IndyCar Series Victory Lap with champion Alex Palou, team owner Chip Ganassi, Roger Penske and much more

[Music Playing]

Roger Penske:

This is Roger Penske, and you're listening to Pit Pass Indy, 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 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 Sticker, Sports Illustrated, Autoweek and Speed Sport. So, let's drop the green flag on this episode of Pit Pass Indy.

Welcome to Pit Pass Indy as we continue our fourth season of giving IndyCar fans a behind the scenes look at the NTT IndyCar Series and the drivers and teams that compete in the Indianapolis 500.

There's been plenty of big news in IndyCar, including Michael Andretti, relinquishing control of Andretti Global to partner Dan Towriss of Group 1001 that was announced on September 27th.

Andretti has been an IndyCar Series team owner since he purchased the operation for Barry Green at the end of the 2002 CART season and moved the operation of the old Indy Racing League the following year.

Andretti will remain part of the team as an ambassador, and the name will remain Andretti Global but the son of racing legend, Mario Andretti, is no longer in charge of the operation. Several guests on today's show will give their thoughts on Andretti's sudden departure as an IndyCar Series team owner.

In other news, IndyCar has joined forces with the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League and the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball to return to the Dallas-Fort Worth area beginning in 2026.

The Grand Prix of Arlington will feature a 2.73-mile temporary street course that races along the iconic AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys and Globe Life Field, the home of the 2023 World Series Champion Texas Rangers. The race will be in March 2026, which is normally a gap in the IndyCar schedule in previous seasons.

Penske Entertainment, the Dallas Cowboys, the Texas Rangers, and REV Entertainment will be the promoters of the Grand Prix of Arlington.

IndyCar competed at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas from 1997 to 2023, and at one time was one of the most popular venues on the schedule.

But over time, attendances at TMS declined and because of scheduling conflicts with NASCAR at Circuit of The Americas and nearby Austin, Texas in March, and at Texas Motor Speedway in April, a suitable date could not be located on the 2024 IndyCar Series schedule.

IndyCar owner, Roger Penske and his team did not give up on a return to the Dallas-Fort Worth area and put together an ownership group that included Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys and Neil Liebman, the CEO of the Texas Rangers.

They announced the race on Monday, October 7th, and held a public celebration ceremony at Texas Live, an entertainment district that joins AT&T Stadium and Globe Life Field. Just one week earlier on September 30th, IndyCar held its annual IndyCar Victory Lap Award ceremony to honor the big winners of 2024.

Those included NTT IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing, IndyCar Series Championship team owner Chip Ganassi, IndyCar rookie of the year, Linus Lundqvist of Sweden, and the top five drivers in the series, including fifth place Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren, fourth place, Will Power of Team Penske, third place, Scott McLaughlin of Team Penske, second place Colton Herta of Andretti Global, and Palou.

Also, last week's guest on Pit Pass Indy, 2024 Indy next champion, Louis Foster of Andretti Global was also honored for his championship.

Pit Pass Indy attended the 2024 IndyCar victory lap at the Gallagher Pavilion at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on September 30th and we have exclusive interviews with the big winners of 2024.

But first, let's hear from the man in charge of the series, Penske Corporation Chairman, Roger Penske. In addition to his vast business empire, that includes our friends at Penske Truck Rental, Penske also owns the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Indianapolis 500 and IndyCar.

Penske is also the winningest team owner in major auto racing history at Team Penske and the winningest team owner in Indianapolis 500 history with a record 20 wins in the world's biggest race.

Penske's three car IndyCar squad includes two-time IndyCar Series champion and back-to-back Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden, two-time IndyCar Series champion and 2018 Indy 500 winner Will Power and an exciting star Scott McLaughlin.

Penske realizes that in any business there are great successes, unexpected obstacles, and even some criticism. He experienced all three in 2024 but remained undaunted and undeterred as he continues to guide IndyCar on a steady rise.

Here is my exclusive interview with Roger Penske at last week's IndyCar victory lap for Pit Pass Indy.

Joining us now is Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner and IndyCar Series owner, Roger Penske. Roger, we're here honoring the 2024 NTT IndyCar Series champion, Alex Palou. You've seen a lot of great racers in your career. When you look at this kid and how good he is, three championships in four years, how do you assess that type of talent?

Roger Penske:

Well, I would say that Alex has just done a terrific job and you know it's a team effort. I think you've got to give Chip Ganassi and Mike Hull, that whole team, a lot of credit for giving him the best stuff, the strategy that he had during the season was terrific. We love competing against him, but I would say this, he's a true champion in 2024 and certainly set the bar with the championships back-to-back.

Bruce Martin:

Two of your drivers though, at Team Penske gave him a fight, Scott McLaughlin and Will Power. When you see that type of fire left in a driver like Will Power, you love seeing some of those older guys still out there that can gas it.

Roger Penske:

Well, I think all three of our guys, obviously, were in the hunt there for a while during the year, and we had some mistakes there towards the end. Will had the seatbelt problem but all in all we had a great effort this year. The series was great. More passes, more better racing, the ovals, the road courses, the street courses what can I say? Palou earned it, Ganassi earned it, we got to go beat them next year.

Bruce Martin:

From a business standpoint, it's obvious that business is good in IndyCar. Is that why in some ways are you a little surprised that some people, in many ways were just looking for things to look at to criticize IndyCar over?

Roger Penske:

Well, look, as I always say, when you're over the target, they want to shoot at you. So, I think that we've got a lot of great things going here at IndyCar. People were up in the seats at our tracks, our new TV contract, so many good things happening but we're focused on 2025 now.

We're not talking about the Dallas Street race now. I see there's some continuity and some talk about that, but hopefully we'll have some discussion about that in the near future.

Bruce Martin:

And also, how surprised were you that there appears to be a change in leadership at Andretti Global with Dan Towriss taking over? How surprised are you by that?

Roger Penske:

Well, Dan's a businessman, certainly Michael is, it looks like they've come up with a program and a constellation that everybody will be happy and that's what Andretti's name is autonomous with the speedway, Michael and certainly Mario built their reputations here.

I congratulate them on what they've done. I don't know the background for the change in ownership, but Dan Towriss has been a big, big promoter and a big supporter of IndyCar, IndyCar teams and drivers. So, we're glad to know that he's still in the game.

Bruce Martin:

And final question, we've turned the page, NBC is no longer the network with IndyCar. Now it's Fox going to put 19 IndyCar events on Fox, the big Fox channel. How valuable is that going to be to spread the IndyCar message to more people than ever?

Roger Penske:

Well, I think when you think about Fox and their position in sports worldwide is right at the top and having the opportunity of all of our races on network will be the only series that does that. Plus, FS1 will carry Indy next 12 out of 14 races, qualifying will be on FS1 and I just think overall the impact that's going to have on taking IndyCar to the next level will be just amazing starting in 2025.

Bruce Martin:

Well, Roger Penske, congratulations on a great 2024 season, good luck in 2025. I know you've got some big ideas already in play for 2025. Thank you for joining us on Pit Pass Indy presented by Penske Truck Rental.

Roger Penske:

Thank you very much.

Bruce Martin:

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

Will Power:

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

Bruce Martin:

Welcome back to Pit Pass Indy, Will Power of Team Penske took the championship battle all the way to the last race of the season. He entered the final race of the season, the September 15th, Big Machine Music City Grand Prix, 33 points behind Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing, which gave him a fighting chance at the championship.

But when Power's seat belts became unbuckled while racing at full speed around the Nashville Superspeedway oval, it created a very dangerous situation for the driver. Power had to pit, his Team Penske crew repaired the problem, but when he returned to the track, he was five laps down to the lead lap and his bid at a championship was over.

Power dropped from the second in the standings to fourth and finished the season 46 points away from what would've been his third IndyCar Series championship. I caught up with Power at the IndyCar victory lap to talk about the end of the season disappointment, but why he can look back at 2024 with pride in this exclusive Pit Pass Indy interview.

Joining us now is two-time IndyCar Series champion Will Power driver of the number 12 Chevrolet at Team Penske. Things had gone a little differently in two races. I could have been saying a three-time IndyCar Series champion, but I'm sure time has passed and two weeks later look back and assess your season.

Will Power:

Yeah, man, I have to say I was disappointed at the end there, but I was happy with the season, just the finish was bad. I'm very much looking forward to coming back next year. I feel like we had the best performance in the cars of the whole field. So, yeah, you got to take the good with the bad. This is motor sports extremely competitive and it's difficult to win.

Bruce Martin:

But when you look back at Milwaukee and also at the lap belt thing, did you ever find out what was wrong with the lap belts?

Will Power:

They sent them back, so I'm actually waiting to hear. I want to know what happened there. So, yeah.

Bruce Martin:

But the good news is you found out about it without a serious situation happening because as we all know how valuable the lap belts are to protecting a driver's safety. So, when you look at the way that all came together, how fortunate you are.

Will Power:

Yeah, after the second time I was thinking, “I shouldn't be out here,” because if I hit the wall and they fail, it's a real bad situation. So, I mean, it happened late enough in the race on the second time that I did come in and fix it and went back out but yeah, not ideal.

Bruce Martin:

But all in all, looking back at 2024, once again, you were very competitive. You're one of the elder statesmen of the series. You have to feel good with some of the racing and driving that you showed everybody in 2024.

Will Power:

I was happy with the performance, my speed, some of the races I had, which were amazing on the ovals in particular. So, enjoyable season, it's very difficult not to enjoy IndyCar. It's such a great series. It's so competitive. So, always love being a part of the group and getting to race week in, week out.

Bruce Martin:

So, what do you do now during the off season? You've got some testing coming up, you're also going to go back to Australia.

Will Power:

We don't have much testing coming up, unfortunately. I'm going to go back to Australia at the end of October. Spend some time with my family and yeah, I mean, I wish I had some time in the car just to get back into it, just good for my sanity.

Bruce Martin:

And as a bit of a neighbor down in North Carolina, how did you get through the storm?

Will Power:

We were fine. It was a lot worse for other people, unfortunately, some people still without a power, but lake's at full capacity where we live on the lake, but we didn't get much at all.

Bruce Martin:

Well, luckily, I got out of there before it hit, but the storm followed all the way up to Indianapolis, believe it or not. As you get ready to go into the 2025 season, you've got the team, you've got the car, you got a lot of reasons why Will Power should be one of the favorites to contend for another championship. When do you start getting excited about the next season?

Will Power:

I'm excited now. I'm now thinking about next year. So, I want to have a shot of the championship again. I want to win another one. So, I am focused on that.

Bruce Martin:

And finally, we're here tonight to honor the champion Alex Palou, his third championship in four years. What is it about him that makes him so good?

Will Power:

He's just a complete driver in every aspect. It's very tough to beat, mistake free, very methodical, very tough.

Bruce Martin:

Well, Will Power, good luck during the off season, I'm sure we'll have a few fireside chats in your basement when we get back but good luck next season, thank you for joining us on Pit Pass Indy.

Will Power:

Thanks Bruce. Appreciate it.

Bruce Martin:

One of Power's three teammates, Scott McLaughlin of Christchurch, New Zealand had a great finish to the end of the 2024 season, including his first win on a noble at the Milwaukee mile. That helped the Team Penske star rally to a third-place finish in the championship, 39 points behind Palou.

McLaughlin talks about his strong finish to 2024 in this exclusive interview for Pit Pass Indy.

Alright, joining us now on Pit Pass Indy is Scott McLaughlin, a long time — you're not a first-time visitor, that's for sure. But here we are, red carpet, IndyCar Victory Lap Awards. When you look back at the season, you finished strong and you have to really feel good about that.

Scott McLaughlin:

Yeah, no, really, really proud. Obviously, ’24 was … yeah, I equaled the most amount of wins I've ever had. Most amount of poles, we won the pole award, got the pole here at the Indy 500. I picked the wrong Sunday in that month but overall, I'm proud of how it went.

We were in the game the whole way through and a few different things go our way. I think we're even closer to the front but proud and it props to Alex. He sets the bar every year, but we can't just mimic him. We have to be better than him next year and the work's already started to try and do that.

Bruce Martin:

Is he a guy that's tough to rattle?

Scott McLaughlin:

Yeah, you could say that, he's robotic. But you got to you go with that, he's a benchmark in that department. Mentally, he's so strong and yeah, no, I'm very excited to go toe to toe with him for another little bit.

Bruce Martin:

The other thing is that Team Penske was in the fight all the way to the end. Some ways it looked like it could have been Will Power's championship until he spun out at Milwaukee. But to see that you were able to fight your way back, even though you started off in the hole.

You lost an entire race worth of points from the disqualification at St. Pete, to be able to fight back in with the top five the way you did, you got to really feel proud of that.

Scott McLaughlin:

Yeah, no, I am, I'm super proud. I'm super proud of the tenacity of the team and how we work together. It's bittersweet at the same time. There's a lot left on the table, but it wasn't just St. Pete, for me, I made a mistake in Detroit, I made a mistake in other areas as well. So, I need to be better next year, be more consistent and it starts all now in the prep for the season ahead.

Bruce Martin:

What makes Alex Palou so good?

Scott McLaughlin:

He's just a genuine all-round racer, and I think the hardest thing as well is he’s just a nice guy, so he's not the type of guy you want to go and punch in the face, like he genuinely is a really good dude. So, he's just a really cool guy. But like I said, we've got to try and be better than him, so we'll work hard. I'll figure out some weaknesses in his armor and see where we go.

Bruce Martin:

And it's about time you become a father here. How much time's left?

Scott McLaughlin:

Probably a few days. So, Carly's pretty close right now. So, it's all happening right now, but she might hang in longer, I'm not sure.

Bruce Martin:

Are you storing up sleep or are you waking up to find out what's happening?

Scott McLaughlin:

No, I'm running the gauntlet. I'm sort of just pretty blase about the whole thing and I'm manifesting it's going to be a very easy pregnancy.

Bruce Martin:

Not only that, but you, like myself, live in North Carolina, how did you survive the storm? How bad was it in your area?

Scott McLaughlin:

Wasn’t too bad. I don't know about you Bruce, but we just had a lot of rain. And right now, we're doing a lot of landscaping at the back of our house, so there's a lot of clay out there, so it's not good for the dogs.

But there are people in Nashville and North Carolina and Western North Carolina, it was super sad because me and Carly got up there holidaying and a few breweries up there, good part of the world and seeing it get washed away was terrible. So, yeah, it's nice to see some of the NASCAR teams and other teams up there helping out with the rescues and whatnot too.

Bruce Martin:

Well, I escaped Indianapolis and it seemed that the storm followed me because-

Scott McLaughlin:

It came here, right.

Bruce Martin:

It raked through here. There was 80-mile an hour wind gusts here on Friday night. Now as the off season, what are you going to do, how do you improve your game to get ready to either celebrate a championship in IndyCar in 2025 or the Indy 500 win in 2025 or better yet both?

Scott McLaughlin:

Both would be very nice and there's no doubt in my mind we can do both. But I think, I've got to have a … for me, how I work, I like going away from it all and just relaxing for a little bit. But I know where I can improve it's consistency and I think our speed's there, just a matter of just continuing that and working with my team to be better.

Bruce Martin:

Well, Scott McLaughlin, you're always there whenever I need an interview and I'm even there even when you don't want to be interviewed but congrats.

Scott McLaughlin:

I'm always nice to you, though Bruce.

Bruce Martin:

Oh yeah. I've seen you not be nice to some people. I don't want to be in that side but congratulations on a 2024 season, went rather well for you. Good luck at 2025 and thank you for joining us on Pit Pass Indy.

Scott McLaughlin:

Thank you, Bruce. Appreciate you.

Bruce Martin:

It was a great year for Colton Herta of Andretti Global as he finished the season on a high note by winning the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Super Speedway on September 15th. It was Herta’s first oval victory and propelled him to his highest finish in the final standings in his IndyCar career.

It vaulted him to the second in the standings, 31 points behind the champion, Alex Palou. Herta is confident his championship season will come soon, as he told me in this exclusive Pit Pass Indy interview.

Joining us now on Pit Pass Indy is the driver who finished second in the 2024 standings. It's Colton Herta. Colton way to end the season to win the victory. Because now you can celebrate that all the way to the end of February.

Colton Herta:

That's true. You do get a long time to be the last reigning IndyCar winner when you win the last race of the season. So yeah, it was a great year for us. I'm very happy and finishing second in the championship means a lot to me.

Even though we want to win the championship, it means a lot to be up there in the championship fight and we just have to continue to kind of make the strides that we made all year.

Bruce Martin:

And also, you won on an oval and that has to be a big achievement for you.

Colton Herta:

Yeah, I mean, that was the biggest thing besides Indy and the championship was the oval performances. I wanted them to get better. And we definitely did that first oval pole, a few podiums on the ovals a win. So, it felt amazing to be able to do that.

Bruce Martin:

How satisfying was it for you? We've had some seasons where Colton Herta started off strong but faded toward the end. This year, you came on strong at the end and that has to be exactly what a driver wants to have happen during a season.

Colton Herta:

A hundred percent. I mean, it's crunch time right at the end of the year, and that's when you need to be strong and that's when you want to be strong ideally through the whole year. But for us, I think we had a little bit of a shallow moment midseason Indy and Detroit that we just kind of gave up a little bit too many points to Alex and from then on we were just trying to fight back and get it back, but weren't able to but super proud of the team and everything they'd done this year.

Bruce Martin:

So, how do you make up one more position in the standings in 2025?

Colton Herta:

I think it's all about just minimizing the mistakes and we're going to have bad days and we all know the but minimizing the bad days and maximizing it when we have a good car and a car to win.

Bruce Martin:

And when you think about the drivers that is part of your era, Alex Palou, Pato O’Ward, yourself, we're looking at a era of — that used to be named Foyt and Unser’s, you have to look at those three drivers as having that type of potential.

Colton Herta:

I mean, we'll see, it's still a lot of time before we can compare to that. But I think, I'm very fortunate that I get to race against some of the best drivers in the world and in a very competitive series. So, I feel very fortunate every time I get to do that.

Bruce Martin:

Also, I would be remiss if I did not ask you, but there has been some news coming from your team that was a little surprising for some. How much did it surprise you?

Colton Herta:

Yeah, it was a little bit of a surprise, but I think I have full confidence in the team and their decision making about what's the best going forward and I think I'm excited for this new venture and see how it works out.

Bruce Martin:

And you have a really good relationship working with Dan Towriss. So, businessman, proven businessman, not that he's in charge, how much does your confidence level increase in terms of knowing, “This is a guy that I know that I've worked with already.”

Colton Herta:

I think we'll see. I think Dan has a great head on his shoulders. I think he definitely understands the business side of things and I think he's put great people, surrounded himself with great people to understand the racing side of things more and more each day. He's been around it for quite a while now, so yeah, I'm excited about it.

Bruce Martin:

And then finally, if you were given a choice in 2025, IndyCar Series Championship or winning here on Memorial Day Sunday, which would you take?

Colton Herta:

I think it's always got to be the 500.

Bruce Martin:

And give us your reason why. Obviously, we know the reasons why.

Colton Herta:

I mean, I just think it's the biggest thing for us. It's such a bizarre thing in sport where you can have a race that's as big or maybe even bigger than the championship. But I would love to do both, but I will take the 500.

Bruce Martin:

And last question. During the off season, what's the first thing you're going to do to kick back and relax?

Colton Herta:

I don't know. I haven't done much yet. I've just been hanging out, trying to get my golf game a little bit better because it's horrendous, but do that. I can play a bit of drums, just hang out.

Bruce Martin:

Alright. Well, Colton Herta, you had a great finish of the season. Let's see another strong finish in 2025. Good luck and thank you for joining us on Pit Pass Indy.

Colton Herta:

Thank you.

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:

Welcome back to Pit Pass Indy, we saved the best for last. Three men who played a key role in the 2024 IndyCar Series championship, including Chip Ganassi, racing team manager, Barry Wanser, team owner, Chip Ganassi, and three-time IndyCar series champion, Alex Palou.

Wanser was able to celebrate Palo's title in 2024 after missing the final two races of 2023 from a throat cancer procedure. Wanser has a lot to be thankful for in 2024, and Palou gave him reason to celebrate as Wanser tells me in this exclusive interview.

Joining us now is championship winning team manager Barry Wanser, Chip Ganassi Racing. Barry, we didn't get a chance to celebrate last year's title with you because you had a health issue that you were going through.

This year, you were on top of the timing stand when Alex Palou clinched his third championship, third championship in four seasons. How great was it to be able to celebrate it after watching it on TV last year while you were recovering from a procedure.

Barry Wanser:

Obviously, I only think of the team, but I got to say I thought of myself when we wrapped up the championship, actually being there for it certainly meant a lot to me personally to be there with everybody that worked so hard to accomplish another championships.

So, yeah, it was rough being away last year, but I needed to get those surgeries out of the way, get rid of that cancer and come back strong, which fortunately I was able to.

Bruce Martin:

For Chip Ganassi Racing, it's the 16th IndyCar Series championship in 29 seasons. How many of those were you with?

Barry Wanser:

I've been there for 15 of them. I missed the first one.

Bruce Martin:

So, you weren't there when Jimmy Vassar won in ‘96?

Barry Wanser:

I did not. Nope, I started with the back-to-back championships with Alex and Ardi.

Bruce Martin:

Well, then you know as well as anybody else, what is the secret to Chip Ganassi's success?

Barry Wanser:

I don’t know. The expectations are very high and the expectation is we exist to win races and win championships. And we have a core group of people that instills that in all the employees, all the team managers, all the mechanics, all the engineers, everybody who's shop based, the goal is to win and win championships and we've been very fortunate to achieve quite a few of those.

Bruce Martin:

Also, what is the secret to being able to not only succeed but thrive with Chip Ganassi? He can be a demanding guy from time to time, but he also really rewards his employees with his own support.

Barry Wanser:

Absolutely. I wouldn't have it any other way. The demands are very high and again, the expectations are high, but that's what we strive to do and that makes us better. He makes us better by having these high goals, lofty goals that we want to win and race for championships.

And again, getting back to the core group of people, I think there's 16 or 17 of us that have been there over 20 years and that core group of people realizes that previous success does not guarantee future success and we got to continue to work harder every year, every off season and every year to win again and it's very hard to do in IndyCar.

Bruce Martin:

Chip Ganassi told us in his motor home in Nashville, if Scott Dixon is the iceman, then Alex Palou is cool as a cucumber. What is it about Alex's demeanor? It doesn't seem like he gets rattled. I'm sure you hear him when he does on the radio, but for the rest of us, we don't really see him get rattled. How is he able to stay so cool and so calm?

Barry Wanser:

Well, I don't know how he's able to do it himself, but it is amazing how calm he does remain, which the best part about that is when things aren't going right, he's able to listen. He's not sidetracked with anger or frustration. He's able to brush it off, listen to what we're trying to accomplish and get the most out of the day.

I mean, that's what he tries to do, is get the most out of the day, most out of the car. We talk about it all the time in our race meetings. If he can't finish first, finish second. If he can't finish second, finish third.

Our goals, we make decisions that he relies on to give him every opportunity to win the races and sometimes we have to settle and that's where he comes through to get the most points. You saw that at Milwaukee in race two.

Bruce Martin:

And final question about Alex Palou, standing right next to you, as a matter of fact, but the fact that he's able to harness that emotion and stay so calm, how important is that when you're dealing with them, especially when you might be coming up with a different strategy?

Barry Wanser:

Well, certainly for those of us on the 10 cars timing stand with the experience of Julian Robertson and Brian Welling and Ricky Davis and myself, we're used to dealing with drivers that maybe a little, quite a bit more animated than Alex.

So, really for us, it's not really a distraction no matter what he's doing. But it definitely gives us a clear peace of mind when we're talking about strategy and he's listening to us in a calm manner, especially when we're facing challenges like Milwaukee race 2.

Bruce Martin:

Well, Barry Wanser, congratulations on being able to celebrate this title after the situation you went through last year. Good luck in 2025 and thank you for joining us on Pit Pass Indy.

Barry Wanser:

Thanks Bruce. Appreciate it.

Bruce Martin:

Team owner Chip Ganassi won his 16th IndyCar Series championship in 29 seasons. An incredible string of success that began with his first championship with driver Jimmy Vasser in 1996 and continued with Alex Palou winning three IndyCar Series championships in the last four years, including back-to-back titles in 2023 and 2024.

Here's my exclusive interview with Chip Ganassi from the IndyCar Victory Lap for Pit Pass Indy.

Joining us now on the red carpet of the IndyCar Victory Lap Award ceremony is the championship winning team owner Chip Ganassi. 16th IndyCar title in 29 years, this is what you're in business for. How good does it feel?

Chip Ganassi:

Pretty good, Bruce. It's this time of year we get to celebrate with our team, with our team members, our family members, our family, our extended family here in Indianapolis. It's really special to have this, someone told me 16 championships in 29 years, if you do that math, that's more than every other team combined in championships.

Bruce Martin:

And not only that, it's an over 500 batting percentage.

Chip Ganassi:

Yeah.

Bruce Martin:

When you've had that much success for as long as you have, it's very hard to sustain that type of success. But you have, how have you done that?

Chip Ganassi:

It's down to the people, it's the people you get to work with, the people that screw the cars together with the people that engineer the cars, the people that take care of the accounting, the people that take care of the sales department, the people that take care of the insurance, it's all these people.

You have a lot of unsung heroes in this business that don't get the accolades. They don't get to come up here and talk on the microphone. They don't get to talk on the television or be in the lights when it's time for a pole position or a victory celebration but hopefully they get to come to a championship celebration of some sort.

Bruce Martin:

It started with Jimmy Vasser in 1996, and it continues with Alex Palou the last two years, three of the last four, to be able to have that eye for talent. What is your secret to success? Not that you want to share it, but obviously you've had an eye for talent.

Chip Ganassi:

It's easy to say I have an eye for talent, but the fact of the matter is, I think it's down to the team. It's down to the guys that … again, it's down to the people that do the work and drivers, drivers can see, drivers recognize that, who they want to work with and who they'd like to work with and the type of team we put out there. And I'd like to think we're attractive to drivers that want to, they're looking for an opportunity to win races. I'd like to think that a team like ours is attractive to them.

Bruce Martin:

When you hire people, how soon into the conversation do you get before you ask them, what can they bring to help you win a championship or the team that's winning a championship?

Chip Ganassi:

I think you have to hire people these days on their values. Your values first, your talent second, and if they have the right value system, they'll fit right into our organization well. So, I think it probably starts with that.

Bruce Martin:

I've asked you this before, I'll ask you again, what is it about Alex that makes him so good?

Chip Ganassi:

Well, I wish I knew because I'd get some of it and put it in a jar and save some of it because the guy's only been in IndyCar racing five years, and he’s won three championships. So, I just feel fortunate to have him and really proud to say that it looks like he's working on a pretty good career here.

Bruce Martin:

Speaking of which, the fact that he was able to win this year, in many ways, this was kind of like the bonus year because if things had worked out differently, he may have been with a different team. You didn't give up on your pursuit of keeping him on the team and when do you think he realized this was the right move, the right place home for him?

Chip Ganassi:

I don't know. That's probably a question for him. I think for me when I look back on this year, I mean, I look at all the things we didn't do. We bounced off the wall in Detroit, we bounced off the wall in Iowa, we had an electrical mishap up there in Milwaukee, we had engine change after engine change, and we had engine penalty after engine penalty all season.

We kept getting put back nine spots, six spots, nine spots, it was a challenge too with all the curve balls thrown at us, but somehow the kid pulled it off. I mean, he's quite a driver. It's to say the least.

Bruce Martin:

Because of the charter system, you're going to be a three-car team next year, when will you be able to announce who the third driver will be?

Chip Ganassi:

I think an announcement's imminent. I mean, it's right around the corner. I don't think it's going to be any surprise to anybody. I think you've seen the name before and he's been around our team, so I don't look for it to be a big surprise.

Bruce Martin:

It probably won't be a big surprise. But finally, wrapping up here with IndyCar Championship Series, team owner, Chip Ganassi off season's only been a couple of weeks. There's been some pretty big moves that have happened with IndyCar, the charter system, and then the news basically that Dan Towriss is now the owner of Andretti Global, what are your thoughts from afar about — those are a couple of pretty big moves in IndyCar.

Chip Ganassi:

Well, I think anytime, when you bring the charter system in, I go back to the CART days when we took CART public. When you have an event like that, it makes for some movement and I think that's what you're seeing.

You're seeing some movement within some teams and within some organizations, whether with partners or the subtraction or addition of partners and it's really special too but that's what these liquidity moments do for organizations.

So, I think the good news is I think with the charter system, it's maybe not something that's so obvious to the fans, but it's certainly a stabilizing event for the teams. And the teams, I'm sure their fans want to see healthy teams out there, and I know that the ownership of the series and the speedway wants to have solid, steady teams.

So, it's a good thing for us in terms of that and you're going to see the benefits of the sport as we go along, because like you say, you have teams that have new partners and we have more partners coming in. We have more movement. I think that's a good thing. Change is good in this sport. If you don't like change, you're going to like irrelevance even less.

Bruce Martin:

But were you surprised when you heard about the Andretti situation?

Chip Ganassi:

Well, I think, I have to say I was a little bit surprised, but I know a lot about my team. I don't know a lot about other people's teams, so I don't know, whatever.

Bruce Martin:

Well, whatever the good news that I know about your team is you control it and you own it. So, you don't have to worry about other investors involved.

Chip Ganassi:

Yeah, no other partners.

Bruce Martin:

But Chip Ganassi that gets to be a fairly regular habit interviewing you as the IndyCar Series championship team owner. Congratulations on your 16th title and thank you for joining us on Pit Pass Indy.

Chip Ganassi:

Thank you very much.

Bruce Martin:

That leads us to the star of IndyCar, three-time IndyCar Series Champion Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing. By winning his second straight IndyCar title in 2024, he became the first driver to go back-to-back in championships since Dario Franchitti won three straight IndyCar championships from 2009 to 2011.

Palou won two races in 2024, including the Sonsio Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 11th and the Firestone Grand Prix in Monterey on June 23rd. Palou also had three poles, six podium finishes in the top three and 13 top five finishes in 17 races this season.

Here's my exclusive interview with the three-time NTT IndyCar Series Champion Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing for Pit Pass Indy.

It never gets old to refer to this man as the champion, it's Alex Palou, now a three-time NTT IndyCar Series champion. All three of them have come in the last four years. Here we are tonight, red carpet, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Gallagher Pavilion, you're going to be honored as the champion. This has to be a ceremony that never gets old, Alex Palou.

Alex Palou:

Absolutely. It's a dream to be back here again. It's been an amazing season. It's been a tight season, super challenging with lots of up and downs, good moments, bad moments. It was a tough battle at the end, the last couple of races, but yeah, we're back here. So, I could have never imagined this when I was a kid and here we are. So, yeah, going to enjoy the day as much as possible.

Bruce Martin:

You always seem to be a driver who's flawless, unflappable. The one time you did have an issue at Milwaukee, the start of the second race of the double header, how long did it take for you to just refocus and say, “All I got to do is go out there and at least finish the race. We'll see how the points are when the race is over.”

Alex Palou:

It was a tough moment for us. You know when you have a mechanical issue that you know it's out of your hands or your guys' hands, the only thing you can do is just to try and think how you can improve that, how you can lose the least amount of points.

So, obviously I was frustrated. That was the last thing that we needed that day. But yeah, we still had to get out on track as quick as possible and try and recover the points that we're losing. So, actually, I believe we got six points back which I'm sure it helped a lot when we went to Nashville.

Bruce Martin:

But lo and behold, before you know it, there's a restart and your closest pursuer, Will Power has spun out. What went through your mind?

Alex Palou:

Obviously, I saw him against the fence. I didn't know what happened. I thought somebody crashed him and you don't want that. Even if it's the same team or you don't want any of the other drivers to hit a championship contender on the last race or the last couple of races, because yeah, you don't want anybody to say that he could have done it if he didn't get crashed, blah, blah, blah.

So, anyway, it was I think better to learn that he spun himself. It's tough, but that's what the competition demands, demands you to always be on the limit, to always be pushing for every inch you can and that's when mistakes appear.

Bruce Martin:

Each championship is different. What makes 2024 stand out to you over the other two that you've had?

Alex Palou:

First of all, my daughter. I mean, it was the first time that I had my daughter with me first year. Then I would say that we had a lot of challenges, engine penalties. We also had some crashes, some bad luck. So, I would say overall it was a very intense year with lots of challenges. So, once you are able to make it, once you're able to survive and come up as a champion it just feels amazing.

Bruce Martin:

So, you win the championship last race of the year in Nashville, what have you done since to celebrate the title?

Alex Palou:

Didn't stop, man. I celebrated a little bit in Nashville with my family, my personal team, a little bit of the crew and then I went to media a couple of days. I saw you around there, celebrated more with the team back at the shop in Indianapolis and I've been on tour with DHL all around the states just celebrating with our biggest partners. So, yeah.

Bruce Martin:

Where are some of the more interesting places DHL took you?

Alex Palou:

They took me to Houston one of their facilities. It was just fun. Everybody obviously was super happy about the meet and greet we had there. We did different activities and then Phoenix, which Phoenix was, wow, it was very warm especially for what we're used to at this late of the year but yeah, it was just fun.

Bruce Martin:

Now how long until the celebration comes to an end and you focus on 2025?

Alex Palou:

We're already focused. I was this morning at the shop, yes, celebrating and being happy. But we're already speaking about 2025 the things that I could improve as a driver, what we could improve as a team overall. So, the guys, everybody back at the CGR shop are working hard already towards that. So, yeah, going to be a great year.

Bruce Martin:

And final question. How does Alex Palou top this?

Alex Palou:

Need a 500 win and then another championship, hopefully a repeat. So, that's a goal. Obviously, it's a really ambitious goal but that's what we need to have in mind.

Bruce Martin:

That's a great answer. Alex Palou three-time IndyCar Series champion. Congratulations on the 2024 title. Good luck in 2025. Who knows, maybe we'll see you drink the milk next May, and thank you for joining us on Pit Pass Indy.

Alex Palou:

I hope so. Thank you, Bruce.

Bruce Martin:

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

Josef Newgarden:

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

[Music Playing]

Bruce Martin:

Welcome back to Pit Pass Indy and that puts a checkered flag in this edition of Pit Pass Indy. We want to thank our guest, Penske Corporation Chairman, Roger Penske, fourth place in the IndyCar championship, Will Power of Team Penske, third in the championship, Scott McLaughlin of Team Penske and championship runner up, Colton Herta of Andretti Global.

Also, championship winning team manager, Barry Wanser of Chip Ganassi Racing, championship team owner, Chip Ganassi, and three-time NTT IndyCar Series championship driver, Alex Palou for joining us on today's podcast. Along with loyal listeners like you, our guests help make Pit Pass Indy your path to victory lane in IndyCar.

For more INDYCAR coverage, follow me at X, previously known as Twitter, at @Bruce Martin_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.