Team Penske Team Manager IndyCar Kyle Moyer

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Speakers: Bruce Martin & Kyle Moyer

Roger Penske:

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

[Music Playing]

Bruce Martin:

IndyCar fans, it's time to start your engines. Welcome to Pit Pass Indy, a production of Evergreen Podcasts. I'm your host, Bruce Martin, a journalist who regularly covers the NTT IndyCar Series.

Our goal at Pit Pass Indy is to give racing fans an insider's view of the exciting world of the NTT IndyCar Series in a fast-paced podcast featuring interviews with the biggest names in the sport.

I bring nearly 40 years of experience covering IndyCar and NASCAR, working for such media brands as nbcsports.com, si.com, ESPN Sports Ticker, Sports Illustrated, Autoweek, and Speed Sport.

So, let's drop the green flag on this episode of Pit Pass Indy.

Welcome to this week's edition of Pit Pass Indy as we begin our fourth season of giving IndyCar fans a behind the scenes look at the NTT IndyCar Series and the drivers that compete in the Indianapolis 500.

The new year means it's back to work for teams in the NTT IndyCar Series. For some of the drivers, they will compete later this month in the Rolex 24 at Daytona. But for the team members, they will prepare the cars that will be sent into competition, beginning with the March 10th Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

One area of development that continues, although its introduction into the series is delayed until after the 108th Indianapolis 500 is the Hybrid Assist Unit.

Our guest this week is Kyle Moyer, team manager IndyCar at Team Penske. I had a chance to talk to Moyer at the Team Penske Racing Facility in Mooresville, North Carolina recently to discuss this and a variety of topics on this episode of Pit Pass Indy.

As we continue on into the off season and into the new year, we're over at Team Penske and today, our guest is Kyle Moyer, team manager IndyCar at Team Penske.

And Kyle, it's been a pretty busy off season with all the work that's been done on the Hybrid Assist Unit. Team Penske's been heavily involved in that from the Chevrolet standpoint.

So, if you could bring us up to speed a little bit on how that project's gone from a Team Penske point of view and all the involvement you've had to do with Chevrolet.

Kyle Moyer:

Well, I think it's been going lately very, very well. I think the startup on the program when it was outside of Chevy and Honda, there was some struggles. But then once Chevy and Honda sort of took over the program, I think they've made great strides in getting this done as quick as they can.

And it's a shame that we're not starting the season with it. I think it's very, very close, but you're going to hinge on the good side of things to make sure everything is ready to go.

So, I think it's a good move by IndyCar to hold off, but at the same time, I think it's going quite well. They've got tons of miles on the thing. I was really impressed at the last couple tests, how good and reliable.

And now, it's a matter of like, “Okay, how are we going to race this?” It's not a matter of what we're going to use, it's a matter of how we're going to race it now. And I think that's what needs to be figured out. And by the time we get it mid-season, it should be fine.

Bruce Martin:

During testing, they were all prototype parts that were used on the Hybrid Assist project, and it was explained to me that it's the production parts that need to have proper times to be tested before they can be turned over to the teams. And that was the reason why IndyCar decided to delay the implementation of it. How important of a decision was that?

Kyle Moyer:

Well, like I said earlier, it's the right decision for sure because it's no different than when the windscreen first came out. I think if you looked at the prototypes, we weren't going to race those. But it got us down the road and then we finally ended up on the production side.

One, they tested that, it went quite well. And there was extensive testing in that between us, Ganassi, Andretti, several teams. And then they brought it out and I think that they brought it out ready to go.

And I think they don't want be any different than anything else that IndyCar's done. When it comes out, it's like a non-topic once it gets on the car. And so, I think that's why the delay is, I think that's the proper delay.

I think it'll be production parts are being manufactured. The production parts are definitely way nicer than the development parts, which they should be. But that's because of all the testing that's been done to find out which parts are exactly what we need.

Bruce Martin:

Unfortunately, sometimes it's hard to explain why things are done the way they are. A lot of race fans were a little bit upset when the announcement was made that it was going to be delayed, especially one year after IndyCar announced they were going to stick with the 2.2-liter engine rather than go to the 2.4 liter engine, which was originally going to be paired with the Hybrid Assist Unit.

To be able to methodically think of these things before going into the field of battle, how important is that?

Kyle Moyer:

Well, it's the most important because you want the thing to — it doesn't need to be deciding wins and losses, it doesn't mean deciding championships. So, I think you got to bring it in when that's all covered, which is what IndyCar's going to do.

And I don't see any difference in it than any other series. NASCAR was a year and a half late on their car they're running now. GTP with their hybrids and everything was a year behind.

Everything's takes time. I mean, all those hybrid cars and GTP took a whole year of testing before they were even able to get on the track and they still had problems come Daytona.

But that's what we're trying to prevent because this is something that's going to be the same on all cars. So, it needs to be ready to go. And I think IndyCar's putting the best foot forward and making sure that that is exactly what's going to happen.

Bruce Martin:

Now, as the team manager for IndyCar at Team Penske, you're not only in charge of calling race strategy, you're also in charge of the IndyCar program. You work with Ron Ruzewski on that and Tim Cindrich.

To implement a new device like the Hybrid Assist in the middle of a championship, will that not affect the championship?

Kyle Moyer:

I don't think it'll affect the championship because of the reason this is no different than if all of a sudden, we've had this several times, we go to a track where all of a sudden we've ran a rug course tire and then all of a sudden Firestone comes out with a different tire.

No different than all of a sudden did a paved Laguna Seca make a difference in the championship? No, it's what teams deal with. And the team that deals with it better, isn't that how a championship, I think is won from the team that deals with adversity as much as they deal with winning.

Championships aren't won just winning races. Most of the time, if you go back to the championship … and take Palou for instance, last year, why did he win the championship? Because he had good results on bad days.

Go back two years ago. Will Power, why did he win a championship? Good results on bad days. He was led dead last at mid-Ohio and sacrificed out a third out of it. Had nothing to do with something that IndyCar had done, Firestone, Chevy, Honda, anything like that. It's what the team did to adapt to be a better.

And that's to me is how you win championships. I think that's how it's always been in championships. So, it's something that comes out, we deal with it as a team. The championship team will probably deal with it the best.

Bruce Martin:

And because you work with the crew members and you work with the teams and you do all the scheduling and have to get everything ready, several races down the road, they're talking about implementing it after the 108th Indianapolis 500. I doubt whether that would be the next week at Detroit since there's a really tight timeframe there.

And also, the week after Detroit, Road America's been moved up a week because of the way the schedule's been juggled around because of the summer Olympics that'll be on NBC.

So, at what point do you realistically think the hybrid will debut?

Kyle Moyer:

Well, there's a lot of scenarios there. I think IndyCar right now, the best thing was letting teams and fans and everybody know that we're not going to start the season with it.

So, right now, us as a team and I'm sure the other 10 teams are doing the same thing, we're preparing for St. Louis all the way through Indy right now, knowing we don't have it.

When it comes, I think IndyCar still is going to need to decide that. I think it's going to be a while before they decide that just to make, again, all the boxes need to be checked before it comes and that's what IndyCar's going to do.

So, I would give them another month before we decide when we need to actually bring it. We've got plenty of time because the car's going to run just without the MGU and the cap pack in it.

So, it's not going to be for the mechanics and everything. It's almost like changing a motor. It's going to be that you're going to change a motor, but instead of having an empty bell housing with a ballast in it, you're going to put a bell housing in with a cap pack and an MGU. And then you're going to flip on the switch and the thing will run.

So, for the teams, I don't think it's going to be that big of a change, but you need to time it right because like you say, after Indy, there is a couple weeks there where we're pretty flat out.

Bruce Martin:

Penske Entertainment CEO and president, Mark Miles said it will definitely be run in 2024. And he also said one of the unintended benefits that's going to come in the races without the Hybrid Assist is the cars have been made lighter to make up for the weight that the Hybrid Assist Unit was going to put on.

So, the benefit there could be faster cars in those races, even when the hybrid isn't part of it. So, how much of that do you expect to see?

Kyle Moyer:

I don't know. Weight does matter on a car, I'll put it that way. Can you tell me what the weather's going to be in St. Pete? Is it going to be 100 degrees or is it going to be 70 degrees that'll make us go faster.

So, are we going to be faster than what we ran last year? I don't know. All conditions and stuff matter. Will a lighter car go faster? Yeah, that's fact. Will a heavier car go slower? That's fact. But how we actually do that on speed?

And it depends on the tracks. There's going to be tracks where that doesn't matter as much. There's going to be tracks where it matters a lot more. So, are we going to be faster the first four races? It's all up in the air.

Bruce Martin:

So, with the Hybrid Assist, a lot of the work during testing has been done to ensure the reliability. At what point do teams then start to use it as a competitive tool?

Kyle Moyer:

I think as soon as it comes out, it's a competitive tool. I mean, it's no different than how you use your overtake, how you use the alternate tire to the prime tire. It's something that's going to be into the strategy when you use it.

Fuel mileage, I put it closer probably to fuel mileage. I think right off the bat, your guys that are good with fuel mileage. I think your Will Powers, your Scott Dixons, those type of guys that are good at fuel mileage will adapt to this quite quickly.

I think the other guys, it'll take a little bit of time, but it's no different than saving fuel. When do I use it? Is it better to use it off the corner? Is it better to use it at straightaway? Is it better to use it when I'm not saving fuel? When I'm saving fuel? This opens up a whole thing, which is quite exciting.

I've never seen engineers more exciting this year to go racing with the hybrid. The drivers, I mean, we've done a lot of the testing, so as Ganassi, Andretti, McLaren. And you talk to any of the drivers and it gives us something that they're talking about.

It's not like, “Oh, well, this is the same thing we ran last year.” No, this is a whole different ball game here with the hybrid and how it runs. And I think it's no different than driving. It is going to take another talented guy to figure it out and then everybody's going to have to follow suit.

Bruce Martin:

Speaking to some of the IMSA teams in 2023, they talked a little bit about how it was going to change their fuel calculations on pit stops and everything.

Have you learned anything from talking to any of the sports car team, especially here at Team Penske about what to expect, how much of an increase there might be in calculating fuel strategy?

Kyle Moyer:

I think it'll be somewhat there. And in theirs it's a little bit different. They are limited on how they use it in a different way. Ours will be being used every single lap and then it'll be regen back up. So, we're a little bit of a different, I should say, pie I guess, than what they're running.

So, but will a matter of fuel mileage? Yes, I think it'll matter more in the car handling and fuel mileage because of the regen and under braking and everything because now, you're coasting when you're saving fuel. How do you regen when you're coasting compared to when you're braking? So, that energy's got to be used different.

So, I think those are the things that teams are going to have to figure out. Manufacturers are going to figure out once IndyCar lets everybody know how we're going to race this. And I think everybody will get on it and do a pretty good job with it.

Bruce Martin:

How much has this project affected Team Penske's off season, since you've been one of the leading test teams for Chevrolet? How much has that taken away time that you normally would devote toward getting ready for 2024?

Kyle Moyer:

Well, I can't answer for the other guys, but for us, has it been a problem? No, not at all. This is something we'll do this for series and mainly we want to help Chevy out as much as we can and all the other Chevy teams.

We're fortunate enough here to have the resources to help cover that. I don't think in the off season it's really affected us any bit at all.

Now, the testing that we were doing in season, I won't say affected us, but it was a lot harder. The test we did in June, the test we did in July and stuff like that. Most teams are getting prepared for the other races and we were still trying to prepare for both, a test and a race.

So, I don't think it was detrimental. I don't think it hurt us at all or anything. But it was more work for sure, I won't put that away.

But I think in the off season, off seasons now in IndyCar are quite easy. It actually, believe it or not, if you talk to most of the mechanics here, they've had a fun off season because we've actually done something, the hybrid testing.

And because it's new, it's exciting testing instead of just going to figure out if you need to click a rebound or anything on a shock, you're actually going with something new. How do we make it survive? How do we use it? And stuff like that.

And Chevy's been a great supporter of letting this help them. And I think McLaren it'll put a big help in there. And then the coordination between Chevy and Honda themselves has been fantastic on getting this product out there.

Bruce Martin:

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

Josef Newgarden:

Hey everybody, this is Josef Newgarden, winner of the 107th Indianapolis 500, and you're listening to Pit Pass Indy presented by Penske Truck Rental.

Bruce Martin:

Welcome back to Pit Pass Indy. Here's the rest of my exclusive interview with Kyle Moyer, team manager IndyCar at Team Penske.

One of the new things that Team Penske will be involved in in 2024 is you now, have an engineering alliance with A. J. Foyt Racing, and how is that going to work and how big of a benefit is that?

And what's the reason behind getting involved with bringing A. J. Foyt Racing into the fold to try to help them become more competitive?

Kyle Moyer:

Well, I think there's several things that went into it. This wasn't just done in a month. I mean, we've been talking about this, or I should say TC’s been involved in this for a couple years now. He has a big history with Foyt Racing from his dad and everything. So, he has a connection there.

We all sort of, a lot of us, like myself, have been around the sport a long time. The Foyt name is IndyCar. So, you want them to run good. Just qualifying at Indy, you could see the fans in the stands cared about that.

And so, I think that part of it is we want for it to be a long-lasting team in the series. So, if we can help that, that's great.

And the turnaround for it is, there's a lot of young guys now that we want to get involved in IndyCar and there seems to be a lot of engineers and stuff. And it's not like we had before where there was a lot more teams and then you could sort of like let them go learn on a smaller team.

There's no small teams now. Every team wants to win and can win. So, it's not like, “Oh, well go do two years on a smaller team and then learn and come.”

So, this is a good way for us to take some of these guys that we've invested with interns that now we've turned into engineers here, mechanics that were out of the schools, be it Ohio, be it the NASCAR school here in Morrisville.

This is the way, so how can we get them some experience and then bring them up. And Foyt Racing is sort of offered the thing of like, “Hey, we'll help you on that situation.” And in return they're going to get some good mechanics and good engineers to help them out.

So, someday I see most of those guys when they're over there coming over here and being on one of the prime cars. And I think that's a good thing. I don't see how that's a bad thing.

And the biggest thing is it makes Foyt relevant, I think. Who would've thought 20 years ago that A. J. Foyt and Roger Penske would be together on something. That's as farfetched as him and Mario.

So, I think it shows you how the sport’s developed, how the sport’s changed to be in that situation.

Bruce Martin:

Do you see this alignment working similar to the way that Team Penske and the Wood Brothers alignment worked in NASCAR?

Kyle Moyer:

I think it's close. I don't think it's exact. Because that has a lot of manufacturer involvement in it. In this case, it's just two teams wanting to figure out how they can be better together. Can each of us help each other in a certain way that helps us.

And I think we can. So, I think that's the reason why this one's been brought up.

Bruce Martin:

When you have a team as part of an engineering alliance, do you try a few things on their car that you may not try on your car?

Kyle Moyer:

I don't know about that. I think if it's good for us, good for them, it's good for both of us. Now, there's a lot of smart people already over there at Foyt, so it's always good sometimes to have, it's no different than us hiring new blood that comes in.

Is like somebody from the outside sees something different that we … why have you been doing this forever? That's another reason for a good alignment is, but you want it separate enough that they can be able to voice same thing with us. “Hey, we see this from the outside.” They can see this from the outside with us.

So, I think you've got to keep it a little bit disconnected for that reason, but at the same time, you still help each other.

Bruce Martin:

Now, speaking of helping each other to be able to IndyCar's very competitive, it's a very tight field. So, if we get A. J. Foyt racing and some of their drivers up there into the mix, just how much more does that increase the competitiveness and the pressure of every race weekend?

Kyle Moyer:

Welcome to IndyCar. That's where we're headed. I mean, if we go back 10 years ago, there was strong teams and then there was not so strong teams. There ain't a guy, I mean, out there on the grid right now, or team that doesn't have a chance to win now.

And it is not, yeah, we've all got sort of the same motors, we've got the same sort of car, we've got the same tires.

But the biggest thing is, is how all the other teams have stepped up also. I mean, that's made it competitive. I mean, your Juncos, your Ed Carpenters, everybody like that want to win, so they're putting the effort behind it.

So, I think it's a … I mean, I've never been so competitive. When the guy from 27 still can be a winner, isn't that what we're looking for? I think the best championship out there would be 17 different winners and one guy still wins the championship. I think that's how it could happen.

Bruce Martin:

Because of the Hybrid Assist development, IndyCar was not going to have an open test originally scheduled in early January and February heading into St. Pete.

But now, that that program's going to be delayed a little bit, do you see any discussion of an open test before the season starts that IndyCar will conduct?

Kyle Moyer:

Well, I think that's still on the table with IndyCar. I think the first thing was to decide how we're going to start the season. I think that's been decided.

So, now, all of a sudden, the next play is how do we implement the first part of the season and the second part of the season. And I think that's what they've got to figure out now.

A lot of teams have been not testing, not out there. They need to get drivers out there. You still can do your evaluations and your rookies, like a couple people have done and stuff to keep them in.

Fortunate enough, the 24 hours taking a lot of IndyCar drivers that keep them in the seats and keep them going.

And the thing is I think once January comes, IndyCar will definitely have our path going forward and I feel everybody will get ample time.

Last year, our guys tested at Thermal, they did two days at Thermal and then they went to St. Pete. Scotty's case, we could almost won the race and we only had those two days at Thermal. That's the only thing he did from Laguna until then.

So, if we can get a few days of testing in here, we're way ahead of where we were last year.

Bruce Martin:

When you look at the lineup at Team Penske, you've got the legendary driver, Will Power, two-time champion and an Indy 500 winner. You've got the current superstar in Josef Newgarden, the defending Indianapolis 500 winner.

And then you got Scott McLaughlin, the kid from New Zealand. That's every year he looks even better and better in an IndyCar. And just what do you see him being able to do in 2024?

Kyle Moyer:

Well, I mean, it is funny when you say that, Bruce, because it's sort of like when you start lining up our drivers and what they have done and what they can do, makes you a little scared that don't mess this up.

And it's the same thing with Scotty as you know, he's been fourth in the championship, now, he was third in the championship, he's won races. I think his end of the season speed, nobody's going to beat that. I mean, I think we had eight front rows in the last 9 races or 10 races. That's hard to beat.

We had some like hiccups here and there toward the end that sort of messed it up a little bit. If you look at it and say, “Hey, I've got eight front rows.” And you didn't come away with a win, it's kind of disappointing.

So, that's something we have to get right. We've got the speed, now all of a sudden, we've got to get the racing back.

I think early in the season, we had the both of them going. Toward the end between the tires and stuff like that, we made some judgment calls that probably weren't great. So, we need to clean that up.

But for him, he's got everything figured out now. He's got ovals figured out. He is got super speedways figured out. He's got road courses and definitely he's got the street courses.

Bruce Martin:

You've been involved in IndyCar for close to 40 years. How important would it be to Kyle Moyer to be the guy whose car is the one that gives team owner, Roger Penske, his 20th Indianapolis 500 victory in 2024?

Kyle Moyer:

Well, it'd be nice, but at the same time, I really don't care. I just want to get 20. I don't care which guy it is, I really don't, but I do want 20. That's a good number.

It's something that he asked for a couple years ago. “Let's see if we can get 20.” So, it just makes you so you want to get 20. I don't care again, how we get it. I just want 20.

Bruce Martin:

There's a lot of people here at Team Penske that would like to get Indianapolis 500 win number 20 for team owner, Roger Penske. Kyle Moyer, I'm sure you guys are hard at work at doing that, even though here we are in the first couple of weeks of January.

Good luck in that quest and good luck during the 2024 NTT IndyCar Series season. And thank you for joining us today, on Pit Pass Indy.

Kyle Moyer:

Thanks Bruce, and I really appreciate it.

[Music Playing]

Bruce Martin:

And that puts a checkered flag in this edition of Pit Pass Indy.

We want to thank our guest Team Penske team manager IndyCar, Kyle Moyer for joining us on today's podcast.

Along with loyal listeners like you, our guests help make Pit Pass Indy your path to victory lane in IndyCar.

And because of our guest and listeners, Pit Pass Indy is proud to be the winner of The Best Podcast by the National Motorsports Press Association.

For more IndyCar coverage, follow me at Twitter @BruceMartin (one-word, uppercase B, uppercase M) _500.

This has been a production of Evergreen Podcasts. A special thanks to our production team. Executive producers are Brigid Coyne and Gerardo Orlando. Recordings and edits were done by me, Bruce Martin and final mixing was done by Dave Douglas. Learn more at evergreenpodcasts.com.

Until next time, be sure to keep it out of the wall.