Big Machine Music City Grand Prix Nashville preview with Colton Herta, Josef Newgarden and Victor Petersen, aka Christian Lundgaard’s best friend

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Speakers: Bruce Martin, Colton Herta, Josef Newgarden, & Victor Petersen

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Bruce Martin:

IndyCar fans, it's time to start your engines. Welcome to Pit Pass Indy, a production of Evergreen Podcasts. I'm your host, Bruce Martin, a journalist who regularly covers the NTT IndyCar Series.

Our goal at Pit Pass Indy is to give racing fans an insider's view of the exciting world of the NTT IndyCar Series in a fast-paced podcast featuring interviews with the biggest names in the sport.

I bring nearly 40 years of experience covering IndyCar and NASCAR, working for such media brands as nbcsports.com, si.com, ESPN Sports Ticker, Sports Illustrated, Autoweek, and Speed Sport.

So, let's drop the green flag on this episode of Pit Pass Indy.

Welcome to this week's edition of Pit Pass Indy presented by Hy-Vee.

We are proud and honored to bring Hy-Vee to the show as the presenting sponsor of Pit Pass Indy. We will continue to cover the entire NTT IndyCar Series community, and our new partners at Hy-Vee will help us tell those stories.

And Hy-Vee is proud to be a partner of this weekend's Big Machine Music City Grand Prix on the streets of Nashville.

The street race features wild action on the track, and a tremendous lineup of entertainment showcasing some of the top talent of this entertainment city that has made it one of the top destination cities in the United States.

It's also, a hometown race for two of the top drivers in the NTT IndyCar Series. Team Penske's Josef Newgarden is from Hendersonville, Tennessee, just 18 miles from the heart of Nashville.

The two-time IndyCar Series Champion and winner of the 107th Indianapolis 500 on May 28th, was honored by the state of Tennessee on Monday, July 31st as Josef Newgarden Day around the Volunteer State.

It's in recognition of the Team Penske driver becoming the first Tennessean to win the Indianapolis 500.

The proclamation was read from the Bridge Building on the banks of the Cumberland River in Downtown Nashville, just off the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix Circuit by Commissioner of Economics and Community Development, Stuart C. McWhorter and Mark Ezell, Tennessee Tourist Development Commissioner.

The event served as the unofficial start to race week festivities in Downtown Nashville that will culminate with the IndyCar Series taking over the streets of Nashville on Sunday, August 6th.

Newgarden called it one of the highest honors of his career.

Another driver who calls Nashville home is Colton Herta of Andretti Autosport. The Santa Clarita, California native moved to Nashville in 2022 and hopes to drive to a win in his new hometown this weekend.

Here is my exclusive interview with Herta for this edition of Pit Pass Indy presented by Hy-Vee.

Joining us now, on Pit Pass Indy presented by Hy-Vee is Andretti Autosport driver, Colton Herta.

Colton, Alex Palou has a pretty big lead in the points championship and Will Power said the other day that a lot of the drivers now, are really just focusing on winning races. Is that pretty much how you look at the rest of your season?

Colton Herta:

Yeah. I mean, we haven't won one yet. So, that's the main goal right now. Ninth in points, so not where we want to be at all. And a win can boost us all the way up to right around top five.

It's really close. So, hopefully, that means our package has improved on from last year and we could be a bit more competitive.

Bruce Martin:

We've seen drivers in the past who've been able to get on a roll, but not lately, like what we've seen with Alex Palou. What do you think has really been the secret to his success?

Even when he has a problem, it doesn't affect him, like at Toronto?

Colton Herta:

I mean, I think everything's working for him right now. The cars are obviously in a really good spot and his Honda engine's working well but then he's still doing the job. So, it's been a good combo for him this year.

Bruce Martin:

Now, as far as your effort at Andretti Autosport, what are some of the things you believe you've improved on this year and some of the things you still feel that the team may be lacking?

Colton Herta:

Well, I mean, we have a lot still to come. We only have one win as a team this year. And if you look at some of the other guys and their four or five wins as a team. So, we need to improve on just the overall race package of executing.

A lot of the places our cars have been good. This is a question mark for us. We haven't had great pace here in the past.

But like I said before, we had a really good test and hopefully that means that we can kind of bounce off of that and get some good points here.

Bruce Martin:

As far as behind the wheel, how do you assess your ability as a driver, how much better it has become over the years?

Colton Herta:

I mean, I'm in a really happy spot driving wise. Coming off of a podium two poles weekend before, everything's kind of coming together. We only have one DNF, which was an incident earlier in the year. But other than that, it's been very clean year for us.

So, we just need to improve on it and instead of cracking into these top fives every once in a while, we need to start finishing the top five every weekend and build off of that.

Qualifying is a big part. Hopefully, we can qualify up front. Just makes your races so much easier with how competitive the series is right now.

Bruce Martin:

After the grueling doubleheader at Iowa, you get a weekend off, then IndyCar gets to go to your hometown where you live now, Nashville, how excited are you for the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix and the fact that that town and community has embraced it as well as they have?

Colton Herta:

It's an awesome race and you get a lot of excitement over it, I think mostly because it's a party for everybody for that weekend. It's a great town to have a street race in. There's a lot of action on and off the track, and people can enjoy it even if they don't really enjoy racing that much.

Bruce Martin:

What was it that encouraged you to move to Nashville? You're from Santa Clarita, California, you spent some time living in Florida. What was it about Nashville as why you decided that's where I want to live?

Colton Herta:

I think the travel is the most difficult thing for us throughout the year. And obviously, it's 17 weekends of racing, but that's hardly what we do most of the time. It's media events, PR events, sim days, days in the shop.

So, it's a lot more travel than outside of what people see, just the races. So, that was mainly the reason. It's a three and a half, four-hour drive to Indianapolis. Easy to get out there.

And the town's an awesome town. It's a good place to be. It's younger. I enjoy living there. There's a lot to do. Great outdoors as well. Coming from Los Angeles, we have such good hiking and beaches and you kind of get the same.

Bruce Martin:

And for somebody such as yourself who is connected with music, how much do you enjoy the Music City aspect of that town?

Colton Herta:

It's cool. Everyone's such a amazing musician there. It doesn't matter if you go into a bar at Tuesday at 11:00 AM, you're getting the same quality that you'd see there Friday nights at 10:00 PM.

So, it's pretty incredible. Every musician there is pretty incredible and should probably get paid a lot more than they do for what they're doing.

Bruce Martin:

And when you look at just how the competition level in IndyCar has increased season after season, does it almost amaze you that, I mean, there's some really talented drivers who aren't in the series?

Colton Herta:

Yeah. I mean, I'm always looking at it when I'm under yellow and I'm in ninth place or whatever. My rookie year, I feel like it was like, “Okay, I can get this guy on the restart, or I can wiggle by this guy a little bit easier than most.”

And now, you're looking at it who you have in front of you. It's all really, really class drivers. And I think part of it's also, the teams have stepped up their game too.

There's a lot of good teams, McLaren being the newest to kind of jump up from what they were before and have competitive cars every weekend.

So, it's a lot of good drivers. But I think the team aspect as well is big.

Bruce Martin:

With the races on the schedule that are coming up. We have Nashville, then a return to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, then there'll be Gateway, then there'll be Portland, then there'll be Monterey.

You've won the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. You've done well at those other tracks, and of course, you've won at Monterey. So, how do you see that portion of the season sizing up for you?

Colton Herta:

I mean, we've been good at closing out the seasons. We've had good race at Portland. Obviously, in Indy GP, we were on the verge of winning that race last year until we had a gearbox failure.

And so, we've had a lot of success at these places coming up and we've had fast cars, at a lot of them. So, it is very exciting to kind of get back to those and close out, hopefully, season on a high.

Bruce Martin:

I'm going to throw one at you from left field. After the Mid-Ohio race, NASCAR had their first race in the streets of Chicago and a driver named Shane van Gisbergen, a big-time winner in Supercars, won the race. First time since Johnny Rutherford in 60 years, that a driver won his first ever NASCAR Cup Series race.

He's going to be running at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on the road course. You as a fellow race driver in a different series, how excited are you to see a driver like that caliber get a chance to run at Indy in a NASCAR Cup Series car?

Colton Herta:

It's cool. Yeah, he did a terrific job at Chicago. But there's a lot of interesting guys. I think they got another Supercar driver, Kostecki coming over. I believe that's his last name. Then you got Kamui Kobayashi racing that one, you have Jenson Button.

It was very impressive. I'd landed just in time to watch the end of the Chicago race. I don't remember where we were racing. Maybe Mid-Ohio or-

Bruce Martin:

Yeah, it's Mid-Ohio.

Colton Herta:

Yeah, so, I landed just in time to catch the end of that race. And it's impressive, man. He drove through that field quite a few times.

And I'm sure it has to be somewhat similar to a Supercar. I'm sure there's still some big differences, but it's impressive that he could just hop in that thing with a team that I believe has never won before, Track House.

Bruce Martin:

It was Project 91, which is part of Track House. Track House has won numerous races. But the Project 91 ride is basically designed for drivers from other international series to get a chance to experience NASCAR.

Colton Herta:

So, you have basically a crew that's almost part-time a little bit.

Bruce Martin:

But Darian Grubb is the crew chief and the engineer, and he's the lead engineer for Track House. He was also, Tony Stewart's crew chief when Tony won his Cup Series Championships.

Colton Herta:

Like more pit stops and that stuff. You don't have a full-time team and a full-time driver, it makes it so much harder. So, it makes it that much more impressive when a guy comes over and does what he does.

Bruce Martin:

But did you as a racer, look back and look at that course? They went through a lot of issues just to get that race underway, but then once it happened, it looked pretty spectacular with that backdrop.

Colton Herta:

Yeah, it was awesome. The track looked fantastic for a NASCAR. I think you would have to make some adjustments for the Indy cars. I don't think it would be the best for overtaking, but for the Cup Cars, it looked awesome.

And the bumps were big. And when you have big cars like that, big heavy cars like jump them, so it made it very interesting to watch them, how they take the lines and whatnot. It was a cool event.

Bruce Martin:

Getting back to IndyCar, I know there's been some speculation and some discussion of maybe making Nashville the season finale and then having the championship banquet in Nashville. How exciting would that be for you?

Colton Herta:

That would be super cool to close out the championship in Nashville. It's such a big event for IndyCar. It's kind of grown into its own the last few years. So, it is an awesome event.

In a town like that, you would get a lot of hype around the championship finale which I think it has been lacking the last few years. So, you put it in a big market like that, at a cool event like that, could be really awesome.

And you're talking about a race that nobody knows where anybody's going to finish. So, imagine you come into the championship, maybe not this year, but next year, where you have close points battles, anything could happen.

Bruce Martin:

A year ago, at this time, you were dogged with questions about going to Formula One. You aren't asked that so much this year. How big a relief is that for you to be able to focus on IndyCar and not have to constantly be asked if you're going to be in Formula One?

Colton Herta:

I didn't mind it. It didn't really affect me too much, but it does look like I probably made the right choice. The car doesn't look as competitive as it was before and whatnot.

And as a racer, that's what you want. You want to be able to race at the front, you want to be able to race for wins. And it just doesn't look like that car's capable of it.

So, no, it is something that I wanted to do, but it wasn't the right opportunity, and it wasn't the right place in time. So, I'm happy to be in IndyCar and racing for wins every weekend's pretty good.

Bruce Martin:

But the FIA is coming close to making a decision on expansion. And I know that your team owner, Michael Andretti, has got a lot on the table to put a team together there. So, how much do you know about that effort and the fact that they're getting close to a decision?

Colton Herta:

I mean, I know they're pushing, they're still pushing, and I really don't know much. I don't ask much about it, but I see the articles and stuff that seem pretty legit about they're more open to the idea and they're getting closer with the FIA.

So, we'll have to see what plays out. You can never be too sure with what's going to happen over there. But it would be awesome to have the Andretti name on the Formula One grid.

Bruce Martin:

But as the season comes to a close here, Colton Herta, you have to feel like you don't have just one victory on the table, you've got a couple that you can win here before the end of the season.

Colton Herta:

For sure. It's a good end of the season for us. It's a good few rounds that we've had a lot of success at. Hopefully, we can get the most out of it.

Bruce Martin:

Colton Herta, driver of the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda at Andretti Autosport, good luck the rest of the season, and thank you for joining us today, on Pit Pass Indy presented by Hy-Vee.

Colton Herta:

Thank you.

Bruce Martin:

We'll be right back to Pit Pass Indy after this short break.

Welcome back to Pit Pass Indy presented by Hy-Vee.

As we mentioned earlier, Newgarden is the pride of Tennessee after winning this year's Indianapolis 500. He is also, coming off a doubleheader sweep in the Hy-Vee IndyCar Race Weekend at Iowa Speedway, July 22nd to 23rd.

The Team Penske driver claimed his fifth and sixth career Iowa Speedway wins, his fifth straight victory on an Oval and the 29th IndyCar series win of his career. Tying him with the legendary Rick Mears for 13th on the all-time victory list.

Next up is the wild action on the streets of Nashville, as Newgarden hopes to cut even deeper into Alex Palou's 80-point lead in the NTT IndyCar Series Championship standings.

Newgarden joins me for this exclusive interview for Pit Pass Indy presented by Hy-Vee as we head to the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix in Nashville.

Joining us now, on Pit Pass Indy presented by Hy-Vee is Team Penske IndyCar driver, Josef Newgarden, also, happens to be the winner of the 107th Indianapolis 500.

Josef, I'm sure that's still a title that you'll never get tired of hearing.

Josef Newgarden:

It's funny, I don't want to say I forget about it, but I try and push it out of my memory. It's obviously, great to hear. We're so proud of being able to win the race this year, and it's a huge achievement for all of us. I'm excited for this off season to celebrate with everybody.

But for the meantime, I'm focused in on, it's always about the next race, and that's how it's been since the 500. Is what are we doing in the next race? How are we attacking for the championship? And I think that's the mindset we need. We've got to be focused forward and what we're doing next.

In the same vein, what we're working on next year for the Indy 500 as well. We got to come back and be stronger than we were this year. So, a lot of good. But I feel like there's so much work to be done still.

Bruce Martin:

After the Hy-Vee IndyCar Race Weekend at Iowa, the next race is coming to your hometown, the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix. You as a resident of the Nashville area, how exciting is that when you get a chance to have IndyCar in your hometown?

Josef Newgarden:

Yeah, it's fantastic. I think it's a great atmosphere for everybody. Obviously, it's a good town for events. Nashville's incredibly supportive of big events and IndyCar coming into town is no doubt a big event.

So, I've enjoyed it. I think we've had great feedback from everybody as far as the reception of it being in the city and so close to Broadway.

And the track itself has been improving, and I think the racing's just been getting better year after year.

So, I'm hoping for big things again. And to be successful in Nashville would be pretty cool being in the hometown.

Bruce Martin:

There has been some discussion of changing the schedule to make Nashville the championship finale and then having the IndyCar award ceremony for the championship in Nashville. How exciting do you think that would be?

Josef Newgarden:

Yeah. I mean, I have no idea what's coming, but that type of proposition would be great. I think if we could run Nashville maybe a little bit later and make it the finale, it'd be a really cool setting.

There's no doubt that's a great town to finish the championship and to celebrate with everybody. So, I could see that working quite well. I guess we'll have to see if that happens or not.

Bruce Martin:

As far as Josef Newgarden season, you win the Indianapolis 500, so everything else from there on is pretty much bonus time. But do you still feel that in a lot of ways you haven't been able to have a totally complete weekend?

Lately, it seems like a lot of your fortune is determined by qualifications, or an issue maybe in the fast six, or strategy, or whatever.

How much do you feel that you have not had a really complete start to finish weekend?

Josef Newgarden:

It's been in a lot of ways, a very tough year, which is I think odd for people to hear when you say that, but it's so true. The Indy 500 kind of stands alone as an event. And you've got the 500, you've got the championship is a whole different deal from that.

And when I look at just the championship, it's been a really tough season. A lot of incomplete weekends where the potential was so great, and the expectation was really high. And we didn't reach our potential. We haven't reached our potential at most events this year, I would say.

So, that's disappointing. But it's a constant process I think for us. Because the potential is so good, that gives me a lot of confidence and commitment.

And I think we will definitely figure out how to bring our consistency back, bring some of our complete performance back.

I think we need to be a little bit more complete across the calendar. When you look at the different track types, we're definitely not where we want to be performance wise across the entire calendar.

But these are all things that we're working incredibly hard on, and I think something that we can make much better in the future.

Bruce Martin:

But even your victory in the Indianapolis 500, you had to scratch and claw and fight your way from mid-pack where you started the race.

Josef Newgarden:

Yeah. It was not easy. And I think we've got to do a better job of making these races more, I don't want to say automatic, but just we need to be giving ourselves a better chance at the start. There's no doubt.

I think there's areas we know we can still improve and we're working on that. That's why I don't want to get too lost in the joy of winning the 500 this year. Was a big achievement, super proud of what we were able to pull off, but we've still got to be better.

And I think next year, we're incredibly focused on how are we going to take the next step.

Bruce Martin:

So, the next race will be at Nashville. Then after that will be the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road course for the race weekend with IndyCar and NASCAR, then it's Gateway. And we've seen how well you do at World Wide Technology Raceway. And then Portland, then Monterey.

So, Josef Newgarden has to look at those races and say, “I've got a lot of good chances to win these.”

Josef Newgarden:

Yeah. I mean, I hope we can be good everywhere. You sort of have to be, there's just no hiding weakness in this championship. If you're not strong at every track type and every track you go to, it's really difficult, I think, to compete for the championship.

So, we've got some places coming up that we've had past success, but that doesn't mean future success. And I hope we can just improve our roundedness, if you will.

We've just got to be really good across the board. That's what it takes. You've got to show up at any track type and just have a competitive package. And so, we're constantly working on that. And that's an area that we definitely got to pull forward.

Bruce Martin:

There's going to be a driver in the NASCAR race at Indianapolis who made a pretty big name for himself on the streets of Chicago on July the second, Shane van Gisbergen. He's real good friends with one of your teammates, Scott McLaughlin.

The fact that he's a big time Supercar Series race winner, he is won 80 Supercar Series races, three championships. And the fact that Scott has been able to adapt as well as he has in the IndyCar, do you think that a Supercar driver is able to make the adjustment to a NASCAR Cup Series car like Shane was able to do on the streets of Chicago? Because That was really a brilliant drive by him.

Josef Newgarden:

Yeah, I mean, first off, big fan of SVG. I was cheering him on just like most of us in the IndyCar paddock. I was texting Scott pretty much the whole race. It was really exciting.

I think in a lot of ways, it was a perfect storm for Shane. He came in at the right place. And if anything, he was going to have a much easier time transitioning to a car like that. I mean, the car that he's driving in the NASCAR world is so much more similar to what he's used to.

I still look at what Scott's done and am just in awe of how he's been able to transition. I mean, what Scott has had to do transition-wise is in my opinion, so much more difficult than what Shane had to do.

Not to detract from what Shane did, but when I assess it, I say, man, “I wonder what McLaughlin could do in a stock car.” I just can imagine if you put Scott in that type of situation, I think he would be amazing.

So, it was very cool to see Shane do that. Yeah, I can't wait to hopefully watch him more in the NASCAR world, but it just makes me wonder, what Scotty would look like over there?

Bruce Martin:

It’s probably too late in this year to be able to do this, but what would you think of Team Penske fielding an additional entry for the road course race at Indianapolis with Scott McLaughlin driving it?

Josef Newgarden:

Yeah. I mean, I think he'd be the guy to put in, as much as I'd want to do it. I would be begging to be the person to put in the car, but I know how good Scott would be in it.

I mean, that's what he's done his whole life really, is that type of racing, that type of car set up. So, I think he would do some amazing work in that type of situation. I don't know if that will ever happen, but it's fun to daydream about it.

I think it's cool that he is an IndyCar guy personally. He took on a bigger challenge and I'm obviously, biased and love IndyCar racing, so I just love that he's a part of our sport. But yeah, selfishly, it'd be fun to see him in a stock car race.

Bruce Martin:

Speaking of some amazing work, does it amaze you just how fast the season seems to be flying by?

Josef Newgarden:

It seems like that every year it just goes by quicker. So, yeah, it's next thing you're just looking back on it and saying, “Alright, what happened? And where were we good, where were we bad?”

But I think you got to stay in the moment and try and maximize every day. That's what's critical. They're all going to count. So, let's see what we got here for the end.

Bruce Martin:

And as far as for the end, like I said, when you look at some of the races lining up for you, especially Gateway, you really got to feel like, “I've got a great opportunity out there to win some races and finish as high as possible in the NTT IndyCar Series Championship.”

Josef Newgarden:

I mean, look, we're working to be the best we can. I don't ever put my hat on anything. Past success never means future success. So, I'm just really focused on how are we going to be competitive at each track that we go to?

You got to be good everywhere. You can't have a weakness. And it doesn't matter if we've been good in the past, we've got to make sure that we're good in the future. So, it's one weekend at a time for me.

Bruce Martin:

He's this year's Indianapolis 500 winning driver, Josef Newgarden from Team Penske. Congratulations once again on that huge victory, a career defining victory in many ways. Good luck the rest of the season and thank you for joining us on Pit Pass Indy presented by Hy-Vee.

Josef Newgarden:

Awesome. Thanks.

Bruce Martin:

We'll be right back to Pit Pass Indy after this short break.

Welcome back to Pit Pass Indy presented by Hy-Vee.

Victor Petersen isn't an IndyCar driver, but he's best friends with one. Petersen is the mustache man. Christian Lundgaard's best friend from Denmark.

Petersen and Lundgaard both struck a deal to grow mustaches until Lundgaard won his first career IndyCar Series race.

They finally got to break out the razers in victory lane at Toronto after the Rahal Letterman Lannigan driver raced the No. 45 Hy-Vee Honda to victory in the July 16th Honda Indy Toronto.

Petersen tells me how the friendship with Lundgaard began, and the close bond the two share on this exclusive interview for Pit Pass Indy presented by Hy-Vee.

Joining us now, on Pit Pass Indy presented by Hy-Vee is Christian Lundgaard's best friend from Denmark, Victor Petersen.

Victor may be known as the guy who encouraged Christian to grow the mustache until he scored his first career IndyCar Series victory. You both got the shave. So, how exciting was that to be able to finally get that accomplished?

Victor Petersen:

That was amazing. I'll almost say it was a dream came true. We've been waiting a long time for it. And I actually didn't know if it was going to be this year, but then he had a great weekend and we got it done, and it was just amazing.

Bruce Martin:

So, you're both from Denmark, in all fairness to the name of your town, I'll have you pronounce it so that I don't mispronounce it. The name of your hometown in Denmark.

Victor Petersen:

Vejle.

Bruce Martin:

Okay. And how long have you known Christian, and how did you guys get to be such great buds?

Victor Petersen:

Actually, a bit fun of a funny story. So, me and Christian always knew who each other was, but we never like known each other.

And then back in 2018, Christian's ex-girlfriend got a job where I had a job. She actually became my boss. Then Christian was spending a lot of time down at the juice bar. And then we just like kind of talked to each other and started.

And out of the blue, Christian and his ex-girlfriend moved into the apartment just above the store. And then, yeah, we were together like every day, and then the magic happened.

Bruce Martin:

So, obviously, you've really followed his career closely. And what was it about Christian Lundgaard that has made him so good at such a young age?

Victor Petersen:

Christian has always been determined about the race car dream. I know that actually before you were allowed in back in Denmark, back in the days, you needed to be a certain age to begin drive.

And actually, because his dad also, was a bigger name in the sport, he got the opportunity to go out and start karting a bit earlier, and he just fell in love. And he already always knew that that was his passion.

And I think he also, got the talent. It is in the blood. His mom raced a bit, his dad raced. So, yeah, he was the determined from the beginning.

Bruce Martin:

As far as yourself, do you have any racing in your blood?

Victor Petersen:

No, unfortunately not. But my dad runs a bus company in Denmark, so I'm actually also, a bus driver. So, that's a bit of a driving in the blood.

Bruce Martin:

So, what do you do for yourself?

Victor Petersen:

Actually, I'm a flight attendant right now, back in Denmark in a small company. But that's just for now. So, in January, I'm going to start the pilot education in Denmark. So, that's my big dream to become a pilot so I can go faster than Christian.

Bruce Martin:

What does an outsider think when he comes to an IndyCar race? When you see the speed, the thrill, the excitement, even the danger?

Victor Petersen:

That's insane to watch. I've never seen anything like it. That's also, why I'm a bit nervous when I see Christian drive so fast and in the tiny corners because he is my best friend. So, that's also, why I got emotional on the big day when he made it through on the first.

Bruce Martin:

Did you have a feeling that day that he was going to win because he was starting on the pole? Once the race began, he was able to control basically the pace of the race.

Victor Petersen:

Yeah, I had a feeling like even when we woke up, I could feel it from that moment. I could feel the happiness and he was just ready. His head was in the game from the start of the day.

I could really feel it, because you can feel when Christian is like, “I need to stay focused.” Or he's not thinking about it, but you can feel his head in the was in the game, and I could just feel like that was the day, that was needed to be the day.

And yeah, you could see it from the start of the race, he was determined to win that race.

Bruce Martin:

Did you expect to get that emotional when he won?

Victor Petersen:

No, not at all. I didn't expect to cry. I was like I would never cry because I would just be like so happy for him. But when there was three laps to go, I could just feel the tears pressure out of my eyes and I was like, “No, I'm not going to cry. I'm not going to cry.”

And then I saw the checkered flag and I was like, “Shit.” It happened and I couldn't stop, I couldn't stop. That was such a big moment for Christian and for me to experience that.

Bruce Martin:

And at what point did you come up with the mustache idea and why?

Victor Petersen:

Yeah. So, everyone thinks that it was my idea, actually it wasn't. It was Christian's idea. Christian went home, back to Denmark in November. I started to grow up a little mustache, and then he came home, and he was like, “Victor, you're going to get rid of that. You look so stupid with it.”

And I was like, “Okay, if you say so.” Then I got rid of it because I didn't want to hear him talk to me like that in two weeks because I had a mustache.

Then I came to Christian visiting him first time in Indianapolis in December. And then one night at a bar, Christian was like, “I think we should grow a mustache.” And I was like, “You just told me a month ago, get rid of mine because you thought I was looking like an idiot with it.”

And yeah, he was like, “Yeah, I know, I know, I know. But let's do it together. Let's just grow it until I win a race.” And I was like, “Wow, okay, sounds a great bet. Why not?” We shook hands.

Then right after that, Christian was like, “And by the way, the season starts in March.” And I was like, “In March? So, we need to grow it now, it's the 10th of December and the season will start March, so I don't have the chance to get it off until March?” “Yeah, yeah. I'm sorry, but we shook hands, so that's how it's going to be now.” Like, “Okay.”

But yeah, we did it. We were determined. So, that was a fun thing, and we got it together.

Bruce Martin:

Who had the better mustache?

Victor Petersen:

Oh, that's a great question. I would like to say my own, but I think it is Christian that had the better mustache. Mine was so blunt on the outside of it, so it looked too small. So, Christian had the better mustache.

Bruce Martin:

Christian is sponsored by Hy-Vee, and we're doing this interview in the Hy-Vee corporate headquarters in West Des Moines, Iowa. When you see how involved Christian sponsor is, not only in backing him as a driver, but the entire IndyCar Series, what do you think of that involvement?

Victor Petersen:

It's insane. I've never seen anything like it. I'm really thrilled to see it and I'm glad to experience how big it is over here and how big Hy-Vee is. I never heard of Hy-Vee before. Christian told me about Hy-Vee was the sponsor of his car and team, and also, in IndyCar.

I thought it was a small company. And then I was blown away when we came to Iowa, we saw the trucks and he talked about it. Just what I have experienced today and yesterday out karting with Hy-Vee and IndyCar, that's amazing.

I'm so glad that he gave me the chance to come with him, to experience how involved Hy-Vee is and how big it all is. And you can feel like Hy-Vee, they love race. So, it's amazing. I've never experienced anything like it.

Bruce Martin:

Since you're a flight attendant, you're used to travel, but what is it like for someone from Denmark to live in the Indianapolis area for as long as you have?

Victor Petersen:

It's so small in Denmark compared to over here. You can feel it, you can see how glad Christian is. Christian rather stay here than go back to Denmark. And I can understand him. It's amazing over here. I love the people, love the society. It's just amazing.

And again, like Hy-Vee, you can see those big companies that get involved with things like this. It's amazing to experience, so.

Bruce Martin:

A term that you hear often in Indianapolis is Hoosier. Did you ever kind of scratch your head and say, “What's a Hoosier?”

Victor Petersen:

Yeah, I did. And I still don't know what a Hoosier is.

Bruce Martin:

Hoosier is basically someone from Indiana.

Victor Petersen:

That's a Hoosier?

Bruce Martin:

Yes. But the old story goes, in the early days, the settlers, when they were building the log cabins, a new settlement would happen and someone would knock on the door and the response would be, “Hoosier?” For who's there?

That's one of the one of the folklore stories. I don't know whether that's true or not, but it was the one I was told when I grew up in Indiana.

But the fact that you hear that term so much, did you kind of scratch your head and go, “What's with all this, the term Hoosier?”

Victor Petersen:

Yeah, I did. And now, I know what it is. So, when I heard it, I was like, “Yeah, yeah.” Just talked over it because I didn't know what they were saying. I thought there was just mumbling because maybe I'm from Denmark, so I didn't understand. That was maybe a word I didn't understand.

But now, it's actually because it has something to it. A Hoosier.

Bruce Martin:

Well, now that Christian Lundgaard has won his first career NTT IndyCar Series victory, (and trust me, it'll be the first of many) I guess we can now call him the Great Dane.

Victor Petersen:

Yeah. Actually, three days ago, when we got back home to Indianapolis, I was like, “I think we should change your name, Christian, to Christian, the Great Dane Lundgaard.” And he was like, “Yeah, yeah, let's keep it Christian Lundgaard.” But I was like, “Yeah.” It's amazing. Danish history out of the blue.

Bruce Martin:

It certainly was Danish history. Victor Petersen, Christian Lundgaard's best friend from Denmark, congratulations on finally getting the shave off the mustache for Christian's victory at Toronto. Good luck the rest of the season and thank you for joining us on Pit Pass Indy presented by Hy-Vee.

Victor Petersen:

Thank you. And thank you for having me.

[Music Playing]

Bruce Martin:

And that puts a checkered flag on this edition of Pit Pass Indy presented by Hy-Vee.

We want to thank our guests, Colton Herta of Andretti Autosport; Hy-Vee IndyCar Race Weekend at Iowa Speedway Doubleheader winner and winner of this year's Indianapolis 500, Josef Newgarden of Team Penske; and Christian Lundgaard's best friend, Victor Petersen for joining us on today's podcast.

Along with loyal listeners like you, our guests help make Pit Pass Indy presented by Hy-Vee your path to victory lane for all things IndyCar.

And because of our guests and listeners, Pit Pass Indy presented by Hy-Vee is proud to be the winner of The Best Podcast by the National Motorsports Press Association.

And for all of your shopping needs, be sure to visit your local Hy-Vee, where there is a helpful smile in every aisle.

For more IndyCar coverage, follow me at Twitter @BruceMartin (one-word, uppercase B, uppercase M) _500.

This has been a production of Evergreen Podcasts. A special thanks to our production team. Executive producers are Brigid Coyne and Gerardo Orlando. Recordings and edits were done by me, Bruce Martin and final mixing was done by Dave Douglas. Learn more at evergreenpodcasts.com.

Until next time, be sure to keep it out of the wall.