Celebrating the 109th Indianapolis 500 victory with winner Alex Palou, team owner Chip Ganassi, team manager Barry Wanser and crew chief Ricky Davis from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Rodger Penske:
This is Roger Penske and you're listening to Pit Pass Indie, sponsored by Penske Truck Rental.

Bruce Martin: IndyCar fans, it's time to start your engines. Welcome to Pit Pass Indy, a production of Evergreen Podcast. 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 SportsTicker, Sports Illustrated, AutoWeek and SpeedSport. So let's drop the green flag on this episode of Pit Pass Indy. Welcome to this special Indianapolis 500 edition of Pit Pass Indy presented by Penske Truck Rental as we continue our fifth season of giving IndyCar fans an inside look at the most exciting form of racing on the planet, the NTT IndyCar Series. And a big thanks to Penske Truck Rental for helping bring you the inside stories of IndyCar from the paddock to the racetrack to the highways and streets of America. Pit Pass Indy was at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the biggest month of the racing year, the month of May, culminating with the 109th Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, May 25th. Congratulations to Alex Below, the most dominant driver in IndyCar this season, for winning the Indianapolis 500 for the first time in his career. It was his fifth victory in the first six races of the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series season, and by winning the biggest race of the year, he has a 112-point lead over Pato Award, heading into this weekend's Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix. But it's not about points in the Indianapolis 500, it's about history. And on Sunday, May 25th, Pillow etched his name into the famed history of the world's biggest race and will always be remembered as an Indianapolis 500 winner. Pit Pass Indy has many great interviews from the Indy 500, but this show will focus on the winning driver, team owner, and team that made it all happen at Chip Ganassi Racing. Let's hit the throttle and head into our exclusive interviews. Alex Pillow joined me at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway the day after winning the biggest race of his career for this exclusive Pit Pass Indy interview. We've had this next guest on so many times this season, but I've never been able to introduce you like I'm gonna get to introduce you now. It's the winner of the 109th Indianapolis 500. It's Alex Polo. How does it feel to finally be introduced as an Indianapolis 500 winner?

Alex Palou: It feels amazing, honestly. Thank you, Bruce. Excuse me for my voice, but it feels the best introduction that I've ever had. Yeah, it still doesn't feel real that I can be called an Indy 500 champion right now. Yeah, it's all happiness at the moment.

Bruce Martin: You've dreamed of this moment. You came close to realizing that dream in 2021. But now that you are living this dream, does it feel real? Does it feel surreal? Or do you feel like you're still having that dream?

Alex Palou: It's still, I think I still haven't had enough time to relax and think about the amazing thing that we just did a couple of hours ago. I think it's gonna take some time for me to realize, but I still don't, I still cannot believe it. Like this morning when I woke up very early on for some media, I turned into my wife and we both were like, oh my god like we won the Indy 500 like it's crazy it's amazing we did it so um it's it's excitement uh a little bit of relief obviously because it's my first oval win and my first Indy 500 win but um yeah it's it's more happiness and excitement than anything else.

Bruce Martin: You're already the star of the season you entered the Indianapolis 500 winning four of the first five races of the season in some ways because of all the storylines that have been going on throughout the month of may especially last week with some of the suspensions and everything that had happened at team penske i don't want to say you were overshadowed but in some way you were kind of set aside a little bit because a lot of people were talking about rookie on the pole with Robert Schwartzman, some of the other storylines that were going on, but you were sitting up there in a really good starting position and it seemed like you were content to just stay out of the spotlight, stay out of the limelight. Ricky Davis and Barry Wanzer both admitted that was a perfect place where they wanted to be. Was it a perfect place for you?

Alex Palou: Yeah, I think I think we knew that we were a little bit better than our qualifying position. We knew that we had a really good race car, although we struggled a little bit at the beginning of the race yesterday. I wanted to move forward, but I couldn't really do much. But we did an amazing job on pit stops to try and get the front wing where we needed to be able to be fast and follow real close at the end. But yeah, I mean, it's good, right? It's good that we were probably not on the spotlight and that but nobody was talking about us. I think that's good. It's good for everybody and it was also good for us. There was no pressure at all for anybody in the team. We just knew that we had a great opportunity in front of us and we wanted to see if we were able to make it.

Bruce Martin: Now, had you started on the pole, you would have been the storyline entering the race. The fact that you started sixth in the race, and we had a rookie pole sitter, as I mentioned, and some of the other people that were up there, Scott Dixon was in the same row as you. How much did that really help in terms of allowing the team and you to focus on having the best race car for the race, not necessarily having to do all the other things that would come if you'd won the pole?

Alex Palou: Yeah, I mean, we won the pole back in 2023 and that takes a lot of effort, but honestly, I would change. I would change a six for a pole. I still think that my team is capable of focusing on the race and just knowing that the big and the only important thing is the race. Qualifying is good, it's important, but It's, that's it. It's only one week and the Indy 500 is for a full year and maybe for life. Like our face is going to be there forever. So, um, yeah, I, I would still take a poll, but obviously the race is far more important.

Bruce Martin: So yesterday we wake up, it's supposed to be a dry day. It's going to be a cloudy day, it's going to be cool, but it's supposed to be dry. And then as we're getting ready to start the race, start getting some spotty rain here and there, they put the drivers in the car and then you had to sit there for about 35 minutes. How difficult was that? Because you're amped up to go for the biggest race of the year and there's nothing you can do but sit there in the car.

Alex Palou: That was tough. That was probably the toughest moment. of the race until the last 10 laps when I was leading. It's not only the biggest race of the year, but it's also the longest one. To be sitting an extra 35 minutes in the car without any adrenaline because obviously you're just there waiting for the rain to stop. It was tough, but it was the same for every other driver. So, yeah, I was just going through the race that I wanted. I was going through the start that I was trying to get in my head and trying to get those minutes to go down. Yeah, it was a tough race. It was tough on conditions-wise. Then in the middle of the race, we had another yellow for conditions, which it was really short, but still, we suddenly had to stop again. But yeah, I'm glad that even though it was a very up-and-down day and with a lot of stops, that we were still able to focus and be ready for the end.

Bruce Martin: Now in qualifications, perhaps the fastest car or one of the fastest cars entering qualification weekend was Scott McLaughlin. He crashed in a Saturday morning warmup session, practice session before the first day of qualifications, had to use a backup car, but he still had a pretty good starting position. He started 10th. I'm sure you thought he was a guy you were going to have to contend with during the race. He never made it past the pace lap before he Cleaning off the tires, hit the throttle, spun himself out, hit the wall. His race is over before it ever began. What was your reaction when you heard the three car was out of the race and it hadn't even started yet?

Alex Palou: Yeah, obviously shocked like everybody else and also like him. The conditions were not great. The tires were really cold and it was tough to get them into temperature. Therefore, we were working with the tires a lot more than usual, and that's why we saw fire on Scott's brakes, we saw McLaughlin crashing, and I'm sure that there was a couple more cars that were on the limit at some point. Yeah, it was the conditions that made it tough. It's bad and you don't wish that for anybody, any driver. But I'm sure he'll be strong again next year. He's been one of the best drivers and one of the best cars.

Bruce Martin: So the first four or five laps, the green flag hasn't waved yet, but the first four or five laps are counting under yellow because of McLaughlin's crash, then it goes green and then all of a sudden the rear of the field has a crash. Marco Andretti crashes. So now you're back under caution. Were you beginning to wonder when the rhythm of the race was going to pick up and you were going to actually be able to race?

Alex Palou: Yes, of course. And especially after the start, we did probably just two corners, the leaders, until the yellow came. But you already were like, OK, it's time to go. Let's go. I'm ready. The car is good. I go to this mixture and I'm ready to go. I'm locked in. And then suddenly you're trying to get a pass and the yellow came out again. So you're like, man, what's going on? I mean, it's one of those races where you go into the race knowing that it's going to be a lot of moments that you don't expect, so you need to be ready for whatever comes to you.

Bruce Martin: Well, the IndyCar Series had a long streak of races, a long streak laps this year without a yellow flag. And at one time, that was actually an issue that there wasn't enough yellow flags, that Alex Pillow is running away from the field. In many ways, yesterday, people were probably thinking there were too many yellow flags, but you expect that at the Indianapolis 500.

Alex Palou: Yeah, I mean, it's tough conditions. These cars are fast, but they are so close together, one to another, like the competition is really close. So we as drivers, we need to go aggressive to try and make passes, to try and stay in front of other cars. So therefore, There's crashes here and there and there's a lot more yellows than we expect or we want. But yeah, I mean, as you said, you spend like four races wanting more yellows and then suddenly the biggest race, you probably want it to be less. But that's how it goes sometimes in racing. I think it still made a great show.

Bruce Martin: So the first half of the race, how would you assess what your strategy was, how the car was handling, how your race was going?

Alex Palou: I would say my first 100 laps were not super comfortable. I was there, I was like top 6, top 5 all the time in our strategy. But my car wasn't behaving the way I wanted. I was not able to get close to the car in front. So therefore I was consuming more fuel than I wanted to consume compared to our competition like Malucas that was super good. So, yeah, I was not super comfortable the first 100 laps, but I knew that it was still very early on, like there was still 50% of the race to go. So, yeah, stop by stop and lap by lap, we got the car balanced where we wanted.

Bruce Martin: So entering the second half of the race, we started to see who the competition was going to be at the end. One of the drivers that looked very good was the driver that your sponsor previously sponsored, Ryan Hunter-Reay. He led a lot of laps on the race, and he looked like he might be a real contender to get his second Indianapolis 500 win. The car ran out of fuel, the engine created vapor lock, they weren't able to clear it out and his race was over. But how impressed were you by some of the other drivers that we saw that were up at the lead throughout the latter portion of the race, or at least the second half of the race?

Alex Palou: Yeah, honestly, during the race, I saw Ryan and I saw Malukas and Connor as really big threats for us to fight for the race, especially Ryan on the strategy that he was in. He was going to be in a better fuel scenario and better tires than us. So, yeah, I knew that the competition was going to be really, really tough. Obviously, I'm sorry about what happened to him, but yeah, very impressed about his work. being a one-off race and the team as well. It's pretty impressive. He was not only there on strategy, he was really fast on a backup car.

Bruce Martin: Entering the final portion of the race, it turns out it's going to be a battle between you and a former teammate, Marcus Ericcson. He was able to get out ahead of you. Crew did a great pit stop. They were able to get him out ahead of you. Then you pulled what he thought was a surprise pass by passing him that early. What was going through your thinking at that time when you made that pass, which ultimately got you the victory?

Alex Palou: so I knew it was very early but at the same time I knew that Marcus was on 10 lap newer tires he had more fuel and in front of us there was two traffic lap cars so I knew that My chances of getting a pass at the end were getting like lower and lower and lower. My balance of the car was good, but it was not amazing. So I wanted to get it as quick as possible. I knew that it was going to catch him by surprise getting it that early. So that's why I went so early. I just wanted to be in the lead and see if I could stay there.

Bruce Martin: So for a lot of people who may not understand the physics of an IndyCar race, especially at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, how did the cars at the end, tail end of the lead lap, who were in front of you, benefit you but hurt Marcus?

Alex Palou: Yeah, so basically we had two cars that were almost a lap down right in front of us. They were breaking the air in front of me, so I had a toe on the straight, so I was going a lot faster on the straight than if I was alone leading the race. The only bad part is that on the corners you're losing downforce and you're losing grip, so you cannot go as fast. He was the same for Marcus on the corners, but at least Marcus couldn't really get a big difference with the toe on me to overtake me on the straight. It's similar to what Elio did to me in 2021. I'm glad it worked out for me this time.

Bruce Martin: I never ever thought I would write the words Professor Elio, but it seemed like that day in 2021, he gave you a lesson in what you can use to win an Indianapolis 500. For sure. You described it later as an expensive lesson, but you're cashing in on it now with straight As.

Alex Palou: Oh yeah, absolutely. That's the important stuff, right? That even if it's an expensive lesson, that you get something back from it. So yeah, Elio. did an amazing job reading the race, reading the traffic and that helped me in the race against Marcus and our competition.

Bruce Martin: So it's the last lap, you've only got to go through turn four, all of a sudden the yellow light pops on. At that point, did you realize the race is over or did you still say, I need to get across that line and get that checkered flag?

Alex Palou: Yeah, honestly, I didn't know, like I knew it was the last lap, but at that moment, there's a caution and I was like, oh boy, is this good or is this bad for us? Are they going to do one more lap? Like, they cannot do that, right? But you don't know. And I just wanted to get through start, finish. I was waiting for Barry to say something on the radio, like, you're the winner or one more lap or something. And then he said, all right, Alex, you're an Indy 500 winner now. So, yeah, there was that period of like five seconds during the caution that I had no idea if I was going to be a champion or not.

Bruce Martin: Fox Sports had a camera in the car looking back at you and we could see your facial expression after you had won. It was pretty exciting, pretty intense. How do you describe the emotion when you realized that you had won the Indianapolis 500?

Alex Palou: I mean, it's the biggest emotion I've ever had. We put so much energy, we put so much enthusiasm into this race that that the excitement is building up for whenever it can crack open, it's just going to explode and that's what happened. It's also the only race that you can do that, that everybody expects you to celebrate and wants you to celebrate. You cannot do that in every single race weekend, but it felt awesome to be in that position and it's forever going to be one of my favorite moments.

Bruce Martin: When you experience a moment like that, that's why you race to win an Indianapolis 500 and experience that thrill. A lot of former winners have said it's an addictive feeling that once you've done it, you need to experience it again. So the next question is how much now that you're a winner of the Indianapolis 500, do you want to have that thrill again?

Alex Palou: It's it's crazy and I think it's just gonna build even more Because I think I've got to see just a little bit of what winning the 500 Is and I'm sure that it's just gonna keep on building inside me. So Yeah, man, this is just fuel that we're putting for me to try and go for another one. I

Bruce Martin: You also got to celebrate the Indianapolis 500 victory unlike any other driver in Indy 500 history. You went to the Gainbridge Fieldhouse for game three of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals between the New York Knicks and the Indiana Pacers, wearing a Pacer jersey and the winner's wreath. What was the crowd reaction like when they introduced you to the crowd as the winner of the 109th Indianapolis 500?

Alex Palou: It was a super cool moment, honestly. The crowd went crazy. I think they were all very ramped up from the match, that it was going so well. And the support I had from everybody was insane. So I'm sure that there was a lot of people at the track that went to the field after that to support the Pacers. Yeah, honestly for me it was amazing and it was actually one of my favorite things that I've did so far.

Bruce Martin: Well, I followed your career since the very beginning when you started in IndyCar. You've always been a favorite of the show. It seems like we have you on every week and there's a reason why, because you win every week. You've won five of six races so far this season, but as we head to Detroit, why stop now? But Alex Polo, our sincerest congratulations on you winning the 109th Indianapolis 500. I'm sure we'll catch up with you here real soon, because I'm sure you're going to have another victory coming up here real soon. But again, congratulations and thank you for joining us on Pit Pass Indy.

Alex Palou: Thank you, Bruce.

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

SPEAKER_02: This is Will Power of Team Penske, and you're listening to Pit Pass Indy presented by Penske Truck Rental.

Bruce Martin: Welcome back to Pit Pass Indy. Behind every Indianapolis 500 winning driver is a tremendous crew that prepares the car. The man in charge of that for Alex Pillow's crew chief, Ricky Davis. It was the second time in his career that his car won the Indianapolis 500. Davis joins me for this exclusive Pit Pass Indy interview. Behind every winning driver of the Indianapolis 500 is an entire crew of team members that work hard and diligently to prepare a car to get him there across the finish line before any other driver. And at Chip Ganassi Racing, it's crew chief Ricky Davis. Your second Indianapolis 500 victory. You had the same role with Scott Dixon in 2008. Long time in between, so it's got to be extremely gratifying.

Ricky Davis: It is extremely gratifying, Bruce. And my daughter pointed out to me yesterday as we were running to victory lane that it was 17 years to the day. So it's very gratifying and I couldn't be happier for this group of guys and our team and our sponsors and our partners.

Bruce Martin: You knew it was only a matter of time before Alex Below won a race on an oval. And he picked the biggest oval of them all to get that first oval victory. So now nobody can ever say he can't win on an oval.

Ricky Davis: All right. And the thing is, by not winning on the oval last year and the year before, it just didn't, things didn't go our way. Things didn't happen the way we needed to. And yesterday they did.

Bruce Martin: Well, it also exhilarates the experience of that first oval victory coming in the biggest race on earth.

Ricky Davis: Absolutely. And it sets the stage for us to carry this momentum forward. And hopefully we're good in Iowa, good at Nashville, and good at Milwaukee.

Bruce Martin: So that is Alex's fifth victory in the first six races of the 2025 IndyCar Series season. You're on your way to a blowout if you keep this up. I'm sure you're not going to be upset by that. But why have you guys gotten off to such a tremendously historic fast start?

Ricky Davis: Well, it's just, he brings a lot of calm and poise to the team and he brings a lot of happiness and youthful energy. And it's just, it's radiated throughout the whole team and everybody's confidence is up. He believes in us, we believe in him. Julian Robertson gives him a great card. Barry Wanzer helps with great strategy. So it's just a calm that's happening to the team right now. Nothing is bringing us down.

Bruce Martin: The thing that struck me about his drive yesterday was he seemed to be content to lurk in that top group of drivers and wait for the right moment to take the lead rather than try to race his way up in the early stages. Was that a game plan?

Ricky Davis: Yeah, and a lot of it was on him with that game plan, but he knew he didn't want to lead. He knew he wanted to be third or fourth to help him save as much fuel. Not that it was a fuel savings race, but to be able to stretch it to where he got to the next window and then give you a bigger cushion in between stops. So yeah, that was part of it. And he knew when he wanted to make his move. If he was in position, he was going to make it, and he did.

Bruce Martin: He also used the lapped cars to his advantage, because he gave him cars that he could draft with, give him enough extra speed, and also it prevented Marcus Ericsson from being able to close on him. That's a difficult strategy to pull off, so how fortunate was it that those two cars ahead were in that position?

Ricky Davis: Oh, it is exactly what we needed, and it was the fortune that got us to the victory lane there. He learned that from 21 when Helio passed him, that he had to stay where he was. He made his move when he needed to and when he had to, and then he knew he just had to stay close enough to those cars.

Bruce Martin: Now, to a lot of fans who may not understand the rule and how that works, those cars move over for the leader, but the leader doesn't necessarily have to pass them. Is that how that works here at the Indianapolis 500?

Ricky Davis: Well, those cars are still in lead lap, so they did not have to move over. If they were off the pace, they would have moved over. But the thing is, they were running as fast, if not faster, than we were.

Bruce Martin: And that's the one thing that should be stressed. If you're at the tail end of the lead lap and the leaders are approaching, it's different than if you're already a lap or two down and then you must move over.

Ricky Davis: Right, because what they're trying to do is stay on the lead lap, and should a yellow come out, then they're back at the tail of the field, and they have a chance to then gain more positions.

Bruce Martin: Well, I believe that the third-place driver, David Maloukis, had mentioned that, that they kind of spoiled the party, but in a lot of ways, they didn't do anything that they were not entitled to by the rules.

Ricky Davis: They didn't spoil it. Well, they didn't spoil our party. They might have spoiled his, and we were certainly appreciative of that.

Bruce Martin: Well, that is certainly one way to put it. Also, racing against Marcus Ericcson, a former Shipken Assey racing driver, fourth win in the Indianapolis 500. You knew it was going to be a fierce battle, but you also knew it was going to be a clean race and extremely fair.

Ricky Davis: 100 percent. Marcus is a class act as a human being and as a race car driver and there was no worry that anything bad was going to come between them. So I think he was a surprise move that he pulled on him. I don't really don't think Erickson was expecting to move at that time.

Bruce Martin: The other thing about the storylines entering the 109th Indianapolis 500 was there was a lot that happened last week. Rookie poll winner, the situation that happened with Team Penske, other storylines. It seemed to take a little bit of the focus off Alex, which I think is something you guys liked.

Ricky Davis: Absolutely. When they don't notice you and you can sneak up on them like we did during the race, it's exactly what you want.

Bruce Martin: I don't think you stuck up on too many people this season. Five wins of the first six races. Those are AJ Foyt numbers from 1979. And you guys are long from being finished in 2025.

Ricky Davis: That's right. And you know, it's something I never thought I would see, let alone be able to be a part of. And we're not giving up. We're going full throttle from here on out.

Bruce Martin: Well, Ricky Davis, where do you put this Indianapolis 500 victory in your long career of accomplishments?

Ricky Davis: This is the top of the list for me. Because of Alex and the person he is and what he's brought to us and how close I am with him, this is definitely the number one race.

Bruce Martin: Alex said he would never consider himself a true IndyCar driver until he won on an oval. I guess now you can call him an IndyCar legend.

Ricky Davis: Yep, you're 100% right.

Bruce Martin: Well, Ricky Davis, congratulations on being part of the winning crew, actually leading the winning crew of Alex Below to victory in the 109th Indianapolis 500. Good luck the rest of the season. Try to save some excitement for everybody from here until the end of the season.

Ricky Davis: They all have the same chance we have every weekend, right? So it's going to be fun.

Bruce Martin: Well said. And also to be able to give Chip Gadasi, the team owner, another win at the Indianapolis 500. Incredible career he's had as a team owner. It's legendary. How important is that for you?

Ricky Davis: It's very important because they gave me an opportunity in 1995 after I got laid off from Derek Walker Racing. And I feel if somebody gives you an opportunity, you have to do the best you can to prove to them that you deserve that opportunity. And that's all I'm trying to do. And I'm happy for him.

Bruce Martin: Well, Ricky Davis, once again, congratulations on winning the 109th in Annapolis 500 with your driver, Alex Polo. Good luck at Detroit. Good luck the rest of the season. We'll catch up down the road. But thank you for joining us today on Pit Pass Indy presented by Penske Truck Rental.

Ricky Davis: Thanks, Bruce. My pleasure.

Bruce Martin: Barry Wanzer is the team manager at Chip Ganassi Racing and calls the race strategy for Alex Pillow on top of the timing stand. He has been involved in many great moments on the team with Indy 500 wins with Dario Franchitti and IndyCar Series championships, including all three with Alex Pillow. One of the nicest guys on pit lane, Wanzer is also one of the most successful. Winning the Indianapolis 500 is just as special in his case as it was for the driver, as he tells me in this exclusive Pit Pass Indy interview. Joining us now on Pit Pass Indy is the winning race strategist, the team manager at Chip Ganassi Racing, winning race strategist of the 109th Indianapolis 500, Barry Wanzer. You've been part of a lot of great successes at Chip Ganassi Racing. To see Alex Fallot, who's already been the dominant driver in IndyCar in this era, get an Indy 500 win, where do you put this?

Barry Wanser: You know, it's it's absolutely amazing. You know, we've seen in the history of this place that there's no guarantees anybody's gonna get a win here. No matter how dominant you are, no matter how lucky you might get during the race, it is truly hard to win here. And obviously Alex is a true talent. And again, like I said, there's no guarantee to get a win here, but it's on the top of the list, right? Everyone wants to win here. So it was absolutely amazing that he finally achieved that. And obviously, you know, the whole team, everybody, everybody performed well. Like, I mean, we were awesome in the pits. You know, the car was awesome. You know, engineering is his, the engineering staff and his race engineer, Julian Robertson gave him a rocket ship. Everybody I understand did a great job. We had, you know, it was pretty intense near the end there with our last two stints and when we were gonna, how far we were gonna be able to go before we had to make our last pit stop. And then what our fuel mileage needed to be to make it to the end with no yellows. It was, I guess I can tell you there was, it was constant discussions and then updating Alex on what he needed to do. And he got more than what we needed and that allowed him to be even stronger, to be able to push you know, full power, full fuel to the end, and that was a huge advantage. And again, it's all a credit to what he's able to do in the car for us.

Bruce Martin: And also at the end, you were racing against a former Chippewa-Nassau racing driver, Marcus Ericcson, a driver you know well, so you had to feel like there was a lot of trust and confidence that these two guys were going to have a fair fight.

Barry Wanser: Yeah, absolutely, and we knew whenever you race here at Indy, you know you're up against some very strong competition, and late in the race there, certainly we know Marcus is certainly capable of winning another race. After winning the first one, you get a lot of confidence there, so it was truly a battle, and we were very fortunate to come out on top. I mean, there's no guarantees right to the very end, right?

Bruce Martin: It seemed that your team and Alex were content to lurk around in the top group of drivers but pick the right time to get up there to race for the lead. You didn't get up there early, you stayed in that group, seemed to be pretty content where you drove there. Was that a patient race that you devised and that Alex drove?

Barry Wanser: No, I would say we had some issues with the car that we needed to resolve during the pit stops. A little bit too much understeer, and in the pit stops, The last thing you can get to is the front wing, so you have to make a decision. But the guys make a decision last minute. We know how much wing we want to change on the car. And sometimes, one stop, we weren't able to make a change because you lose an extra second there. It's many spots on track. So it really was everyone's patience to get through and do the pit stops. Alex is staying in the group. So if you don't really want to be the leader here for so many laps because you're just you're just burning through the fuel you don't have having to pit two or three stops two or three laps before everyone else and you know you get long green flag runs that just that hurts you in the long run. So I there was some patience but it was you have to do it with performance as well.

Bruce Martin: And then one other thing that should be pointed out, some people call them lap cars, but they were actually on the end of the lead lap.

Barry Wanser: Absolutely.

Bruce Martin: The two cars that Alex was able to use and let them pull his way forward in the draft, which helps him, doesn't help Marcus Ericcson, but that's the same thing that happened in 2021 when Elio Castroneves used the same strategy. But how much would you like to stress the fact that they weren't lapped cars, They were on the tail end of the lead lap.

Barry Wanser: Correct. They were definitely not lap cars. They were the tail end of the lead lap, which means if a yellow came out, they would be packed up at the back of the pack and they'd be racing for a higher position when it goes green. So they were doing exactly what they were entitled to do. And, you know, like you said, it benefited us. It's just, again, you don't know what is going to happen during the race that will hurt you or benefit you. That helped us. And I was going to say before you did, we lost to Elio in 21 because he passed us and then caught the traffic in front of him. And then that makes it much harder. And we had to settle for second. So this allowed us to run technically in third as the leader with those two cars in front of us, which helped us.

Bruce Martin: But because of that, race control does not throw the blue flag to people that are already drivers on the lead lap.

Barry Wanser: No, well there's, there's really no, there's no blue flag on ovals anyway. Yes. It's the, on ovals they have the 105% rule. If you're not maintaining at least 105% of the leader's pace, then you're required to make a pit stop and change the car. On road courses, street courses, we have the blue flag rule, but you have to be a lap down to the entire field until you're a blue flag eligible.

Bruce Martin: He's gotten off to a historic start. The team's won five of the first six races in IndyCar this season. The only race he didn't win, he finished second. What has been the secret to this tremendously historic fast start that your team has been able to do?

Barry Wanser: You know, you know, just starting off with St. Pete, just having better street course cars this year, qualifying further up front. And, you know, we've been very fortunate with some of the tire strategies to be on the right tire at the right time, you know, between the alternates and the primaries, you know, hard and soft. And it's worked out. Again, the team, the cars have been awesome. Obviously, Alex is a true talent. And the guys have been awesome in the pits. And that makes that, you know, everything is clicking. Everything is happening when it should. And the performance is there across the board throughout the team.

Bruce Martin: So how many Indianapolis 500 victories do you have on the car you worked on and also at Chip Ganassi Racing overall?

Barry Wanser: Well, I've been here for all six of the wins. Our first one with Montoya, I did pit stops. I did the jack vent, so that was pretty special for me. And then, as far as on the timing stand, both wins with Dario, and now this one with Alex.

Bruce Martin: You weren't able to enjoy the championship celebration when he won the 2023 championship because you were fighting through a health issue. You've been able to overcome that. How fortunate do you feel that you've been able to experience all these great accomplishments after surviving your health issue?

Barry Wanser: Oh, yeah, for sure. You know, you know, unfortunately, every day people are diagnosed with cancer. That happened to me in twenty three. Had some surgeries to cut it out of me. I was very fortunate. I was eligible for surgery and then go some additional treatments. But yeah, you go through something like that. It's it makes a big difference for for recognizing how how much success with your team, your team members and stuff, how how meaningful it is. Yeah, it's just, you know, it's a roller coaster of emotions and it's been great to have success with my extended family, our race team.

Bruce Martin: Do you savor every moment now better than you did before?

Barry Wanser: You know, I think I was really good at savoring every moment before, but having my own battle certainly, it adds to it. It definitely changes your perspective.

Bruce Martin: An incredibly historic start to the season. Five victories in the first six races, finished second in the one race that he didn't win. What happened there? But he's capped it off with a win in the biggest race of the season, the Indianapolis 500. So just how historic of a run is this when you look at all the great competition in IndyCar?

Barry Wanser: Yeah, you said it. I mean, in IndyCar right now, the competition is so strong, it is really, really hard to win a race. So, you know, we've had a dream start to the season. It's been absolutely incredible. I mean, it's… It's hard to look back and say, wow, it's amazing what we've accomplished so far. But the team is just performing well. The engineering has given us great race cars. And Julian Robertson, his race engineer, is really adjusting the details for what Alex needs for that car. And it's been a rocket ship. And the guys in the pits have been awesome. And it's just been an incredible ride so far.

Bruce Martin: And it all comes back to the driver in the car. Alex Pillow won his first oval race in the biggest oval race there is, the Indianapolis 500. As you were saying earlier, he can now be called an IndyCar driver.

Barry Wanser: Yeah, for sure. You know, any IndyCar driver knows they don't feel like they're truly an IndyCar driver, a successful driver, unless they've won on an oval. And there's no greater place to win your first oval than this place, the Indianapolis 500. It's just absolutely incredible.

Bruce Martin: And a former teammate of his, Marcus Ericcson, once said he only saw Alex Below mad once, and that was only for five minutes he got over it. Marcus Armstrong, another former Chip Ganassi racing driver, said the reason for that is he wins all the time. If he finished 20 of five straight races, he might not be so happy. But what is it about his personality and attitude that makes him such a joy to be around?

Barry Wanser: you know he's just he's just very very much enjoys life he enjoys what he's doing um he obviously you've had success so it's it's you know you enjoy it it's um he's he's calm and um And during the race yesterday, we had Dario Franchitti with us on the stand. He asked if he can be on the stand with us for this race. And we're like, absolutely. We're never going to turn down a three-time champ that might give us some words of wisdom as we're talking through things to tell Alex throughout the race. But at one point, since I was Dario's strategist, he said to me, he goes, hey, he's a lot politer to you than I was. I said, oh, yeah, absolutely. But it doesn't matter the disposition of the driver. when you're looking at performance and champions. But I'll take it any way I can get it. But it's definitely, it's amazing to see how calm Alex can be.

Bruce Martin: Chip Ganassi Racing, team manager Barry Wonser, also the race strategist for Alex Pillow. Savor the moment, savor the victory in the 109th Indianapolis 500. Good luck in the rest of the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series season. I think they're going to be chasing you all the way to the very last race.

Barry Wanser: You know, we'll see. Again, we're just going to take it race by race. And, you know, a lot of people don't realize, like all of our group here, that the team is going to go back to work, have these pictures, because we got to start getting the cars turned around and ready for Detroit.

Bruce Martin: but I'm gonna let you do that right now. Congratulations once again, and thank you for joining us today on Pit Pass Indy presented by Penske Truck Rental.

Barry Wanser: Thanks Bruce, appreciate it.

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

SPEAKER_03: Hey everyone, this is two-time Indy 500 winner, Josef Newgarden, and you're listening to Pit Pass Indy presented by Penske Truck Rental.

Bruce Martin: Welcome back to Pit Pass Indy! For team ownership Ganassi, victory isn't just celebrated, it's expected. Indy 500 wins and IndyCarSeries Championships are the constant goal, and Pillow's victory was the sixth Indy 500 win for Ganassi, beginning with Emerson Fittipaldi in 1989 and continuing with Pillow in 2025. Ganassi has some of the most experienced and loyal employees of any team in IndyCar, and that is the reason for the team's incredible success. The morning after Ganassi's latest triumph, he joined me at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for this exclusive PitPass Indy interview. Joining us now on Pit Pass Indy, it's a real honor to have the winning team owner of the 109th Indianapolis 500 join us. It's Chip Ganassi. Brilliant drive by Alex Pillow to win his first Indianapolis 500, his first race on an oval. And the success just keeps coming for that kid. What is his secret?

Chip Ganassi: Well, certainly his first win, yeah, on an oval. And the success keeps coming. It's like, I mean, he's having one of those years where, you know, everything seems to fall right. Yes, he's had a lot of success. And quite frankly, a lot of our competitors have had some challenging races of falling out and having issues during the race. So I think, you know, You have to take in, you know, part of, I don't want to take anything away at all from this team or what they're doing or what they're accomplishing, but quite frankly, some of our strongest competitors are having some issues right now.

Bruce Martin: At Chip Ganassi Racing, it's always about the team. You had been involved in IndyCar for quite a long time, beginning as a driver. You were the fastest rookie here in 1982. Happened to be here that day myself when you were the fastest rookie. 1989, you owned the winning car that Emerson Fittipaldi drove to victory. One of the great battles in Indianapolis 500 history. It wasn't until 2000, when it was Chip Ganassi racing, that you won another Indianapolis 500. Since that time, now you have a total of six. How do you put Alex Pillow's victory in perspective with some of those other great triumphs? I'm sure the first one in 89 is one you always remember because of how thrilling it was, but they're all thrilling.

Chip Ganassi: I think that's a good question, Bruce. You know, for a while I thought certain ones were more thrilling than others, but I say, I think with this one, I'm starting to realize the latest one is always the one that's the most thrilling. And certainly in this case it is, for me, just how the day was playing out. You know, it was a slow start to the race. Took a while for the race to develop into what was a race. You know, there was 27 different strategies going on there in the beginning of the race before they all seemed to come together at about 150 or 160, lap 150 or 160 yesterday. You know, I'd have to say this one ranks right up there with ones that are the most exciting and rewarding.

Bruce Martin: Alex was able to use the same strategy that Elio used in 2021 by having cars at the end of the lead lap to be able to catch up to them and draft off of them and was able to pull him ahead just enough that Marcus Ericcson couldn't close the gap on him. It really was brilliant how he was able to recall what happened to him four years earlier as what he could use to get him into victory lane yesterday. So it really shows how smart Alex Palou is.

Chip Ganassi: Lots of race craft going on in his head while he's driving around. Yes, yeah, we won the race and we lost the race by those same sort of circumstances as you said. And so, yeah, it's just one of those things that happens in motor racing, you know, when you're on a closed circuit and you have other cars that are gonna be involved in the outcome of a race sometimes.

Bruce Martin: So we're at the Yard of Bricks for the day after winners photos, and you get to celebrate it as a team. Everybody that works at Chip Ganassi Racing gets to pose with the winning car, the BorgWarner Trophy, and the winning driver. You have faces on that team that have been with you a very long time. It just shows the loyalty and the respect level that you have for the employees at Chip Ganassi Racing. Absolutely. What they have for Chip Ganassi. How valuable is that?

Chip Ganassi: Well, I think there's a lot of speed in that and a lot of wins. I always say I don't change the tires, I don't build the engines, I don't pit the cars, I don't tighten the nuts and bolts. I'm just the guy that gets to put all the pieces together. get the recipe together of what it takes to make a pie and I put all the ingredients together and I put it in the oven and it's sort of out of my hands when the green flag drops. And so I'm very fortunate to have some great people that work on this team and it's that simple. It's down to them. Palou can't win the race by himself, neither can I.

Bruce Martin: Well, the beautiful thing is all of that knowledge and all of that respect and all of that success, but the team always wants more. And you continue to drive them to let's celebrate tonight. Now, after that, let's focus on Detroit. Let's focus on Gateway. Let's focus on Road America. Let's focus on winning another championship. Right. So to be able to have that driving motivation, how important is that to keep, it's gotta be the secret ingredient to all your success.

Chip Ganassi: I don't know that it's the secret ingredient. You're able to execute it. Yeah, it's a culture that Mike Hall has developed over the years and pushed down through the organization. And we try to take care of our people and do the right thing. And we think we have a good place to work. We think we have a good environment. It's a good place to work. You know, you can have career growth under our roof. And I encourage people, if they want to come and be part of a team, call us up.

Bruce Martin: The only type of race that Alex Blow had not won prior to yesterday was a race on an oval. He picked a great oval to get his first oval victory in the Indianapolis 500. I get the impression that his career hasn't even really kicked into high gear yet. When you think of this kid's future, it's pretty remarkable what he may be able to achieve.

Chip Ganassi: No question. I mean, I said that early on in the season. I was doing an interview at the Thermal Race, I think, which was the second race of the season, and out in Palm Springs there, and that's what I said. He hasn't peaked yet in terms of what his potential could be.

Bruce Martin: You've worked with Alex long enough. At one time, there was a issue where he may have left the team, but I really think he discovered you have all the ingredients that's needed. So for him to be able to realize that, to stay with the team, and now look at all the glory and success that's come from that, it really does seem to be a great example of realizing what you have is often better than what's over there.

Chip Ganassi: Well, you know, we all go through those things in our life where we think the grass is greener on the other side of the road or whatever. And with that comes a certain level. And you wake up one day and you realize maybe it's not. And so that comes and we all go through those sort of spells in our life. And until you do one time, you really don't know. But yeah, he made the right decision, I think. And it seems to have worked out well for him.

Bruce Martin: Five victories in the first six races in the 2025 IndyCar Series season. It's off to Detroit. No reason to believe that Alex won't be in a great position to win that race. So you just keep it one race at a time, but looking back every race forward, he keeps winning. So what do you see as being a really big reason for a streak. We've seen great drivers in racing, and this is a very competitive era of IndyCar, but we have a tremendous streak here that we can behold.

Chip Ganassi: I think it's important to point out, too, he does really well at Detroit, and so he likes Detroit, so I'm looking forward to going there this weekend.

Bruce Martin: You were once an NASCAR team owner. You were involved in IndyCar and NASCAR in the Coca-Cola 600. former chip ganassi racing driver who won from the back started 40th ross chastain in some ways you have to feel like it's not your team anymore but it was your driver so in a lot of ways you won the double yesterday i'd take a little uh… it's funny you say that bruce because i take a little uh… i take a little pride in ross's win

Chip Ganassi: over the weekend there at Charlotte, and when I met Ross Chastain, he was driving someone's motorhome to the racetrack, and someone suggested I give him a try, and we gave him a try, and look what it's turned into. He's turned into a great young man, a great young driver, and I think someone that other drivers can look up to, and shows that, you know, it doesn't matter where you start in life, you can be a race car driver.

Bruce Martin: And moving forward for IndyCar, there were some storm clouds last week over the series, but it really seems like the Indianapolis 500, the momentum from this, Fox Sports, their first telecast of the Indy 500, it seems like IndyCar can move down the road. What are some of the things that you might like to see them do to be able to keep this success and remove the storm clouds?

Chip Ganassi: Yeah, I mean, I think it's just about maintaining, you know, maintaining a high level, a high standard of performance across your entire team, whether it's, whether that, whether you're, obviously, whether you're changing tires or teching cars or, operating timing and scoring systems or, you know, there's a lot that goes into this business and, you know, let's just keep that high standard across all parts of the business. I think we'll be fine. That's how you, you know, you got a great partner in Fox Sports. You got a lot of momentum now within the series. IndyCar is on an uptick. Motor racing itself in general is on an uptick, I think. So I think, you know, if the series just maintains a high standard across all facets of the business, we'll be just fine.

Bruce Martin: And of course, the performance of your team sets very high standards for the rest of the competition to live up to. And that's what makes the series so strong and so deep. So you have to feel good about seeing how some of your other competitors have picked up their game, although they still haven't caught up to you yet.

Chip Ganassi: That's a nice thing for you to say, Bruce. So, yeah, we all have we all have teams we emulated in building our team. So that's the way a good way to go about it. Thank you.

Bruce Martin: Well, Chip Ganassi, congratulations on yet another Indianapolis 500 victory, including the first one in 1989 with Emerson Fittipaldi and the latest one in 2025 with Alex Pillow. Congratulations. Good luck in the 2025 IndyCar Series season. And thank you for joining us on Pit Pass Indy.

Chip Ganassi: Thank you, Bruce.

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

Scott McLaughlin: Hi, I'm Scott McLaughlin, driver of the number three team Penske Chevy, and you're listening to Pit Pass Indy, presented by Penske Truck Rental.

Bruce Martin: And that puts a checkered flag on this Indianapolis 500 edition of Pit Pass Indy, presented by Penske Truck Rental. We want to thank our guest, the winner of the 109th Indianapolis 500, Alex Pillow of Chip Ganassi Racing. winning crew chief Ricky Davis, winning race strategist and Chip Ganassi Racing team manager Barry Wanzer, and the winning team owner Chip Ganassi for joining us on this special Indy 500 podcast. Along with loyal listeners like you, our guests help make Pit Pass Indy, presented by Penske Truck Rental, your path to victory lane in IndyCar. On the highways, the raceways, and every pit stop in between, Penske Truck Rental keeps you moving forward. Gain ground with Penske. For more IndyCar coverage, follow me at X, previously known as Twitter, at BruceMartin, one word, uppercase B, uppercase M, underscore 500. Pit Pass Indy, presented by Penske Truck Rental, was at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the 109th Indianapolis 500. We will have regular and bonus episodes all month, thanks to our friends from Penske Truck Rental and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. We will have even more from this year's Indy 500 later this week with all the other stories that came from the race, including Marcus Ericsson's trials and tribulations as his second place finish was taken away and moved to 31st following a post-race technical infraction on his car. There are also many more stories from Pit Lane after the race and from the red carpet the day after, so be sure to tune in later this week for this special Indy 500 edition of Pit Pass Indy. This has been a production of Evergreen Podcast. A special thanks to our production team, executive producers are Bridget Coyne and Gerardo Orlando. Recordings and edits were done by me, Bruce Martin, and final mixing was done by Dave Douglas. Learn more at evergreenpodcast.com. Until next time, be sure to keep it out of the wall.

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