Time to “Meet the Mayor of Hinchtown” with James Hinchcliffe of NBC Sports

Speakers: Bruce Martin & James Hinchcliffe

Scott McLaughlin:

Hi, I'm Scott McLaughlin, driver of the number 3 Team Penske Chevy, and you'll listen to Pit Pass Indy, presented by Penske Truck Rental.

[Music Playing]

Bruce Martin:

IndyCar fans, it's time to search 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, presented by Penske Truck Rental.

We are proud and honored to bring Penske Truck Rental to the show as the presenting sponsor of Pit Pass Indy. We will continue to cover the entire NTT IndyCar Series community, and our new partners at Penske Truck Rental will help us tell those stories.

Roger Penske has earned the name, The Captain as a captain of industry and the winningest team owner in major auto racing history, including a record 18 wins in the Indianapolis 500.

On today's show, however, it's time to meet The Mayor of HinchTown. It's James Hinchcliffe, the popular former IndyCar driver who won six IndyCar races in his career before making the big career move to NBC.

Hinchcliffe brings his unique insight, expertise, and humor to the NBC broadcast booth as a color analyst of its racing telecast. He joins Leigh Diffey and fellow analyst, Townsend Bell on NBC's coverage of the NTT IndyCar Series.

But Hinchcliffe is far from having a one-track mind as he also, serves on selected NBC telecast of IMSA and NASCAR races. NBC is the home of the NTT IndyCar Series and will telecast the PPG 375 from Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday, April 2nd. The broadcast begins at 12 noon eastern time.

As a former driver, Hinchcliffe knows the innermost stories in the NTT IndyCar Series Paddock. And joins me for this exclusive interview for Pit Pass Indy, presented by Penske Truck Rental.

Joining us now, on Pit Pass Indy, presented by Penske Truck Rental is James Hinchcliffe of NBC Sports. James remains a very popular figure in the IndyCar Paddock, winner of six NTT IndyCar Series races. James, thank you for joining us today.

James Hinchcliffe:

Yeah, of course, man. Thanks for having me on.

Bruce Martin:

The season's already underway, we're off to Texas Motor Speedway for this weekend's race at Texas, the first oval of the season and the oval before the Indianapolis 500. What's your outlook heading into Texas? What should we expect to see?

James Hinchcliffe:

Yeah, that's a good question. I think the last few years in Texas, it's no secret that since the repave, the racing there has not quite been like it was in vintage Texas, so to speak. And last year, they tried something a little bit different with that second lane practice to try to open that lane up a little bit.

I think between that and just the surface maturing, NASCAR using a different compound in that second lane than what they were using the first few years and then IndyCar's actually going back with quite a bit more down force this year.

So, I'm really hoping that all those things together are going to combine to make for a much more exciting and sort of vintage Texas race like we've been used to in the past. That's the hope. We'll see.

Certainly, the Penskes have been quick there the last few years. They’ve got a pretty good track record that spot. But as long as it's a good race, I think the fans will be happy.

Bruce Martin:

So, the season got underway on March 5th with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. It was a little bit of an action-packed wild race, we saw two cars go airborne. Was some of that the fact that we had such a large field, 27 cars on such a tight race course?

James Hinchcliffe:

I think that contributes certainly. If you think of where the majority of that first lap accident happenedit was sort of the cars, I don't know, 18th back. I don't know exactly where Ferrucci started but it was kind of him turning Helio that caused the mayhem.

I know it was all checked up from Felix getting into the wall there. But if you think there was only four cars behind them, it'd be a much less traumatic accident than there being eight cars behind them. So, I think for sure, that that plays into it.

But also, the nature of street circuit racing and close quarters racing in IndyCar Series, you're going tosee things like that at any street circuit, I think just with how tight and competitive the field is.

Bruce Martin:

So, like we had just mentioned, there's a 27 car starting lineup for most of the IndyCar series races this season. The most since back in earlier last decade when we had unification when the size of the field swelled with the addition of the teams from the ChampCar series with the old Indy Racing League teams.

But this is a little bit different. We have a lot of teams that seem to be pretty well funded, sponsored. And how do you see the health of the NTT IndyCar Series in 2023? It seems to be pretty good.

James Hinchcliffe:

Yeah, I mean, it's hard to argue with that fact. You've got as you say, almost not quite a record number, but certainly, an uncharacteristically large field given the last sort of decade of IndyCar racing.

And as you said, they're all strong efforts, they're all well-funded, they're all programs that can go out and be competitive on any given day. So, we're not having any of these mom-and-pop teams that scrape together enough funding to get to a few races a year and running around three seconds off the pace the entire field's probably within a second.

And yeah, it shows that the health in the sport is quite good. And teams, drivers and sponsors are seeing IndyCar as a great place to be spending their time and money.

Bruce Martin:

We saw a couple of drivers that are very aggressive. One is Romain Grosjean and also, Scott McLaughlin. They got involved in a fight for the lead late in the race at St. Petersburg. That's pretty much exactly what you want to see happen. You want to see the two fastest drivers in a race, fight it out for position.

Didn't end up well, they both ended up in the tire barrier. But do you look at that as more of a case of really good hard racing than anything else?

James Hinchcliffe:

Yeah, a hundred percent. I think both drivers were 10 tens going for the win, and I think either driver in the other's shoes would've done the same thing and probably had the same result. That's just the nature of good hard competitive racing.

If this had been at Barber or Mid-Ohio or whatever, they would've gone off into the dirt, come back on track and probably still been on the podium. Just because it was a street circuit, unfortunately, they both ended up out of the race.

And that's the real shame is two drivers and two teams that did an incredible job all weekend long and were doing a great job on the day, putting on a great show for the fans, didn't get a result that they deserved.

But at the same time, the entertainment factory, I think was through the roof. So, those two may not have won the race, but I would say that the fans were the big winners of how it all played out.

Bruce Martin:

Now, when you look at the competitive level that exists in IndyCar today, a lot of people seem to think, and it's pretty hard to argue, but if you have a 27-car field, it's probably 20 to 22 cars on any given race could probably win. And I don't think we've ever seen a field that deep.

How do you estimate the number of potential race winners that are in the IndyCar field this season?

James Hinchcliffe:

Yeah, I think your number's probably pretty accurate. I think 20 is probably not that farfetched. Certainly 20 cars capable of getting themselves up on the podium if something goes your way. When you look in St. Pete, I think in Q2, the difference between P5 and P10 was they were all in the same10.

And so, that's what's going to make this year so exciting is being a 10th off the base used to maybe cost you a spot, now it can cost you 4, 5, 6 spots. And that just means that a bad day goes from being a 6th place to a 16th place, and that really can shake up the championship quite a bit.

So, I think it's a qualifying, got even more important in 2023 than they have been in the past. And that’s saying something, because passing's already to premium, the field is so tight that qualifying has always been a huge emphasis.

But I think now, more than ever, you really got to be able to maximize those laps on Saturday because like you said, there are 20 cars that can go out there and fight the podiums and win.

Bruce Martin:

And there's a lot of talented young drivers that are in the series now. How do you evaluate just how much of this young talent is coming up and how important that is for the future of the series?

James Hinchcliffe:

It's massively important. It's funny that you're already kind of looking at the older, younger guys being people like Colton Herta and Pato O’Ward, that already have a handful of seasons under their belt. And then the young young guys, the Callum Ilotts, and the Kyle Kirkwoods, and Christian Lundgaards.

The field is incredibly talented with a heavy emphasis of the younger drivers. Obviously, you still have your Scott Dixons, your Will Powers and kind of guys of that generation.

There's sort of this middle ground with the Alex Rossis, and Felix Rosenqvists, and JosefNewgardens, that are of a really heavy group of these younger drivers that are showing incredible speed early, great race craft. They're getting good results even with some of the smaller teams.

And so, I think it speaks very well for the future of this sport and this series in terms of driver talent in the future stars of the IndyCar Series.

Bruce Martin:

But of course, you've got some great veteran drivers. You have to start of course, with Scott Dixon, the sixth time NTT IndyCar Series Champion, second winningest IndyCar driver of all time. He's still as good as ever, as fast as ever. Do you marvel sometimes that the fact that he has been so good for so long?

James Hinchcliffe:

I mean, there's lots of things about Scott Dixon that I marvel at, that is one of them. But there are many others that go along in that category. The track record speaks for itself and it's just so, so impressive.

There is not a driver on the grid that doesn't dream of emulating Scott's abilities in almost any scenario. And his in winning record six championships, that really speaks for itself.

And majority of those came in what was an era of IndyCar racing that even many of the greats from 30, 40 years ago would say was much more competitive and hard to win that number of races and that number of championships compared to when they did it.

So, when you've got guys like Mario Andretti admitting that this era was probably more difficult to win 50 plus races than his era, that's saying something because he's pretty much the greatest of all time.

So, it's super impressive that Scott's accomplished what he has and he is still just as fast and still winning races. So, I don't think we’ve seen the end of Scott Dixon in terms of winning races,championships, Indy 500.

Bruce Martin:

Another driver who may not get the attention he deserves as being one of the best drivers in IndyCar history. But you could make a strong case when you look at the accomplishments for Will Power.

He's the all-time winningest poll leader. He's got 41 IndyCar victories, he's won two championships, he's won in Indianapolis 500. But when you start talking about the greats of the great, his name at least deserves to be in that conversation.

How do you feel about where Will Power stands in the history of IndyCar racing in terms of great drivers?

James Hinchcliffe:

No, there's no doubt he's in the conversation. His poll record is one that man, I don't see being beat anytime, I don't think in my lifetime. It's so impressive what he's been able to accomplish from a qualifying standpoint.

And then, like you say, 40 something wins. He's not done with those. He has two championships, but you got to remember he went through that stretch of three consecutive years finishing runner up so he could have, with one race going a different way in all three of those seasons, he could be a five time champion at this point of his career.

So, I think you have to definitely give him a ton of credit and put him in that conversation. Becauseagain, it happened in this modern era when IndyCar is ultimately competitive. And he's performedyear in and year out with very few exceptions.

Bruce Martin:

And of course, another driver that's had a pretty good run with two championships and he is finished second in the championship the last couple of years, Josef Newgarden over at Team Penske. Is he pretty much the one driver that a lot of people in the field kind of look at as, “That's the guy you got togo out and beat every week if you're going to be battling for a championship.”

James Hinchcliffe:

I mean, it's hard to argue after the season he had last year. I know they came up a bit short on the championship, but man, five race wins in a series as competitive as IndyCar Series is. We talk about how competitive it is and how deep a talent pool is, and I think that one guy still managed to pull off five wins. It's pretty shocking.

And I think right now, yeah, based on last year, you have to look at Josef in the team squad as the benchmark for execution on Sunday. He doesn't have Will's track record in terms of polls, but man, he's bringing home those race wins at an incredible rate.

And like you say, a couple runner up championship finishes to go along with his titles. Again, one of those races and a few of those years goes a different way, and we're looking at a three or four time IndyCar champion and he's still in his early 30s.

So, when you think that Dario didn't win his first championship till he was 34 and then went on to collect four of them. Josef could be the kind of guy that's going to be up in that bracket with Scott Dixon by the time he ends up in retirement in terms of number of championships.

Bruce Martin:

Now, a driver that I think's been very impressive the last two years, actually the last couple of years, but was a little bit under the radar until he went and won the Indianapolis 500 last year, was Marcus Ericsson.

The fact that he's gotten off to a fast start in 2023 with a championship. Do you see this driver really coming of age right now, that he's going to be a contender basically every weekend?

James Hinchcliffe:

Yeah, honestly, I mean, I was super impressed with Marcus last year and it started at the first race. It wasn't the Indy 500 for me that opened my eyes to what he was capable of. It really was St. Pete and again in Long Beach. And then we get to Indy and he does what he does there.

The thing for me about Marcus is every single year in the IndyCar Series, he has gotten better. There has been some element of his game that's improved every single season. He is never plateaued. He is never sort of sat back and rested on what he's done or the level he was at.

He's always pushing to be better. And seeing the results of that hugely benefited by being with a great team and a lot of great teammates to learn from.

But I just love that his rate of learning has not slowed down. And based on how he started the season, he's absolutely in contention today. And we saw last year, with some good consistent finishes,knocking off another win or two, he can absolutely be in that fight come Laguna Seca.

Bruce Martin:

Now, I'm going to ask you about a couple of your former teammates over at Andretti Autosport. One is now, the elder statesman of that team, and he's only 22, 23 years old. It's Colton Herta.

When you think about a driver that young being the elder statesman of a race team like that, there are older drivers on the team, of course, but nobody's been at Andretti Autosport with this collection of drivers longer than Colton.

Every time I talk to him, I have a hard time believing he's as young as he is. Did you ever discover that when you were his teammate?

James Hinchcliffe:

Oh, for sure. Definitely wise beyond his years and mature beyond his years. He is so tuned in to what he needs out of a race car. He didn't have to do a lot of learning about how to go fast when he got up into the series. He had a couple other lessons to learn, but he definitely learned them.

And it is funny to think of him as the elder statesman. Like we were saying earlier, you look at guys like Pato and Colton as not quite the young young guys, they’re the old young guys at this point going into their fifth season.

But no, I mean, he's proved his capacity for winning races and he and the team just need to make sure that they execute really well on Sunday. There's been a couple missed opportunities the last few years and I think if they can clean that up and they can go back to being a genuine championship contender. He was a few years ago.

Last year, the whole team sort of took a step back. But man, it's hard to bet against kind of Colton on any race weekend.

Bruce Martin:

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

Welcome back to Pit Pass Indy, presented by Penske Truck Rental. Here is the rest of my exclusive interview with former IndyCar driver, James Hinchcliffe of NBC Sports for Pit Pass Indy, presented by Penske Truck Rental.

Now, the other teammate that I wanted to ask you about, or former teammate that is, he's now, moved over to Arrow McLaren and that's Alexander Rossi. Do you believe that a change in scenery will really do him good?

James Hinchcliffe:

I do, I do. I think they had a lot of success together in Andretti Autosport, but as they say, all the things must come to an end. And I think a change of scenery is definitely something that was good for both sides.

And the thing about the way the series is right now, with only kind of three days of testing comps before the season starts, it's a big ask to switch teams, switch manufacturers. It's an all new program over there for them to try to get up to speed and like we say, a series that's this competitive.

So, I thought the job that they did at St. Pete was terrific. Just staying out of trouble, racing their own race, pulling off a top five. That's a program there on the seven car that's just going to keep getting better and better.

And so, to take those weekends where they might not start off the strongest and still bring home a top five, that's a huge result for them. And like I said, I think that we're just going to see improvements week after week from that organization, especially on the seven car as the season goes on.

Bruce Martin:

Speaking of that organization, it really looked like Pato O’Ward was on his way to victory in the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg before he had the momentary plenum issue on the Chevrolet Engine.

Do you look at him as a case that once that he's still searching for his sweet spot? He's a very aggressive driver, probably should maybe won a few more races than he has right now, but you know when he's out there on the racetrack, because he's out there fighting as hard as he can for the lead.

James Hinchcliffe:

Yeah, but at the same time, I thought we saw a really mature drive from Pato at St. Pete. He didn't have the pace in Scott, the pace of Romain. He didn't force a mistake trying to catch those guys.

Even that first stint when Grosjean and Herta were just sort of driving away from him, he held his bait. I think even early on, he accepted that they were probably the third best car that day and those are the days that you have to just take those results.

So, yeah, he got sort of gifted the lead when the accident between McLaughlin and Grosjeanhappened and then was sort of robbed of the lead when he had his issue. But at the same time, he was running third before those two got together. He ends up finishing second.

So, if I'm him, I'm trying to ignore the fact that I was briefly leading that race and came two laps away from winning it. I'm just looking at, “Hey, I could have been third, I ended up second. It’s still a really positive start.”

And like I said, I think it was a really mature drive because they weren't the fastest, but they put themselves in a position to still win the race and that's what they need to do when they're not having the weekend with the fastest car. And bring home those strong results even on the weekends when it's not going their way.

Bruce Martin:

Another top driver in the series, Alex Palou last year, created his own controversy to agree when he at one point seemed to have two different contracts at the same time. Announced that he was going to go to McLaren in 2023, Chip Ganassi said, “No, I have you under contract, you're still on the team.”

But yet he was able to block out all the noise and still go out and race hard and race spectacularly, especially by his victory in the last race of last season at Laguna Seca when he basically won that race, the margin of victory, he was over in Salinas while everybody else was in Monterey it seemed like.

But do you marvel a little bit about how he was able to mentally focus on not letting the distractions interfere with his racing?

James Hinchcliffe:

I mean, there's two ways to look at it, Bruce. So, you could look at what he accomplished the year before. A couple of victories, winning the championship, a lot of podium finishes. And say the fifth, I think he finished in the championship last year, didn't win a race until the last race of the season.

You could argue that while he did a phenomenal job, it still actually did affect him. I think the bigger surprises that we didn't see a win from Alex until the last race of the season. Now, there are examples,Ohio stands out as one that frankly, I think he should have won. He got sort of robbed at the timing of the yellow there.

But at the same time, I think no matter how good you are at blocking that stuff out, it's still always going to affect your race weekends a little bit.

There seemed to have been a resolution before we got to Laguna and then boom, look what happened? I think he won that race by a … I think if you took the winning margins of every other of the 16 rounds of the season and combined them, it was still less than what Alex won by in Laguna.

So, we know he is incredibly talented. I think the way that he won the championship in 2021 sort of rewrote the approach for a few other drivers. Will Power included, who used it to great effect to win the championship in 2022.

So, I think that now, with his situation a little more sorted, no surprises. I don't think anyone's expecting any surprises this year from that camp in terms of what he's doing or where he is going. He sort of has his future set now, he can just focus and get back to doing what he does so well.

And again, this driver is going to be in the fight for the championship when we get to the last race. I have no doubt about it.

Bruce Martin:

And then there's another young driver from Great Britain, Callum Ilott. He's driving for one of the smaller teams in the series, but he seems to be able to make the most with what he's got. And how impressed are you by what he's been able to do?

James Hinchcliffe:

Well, huge. When you look at him coming into the series full-time last year as a rookie, he hadn't driven at Indy Lights, he didn't know all the racetracks. And his first-year program for IndyCar withJuncos, they had some really impressive performances.

Now, you come back a year, fast forward, and you see that group's expanded to two cars. They have a bunch more investment, they've just improved the team I think really in every measurable way. And perhaps coming back with a season of experience and kicks off the season with the top five.

So, that guy has proven he's got an incredible amount of ability. We know that there were other teams sniffing around trying to maybe lock a contract up with him at some point last year before he committed to a long-term future with Juncos Hollinger.

And I think that says a lot about what he believed that team's capable of in the future and where they're going. And yeah, I look forward to seeing what they can accomplish this year because it's been a great start.

Bruce Martin:

I'm sure you were also, very happy with the news that one of your longtime competitors and good friends, Ryan Hunter-Reay, will be returning to the 107th Indianapolis 500 with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.

He was a teammate of yours in Andretti Autosport. He did not compete in any IndyCar races last year. How happy are you to see him get another chance to race at the Indianapolis 500?

James Hinchcliffe:

Yeah, I'm thrilled. I really am thrilled for him. He's such a phenomenal talent and still has a huge desire to race IndyCars and the 500 and to win that race again. He's done it once back in 2014. And I think that that fire for a second one is burning just as strong as the desire for that first one.

And I really think he won that race just fueled by pure desire. No one was going to beat him that day. And he still has that in him.

So, it's exciting for him to be back. It's going to be a very different sort of program for him than what he's been used to in Andretti Autosport for the last sort of decade of his career there. But hey, man, we've seen these one-off rides and smaller teams pull off wins in the past. You think of 2016, you think of in 2011.

So, yeah, I'm excited to see what he can do with that program because it's a month of May focus program. Everyone that's on that car is fully committed to just making sure that they're quick at the speedway and I'm excited to be able to call his name in a 500 this year.

Bruce Martin:

You won six NTT IndyCar series races in your career. You had a career that was filled with a lot of adversity, but you were very popular with the fans, always had time to talk to the fans, an engaging personality.

You don't race anymore, but you seem to have made a seamless transition over to the broadcast withNBC Sports. Are you surprised at how well the transition has gone from you to leave the cockpit to be able to sit in the booth and give your analysis?

James Hinchcliffe:

Yeah, it's certainly in some ways I am, yeah. Not stepping into that sort of scenario with no real training or background in it is the daunting thought. And not knowing how it was going to be being at a race weekend and not being behind the wheel. There were kind of a lot of question marks going into it.

But then when you get to know the crew that works those races for NBC, it's not surprising at all because it's just such an incredible group. Obviously, sharing the booth with Leigh and Townsend is such a blessing, something I'm so lucky to get to do and I've learned so much from those guys.

But then everyone behind the scenes as well, the entire team at NBC Sports, they're so professional. They made it so easy for the new guy to jump in and almost sounded like he knew what he was talking about.

And so, it's been so much fun and very rewarding working with everyone there. And hopefully, it's something we get to do for many years to come.

Bruce Martin:

And you've also, have been on some of the NASCAR telecast, especially when NASCAR's at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Jeff Burton was telling me how good you were doing those.

What do you see as being your secret for being able to understand the sport, not only of IndyCar, but also NASCAR, IMSA, other sports. You drove in some IMSA races, but NASCAR I'm sure was a new challenge for you. What do you see as being the secret for your ability to understand what's going on with those series?

James Hinchcliffe:

Yeah, I mean, NASCAR was certainly a new experience for me. I hadn't driven those cars. Formula One was the same thing. We did those races last year.

And I think it comes from the fact that I'm a fan of motorsports, I follow all these series religiously and I've got a good sense of kind of the ebb and flow of their seasons and then know a little bit about their drivers, and I've read a lot about those cars.

And at the end of the day, motorsports is motorsports. I think the difference in cars is going to be a 10% difference, but 90% of it is going racing. And that's the same no matter what you're driving. And I think my experience in IndyCar obviously, sets me up well for that.

And then I spend a lot of time talking to the drivers that do this in those series and learn what I can. I've always really enjoyed educating people about motorsports. And I did it a ton as a driver, whether you're at the track talking to fans or at a sponsor event, maybe meeting some people that are new to the sport. I always really enjoyed kind of conveying some of the intricacies of the sport as best I can.

And so, I think it's a talent that I slowly developed off track during my time as a driver that now, I get to do with the microphone to the millions of people watching at home. And that's what I love doing is just sharing that knowledge with everybody at home.

Bruce Martin:

Now, as a race driver, you prepared for races in engineering debriefs. In broadcasting, you have production meetings. Are there a lot of similarities between the two?

James Hinchcliffe:

Honestly, there are a few, for sure. Less graphs and charts in production meetings. But it's all about coming up with a plan. It's all about looking at what you want to accomplish and how the best way is to go about doing that and then going out at the time and executing.

And what I love about doing these broadcasts is once the red light comes on, you're live. There's no do-overs, there's no takes. It's just like the race, it's like the green flag dropping in a sense.

And when it all goes well, when you go off air, it's like the checkered flag calling and you kind of high five your crew, you high five one of the broadcasts say, “Great show. We did a good job.” And so, that sort of thrill of doing it live, I think is another thing that sort of translates from my first career to my second one.

Bruce Martin:

With six IndyCar victories in your career, do you sometimes look back and think what might have been. I know it's easy for some people to maybe look back and think what might have been, but you seem to have accepted the fact that it's time to move to a different phase of your career now that it's in broadcasting.

But are there still those moments where you wish you were still in the cockpit of a race car?

James Hinchcliffe:

Well, I think I always went into my career wanting to sort of make sure that when it ended, it was a little bit on my terms and I didn't want to be one of those, a driver that hung on too long and probablyran a few seasons past their prime sort of thing.

And well, for sure, there are times where I miss driving. I look at the timing of when I made that decision and certain factors, personal, professional, everything that sort of comes together. And when you remove the emotion from it and just look at it logically, it was absolutely the right time to do it.

And yeah, like I said, there are times where I miss driving a race car, but there's a lot of things about that side of the business that I don't miss. And so, very happy where I am at the moment.

Bruce Martin:

And wrapping up here with James Hinchcliffe on Pit Pass Indy, presented by Penske Truck Rental, the NBC telecast is coming up this weekend from Texas Motor Speedway. Is there anything in particular that the viewers may want to look out for with your broadcast?

James Hinchcliffe:

You got to tune in to find out anyway. I think it's going to be an exciting race. Like I said, there's a lot of changes in developments I think, that are going to make the Texas race a little more exciting.

So, honestly, yeah, tune in to watch why I think it's going to be a great race. And then communicate with us on Twitter, on social media. Let us know what you want to see, let us know what you think we should do more of, less of.

We're always open to the viewers' opinions on those things and we just want to put on the best show possible and make sure you guys are getting a good show. So, hopefully, we see you on the broadcast.

Bruce Martin:

He's known as The Mayor of IndyCar and he certainly got my vote. James Hinchcliffe of NBC Sports, good luck on this weekend's broadcast from Texas Motor Speedway. And thank you for joining us today, on Pit Pass Indy, presented by Penske Truck Rental.

James Hinchcliffe:

Of course. Thanks so much for having me on.

[Music Playing]

Bruce Martin:

And that puts a checkered flag on this edition of Pit Pass Indy, presented by Penske Truck Rental.

We want to thank our guest, former IndyCar Series driver, James Hinchcliffe of NBC Sports for joining us on today's podcast. Along with loyal listeners like you, our guest helped make Pit Pass Indy, presented by Penske Truck Rental, your path to victory lane for all things IndyCar.

And because of our guest and listeners, Pit Pass Indy, presented by Penske Truck Rental 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 (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.