IndyCar’s Exciting Return and 2024 IndyCar Championship Battle Takes Dramatic Turn

ROGER:

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

BRUCE:

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 and insiders 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 Pit Pass Indy presented by Penske Truck Rental 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. On Labor Day weekend, IndyCar returned to the Milwaukee Mile for the first time since Sebastian Bourdais drove to victory at the Flat One Mile Oval in 2015. It was the Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250s with Pado O'Ward of Errol McLaren winning his third IndyCar race of the season on Saturday night, August 31st, followed by Scott McLaughlin of Team Penske getting his third win of 2024 on Sunday, September 1st. An impressive crowd attended the two races at the Milwaukee Bile, along with thousands outside that attended a free fan zone with the bars and restaurants at the Wisconsin State Fair Park open for this event, giving it a festival-like atmosphere. It could have been a championship celebration for Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing if he had left Milwaukee with a 55-point lead over Will Power following Sunday's race. But the championship battle took an unexpected turn for both. Polo's number 10 DHL Honda lost all power on the third pace lap and was stranded off the track with electrical failure in Sunday's race. He was towed back to the IndyCar garage area, and his Chip Ganassi racing crew had to completely discharge the engine, install a new battery, and recharge the system. That battery failed, and the entire process had to be repeated. By the time Palou returned to the track, he was 28 laps down to the leader, which at that time was one of his championship contenders, Team Penske's Scott McLaughlin. His nearest rival, Will Power of Team Penske, took the lead on lap 44. And at that time in the points as they run category, Palou was out of the championship lead and Power was the title leader. Of course, that would change as cars dropped out of the race and that would move Palou up in the race standings. For much of the race, it appeared that Power would take over the lead in the championship, especially if he was the race winner. Then, another shocking development. During a restart on lap 131 after a caution period, Power's number 12 Chevrolet spun in turn four and appeared to make light contact with the wall. Power had to make two pit stops during the caution, one to replace the four tires that he flat spotted during the spin and another to replace the front nose and wing from the contact. He could have wiped out Pelo's championship lead in Sunday's race and become the points leader heading to the final race of the season, the September 15 Big Machine Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Super Speedway. Instead, Power Trim 10 points off Pelo's lead with a 10th place finish and trails the Chip Ganassi racing driver by 33 points, heading the Nashville. Pelo finished 19th, 29 laps down. I have several exclusive interviews from both drivers immediately after the race for Pit Pass Indy. Let's start with Palou. Alex Palou, it could have been a lot worse, but you come out of here still in control of the championship.

ALEX:

Yeah, it could have been a lot better as well. So, yeah, obviously a sad day, but managed to recover some points at the end by just getting the car out. So, yeah. This is what it is. What happened? We don't know yet. Well, maybe they know. I still don't know, but the car just wasn't able to run. It was just shutting down. the display not working and the radio not working but yeah I knew I couldn't do anything I was like stuck and frustration obviously like it's a short lap right like it's not that you lose one or two laps you see the safety trying to speak to you and you see that they've done four or five laps so frustrating but once I knew it was over for today I knew that we could get like a couple of points and yeah that was the target. Nothing we could have done today. So at least we keep it interesting for Nashville. So fans can look forward to that for a good battle. And yeah, I'm excited.

BRUCE:

Was it a battery or was it a hybrid issue?

ALEX:

I don't want to say because I'm not 100%. I think battery, but I don't really know.

BRUCE:

But like I said, all in all, you only really lost something like 10, 11 points. So like you said, you could have wrapped it up today, but it could have been a heck of a lot worse.

ALEX:

Yeah, but a little bit as well. I mean, it was all out of our control. Everything ran yesterday perfectly and this morning when we did the install up, the guys did an amazing job last night. rebuilding the car as well to make sure that everything was perfect today and just some energy I don't know if it was the hybrid or the battery but something related to the energy just didn't allow us to run. Yeah I was just trying to minimize the risk that I was putting myself and everybody else like you cannot just go with good tires and be behind a car not to pass and just not to try and screw their race. I was trying everything to not be on the way of anybody, the leaders or the backmarkers. But yeah, once I saw that I had some good pace advantage, I was trying to make clean moves and stuff. At the beginning that I was trying to get all the way out of the way, I was getting marbles and getting into more errors. So I was like, no, I cannot really do that.

BRUCE:

The numbers are still going to add up in your favor at Nashville. And do you really like just being in a position where, you know, all you got to really do is just stay close to Will and you're going to win another championship?

ALEX:

Yeah, I mean, it's it's hard work. Never been there. He tested there. I think some teams tested there twice. Yeah, they didn't let me test there. So, yeah, we'll see. Yeah, I would say the team overall, everybody never gives up. That's why we're able to consistently be fighting for championships. So, yeah, we knew we were not fighting for the race once we were like 20 laps down, but we knew we could gather some points there that people were just giving up. So I couldn't change anything of what was going on, but yeah, he was good enough that he screwed up himself. Yeah, I mean, obviously you're like, well, I guess I'm not the only one having a bad day. Because when I went out, he was leading by some. Yeah, I mean, I'm very happy as well as very sad at the same time and frustrated for the day that we had. So I was like, well, he was lucky yesterday. Again, today, it's like, come on. And very unlucky for us. Yeah, I thought somebody crashed him out and I was like, wow. I hope it's not somebody from my team because otherwise it could be really bad with joking aside. But yeah, knowing that it was him alone. He can only blame him. Probably this afternoon or tomorrow when I wake up, I'll be a lot happier knowing that we have, yeah, obviously a championship that we can win at Nashville. So, yeah, I'm pumped. I'm pumped. It's not always that you get the chance to fight for the championship. I didn't have the chance to fight for the championship in 22 or 2020, and it feels a lot more sad than what I'm now. Yeah, I mean, the baby is awesome. Helps me with everything, just being a more prepared, better person and everything. So anyway, I like the pressure. I enjoy the chance of like the competition having to do good. That's why we're here in this sport. But yeah, obviously it helps to have a baby. Just look at how she smiles. Thank you. Thank you.

BRUCE:

Ricky Davis is the crew chief for Palou's number 10 DHL Honda at Chip Ganassi Racing and gave me an explanation on what happened in this exclusive Pit Pass Indy interview. Ricky Davis, it could have been a championship celebration day, but it ended up not being as big a loss as it could have been. What really happened at the beginning of the race with Alex Palou?

RICKY:

Well, we're doing some checking into it. Probably something to do electrical, maybe the car battery, whatever. But that's what everything's pointing to. But we'll find out when we get everything checked out.

BRUCE:

Could it have possibly been a hybrid issue?

RICKY:

No. No, that's what the first inclination was, but it definitely was not.

BRUCE:

But when you look at the points, what it could have been, what it ends up being, it really wasn't that big a loss of points. It could have been a lot worse.

RICKY:

It could have actually been a lot worse. Yeah, and that's credit to this crew for sticking with it, sticking with me, yelling at them and hollering orders and doing exactly what I asked them to do and got us back out here as quick as we could to be able to run the race and gain some points like that.

BRUCE:

Did you have an oh-my-god moment when you looked up as the race went on and saw the 12 cars spun?

RICKY:

I did. I couldn't believe it. I'm thinking, wow, this is a game changer now. But good for him that he managed to stay off the wall and get a good finish out of it. Because we don't want that to happen, right? We want to race them.

BRUCE:

It went from a game-changer that your car didn't start the race to a game-changer that Power, who you conceivably have left here with the lead, had the spin. So does it just go to show that in this series, it's not over till it's over?

RICKY:

Yeah, and that's why we never give up. You know, we never count ourselves out until it's absolutely too late. And it wasn't, so that's why we kept going. And credit to the crew.

BRUCE:

And also, Alex, keeping his cool. I mean, that could have been a really... A lot of drivers would have probably flipped their lid when the car didn't start, but he seemed to have maintained his cool. What does that say about him?

RICKY:

That's who he is. I don't know if he has anything other than cool. And actually, there's not enough O's in the word cool to describe him.

BRUCE:

All right, well, good luck when we get to Nashville. It's going to be a straight-up battle now between Alex Flo and Will Power for the championship.

RICKY:

Yep, I'm looking forward to it. Thank you.

BRUCE:

Barry Wanser is team manager at Chip Ganassi Racing and calls the race strategy for Palou's number 10 crew. Here is an exclusive interview I had with Wanser from Pit Lane at the Milwaukee Mile as he explains Palou's disappointing development. Barry Wanser, it could have been a day where you celebrated a championship, then it looked like a day where willpower was going to leave here as the leader. As it turns out, you really only lost like 12 points.

BARRY:

Yeah, I think we have a 33-point lead. Certainly not the day we were hoping to have, but a little electrical gremlins there got us and set us back. Took a little while to diagnose the problem. Set us back 28 laps, whatever it is. At that point, it's just managing not negatively affecting the race, staying out of the leader's way, and really just moving up. gain as many points as we can.

BRUCE:

How did the team keep its cool? How did Alex Polo keep his cool? Because that could have been a pretty stressful situation.

BARRY:

Sure, it was obviously very stressful but good communication provides the guidance the team needs to know what to do. We had that from the timing stand as well as from Honda to resolve the issue and obviously Alex is very calm in the car. It's very disappointing, makes for a difficult start to a race but You know, it shows what he's capable of, what he's truly made of. And, you know, we gained a lot of points today that we could have lost.

BRUCE:

So what was the issue?

BARRY:

It was obviously something electronically. We're not sure exactly what happened. We did have to drain the energy in the hybrid system. We lost all power. At that point, you can't even talk to him on the radio. So by the time we got the car back here after the first incident, we had to drain the energy out of it, reset it, then get it restarted. And you saw it died immediately. So at that point, it looks like we We had to go through the same procedure back at the trucks, change the battery, which was the next thing to fail, and go through the whole process again. So it took a while, but the team performed flawlessly. They never missed a beat, got all that done. And again, thanks for Honda's advice and guidance to help get us through that, as well as get the car back out as soon as possible. Was it a hybrid issue? It's too early to know. We're going to have to look at the data and stuff. We don't really know exactly what caused it, but it was electronically.

BRUCE:

But as you head to the final race of the year with a 33-point lead over willpower, A lot's got to happen so that Alex Blow is not the one who's celebrating the championship. I know it's not over till it's over, but yet you got to feel pretty good about your chances heading to Nashville.

BARRY:

Yeah, certainly, you know, I'm much happier being the leader, no matter how many points it is. But, you know, it's racing, so we're going to go to Nashville and do our best and see how it plays out.

BRUCE:

Barry Wanser, good luck with, as your driver, Alex Palou. Heads to Nashville fighting for a third NTT IndyCar Series Championship. Thank you for joining us today on Pit Pass Indy.

BARRY:

Thanks, Bruce. And I just gotta say, what an incredible two races here, being back in Milwaukee. And all the fans that came out to see it, it was pretty incredible. Thank you.

BRUCE:

The driver that had a tremendous opportunity to take over the championship lead, only to have it slip away with the spin, was Will Power. Here is what he had to say to me in this exclusive interview after the race. It could have been a really great day in the spin. So what happened?

WILL:

Yeah, I just spun up. I just spun up and nothing more to it.

BRUCE:

Just the car got away from you? Or was it loose up there? Was it slippery?

WILL:

But I guess it's just fun, got a bit of a bump and away she went.

BRUCE:

What were you thinking when the race started and Palou had his issue? It could have been a tremendous day for you.

WILL:

Oh, big time, big time. Like, God, got the opportunity there and give it away again.

BRUCE:

But all in all, it seems like it's going to be a straight-up fight at Nashville. You're going to need some help. He's going to need to have a bad finish. You're going to need to probably win the race, but it's doable.

WILL:

It is doable, but he needs to have, like, something... He needs to have something much... Yeah, he... It's tough for me, man. It was going to be so much better, but tough for me. Fucking tough. Thank you. Yeah, thanks.

BRUCE:

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

WILL:

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

BRUCE:

Welcome back to Pit Pass Indy. Pado O'Ward gave an impressive crowd at the Milwaukee Mile reason to celebrate with his big win on Saturday night. The driver from Monterey, Mexico, led 133 laps of the 250 lap race for his third IndyCar win of the season and his first win on an oval since Iowa Speedway in 2022. It was a tremendous race with 667 on-track passes and 326 passes for position. Both our 2024 season highs and the passes for position are the most on record at the Milwaukee mile. Connor Daly made 51 on-track passes in his dramatic charge from 25th starting position to a third place finish. Let's hear from the winner paddle award of arrow McLaren in this exclusive pit pass in the interview. Hey, we get to join Pado O'Ward once again as a race winner. Victory number three of the season. That's got to sound pretty good. Did you enter the year thinking you could win three IndyCar races in 2024?

PADO:

It's been a very inconsistent year, but it's been a great year in terms of wins. So super pumped for that. Super happy with how the team and I rebounded this weekend. Chevy gave us a great package to bring it to the podium and we're, you know, closing out with a couple of our Chevy teammates up here too. So super stoked to do that and another opportunity tomorrow.

BRUCE:

You won Saturday's first race of the Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250s. You led 133 laps. Ended up in a battle with willpower, but you pretty much had the field licked the whole race.

PADO:

How did you do it? Oh man, that second stint, the car really came to life, and that really is where I got it. After that, we just kind of managed it through there, and there was a few gnarly moments, but yeah, all good, all good.

BRUCE:

And also, was it a little bit of an emotional weekend? I know that when you arrived at the Milwaukee Mile, you were a little bit disappointed that NASCAR did not say we're going to race Mexico City next year. You've been a longtime proponent of believing IndyCar needs to be at Mexico. There were some exchanges back and forth with Mark Miles, who issued a statement. It really seemed like you went out and just laid it all out there today. Was there kind of a little bit of a feel good moment to be able to go out there and prove that paddle ward is not only a great race driver, but he's a famous race driver.

PADO:

I wasn't trying to attack the, you know, where the series is at or anything. I was just, you know, putting it out as, as, as it is. And, you know, in the reality is I was just spitting out facts. That's just what it is, and that's where we are currently as a series. I'm one of the ones that pushes the most in terms of fan experiences and just putting personal money into a lot of different race weekends to get things available for the fans to come and join, for new fans, fans that have been with us for so many years. I mean, that's what, that's what it's all about. It was, it was never a thing of like, you know, that I, I need to, you know, throw them under the bus in, in, in the media. Absolutely not. It was just all about answering questions with, with honesty. And that's what I did.

BRUCE:

First double victory since 2022 in Iowa. How does it feel to go to one of the most historic ovals in IndyCar? looked like it fit you like a glove.

PADO:

This track first time in Milwaukee and couldn't complain. We got P1. So let's see if we can do it again tomorrow.

BRUCE:

And finally, do you think that IndyCar has returned to a track where it can really make it work here that the fans support? What did you think of it? First race here since 2015.

PADO:

The fans were amazing today and I know they're going to be just as good tomorrow and maybe even better because I heard the numbers are going to be up. So I can't wait to be out here tomorrow, give them a good show and yeah, super stoked that everybody had a good time.

BRUCE:

Well, Pado O'Ward, congratulations on your big victory. Good luck the rest of the season and thank you for joining us today on Pit Pass In. Thank you very much. Sunday's race was also stunning, from Team Penske's Josef Newgarden and Chip Ganassi Racing's Marcus Armstrong and Linus Lundquist all crashing at the drop of the green flag, to the drama involving Alex Palou and Will Power. The racing was even more fierce than Saturday night's contest, with 763 on-track passes, a new season high and the most on record at the Milwaukee Mile. There were 56 passes in the top five, the most on record at the Milwaukee Mile. Santino Ferrucci had 63 on-track passes as he raced from 12th to 4th. In the end, it was team Penske's Scott McLaughlin becoming IndyCar's third three-time winner this season, joining Pado O'Ward and Will Power as drivers with three race victories in 2024. Let's hear from the winner, Scott McLaughlin, in this exclusive interview for Pit Pass Indy. Joining us now for the third time this season is an IndyCarSeries race winner. It's Scott McLaughlin of Team Penske, the winner of the Sunday race at the Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile Twin 250s. Pretty good race, pretty good weekend. What did you think of IndyCar's return on the Milwaukee Mile, which for you was a debut at the Milwaukee Mile?

SCOTT:

It was unreal, Bruce. Pretty awesome to see so many fans come out. The racing was great. And to get a win as well, that's always icing on top. And I got a cream puff to the face. It was pretty fun. And credit to IndyCar for bringing a great package and Firestone for some great tyres.

BRUCE:

Well, I tried to warn you a couple of weeks ago about the cream puffs that they do. You were lucky because Will Power wasn't in victory lane because he would have probably really got you. But I don't think anybody could have got you any worse on the cream puffs because your whole head was cream.

SCOTT:

Yeah, I was torched. Yeah, absolutely. I got hammered. So, yeah, unfortunately, that's how it is. But I'll tell you, I don't care. Someone could have just piped my face about four times and I would have been happy. Who was the culprit? Colton, who would have thought? Yeah. Yeah, but Dixon was pretty bad too.

BRUCE:

Now we brought up willpower and unfortunately he could have walked out of here as the IndyCar Series points leader heading into the final race of the year. Somehow he's coming out of turn four and he spins. Right. How shocked were you when you discovered that, especially after Alex Palou was 28 laps down because he couldn't start the race because of electronic failure?

SCOTT:

Yeah, it's uh, I mean, I can't, I haven't seen the incident but um... It sucks for Will, but look, he's still in with a shot. Anything can happen in Nashville, and hopefully we can make something happen as well.

BRUCE:

He said that he felt like he just came out of the turn and he lost it. There wasn't really anybody. There was no contact.

SCOTT:

That could happen to anyone. It was pretty loose there. It was pretty loose there.

BRUCE:

But you had a fantastic battle with Colton Herta. And you were marveling at how much fun that was to go banging wheel to wheel, side to side, side pod to side pod with Colton Herta. He said it reminded you of your supercar days. When you're in an Indy car and you're doing some racing like that, how thrilling is that?

SCOTT:

Oh, it's super cool. My heart rate was jacked when I was going side-by-side there, but you credit Colton as well, man. I'm very good friends with Colton, but he races me hard as anyone, and I'm the same back, and full respect. So, he was obviously a little bummed after the race because, you know, I got one up on him, but, you know, it was good racing, and I'm sort of battling him for, you know, the next best in the championship regardless. So, yeah, I'm working pretty hard on him.

BRUCE:

At the end of the race, Scott Dixon is running the fastest laps in the race. He actually ran a lap faster than his qualifying lap, there was a period there where he was making up a second a lap. Did you see him coming in your mirrors?

SCOTT:

He was coming at me for sure. He had brand new tires, so he was ripping in a high grip track. But, yeah, look, he's super quick and, you know, he's a six-time champ for a reason. So I said to him after the race, I'm like, come on, man, you could have just let me have that one, but you never rest on your laurels with Scotty.

BRUCE:

It's your third victory of the 2024 IndyCar Series season, your second straight on an oval. You won the Hy-Vee IndyCar Race Weekend at Iowa. Now you also won the Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250s at Milwaukee. Maybe you ought to be putting in a sales pitch to Javier.

SCOTT:

They're good people and they're great supporters of IndyCar and here in the Midwest. And, you know, we appreciate everything they do. You know, they supported two great events. And not only was it a fantastic event on its own with the concerts and whatnot, but I think what made Milwaukee was just the people. And, you know, I'm super excited to be a part of IndyCar and this portion of it and make this event bigger and bigger as we go.

BRUCE:

One of the big supporters of the Milwaukee race was Gallagher, your sponsor. And how cool was it to have them on board this weekend and to take them to victory lane?

SCOTT:

First win for me with Gallagher as well. And they're a personal sponsor of mine as well. So I'm very, very lucky to have good partners like that where they're only just down the road to come support me. So really excited.

BRUCE:

You got yourself back into mathematic contention for the championship. What's it going to take for you to leave Nashville as the IndyCar champion?

SCOTT:

A win and some terrible luck for everyone else. That's it.

BRUCE:

Well, you had some terrible luck for everyone else earlier with Alex Palou starting the race 28 laps down because of electrical.

SCOTT:

Maybe we send Alex Palou to Kid Rocks or something on Saturday night. What do you reckon about that?

BRUCE:

That wouldn't be a bad strategy either. I know you entered the season wanting to win the championship, but how would you gauge your progress this year? You're a contender in nearly every race. Yeah. And I would say that's probably something that you strive to be.

SCOTT:

For sure. I'm proud of that. I've made mistakes this year that I don't make normally, so I need to tidy those up next year. But yeah, really proud to be in the fight. We'll just keep pushing on.

BRUCE:

And now it's off to Nashville. Last race of the season, the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Super Speedway. A concrete oval, another new track for you. What's your outlook heading to that race and wrapping up the season? Kind of seems like the season only started a couple of months ago.

SCOTT:

Crazy, right? When the football season's coming around, we know we're getting into the end of hours, so I'm super excited. I mean, you know, another Oval. I'm really enjoying the Ovals, as you know, and I'm excited to see what this event is gonna be like and the track's gonna be like. I haven't set foot in the place yet, so I'm excited to go check it out and see what happens.

BRUCE:

And then the final question was Scott McLachlan. What did you think of racing IndyCars on the Milwaukee Mile? The vibe, the attendance, the fans, the quality of race?

SCOTT:

I don't know if I can say this, but it was badass. So that was it. You can say that. Yeah, no, great deal. It was awesome, mate. It was, you know, like I said, the people made this race. It was great. There was a lot of Wisconsinites come out here. There was a heap of IndyCar racing gear. Yeah, really, really, really proud of IndyCar and Penske Entertainment for what they did for the race.

BRUCE:

And now Scott McLaughlin adds his name to the historical list of the greatest names in racing that have won here. That's got to be a blow. That's kind of nice. I'll take that.

SCOTT:

Yeah, go on.

BRUCE:

Hey, congratulations on winning the second Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250. It's a Milwaukee Mile. Scott McLaughlin, good luck and good luck at Nashville. And thank you for joining us on Pit Pass Indy.

SCOTT:

On your proceed.

BRUCE:

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

SCOTT:

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:

Welcome back to Pit Pass Indy. And now it's off to the 1.33 mile Nashville Super Speedway for the final race of the season that will decide the 2024 NTT IndyCar Series Championship. It's the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix on September 15th. Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing takes a 33-point lead over Will Power of Team Penske and a 50-point lead over Scott McLaughlin of Team Penske. Those are the only three drivers that have a shot at the title with one race remaining. Maximum points in each IndyCar race are 54, so the math favors Palou. Here is an exclusive interview I had before all the action began at Milwaukee as Palou discusses being on the verge of a third career IndyCar championship. All right, it's the man of the hour, Alex Palou. You're closing in on another championship, even though I know you're saying there's a lot that can happen.

ALEX:

But how are you feeling? Feeling great. I'm excited for this end of the season. Obviously, we have a challenge in front of us with the oval races. But yeah, I'm excited. We tested Milwaukee before and felt great. So hopefully we can have a great run.

BRUCE:

Last year it was easy to pinpoint the part of the schedule that won you the championship. It's when you won three races in a row, had a stretcher, you had four victories out of five races. This year's a little bit different. You're not the winningest driver in the season. That's actually willpower. But what do you see as being the key this year that is putting you in a position where you can win another title?

ALEX:

Yeah, I think it's a combination of everything, honestly. Like, I think almost everybody had really bad weekends, including us. We had two really bad weekends with Nashville and first race of Iowa. But we've been really consistent. Every time that we've been able to finish the race, we've been pretty good in the top five, top six, quite a lot of podiums. So, yeah, I would say consistency and also we had a couple of second places that could have been a win but didn't, which is what probably in 23 worked, that every time we had a first or second place going on, we were able to capitalize and finish in the first place.

BRUCE:

The last driver to go back-to-back with IndyCar Championships is your buddy, Dario Franchitti. Has he reminded you of that, and what would it mean to you to go back-to-back in championships? That's usually the sign of a guy who's really on a roll.

ALEX:

Yeah, obviously he reminds us and especially that he was on the same car, so hopefully we can do the same. But yeah, I mean, it's pretty incredible that we are maybe able to do that, to close on a back-to-back championships and that we already have two, so it will be the best of dreams.

BRUCE:

At Milwaukee, we had Scott Dixon with his 400th career start, Will Power with his 300th career start, and Josef Newgarden with his 200th career start, all on the same day. What are the odds of that happening all in the same race?

ALEX:

Well, I knew about Scott and Power, but didn't know about Joseph, so it's pretty surreal. I mean, 400 starts, 300 starts. It's amazing, right? And also at the performance level that these two especially have been able to put that. So, yeah, that's the next goal for us to try and get to those amount of starts with those amount of wins.

BRUCE:

Well, Alex Polo, good luck the rest of the season. Good luck closing in on a third championship. And thank you for joining us on Pit Pass, Andy. Thank you. I also had an exclusive interview with Will Power prior to the start of the Milwaukee weekend. Let's hear from the two-time IndyCar Series champion at Team Penske. Our old pal, Will Power of Team Penske is back. Will, I'm going to throw some numbers at you. It's a Milwaukee mile. It was Scott Dixon's 400th career IndyCar start. It was your 300th career IndyCar start. And it was Josef Newgarden's 200th career IndyCar start. How you could possibly get all of those milestones together in the same race is amazing. How did it all happen?

WILL:

That is amazing to me. I remember I'm offset to Scott. 100. I knew that. I didn't realize I was offset to Joseph 100. So it's, yeah, very, very interesting. Yeah, don't know what to say, really. I mean, it's just what a cool stat, I guess, to have.

BRUCE:

And the other thing is the last time Scott Dixon missed a race was at the Milwaukee Mile when he crashed two cars in four laps in practice and they sent him home for the week.

WILL:

Yeah. Yeah, okay. Yeah, I didn't know that. Yeah, actually, I think I, although I had heard that.

BRUCE:

You were still in champ car at that time.

WILL:

Yes, yes, yeah, yeah. No, there was some big hits back in those days, those guys hitting the wall like that.

BRUCE:

Oh, especially without the safer barriers. Oh, big time, yeah.

WILL:

So, when you think about it and... Yeah, car's a lot softer and everything. Yeah, it's...

BRUCE:

Even though the Safer Barrier was coming into play back then, this was still a pretty vicious place when you hit the wall.

WILL:

It was. Yeah, I've hit the wall, hit the wall in 15. It's a nasty hit. No question.

BRUCE:

So this interview is being done on Friday before the start of the Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250. So by the time it airs, we'll know how far behind you are with Alex blowing points. But obviously, Milwaukee, your game plan is just to go out there and win and make sure he's behind you.

WILL:

That's exactly right. If he finishes ahead of us at any of these races, it's over. So I need him to have a bad day and I need to win. So I understand exactly what the game plan is and I'm very focused on doing that.

BRUCE:

Something in your favor is the tiebreaker, because you've got the most victories of any driver this season, unless Alex wins one of the final three oval races, which two of them have already happened. Yeah. You would win if the points end up in a tie. So in some ways, does that give you a little bit of solace?

WILL:

Yes, if that was the case, which It has been in the past, you just never know. I've seen a couple, there's been a couple tiebreakers. There's Montoya and Frank Kitty and there was then Montoya and Dixon, funnily enough. But so, you know, that would be an amazing occurrence. We'll see what happens.

BRUCE:

And some ways you created the tiebreaker in 2015 because of the restart with Montoya.

WILL:

Yes. Yeah, I didn't. He did. But Yeah. Or you were involved. I was involved, yes. He hit me, which broke his wing. It's kind of unnecessarily, but yeah.

BRUCE:

Hey, your win at Portland, dominant victory. Where does that go down in your mind of most recent victories that you're so proud of? Because you really drove like you were on a mission.

WILL:

That was a very important win, so it's right up there. Definitely the best win of this season for me. because I absolutely had to do that to keep the championship alive. So, yeah, and it was a very good performance all around for the team, just executing in every possible way. So, very nice.

BRUCE:

Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but did you try to help boost the crowd here at Milwaukee earlier by knocking on doors with tickets?

WILL:

We did, yeah, we just knocked on a few doors, but yeah. How did it go? Well, a couple of people answered, we went to a bar and gave a few away, but yeah, trying to entice people to come. It's a great track with a lot of history, and it's an important part of the season, so there'll be some good racing.

BRUCE:

And it probably is a little easier to give the tickets away in a bar than to go up to somebody's door and knock on it. They open the door and see three people they've never seen before. Yeah, yeah. Unless they're IndyCar fans.

WILL:

They were fans. They had flags outside their door. So, you know, we wanted to reward them with their... support of our series and give them some tickets and some cream puffs.

BRUCE:

How important is it for you to see the Milwaukee Mile flourish? Because it does have so much history with IndyCar.

WILL:

It's, oh man, like every race, we feel the same. We want people to come out. I think it's progressively got better with generally in every aspect, you know, the quality of the drivers, quality of teams, You know, the events we've got, got a great TV package for next year, so it's all good stuff.

BRUCE:

And last question for Will Power. Is it hard to rattle Alex Palou? He seems so cool, but there's been a lot of times with drivers you could maybe get under their skin, but not Alex.

WILL:

You know, I think he's going to be extremely hard to beat, but anything can happen, as you know. You know, mechanical failures, things outside his control. And that's almost what has got to happen for us. So I'm just going to do my absolute best to put him in a situation where it makes it tough for him, but I'm just going to enjoy it.

BRUCE:

Will Power, good luck heading to Nashville, last race of the season. Thank you for joining us on Pit Pass Indy. Thanks. We'll be right back to Pit Pass Indy after this short break.

JOSEF:

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:

Welcome back to Pit Pass Indy. Let's wrap up today's Pit Pass Indy with two more driver interviews. The first is Ed Carpenter Racing's Christian Rasmussen, who was splitting the number 20 Chevrolet with owner-driver Ed Carpenter. Rasmussen was driving the car on the street and road courses in the Indianapolis 500. Carpenter drove the number 20 on the ovals and an extra car in the Indy 500. A few weeks ago, Carpenter called Rasmussen and told the young driver from Denmark he would finish out the season with two more oval races at Milwaukee and the finale at Nashville. Rasmussen talked about this opportunity with me in an exclusive interview for Pit Pass Indy. Joining us now is Christian Rasmussen of Ed Carpenter Racing. He got a little bit of a bonus this year when Ed told you you get to run three more races all on the Oval. How excited were you to get that opportunity?

CHRISTIAN:

Super excited to get this opportunity. You know, I love short oval racing. Had a good run in the short ovals last year in Indynext. So when I got the call about running here and in Nashville, I was obviously super excited. Yeah, I mean, we'll see what we get. You know, I think Rhenus has had some good runs on the short ovals here this year, both St. Louis and Iowa, so hopefully we can continue that here.

BRUCE:

Did Ed give you any indication during the season that this was a possibility?

CHRISTIAN:

No, not really. It was kind of out of the blue a little bit. And he texted me. He texted me one night at like nine thirty, I think. And I was like, do you have time for a call? And then, you know, when the boss texts you like that, you kind of get a little bit of nerves. But then obviously I got this opportunity and I was super happy about it. But yeah.

BRUCE:

Do you see this as possibly an audition for full-time duty in 2025?

CHRISTIAN:

I think every time you hit the track and every time I've hit the track this year, it's been an audition for next year. You know, at the end of the day, every time I hit the track, I focus on doing my best and that's going to be no different this time around.

BRUCE:

You were the biggest mover of any rookie in the Indianapolis 500. So what did you think And best finishing, too. Best finish for a rookie. That's a big track, this short oval. But what did you learn that day? And how proud were you to have a pretty good finish for your first Indy 500?

CHRISTIAN:

Yeah, I was super proud. I thought the 500 went super well for us. Overall, just a strong month. So, obviously, you learn a little bit about oval racing. It was my first time on a super speedway there, and this is a short oval, so it's a little bit of a different game. But yeah, I mean, we'll see what we get. Excited to go try this place out later today and kind of just have to get up to speed as quick as I can.

BRUCE:

And then what about Nashville? How often have you ever run on a concrete oval? I don't think I ever have. I don't think I ever have. Well, what is going to be the biggest difference in feel?

CHRISTIAN:

Well, I'll be able to tell you after I've driven it, you know.

BRUCE:

Just thinking of concrete versus asphalt. Yeah, I mean, concrete is usually lower grip, right?

CHRISTIAN:

Again, I don't really know what to expect yet. Right now, this last week or so that I've known that I'm actually doing this race has been kind of full focus on this. And then, you know, we get a week off and then I can kind of start focusing on Nashville and see what we get there.

BRUCE:

There's a lot of business things in play at Ed Carpenter Racing. So how deeply involved are you getting into that?

CHRISTIAN:

I'm not super involved in the business aspect of things. That's kind of Ed and Tim's deal. But obviously I'm asking for updates as much as I can to, you know, try and protect my future with the team. So again, love to come back with Ed Carpenter for next year. And I'm just kind of, you know.

BRUCE:

And finally, how much better do you think you'll be in your second IndyCar season than you were your first?

CHRISTIAN:

I think it'll be quite a bit better, you know, and I think we've shown it here towards the end of the season where we've gotten consistently fast 12s and, you know, kind of been up there. So hopefully we'll just be able to continue where we left off and then kind of start the year a little stronger than we did this year and then, you know, kind of give us a better position for the end.

BRUCE:

Well, Christian Rasmussen, you've had a pretty good year, especially on this. You were the street and road course driver. You're now getting a chance to run more ovals at the end of the year. Pretty impressive on the street and road courses. Good luck the rest of the season. And thank you for joining us on Pit Pass Indy. Thanks for having me. Finally, let's wrap up with the winner of the 106th Indianapolis 500 in 2022, Marcus Ericcson. The popular driver from Sweden won the Indy 500 with Chip Ganassi Racing, but after the 2023 season, he moved over to Andretti Global and is part of a three-car lineup that also includes Colton Herta and Kyle Kirkwood. Ericsson assesses his first season with Andretti Global in this exclusive interview for Pit Pass Indy. Very important guy. Hello, Marcus. All right. It's the end of the season. The two races at Milwaukee have already happened by the time this interview airs. Indeed, you may have.

MARCUS:

OK, good.

BRUCE:

We'll find out here shortly. But hitting the Nashville. How often have you ever driven a race on a concrete track?

MARCUS:

Not very often. So I don't even know. Detroit, Belle Isle was quite a bit concrete, right? It's a street race. But when you think about an oval.

BRUCE:

and the lack of grip, the low grip compared to asphalt.

MARCUS:

How big of a challenge is that going to be? It's going to be a big challenge, for sure. I haven't tested there. Some people have been there testing, so it's definitely going to be tricky, but I love oval racing. I love a good challenge, so I'm looking forward to it, and I think Andretti, us as a team, we've been strong on ovals this year, so looking forward to going there.

BRUCE:

How would you assess your first season at Andretti Global? You came over with a lot of high hopes that you were going to be able to win some races and get up there and fight for the championship. You've looked good at times, had some issues at times. How would you assess your first season at Andretti Global?

MARCUS:

I would say a lot of potential, a lot of good speed, but we haven't really transformed that into a lot of results. So, it's been a good year for building a foundation for next year, really. I think, you know, always when changing teams, it takes a bit of time to get used to new people, a new philosophy on the car, setup, etc. So, like I said, the speed, I think, has been there on all types of tracks and just been a bit, you know, I don't want to blame bad luck, but we haven't had much good luck. We've been, you know, had some mechanical failures and taken out in some races. But yeah, we've built a good foundation for next year and I'm sure we're going to be really, really strong in 2025.

BRUCE:

And it also seems like the three drivers get along very well, and how important is that?

MARCUS:

It's super important, and I think that's been one of the big, big positives, is that me, Colton and Kyle, we really get along well, we work well together, we push each other to be the best we can be, and I think that over time, you know, keeping that lineup and working together is just gonna go, you know, we're gonna go from strength to strength going forward.

BRUCE:

You have raced with Alex Blows, your teammate, before. He's closing in on a third IndyCar Series championship. What makes him so good?

MARCUS:

I think Alex's secret is that he doesn't have a specific thing he does so well. He just does everything really well. He does very, very few mistakes, and he's just always bringing his A-game in whatever track or session or situation. So I think that's what makes him special. It's not like he's... super good in that specific type of corner or that specific type of tracks. It's just that he's just super good at everything a racing driver has to do.

BRUCE:

He also doesn't seem to get rattled. A lot of drivers can get rattled on the racetrack. He always seems to be the coolest cat in the crib.

MARCUS:

Yeah, you could always think he's a Scandinavian. So, I mean, he doesn't have the Spanish, you know, like, I don't know. The Latin temper, as they call it.

ROGER:

Exactly.

MARCUS:

He's more like a Scandinavian cool.

BRUCE:

Hey, you won the first Big Machine Music City Grand Prix on the streets of Nashville, including your airborne drive there for a while, as I called it, Air Erickson. That's a day. It's a good day. Oh, it was a good day to crash and still come back and win the race. How much different is it going to be returning to Nashville, but not being in the center of the city and having the race way out in Lebanon and Tennessee?

MARCUS:

I mean, I loved racing in the downtown Nashville. I think that was amazing, and I hope we do that in the future at some point. But, you know, it's not possible, and then I think racing on an oval is a very good alternative. Like I said, I love oval racing, so I hope we're going to put on a really good show, and a lot of people are going to show up, because I think it's going to be a really cool race.

BRUCE:

And then our final question for Marcus Eriksson, Andretti Global. What are you going to do during the offseason to make sure 2025 is your year?

MARCUS:

I'm going to work very hard with the team, with my engineer, and, you know, analyze what was good and bad and so on from this year and make sure we are ready to hit off 2025 in the best possible way.

BRUCE:

Marcus Eriksson, good luck the rest of the way. Thank you for joining us on Pit Pass Indy. Thank you. And that puts a checkered flag on this edition of Pit Passing. We want to thank our guests, Alex Polo of Chip Ganassi Racing, Ricky Davis, Polo's crew chief, and team manager Barry Wanser, both from Chip Ganassi Racing. Will Power of Team Penske, Pado O'Ward of Errol McLaren, Scott McLachlan of Team Penske, Christian Rasmussen of Ed Carpenter Racing, and Marcus Ericsson of Andretti Global for joining us on today's 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. 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.