Previewing the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto with Alex Palou, Marcus Ericsson, Felix Rosenqvist and much more

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. Time to get out the passports as IndyCar heads north of the border for this weekend's Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto on the streets of Toronto. It's the final street race of the 2024 season, as four of the final six races of the championship will be on oval tracks. After Sunday's street race in Toronto, the lone remaining road course race will be the bitnile.com Grand Prix of Portland on August 25th at Portland Raceway in Portland, Oregon. It will also be the last IndyCar race in nearly one month, as both IndyCar and NASCAR will take the following three weekends off because its television partner, NBC, will be covering the Olympic Games in Paris, beginning with next weekend's opening ceremonies. Pit Pass Indy won't be taking any time off, however, as the show continues to give IndyCar fans exclusive interviews with the biggest names in the series. That will continue during the Olympic break. We have a wide range of interviews for this special Toronto preview edition of Pit Pass Indy presented by Penske Truck Rental. Let's start with the current points leader, Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing. The two-time and defending IndyCar Series champion takes a 35-point lead over Team Penske's Will Power into Sunday's race at Toronto. He also leads third-place Pato Award of Arrow McLaren by 52 points, fourth place Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing by 57 points, and team Penske's Scott McLaughlin, who is in fifth place, is 65 points out of the lead. Here is my exclusive interview with Alex Pillow for Pit Pass Indy. Let's get to know Alex Pillow. As IndyCar is off to the streets of Toronto, Iowa was a pretty busy weekend, back-to-back races. You don't have a whole lot of time to recharge, not that you need it, but heading to the street race at Iowa, that always seems to be one of the highlights of the season just because of its location. How do you like that race?

ALEX:

I love it. I love the city. I love the track. It's very bumpy. We always struggle with more bumps and less grip each year, but honestly, it's super fun to drive IndyCar around there. It's always great racing. I remember last year that we were pretty fast. We did a little bit of a gamble to try and overtake some cars on strategy, caught up on a crash and the wing was falling off at the end there, but made it happen. So I'm excited about this year. Hopefully we can fight for the win. We've had really good cars and really fast cars year-round.

BRUCE:

It's also a great city in terms of culture, restaurants, entertainment. What are some of the things you love about Toronto?

ALEX:

Apart from just walking around, there's a pretty cool Japanese restaurant that I love. I don't remember the name now. I visited quite a lot the Japanese places around. I just love sushi. And I have my favorite there that for sure I'll be going during the weekend.

BRUCE:

Does it have a large community from Spain?

ALEX:

Not that I know. I don't know. I guess that it's a big city, right? Like, I guess that there's a little bit of everything, but not that I know.

BRUCE:

Now the end of the season is shaping up as he who's best on the ovals is going to really be able to determine the IndyCar Championship. Entering the race weekend at Iowa, their sixth of the last eight races are on ovals. How do you feel about that? There was a time where you said oval, short oval racing may not be your strongest suit, but you've definitely gotten much better at it.

ALEX:

Yeah, I mean, for sure, it's not my biggest strength. We all know that. But I think we've been making big steps and into the right direction. So good results are going to come for sure if we keep up the good work. And yeah, I'm excited. I mean, it didn't change. since the start of the season, so I knew that this season was going to be kind of unique on the way that you don't really have much ovals until you get to the last eight races where, as you said, you have six on short ovals. So anyway, I'm excited. Hopefully our win is coming up really soon and looking forward to getting the championship fight at the end.

BRUCE:

This past weekend at Iowa Speedway, doubleheader, night race, derby race, you did a lot of testing with the hybrid on the short ovals. Milwaukee, you were here in June when they had their test here at the end of June. What were some of the big question marks entering Iowa that you wanted to see with the hybrid unit?

ALEX:

Well, I mean, we did quite a lot of testing, but we didn't really race with it. So you basically want to know if you can make a difference in terms of like where you choose to use the deploy, where you reach in compared to other people. I mean, we saw that that mid-Ohio made a difference, but maybe not enough to make passes. It's always been tough to pass there. But yeah, I mean, there's still, even though Iowa is done, there's still a lot of knowledge that we need to get. in other ovals and in other tracks. I think it's going to keep on changing track to track specifically. So we're excited. It makes us have longer meetings and longer talks about the hybrid and the deploy in the region. But it's it's good. It's good to have it at home.

BRUCE:

And how valuable was the Iowa weekend to determine what it's going to be like when you get the gateway, what it's going to be like at Milwaukee, what it's going to be like when you get to Nashville?

ALEX:

Yeah, I mean, it helps us, like it gives us a baseline. But honestly, IndyCar hasn't told us yet what the amount of kilojoules of deployment and region we will have available for each track. So it can change. And depending on that, we will be able to deploy more or less. So even though we had a first experience in Iowa, it's going to continue changing track by track.

BRUCE:

Have you figured out yet, in the list of measurements, how big a kilojoule is? Uh, nope. Not really. Well, apparently, according to Honda Racing Corporation's David Solders, 310 kilojoules could boil two pounds of water in one second. Really?

ALEX:

Well, I didn't know that. So, I mean, it's pretty, it's not, it's not huge what we have, but it's good enough to, as you said, to boil some water. That's what the amount we had at mid-Ohio, if I remember correctly.

BRUCE:

It's not huge, but when does it become part of your mindset of when to use it, when not to use it on any type of track?

ALEX:

I mean, look, this series is so competitive that even if it's not huge, but it's an advantage because you get more power by just pushing a button. Yeah, you have to reach in, you have to deploy at the specific place, but it's so crucial to have everything right that it's making this series even tougher just because you need to get everything right. Not just the driving, not just the car, not just the strategy, but also now the strategy of the hybrid part.

BRUCE:

Well, I'm sure Alex Polo will figure it out before everybody else does, because he's just that kind of driver. But Alex, good luck at Toronto. Good luck the rest of the season. We'll catch up later in the year. And thank you for joining us on Pit Pass, Cindy. Thank you. Two drivers out of the top 10 are Felix Rosenquist of Meyers Schenck Racing and Marcus Ericsson of Andretti Global. Rosenquist is 11th and Ericsson 12th. First up is my interview with Rosenquist in this Pit Pass Indy exclusive. It's time to catch up with Felix Rosenquist of Meyers Schenck Racing. Felix, this interview is being done at Iowa Speedway, so we'll already know who won the doubleheader, but when you think about the race going in with the two different types of asphalt, with the hybrid assist, with the change in downforce, what do you think is going to be the biggest story coming out of Iowa?

FELIX:

Obviously, a lot of points on the table, so I think big swings in a championship for whoever is strong here. I think if you are strong in the first race, there's a likelihood you're also in the second one. I think we've seen quite a lot of variance day-to-day here in the past, but I feel like with the way the track is now, it's more smooth. I think it would play more in your favor if you're quick on day one, and that would carry. I think it's a little bit different challenge. The track used to be very bumpy, and now it's very smooth. So in terms of damping, I don't think there's that much to find. It's more about aerodynamics and getting the car low, trying to maximize downforce. I mean, some of the things we have no idea. I didn't really run here when we tested. I had an issue with my engine, so we only did like 10 laps. It doesn't seem to deg that much. It's more a question if the tire is actually going to last from a structure standpoint. But, yeah, a lot of question marks, I think. Like, honestly, always here promotes good racing, and we'll see if that's the case still.

BRUCE:

Every street course that IndyCar goes to, including the one coming up this weekend at Toronto, there's different track surfaces. Different track surfaces on some permanent road courses too. But why are different surfaces, repaves in certain areas of the track, as opposed to others, so much of a bigger challenge on a short oval?

FELIX:

I think the fact that you're just running in it all the time, you know, when you have a road course or a street course, it might be one corner or one braking that makes up 10% of the actual lap, but here you're in it all the time and this is not hiding from it. If it's in your favor, it's going to favor you all the time and the opposite. Yeah, it's just a lot of load, I guess. This track is already a high banking, so you're going from a pretty bumpy track that had a pretty slippery surface to a very banked track with a lot of load. I think whatever challenge that's going to bring, that's going to be the challenge.

BRUCE:

Now let's look ahead to this weekend's Ontario Honda dealers on the streets of Toronto. Very popular race, downtown, one of the largest cities in North America. Great vibe that you always get when you're at Toronto. You being from Sweden, how cool is it to go to a place like Toronto that has a very diverse population?

FELIX:

Yeah, I mean, I think it's probably the place we go to that reminds me more of my home, weather-wise and maybe culture-wise. I love Toronto. I had a double Indy Lights win there back in the day and had a podium there a couple of years ago. So it's a place where... I enjoy going and I think it's, as a series, I'm really happy that we go there because I think it's cool to go to Canada and everyone just enjoys it. And it's one of the classics on the calendar. So I think our package is always good in Toronto as well. So we're looking forward to see what we can do.

BRUCE:

We're a little bit past midway of your first season with Meijer Schenck Racing. How do you like it so far?

FELIX:

I love it. I think it's a great group. A lot of good people in this team, and everyone's working in the same direction as me. We're not here to participate. We don't want to be called a small team anymore. We're here to play with the big dogs, which we've done to great parts of this season. We still got some gaps to close and some things to work on, If you told us that we'll be sitting ninth in the championship at the halfway point before the season, I'd say we'd be pretty happy with that. But obviously your targets and goals change as you go along. And I think now the next target now is to find a podium and a win.

BRUCE:

And it seems like David Maloukas has jumped into that car as your teammate and picked it up pretty quickly. A lot of people wondered how rusty he might be with his recovering from his broken left wrist. He's seen pretty fast. How impressed are you by having him as your teammate now?

FELIX:

I'm really impressed, to be honest. I think, you know, a lot of people question how good the healing of his hand was. And I think in Laguna he was fighting that a lot. But after that, he just seems to be going even more in the right direction. I think his motivation is obviously at a peak, you know, after what happened with him and, you know, the story he has now. And it's a pretty cool comeback, I have to say. And I'm really, really happy we're, you know, learning from each other straight away. Now we have two really competitive cars, and that's a huge step for the team as well.

BRUCE:

And in our final question with Felix Rosenquist of Meyers Schenck Racing, Toronto is such a great city, entertainment, dining. What's your favorite restaurant? What are some of the things you like to do in that city?

FELIX:

There's a Mediterranean place we normally go to, but unfortunately, I don't remember the name. Yeah, I can't remember it, but I just love being around in the city. Normally, I try to come out a day earlier and stay a day. Also, this will be the end of a tripleheader, so you can actually relax a little bit after the race with a pretty busy stint. I love Toronto and always good time.

BRUCE:

Well, it certainly is a cool vibe. Hey, good luck next week when you get to Toronto. Felix Rosenquist, Meyers Schenck Racing, good luck the rest of the season, and thank you for joining us on Pit Pass City. Thank you very much. When Marcus Ericcson moved over to Andretti Global, he was expected to contend for race victories and the championship. Instead, he heads to Toronto in 12th place with one podium finish, 2nd place in the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix in June. He also has two 5th place finishes, including Long Beach and Mid-Ohio. Here is a quick interview with Erickson for PitPass Indy. All right, let's roll here with Marcus Eriksson of Andretti Global. Marcus, we're going to be heading to Toronto. How do you look at that as one of your favorite tracks? Is it a track you really like racing on or is it a challenge?

MARCUS:

I love it. I think Toronto is First of all, the track. I love street course racing. I think that track is really fun. It's a proper IndyCar street course. It's bumpy, the walls are close, and you need to really be on top of your car and just be attacking and aggressive. So I love that type of racing. And then on top of that, Toronto as a city. It's just super fun. I always enjoy going there, so definitely a highlight on the calendar.

BRUCE:

Felix Rosenquist, another fellow Swede, says that the cultural makeup of Toronto is pretty similar to Sweden. He says it's probably the closest track on the IndyCar schedule that, you know, a lot of the things culturally remind him a lot of Sweden.

MARCUS:

Yeah, I mean, that's true. It feels a little bit more close to home. And yeah, like I said, I really like Toronto. It's just a fun city. It's good food, good, you know, restaurants and just a good vibe around there. So I always enjoy going there.

BRUCE:

How do you think it sizes up for Andretti Global with your teammates and yourself?

MARCUS:

Really good. I think our street course package is extremely strong. We've shown that on all the races this year where we've been on the street courses and with the hybrid as well. I think we're going to be really, really good there. So I have high expectations. We need to run up front and fight for the win. That's the goal.

BRUCE:

And how do you think the hybrid will be from here on out?

MARCUS:

I think it'll be interesting. We're still learning a lot, you know, every weekend and the first free course with the hybrid at Toronto and that will be really interesting to see how we can use that and how you will, you know, play around with it, experiment with it during the qualifying and race. It's a cool tool that we have now and we just need to try and optimize it as good as we can.

BRUCE:

Perhaps things haven't have worked out quite as fast as you would like with the move over to Andretti Global, but in the second half of the season, with so many oval races, how do you think you see that as being a turnaround for you?

MARCUS:

Yeah, I think, you know, the first part of the season was a bit tough, but, you know, You would expect that with a new team, it takes a bit of time, especially in a competitive series like IndyCar. But I think since the 500, we've been on a roll, we've had some really good results, been solidly in the top 10 every weekend and, you know, racking up really strong results. So it's starting to click and I'm feeling really, really comfortable and confident in the team. So looking forward to the oval part of the season with a lot of oval racing and finish off really strong in the second half.

BRUCE:

Well, Marcus Ericcson, good luck in the second half of the year. We'll catch up later in the season. And thank you for joining us on Pit Pass Indy. 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 Pit Pass Indy presented by Penske Truck Rental.

BRUCE:

Welcome back to Pit Pass Indy. Our next two guests have had quite a season getting in each other's way, both on and off the track. It's Santino Ferrucci of AJ Foyt Racing and Romain Grosjean of Junko's Hollinger Racing. These two don't really like each other very much, and it shows. They have had several run-ins on the track and taken verbal jabs at each other off the track. But they were civil to me when I caught up with them recently for Pit Pass Indy. First is Santino Ferrucci, who is 10th in points, 158 points out. Ferrucci is the driver of the number 14 Chevrolet for AJ Foyt Racing. Hey, look, it's Santino Ferrucci joining us. Santino, we're going to be off to Toronto here at the end of this week. The Iowa race is already over. But as you head to Toronto, you being a street race driver that loves the challenges, the wall-to-wall, arm-in-arm combat that goes on out there. What's your attitude heading to Toronto?

SANTINO:

Man, I'm excited. We had the Sim this week with Chevrolet. Super comfortable with the car this year. Can't wait to get back out there. I just love the city. I mean, what's not to love about Toronto as a whole? It's a food city. It's a beautiful town. You get to stay in Hotel X right above the track. Um, the people are amazing. I get to go. I'm going out there a little early this year, go stay with my friends, go play some golf a little bit beforehand. And, uh, yeah, I'd be, I'm excited also with the street course finishes we've had this year, you know, with St. Pete and Detroit, you know, we've had great cars, so I can't, I can't wait to see what that brings.

BRUCE:

If you've been to Toronto and if you've been out with AJ, AJ loves barbarians. You're probably not a meat eater. Or much of a meat eater. Big. That's all I eat. That's all you eat? Yes. Well, then in other words, you'll love Barbarians. I've been a few times. Yes. Well, like you said, great restaurants.

SANTINO:

That might be the best steakhouse in North America. Oh, my God. It's incredible. It's one of my favorites for sure. And, you know, it's definitely a place that you go to eat at least once, maybe twice.

BRUCE:

Are you excited to see what the Hybrid Assist will do on a street course?

SANTINO:

Yeah, I think it'll be quite entertaining just because you can use it in so many different ways. So Toronto's being a very difficult track with traction, so I think we'd be able to use the Hybrid a little bit on that end of things to really help control the car. But yeah, I'm super stoked. We've got a couple of long straights as well, so getting up on the juice will be fun. Just all in all, excited. I think the debut in mid-Ohio went great, with the exception of one of our friends. But, yeah, it was awesome to see.

BRUCE:

Are you starting to see the Penske Engineering Alliance paying off, paying dividends for the team?

SANTINO:

Yeah, without a doubt. I mean, our engineering department alone this year is incredibly strong. I mean, we have four super bright and talented, five super bright and talented guys in there. And, you know, It hasn't actually been as easy as I think everyone would have thought. It's not as plug and play. I think if you look at the start of the year, all the testing, we were kind of out to lunch. Then we showed up the race weekend. We found more things that we hated about the car than we liked. And the same thing with testing here. We showed up here. We were slow in testing when we started the day and we got it down to being just as quick as the two and the 12. So it's just been a massive learning curve for us to try and get it to work for me.

BRUCE:

With all the things a race driver has to be aware of at speed in a battle, now you throw the hybrid unit into there, when to use it, when not to use it. How do you keep it all straight?

SANTINO:

A lot of practice, a lot of mental practice. Honestly, it feels very natural, the way that we've set everything up and the way that we've started to do things. You know, the biggest thing this year when we switched to the hybrid was all the mapping. And I think, you know, sometimes for a driver, less is more. So you got to let the engineers be engineers. And sometimes you just got to focus on driving the car and let them help you and assist you where they need to be.

BRUCE:

Well, Santino Ferrucci, good luck at Toronto and also good luck at... I'm going to miss going to Barbarians. I'll be at the Brickyard 400. Don't worry, I'll have an extra steak for you. Enjoy it. Bring me back a doggy bag. But anyway, good luck the rest of the season and thank you for joining us on Pit Pass Indy. And now, here is Grosjean, the driver of the No. 77 Chevrolet for Juncos Hollinger Racing, who arrives in Toronto 14th in points. Joining us now on Pit Pass Indy is Roman Grosjean of Juncos Hollinger Racing. Roman, we're off to Toronto. You're a Formula 1 guy, you spent a lot of years in Formula 1. Formula 1 never raced in Toronto, but in some ways, don't you look at Toronto a little bit like it's a Formula 1 city?

ROMAN:

Yeah, it could well be. I mean, I wish we were racing in Montreal as well with IndyCar. That would be awesome. It would be a great track. But Toronto has been amazing. Great city, great atmosphere, great fans. They love it when we go down there, or up there, should I say. The track is definitely challenging. There's a lot of bumps and different tarmacs, but very much looking forward to Toronto. It's been a good event.

BRUCE:

And also, it's a great Formula One fan base in Canada. And you see a lot of that. You'll see a lot of Formula 1 jerseys along with some IndyCar jerseys from the spectators that go to that race. So how cool is that coming from that background?

ROMAN:

Yeah, it's cool. But I'm going to be honest with you. I'd like to see a lot more IndyCar shirts than Formula 1. It's great that we have the crossover, but I wish that people would wear the IndyCar team color at the races that are IndyCar. You know, for us, it means that they're big fans and it means a lot. You know, when you see someone wearing your colors, your jersey, you always want to pay special attention to them.

BRUCE:

Speaking of which, you've been running up front a lot more here this season, so how are things developing for you at Junecoast Highlander?

ROMAN:

Pretty good. We've done really well. I think we haven't been very lucky yet this season, but we've been working very well, very hard together. Midway was a bit of a disappointing one. I think we had a top ten going if it wasn't for a pit stop issue, but So, you know, we keep learning, we keep pushing, and I'm very proud of everything we've been doing, very proud of my season as well, and try to keep pushing.

BRUCE:

How fast have you picked up on the hybrid assist unit?

ROMAN:

I mean, right now it's kind of the same for everyone. You can see that the team that did all the testing had a big advantage in Little Ohio, but hopefully we're going to catch them soon.

BRUCE:

As far though as you had a lot of tricks and a lot of bells and whistles you got to experience in Formula One, to see IndyCar trying something different, technology-wise, how important do you see that?

ROMAN:

I think the key message here is to have the hybrid technology in the car. The technology doesn't really matter as such, it's more like we have a hybrid car, we are part of the world, I know it's going. I think that technology can be good in the future, we're still very early stages and I hope we're going to be able to make it more robust, stronger and more efficient.

BRUCE:

How are things working out for you on the team? It seems that you work very well with the smaller teams in the series. Why is that?

ROMAN:

I don't think that's quite accurate. Out of three teams, I have two small teams and one big team. It didn't work out, but I don't think that's accurate to say that I work better with small teams. I think it was just the way it was in the past. And I mean, I've been working in Formula One for a long time, and they're not small teams.

BRUCE:

Well, I know that Dale Coyne last year was saying he'd hire you back at a heartbeat because he just enjoyed working with you. Do you get that same feeling with Junko's Hallinger?

ROMAN:

Yeah, I do. I do. We work well together, and you know, we know what we have, we know what we don't have, but we work very well, and Dale is still someone that I love, and Ricardo Junkos as well is an incredible character, Wladolinger as well, so, you know, just happy to be racing, and yeah, I mean, for sure one day I would like to have the chance to win on every weekend, but right now, if you know a Ganassi and maybe a bit of a Penske, you don't really stand a chance.

BRUCE:

This season is going to have a lot of oval races here between now and the end of the year. How do you like that?

ROMAN:

I would prefer it to be slightly different. I'm going to be honest, I think it's a little bit, for my liking, a little bit too many ovals, especially at the end of the season when the title is going to be in place. But it's the same for everyone, so we just have to do a good job.

BRUCE:

It also seemed that in the hybrids first race at Mid-Ohio we had a little bit of a different looking lineup in terms of some of the teams that you may not see in the Fast Six made it. Also on the racetrack we saw some guys rise to the occasion. Is that something that we'll see in the beginning days of this system?

ROMAN:

No, I don't think so. I mean, Midway was a strange track for a lot of people and some surprises. You could tell that all the teams that had hybrid experience were up front. But that's something we expected. I think with Hunkos, we were looking for a P7 if it wasn't for the pit stop issue. So we were the first team without a hybrid testing. So we're doing great, but I really think Midway was a one-off in terms of performance.

BRUCE:

You've had instances where you're in contention to win races. Do you really believe that once you do get a victory, it'll be the first of many? Time will tell. Romain Grosjean, you always put on a show on the racetrack. Good luck the rest of the season and thank you for joining us on Pit Pass Indy.

ROMAN:

Lovely, sir. Thank you.

BRUCE:

Linus Lundqvist is a rookie driver for Chip Ganassi Racing in the number eight American Legion Honda. Lundqvist has shown flashes of brilliance and speed this season, but has also made a few mistakes. After all, he is a rookie. Here's my exclusive interview with Lundqvist for PitPass Indy. Linus Lundqvist, IndyCar is off to Toronto, great city, tight street course. So how excited are you to see what Toronto is going to be like, especially with the hybrid assist?

LINUS:

Yeah, I think it's going to be awesome. Toronto is honestly one of my highlights for the year because I've never been there before. Obviously, I've been watching that race with IndyCar for many, many years going there. And it looks like, firstly, an awesome track, but just like a very, very cool city. So I'm interested in just exploring a little bit. Yeah, it's going to be cool. We'll see how the hybrid system performs like on a street course for the first time as well. Obviously, before that, we've had mid-Ohio and then we got Iowa as well to try it on all Wilson Road courses. So it'll be interesting to see how it plays out.

BRUCE:

It seems that that track, as much as any track on the schedule, is often determined by When you pit, we've seen Scott Dixon win a lot of races there by pitting later than anybody else. We've seen him lose some races there by waiting too long to pit. Why is that race, more than almost any other on the series, determined that way?

LINUS:

I think one big factor is Track position is key and getting stuck in traffic can hurt you a lot just in terms of pure lap time. So if you're able to be fast and drive fast in clean air and you have the ability to stay out one or two laps longer, you can overcut a lot of people. But vice versa, you can get undercut as well if you're stuck with traffic for a little bit too long. So I think that's just one of the big factors and why, you know, pitting on the right lap is so crucial there.

BRUCE:

And as far as your rookie season at Chip Ganassi Racing, you've had flashes of brilliance. You've had other times where, you know, maybe some rookie mistakes. How would you assess the entire season?

LINUS:

I think, you know, the peaks have been high, but the valleys have been quite low too. But I think almost kind of what to expect for a rookie season as well. Like I said, I think we've shown flashes and moments where we can be as fast as anybody. Obviously, the podium at Barber and the pole at Road America kind of sticks out, but we've done some good races, too. The one at IndyGP, I thought we had a good one going in Thermal as well, so I know that we can put it together. The question is just how do we do it every single weekend, and that's going to be kind of the focus here going into the second half of the season and making sure that we've learned from the things that we did in the first half and trying to put together well, solid weekends and build on that momentum.

BRUCE:

Well, Linus Lundqvist, good luck in the second half of the season. There's going to be a lot of ovals. But anyway, good luck the rest of the year. We'll catch up with you later this summer. And thank you for joining us on Pit Pass Indy. Of course. Thank you. 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. We wrap up today's show with two part-time drivers in the series. Ed Carpenter is owner driver at Ed Carpenter Racing and competes on the oval tracks on the schedule. Rookie driver Christian Rasmussen takes over the number 20 Chevrolet in the street and road course races. Because the schedule is heavy on ovals at the end of the season. Carpenter will see a lot more action between now and the final race of the 2024 campaign at Nashville super speedway on September 15th. Carpenter still loves to drive a race cars. He told me in this exclusive pit pass, Indy interview. Our next guest returned to the cockpit at Iowa Speedway for the Hy-Vee IndyCar Race Weekend at Iowa over the weekend, but now heading to Toronto, he returns to his full-time duties as team owner. It's Ed Carpenter of Ed Carpenter Racing. I always am curious, when you are the overall team owner and you finally get a chance to jump back in and do an oval racing, is that the part that Ed Carpenter loves the best?

ED:

Yeah, I mean, it's definitely always A treat to drive and especially when things go well makes it even more enjoyable. You know, but at the end of the day, I enjoy everything we're doing, but you know, I wouldn't still be driving if I didn't enjoy it. So, you know, happy that we're able to do both.

BRUCE:

You are one of a few small, very small group of drivers that are left in the series that's competed in every race at Iowa Speedway. I think I missed one. You may have missed one, but you were here in the beginning when this track opened in 07.

ED:

Yeah, I missed 2010.

BRUCE:

It was a palace when it opened, and now thanks to Hy-Vee, it's even more of a palace. Yeah. But how cool was it when IndyCars showed up back in 07, you could just see that the fans were all the grassroots fans, the ones that go down the Knoxville Speedway and that are out there watching open wheel, short track racing on the weekends.

ED:

Yeah, I mean, when we first started coming here, it was unbelievable crowds and the support back then was great from Iowa Corn and all the folks that they brought out. It kind of waned a little bit in the middle, but Hy-Vee has totally rejuvenated it and made it one of the best non-Indy 500 events on the calendar. Definitely the next best oval race. to Indianapolis and the way they transformed this facility with all the structures that they put up and the artists that they bring in, you know, it makes it a great weekend. I think it gets supported well from the local community, but also, you know, they've turned it into a destination event for folks to travel to from other parts of the country as well.

BRUCE:

With the type of schedule that you do by being the oval driver and then running the team year-round, do you foresee that you could do this type of schedule all the way into your 50s?

ED:

It's hard to say if I would be able to make it that long, but the way the schedule is has definitely allowed me to go longer than I probably could have if I was just running full-time. enjoying it and you know this season's a little different too just because it's it's oval heavy on the back end which is different than it's been in the past. You know my schedule's wrapped up kind of earlier in recent years so a little different. It's been a while since I've been a part of a finale so looking forward to that.

BRUCE:

When we were kids growing up, we had a lot of our heroes that drove into their 50s. The Uncers, AJ, Mario. We don't see that anymore. We see guys get into their mid-40s and you start wondering, you start asking them, how long do you want to do this? Scott Dixon is still on top of his game at 43. Will Power's pretty good too at his age, but you don't see a lot of guys anymore even get into their late 40s.

ED:

Nah, I think a lot of it's just that guys start younger. You know, when our generation, you know, when I say ours, I'm talking about me, Scott, you know, Elio was just there. Takuma, Will, you know, back in the, like, none of us got to cars quite as young as people are getting to them now. So, you know, when I was 22, when I started in the car and, you know, that's a, everyone was about 21, 22 by the time they get here. Now guys are getting here at 18, 19, you know? So I think it's just skewing everything a little younger, but at the same time, You know, I think this series still rewards experience at a lot of levels. You know, so it's an interesting mix. It's fun. You know, I enjoy the youth movement and getting to work with the young guys, I think. And I'm sure, you know, Scott and others do as well. And that's part of what keeps them motivated.

BRUCE:

Now, looking ahead to Toronto, you are a former winning team owner at Toronto. It was Joseph Newgarden that drove your car to victory there before he left for Team Penske. And Mike Conway. Definitely Mike Conway. Let's not forget about Mike Conway. A two-time former winning team owner at Toronto. You got Renas VK in your car. He seems to do well there. What's your prospect and attitude heading into Toronto?

ED:

Uh, I'm excited for it. You know, I think it's been a, it's been a strange season. You know, you look on paper and it doesn't seem like we've had the best of years. Um, but internally, you know, I feel like we've been running better. Our pace has definitely been quicker than years before. We've just had, had a lot of strange things happen, but you know, coming out of mid Ohio, um, you know, Christian had a great run. Renus was strong on the weekend as well. So looking forward to Toronto and, you know, I think it's a great opportunity for us to, you know, to be up in the mix. Hopefully a couple of top fives at worst, hopefully a couple of top tens.

BRUCE:

Christian Rasmussen has had instances where he's looked very good as a rookie. How do you feel about his development so far?

ED:

I'm really happy with with how he's coming along. I feel like he's been improving, you know, week in and week out and getting better and more consistent. And, you know, that's that's what you want to see. And, you know, he's got two events left and, you know, I expect him to finish on a high note.

BRUCE:

Now, from a team owner standpoint, I'd be remiss if I didn't ask you this, but I'm sure one of the areas that you probably don't like the most is when you have to negotiate, talk to drivers about contracts. Where do things stand with Renas?

ED:

You know, don't know yet. You know, he's a free agent. So, you know, it's it's probably the biggest downside to me having more races this time of year. takes away some of the time that I've had in the past to work through all that, but still have a lot of love for Renis and we'll see where things end up, you know, with the decisions that we have to make and also what decisions he has to make as well. So, you know, definitely happy with his role on the team and not ruling that out in the future by any means.

BRUCE:

Should arenas move on, do you have a list of candidates that you've been keeping your eye on?

ED:

I mean, you always do. You always have that just because you never know what's going to happen. So, yeah, keeping an eye on what's going on out there and see how it all shakes out here in the next month or so.

BRUCE:

Well, Ed Carpenter, it's always a pleasure to talk to you. Good luck the rest of the season. Good luck in some of your things that you have to do as a team owner with drivers and everything. And thank you for joining us on Pit Pass, Cindy. Thank you. We wrap up today's show with Catherine Legge, who made her second and third starts of the season in last weekend's Hy-Vee IndyCar Race Weekend at Iowa Speedway. She drove Dale Coyne Racing's number 51 at Iowa, but does not have any further races lined up for 2024. Let's catch up with Catherine Legge in this exclusive Pit Pass Indy in Review. Returning to Iowa Speedway last weekend was Catherine Legge at Dale Coyne Racing with RWR. You're turning into being an oval specialist. How did that happen? You've been such a great road course driver in your career in sports cars, but it seemed like this year they called on you for the ovals.

CATHERINE:

Yeah, I think it's just the way the cookie crumbled, you know, like those races were available with Dale, you know, India, now Iowa. And so I'm very honored to be asked to be to be part of it. And I would love to do some road courses. Don't get me wrong. I've been working hard in the gym so that I'm strong enough to do the road courses, because coming from sports cars, it's a completely different ballgame. But yeah, we'll see. Hopefully I'll get to do get to do some more and some different varied things.

BRUCE:

What has been one of the more fun aspects of driving for Dale Coyne Racing, which always struck me about his team, is he's able to go out and get the people that we would call racers, people that do it for the love of the sport. There are other teams that might pay more, other teams that might have more, but the guys that work at Dale Coyne Racing do it because they love racing.

CATHERINE:

No, you're absolutely right. It's that the guys with the heart, you know, like they they want to be in racing. They want to do it. And I think there aren't it's not a job to them. It's a passion. And that makes it kind of special. I mean, we don't have the budget or the resources that most of the teams have on the grid, right? Like literally any other team has on the grid. And yet they're there every weekend, like doing everything they can, pouring their heart and soul into it, working crazy hours. And so it's special to be a part of a team that's trying to trying to change you know they've had a lot of turnover from last year to this year and so they're just kind of finding their feet again and they did well at mid ohio last week and they're kind of getting into the role and getting into the the run of things with all the new people this year and so hopefully i can be part of that transition to climbing up the grid

BRUCE:

The other thing that's always impressed me about Dale is he has a very good 30,000 foot view of the series. He understands what's good for the series, what the series may need to do. Even though he may not have the resources to do a lot of the things that he would like to see implemented, he looks at it from the racer's point of view. How fascinated are you by some of the things that Dale Coyne talks about, thinks about?

CATHERINE:

You know, Dale's a hero within racing. You have a handful of people who have been doing it for a long time, and those people are the likes of Roger Penske and Chip Ganassi and Dale, and they've been doing it since champ car days, and they've been trying to better the sport, and they love the sport so much. And, you know, hearing Dale's point of view on it is great because he's been through every single iteration that has been, and he was also a driver himself, and so he knows it from every avenue that you can see, and so I'm proud to drive for him.

BRUCE:

You've done some of the oval testing of the hybrid engine. What are your thoughts on it? I've been told by some people on the ovals you're not going to really notice the extra charge as much as you do on a road course, but there's still some there nonetheless. What has been your assessment so far of the difference with a hybrid engine?

CATHERINE:

I am. I'm kind of still learning all the other aspects that adding the hybrid in has been a challenge, but I was pleasantly surprised at how it worked, honestly, like how easy it is to use. And so, yeah, super easy to use, super easy to implement. You do feel a difference with it, but the biggest difference is getting used to the amount of regen on the D cell. How do you set up for a corner when you know you haven't got all the regen going in compared to how you would do it when it's full? Because it really does help settle the car on entry if it's regening on entry on the auto mode compared to when you're pulling the paddle. And so there's a whole different aspect that takes away mental energy from all the other things that you've got to be doing, like the bar and the weight checker and fighting with other people.

BRUCE:

And of course, I need to ask you about your sponsor, ELF, Eyes, Lips, Face, cosmetic company. The first time a cosmetic company, a beauty company I should say, has entered IndyCar racing. And I've noticed that their footprint's getting bigger in the series. What is it like being their representative and how important is it to represent and see a brand like that come into IndyCar?

CATHERINE:

It's incredible to be kind of on the forefront of that with them. And it just feels very authentic. You know, like I can speak to makeup products and being feminine more than I can to some of the other products that we sell on racecars. So it feels like I'm speaking to all the women out there for the first time that do love IndyCar racing, right? And that have been ignored. And you know, it's a man's sport. Well, it's not now. It's for everybody.

BRUCE:

Well, Catherine Link, good luck the rest of the year. Hopefully you get another race or two with Dale Coyne Racing with RWR. But it's always a pleasure to catch up with you. And thank you for joining us on Pit Pass Indy. Thanks, Bruce. And that puts a checkered flag on this edition of pit pass indy. We want to thank our guests. Alex below. Chip ganassi racing. Felix Rosenquist of meyer shank racing. Marcus Ericcson of andretti global. Santino Ferrucci of A.J. Foyt racing. Roman Grosjean of juncos hollinger racing. Linus Lundquist of Chip Ganassi Racing, owner-driver Ed Carpenter of Ed Carpenter Racing, and Catherine Legge of Dale Coyne Racing with RWR for joining us on today's podcast. 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. 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.