Long Beach race week kicks off with a laid-back catch-up: Tim’s move into a more “grown-up” apartment, the comedy of forgetting Hazel’s shoes, and a new cumquat tree plan (plus tequila pairings). The hosts also nerd out on caffeine choices and the show’s running gag about timing. Then it’s all IndyCar: excitement for Long Beach, memories and Hall of Fame talk, and a detailed breakdown of the new Firestone Fast 6 single-car qualifying format—why order choice changes strategy. They close with predictions, plus a heartfelt tribute to longtime Long Beach event leader Jim McAleon.
Rossi's busy traveling, but Hinch and Thim get ready for the race in Long Beach this weekend. Plus moving drama, qualifying updates, and saying goodbye to a friend.
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"...I was at an event up in Canada, like 24 hours up in Canada. I was at an event up there for MotoMaster, which is an owned brand of Canadian Tire, partner on the IMSA program..."
MotoMaster is a car-related brand in Canada. Here, they’re mentioned as working with a racing program (IMSA), which usually means they support the teams and the sport.
MotoMaster is a Canadian automotive brand owned by Canadian Tire. In this context, it’s described as partnering on an IMSA racing program, which typically means sponsorship and product/technical involvement tied to motorsport.
"...MotoMaster, which is an owned brand of Canadian Tire, partner on the IMSA program, and a company I work a lot with..."
Canadian Tire is a major Canadian retailer that also owns automotive brands like MotoMaster. The mention here connects a mainstream retail brand to motorsport partnerships, which is common for tire, battery, and maintenance product companies.
"...MotoMaster, which is an owned brand of Canadian Tire, partner on the IMSA program, and a company I work a lot with, and flew straight from Toronto to LA last night."
IMSA is a big racing league in North America. When someone says “IMSA program,” they mean a serious racing effort that’s officially connected to that league.
IMSA is a major North American sports-car racing organization. An “IMSA program” usually means a team or manufacturer’s official racing effort within IMSA’s series and rules, often involving engineering support and marketing tied to competition.
"Like my commute for getting hazel to school is, is more than cut in half."
A commute just means your regular drive from home to somewhere else, like school. If it’s shorter, you usually drive less and the car gets less wear.
A commute is the regular trip you make between home and where you need to be (like school or work). In car talk, commute length and traffic patterns strongly affect how often you drive, fuel costs, and wear on the vehicle.
"...we'll talk about racing because I don't think anybody really gives a **** about my new place. I feel like this is more relatable actually. I think moving is something that more people do than competing at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach."
This is a big race event in Long Beach, California. Because it’s run on city streets, the track is tight and unforgiving, so the car setup matters a lot.
The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach is a major IndyCar-style street race held on the streets of Long Beach, California. It’s a high-profile event where teams and drivers deal with tight corners, concrete walls, and frequent setup changes.
"...we'll talk about racing because I don't think anybody really gives a **** about my new place. I feel like this is more relatable actually. I think moving is something that more people do than competing at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach."
A street race uses public roads converted into a temporary circuit, usually with barriers close to the racing line. Compared to purpose-built tracks, street circuits tend to have less runoff and more surface variation, which affects tire wear and car setup.
"Yes, Tim, I am in town and I am in town because it is in fact race week. We're finally going racing again. I say finally, we had a week off."
Race week is the busy time right before a race. Teams use it to practice, set up the car, and get ready for qualifying and the race itself.
“Race week” is the period leading up to and including a motorsport event, when teams run practice sessions, qualifying, and race-day preparations. It’s when schedules tighten and track time becomes the main focus for drivers and engineers.
"We're finally going racing again. I say finally, we had a week off. Two, we had two, calm down. Oh yeah. F1's in the middle of five."
A two-week break is time off between races. Teams use it to fix and improve the car and to reset before the next set of weekends.
A “two-week break” is a scheduled gap between race weekends that gives teams time for car maintenance, upgrades, and logistics. In series like IndyCar/F1-style calendars, breaks also affect how teams plan development and driver training.
"After that, there are no two week breaks left in the schedule. After that, we are pretty much rolling. Indy road course, Indy qualifying, Indy 500..."
Indy qualifying is when drivers race to set their best time before the main event. Your starting spot matters a lot because it can affect how easy it is to pass during the race.
“Indy qualifying” is the qualifying session for the Indianapolis event, used to determine starting positions. Qualifying performance can heavily influence race strategy, especially on tracks where overtaking is difficult.
"...you hit the main strip here, you see all the road closures start seeing the barriers up. And there's just something about this race..."
A street circuit is when a race uses regular city streets that get closed off for the weekend. Barriers and closures are put in place so the cars can race safely.
A street circuit uses public roads that are temporarily closed and converted into a racetrack for the event. That’s why you see road closures and barriers, and why the driving feel can be different than a purpose-built track.
"...I love Thursday here, doing the track walk, just everything's coming together. And this is one of those places..."
A track walk is when people go on foot to look over the track before racing. It helps them notice details like where the curbs are and how the turns feel.
A track walk is when drivers, teams, or media walk the circuit to study the layout, sightlines, curbs, and surface details. On street circuits like Long Beach, small changes in curb height or surface can matter a lot for braking and turning.
"...Obviously the Indie car community. It's just, it's just great."
The IndyCar community is the group of drivers and fans who follow IndyCar racing. Long Beach is a place where that crowd really shows up.
The IndyCar community refers to the fan and competitor ecosystem around IndyCar racing. Long Beach is historically associated with IndyCar events, so the speaker is highlighting the event’s crossover appeal between series and audiences.
"...I was talking about Long Beach with somebody else and it's just, I don't know why... basically now my home race... how long I've been going to the Long Beach Grand Prix..."
Long Beach Grand Prix is a big race weekend in Long Beach, California. The cars race on streets that are closed off for the event, and it’s famous for the atmosphere and history.
The Long Beach Grand Prix is a major motorsport event held on a street circuit in Long Beach, California. It’s known for its mix of racing series and for being a “track walk” and fan experience event as much as a race weekend.
"...Who won in 2020? 2020. Somebody who drove for it. That was an Andretti year, right? ... There was no race in 2020 because of COVID."
They’re saying the race didn’t happen in 2020 because of the COVID pandemic. A lot of sporting events were canceled or delayed that year.
The speaker mentions that there was no race in 2020 because of COVID. This is a key motorsport context point: many events were canceled or postponed during the pandemic, affecting championship schedules and driver stats.
"...I don't want to say I'm not proud of it, because like a wins a win, but like I'm proud of the absolute sham that we pulled off with the strategy in that race."
Racing strategy is the plan for when to pit, what tires to use, and how to manage the race so you end up in the best position at the right time.
In racing, “strategy” usually means decisions that affect track position and timing—especially pit stops, tire choices, and how you manage traffic. The speakers highlight that their win came from a clever strategic call rather than just raw speed.
"...because they put your face down in Victory Lane when you win here. And then they put, you know, a plaque down for you on the walk..."
Victory Lane is where the winner celebrates right after the race. It’s a famous tradition at many motorsports events.
Victory Lane is the traditional area where drivers go immediately after winning a race for celebrations and interviews. The transcript uses it to describe a Long Beach tradition where a winner’s face is placed in cement.
"...on Thursday, which is today... Alex Rossi, is getting his little square on the Walk of Fame in Long Beach..."
Long Beach’s Walk of Fame is a public place where honored people get a permanent marker. In this episode, they’re talking about it as part of the racing honors.
The Walk of Fame in Long Beach is a local honor system where inductees receive a permanent marker, described here as a “little square” on the walk. The hosts connect it to IndyCar/Long Beach racing culture and recognition.
"Get to go to Lockheed Martin and check out the F 35, you know, assembly line, unbelievable."
Lockheed Martin is a big company that makes military aircraft and other defense technology. They’re saying they get to tour where that kind of stuff is built.
Lockheed Martin is a major U.S. defense contractor that builds advanced military systems, including aircraft like the F-35. Mentioning their facility implies the hosts are touring real aerospace hardware and production processes.
"now we're going to get to go cruise around JPL with some cool stuff planned."
JPL is NASA’s lab that works on robotic space missions. They’re saying they’ll get to visit and see cool space technology up close.
JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) is NASA’s center for robotic space missions and planetary exploration. A “cruise around JPL” visit suggests the hosts will see space-tech projects and hardware development rather than automotive content directly.
"went out first in Arlington, ended up on pole, caveat to that being the Andretti cars were insanely fast and like that was a good lap regardless."
“Pole” is when you qualify fastest and get to start the race from the very front. Starting first can help you avoid traffic and get clean air.
In racing, “pole” means starting first on the grid for the main race. It’s usually awarded based on qualifying results and is a major track-position advantage.
"went out first in Arlington, ended up on pole, caveat to that being the Andretti cars were insanely fast and like that was a good lap regardless."
Andretti refers to Andretti Autosport, a prominent IndyCar team. The speaker attributes strong performance to the Andretti cars, implying team competitiveness and car setup quality.
"...you want your teammate to go out first because the wind changed dramatically between Q2 and Q3. And you don't want to go out first because you want to see if there's like an adjustment you need to make to the car..."
Wind can change how the car “feels” at speed. If it changes between qualifying rounds, the same setup might not work as well, so teams may need to adjust.
This highlights how aerodynamic conditions like wind can shift between qualifying sessions, affecting downforce and car balance. A change in wind can make a setup that worked in Q2 less effective in Q3.
"...if maybe you were trying to get through to Q3 on a U-set and you're going to put on a new set now because going fastest obviously"
A “new set” means putting on fresh tires. Fresh tires usually grip better, so timing the change can help you set a faster lap.
A “new set” refers to switching to fresh tires during qualifying. Teams time tire changes to maximize grip and lap-time potential under current track conditions.
"six extra sets set aside by Firestone at the start of the weekend that go to those drivers,"
A “set of tires” typically means one complete tire package for a car (front and rear), used as a unit during a race weekend. The speaker discusses how many sets can realistically be reserved and redistributed across qualifying rounds.
"I want to see the fastest guy go last. That's from an entertainment standpoint. That's what kind of builds up the show a little bit better, right?"
This is a strategy for entertainment: arranging qualifying so the fastest drivers are positioned to run later, building suspense as the session progresses. It’s essentially about sequencing attempts to maximize drama rather than purely optimizing competitive fairness.
"If we can get the right yellow at the right time and let these drivers all go push, you know, ball to the wall for the full distance, I think it'd be a lot more fun."
It means going as hard as possible. In racing, it’s the opposite of driving gently to save fuel.
“Ball to the wall” is racing slang meaning maximum effort—drivers pushing at full capability. In the context of a fuel-managed race, it contrasts with conserving fuel and driving more cautiously.
"It would be awesome. Everybody's looking forward to that first win with Will and Andretti."
A “first win” means the driver’s first time winning a race. It’s a big deal and a major storyline for fans and teams.
A “first win” in motorsports is a major career milestone—especially when it’s framed as the driver’s first victory with a particular team. The hosts treat it as a key storyline for the weekend’s race.
"Basically the entire tenure that this race has been around going back to its start as a, as a Formula One race."
Formula One (F1) is the top tier of open-wheel racing, known for purpose-built race cars and strict technical regulations. The speaker is referencing Long Beach’s origins as an F1 event, which helps explain why the track and event carry major prestige.
"He's been the president and CEO since 2001. And, and yeah, we, we lost him."
“President and CEO” refers to the top executive leadership role responsible for overall strategy and day-to-day direction of an organization. The speaker uses it to emphasize Jim McAleon’s long-term influence on how the Long Beach event evolved.
"I always get that little pang of jealousy in first practice here because I, I do just love driving around this place."
“First practice” is the opening on-track session of a race weekend where teams run early setup checks and gather baseline data. Drivers use it to learn grip levels, brake behavior, and how the car responds to steering and throttle inputs at that specific circuit.
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This is Offtrack. Tim, why don't you start it?
I don't want to do that. I think you should do it.
Hello, and welcome to Offtrack with Henshin Rossi.
What do you think you're doing, Tim? Just taking our line from this?
Who's our line? Alex isn't here.
Well, it's still a line that he sometimes says. Just because he's not here doesn't mean
possessions, nine-tenths of the law, not attendance.
I'll say it's kind of weird because we pretty often will do just one of you guys for a Tuesday
episode. We almost never do that for a Thursday episode.
Have we done it before? I'm sure we have. I'm sure we have.
Because everybody's got crazy schedules. Well, we normally draft in a co-host replacement,
like a pinch-hitter for the co-host role, which we've not done this week. So yeah,
Alex isn't here. This is an Offtrack with Henshin Rossi, but on Thursday.
So the other thing, and somebody pointed this out, I got a pretty funny tweet.
I said, every Tuesday, I look forward to an episode of Offtrack with Henshin Rossi,
and every Tuesday, I'm disappointed. I think we need to stop calling it the Tuesday episode,
because more often than not, I feel like it comes out on Wednesdays.
Tim, I'm shocked. I'm shocked at you, that you of all people don't love the irony of calling
the Tuesday show a show that comes out majority of the time on Wednesdays.
For the guy that celebrates Halloween on June 22nd, and Easter on November 8th,
I feel like- I was thinking of doing a going away party at my new place.
A house goodbye party at your new place? Is your new place sponsored by Coca-Cola,
or like what's going on? Now I got the machine. So that's actually my great-grandmother's
Coke machine. She had a hair salon in Kentucky 80 years ago or something, and it stayed in the
family. But now it's a little more- it's always been in my place. It's always been in my apartment,
but it's just not been in the shot. A little worried that it's a conflicting sponsor with
one of you guys, but nobody's paying me. Or is this a huge opportunity? Are we just showing
the Coca-Cola company what they could be getting and will continue to get for free if they give us
nothing, but they could give us some stuff? Because we all are pretty big fans of Diet Coke.
Actually, Alex is a Coke Zero guy, isn't he? I've kind of stopped drinking Diet Coke.
Oh, I can like a Diet altogether? It wasn't even like a conscious decision. I just kind of stopped
liking it. Oh, okay. So this wasn't like a health thing, or like you just don't like it anymore.
Do I make a lot of health- I had a lot of follow-ups if you had said, yeah,
I was trying to cut back on it for health reasons. No, just one day I was like,
yeah, I don't really feel like having that, because I would have like two or three a day.
That's too much, I think. Oh, yeah, absolutely. Again, do I ever do anything in moderation?
No, including moderation itself. I think that's where you really kind of go off the rails, you
know? My dad always has that saying, it's everything in moderation, but everything.
So I wish I had a Diet Coke right now, because I flew into Long Beach last night,
and I was at an event up in Canada, like 24 hours up in Canada. I was at an event up there for
MotoMaster, which is an owned brand of Canadian Tire, partner on the IMSA program, and a company
I work a lot with, and flew straight from Toronto to LA last night. Got in a bit late, but delayed,
and then had an early start, because I had an event that I was hosting this morning
here in LA. So I'm a little sleepy, and I need a caffeine kick, but I don't have any Diet Coke.
Oh, wait, is this, am I having Java with James? You're having Java with James,
except I'm choosing to drink. I feel like I should make a coffee.
We can pause, and you can go get one, but it's got to be what I'm drinking.
I had two cups of coffee this morning. Okay, so I'm just going to get this over with.
Yeah, no, it's not pretty good. I think I do have one Diet Coke in the fridge,
so I can see if I still made it. Save that for me. So I just down to double espresso, because
that's my coffee of choice. I respect it. I respect it, because if you don't,
you hate coffee, right? You're like not a coffee drinker. I really like that was gross.
Yeah, you're just doing it for efficiency's sake, and I respect that. It is just,
how can I get the most caffeine into me with as little time tasting coffee as possible?
And that was, that's the drink. So that'll hopefully pick me up a little bit. I also
haven't eaten yet today, and it's coming up on 1pm LA time, which is 4pm Eastern,
which is why I'm starting to snack on my Go macro bar, another health conscious decision
you won't make if you're at the airport. We're just continually plugging brands that aren't paying
that do not support us at all. We are supporting them, not only with our purchases,
but also with our content on our show. So, Tim, it's hard to miss the fact that you have
this new apartment behind you now. Yeah, it's been nice getting settled. Again,
I don't know what you were complaining about moving really easy. Shut up. It sucked.
It sucked. Alex isn't here. Alex isn't here. So you don't have to be like all just
ganging up on me about this. I can't wait for Alex to move next because he's going to hate it so much.
Yeah. I know it was, it was a little rough, but it wasn't, it wasn't terrible. I still have like
two weeks of overlap with my old place. So I still have some like more stuff over there
than I get. Oh, you do? Yeah. Oh, so you could legitimately still hold a going away party at
your old place. No, I'll do a housewarming party at my old place. Right, of course.
Foolish of me. Foolish of me to say it that way. Are you liking it though? I'm like,
how are you? Cause you sent us a text after your first night and you said,
I woke up this morning and I felt like a Beverly Hiller. I, there, there's,
it's been very positive. I don't have, I don't have any negatives to talk about. Like my commute
for getting hazel to school is, is more than cut in half.
On the first day though, I didn't realize that her tennis shoes that she needed after
spring break were still at the old place. So like I drove her to school and she was in her
crocs and then I drove back to the old place and then brought the shoes back to school before
it started. And it was just like a nice reminder side by side of, of how much better my current
commute is. That is nice. That's a nice way to kind of get the, the excellent case you ever had,
having any doubts about moving, any reservations about it. That put the, yeah, put the exclamation
point on it. Has Hazel's, so Hazel stayed there? Yeah. Yeah. Hazel's, Hazel's been here. She got
back from a spring break Sunday. So she's been here since then. She's settled in. Yeah. Everything's
been going pretty well. It's a, it's nice. I was joking with my brother though. I was like,
I don't know if like, I feel comfortable having moved into this place because this feels like a
grown-ups place. And he was like, you know, you're 35. Yeah. You're 35 with a child.
Correct. Yeah. And I was like, oh, I kind of like, I didn't forget, but like, that wasn't top of mind.
You hadn't thought about it in that way. Yeah. So it does feel a little more.
I know that it's definitely a little more adult, which is probably appropriate given those factors
you just mentioned. I'm sorry that I'm eating a bar of guys. I forgot. It's okay. There was a truck
doing construction outside right now. So there's, yeah. I also noticed you're not wearing headphones.
Is that, was there a reason for that? I just didn't think about it. Okay. Am I, are you getting echo?
I heard one little bit, but it's fine. It's not, it's not right now. I just was more thinking like
after the last time you didn't use headphones and it nearly really backfired on you. Can we talk about
that yet? Nope. Well, let's just say hopefully one day we could tell the story of when Tim had to
talk to somebody in his apartment. I left more of that in than I should have. Oh, okay. All right.
Well, anyway, so your old background, like where you recorded, had your desk, which had
lots of memorabilia and paraphernalia and stuff on it, right? Yeah. And it was, it was, but it's not
the right word because I thought it was tastefully done. It looked like kind of my old office,
a mile house, lots of stuff, right? Yeah, yeah. But nicely done. Most people don't get the chance to
see the rest of your apartment, your old apartment, and a similar theme. There was just a lot of stuff.
Yeah. I like stuff. Yeah. You're a stuff guy. I'm in Rio fans here. I heard that one song and
just made it my life motto. You're not going to get that joke, but like three people that are
listening are going to get that joke. And I look for it. Because I do know that I'm going to,
I'm going to see those tweets that people are going to tag us in and be like,
I totally got the Diamond Rio reference, like the Sacajawea coins. And there was one other thing that
I was super vindicated on that, by the way. I was surprised at how many people replied
in the, in the affirm on that one. But like by super vindicated, it's a bit strong because like,
you know, thousands of people listen to this show and like six that were like, yeah, totally.
There was nobody who was on your guys side. That is absolutely incorrect. That is not
accurate at all. I didn't see anybody posted saying they never heard of them.
I will 100% break up those tweets. Maybe they did tag you in it to not hurt your,
your precious ego, your fragile little ego. But no, my question is you like stuff. I like
stuff. I like that we have a similar stuff thing. Do you just have way more room or did you throw
out a lot of stuff? I do have more room. I have not unpacked all of the stuff yet. There, there
are still a lot of boxes like right there. And you can kind of see some of the boxes over there.
It's a work in progress. So are you in your, like, is this where your desk is? Is this the
view we're going to have for the rest of time? Yeah, this is, this is the desk and this is
where everything set up. The hutch on the desk doesn't really fit in my new setup. So I got to
figure out if I'm going to get rid of that or set it up or what, what the deal is going to be on
that. But now this will be the view. As much as I hate to say it, I'm sure I'm going to fill this
with too much stuff. Oh, all right. I'm sure this is going to look cluttered in an alarmingly short
amount of time. Jim, that's not a you thing. Everybody has too much stuff in their house.
Almost everybody. It's just an inevitability. It's just part of being an adult. That's what
adult houses end up being. There's a lot of stuff. Normally it's in your basement if you have one.
I don't know if you have a basement in this place. So I have a garage that does not fit my car.
Perfect. That is just going to be a hub of stuff. Yeah. If you can't fit your car in there,
all that it's going to be is just a storage unit of stuff.
Yeah. Yeah. The one other big thing, and then we'll talk about racing because I don't think
anybody really gives a **** about my new place. I feel like this is more relatable actually. I
think moving is something that more people do than competing at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
So I'm not rushing. I'm not rushing. There are some citrus trees in my backyard,
which is new for me for a couple of reasons. I've never had a backyard of my own.
Admittedly, I still don't. It's a duplex. It's a shared backyard.
Did you wait? Hang on. Question though. Do you buy this place or are you renting this place?
I'm renting this place. Yeah. So that's not your tree either way, pal. I just want to make that
very clear. Absolutely. But I can have the fruit off of it. Did you work that into the lease?
Did you work that into the agreement? I would like to check the fine print. I mean, she's not here.
She doesn't know. Well, look, you're already strike one. So let's not push the boundaries anymore.
There's a cumquat tree in the back. I didn't know what a cumquat was. I thought the name is
hilarious. Still do. I had to use AI to identify it. I had one of those like plant ID apps,
and I took a picture of it, and it was like cumquat. And then I googled,
it was like, is cumquat safe to eat? Yes. When you say I used one of those plant
identification apps, my question is simply, did you already have one of those? Or was it
downloaded for this probably? I downloaded that for this specific purpose.
You made it sound like, oh, I just pulled out old, you know, planty, which is the plant
identification app. Okay. All right. So then, and then what did what did Google say about?
You can eat. Have you ever had a cumquat? I have had a cumquat. Yeah.
I was not expecting, yes, you can eat them, by the way, obviously, or I have bad news for you.
First both.
I was not expecting how tart that was. That was, that was aggressive.
I don't know if, I don't know if there's like different, you know,
how do you know if it was like ready to be picked? I don't know if it was ripe.
Google told me the bright orange ones were good. Okay. All right. So that's okay.
Are you going to find a way to incorporate cumquat into your life a little more regularly now?
Downstairs neighbor told me it goes well with tequila. So I was gonna, that was kind of my follow-up
was have we did, have we yet designed a cumquat cocktail? You know what? Come on by, you're in
town. I'm on my way. I'm on my way. Yes, Tim, I am in town and I am in town because it is in fact
race week. We're finally going racing again. I say finally, we had a week off. Two, we had two,
calm down. Oh yeah. F1's in the middle of five. So I feel like we're doing pretty well, even though
this is a longer break. But guys, we have this, so with this two week break, we have Long Beach
this weekend, then I do believe it's another two weekends or no? So one weekend in May?
Is May 9th, right? No one asked me questions and expected answers. Yes. So we have two weekends off
and then the indie road course. Oh, because we have the open test. So that's why there's like a
kind of thing. So technically, so we have another two week break after this. And then after that,
there are no two week breaks left in the schedule. After that, we are pretty much rolling.
Indie road course, Indie qualifying, Indie 500, Detroit GP, St. Louis weekend off,
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