RHR: Live From the Yacht!

This is, is off track.

The narrative has worked by the way you guys, So sorry.

What, what narrative, what, what is, what are you talking about?

We're joined by Ryan Hunter Ray who, from his yacht.

From his yacht, um, . Okay.

Look, we'll get to the new, we'll get the news outta the way, and then we will, and then we'll go into whatever, you know, fantasy you've concocted that, that you're blaming us for here.

Um, I, I take it based on your hat that you've got some news you wanna share with the world.

Yeah, I got a new hat, .

It's great. I'm glad that you went to the IndyCar shop

and picked out a, a paddle of award.

Me too special and, yeah.

Oh, look at that, Tim. I, yeah, I, I listen, I listen.

So I, I've, but I don't watch, I listen.

So I've just heard, and I've only imagined your, your hat situation has been a hot topic.

It's rough. It's been rough, yeah. Yeah. His

Hair has been a hot topic for the entire time.

It, it's a announced, yeah, it was announced today that you are driving in the Indy 500 from McLaren in the fourth entry.

Congratulations on the announcement, my friend.

How are you feeling about it all? I

Appreciate, appreciate it, man.

Yeah, it's a tremendous opportunity, as you can imagine.

Um, you know, it all came together relatively quickly when you consider, you know, how, how things work in the motorsports world, especially, uh, IndyCar to have this thing done late October, early November, um, yeah.

Was, was, was huge.

And, um, you know, big credit to Zach and Tony and everybody, even most behind the scenes, everybody was just kind of pushing the same direction and it all got done, you know, very, very quickly.

So, yeah, it's a, it's a great opportunity.

I love where the team is right now.

I love, I love the position they're in with, um, you know, their, their, their trending in the right direction that the, the ascent has been, has been pretty awesome.

Um, their form by, by the drivers, the team, um, you know, the kind of dynamic within the team and how that's changing.

Um, it's, yeah, it, it, it's cool for sure.

And, um, happy to be a, a small part of it and look forward to, to contributing what I can over my, you know, with my, with my experience and having to work with, you know, people that are super tough to deal with, like you and teammates.

I, I've been through the Ringer.

This is my 10th IndyCar team, if you can believe that.

So, oh, I can, no, I can, I mean, I, yeah, I Would.

Yeah, for sure. Here's

Next.

Here it comes. Here it Comes. Yeah. No, that's, yeah.

Yeah. Ryan hen tough to, tough to work with, you know,

can't hold down a job, you know, he is always bouncing around teams, uh, throwing fits and, and walking out, storming off with his helmet in his hand, you know, looking for greener pastures.

I get it. I get it. Um, okay, so, so real talk, real talk.

Um, you obviously the last few years have been running with Dryer Reinbold this year.

I say last year, this year had an incredible run, um, you know, was in contention for the win in a, in a pit stop, you know, box of bolt car that they threw together last minute.

Yeah. Huge credit to the team for getting it together

after a fire on Car Day.

Um, I mean, I think a lot of people were kind of expecting that that relationship was just gonna continue based on the, the way you guys have been running together.

So what was sort of the catalyst for the change?

Was it, did Tony just call you up one day?

Was, you know, were, was dryer reinbold not sure what they were doing next year?

Kinda how did we end up here? Well,

First of all, huge credit to dryer reinbold, everybody there.

I mean, I, I've super tight with that group, um, from the top, from Dennis, chase, Brett, everybody all the way down.

Um, not down, but, you know, the crew and everything else.

I mean, those guys, we've been through a lot together.

And, um, I have a huge amount of, uh, respect for them.

And, you know, I stopped by the shop this morning and I got them together, and I wanted to talk to them and tell them, you know, basically the background to this and that it was not a reflection of any shortcoming.

Um, you know, on their part. It, yeah.

What, what, what occurred last, last May was something that I, I wish was in a documentary or something.

'cause man, it was, it was wild.

Just the, the fire, the turnaround time, and the lack of sleep, um, by all involved.

And just a complete, you know, you go into a, you go into the Indy 500 in a, um, in a pit stop car, a pit stop practice car, and you're expecting the thing to just wanna step out sideways on you the whole time, or have a massive imbalance.

And, and it was hooked up from the beginning. And yeah.

So I, I can't give them enough credit, honestly.

Um, it, it, it's been a absolute pleasure to work with them, um, and told them as much, but this situation, uh, came about.

I talked to Tony, you know, after the race and just casually and, and towards the end of the season, and, uh, all, all of a sudden it just, uh, yeah, it just, it just snowballed.

It, it hit the steamroll that, you know, that that took off and, um, went, like I said before, it went way faster than anything I've really, um, I've experienced in the industry in IndyCar.

And the wild thing is just walking in the door.

There's just so many familiar faces.

Obviously Tony was my teammate somehow.

Now he's my boss, , and he, he loves being my boss. He, he loves,

I'm sure that he's milking that, like, in that crazy way.

He's so good at dictating, you know, what I need to do, and he takes it over the top.

Um, but just, you know, walking in, you know, talking to Kyle Moyer, um, you know who you worked For that As well, Scott Harden.

Yeah, exactly. And ironically, they're going back

to the same building I was actually there today.

Oh, that's such a good point. Yeah.

They're moving to old Andre shop. Yeah. Tony, you know, Tony

And I are gonna see if your old door code still works.

Yeah, no, it doesn't. I tried , I tried

28, 28 .

So, I mean, to be a part of a group, you know, like this and, and, and every, everyone that's involved, um, yeah.

It's, it's just, uh, yeah, it's phenomenal.

So I'm really looking forward to it.

And I'm, I, I just want to be, I want to contribute, you know, to better the team.

Obviously my whole goal is to win the 8,500 and they're, they're very, very hungry to get that done as well.

Obviously they've come up short.

I just recently came up short, so, um, we're, we're, we're all, uh, chomping at the bit to get it on Motivated group. Motivated group

Motivated group.

Yeah. I mean, you look at their performance at,

at the race the last few years.

I mean, you know, Patto has been there thereabouts when Rossi was still there.

You know, he was running in the top five, you know, in that race with a shot to win at the end.

Uh, they've got good equipment, they've got good preparation, they've got good execution.

It makes a lot of sense, man.

And now bringing in a guy like you that has been through it as many times as you have, has won it and knows how to get it done, it's a huge get for the team.

Because I guess technically Tony did drive for them in the 500, right?

Because I was gonna say you're the first winner, but he's done it sort of, I guess, as well.

But now you've got him at the helm.

Yeah, Montoya. Well, oh, yeah. Shooting Alex

Monto, man, this was a, Was a terrible set.

I mean, I'm talking about the fourth car, but yeah, obviously Alex.

Yeah, no, but you're right. Yeah. Yeah, I, yeah, I forgot

that he was, yeah, nevermind That, where is Alex, by the way?

Alex looked like he was actually supposed to be here, so these episodes often only feature one of us.

He was very excited to chat to you, but, um, been, Oh, his Cat's up in, he, he, well, he's washing his hair , he's washing his Hair and, uh, cat His birthday or washing his hair.

Yeah, yeah, Yeah.

I think he had to trim his le it was his left toenails today, so he was, yeah, so he was, dude, he's really sorry. He sends his best

Priorities. Absolutely. Yeah.

Um, yeah, just looking at your background there, I didn't, you're, it's weird how like the state rooms in your yacht look so much like a Holiday Inn in Indianapolis.

That's weird. Yeah,

No, that's what I was going for.

Like this, this, yeah. This one here. Yeah.

That I just wanted to, I, I went to the, I went to the Hilton line of, uh, right, of drapes and Yeah. Yeah.

Odd, because you didn't, you wanted to be able to do your Zoom calls and make people think you were in some, you know, humble hotel when, you know, you're probably cruising somewhere in the keys at the moment.

How did absolutely start? Yeah, that, how

Did we start this whole line of jokes?

I don't even remember where it started. .

I just have a, I just have a humble, I, I'll tell you how, I just have a humble fishing boat, Humble fishing Boat, and they tell me a Landing pad on the front. .

Exactly. Here we go.

I mean, even I walked in, I walked in the McLaren shop today, and people are like, so did you just get off the boat and come?

I saw, I saw something on Twitter that asked if you were gonna make the announcement from the yacht .

I should have. And I, I really, I had, I,

I don't know why one, two days ago I woke up and I was like, oh my God, you know what I need?

I need this backdrop, which is like paradise behind me.

And I'm sitting here holding a coconut with the, uh, with the umbrella sticking out and the long, super long straw.

And you guys on this show, love to, uh, just, it, it's, it's frustrating sometimes to hear, I can hear the inside of your mouth and, you know, while you're chewing.

Um, yes. That I can, I can't. I can't. Nope.

Do you know what, okay, you know What the, the biggest revelation about this whole thing so far is it's not that you're gonna be driving for McLaren at the five hundreds that, that he listens to off track.

It's that you listen to the show .

That is the most, which actually brings me, alright, look, yeah, you're going racing and you're a 500 winner, and that's gonna be fun and cool.

You're gonna do a hundred interviews about that, and people can read that on whatever website they wanna, I wanna get into the more detailed stuff, right?

People wanna know. Yeah.

I wanna know, what does Ryan Hunter Ray's Day look like?

Like what are you doing?

I know you're super active in the kids' extracurriculars.

I love when Becky sends me videos of you like, coaching the tag football, you know, or the touch football or flag football, sorry, whatever it is, just no, again, Get it right, dude.

It's flag football. What are you? Flag football.

I mean, come on, James, you're embarrassing this.

No, it's football. I don't follow that sport.

Um, so, oh, you have something more important to do.

Yeah, sorry, it's my boat mechanic.

Tell me what, what's going on Engine.

I Figured it was Ross call and ask you where he is.

No, but so, so what is, what is, you know, how, how do you spend your days, man, you're an IndyCar champion, you're a 500 winner, and you, you cruise into Indy for the month of May.

Just kind of show up, do a few weeks work, and then disappear off in the distance.

Again, we see you at the odd race, but how is, how is Ryan spending his daisies these days?

Uh, by the way, your internet connection is absolutely terrible.

You, you, you're the one on a boat.

I don't know what it is, but , dude, If you watch the show, you know this. So, like, don't be

Surprised.

Tim is super, super clear. And the reason why I listen

to the show is you, you guys are all, you know, good friends of mine.

And, um, actually my kids like listening to it.

The frustrating part is, you know, you look at these podcasts and they're like a minute or an hour, 15 hour 20, and then you look at the off track and it's like, uh, 19 minutes , 24 .

Those are just the Tuesday episodes. Those are the

Episode people want episode say, because it, it's entertaining.

And you actually get to the point on some things, which you guys did a great job on the Nashville recap, by the way.

That was, that was perfect.

The, the season finale. What can we talk about? We forgot. I

We haven't done that yet.

We, yeah, we, we've not done the dash.

We haven't, we stopped doing the bit , like I know.

We gotta get back to the bit, Apparently. The bit I love that.

I love you're getting, we're getting called out for that, Man.

Yeah, we, we have a know, we have a do you do, tell me what You, with your life, All of our, um, you know, our, you could tell talk, you know, you can call 'em investment properties and this, that, and the other, but it's, it's, it's rental properties that we're, that we're, they're called Children. What are you doing?

Constantly managing, oh, sorry. And yeah, exactly. Yeah.

Uh, actually just what, two weeks ago, our whole house was as sick as I've ever seen a house.

Like leaving the house, being the, the, the whole family.

Yes. Uh, this is not what, what I have to do,

but, um, holy cow.

I don't know if you guys have had this, the whole family out knocked the whole family out.

When mom gets sick, you know, you're in trouble.

'cause then, then it's over. Yeah. I'm like,

dude, you can't get sick.

I can't deal with all this by myself, .

Um, and somehow I was, I was like hiding, you know, in the guest bedroom.

'cause I was the last one to like, I, I know it's gonna get me, I know it's gonna get me.

Um, but with them doing, they're, they're at three different, basically three different schools.

Three, um, and they're playing five different sports.

So what are we doing? Becky? Becky and I have adult.

We have adult time.

I dropped riding off at school at 7:55 AM and by two 30 already the split, you know, responsibility starts where, gotta go.

Get him, get him, get him, get him, drive him over there, drive him to this practice, drive him to that practice.

It's, it's tough to fit it in into that, into that space.

But, uh, holy cow man, three boys at this age is wild.

But I've been working with also with the Precision Driving Club, um, which is the Miami GP track.

That is just the coolest, the, the, the most amazing kind of country club of racing.

It, it is Wild. James, you have to come see this.

It's, there's like s McLaren F1 car sitting there ready to run in one garage and it, it cars I've never seen.

And then you go have Watch and is that the Miami F1 track?

Correct. Yeah. Like where the Dolphins play?

Correct. Yeah. So yeah, they're using it. I

Mean, I didn't know if they had like a full-time thing there. That's amazing.

Yeah, it is. It is.

It it, it's wild and it's done right.

Like Bo Barfield and his entire IMSA team is there for every day on track.

There might be two cars on track for two hours, three hours.

And they have the best, they do everything top of the line.

Like that's how Tom Garfinkel and, and the group do it there.

Everything is topnotch with the Dolphins, with the Miami gp.

Um, so I've been So like there incredibly blessed To work with Them.

Are you, yeah. When you're there, you're like, you're,

I assume doing like shorter cook and just working in the, in the back of the restaurant or like what are, what's Your main role?

Yeah, I'm just getting the sliders ready, you know, for for lunchtime. Yeah. Yeah, right.

Hot dogs on the rollers and Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Cool, cool.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. As you would expect.

Uh, yeah. And,

and no, it's, uh, you know, I've been consulting with them on different things and how it's all run.

I've, I've had a lot of experience in early years with Ferrari Challenge and, um, coaching those guys and doing that.

And it, it's just, it's just the overall experience and then track layouts and how you, uh, divvy up sessions between road cars and race cars and it's, uh, yeah, it's been cool.

So just balancing all that and, and honestly it's tough to believe, but I, you know, I worked this whole deal myself.

Um, and it, it, it was a lot of work just making sure everything was covered in every different category and my backers that were with me and supported me and my personal sponsors, um, making sure that kind of everything was in line and, and it's, it's taken, I said it got got done in a relatively short period of time, but just making sure everything is in line and, and correct for me on that side also.

Um, yeah. Takes quite a bit of time. So, um, so yeah.

And then you have the boat time.

You gotta, you gotta put that in there, you know? Well,

You gotta factor in a couple.

You gotta factor couple days, week on the boat. Yeah.

Yeah. And just, and just sitting on the front,

just sunning, just drinking.

Right. Just drinking that. Yeah. Know every fruity drink,

Everything to described, you've gotta fit into three days of the week.

'cause the other four, you're just on the boat, so.

Right, exactly. I'm talking to two guys who know their way

around sun and on a boat, Right?

Yeah. Yeah.

I, I wish, I wish you can come down for, for even three days.

Me too. So what, what, what'd you do

with your day, James? What'd you do?

Uh, I, I would it Spend, would, I'd be I'd be so all, All day today, it would make me happy.

You wanna know what I did today?

I know what you do. You're in a plane all the time

and then you have, yeah, you're in first class and those big deals where they shut the door and You just, I did have a door coming back from Brazil, I'm not gonna lie.

It was the first time I've had a door and it was That's awesome.

It was one of the, it was one of the coolest plane pods I've seen.

Um, it was great. I, now I know how, how you live.

Few things. Few things.

Gotta We're gonna, we're gonna run back real quick.

Uh, what are the five sports that kids are involved in?

So, basketball just started from my oldest Ryden, who somehow is going to be 13 years old soon.

Which is absolutely depressing. That was

Insane.

I remember when you guys had him, It just, well, just, he was just eight years old.

I don't know where that went. Um,

and then we have, uh, we just, we're, we're, we're playing on three different football teams at the moment.

Okay. Okay. Um, yep. And then soccer just ended.

Baseball now is crazy.

My, my youngest and my middle Rhodes and Rocks are in baseball and it's kid pitch.

Okay. These games last three hours

because the kid is pitching.

And so it's ball ball, it's a lot of balls. Strike ball.

Kid gets hit it. It is the longest

Least some me, they only play like five Inning.

I, yeah. Sometimes I, I feel like I need therapy

after some of those games, but they, they absolutely love it.

It's, it's awesome. They're super into it. They

Don't play full night.

They don't play full night innings, do they?

They get close. It's sometimes a mercy rule.

'cause they're very, it used before this, there was like, it was, it was, it was coach pitched.

Now it's, yeah. Now that it's kid pitch, yeah.

It's all over the place. But, um, it's a whole thing.

It's so cool that they're Yeah.

They're into it and, and then they, yeah.

And they, like, I've done, well not doing the travel thing yet, like the hardcore travel deal.

Yeah. Which a lot of parents do that I've done.

I I've been holding back on that.

And, and then they were like, oh, but when are we going carting?

I'm like, guys, you don't understand carting .

You have to stop everything else. Right.

And just dedicate your, your time to that and sweating your <inaudible> off in a homestead and staying in the comfort ribs and Yeah.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. It's a different deal. So yeah,

You gotta, once you're traveling, you gotta pick one.

You gotta pick one sport and you gotta For Right.

So did you ever play any other sports as a kid?

I just played, I played football until, um, what, 11th grade?

Um, hardcore. And then I Yeah. Gave it up carting.

Obviously racing was, was the priority.

So of the sports that your boys now play, which one do you enjoy?

Like being at the most?

What's, what's the most fun watching them? So, football.

I'm involved in football. I know football.

I know you've coaching, right?

I've been coaching him. Yep. Yep. So

Coach him to a championship last year, I remember.

Yes. Yeah, exactly.

And um, and yeah, it's just the problem is trying to spend my time, um, allocating enough that he is equal between all three of 'em.

You're always, as a parent of numerous kids, you're always trying to be like, well, I'm spending too much with this one and I gotta make sure this one and this it.

And, and yeah. And my oldest just went to a, you know,

the step up to where you're now in like middle school going into high school and you know, he is rubbing elbows with high schoolers.

So there's that whole dynamic and, uh, yeah.

It's, it's wild. It's a little bit more complicated than I,

um, than I, than I thought it would be. .

Well, at least you only have to do it three times.

Um, what true, what?

You're gonna have to give me like the official league and everything of that thing.

'cause I cannot wait.

This May to on television introduce you as 2012 indie card champion 2014 Indy 500 winner and 2024 Peewee flag Football, Florida, south Southeast Region five Coach Champion.

Yeah. That is getting said that,

that is gonna be part of your intro.

This, this may. I hope, you know, or next May.

I love it. Absolutely. I'll wear, I'll wear my ring too.

They, um, you Got a ring.

It's somehow, I don't know how it happens.

It's a ring pop. I think.

I think the, I think the parents order him on Amazon or something.

Yeah, it's bigger than, it's bigger than like the Indy 500, you know, the really, really, really big body.

Like the, the championship ring.

What ?

And, and it's like, it's, it's sized for like a dude that's six foot eight.

And so these kids just walking around like the things, you know, hanging off sideways.

What's that? Like, really cheap like costume

jewelry store kind of thing?

It's like one of those Yeah, it's not far off.

It's like a Halloween costume kind of thing. Right.

It's not far off that. Um, All right. So

Elio would definitely wear it.

Well, yeah. I mean he wears all four all the time. Right,

Exactly.

You, you can't see he keeps, he only wears the one on his hand.

He actually keeps the rest, uh, on his toe.

He wears 'em as toe rings. He doesn't want ring you to know,

but he's wearing them at all times. Yeah's

Probably why Alex is cutting his nails.

Yep. That's why he is got, yeah.

'cause they, the ring catches when he Yeah.

Catches.

So, so you know, we just, we just talked about all your accolades, right?

You've won, uh, dozens of races, you've won a championship, a 500.

What, what is, you know, what's the motivation for Ryan Hunter Ray to keep coming back?

What is left to prove?

Why do in Indy man you still want to do this Indy?

Um, I absolutely still have that burn, that desire.

The fire's there. And I was really re reminded of that.

The fact that it was still there with how much it affected me on how we came up short.

'cause I was, I was just dying to be in that final fight at the end.

That's all I wanted, was to just have that, that fricking street fight at the end, that shootout at the end, and just be a part of it and pull out that, that inner me that's there.

Um, and, and, and just lay it out there.

Um, and, and coming up short on that was just such a bummer.

I haven't watched the, I haven't even watched the race.

I haven't watched the replay of it, just 'cause I honestly hadn't been that dejected in a long time.

And I, yeah, it, it, I, I knew it obviously was there, otherwise I wouldn't be at Indy.

I'm not there just to participate.

I'm not there just to be an IndyCar driver.

I'm there to win. I'm not putting all that effort,

putting myself out there, you know, on the line just to, just to participate.

I'm out there to win.

And I would not be here doing it if I didn't.

Absolutely 120% think I could. So that's it. Do

You have, do you have any sense of how much longer you want to do it?

Or is this gonna be like a you'll wake up one day and be like, okay, I guess I think I'm done now. Or

Do you Im not gonna, I'm not gonna Ride. I'm gonna,

You know, yeah.

I'm not, I'm not gonna ride a tired, you know, beaten, starving horse into the, into the, uh, sorry, I thought Sunset thought We racing next year.

Yeah, I, I don't know.

I haven't thought about it, but I know that it's, yeah, it's close to where I'll shift into, um, maybe another role with consulting for a team or doing something like that.

But as of right now, still, you know, it kicked, kicked James outta the feel in my early thirties.

Yeah. Well, James, yeah, he's, you know,

what's wild about James is I was looking through some, some, some YouTube stuff with, uh, my oldest, right?

And, and James is commentating in Champ Car.

I don't know how I think he was in, it was probably his fifth year of sixth year of Indie lights, but he was commentating champ car in like oh six.

Yeah. And you sounded good then. So Yeah. No wonder why.

So what happened? We all have to live up to

that .

Yeah. Where'd

It go?

Go? Yeah. Yeah.

Should have stuck with it. Um, yeah. Well, uh, yes.

I was still good for you though. Still just

a good, sounded good.

I was just a young, I was a child.

I was barely outta diapers.

You were already, you know, a veteran of Indy car.

You'd already had a couple dozen years under your belt. Um,

I landed on the moon before that.

But you, you sounded, you actually sounded good.

You just sounded really high pitched, like somebody was squeezing your nuts or something.

But it was good. Sounded

Good.

You don't know that they weren't, you don't know what goes on in the TV booth.

I don't know. You do actually,

because you've done a little bit of tv.

You've come and you've come and played with us.

You, uh, did some stuff with NBC.

You've done some stuff with Fox.

I mean, is that something you'd Be interested in on gonna come and played with us right after he talked about somebody grabbing your, your Nuts.

Yeah, yeah. True, true, true.

Sustained. I Sustained

Disagree.

Um, um, is that, is that a, is that an interest?

Is that a, an avenue you wanna explore more at some point?

I, I absolutely enjoy it just 'cause you know, all, as you know, all your, all your time behind the wheel and the seat, it just comes naturally.

The stuff that you see guys doing and, and, you know, changing lines and moving around, just, it's just natural.

And so if you can speak on that and, and, and add to whatever that picture that you're painting for the, for the viewer, it was enjoyable.

I did it this year with Indy Next.

I thought it was a great opportunity with Fox just to kind of get used to it, you know, just see what it's like and absolutely enjoyed it.

Um, so I don't know, on the other hand, do I want to be at the airport 85 times a a year?

Like you? No. Travel was a lot easier.

I don't know why it was, but 10, 15 years ago it was just more straightforward and it's become a complete mess.

But, um, if you could just, you know, pick me up on the jet and do your thing as you do, I I would absolutely be a part of it.

Yes, the travel is tough.

The travel is tough, Ryan, uh, I won't lie to you.

Um, but, but IndyCar travel's not that bad.

Here's the thing, once you do F1 travel for half a year, you realize, yeah, dude, I could do 30 IndyCar races in a year.

That's not a big deal at all.

I bet your your problem is you're just super used to managing your real estate empire in South Florida and spend your free time on the yacht that the thought of leaving the yacht more regularly is offputting for you.

You're like a therapist or something.

Dude, if I had a yacht, I wouldn't travel and work as much as I do.

I think you're doing it right. I think, I think working

for two weeks a year, , you know, and spending the rest of the time just like collecting checks from other people who can't afford to buy their own homes, you're just gonna take care money.

All that. Yeah. All that sweet,

sweet peewee coach money, Papa Yacht.

Oh, there, who decided to show up?

First of all, it's papaya yacht. Papaya.

I said Papa Yacht. I mean, but Papa makes sense.

Um, Ryan, I know they, I'm sorry.

First of all, uh, some of us have worked. No worries.

Second of all, congrats. This is awesome.

Thanks, dude. I appreciate it.

James said you were either cutting your finger, your toenails, and then I, I said it could be your cat's birthday, but you, you, you made it, you despite all of the, um, you know, Obstacles.

Listen, despite my allergy to cats and my toenails, big ingrown one on, on my big toe, um, yeah, no, I'm, I'm here.

It's, uh, I just wanna share my emotion, um, because the, it's two things that are, that are fairly close to me.

Uh, you being in the 500 and doing it with people that I recently worked with that I think are incredible.

Um, and I remember, I'm not gonna say what year it was, but a, a couple years ago, um, let's say one to five, just so people don't make assumptions, um, you were like, man, like is the setup that different since the hybrid?

Like, are are there things that are, are changing or is it, is it really, is it really needing to be that different?

And it was like, no, it's about the same.

And um, now you don't have to experience things like that.

So you can go out and you can contend for a second Indy 500, which is just awesome.

Thank Thanks, man. I appreciate it.

And I saw a lot of pictures of you today and James, you as well, um, in that shop.

Yeah. And it's a good group of people.

And Alex, like I was telling James and Tim, there were so many familiar faces.

It's like I've worked with half the people there already, which is Yeah.

Which is, um, very seamless. But, um, yeah. You know, so

Have you gone over, have you gone over like expectations?

Like what are, what, what, what, what are you expecting? Like what your

Tony mind just boss be around all day?

Just, just absolutely on top of me.

Like I had somebody on my back.

Um, but no, and this is little Expectations.

You barely feel 'em back there.

Expectations, it's, no, it's, um, you know, I really like where the team is.

I like the, the trajectory they're on and the, the hunger that's there, you know, the kind of the team atmosphere and, and just getting, you know, being right back in it, working with Kyle Moyer and Tony and Eric Cowden and, um, Scott Hard guys I've worked with, you know, like Scott was at, at <inaudible> when I was there with the prototype program and stuff like that.

It's just, it, it makes it so much easier to hit the ground running and expectations are that, you know, this fourth car from the beginning, the moment I started talking to him was, this is going to be a primary, this is not gonna be an add-on.

Afterthought kind of thrown together.

We're gonna get some guys from here or there or wherever and kind of chuck 'em together.

And you go out there and try and qualify the cars.

It's definitely a proper, a proper deal and wouldn't expect anything else from the group that they're working with.

So, yeah, it's, uh, I'm looking forward to it.

Yeah. You know, excuse me.

You know, that group is not gonna put together a, you know, a half baked approach.

Right. Even, even when it was SPM

and we brought in an extra car, it was, it was a really serious effort.

Like, they put the effort in and, and since McLaren's taken over, I mean, Alex, you saw it, you know, they're, they're putting, they're putting stars in that car, right?

It's Tony Canon, it's Kyle Larson, it's Ryan Ray.

Like that's a, that's a car.

They intend to go compete for the win.

So that's gotta be something that's, you know, a, uh, a huge relief for you.

Yeah, absolutely. And it's, um, it, it's just really cool

to have the opportunity, like I said, to, to work with, um, a lot of people that I've had success with in the past.

That makes a lot of difference too.

Um, going in there and not having to kind of, everybody's new faces completely new place and you're just trying to find your spot.

It's, you know, it, it just, it was kind of a natural fit.

So it, yeah, it's good.

And I, I just wanna, like I said before, I just wanna really contribute.

I wanna contribute, contribute to the team, and I'm here to win.

That's it. So, um, yeah, the

Two, so, so a question themselves Together, A Question I think a lot of people might be interested in is, so when you ended full-time driving, um, was, was the intention that you were gonna continue doing five hundreds?

Is that something that, I know we, we've had you on in the past and you were like, you know, I, I don't know that I'm a I'm a I'm a part-time guy, you know, I wanna be, right.

I wanna be full-time, whether it's with a broadcasting role or whether it's with, with my career, obviously the 500 is a little bit different than, than doing, you know, a race in Iowa.

But what has the last, I guess really nine months been like eight months, been like, be being so close to winning a second Indy 500 with a team that only competes during the month of May, to have it kind of ripped from your hands in, in a way that was of your own, own, like it was not your fault, right?

Nothing that you did to contribute to that.

Did you think that maybe 2025 was the end of the road for Ryan?

You know, I, I, I spoke about this a little bit earlier, but, uh, I know I have the passion there.

I know I have, I still have the fire there, otherwise I wouldn't not be back.

I'm not doing this to, to participate or, or just, you know, be an IndyCar driver.

This, that's, I've, I've done that long enough.

I'm here to win. Uh, but how much it impacted me

after that really reminded me of the fact that, man, it's unfinished business.

And, um, yeah, the part-time thing every year for me, it, it's just a reset.

It's situationally dependent.

And I have to make the decision on if the people that are, that are grouped together, um, the preparation, the technical side, the engineering preparation, the wind tunnel prep, all that, if that's all online and I make the decision that we're gonna go for it, then we're going for it.

But I'm not, I'm definitely not going to do it, um, as, as an add-on or, or a field filler, anything like that.

So that, that's basically it. Every year I just reevaluate.

I take a serious discussion with myself, with my wife, um, uh, with my family and, and, and put my best foot forward.

Um, and obviously, yeah, it's a good one. Here

You realize, like right now you've got one and that's incredible, right?

Yeah. 99 9 9% of people get zero. You've got one.

If you get a second one, I hope you understand the pressure that then exists to get a third.

'cause you have three boys, and if you don't get each of them a baby boy, like if you've got one baby bo in the family, that's cool.

Like, if that's everyone's, like, that's a, I look what dad did.

If you've got two, it's almost more, it's almost more pressure.

I don't know if you actually wanna win another one now that Yeah, that won't be, no, that will not be consideration.

They, each of them has, in, in their rooms, they have the Iowa, uh, gas pump, which is the biggest trophy I've ever won, which I don't know, things like, how tall is it?

It's four, four feet tall. Yeah. Yeah.

It's almost my height. Yeah.

So each one of 'em has 'em in there.

You know, they turn a light on that.

That's, I'm happy enough with that.

That doesn't need to go, go beyond it.

So, um, lane, yeah, it's um, obviously All your trophies you have James?

No, I was trying to find, oh, , I, for, I was looking at, I was trying to find his helmet.

Where is it? Man, I have so many gas pumps I've

Won. It's

ridiculous. .

They're not Imi, they're right. Joseph. The, the .

No, I was trying to find your helmet.

I thought your guys helmets were next to each other on my shelf, but they're not. I was trying to find,

I thought mine was in the garage in the corner under the Yeah, Dude, yours is, yours is like one of the first ones that I put up.

Gasoline. Yours is, you

and I were teammates my second year in the sport.

Yeah. And when people ask me, they're like,

who are the best teammates that you had?

I've had a lot of good teammates.

Both of you obviously have been on that list, but I learned probably more from you, like you and Orle Orle obviously.

'cause I was a rookie that year and mm-hmm .

I learned so much from you and I, I really do respect you and your helmet's.

Like friend center, it's right up there.

Um, oh, thank you, man. It's not in the garage.

It's not, it's no longer in the guest bathroom. It was there a little,

I feel it was a dig coming soon. Yeah, you

Cut, you cut me off once, you know, at, I think it was mid Ohio, 20.

It doesn't matter. Look,

the helmet's not always been up there, but it's back up up there.

Now I'm over it. Yeah. And comes and goes, you know?

Yeah. Yeah. And I look,

We all cut each other off plenty of times and yeah, Plenty of times, plenty of times.

Territory. I've never done it.

I'll never forget. My

Favorite, my favorite memory of you on track is still to this day, you and Mika lot shit going at it on the last lap at Road America at like 2017 or something. Yeah.

Oh, just Absolute agro. Yeah. Oh,

Dude, they could, they were just trying to out agro each other into every break zone.

And I was just laughing in my helmet the whole time. It was great.

I gotta look that up. Is there footage

of that or did you just see it?

No, 'cause it was for p We were fighting for like 12.

Yeah. ,

The fights for P 17 are Yeah.

Are the most hard clap for sure.

Yeah. They're the best. They're the best. Yeah.

Well, buddy, uh, we've kept you for long enough, uh, I know you've got a dinner to get to. Oh,

Speaking of dinner, you know, since you're gonna be an indie for a bunch of times, it'd be really nice if you call it either James Ride, you know, have a, have a Meal.

Dude, he's here right now. Didn't even call

me like we're doing this.

Wow. I can, I can almost see him from

where he is and he didn't. I'm

A, I'm, I'm a little busy.

It's a little tight here. I I oh yeah. Just popped in.

But I will be back. Yeah. And the boat's not fueling itself,

so I gotta get back there and get that done. So that's

A great point.

Make sure, yeah. Get the work done here so you can afford

to put the fuel in it there so that way we can come visit.

Wait, didn't we? Yeah,

we've been talking about this visit with you guys.

Come down. I just want to get, bro, both of you seasick.

I, you know, go fishing, watch you guys, you know, little throw up in the mouth.

Here's the thing.

We've been talking about this for too long.

There, there is still a group chat that is the three of us plus young Colton Herda that is called AA Teammates who didn't shunt each other. . Yes.

And so that, that, that group of four is like the original four.

And so that trip still needs to have this a little bit harder.

The Colton's now a euro old guy, but, um, listen, We'll figure it out.

We'll do it a pre-season, like January, February. Yeah. We'll do something in there.

Love it. Good.

That's when it's windiest and nastiest on the ocean, so Yeah, we should do that. Yeah.

Better windy. You guys should get your

pale butts down there and come on, let's go, Let's go. We'll do it. All right. It's

A day.

Sorry I was late, man. Congratulations.

Super pumped for you and, uh, can't wait to beat your ass.

Thanks boys. I appreciate it. Thanks for having me on.

And yeah, I do listen to the show.

James, just back off the mic a little bit when you're chewing the, um, um, the, the prunes, The pan, the .

Geez. Well it is, he is middle aged, so makes

Sense.

Oh, that's be, that's the nicest thing you've said to me this week.

Uh, alright, thank you buddy. Thanks for coming on.

Thanks for listening to the show, which is insane.

And, uh, look forward to seeing you on track.

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