Term
Metro by T-Mobile
Metro by T-Mobile is a phone plan service. They’re talking about a deal where your monthly price stays the same for a while.
Term
5G
5G is a faster type of cell-phone internet. They’re saying the plan includes 5G data.
Term
price guarantee
A price guarantee means your monthly cost is supposed to stay the same for a while. They also warn that there are exceptions.
Term
AutoPay
AutoPay is an automatic payment setup where your bill is paid automatically each month. The speakers mention it because it affects the monthly price they’re quoting.
Concept
sim racing (simming)
Simming is when a driver practices using a racing video game or simulator. It helps them learn a track and practice driving lines without being on track in a real car.
Concept
12 hours at Sebring
Sebring is an endurance race that lasts about 12 hours. Drivers take turns, and the goal is to stay fast and keep the car running for the whole event.
Concept
third driver
In endurance races, teams use multiple drivers. A “third driver” is the extra driver who takes some stints, often needing to get up to speed fast and drive consistently.
Concept
car setup
Car setup is how the team adjusts the car to make it handle the way they want. Different drivers can like the car to feel a certain way, so the team tunes it for them.
Concept
traffic
In races, you’re not always driving alone. “Traffic” means other cars on track, including slower cars, and you have to pass or work around them without losing time or getting in trouble.
Concept
pit stops
Pit stops are scheduled stops in the pits to service the car—typically for tires, fuel, and sometimes repairs. In racing strategy, the timing and execution of pit stops can determine track position and overall finishing result.
Concept
lap times
Lap time is just how quickly you can do one full lap around the track. If you’re close to a good lap time, you’re in the ballpark even if you’re not the quickest.
Concept
DNF
DNF means the driver didn’t finish the race. Something went wrong—either an accident or a car problem—so they couldn’t complete the full distance.
Concept
racing incident
Calling it a “racing incident” means the driver believes the contact was a result of normal racing risk rather than deliberate wrongdoing. In motorsport, this framing can matter for how teams and officials interpret responsibility and whether penalties are considered.
Concept
spotter
A spotter is someone on the team who watches the race from a different angle and tells the driver what’s happening. They can warn about cars nearby, but the driver still has to react and drive.
Term
understeering
Understeering is when the front wheels don’t grip enough. Instead of turning in, the car pushes straight ahead.
Company
Progressive
Progressive sells car insurance. They’re saying you might save money if you qualify for their discount programs.
Concept
first time event
They’re saying it was the first time that race was held there. When it’s new, teams have to learn the track and plan for things they haven’t dealt with before.
Brand
They mention LinkedIn because it was part of the branding at the track. Companies often sponsor races and put their name on parts of the venue.
Concept
attendance, the fans
They’re talking about how many people showed up and what the crowd was like. In racing, that matters because it affects the whole vibe and the business side of the event.
Concept
Indy car
IndyCar is a professional open-wheel racing series in the U.S. Drivers race specialized cars on different types of tracks like ovals and road courses.
Concept
track walk
A track walk is when the driver goes around the track on foot to get a feel for it. It helps them notice details they’ll use when they’re driving fast.
Concept
grip
Grip is how well the tires can “hold on” to the road. If grip is low, the car can feel slippery or harder to control, especially in corners.
Concept
street course
A street course is a race track made from regular city streets. Because it’s tight and has walls close by, driving and passing are usually more intense than on a normal race circuit.
Concept
overtaking for the lead
“Overtaking for the lead” means passing cars when it matters most—right near the front. On street tracks, it’s harder because the track is narrow and you can’t make big mistakes.
Concept
passed for the lead
“Passed for the lead” means someone overtook to take first place. On a street circuit, that usually takes perfect timing and good traction out of turns.
Concept
pace
In racing, “pace” is basically how fast you are. It can change if the car is set up better or if tires work better than expected.
Concept
defending champion
A defending champion is the person who won the championship last year and is trying to win again this year. It usually means they’re the one everyone watches.
Concept
COVID
COVID was the pandemic that changed how sports events were run. For racing, it often meant fewer or no fans in the stands, so the experience and growth were different.
Concept
race ratings
Ratings are basically how many people are watching the races on TV. If the numbers look good, it usually means the series is getting more attention.
Concept
defending race winner
It means you won that race last time, and now you’re coming back to try to win again. People will expect you to be strong because you’ve already done it before.
Concept
one week off
Even a short break matters in racing. If you only have a week to rest and get ready, it can be tough to fully recover and prepare the car for the next races.
LIVE
Oh, joy. Another day, another buzz delayed.
Look on the bright side. You can finally catch up on podcasts.
You don't mind running late? What's your deal?
What's my deal? I saved that Metro with no activation fees.
I got one line of 5G for just $25 a month, kept the phone I love,
and a five-year price guarantee for my talk text and data.
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Oh, could this vintage store be any cuter?
Right. And the best part? They accept Discover.
Accept Discover? In a little place like this?
I don't think so, Jennifer.
Oh, yeah, huh. Discover's accepted where I like to shop.
Come on, baby. Get with the times.
Right. So we shouldn't get the parachute pants?
These are making a comeback. I think.
Discover is accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide.
Based on the February 2025 Nielsen report.
This is off track.
These are more of conversations, right?
Okay. It's not like an interview in the conventional sense.
So that's why we disliked it. We disliked to roll with it.
That's why James and I are both drunk right now.
Both?
Yeah.
And to say one, we played a drinking game.
It was for every minute late that Alex was, we did a shot.
Which Alex? Me or the other Alex?
No, the other Alex isn't joining us.
This is one of the...
Which is why we did him. We have to do a shot every minute.
Yeah, yeah. That's why we are currently drunk.
He was supposed to be on 10 minutes ago
and we're going to get into a whole half hour episode without any Alex.
It's going to be a day.
It's okay. I can be the other Alex as well.
You're a DD.
So yeah. Well, look, it is off track with Hinch and Alex.
It's just slightly different today, which is great
because Alex Palos here and Alex, I got to say,
Tim and I had a little conversation before you logged on.
I was absolutely sure that you had been on the show in this capacity before.
No.
But apparently we've only ever interviewed you like during May or in person or like not like this.
I was sad.
I was sad because I sometimes listened to the podcast and I was sad that I was never invited.
First of all,
do you just have that much time when you're leading the field?
You're like,
leading by so much and I've already listened to every smart list
and every Rogan and Stern.
So let's let's that's a racing podcast.
We can throw out dinner with racers.
We've been through that.
So yeah, one of ours.
Yeah, yeah.
Well, no, the truth is we thought you were too cool to come on the show.
We thought you were too big a deal and that you wouldn't want to slum it with us
because you're kind of successful.
So now that I didn't win that I didn't win my last three races and.
Correct.
Okay.
No.
Okay.
Because Connor gets dibs on the on whoever wins.
So you he pretty much had dibs on you.
That's true.
The last four seasons.
Right.
Yes.
For four to last five years.
We don't like we just want Connors, you know, leftovers.
So I mean, so you were simming today before you came to see us and are you allowed to tell us
where you were simming for?
Yeah, yeah.
I was simming at the bar break.
Yeah.
Okay.
So I have a question for you because I had this once me and Ryan Hunter Ray, old, old, old, old driver.
You might you you've may have run into him, but he's from way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way back.
He and I had this thing once where when we were going to.
And granted this was to a new track.
We went to a new track on the sim before we went there and when we went there to go do the test before the race.
Everything in the sim was wrong and it took us half a day to unlearn everything that we did on the sim.
And so from then on, I kind of had this philosophy where I always wanted to be one race ahead in the sim.
Oh, really?
I never wanted to go from the sim to that track.
I feel like I'd be doing Long Beach before Barber and I've done Barber before Arlington.
You know, I cannot do that.
I cannot do that.
Yeah.
I hate you've got to be.
I feel like it's it's very easy for me to just know that the same is the same and the way you drive it and the way the track is and how you need to take the corners to then go to the real track and the real car and drive it differently.
But I I've done it in the past of like doing now Long Beach like two races ahead, but I cannot do that.
Like I hate that.
I hate it.
Really?
Yes.
Well, yeah, you're able to delineate that, which is why you're much better than me and have had so much more success.
That's that's that's where it all went wrong for me, Tim.
That's where also, I mean, if we're just if we're piling on, he does he looks better than you too.
Oh, thank you.
Thank you.
I got an accent.
Yeah.
He makes a mean latte, which Becky would love, you know, so I'm just better.
You're just I don't want to say it, but it's good that you know, it's for other people to say mainly me.
Thank you.
Yeah.
And I will.
Yeah.
I do tell James that every day.
I'm going to claim the beard, though.
I feel like I can outbeard you a hundred percent.
Yes.
Okay.
All right.
This is like a week and I'm trying hard.
No, I'm joking.
It's like a day, but it's it's really like a full day.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Same.
I feel your pain, man.
All my hair goes up here.
Yeah.
That's not a terrible thing though, Tim.
That's going to serve you well in the long run.
Alex, you're fresh off of Sebring.
Yeah.
Sixth place finish at Sebring, probably not what you guys were hoping for, but how was
your how was your 12 hours?
It was tough.
Very tough.
It's a track.
It's a tough track.
Like it's it's not easy.
Then being the third driver, like not knowing much the car.
I mean, I know it.
I've been like two years already with this car, but it's just like it's not my everyday car.
Right.
And then during practice, like you're sharing with Renger and Nick, and they are obviously
the priority, right?
It's their car.
They need to set it up the way they want to race.
And I'm just there to try and help.
So then I did like, I don't know, 20 laps during practice, which is like trying to
figure out the traffic and this car and every on the track and everything.
And then straight to a race.
So yeah, it was quite challenging.
Then we during the race, we were running.
Okay.
I think I was running third or fourth.
Like we're quite good.
The Porsches were on another leak, but had a couple issues on the pit stops and finish
six.
So not ideal, but it's it's good to change.
I love to change to struggle on different areas than than in IndyCar learn a lot.
And hopefully one day I'll be able to win an instant race.
Like I've been trying for the past four or five years.
I've never won an IMSA race.
Oh yeah.
Four or five years, huh?
That's cute.
I've been trying for like 14 years to win one of these things.
You've never won like any IMSA?
Because I for the longest time, I only did Daytona and then it was only the last two
years.
So 24 and 25, I did Daytona, Sebring and petite.
Okay.
This year's back to just Daytona.
So it's been a long time.
It's not been a lot of races, but it's been a long time.
Even I had took a couple of Daytona's off even in there.
Yeah.
Yeah.
No, dude, trust me, I'm it's hard.
It's so hard.
It's so hard, man.
It's so hard.
Every race is like 1,500.
So yeah.
So I know that you are one of the most prepared guys when you show up to a racetrack, right?
Like I know this about you.
I've witnessed it.
I've heard it from other people.
It's a huge key to your success.
And, and I feel this way when I get into these sports car races as the third guy, right?
When you're the bonus driver, there are times where you feel just like your level of preparedness
is so much lower than what you were used to in your, in your like day job.
Oh, no.
Do you hate that?
Or do you, do you kind of like that?
There's a challenge of like, I don't know what I don't know, but I'm just going to go
figure this out in the race.
I'm like in between.
I have a side of me that, that loves it and a side of me that hates it completely.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I can see the side of you that like loves being prepared, just be like, I don't want to do
this now.
Yeah.
I only got 19 laps in practice.
I'm out.
I'm not even going to do it.
This practice, like this past weekend at Searing, like I was in practice one and I'm just trying
to figure it out.
The bombs in one, 17, after five laps, I was, let's say already around the lap times, like
not saying the fastest.
I'm saying around an okay lap time that you wouldn't suck on TV.
And then suddenly they call me to do a setup change and I started crying.
I was like, no, no, like just leave me alone.
And after two more laps of me crying on the radio saying that I didn't want to pit, they
said, Alex, you need to pit.
I was like, but anyway, yeah, it's tough.
It's very tough.
But as I said, I, I feel like it's, it's good to be the bonus guys sometimes and, and not
to be able to be as prepared at the end of the day.
My job there is to do the best I can to, to help Ranger and Nick.
Like that's, that's my job and my job is not to qualify or to finish the race or to
start it.
So, um, yeah, it's good fun.
It's good fun though.
Do you think that there's an element of like, when you, when you are doing kind of
so much learning in the race and you're in this mindset, cause you're right,
you're, you're the bonus guy.
Your job is to deliver the car back in as good or better condition than you got it.
Hopefully in the same position or better than you got it.
And that's kind of it.
You're, you're almost just like a, you're like the intermission for the, the,
the other drivers, right?
But when you have that mindset, cause there are times in an Indy car race, right?
Indy car races are, are long in their own right, especially when you start talking
about like the 500 and in Indy car races, there are stints where you have to kind
of have that mentality.
And do you find that getting forced to do that in the sports car world or maybe,
maybe that being your job, like your real goal in the sports car world, nine times
out of 10, do you think it helps you when you're in those stints in an Indy car
race, where you have to be like, all right, this stint isn't about moving to the
front. This one's about taking care of the car, the tires, myself, and we're
going to fight at the end.
Um, no, not really.
It's too different because when I'm on the IMSA car, like I, I know what my job
is, but then I get in the car and I'm like, man, I need to overtake this car.
Like I, I really need to, and I'm like, Alex, don't do it, don't do it.
Oh, I did it.
And then I'm banging doors and I'm like, Alex, no.
Like I had that in Siebring with a BMW, I was like, Alex, just come down.
But, um, it's hard.
It's hard to go both ways.
It's hard to go to the IMSA and become, and it's hard to go then to the Indy car
and be like, okay, now, like you need to go for it.
Like you, who cares about banging wheels and all that stuff.
But I, I would say that, um, what it, it makes me, uh, be a better driver in my
opinion is the traffic.
Just like the traffic management, how you prepare when, when there's
GTs or LMPs or how do you overtake them as well?
Like the, the fact of having to change your driving style every single
corner, I feel like that helps a ton.
And well, I'm sure you, you, you've been through the same.
Like it's just so challenging to break on the inside, break on the outside,
like break at your, uh, perfect breaking spot or break like so early.
Like it just makes it super, um, I think it's like a learning curve that
never stops, uh, in the IMSA world.
And it, it, it kind of exercises that muscle in the brain where, you know,
racing's all about quick decisions, right?
It's about making these instant, instantaneous reactions to whatever's
happening in front of you.
I feel like when you're in sports car racing, you have so many more of those
per lap that like your brain's just getting more reps in making good
decisions, high percentage moves, things like that.
When you're in that sort of situation.
Yeah.
All right.
Let's, let's, let's get into any car.
Seeing as how you, we've brought it up now.
Let's get into it.
I mean, congrats on say Pete.
Obviously that was about as good as it gets picked up where you left off,
but you went all the time.
So we're going to skip that.
We're going to go ahead to Phoenix, uh, because in Phoenix, something that
doesn't happen very often happened and just kind of want to get your, your take
on the incident and how, how, I'll kind of want to know.
Like how your race was going.
It's fairly early in the race has maybe a little bit to tell, but I mean,
like, how are you feeling on the day?
Where do you, what do you think a realistic, you know, goal was for the day,
but then also just kind of walk us through the incident itself and, uh, and, you
know, again, a DNF for Alex Polo, that's like, that's headline winning races is
almost like the subtitle now for you.
It's like, you know, this race with St.
Pete record attendance, Alex Polo one, right?
But now it's like, oh my God, Alex Polo had a DNF.
This never happens.
Walks through.
Um, it was tough.
It was tough.
It was a tough weekend.
Um, like the cars were not feeling as what we tested like a couple of weeks
before the Phoenix race, that was for everybody.
It was not only CGR, like I talking to everybody, like everybody just felt
like the car was way better or way worse or just the same, but on a different
way when we were racing, uh, we qualified 10th and I was like, okay,
let's see how the start goes.
That we want to be aggressive, but not overly aggressive, but I found myself
very comfortable on the, let's say second lane or one and a half.
And, uh, I think we're riding P four, P five, something like that.
Then there was a yellow and, um, I, I, I had the bad momentum out of, uh, the
restart, uh, got overtaken by Rahel and I was fighting with Rahel, uh,
Renus and I don't remember who else was there, but there was like three or four
cars and out of four, um, my spotter Lee, he's been the same spotter since 2021.
And he said, Hey, Renus outside and, uh, and then suddenly I was on the wall.
So he did the right call.
Um, I, I thought that there was enough space.
I didn't understand that he was outside and you know, like out of four,
you're on the throttle, you're fighting, you're understeering.
And I just went a little bit up and Renus was just there.
So I spoke to Renus, like I apologize because I think it was, uh, uh, it was
a racing incident in my opinion.
Like it was, both of us could have, uh, backed out a little bit.
It's not like he was side by side.
He just like clipped me a little bit.
And I think like he could have avoided when he saw that I was coming up either
because I'm a bad driver and don't want to give him space or because I
genuinely didn't know that he was there.
So, um, anyway, I, I thought it was, it was a big, uh, mistake by my side,
but, um, nothing you can do.
Like it goes so fast.
Like you get overtaken, you understeer, you go on the power and suddenly
you're on the wall.
Like it's not that it's a conscious crash of like, Oh, I'm going to risk it.
I'm going to risk it.
It didn't work.
Yeah.
You weren't trying to force the issue.
You weren't trying to like crowd him and make him back off.
No, I didn't even know he was there.
Like, uh, and it was not, again, it was not because of the spotter.
There was a lot of people saying, Oh, for sure.
The spotter didn't tell Alex.
No, he did tell like he, it was me.
It was a hundred percent me.
I think the thing that people sometimes forget is like the spotter is, you
know, an amazing asset, right?
It's such an important part of overracing an Indy car.
But in those scenarios, especially on a restart, there is so much
happening and you're, you know, you're, you're passing, you're getting passed.
The car feels terrible because you're in so much dirty air.
You're fighting in imbalances.
All these things happening that like sometimes this moderate could tell you a
lot of things that you just don't have the capacity to pick up because you're
just trying to save your life.
Like nowadays we have the, that we have the hybrid and then you, you're
getting past and you're fighting with somebody on the inside, on the outside,
and you're understeering, but at the same time, it's so early in both the
race and the corner that you're not really paying too much attention.
Like you're, you're just trying to survive.
You're like, okay, I need to get a good run.
Otherwise you'll get overtaken by 10 cars and you don't want to do that.
So, um, the spotter could be on your ear saying like outside, outside, but maybe
your brain is just trying to get the car to feel stable.
That's it.
Like that's the first issue that you want to solve.
But, um, yeah, that was my race.
That's it.
Where, where did I think that we were going to be?
I have no idea.
I thought we were going to be fighting for like a top six, top seven, maybe
a top three, we were lucky.
We did not have a car or a car driver.
Like I was not comfortable with a car to, to be like top three fighting for it.
I was not like, uh, Joseph for, uh, Rasmussen or power.
Like I, I was more of like, okay, we're going to be up there because we were fast,
but we're not going to be like top three fighting.
Fair enough.
I know that, I know that you're, you're a humble guy.
You're not a guy that does this for records, but you're a competitor too.
Right.
I can't remember speaking to you last year when the idea of like 10 wins was,
was on the cards, was very on the cards.
And then when it kind of looked like that wasn't going to happen, you were like,
Hey, look, we won eight races.
Like I'm not mad at this season.
Oh man, 10 would have been fun.
When it, you know, like, yeah, there's still that little, you led the championship
for 620 something days, right?
Not a record, maybe, I don't know, but like very impressive.
And like a hard thing to do, right?
Post, uh, Phoenix, you're not the championship leader for the first
time in, in over two years or, you know, two years ish.
And I just, I have to know because like, look, man, yes, you're not leading
the championship right now, but Alex, if the races you finished, and we just
got off a production call with Fox and everyone's talking about, oh,
we got Kirkwood leading like this and this.
And I'm like, guys, he's only finished two races of the two he's finished.
He's been first and second.
Nothing's changed, right?
This is still Alex Palo's world.
We're just living in it.
Okay.
So let's say like, let's say you take the lead back in Barber track, you
know, well, track, you've won at before.
And, and that clock has to restart.
Are you a little bit annoyed that there's this tiny little gap in that
consecutive days leading the championship streak?
Absolutely not.
Because I didn't even know until somebody said it in.
Before San Pied, I, I think somebody said something before San Pied and I was
like, well, we're going to lose it.
Like there's super high chances of not winning San Pied.
Like, I mean, the, it, everybody starts from zero.
So, um, obviously, yeah, when you talk about it, would it be nice to
have like more days?
Yes.
But honestly, I did, that was not something I had in my mind.
I didn't even know, like it didn't feel that much.
It didn't like 600 days.
It didn't feel like that much.
Like in my brain, even if last year was such a great start, I was not comfortable
looking back now, I would be, I would love to be in that position and I would
be like, Oh, I'm going to chill out.
But when you're in that position, you're not chilling out.
You're just like, man, we need to keep on going because somebody else is going
to fight with us.
So, um, I will do my best to get it back at Barber.
I, I, I think, uh, Kirkwood is in a good position.
They've been so fast everywhere.
They've been, and last year he remembered the start of a season he had until he
had a couple of bad races, but, um, uh, it's tough, man, it's tough.
I, I, I don't agree with you that it's, it's still the same.
Like I feel last year was incredible, was magic.
And, and I was very proud, but that's it.
It was 2025.
And, uh, these, these years it's, it's going to be tough.
I'm, I'm happy with the start we had so far.
Like, as you said, two races that we finished and first and second, but you
could say the same for Kirkwood.
Like you, you finished top four in the first, uh, three races, right?
Or top three or four.
Yeah.
So, yeah, I mean, I'm, I'm, I'm trying, I'm trying.
And, and Barber, I know that it's going to be tough as well.
Andretti's been really hard there.
Um, I would say McLaughlin has been really, really strong in the past.
And you never know.
Maybe suddenly there's, there's, uh, somebody you don't expect, uh, or maybe
we went again.
Who knows?
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We'll know soon enough.
Uh, but before we get to Barbara, I just want to touch on Arlington.
I mean, from your perspective as an event, let's, we'll get to the race in a
sec, but just how it, were you impressed and how impressed were you with just
the whole execution of that weekend?
10 out of 10, 10 out of 10, like there's no notes.
There's nothing that you say, Oh man, you know, like they could have done
this corner better.
No man, like it's a first, first time event.
First, first time that we do that track, first time that, uh, somebody in Arlington,
I believe in the area makes the track and they build it and that we try something
different, higher level, such a long track.
It was a 10 out of 10, the everything.
I feel like when you were getting to Arlington, you could see a lot of, um, a
lot of ads like on the street, which was like, Oh wow.
Like you'd normally never see that during May.
You see it and there's some events that we see it, but that was very cool.
And then going there and seeing the big grandstands all like labeled or like branded
as GPR, LinkedIn, Indica was like, man, we've never had that.
And then, uh, just how the track looked, it was a 10 out of 10 for me.
And then the, the, the attendance, the fans, I, I expected that it was going to be
big, but not that big.
Like I remember going out of pit lane on, um, on, on race day and through five and six,
it was super carded.
It was crazy.
So yeah, I had a ton of fun.
I thought it was the, one of the events that hopefully can mark our series, one of
those that we look, um, and we try and match all other events to that because I
think the, the level of everything they did for the fans and for the drivers, for
the TV, it was incredible.
I don't know what you felt.
Maybe you say it was, it was.
Terrible.
And you had to, what, at that time, my exact, my exact, shut up, Tim.
No one asked my exact quote was 10 out of 10.
We literally, that was what I said at, at the end of it, because it was, uh, it
was all those things.
Man, like you said, and I, I said in the pre-ratio that when I, you know, when I
stopped racing Indy car, the, the first time that I was like really feeling missing
being in the car was that first Indy 500.
That was, that was tough.
It was tough to watch that one, but outside of that, it's been fine.
And the, the second time I really truly miss racing in Indy car was Arlington.
When I did the track walk, I was like, dude, they have, this place looks so good.
Was the track as much fun to drive as it was from still fun because I love it.
I have to say the only thing, the only thing I would change would be like to be,
to have a straight that was a bit smoother, not because it was not fine,
just because it's, it's tough on like the back and, and, and it just runs the drivers.
Yeah.
But a part of that, it was excellent.
But as same when I was doing the track walk, just seeing how wide some corners
were, how long the straights were, like you saw the race, you were able to pass.
Normally we don't see that on straight courses and it was so fun to, to drive.
Like the grip was not very high.
And normally that just makes it feel really bad as a driver.
You know, when the grip is not there, but it was still so fun, super bumpy,
but so fun.
I, yeah, I had a blast.
Like it was by far the best three course I've ever been to.
And that was my last question.
Is it, where does it rank on all the street courses you've raised on?
Number one street courses, number one.
And I got overtaking for the lead.
Like it's not that it was like one of those where I'm like, yeah, I did this.
And no, no, number one.
So fun.
McLaughlin got out of the car.
I think it was after first practice and he was just like best street
course I've ever been on.
And like, you know, he's been to Adelaide and Melburn, you know, Albert
Park, he's obviously done all the ones we have in, in IndyCar, Long, Long Beach,
St. Pete, whatever, um, surface paradise, you know, some of the most iconic
street courses he's like, by far, this is the best.
So I think it is really laid the groundwork for it being a staple event on
the calendar and one that drivers and fans and everybody wants to check out.
Yeah.
I just hope that we can have it for, for like, I don't know.
Ever.
Yeah.
I hope that this is one of our best events.
Like I think it's going to be number one after 500.
Um, yeah.
You talked about getting passed for the lead.
Uh, tell me about that pass because you want to, I think God team had another
question, go ahead, Tim.
Yeah, no, I was going to ask you about getting passed for the lead.
Ah, Tim.
Dude.
Hey, Alex, that's the first time he's backed me up in a situation.
So I cannot believe this.
Um, dude, it was, uh, it was,
Are you going to finally came on?
It was, uh, it almost didn't look like that.
He was trying to make it like in that corner.
It was a 10 out of 10 pass as well.
I'm going to go for it.
I feel, I feel like, so, I mean, I knew I was going to get passed at some point.
Like, I was, he was quick.
He was so quick and I was pushing.
It's not one of those where you're managing the tires or the fuel and he's
getting closer and you're like, Hey, don't you worry.
I'll, no, I was pushing and he was like six seconds gap, a six seconds
back when he started pushing and I could see on the Delta and, uh, Barry on the
radio was telling me four back, three seconds back.
And I'm like, okay, like I'm trying to do it.
Like I, I, I'm going to crash next.
Um, but then I went out of, uh, 12 and I went on the OT.
I was like, don't you, you don't pass me here.
Right.
You, if you want, you pass me on the back straight.
And I went on the OT and I, I, I was just driving and then suddenly I
looked when I break and he was right there and I feel like he was not, I
haven't spoken to him, but I feel like he was not even planning to, I feel
like he was breaking so deep there that when I break there, he was like, oh,
I'll take the corner and that's it.
Um, I know the story.
Like I feel you, he, yeah, he just mastered that place.
Obviously the car was helping, but I mean, he, he was able to break so
much deeper everything.
Like it was, he was on another leak.
He was, it was, it was fun to watch.
I mean, sorry that it turned out that way, but for TV, when you get a, a
pass for the lead in the last dent, it's, it's good.
Yeah, it's pretty.
Yeah, I know.
I know.
Okay.
So Barbara coming up, uh, two times you've been a winner.
Both times you've won there.
You've gone on to win the championship.
Your record on road courses in IndyCar is exemplary.
You have won more races on road courses than I think other tracks combined.
So I got to imagine your confidence is fairly high coming into the weekend.
It's high.
Yeah, it's high, but man, I've had so many times where my confidence
has been super high and then suddenly you show up and you're nowhere in practice
or you struggled so much.
So, um, it's high, but who knows?
Like we don't know about, uh, the tires for this year.
Like, are they going to be very different or not?
Like who only fires some nose and yeah, I'm excited to go in practice and see
how our, our car feels because we've never, in 2026, we've not tested on a
road course, so it's going to be literally the first time we're on a road
course in 2026 since when was the last race?
I, Portland, probably, right?
We've had Portland.
Yeah.
So since Portland, I've not been on a road course.
So back in August, mid August was the last time you drove on a road course.
Yeah.
We've not, I mean, where do we, we, we tested, well, Sebring, but that's,
that doesn't count.
No.
That's a street course and that's street course setup with the IndyCar.
And then yeah, I did Sebring with the, uh, GTP, but it's not, that doesn't count.
That doesn't count, yeah.
And Daytona doesn't count.
Well, Daytona counts, but I'm saying IndyCar, like, for the IndyCar, yeah.
IndyCar, uh, no, we, we have no idea.
So I'm excited, but I don't know.
Like does somebody has suddenly a ton of, uh, pace, like, I don't know,
I'm ready on both, uh, different tracks that we've been to.
Like, you know, you don't know if suddenly, uh, someone has some surprises.
Carpenters on the short ovals, like, uh, I have no idea.
So I'm excited, but not confident.
I think it's going to be Prima.
It's going to be Prima this time.
You just, you always know exactly the wrong thing to say at all times.
It's, it's a, it's a talent, really.
Well, you need that, you need that.
Alex, you know that Tim writes for a living, right?
Like he writes scripts for movies, yeah.
Nothing good enough.
That's why I'm in a tiny apartment.
Oh yeah.
He writes movie scripts and, uh, you, yeah.
You would think that he would know how to choose his words a little more
carefully, but, uh, evidently not remember my favorite quote.
Some people have a way with words.
Others not have way.
Steve Martin classic, um, Alex, we'll leave you on this.
Last thing I want to just touch on is kind of just how it feels in Indy car
right now with the seeming momentum that the series has.
I mean, you're in it.
You're one of the stars, you're the defending champion.
You've got your commercials playing in the Superbowl.
I mean, just you've been here long enough now.
You know, you've not been here dicks and long.
He's been through, you know, peaks and valleys of, of the series in terms of, uh,
in terms of its popularity, in terms of its momentum, things like that.
But just where do you feel Indy car is right now?
It's the highest I've been part of.
So I mean, I've, I've been here since 2020 when I joined, um, I feel like the
first year doesn't count because it was like COVID and I cannot really say how
much it evolved because we had no fans on the stands, but it's, it's been incredible.
Like, I think the amount of effort that Indy car has put in, the amount of effort
that Fox has put in, like the ratings on the first three races, I don't understand
anything about ratings or the share and all the numbers, but it looks good.
There's a lot of zeros.
I can tell you it's good.
Yeah.
A lot of people is posting about it.
So I guess that's, that's a big, big thumbs up, but like just being part of it,
you can feel, you can feel like it's getting, it's getting good momentum.
Um, I just feel like it's now the time to focus on it and, and get advantage of it
and get advantage of like the good product we have on TV, um, the good products
that we're bringing with new events and try and get more people to know about it.
Try and get the events to be closer to Arlington because Arlington, we said it's
a 10, maybe we don't need 10s.
We would just need like six or sevens, but that, that would be good.
Eights throw a couple of eights in there.
Sometimes we have a four.
We cannot really, uh, go and have a four.
Like I feel like we still have some events that are four.
We need to elevate those, but I, I'm super excited.
I, I'm very pumped and, um, hopefully we can, we can grow the series because I
feel it's being so fun having so many fans, uh, on Sundays.
Like it's incredible.
Like all three races we've done, it's been huge and you can feel as a driver, um,
that it's just special.
It just, as you said, as a, uh, you're in Arlington and you want to be part of it.
And I feel like, um, that's what we need to have.
We need to have that everybody wants to be part of it, fans, drivers, uh, teams,
manufacturers, and hopefully that's just going to grow the series.
So yeah, I think it's great.
Do you, do you notice a difference?
Like walking around, whether it's in a race market or even here in India,
I know in Indy people know Indy car, but even still, like there's an element
that maybe don't follow it that closely, but with the growth that we've seen,
are you even noticing, are you getting recognized more?
Do people talk about it more?
Do people ask you about it more?
Yeah, a lot more.
I would say in airports, like every airport, there's always one or two people
that come and be like, Hey Alex, like obviously Indy, but I'm talking like, um,
I did a couple of events at the start of the season for DHL.
One was in like Houston and you're, I'm just there with the phone.
We don't raise in Houston.
We don't do anything in Houston.
And then suddenly I had two people, uh, talking to me about Indy car and asking
for a picture.
I was like, Oh, wow.
Like I've never had that kind of stuff.
Same in Atlanta.
Uh, I think it was February this year that I had that.
So I feel like, yes, it used to be only in Indy and now it's expanding a little bit.
So it's, it's a great sign.
How much, sorry.
Last question.
I know I've said this three times now.
How much are you looking forward to May going back as the defending race winner?
It's a lot busier, I imagine.
I don't know if you've seen your May schedule yet or been given a sneak peak at
how much more stuff you got going on, but crazy for do it.
It's crazy busy too much.
I was just saying, is it too busy?
Yeah.
Like I, you can say yes.
You can say yes.
Like I'm saying yes, I'm saying yes.
Like it's, it's, it's way too much.
It's way too much.
Um, it's, it's like non-stop and I understand it, it's part of it.
And it just makes it very challenging like to rest or to, because there's like one
week off between Barbara and Long Beach and you have to do three events to prepare
for May, which is like great.
But at the same time, it's like, man, I really need to rest because it's going
to be tough when we start May, like it's going to be non-stop.
So, um, yeah, there's days that I'm like, man, that's a ton of work.
But at the same time, you're celebrating a win that happened like what?
10 months ago, like it's pretty spectacular that you're celebrating a
win that happened 10 months ago.
So I, I love that I'm enjoying every single second of it.
Sometimes I cry a little bit because I'm like, I'm too busy, but, uh, it's good
to be, uh, crying about that.
And, um, I'm excited just to be during the month of May with the fans as a winner.
Like I feel the fans of the 500, they are super special.
They know, and they care so much about the 500.
So if they already made me feel special, just being a driver, I feel like being a
winner, it, it can be much better.
So kind of wait.
You're going to have so much more stuff to sign.
Cause there's a lot of people that have things that only the winners get to sign.
So, um, yeah, it's so many things that it's like, Oh, this flag, it's only winners
and these helmets and these posters.
And, but it's super fun.
Like just to see how much people care, it's incredible.
I think that's what makes this event so special.
Like it, just how people care about it and how many years and how much do they
follow it.
It's, it's super cool.
Have you contemplated not winning this year just so that way you don't have to do
all this stuff next year?
Or no, I was just, I was just asking, that's a fair question.
But then, yeah, but then he wouldn't get to sign tickets with his own face on.
Right.
Like, yeah, I like, oh, good point.
Good point.
You kind of have to go back to Bayez.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, no, yeah, I, I feel it's, it's, it's super cool.
It's worth it.
It's super cool.
Yeah.
I, I cry and I in, uh, yeah.
I mean, I think it's part as, as drivers, we need to be, uh, how do you say when
you don't like something?
I, I doesn't come to like, we, we're, uh, like to complain about it.
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
We, we need to complain.
Like we need to complain about stuff.
Yeah.
Think that's a racing driver.
Oh yes.
Sorry.
Yes.
Yeah.
That is part of being a driver.
It's part.
We need to complain about everything.
You need to complain about, though, I was at the sim for so many hours.
Yeah.
Well, we're at the sim, you know, like you were just driving a race car on a
beating game.
That's it.
It was not the end of the world, but I need to complain sometimes.
Oh, I won the biggest race in the world and I'm so famous and I got his massive
check for doing it.
Oh my God.
It's so much work I got to do.
Yeah, I get it.
It's, it's like, it's not even a first world problem.
It's so far past that even like there's way more like benign first world problems.
This is elite athlete problem.
Yeah.
It's like, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Sorry, sorry.
I can obviously relate.
Yes.
Tim has got plenty of experience being a top level athlete and having crazy
demands on his time.
Hey, I got top 12,000 in that half marathon I did.
Wow.
How many apps are you taking today, right?
Not yet.
I mean, probably 10,000.
He got beat by a few of the officials that were cleaning up after the race is over.
I didn't realize he was still running.
All right, buddy, we really appreciate you taking the time.
I had no idea you hadn't been on this format.
We will have you on again.
We will have you on any time you want.
You are, you are the champion.
You are the reigning champion.
So you're welcome anytime.
Thank you.
Best of luck in barber this weekend.
And for the month of May, I'm sure we'll talk to you then, pal.
Take care.
Thank you.
Thank you guys.
Tim, if Hinch or Rossi, they're too hard on you, just let me know.
Give me a text.
I'll give you a hug.
I will.
Careful.
Yeah.
Okay.
You're going to be giving a lot of hugs, bro.
Thank you guys.
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About this episode
Alex Palou sits down with Hinch and Rossi to talk sim prep, sports-car learning, and the highs and chaos of IndyCar. He breaks down a tough Phoenix weekend and a restart crash where he admits it was his mistake—spotter calls weren’t the issue. Between that and his Sebring experience as a “bonus” driver, Palou explains how traffic and decision-making in IMSA sharpen his racing. He also raves about Arlington’s execution and previews Barber, while discussing IndyCar’s growing momentum and the relentless May schedule.
Original notes
Álex Palou joins us for the first time, in an actual episode at least, to talk about his season so far, how it feels to be a defending Indy 500 and Series champ, the trajectory of IndyCar, and more!
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