possibly can.
Yeah?
Yeah.
I think anytime I'll be in India,
I'm just going to go straight to the museum.
Just go check it out.
What's up?
How you doing?
How are you?
Especially if it ends up like, you know,
maybe covered in milk later.
That would be cool.
That would be pretty neat.
That would be cool.
Right?
But they clean the car before they put it in the museum.
David, come on.
Keep it together.
Would you not rather...
It's like when a car wins like in Le Mans,
or I feel like Daytona 500 when it gets wheeled in the museum,
it's cool that it's still all like dirty
and looks like it did at the end of the race.
IndyCar, they clean them up because they bring it to the banquet.
Wouldn't you rather it was still like as raced?
Yeah.
And as celebrated?
I think so.
Keep it natural.
Keep it natural.
I know.
That's what I think.
But yeah.
I agree.
If IndyCar had Mario Kart style power-ups,
what do you think would be like the most unfair one
for another guy to get?
Well, what was the big rocket when you're like in Dead Last
or the electrocution one?
Yeah, that would be bad.
That one would be really exciting.
Because that makes everybody literally spin out at once.
Spin out at once.
Which here would be terrible.
That would be terrible.
Yeah.
But I think one that you can maybe add that would be fun
would be just the banana.
I feel like it's simple enough,
and there's some skill involved where you can dodge it.
And you can, even if you hit it, the brakes,
you get a little loose, but you can save it.
Yeah, yeah.
That would be fun.
Imagine that.
Three laps to go.
James Hinch goes on the inside.
Oh, he's got it.
He hit the banana.
Oh, he glows it.
No, he saved it.
Oh, he's won it.
It's like push to pass, but the other way.
You got three bananas.
He's got two bananas left for three laps to go.
That would be so...
Saved his bananas.
That would be pretty cool.
I'm not gonna lie.
It's the future.
We'll put it in there.
You run a past RP, okay?
Let me know what you think.
Yeah, he's gonna be very confused.
I like the Indy 500.
Do you like the Indy 500?
I think I love it.
Yeah.
If the Indy 500 was a smell, what do you think it would be?
Hmm.
Like an actual one?
Because I feel like it would be like burnt rubber.
Burnt rubber?
Yeah.
But like a funny one?
Or what about, you know...
No.
Would it be like burnt milk?
What does that smell like?
I've never won.
I don't know.
But...
What do you mean you never won?
So the winners know what burnt milk smells like?
I mean, maybe.
So when they put them on themselves?
When it pours in me, it gets on the exhaust.
And like there's a smell.
And like, oh, that smells like victory lane at Indy.
I'm actually gonna ask the team, hey, how did the milk smell
when it was on the exhaust?
One of the 20 times that you guys have been here,
what did it smell like?
Yeah, what is burnt milk smell like?
That's gonna be the hot topic out of this.
It's like burnt milk and stale beer like mixed together.
Because there's a lot of that on the ground
by the end of the 500 just around the whole place.
Yeah.
No, that's a really good thinking process.
I think you should, yeah, we should really investigate.
Okay, we'll look into that.
How excited are you to have no cars in front of you
going into turn one?
Like at least when you hit the gas.
Your sight line to turn one will be clear
at the drop of the grain.
I mean, it's very cool.
It's very special.
I mean, we get to start, you know,
we're gonna be like one of the first ones across the line.
It's gonna be clear view, get to see the fans.
It's gonna be awesome.
I think it's a very different perspective, you know.
I think it'll be something to talk about afterwards
because I haven't experienced it yet,
but I think it's gonna be very nice.
I think you, Polo and Rossi should have like a gentleman's bet,
like a $1 bet over who leads the first lap.
That's always fun to do with front row.
Yeah, that is fun.
I guess there's an opportunity being from the outside
on the racing line.
I mean, you just need a good drop.
You can have one guy.
But you know, you don't want to be leading.
No, lap one.
It's fine.
Lap one, I guess.
Yeah.
You don't want to be leading.
Lap one and then just flip.
And then 99.
That's all you need.
That is true.
That is true.
So you get your $1.
Wait, is it 99 or?
No, 199.
I was gonna say.
That's the important one.
Yeah, one and then 199.
So is it 199 or is it 200?
Well, yeah, sorry.
I guess it's true.
So you're saying, yeah.
So the end of lap 199.
So is the last lap 199 or is the last lap 200?
It is 200.
So when the race finishes, it's 201.
Well, when the race finishes, it's done.
Yeah.
But yes, you are starting your, well, not even your 200 first
because you do like four pace laps and stuff.
Something else to think about.
God, I mean, how many miles is this race really?
Do we even know?
I have no idea.
Does anybody really know what this race is all about?
Yeah, I don't know.
How would David Malaukis celebrate winning the 9500?
Oh boy.
I've actually had a lot of thinking about it.
What I would do.
So, okay, wait, okay.
So are you doing like the Joseph thing where you're like thinking
about how you would do your like immediate out of the car celebration?
Well, I mean, yeah, I'm trying to think about, you know,
it's making something memorable, something special, you know,
to me and to the fans.
Just throwing this out there.
I'm sure you got something.
We'll get there.
But like just throw on this out there.
Have you seen Carson?
I have seen, I've seen Carson.
That was crazy.
That was, and I saw a video of him talking about it.
Yeah.
And how close it was to kind of being faster.
To being like the end of Carson was far.
Yeah.
Because he was heading towards that inside wall.
And he was hanging out.
I mean, how, what speed was he going?
Too fast, David.
Too fast.
Yeah.
I saw that and he, and he barely caught it.
So he, that was a lot of aura risk right there.
Yes.
But it paid out.
It did.
It was the, the aura risk to receiving was, was massive and high risk, high reward.
And he got a lot of aura from it.
Risk reward ratio was through the roof.
Yeah.
For aura.
But high aura.
High aura.
So have you, have you like,
is this something you don't want to share in case?
I definitely don't want to share.
I definitely don't want to share.
But you thought about it.
But I have been thinking about it.
Have you decided on something?
I've actually been thinking about a lot too.
Since, you know, he did that special memorable one.
It's like, man, that's so cool.
I've seen that.
I'm not going to do anything like that crazy.
But I also don't know if that would be possible with IndyCar.
Yeah.
I wouldn't, I don't recommend it.
Yeah.
That would be pretty cool.
That would be like, you just like lock the wheel straight, get it rolling, then just
go sit on the rear wing and like wave and just, you know, ride the wall the whole way
around or something.
That would be just fully chastain it on a lap.
That'd be kind of neat.
Don't try it.
But then when they would need the car, you know, yeah, we might break the car.
Yeah.
Um, if all 33 drivers lined up for a 100 meter dash, who would win?
For a 100 meter dash.
I mean, I feel like the clear answer has to be Joseph.
It's the obvious one.
I feel like Joseph is the obvious one, but who will.
Okay.
So who's the wild card?
Cause like everyone's like obviously Joseph, which also I like, well, I don't know how
much of a wild card because I feel like, I mean, Res Moussen is pretty strong.
Okay.
Is he a good runner?
Is this like Sprinter?
Are we 100 meter dash?
Yeah.
We're sprinting.
I think he's, I think, cause he's.
Okay.
Well, because his is, I seen his squat.
I mean, he could squat very heavy.
And if he's squatting that heavy means he's got some strong like power.
Yeah.
So I feel like, Hey, it might be.
Yeah.
I feel like he has a good opportunity.
Okay.
Yeah.
I haven't heard that one.
It's a good, it's a good chat.
Something to think about.
Tell me to think about Christian Rasmussen.
A lot of thinking.
100 meter dash.
Winner.
David Maluchis.
Any 500.
Winner.
We'll find out.
We'll find out.
We'll find out.
Okay.
Best of luck.
Thank you.
Thanks for coming.
Thank you for having me.
Can you try the Zelda thing again?
We really need you to beat that level.
Really?
I mean, it's hard.
What are you supposed to do when he just grabs you and then he's just literally is massaging
me.
Oh, David, can you clap into the microphone for me please?
Just wanted that one.
Well, it's easier.
I'm holding it.
If you could clap into your own and I'd be pretty impressive.
No, you do.
That wasn't even, that was pretty easy.
It was, yeah.
It was.
No, you missed it.
Okay.
Now I do want to show you all that.
We were recording.
A little better.
Like just like, do you want it more like this or like more?
Yeah.
I think more finger.
Yeah.
But then it's not a big, no, but the way it pops is better for audio.
Yeah.
Well, yeah.
What are you doing?
What was that?
He just built the microphone.
What did you just do?
Oh, that's pretty good.
Whoa.
It may, Joey, it sounds like your, your, the clap is coming when
your hands are still.
Whoa.
It's kind of cool.
All right.
I've been told we need to get.
How'd you do that?
You, you, you, you would do it.
And then when you stopped at her.
This is really cool.
Thanks, David.
Have a good rest of your day.
Yeah.
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