Long Beach Grand Prix winner Kyle Kirkwood, and ‘Remembering Jon Edwards’ with Tony Kanaan and IndyCar’s Dave Furst

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 an insider's view of the exciting world of the NTT IndyCar Series in a fast-paced podcast featuring interviews with the biggest names in the sport. I bring nearly 40 years of experience covering IndyCar and NASCAR, working for such media brands as NBCSports.com, SI.com, ESPN SportsTicker, Sports Illustrated, AutoWeek and SpeedSport. So let's drop the green flag on this episode of Pit Pass Indy. Welcome to Pit Pass Indy presented by Penske Truck Rental as we continue our fifth season of giving IndyCar fans an inside look at the most exciting form of racing on the planet, the NTT IndyCar Series. And a big thanks to Penske Truck Rental for helping bring you the inside stories of IndyCar from the paddock, to the racetrack, to the highways and streets of America. PitPass Indy was in Long Beach, California for the 50th Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach from April 11th to April 13th. It's the biggest, most historic street race in North America and has been on the Formula One, kart, and IndyCar schedules throughout its long and glorious history. We have an exclusive interview with Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach winner Kyle Kirkwood, who won the race from the pole for the second time in the last three races on the streets of Long Beach. The Andretti Global driver was one of just three drivers whose cars were never passed on the racetrack. The only time Kirkwood's number 27 Honda was not in the lead came during pit stops when other drivers in the field used a different pit stop strategy that cycled them to the lead. It was also the first win for team owner Dan Taurus since he took full control of Andretti Global on September 26, 2024. But this episode also includes some somber news, as John Edwards, longtime NASCAR public relations executive at Hendrick Motorsports, who oversaw Kyle Larson's off-track involvement in the 108th Indianapolis 500 in 2024, died from a sudden illness last week. He was just 52 years old. Edwards had fallen ill while at the NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway and was sent home by Hendrick Motorsports and instructed to head to the doctor. Several days passed and Hendrick Motorsports had not heard from Edwards. Longtime friend, NASCAR Hall of Famer, and current Vice Chairman of Hendrick Motorsports, Jeff Gordon, was very concerned and had a welfare check on Edwards. When two members of Hendrick Motorsports arrived at his home, Edwards had already passed away. He began as Jeff Gordon's PR director in the NASCAR Cup Series back in the days when NASCAR was on a rapid rise in popularity, and Gordon was the shining star. Gordon was in high demand by media, sponsors, and fans, and Edwards was the man who had to manage those demands. As a testament to his PR acumen, Edwards was able to make things happen, saying yes to many of the requests while also saying no to those that didn't make the cut. Edwards developed an extremely close relationship with Gordon. When the four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion retired after winning 93 races in a NASCAR Hall of Fame career, including five wins in the Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and three Daytona 500 wins, Gordon went to work for Fox Sports. Gordon hired Edwards as his personal public relations representative. Edwards returned to Hendrick Motorsports in 2021 to represent Kyle Larson. By the end of that season, Edwards was helping celebrate Larson's NASCAR Cup Series championship. Edwards was the consummate professional, and that was on full display in 2023 after Larson announced he would participate in the Indianapolis 500 in 2024. Edwards came to the Indy 500 one year early to help prepare for that attempt, learning the history, traditions, and the demands that come with the Indianapolis 500. When they returned in 2024, Edwards had a great plan for Larson's time out of the race car, dealing with the media and the other commitments. Edwards was a very good friend of PitPass Indy, making Larson available for many interviews that were part of the podcast. For that, we are eternally grateful. But I knew Edwards since the very beginning of his career. He made a lot of friends in racing, and I count myself as one of them, although there are many others in the NASCAR garage area that were much closer to him. Regardless, when I heard that John Edwards had died while I was wrapping up interviews at the annual Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach media luncheon on Thursday, April 10th, it was devastating news. It pretty much took most of the wind out of the sails for the rest of the week and for those of us who knew John Edwards. In racing, there are many people we encounter that leave a huge impression, and not all of them are behind the wheel of a race car. John Edwards certainly left a tremendous impression. He was honored for his professional ability by winning the Jim Chapman Award, the most prestigious award a racing public relations representative can achieve for his outstanding career-long efforts. He also won the NASCAR Public Relations Representative of the Year Award and the National Motorsports Press Association Ken Patterson Helping Others Award. Our sincere condolences to John Edwards' family, Hendrick Motorsports, his close friend Jeff Gordon, team owner Rick Hendrick, and everyone who had a chance to know him and consider him a friend. Tony Kanaan is the team principal at Arrow McLaren, the team that Larson drives for in the Indianapolis 500. In fact, Kanaan is returning to the cockpit to serve as a backup driver for Larson as he attempts to compete in both the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR Cup Series race on May 25th. Kanaan didn't know Edwards long, only for one year or so, but he was highly impressed by how he handled and orchestrated Larson's time out of the cockpit of the IndyCar. Kanaan reflects on Edwards in this exclusive interview for Pit Pass Indy. On Thursday, April 10th, we lost a very good person that was involved in racing. He was more involved in NASCAR than anything. It was John Edwards, longtime public relations man at Hendrick Motorsports. He was Jeff Gordon's PR man back when Jeff Gordon was Jeff Gordon, when NASCAR was at its height, when it was huge. He was able to manage that, but yet he was able to do it in such a professional way that we all understood what he did. You got to know him from Kyle Larson competing for Errol McLaren in the Indianapolis 500. You were going to have a chance to work with him again at this year's Indy 500. We're talking about John Edwards of Hendrick Motorsports, but Tony Kanaan, team principal at Errol McLaren, when you got the news that he had passed away suddenly, what was your reaction?

KANAAN:

I mean, Any news of anyone passing away, it's not, you know, even if you don't sympathize with the person, I don't think, people have families. But John, especially, we shot a podcast with Dale Jr. The day that he was supposed to be there and he fell sick, that was the day that he passed in his house. So for me, it was even like, I was going to meet John that day with Kyle. I mean, he was always with Kyle, but... Rewind a little bit, obviously, I'm the same generation as Jeff. And watching Jeff having his success in NASCAR, and I was racing in the car at the time, but watching on TV, that is always John. I'm like, that guy, and it was 22 years of relationship with Jeff on racing alone. And I just mentioned before we started the interview, he was only two years. older than me. So think about how young he was when he started with Jeff, right? He was probably a kid. And to be honest, to last that long with a guy that was so successful, I think they integrated with each other and they actually got, like, they learned on the environment, the old time, where Nascar was like, you know, punches and crashes with... You can't imagine how, with Dale Sr., how that battle was between them. And John was there to try to hold it, right? No different times, too, but anyway. When I met John for the first time three years ago, when we decided that Kyle was going to run it, In a way, I always wanted to meet him because being a race fan and seeing people that have been a long time in the sport, we just don't survive because people don't have other options, right? I mean, you've been there as long as I've been here. Ziz has been here from... So those are the things that you look back and say, well, but why? Cause we have young people, hunger, you know, hungry kids that will probably, they're probably not even going to use all this stuff that you're using Bruce, you know, like, so to me, it was always like, what did, what did they have? He must be one of the best in the business. And then I get to meet him and work with him. I was like, okay, now I understand why. And a guy that, I always said that. And, and for the listeners that maybe not, Like, I've never really, I don't have a problem getting any, have a relationship with anybody because I'm an easy person to start with. But I'm very demanding with the person that is working with me. And I think John understood what Jeff needed. then they were able to shape Kyle to that, because that was a good reference, right? I mean, Jeff was very successful, and I think that was a key part of John's job, his understanding when to take you out of trouble, the respect, the mutual respect, because also we think we're, you know, after reading everything, like, you're not telling me anything, when Xiz will come say, hey, by the way, You shouldn't say that. You have to have that relationship to be able to listen, right? So, sad, upsetting. Obviously, we had a bet that we were going to kiss the bricks together because I like bets. It didn't happen last year, so I was hoping for this year, but...

BRUCE:

Part of the reason why Kyle Larson had such a tremendous rookie season at last year's Indianapolis 500 was because it's not so much what he did in the race car, but it's what he did out of the race car. He did every appearance. He did every, the traditions that are part of the Indianapolis 500. He milked the cow at the Indiana Dairy Association. But I mean, he understood that because John Edwards knew it was important.

KANAAN:

Correct, but also John Andrews understood where to put it. He was a guy that we sat down the first time. He's like, hey, I need to know, what is he doing? So we sat down with our team, and he went, OK, OK, OK, what is that? Filtered it, and he just told Kyle, that's the relationship I always had with any person that worked with me. So I'm not going to argue with you what I need to do, but you know what I'm here for. You know what's important. And I know if you're going to get me out of something, You will. And John was the best at, because of the experience with Jeff, you have to work with successful people to be able to understand how to filter because sometimes you have to say no, but you're not saying no because you're arrogant or you're trying to miss. You have to say no to a sponsor because at the end of the day, the job and task is to win the race. Because you say no, they will get mad. And you win the race, they will forget. And John's part of that was, it's hard to explain, but John would say no, and the sponsor or the journalist, it wouldn't feel bad that he was getting, he would put it in a way that it was professional, but also we'll find another way, not the way you want it. So that is the key factor of having a guy like him beside us, a sexual driver, because you know what? We all faced it, and I'm not Jeff Pato, myself. The more famous you get, if you're the most popular driver for years, people are going to want to talk to you. And that is the way it is. And more people want to talk to you. And that balance there, it cannot come from a driver, because we have, we can be extremely receptive, but if a weekend is not going good, or you're having a bad, took me 12 years to win the 500. And you go and you talk about, I don't want to do anything every year trying to change something because you want to win. I think he was one of the best in the business to be able to filter that. Have you reached out to Jeff Gordon? Yeah, I talked to Jeff the day of and Jeff obviously It's devastated and we're going to do some tribute between Hendrick and ourselves in our cars this weekend to John. But yeah, I mean, I can only imagine how Jeff feels.

BRUCE:

And also talking to people like your PR staff, Lauren Gaudion and Will Erickson and Alex Kaya, they all took it very hard because everybody that encountered John Edwards really liked the guy. And also, they learned things that John Edwards did that probably helped them do their jobs better because he was a consummate professional.

KANAAN:

Well, again, I think we have a fairly young team. And having a guy like that, it's like me having Dario as my coach in my last two years in IndyCar, or me here trying to help Nolan to do something. So we all appreciate that. I know it's kind of a cliche. My favorite thing to say sometimes is like when somebody passes, all of a sudden he becomes the nicest person in the world. But that is not the case with John. I think he... We've learned a lot with the Hendrick relationship, but I think our team... Alex can tell how pain in the butt I am with how anal I am, but I think that is, then when John came in, I think maybe even if they had a little bit of, is this guy really a pain in the butt like this? Or then John comes in and gives Kyle the same thing. I think it helped some of the young guys to understand, not good or bad, it's just like, hey man, this guy knows what, no, he's one of the best in the business, so.

BRUCE:

And finally, anytime somebody that comes from NASCAR that gets involved with the Indianapolis 500 and they experience it, they think it's the greatest thing that they've ever witnessed. And when you get that type of reaction, it really does show how important and how big that race really is.

KANAAN:

You know, in hindsight, I remember John's as long as he had been around, and I remember his comments after last year. Obviously, we never expected this to happen and never wished this was going to happen. So, in a way, if you're going to do a positive spin, I'm glad that he experienced that before he went to a better place.

BRUCE:

Well, you couldn't have said it any better. Tony Kanaan, the 2013 Indianapolis 500 winning driver and the 2004 NTT IndyCar Series champion. I don't think that gets mentioned enough when people introduce you.

KANAAN:

It's so long ago, so they, you know, it'll be 20 years. It was 21 years, so.

BRUCE:

But thank you for remembering John Edwards and hopefully that can give you Even more reason to go out and win the Indianapolis 500 in 2025.

KANAAN:

It's like I put it on my posts. I said, uh, post this picture. I said, uh, we're kissing the bricks no matter what this year. So.

BRUCE:

But Tony Kanaan, you've always been a legend and thank you for remembering John Edwards. And thank you for joining us today on Pit Pass Indy. Thank you. 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:

Dave First is IndyCar vice president of competition communications. Prior to that, First was sports director at WRTV Channel 6, the ABC affiliate in Indianapolis. He was at WRTV from 1997 until he took his current position at IndyCar at the end of the 2020 season. First, had the unique position of working with Edwards as both a member of the media and as the man who oversees IndyCar's communication efforts. Prior to the 50th Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on Sunday, April 13th, first join me for this exclusive interview for Pit Pass Indy as we reflect on the impact Edwards made in auto racing. Racing lost a great public relations person the other day is John Edwards, longtime public relations person at Hendrick Motorsports. worked with Jeff Gordon throughout his glorious career in NASCAR and even worked with Jeff Gordon while he was at Fox Sports and also when Jeff Gordon became vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports. But a lot of people in IndyCar got to know John Edwards. And one of them is our guest now as vice president of competition communications for IndyCar, Dave First. Dave, it was shocking news the first day that we came out here for the 2025 50th anniversary of the Acura Grand Prix at Long Beach on Thursday, when we learned that John Edwards had unexpectedly passed away.

DAVE:

Yeah, it was shocking. And then, you know, we, you and I have known John for a long time and a lot of our friends here in the paddock have known John for a long, long time. Um, what I didn't expect is the outpouring, uh, and, uh, of support obviously for John around the paddock. They really maybe didn't know John until the last year and a half or so, uh, with, with Kyle Larson coming over and doing the, Indianapolis 500 last year and was expected to do so obviously with with Kyle again this year and so I mean that's that is the beauty of motorsports is that when something like this happens And I realize this is also the same with NFL, stick and ball sports, NBA. But to me, no group of people rally around a situation like this one, like others we've had in the past, quite like the motor sports community. So it's heartwarming to see what has happened in the last couple of days in honor of John.

BRUCE:

John Edwards made a lot of friends in IndyCar in a very short period of time. And one of the things that made Kyle Larson's rookie season as an Indy 500 driver in 2024 so great wasn't only what Kyle Larson did on the racetrack, it's what Kyle Larson did out of the race car. John Edwards had him do anything. There wasn't anything that they really turned down for Kyle to do because they had that much respect and reverence for the traditions of the Indianapolis 500. John made Kyle Larson available to nearly every media person, whatever requests they had, they cooperated. And that was really what made that such a special time when Kyle was here in 2024. And we were looking forward to a little bit of that in 2025.

DAVE:

Yeah, I think it was it would have happened this year to not saying that it won't because I think Kyle really did have a very positive experience last year doing the 500. But I was a little apprehensive when I met with John last year about the same time. By the way, one of his favorite restaurants in Indianapolis was a place called Working Man's Friend, which is an old cheeseburger joint. Cash only, I believe. We know it well. Our friend Robin Miller would take us all there at some point. But anyway, I found out that he was a huge fan of the cheeseburgers at Working Man's Friend. So whenever he rolled into town, he would call me or I'd text him. What do you think, lunch? Absolutely. but we met and, you know, I'm thinking here's, here comes Kyle, a guy that spent a lot of time in central Indiana, a former cup champion, you know, what, what, what's the plan? Do we want to, you know, kind of watch what he does? Cause obviously his, job during the month of May was to run the 17 car, maybe win the Indianapolis 500. That's his first job. So I'm thinking, you know, do we cut back on media? What's the approach going to be? And John right out of the gate says, no, whoever wants to talk to Kyle, we're going to make happen because this is going to be such a fabulous experience. And we want Kyle to, you know, not only enjoy the 500, but experience kind of what IndyCar is all about. I mean, I think we like to think that our sport is open, you know, certainly to the fans, certainly to the media, certainly to the paddock area. And, you know, he wants to give Kyle that experience, certainly at the Indianapolis 500, when you've got, you know, upwards of 300,000 fans there on race day. So it, it was refreshing. I'm like, okay, let's go. And I'm thinking in back of my mind, I'm like, oh, we'll see how this, you know, give it a couple of days and this is going to probably wear off. But no, John and Kyle went full bore, uh, the entire month of May, even, even the open test, um, that we had same thing. And, uh, it was refreshing. And I think that's what, one of the reasons that Kyle had such a positive experience and clearly can't wait to do it again.

BRUCE:

The other thing about John Edwards was he was probably just as excited, maybe even a little more excited to be at the Indianapolis 500 in that capacity because he'd spent his entire career in NASCAR. And they never really had an opportunity to come up for the Indianapolis 500 because there was always the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. One of their biggest races of the year that's held on the same day that he was just like wide-eyed and excited and just thrilled to be at the Indianapolis 500.

DAVE:

It was kind of exciting to see someone experience the 500. John has obviously been around motorsports for a long, long time. And you become kind of jaded, kind of grizzled a little bit about certain things. But he was all asking questions on a daily basis. OK, what is this Carb Day? Why do they call it Carb Day? What's the Pit Stop competition? What's this concert? And one thing after another. And I think he learned very quickly to embrace uh... what the race all about you go to the cut casino night something it's it's very small thing on the schedule we're convinced in which it's actually required event for track really this casino night so yeah is okay we're doing it and kyle again had a great time even the parade you you know it does this teach them what the uh... indianapolis five hundred festival parade was all about so It was something else to watch it through someone else's eyes on a fresh look like that. And that included Jeff, right? I mean, Jeff hadn't really experienced the 500 like he did last year. And certainly Rick Hendrick as well, Mr. H. Obviously enjoyed it enough that after all the rain, they stuck around to compete in the 500. So it's, you know, again, it was a great experience. Kyle, to his credit, I think someone asked him about what the media experience was in Indianapolis in the IndyCar versus NASCAR. And he kind of hinted that maybe the IndyCar media staff were okay. We kind of know what we're doing. It was fun.

BRUCE:

For people that really didn't know the background of John Edwards, he had pretty much been with Jeff Gordon since Jeff's second season as a NASCAR Cup Series driver. And as I tell everybody, John Edwards worked with Jeff Gordon when Jeff Gordon was Jeff Gordon, when NASCAR was at its absolute peak. when everybody in America was starting to pay attention to NASCAR when it was exploding and he was there for all of that and had a big responsibility to manage the explosion and popularity of Jeff Gordon and how much he was in demand and also Jeff Gordon ended up being the first NASCAR driver, the first racing driver to be the host of Saturday Night Live. Who would have ever thought they'd see that? Jeff Gordon became one of the regular guest hosts of Live with Regis and Kelly back in the day. And Jeff Gordon became a mainstream figure, not necessarily a NASCAR driver. And John Edwards had a big role in all of that.

DAVE:

Yeah, I think John helped push Jeff in those directions. And obviously, You know, Jeff, to his credit, accepted that because these are all side gigs, let's call them. Not that the SNL is just called a side gig, but all these opportunities that came up, he was full bore. And kudos to John for letting it happen. But, you know, to your point, you know, in my previous career, spent a lot of time doing local television in North Carolina and West Virginia and obviously for 20 plus years in Indianapolis. So I covered You and I covered a lot of Daytona 500s. We've covered a lot of cup races throughout the years.

BRUCE:

We chased Bernie Ecclestone into the men's room one time.

DAVE:

That was an F1 event, but yes, also chased Bernie Ecclestone around and a little F1 time when Formula One was running at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. But it, I mean, there was two, it's difficult to tell a younger generation what NASCAR Cup Series racing was like in the 90s and early 2000s. You had two drivers. It was Big E, Dale Earnhardt, and it was Jeff Gordon. And fans of Dale Earnhardt were not fans of Jeff Gordon. Fans of Jeff Gordon were not fans of Dale Earnhardt. It was a remarkable time in American motor sports. And Jeff just did, or John rather, did a tremendous job in maneuvering Jeff through all of that. And I think Jeff and I had never talked about it, but I think Jeff would say a lot of his career off track and the success he's had is in many thanks, part to John Edwards.

BRUCE:

John Edwards basically ran a minute-by-minute schedule for Jeff Gordon, and I'll recall a Brickyard 400 where I ran a file of the minute-by-minute schedule.

DAVE:

Yeah, how'd that go?

BRUCE:

It didn't go very well at all, I'll tell you. They brought him in for the media availability and I went up to John Edwards and said, I got a few things I'm sure I'm working on. I just need to ask Jeff this without telling the whole room because it's not a secret feature, but it's a specialized feature that I'm working on. And John says, well, I'm sorry, we don't have time to do it. I decided that I was going to walk with Jeff on the way out and ask him the question. Jeff brought it up. Well, I'll go ahead and answer the question, but I'm supposed to be done now, and he answered the question. Well, as soon as Jeff walked away, John Edwards pretty much undressed me right there in Gasoline Alley and told me, I told you no, and you went around me, and you're not going to do it again. Don't expect any favors out of me for a good long while, because when I tell you no, that means no.

DAVE:

Yeah.

BRUCE:

And I learned a lesson. But the great thing about John Edwards, he didn't put you on probation for long, but he got his point across. And that sometimes is what a good public relations person, especially for a driver of the caliber of Jeff Gordon, who was always in demand, needed to have in order to be able to do what he was there for while still dealing with the media. I also think the great thing about John Edwards was when he came to the Indianapolis 500, actually the last two years, because he made a trial run back in 2023. But there was a lot of PR people in IndyCar. There was a team PR people over at Aaron McLaren said they learned a lot of things from John Edwards. And I think that was one of the true gifts that he had is that other PR people learned how to do public relations by watching him and by learning from him.

DAVE:

to your point. I remember when I was working in local television, uh, you know, and these, these scrum interviews we would have after practice outside the garage or whatever. And, and, you know, John, it was pretty stern. You get, you got 10 minutes. Once the 10 minutes was up, that was it. And Jeff was gone. But the other thing that I'll remember about John is that if you were a smaller TV station from, name it, a small market that may not be used to covering NASCAR and certainly the stardom that Jeff had at the time, he was very open and kind of put a young reporter under his wing a little bit. He'd just do this, do that, and I can help you out. I'll give you two minutes. It was very open to these ideas that I think certainly help leave an impression for a young reporter about, A, you know, here's a sport that is open to interviews and welcoming to someone that's new to NASCAR. And I think it made a big impact for a lot of young reporters that were coming up through the ranks.

BRUCE:

When Jeff Gordon retired as a driver and began working as an analyst for Fox Sports, John basically was ready to get out of the team PR rep business. He worked for Jeff Gordon for a while as part of JGI, helped handle his interviews when he was at Fox Sports, was enjoying throttling back to a degree. But when Hendrick Motorsports hired Kyle Larson to be their driver in the NASCAR Cup Series, they needed a really seasoned, savvy PR person because, as you recall, Kyle had lost his ride the year before because of an unfortunate incident that had been caught during an iRacing race, just a word that shouldn't have been said that just slipped out, and he lost his ride at Chip Ganassi Racing and was pretty much suspended from NASCAR for the year, had to go through some sensitivity training, but Hendrick said We're gonna give this guy a second chance, but we're gonna need to have a PR guy that can handle a crisis situation with his return. They hired John Edwards, and that's pretty much what brought him back into the NASCAR Cup Series realm, because that turned into him being the full-time PR guy with Kyle Larson. But when you think about that responsibility and how John was the guy that they said, he's the right guy to do this.

DAVE:

Yeah, and that's obviously a delicate situation and one that, you know, can't be handled very easily by someone that's only been in the business for a couple of years. So that was, obviously for Mr. H and everyone at Hendrick Motorsports, that was a pretty savvy move to put John on that. And, you know, John handled it really well. Kyle handled it even better, took John's advice countless times on all that. And now you look at Kyle's career, kind of back on track, no pun intended. But again, a lot of that is credit to John Edwards.

BRUCE:

He also understood how important it was for a very dear and close friend of ours who passed away, Robin Miller. Robin Miller was a huge fan of Kyle Larson, a huge supporter. Robin's dying days, the Brickyard 400, NASCAR was at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Brickyard weekend. Robin was close to dying. In fact, you were driving the golf cart with him around and he wanted to talk to Jeff and he wanted to talk to Kyle. During Driver Introductions, John Edwards made that happen and talking to our pal Steve Schunk, Robin Miller was as happy as he could be for the final 10 days of his life because he had that opportunity to talk to Jeff Gordon and Kyle Larson and just those are moments that show how truly special John Edwards was.

DAVE:

Yeah, I remember that like it was yesterday. Robin and I in a golf cart. I remember that was the NASCAR IndyCar doubleheader in the late summer at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on the road course. And he and I on the golf course uh, weaving through the starting grid at the IndyCar race on Saturday. And then we came back on Sunday. I had my, my son Zach with me too. And I got some great photos of, of Robin, uh, Zach and, and Jeff, but yeah, uh, John said, Hey, just, you know, hang out at the base of victory podium and, you know, I'll make sure Kyle comes over and says hi. And sure enough, Jeff came, I mean, and Jeff is gracious and obviously Robin and Jeff go way back. And so it was a great conversation. It was a great conversation with Kyle because, you know, and the thing, the ironic is that, you know, Robin always wanted to see Kyle in the Indianapolis 500 and was really beating that drum Unfortunately never saw it happen, but I like to think that you know Robin had a little something to do with that at the end of the day as well

BRUCE:

And the other great thing is the relationship that John Edwards had with Jeff Gordon because Jeff Gordon was devastated over what happened with John Edwards. He got sick at Darlington last weekend. Hendrick Motorsports sent him home on Jeff Gordon's recommendation. You need to go home, go straight to the doctor. They hadn't heard from him for a few days after he got back and they did a welfare check and they found that he had passed away and Jeff, from the reports I've got is having a hard time dealing with the loss because they were that close.

DAVE:

It's not easy, right? And certainly... When something as unexpected happens like this, it's going to take a while. I know you share thoughts and prayers, certainly with John's family, but it's an extended family that everyone at Hendrick Motorsports worked with John for a long, long time. to the IndyCar point, I mean, I thought it was great to see that Errol McLaren honored John with some stickers on the sides of the car. And that speaks to really how touched that the IndyCar paddock is as well for what John has done for the last couple of years with Errol McLaren and Hendrick Motorsports.

BRUCE:

Well, he certainly wasn't around IndyCar for long, but he left a huge impression and impact on the sport. And you and I go way back with knowing him from the NASCAR days, and we saw how good he was at his job. And the old saying is certainly appropriate, that he was certainly a pro's pro.

DAVE:

Really good at his job, even better at life. He became a friend to all of us, and John's going to be missed, no question.

BRUCE:

Well, Dave First, Vice President of Competition Communications for IndyCar. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on John Edwards, the public relations pro from Hendrick Motorsports who passed away. And thank you for joining us today on Pit Pass Indy.

DAVE:

Anytime, Bruce. Thank you. Thinking of John's family for sure. Thank you.

BRUCE:

Thank you. 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 Pip Pass Indy, presented by Penske Truck Rental.

BRUCE:

Welcome back to Pit Pass Indy presented by Penske Truck Rental. We will have more from the 50th Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach with a special bonus episode later this week. But we made sure to include the winner of the greatest street race in North America on this episode. It's Kyle Kirkwood who scored his third career IndyCar win and his second Acura Grand Prix victory both from the pole. Kirkwood started on the pole and led a race-high 46 laps in the 90-lap race. As mentioned earlier, the only time he wasn't in the lead was because of alternate pit stop strategy by other drivers, and Kirkwood was never passed on the racetrack. After celebrating the big win, Kirkwood joined me for this exclusive interview for Pit Pass Indy. For the second time in three attempts, the winner of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach from Nepal is Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti Global. Kyle, you led 46 laps to win the 50th Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. Huge victory for you, huge victory for Andretti Global. How do you sum up the day and how you were able to dominate?

KYLE:

Yeah, exactly. And we, yeah, we led 46 laps in 2023 and we led 90 today, right? Or maybe not. No, you led 46, it was a 90 lap race. Sorry, that was a strategy, right? But essentially we were in the lead the entire time. So clean race, big for Andretti Global and TWG Motorsports. This was an important one for them because this was the Coast to Coast weekend where they had four of their biggest championships here in the US between, Bristol with NASCAR, Formula E down in Homestead, and then here with IMSA and IndyCar. Big weekend for them, and to cap it off with a win is super special. And their efforts are paying off. There's been a little bit of a mix-up in our team, and things are starting to look up. We've had really strong cars this year. We had opportunities to win at St. Pete. We had really, really good cars at Thermal, I would have to say, a lot better than last year. Then here, we were completely dominant. So hats off to what they're doing, and hats off to them, but also a big weekend to capitalize on something so special.

BRUCE:

As you said, because of strategy, you may not have officially been scored as the leader for the entire 90 laps, but effectively you were. You were one of only three cars that was never passed on the track the entire race. So in a lot of ways, when you look at it that way, that has to be pretty close to a flawless race.

KYLE:

It is. You know, and that's due to how the team operated here this weekend. We were really good in practice, we were really good in qualifying, really good in warmup, and we were really good in the race. And they nailed the strategy, they nailed the pit stops, everything was pretty much flawless, and we had a really fast car to do it, right? It makes things a lot easier when you have fast equipment. and makes it easier on me, makes it easier on the team, and you feel like you just have a lot more control of things. So due to that, we weren't passed by anyone, and we essentially led the entire race from wire to wire.

BRUCE:

When you won the poll on Saturday, I asked you because this track is a difficult track to pass the leader if this makes qualifying more important than some other races. I guess what you did today really does prove that because both of your wins here have come from the poll.

KYLE:

That is true. I would say today qualifying was more important than it has been here in the past. And I think we proved that with Polo. Polo had to stop a lap earlier than us and kind of get on an undercut. And we just kind of controlled the race, being able to do an overcut, do an extra lap. It was kind of like negative deg on the primary tires here, which just meant you're going faster and faster and meant the overcut was going to be more powerful. Yeah, I mean, it was big for that. And to your point, qualifying was very important, and I think more so than the past.

BRUCE:

But late in the race, when you made your final pit stop and you were able to beat Alex Pillow, who was on the track at speed, you got out of the pits and you were ahead of him. At any point, were you concerned that with Pillow having won the first two races of the season, that he might have something a little bit left in his car that might challenge you for the win?

KYLE:

He's on fire. I have to give it to him. He is absolutely on fire. And he still kept us on our toes. We were quicker than him, but they did a really, really good job in that last pit stop to close the gap to us and put a ton of pressure on me in that one or two laps that we had the pit exchange. And like I said, he's on fire. Two wins in a row in a second, that's incredible. It's hard to beat that sort of performance. But, you know, I guess the only way to beat them is to win at this moment. So, started off with one here and now we need to get more.

BRUCE:

Brian Hurd has said you had this much push to pass left and you had this much opportunities left if you needed it, and you said, I'm not going to use any.

KYLE:

Yes, there was a point where he was like, hey, if you want, we have all this overtake left. If you want to start using it for lap time, it's available to you. I kind of had control of the pace. I knew Alex Palou. In a way, he gave up. In a strategy way, he kind of gave up trying to pass me after a couple of laps after that last pit exchange because he would have just killed his tires doing so. He kind of laid off and I think he was more so hoping for a late caution or traffic to kind of bring him back into the mix where he could then attack me at the very end of the race. That would have been his best opportunity to do so. And I had a ton of overtake left and I was like, you know what, I need to save this because if Palou goes down to zero and I still have 30, that's a win for us. But if we both go down to zero at the same time, it might not be good.

BRUCE:

The significance of winning the 50th Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, which is the biggest street race in North America, the second biggest race in IndyCar, behind the Indianapolis 500.

KYLE:

Yeah, it's big. And to win it in a Honda-powered car is even bigger. And hats off to what they've done. I think this year they came here, or they came this entire season with amazing equipment. And it's all due to their hard work. And this is a home race for them. They're the presenting sponsor, but they also live here. And they have a lot of associates, a lot of employees, a lot of people that come out here and watch this race and root for Honda-powered cars. And to be able to get a win and a second place is big for them, and get that top five in qualifying. That just shows the pace that they were able to produce. So big weekend for them, big weekend for me, and keep this thing rolling.

BRUCE:

And the significance of being second in the points, which is the highest you've ever been in IndyCar.

KYLE:

That is true. It's a big one. We're still second in the points after three races, yet being 34 points behind is not a great thing to see, I'd have to say. It's great because we're second, but it's a long ways to first. So we still have a lot of work to do, you know, so it's great right now, but in a couple of days, I know that we're gonna have to get straight back to the drawing board and make sure that. It continues or we continue to be ahead of Polo because that's what it's going to take to win this thing. And we're only three races and we can't let him stretch out a gap like he has the past couple of years.

BRUCE:

And while we're on the significant theme, the significance that this is Dan Towers's first victory is the primary owner of Andretti Global. since he took sole control of the team in September of 2024.

KYLE:

That's right. That's right. I mean, Dan's been involved with this program for many years. So a lot of these are extremely important to him. But just like last year's Colton wins were important. My wins two years ago were important to him. This one is as important, if not more. And I think it's more important because this was a big weekend for them. This was TWG's coast-to-coast weekend where they had four series racing all in the country at the same time on the same weekend. And they were able to fly out here and make it for this major win, which marks, yes, their first win, or Dan's first win as the primary guy here at Andretti Global and TWG Motorsports. and that's in history, and I'm glad to be the first one.

BRUCE:

And finally, after celebrating Easter next weekend, it's off to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for a two-day Indy 500 open test. Easter egg hunts. Yes, how important is that going to be, that two-day test?

KYLE:

It's going to be really important. It's really nice to get back to the Speedway. That place feels like home to everybody. It gives you a different feeling. You get butterflies every time you go through the tunnels and go into that circuit and know you're going to drive an empty car at 240 miles per hour around that place. It gets you excited. It gets you excited. And every year that I don't win, I get more and more excited going back there. Hopefully this is our year, it's gonna be, the two days are gonna be important to us, but the whole month's gonna be important, and this is just the kickoff for it.

BRUCE:

Kyle Kirkwood, congratulations on winning the 50th Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, your second Long Beach victory in three attempts. Good luck at the Indy 500 Open Test, good luck in your battle with Alex Pillow and the other drivers for that championship this year, and thank you for joining us on Pit Pass Indy. Thanks, Bruce. We'll be right back to Pit Pass Indy after this short break.

WILL:

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:

And that puts a checkered flag on this edition of Pit Pass Indy presented by Penske Truck Rental. We want to thank our guest, Kyle Kirkwood, the winning driver in the 50th Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 13th. Also, special thanks to former IndyCar Series champion and 2013 Indianapolis 500 winner, Tony Kanaan, who is now the team principal at Arrow McLaren. and IndyCar vice president of competition communications, Dave First, for helping us honor the late public relations great, John Edwards. Along with loyal listeners like you, our guests helped 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. And be sure to look for a special bonus episode of Pit Pass Indy later this week with more news and interviews from the 50th Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. This has been a production of Evergreen Podcast. A special thanks to our production team, executive producers are Bridget Poyn 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.