The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg with race winner Alex Palou, Will Power, Scott McLaughlin, Pato O’Ward, Kyle Kirkwood, Graham Rahal, Mike Hull, Bryan Herta, Tim Cindric and Blair Julian

BRUCE:

This is Roger Penske and you're listening to Pit Pass Indie, sponsored by Penske Truck Rental. 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. This episode is coming to you from St. Petersburg, Florida, site of the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, the season opening race for the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series season. First off, let's welcome back our friends from Penske Truck Rental as they return to sponsor Pit Pass Indy, helping bring you the inside stories of IndyCar from the paddock to the racetrack to the highways and streets of America. It was a great season opening weekend both on and off the track in the 2025 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. With perfect weather, the largest crowds in the history of this street race on Florida's Gulf Coast, and a race that featured some intriguing storylines, IndyCar has many reasons to celebrate. One of the biggest reasons is the start of the Fox Sports era with IndyCar. The March 2nd Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg was the most watched non-Indianapolis 500 IndyCar Series race since 2011. It was watched by 1.4 million viewers across the Fox telecast and Fox streaming services. That was a 45% increase over last year's telecast of the Firestone Grand Prix on NBC. Fox Sports CEO Eric Shanks plans to blow the doors off the Indianapolis 500 with the telecast of that famed race on Memorial Day weekend in May, as the new relationship is off to a very promising start. It was a new beginning for IndyCar on Fox, but on the racetrack, it was a familiar story, as three-time and back-to-back defending IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing proved once again why he is the best driver in IndyCar right now. He executed a perfect pit stop on his final stop and nailed the entry onto the track, beating out the leader of the race at the blend line. Palou led the final 26 laps to score the 12th IndyCar Series win of his career. Chip Ganassi racing teammate Scott Dixon was second, giving the team a 1-2 finish. Let's hear from the race winner as Alex Palou joins me for this exclusive interview for Pit Pass Indy, presented by Penske Truck Rental. He may be the cleanest driver on the racetrack, but today you're a member of the Dirty Dozen. You got your 12th IndyCar Series victory. It's Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg race winner, Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing. Alex, you're starting the 2025 season in exactly the same spot you ended 2024, atop the championship standing. How big a victory is this to kick off 2025?

ALEX:

It's huge. It's huge. Honestly, Bruce, I've I've been dreaming about this moment since Nashville ended last year. We ended up on top of the championship, but we ended up struggling in terms of race results, and I wanted to start the season off strong. I was super pleased with the speed that that number 10 DHL Honda had since the beginning of the weekend. I knew that if we were doing the things right, we were going to have a shot at fighting for the race. Everything went well for us. It was a tough strategy call. We had to gamble a little bit, put ourselves in a bad track position. We dropped from 8th or 7th to 14th. On a street course, you can get in an accident really quick or you can get in trouble really quick being there. Everything worked out. We were able to fight with Joseph, with Colton and with Dixon. So I'm super happy that we got the win and that we're starting the year off in the best way possible.

BRUCE:

The key moment of the race came on your final pit stop on lap 72 when you were able to execute a perfect pit stop. The 10 crew did a great job on pit lane and you nailed it, leaving pit lane by being able to beat Josef Newgarden out on the blend line. We thought that was the key moment of the race. Of course, Josef Newgarden would run out of fuel on the final lap. But that aside, how important was getting out ahead of Josef Newgarden? Because at that point, you can control the tempo of the race.

ALEX:

Absolutely. That was the key. It was the key. Because otherwise, with cold tires, if I would have being side by side with Joseph, he would have left, and then to pass a fast car like Joseph would have been really tough or impossible. Now we know that he would have struggled with fuel, but anyway, he would have been really, really tough. So, as you said, the tent crew did an amazing pit stop, like I was there waiting and suddenly they said go, and I was like, oh, wow. Like, that was quick. And then I looked in my side, on my left side, to see if I was going to be close with Newgarden. I saw I could just go flat out and everything worked out.

BRUCE:

Of course, there was some moments of drama when you were trying to hold off Josef Newgarden and up ahead was Stingray Robb, a car that you were trying to pass. How nervous were you beginning to get, or did you think you were just sizing up Stingray for the right time to make the pass?

ALEX:

You always know that it's the best position that you could be leading, even though you have traffic and they're closing the gap. But I prefer to be there than to be second and closing the gap. But still, yeah, I was nervous, obviously. You never know. You might lock up a little bit because you're so close to the car in front, or he might... I mean, they're braking at different braking zones than us, so... Yeah, I was pleased that I was able to get past Stingray, maybe like five or six laps to the end just to breathe a little bit and to try and pull a little bit of a gap for the last couple of laps.

BRUCE:

Is it fair to say that Alex Palou put on a great show today? I would say so. Yeah, absolutely. At the start of the season, some drivers are going to leave here on top of the points, which is you. Other drivers are going to leave in a hole, such as Will Power. So just how important is this race? Because nobody wants to dig a hole after one race in the season.

ALEX:

Yeah, it's it's super important. It's it's really tough to get points, but it's super easy to give points away at the beginning of the season that you struggle to get them back at the end of the season. Like I've been in these championship fights many, many times and It's like you're craving for those couple of points that you let go at the first couple of races. Couldn't have started better. We're heading to a couple of races that we like, but still we need to do the job again and try to keep our number 10 car in the top of the standings until the last race. Beautiful weather, huge crowd.

BRUCE:

First race in the Fox Sports era of IndyCar as the television partner. You'd have to say IndyCar has a lot to be excited about entering the 2025 season, especially after today.

ALEX:

Absolutely. I mean, the crowd for people that was not able to be here, it was huge. The atmosphere was amazing. I think the grandstands were full. I don't know if it was sold out or not, but it felt like it was sold out. And then the atmosphere once the race was done celebrating in the podium and heading here to the media center was insane.

BRUCE:

And a one two finish for Chip Ganassi racing with your teammate Scott Dixon finishing second. So from a team standpoint, very important for the team. How do you feel about finishing ahead of Scott to be able to have a two driver Chip Ganassi celebration on the podium?

ALEX:

Oh, great. I mean, for everybody, for all the men and women working at CGR, this will give them the boost that they need for a very busy season that we have now, back to back to back to back. So, yeah, I think that we couldn't, as drivers, couldn't have asked for anything better from the CGR side. And hopefully it's a small present that we can give to everybody working on our cars.

BRUCE:

And once again, the message for IndyCar for the competitors is look out, Palo, because once again, you're on top of the standings. But Alex Palo, congratulations on winning the 2025 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. And thank you for joining us today on Pit Pass Indy presented by Penske Truck Rental. 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, presented by Penske Truck Rental. Two-time IndyCar Series champion and 2018 Indianapolis 500 winner Will Power celebrated his 44th birthday on Saturday, March 1st. Unfortunately, the Team Penske star had little to celebrate as he experienced hybrid unit issues in Friday's practice. The team replaced the hybrid for Saturday's qualifications, but that unit also had an issue, and Power never made it out of the first round. A third hybrid unit was installed on Power's number 12 Verizon Chevrolet for the race, and Power started 26th in the 27-car field based on his qualification effort on Saturday. The 2025 IndyCar Series season may be off and running, but Will Power never made it through the third turn of the opening lap. He was hit from behind, and that pushed Power's car into Arrow McLaren driver Nolan Siegel's car. Rookie driver Louis Foster was also involved in the first lap crash, and all three were out of the race on the opening lap. I caught up with Power after the race for this exclusive PitPass Indy interview. Will Power joins us now on Pit Pass Indy presented by Penske Truck Round. Will, the 44th birthday weekend for you wasn't really one for you to celebrate. Three hybrids for the car and you didn't make it through turn three on the opening lap of the Firestone Grand Prix St. Petersburg. All in all, how do you put this one behind you?

WILL:

Yeah, oh man, you put a lot into it and it is frustrating. You know, everyone at some point gets caught up in a first turn thing, you know, every few years. All the work we put in to be out on the first lap, very frustrating, man. I was not ready for that checkup in three and really have not much to say about it. It was just unfortunate. From your viewpoint, what happened? I don't know. I do not know. You know, Nolan checked up heavily to the point where I actually got into him. I don't know if he got into someone, then someone got into me. And it was just a, just, oh man. Yeah, unfortunate.

BRUCE:

From the looks of the car, it looks like the left side suspension took quite a whack.

WILL:

Yes, it was definitely a good hit. Hopefully it didn't damage the engine. I don't think it got into the exhaust by the look of it. I'm hoping no more hybrid issues and hopefully the engine's good. No, maybe it's a new gearbox. I've got to see what it is.

BRUCE:

No driver wants to leave the opening race of the season in a hole. Unfortunately, you're that driver. So how do you dig yourself out of it?

WILL:

You very much focus positively on the next race and the next few outings. It is funny how things roll, man. It is funny. Yeah.

BRUCE:

Of course, the next race is the Thermal Club on March 23rd. What's your forecast for that? How do you like that track now that it's a full IndyCar Series points-paying race?

WILL:

Yeah. I do like the track, I do, yeah. It's very technical. It's definitely going to be a lot of tyre dag, which obviously we had tyres here that were similar to that. So, yeah.

BRUCE:

Well, hopefully you and your family gave you some nice birthday presents to make up for what wasn't a very happy birthday weekend here at St. Pete.

WILL:

Yeah, family, man. They're very good to me and lucky to have them. But see if we can, we're going to move forward, man. Have a good rest of the season we are. We're gonna do that.

BRUCE:

Well, willpower, Team Penske. Too bad you had this type of weekend, but good luck moving forward in the NTT IndyCar Series season, and thank you for joining us today on Pit Pass Indy, presented by Penske Truck Rental.

WILL:

Yeah, no, thanks, Bruce. Appreciate it.

BRUCE:

Tim Sindrick is no longer Team Penske president, but he remains as the team's president for the IndyCar operation for team owner Roger Penske. Sindrick also calls the race strategy for Josef Newgarden, who appeared to be ready to challenge Alex Pillow for the victory before he ran out of fuel on the final lap of the race. Newgarden finished third after Scott Dixon passed him for second place on the final lap. I caught up with Cendric after the race at the team Penske transporter for this exclusive interview. Team Penske IndyCar president Tim Sendrick, pretty good weekend leave, the Firestone Grand Prix St. Petersburg with two top fives. But I know you really wanted to have Josef Newgarden finish in victory lane, ran out of fuel on the final lap. He made it exciting.

TIM:

Yeah, without a doubt. You know, having Scotty start up at the front, obviously he was the guy that we thought we're going to have to beat today, you know, within the field. Yeah, fate didn't go the right way for the guys that started on the black tires, you know, without having any cautions the rest of the day. Joseph did a superb job. We let him down in the pits pretty much all day. Had a great first pit stop, and then the second pit stop, we left there with about two gallons short. Had a false fill, so then we were playing catch-up from that point on. And there at the end, we had a very big surprise with how much fuel we didn't have once it got down into the collector. It's a pretty big fuel air shift, so certainly wasn't planning on cutting it that close at the end, and just fortunate to come home third.

BRUCE:

Much greater variation between the Firestone Blacks and the Firestone Reds. In your opinion, did that make the racing better, or did they maybe go too soft on the Firestone Reds?

TIM:

Well, I commend Firestone, you know, for actually looking after, they obviously can build a great tire. The black tire was, you know, superb. And then it's a matter of, you know, trying to tweak the other one to where every track's going to be a little bit different. So it's a challenge. But I do think... The disparity between the primaries and the alternates is what the series needs to continue to put on even more exciting races. So if you had to do it over again and you could say, hey, make it another 20% or 30% durable, I think, yeah, that's the sweet spot. But I think had this thing not gone green at the beginning or gone yellow at the beginning, you would have seen some even bigger strategy plays.

BRUCE:

Beautiful weather, huge crowd, first race for Fox Sports to cover the IndyCar Series as its television partner. There's a lot of reasons why IndyCar and its team should leave the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg feeling pretty good about 2025.

TIM:

No, IndyCar's off to a great start, and us as a team, you know, starting out third and fourth. It's unfortunate what happened to Will there. Hadn't really seen a replay, so I'm not sure what happened there, but no, IndyCar's off to a great start this year.

BRUCE:

And finally, for 25 years, you were the president of Team Penske. Now, you remain a president, but the president of the IndyCar side of Team Penske. How much has that helped you to just focus on the IndyCar operation?

TIM:

I think it was early days. That's where I started. I started the first five years working for Roger, just focused on the IndyCar series. And then we combined the sports car and the NASCAR group, and he asked me to look after that. And I did that the past 20-some years. And, you know, felt like it was time to hand that off. And, you know, fortunately I'm able to still stay involved with the IndyCar side and, you know, have some time for myself. So, yeah, we'll see how it all plays out, but it's early days.

BRUCE:

Well, Tim Sendrick, congratulations on a great weekend for Team Penske. And thank you for joining us on Pit Pass Indy. Thanks, Bruce. Appreciate it. Another Team Penske driver, Scott McLachlan, started on the pole. He announced on Friday that he had signed a contract extension to remain at Team Penske. On Saturday, he moved his Team Penske pole record to 70 with his 11th IndyCar Series pole of his career. McLachlan also won 59 poles driving for Team Penske in the Australia Supercars Series. Here is a quick interview with Scott McLachlan on Pitt Road immediately after the race.

SCOTT:

The ability for everyone to get off the alternate tyre that they started on, and then we're able to run long on the black. So we're ultimately a piss stop behind, but we knew that was the risk of running black, so I think if there's no yellow first lap, we're... Oh, sorry. We're gone. We're gone. So, yeah. Anyway, it is what it is. Great day for us. Good points. Great start of the year. And, yeah, a pole and a fourth. Can't be unhappy with that.

BRUCE:

IndyCar Series drivers have been wanting a greater variation between the Firestone Black and the Firestone Red. We saw that today. How much did you like the way that that added to the strategy of the race?

SCOTT:

Yeah, I think, look, they've done what they needed to do to get some degradation. So I think, yeah, I think kudos to Firestone for giving it a crack. And yeah, overall okay.

BRUCE:

And in a lot of ways you can never overlook Alex Palou and he showed it today because he pounced right when he needed to and was able to hold off a couple of pretty hard charging drivers including your teammate Josef Newgarden before he had his fuel issue.

SCOTT:

Yeah for sure but we definitely had the same amount of speed today so it's just good points for us and we'll just, every dog has a day.

BRUCE:

And finally, you leave here with points, and that was the important thing going into the season opener. Absolutely. Good points. And we'll move forward. Scott McLaughlin, congratulations on your finish and thank you for joining us on Pit Pass Indy. Thanks, Bruce. Appreciate it. Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti Global is from Jupiter, Florida, and in the St. Pete race, Kirkwood finished fifth on Sunday and explains how it happened in this exclusive interview. Joining us now on Pit Pass Indy is Kyle Kirkwood. You made the drive over from Jupiter, Florida, and here you got a top five finish in the Firestone Grand Prix at St. Petersburg. All in all, a pretty good weekend for you.

KYLE:

Yeah, we can't be disappointed with the top five. You know, it was an uneventful event for us. We kind of just Nailed all the boxes, had good stops. We started on the right tire, was on the same strategy as all the other guys. But we didn't have the exact outright pace, but we had really good pace. We were definitely a top five, top four car today. I'm happy with it. It's a good finish. For me, I've been working at getting top fives, but every top five that I get now, I'm just like, It's making me more eager to win, so it's not the best feeling in the world, but it's a better feeling than I've come out of this event with. So I guess we'll take that as a positive, but at the same time, racing, you're never satisfied unless you're winning, so we'll keep working at it. Hey, it's off to the Thoroughbore Club next. Your Outlook heading there. You know, we did not have a good weekend there last year, but we went there, preseason testing was really strong, and I've been strong there in the past, so I'm looking forward to it. You know, it'll be nice to get our second race under our belt and hopefully just take away at these top fives and start working at podiums and wins.

BRUCE:

Kyle Kirkwood, thank you for joining us on Pit Pass Indy. Yeah, thank you. Kirkwood's race strategist, Brian Hurta, gives his thoughts on the race in this interview. Brian Hurd, all in all, not a bad day for your driver, Kyle Kirkwood, to be able to just come over from Jupiter, Florida, and get a top five finish here in the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. How important is that start off the season?

BRIAN:

Well, I mean, it's a good start, right? So top five, that's what we talk about, top fives, and you know, today wasn't our day. We didn't quite have the pace of the front guys, but we moved forward in the race, got a top five, got some points, and it's good to get the season started.

BRUCE:

And looking further up the finishing order, Alex Pillow once again showed why he is a three-time IndyCar Series champion. Waited for the right moment, nailed the final pit stop, got out ahead of his competitors, held on for the victory. Just what is it about Alex that makes him so good right now?

BRIAN:

Well, I mean, you know, he's a tough competitor. He doesn't have a lot of weaknesses in his game. He's driving for a really good team. And you put those things together, right, they're going to be hard to beat. They have been the last several years, and they will be again this year.

BRUCE:

Well, Brian Hurd, it's a good start for Andretti Global. Thank you for joining us today on Pit Pass Indy. Thank you. Blair Julian has been at Chip Ganassi Racing since 2002 and has worked his way up the ladder to team manager of the IndyCar team. At St. Petersburg, he was part of the timing and engineering stand for Alex Pillow's winning number 10 DHL Honda and celebrated yet another victory for this operation. I was in the winning pit when the race concluded and had this quick interview with Blair Julian for Pit Pass Indy shortly after the checkered flag wave. Blair Julian, I guess you'd have to say it was a hell of a show by Alex Pillow today.

BLAIR:

Yeah, it was pretty great. I mean, all these guys on the stand here are used to doing this in this sort of fashion. So it was pretty cool to sort of sit back and watch these guys do their thing.

BRUCE:

And not only that, on the last lap, Scott Dixon got you a one-two finish by passing Josef Newgarden. So just doubled out on this one.

BLAIR:

Yeah, that's great. That's exactly what we need from a team start to the season. We'll just keep pushing to keep this going.

BRUCE:

Perfect weekend, perfect weather, huge crowd. Great way to start an IndyCar Series season in 2025.

BLAIR:

Yeah, perfect way to start. It's been a great weekend and looking forward to the next one.

BRUCE:

Well, Blair Julian, congratulations on Alex Pillow's victory here at the Firestone Grand Prix in St. Petersburg. Thanks very much. Mike Hall is the managing director of Chip Ganassi Racing and calls the race strategy for Scott Dixon's number nine PNC Bank Honda. With Palou winning the race and Dixon second, Hall explained an impressive one-two sweep after the race for Pit Pass Indy. Mike Hall, a 1-2 finish for Chip Ganassi Racing here in the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix at St. Petersburg. Alex Palou gets another victory. Scott Dixon finishes second. So as you look at the big picture for the team, pretty successful weekend.

MIKE:

A great weekend. I don't know. Anytime you finish first and second in any motor race in the world, you should be really happy.

BRUCE:

And the Leaf here with positive points. That's very important when you start off the season. You certainly don't want to leave here in the hole, but to be able to come away here with a little bit of a boost of momentum, how much are you able to carry that through the next couple of races?

MIKE:

Well, I think, first of all, you have to have good race cars and street racing because What you saw today was that those extra two or three laps, either on alternates or on primary tires, if you have a good car, it doesn't slide quite as much, and the rubber lasts longer. So we had really good race cars. The teammates certainly shared the information between them quite well, and the engineers did their job, and the guys in the pits did a heck of a job. So, terrific team effort, no question about it.

BRUCE:

The pit stop for Alex Pillow, where he was able to get out ahead of Josef Newgarden, really the move of the race. Joseph would later run out of fuel on the final lap, but that really did put him in the position to dictate the outcome of the race. How important was that pit stop and Alex's ability to time it just right to get out ahead of Josef Newgarden?

MIKE:

Well, we kind of saw that in the Super Bowl this year. If you have a good line protecting the quarterback, guess what happens? You win big races. And I would consider the St. Petersburg Grand Prix now, with all its history and its lineage, to be really important. And certainly it's important to Chippenoski Racing to start the season like it has.

BRUCE:

And as far as Scott Dixon's race, I understand the earpiece came out and he wanted to pit a few laps earlier?

MIKE:

We don't know what happened with the earpiece at this point, so I don't think it's fair to say it fell out. We'll just have to get into that. No, he didn't want to pit earlier, and so he just pitted on the fuel light, which is accurate. And we still did pretty good with that.

BRUCE:

Beautiful weather, huge crowd, Fox Sports now televising the NTT IndyCar Series. There's gotta be a lot of reasons why IndyCar as a series should leave St. Petersburg feeling very good about 2025.

MIKE:

Well, first of all, I would say, and I don't know if it was you that asked the question the other day in that press event that we were at, but NBC set the stage for Fox. And Fox has accelerated IndyCar racing publicly in the public's eye. And I think it's going to be good for everybody that's in this sport.

BRUCE:

Well, Michael, once again, congratulations on a 1-2 finish for Chip Ganassi Racing here at the Firestone Grand Prix in St. Petersburg. And thank you for joining us on Pit Pass Indy. Thank you, Bruce. We'll be right back to Pit Pass Indy after this short break.

SCOTT:

Hi, I'm Scott McLaughlin, driver of the number three team Penske Chevy, and you're listening to Pit Pass Indy, presented by Penske Truck Rental.

BRUCE:

Welcome back to Pit Pass Indy, presented by Penske Truck Rental. We wrap up today's show with a couple of interviews from before the race weekend. The first is with Graham Rahal of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, who drove to victory in the 2008 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in his first ever IndyCar Series start. Nearly 20 years later, Rahal remains a competitive fixture on the grid as the driver of the No. 15 Honda. I caught up with Rahal before track activity began at St. Petersburg, but a word of warning. Because of audio issues with the interview, the sound quality isn't up to regular standards. However, the content from Rahal was interesting, so we are including it on today's podcast. The ever-popular Graham Rahal is back, and it's at an ever-popular event, the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. He's a former winner, although in a lot of ways, it seems like a lifetime ago.

GRAHAM:

Thanks for reminding me. I feel like that's a common topic now. Everybody just wants to tell me how old I am or how long ago.

BRUCE:

Well, I'll trade the ages right now. This event has grown into such a popular event. And in a lot of ways, you've seen it grow dramatically.

GRAHAM:

How cool is it to see what it has become? I love this place. And Sam, where we are right now, Bruce, looking out over the new pier here in St. Pete and seeing all the new development. We got the party on the park Thursday night here. I mean, it is a cool spot, man. That's just a great time to come and race at. I'm proud to be here, proud to be a true, proud to have won it, proud to have been a pole here in 2009. Man, I would love nothing more than to get another win here this season, I can tell you that. So we'll see.

BRUCE:

There are a lot of people who believe that you can't put on a successful street race because they only happen for like two or three years and then they go away. We've seen that in Baltimore. But Green Savery and the sea mayors in St.

GRAHAM:

Peter have really made the second part of what you just said is the critical part. which is the mayor's, you cannot have success in a street race without the support of the local politicians. And because they can muddy the waters and ruin it. I mean, when we went to Baltimore, I remember we went to the announcement and I was there, Kathy, you were probably there with me. And then the very next day, after all this excitement, the mayor turned out to be quite a fraud. But he's out in the newspaper, totally blasting the race. And I'm like, this race is doomed. Like, there's no way, you know? Like, we literally had all this energy and excitement. Yes. And then one day later, she's in the Baltimore Sun or I don't know, whatever they call it. It's the newest picture. It's about what a nightmare it's going to be for traffic. And that is the number one thing. When you come here to St. Pete's, you go to Long Beach, you know, everybody is so supportive of the events and the races. And if you do that and you kick to positivity, well, then all of the citizens become supportive and they become excited. Now, St. Pete's a little more atypical in the sense that there's a lot of people from IndyCar racing who now have homes here in St. Pete because they started to come down here for the race, fell in love with the city and end up getting a condo or something to go spend part of the winters in. You know, but I think to say, you know, being cyber isn't a good job, but, you know, without a doubt, you know, the mayors here in St. Petersburg have been tenuously supportive over the years, and that helps make it all possible.

BRUCE:

Not only that, but the political climate of St. Petersburg, the mayors, they've had bipartisan support. We've had Republican mayors and shared Democrat mayors that have embraced cyber. Exactly, yeah. And it really goes to show that, you know, When you work together, it's the thing that's going to happen. Yeah, for sure.

GRAHAM:

I mean, definitely even, you know, great, great experiences down there. I've always loved coming down there. I mean, it's just a wonderful place. But I gave it some real good stuff. So it's to be, fingers crossed, to be able to race this weekend and keep this thing going for another 30 years.

BRUCE:

Since we strayed onto the topic of politics, when you think about the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach celebrating its 50th year in Southern California, in a lot of ways that's a bit of a miracle in itself. It also goes to show that when something happened way back when and has shown sustainability, that it can continue.

GRAHAM:

That race in many ways helped revive that city. I mean, Long Beach is quite rough for a period of time. That race brought a lot of life back to it. I think that's a cornerstone event. I'd be shocked to see it go anywhere anytime soon.

ALEX:

Thank you.

GRAHAM:

You know, definitely got some great street course. Obviously, Arlington coming up. A lot of rumors about Denver. You know, I mean, it is a great foundation here to learn off of. And if you're if you're going to look to run a street course race or own one, whatever you want to call it, you know, coming and seeing a race sitting here in St. Pete is almost the perfect recipe.

BRUCE:

Well, you brought up real estate. Your dad lives on the Atlantic Coast, up in the Jacksonville area. Have you thought of relocating or getting a second or a third or a fourth home here in St.

GRAHAM:

Petersburg? I live on an airplane, Bruce. I don't even know where I live right now. Dude, if I could get my wife out of California, you better believe I'd come out here in a splendid second. A little humid here, but it's definitely such a beautiful place. It's a beautiful place. The only thing that would concern me down here is all the hurricanes. They've got too many, Lazy.

BRUCE:

But as far as beautiful place, it's a beautiful place to start a season.

GRAHAM:

No doubt. And IndyCar has that ability to do this every year of season, you've heard. So that in itself has really making a marquee of it. No doubt about it. It's a wonderful place to come and race, man. I love it.

BRUCE:

Well, Graham Rahal, good luck in 2025. Sorry that I brought up the fact that you won the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg so long ago, but you have won it.

GRAHAM:

Yeah.

BRUCE:

Good luck this season and thank you for joining us on SetPast.

GRAHAM:

Thanks, Chris.

BRUCE:

We wrap up today's Pit Pass Indy with this exclusive interview with Pato O'Ward during IndyCarSpring training at Sebring Raceway the week before the Firestone Grand Prix. The always engaging, ever-popular O'Ward does not disappoint as he joins me for this lively conversation. The Philadelphia Eagles may have won Super Bowl 49, but the real star on TV was Pat O'Ward, who was commercial for Fox Sports' coverage of IndyCar debuted during the Super Bowl. Just how cool was it to know that over 100 million people saw Pat O'Ward on those commercials during the Super Bowl?

PATO:

He was awesome, man. DMs were popping. I, um, no, I mean, it's... It's the first time that I've been in the Super Bowl and probably one of the few times that I'll be in the Super Bowl in my lifetime, I would say. I don't think a lot of people can say they had their own commercial there. So that was a pretty surreal moment. I was actually in London at that time, so I couldn't really watch live on TV, but I had a bunch of people send me videos and pictures and text messages, and it felt like I had just won a race. It's really cool to see what Fox has been doing for the series.

BRUCE:

What was the filming of that commercial like? How much of it, how long of a day was it filming? How much of it, of the stunts, were you able to do yourself?

PATO:

I did all of the stunts. So you jumped over the car? I mean, I didn't actually jump over the car. I jumped over a sculpture, which then got, you know, then they use their cool gadgets to make it seem like I went over the car. I don't think it would have been very smart for me to, you know, jump over the car, even if I could, because if I had one little mistake, That's out of the season, so I need my legs, I need my hands, I need my face. But it was a freaking movie set, man. Like, I arrived, there was like a hundred people. We had a chef, we had a freaking motorhome there. Like, I had never been in such a professional commercial in my life. It was impressive to see, just, I felt like I was like Brad Pitt or something.

BRUCE:

Well, you are a one-man boy band, as they say in the commercial.

PATO:

That was definitely not photoshopped. I definitely did all the outfits then.

BRUCE:

Oh, definitely.

PATO:

Yeah.

BRUCE:

Even more surreal, you were featured during the NASCAR Daytona 500 telecast during the commercials. That's something a lot of people thought we'd never see is IndyCar on the commercials during the Daytona 500. So to reach that broad of an audience, how important is that for IndyCar?

PATO:

It's what we need right now, I would say. I think the bracing product is phenomenal, but I think marketing's definitely been a little bit on the back foot the last few years. So Fox is bringing it, and hopefully that just raises the game for not just what the series gets, eyeball seeing what IndyCar has to offer with, you know, their personalities like myself and, you know, and Joseph and Polo that also got their, you know, their opportunity to do a commercial. But just making that scene and bringing people in, because I don't think it's It's a, it's a racing product problem. I would say it's more of a, you know, where can we get it out to the most eyeballs to see it?

BRUCE:

You're the most recent winner of the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, but it came under unusual circumstances. You actually didn't get the checkered flag, but you were awarded the victory because of Josef Newgarden and the push to pass. issues that they had that they discovered afterwards. So how important is it for you to win it in style this year? Get the checkered flag, celebrate in victory lane, get all the accolades that go with winning the Firestone Grand Prix in St. Petersburg.

PATO:

I'd love to do that. I haven't had the chance to win that race, you know, that day. Last year came a couple of weeks after, but I would love to do that. That would mean we'd be going back to back. And we've been really close. We've been very, very close. So I definitely don't I don't I don't think it's out of the cards for us. You've had some great runs there. What is it about that course that suits your style so well? I mean, I think we've got, we've had good runs there. I think St. Pete's always been fairly nice to me, at least, you know, 90% of the time, but we we've had some tough races there as well. So you never know what to expect. You know, Firestone always surprises us with new compounds and, uh, that, that, you know, that, that, that, that will throw your setup off. That'll throw you off a little bit. And, uh, it just, who's going to bounce back and, and, and work through it the quickest when you get to qualifying and then, having a shot in the race.

BRUCE:

Before you hit the streets of St. Pete, you're at Sebring for testing. How much do you learn at Sebring? I talk to a lot of engineers and drivers. They talk about how this course replicates the streets of St. Pete very well.

PATO:

I wouldn't say it's identical, but I would say it's the closest track that we can get to that can kind of replicate what we usually go through in St. Pete. We don't have concrete walls here, but we definitely got the bumps. We've got the concrete, we've got asphalt. We've got a bunch of different, you know, common denominators along with St. Pete. So we're trying to get everything right. But just getting back in the race car, how important is that for Paddle Award just to get back into your element? I mean, it's my job, man. I feel like I've been more of an actor than a racing driver the last few months. So I'm definitely excited to get back behind the wheel and just really feeling it out and seeing what we've made better.

BRUCE:

And finally, having Christian Lundgaard as a teammate this year, another young driver, Although he's no longer the youngest driver on the team, that goes to Nolan Siegel. But what's it been like so far working with Christian?

PATO:

I'm the old guy now. No, I mean, Christian's cool. And we actually got along even before he joined the team. So we're both excited to work together and to raise the game for everybody. So hopefully we can have all three cars up there and fighting for race wins, podiums, championships, and we'll be in good shape.

BRUCE:

Well, you certainly have a flair out of the race car, but your real flair is on the racetrack. Paddle award. Good luck in 2025 in the NTT IndyCar Series. And thank you for joining us today on Pit Pass Indy. Thank you very much. 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:

And that puts a checkered flag on this edition of Pit Pass Indy presented by Penske Truck Rental. We want to thank our guests, Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg winner Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing, Will Power of Team Penske, Tim Sendrick, the IndyCar President of Team Penske, Scott McLaughlin of Team Penske, Kyle Kirkwood and Brian Hurta of Andretti Global, Blair Julian and Mike Hall of Chip Ganassi Racing, Graham Rahal of Letterman Lanigan Racing, and Pato Award of Errol McLaren for joining us on this jam-packed episode. 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. And be sure to join us later this week for a special bonus edition of Pit Pass Indy, presented by Penske Truck Rental, with even more content as the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series season is underway. So be sure to look for that later this week. For more IndyCar coverage, follow me at X, previously known as Twitter, at brucemartin, one word, uppercase B, uppercase M, underscore 500. This has been a production of Evergreen Podcast. A special thanks to our production team, executive producers are Bridget Coyne and Gerardo Orlando. Recordings and edits were done by me, Bruce Martin, and final mixing was done by Dave Douglas. Learn more at evergreenpodcast.com. Until next time, be sure to keep it out of the wall.