How IndyCar’s Street Race in Washington, DC Became A Reality With Penske Corporation President Bud Denker. Also, NASCAR’s Joey Logano Heads To The Daytona 500

Bruce Martin:
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, Auto Week, and Speed Sport. So let's drop the green flag on this episode of Pit Pass Indy. Welcome to PitPass Indy as we continue our sixth season of giving IndyCar fans an inside look at the most exciting form of racing on the planet, the NTT IndyCar Series. And wherever you are, hopefully you are staying warm and safe while recovering from massive winter storms that swept through much of the United States the past few weeks. It may have been cold outside, but the news in IndyCar has never been hotter. On January 30th, President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order at the Oval Office paving the way for an NTT IndyCar Series race around the National Mall, August 21st to 23rd, 2026. IndyCar Series owner Roger Penske and Fox Sports CEO and executive producer Eric Schenks were in attendance as President Trump signed the executive order. It directs the White House Task Force on celebrating America's 250th birthday to designate a race route through Washington, D.C. and the National Mall for the purposes of conducting an NTT IndyCar Series race on August 23rd through the 23rd, 2026. The event will recognize the historic milestone of America's independence, in addition to celebrating the unparalleled tradition and legacy of America's motorsports industry. The race will be known as the Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington and has gathered bipartisan support, including Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser for the street race coming to the nation's capital. The event will be part of an 18 race schedule in 2026. All races are televised live on Fox. This year's America 250 celebration includes IndyCar and that should make the Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington historic for many reasons. On this episode of Pit Pass Indy, we have an exclusive interview with the man who made it happen, Penske Corporation President Bud Denker. Along with Eric Shanks of Fox Sports, Denker took this event from a dream to reality, but in between was a tremendous amount of hard work, including 81 meetings on Capitol Hill with lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle. Danker takes us into the backrooms explaining how he nearly called off the event on January 21st when it appeared this race would never get the required 60 votes in the United States Senate. But Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, Secretary of the Interior, Doug Burgum, and President Trump stepped in to guarantee the race through executive order. Denker graciously took the time for this exclusive interview on Super Bowl Sunday and gives Pit Pass Indy an incredible inside look at how the Freedom 250 Grand Prix went from a blue sky dream to an event for the ages. Here is my exclusive interview with Penske Corporation President Bud Denker on Pit Pass Indy

Bud Denker: Well, you're going to need about four hours of this podcast, this journey I've been on, but anyway, go ahead.

Bruce Martin: A lot of times people have said IndyCar needs to take some big swings in order to make a big impact in the United States. Well, they certainly took a big swing a couple of weeks ago when it was announced that the Freedom 250 Grand Prix in Washington, D.C. would take place around the National Mall in Washington, D.C. on August 21st through August 23rd. We're joined now by the president of the Penske Corporation, Bud Denker, the man who's been very busy helping to put this together with the United States federal government. But a lot of us had thought when the schedule came out last year that this wasn't ever going to happen. What changed?

Bud Denker: Well, thanks, Bruce. And, um, this is a, this idea goes back to June of last year when Eric Shanks and I were together and, We were just kind of talking in big blue sky type of ideas. And we said, wouldn't it be amazing to have a race in our Washington DC area to celebrate the nation's 250th anniversary? Really not a serious discussion. Cause you can imagine the difficulties in doing that and the thought of even doing it in any city, let alone Washington DC. But it really started from that simple conversation. And then lo and behold, I said to Michael mantra, Hey, Let's take a trip to Washington DC and see if it's even possible remotely possible to make this a reality. And we weren't thinking that it was much of a chance at all. 90% chance, no way. 10% chance possibly. And as we've done before, Michael and I, as we did in Detroit and other places, we walked the city of DC. The hardest things to find when you go to an urban market, Our one, a 1400 long area for a pit lane, which we couldn't find in Detroit. Therefore we had a dual pit lane and a place conducive to have a place where you can have a hundred of our transporters parked nearby. Try to find that in any city area, let alone without disrupting traffic. And it's a big, big, big tail to get that to that point. So we walked the city. I was thinking it would probably be down toward the monuments, Lincoln monument, Jefferson area, those areas. And we couldn't even find the right kind of track. The roads were narrow. You need at least 30, 36 feet of roadway to do it. You need to find a pit lane. We couldn't find it. The only area we could find it was around our nation's Capitol, believe it or not. The only area around our nation's Capitol, all four corners of our nation's Capitol and part of the Supreme court or the Capitol. was the area we could find it. Of course, the most difficult place in the world to find a race. And that's where it all started, Bruce. And from there, it transposed itself into many different ways to where we are today that we can obviously talk about as well.

Bruce Martin: A lot of people have asked, with the race being announced at the beginning of February, basically, it was the end of January, I believe January 30th, when the official announcement was made, But to be able to pull it off in six months time, a lot of work has already gone into it. So you're probably a little ahead of the game on that, but how difficult and challenging will that be?

Bud Denker: Well, you think about, we announced Arlington, you know, October 24, didn't we? For a March 26 race, we announced Detroit. You know, a year and a half ahead of time, a year ahead of time as well, but we had already plans there. Um, these things take a lot of time. And in this idea I had of, of going to Washington DC, it's, it's taken a matter of months. So after that initial meeting that I had with, uh, with Michael and myself in DC, I really took it on myself because Michael was busy with Arlington and Michael's busy with Detroit and long beach, everything else. So it's been my, my, my pony really for the last six months and I've had 81 meetings, 81 meetings on Capitol Hill. You name the representative or senator, and I met with them. I started my, I started my journey with the, the sergeant of arms in the house, sergeant of arms in the Senate. They didn't throw me out of their office, but I think under their breath, they probably thought it was pretty crazy to pull this thing off. But to have a race on Capitol Hill requires a congressional bill. You know, we're, we're, we're obviously, violating a lot of different laws that have been in place for over a century on Capitol Hill. Noise. You can't have any branding on Capitol Hill. No branding. At one time, they weren't going to allow branding on our race cars. Can you imagine that? Or our driver's suits? But a lot more was involved in that. And the congressional bill required, of course, to be passed by the House and the Senate. And after 81 meetings, it was resolved, in my mind, we weren't going to get to 60 votes in the Senate. We needed to, so a change of pace happened there and I had to make a call and on January 21st, in my diary, there's 51 names. I was going to call to say, we're not having this event, January 21st, not too long ago. Right. And I was pulling the plug because as you said, Bruce, these things take time to prepare for, especially in a city like Washington, DC. And on that date. It was when secretary Duffy called me secretary transportation, Duffy called and said, but I don't, don't pull the plug. I have another idea. And a day later he called me and said, but can you go to Washington DC and design a new racetrack off of Capitol grounds? And I said, it's a difficult task, mr. Duffy to do that. But the following morning. Saturday of Rolex race on the way to Rolex, I stopped in Washington, DC, believe it or not. And when I was there in Washington, DC, I designed a new racetrack. I did it in three hours. And I got to the Rolex by the time the green flag flew, I designed a new racetrack that's off of capital grounds. And I learned that if it's off capital grounds, the president can issue a executive order to have the event. So on Saturday morning of Rolex, I designed a new racetrack. I called secretary Duffy and said, I found a new track, mr. Secretary. And from that, he took it to the president's office and the president's councils. And within 23 hours after me telling him I had a design of a racetrack, I received the draft of the executive order to have this event. 23 hours later, I had the first draft to review. And from there, we made a lot of changes to, you know, not a lot of changes, a few changes to it. And then subsequent to that, five days later, Roger Penske, myself and Eric Shanks were in the president's office, having him sign this amazing executive order.

Bruce Martin: Now, when you say it's off Capitol grounds, from what I've seen, the National Mall and the monuments are going to be part of the course, at least a major part of the backdrop. So how do you explain When you say it's off capital grounds, what streets will it be on that are not considered part of capital grounds?

Bud Denker: Well, capital grounds, and I've learned a lot of this. I know every inch of the area. Now what's capital grounds, what's national park service, what city, what Supreme court, they all have their territories. And now I know every one of them now. And when it's off capital grounds, that means anything to the West of third street. Third street is the road that goes in front of the national Capitol runs right in front of it. Dissects the national mall, anything West of third street off that curb off that curb, mind you is off Capitol grounds. So our cars will be racing down third street in front of our nation's Capitol down Pennsylvania Avenue down constitution Avenue down independence Avenue dissecting the national mall. And they'll all be off Capitol grounds, Bruce. Those are territories owned by the city and the national park service. And that's what I mean by off Capitol grounds. And once you do that, the president then has the ability to provide an executive order, but it doesn't happen that way without the support of mayor Bowser and Mario. Mayor Muriel Bowser is the mayor of Washington, DC. And she's a wonderful lady. She's an amazing leader. And without her support, I just can't have the president issue executive order and have a race around her city. And without the secretary of interior. Burgum. I couldn't have a race going through his national mall because ultimately secretary of interior oversees national mall, Smithsonian. I'll be racing around Smithsonian. I had to have their support. The national archives, national gallery of art, federal trades commission. They're all areas I'm racing around, but I have to have the support of people. So you can imagine the number of meetings I've had with the city. To get this done, but there's a thing about Washington DC that doesn't happen to other cities. They have the mayor's Homeland security task force run by a lady named Tanya Mitchell. And Tanya brings all these organizations together, 2030 organizations together who I've met with now at least eight times. Department of transportation, the utilities, the police, the security, the fire departments, all these people, the permitting, they all bring it together. And as a result of that, Bruce, I'm able to have the event in six months where it would take two years in most cities, because they're so organized in Washington, DC and putting on big events because they do it all the time.

Bruce Martin: Well, the army corps of engineers be involved in. helping to set this up because as we all know, they can pretty much accomplished almost anything.

Bud Denker: No, I haven't. I'm not going to be able to help. Don't have to utilize them. I've got a couple of partners in DC that are very important to this thing. Monumental sports is owned by the loan. The onus is family, right? Ted Leona's is exactly on us as they own the Washington capitals and the Washington wizards. They know that city like the back of their hand. They have 300 sponsors and partners with their arenas. They're going to be my sales agent. So therefore Bruce, I don't need to bring in a sales team like I normally do to sell this opportunity. But it's also a company named Harbinger. Harbinger is a company that does big events. in Washington, D.C. They did the inauguration. They did the Army 250. They're doing the UFC fight. And they do all the off-track activities for me, from catering, concessions, permits, fencing, cordage ons, comfort stations, cooling stations. Harbinger pulls that off for me. So I couldn't do this without important partners. And the new model I found in DC that I would hope to take to other markets, because I don't have to bring in a big team of Penske entertainment or IndyCar people to do this. I'm able to do with partners, you know, Bruce, I'm not going to hire anybody new to this venture. That's unusual. It's myself going to be leading it as chairman. Like I have Detroit and other players. And Michael Mantra, I'm going to pull him into this vortex once he finishes Arlington. So all he has to worry about is Detroit and Washington with me. So it's a huge task. I've also got a job running a big business here, another task, as you know, in this corporation. But this one is different to me. This is for our country. This isn't just for Penske Entertainment. Oh, and by the way, this will be a 501c3 nonprofit venture. We'll take nothing from this in terms of profitability. In fact, admission to the event will be free, free in the national mall, free around the racetrack. The only people are paying are those buying the suites. And we're going to give hopefully millions of dollars to charities, local DC charities by having the event free event, nonprofit, and very inclusive. So these things have resonated well across Capitol hill. And now that I'm off Capitol Hill, they resonate very well with the rest of Washington, D.C., including the mayor and including our administrative offices.

Bruce Martin: This is an event where all Americans should feel a sense of patriotism. Unfortunately, in today's world, politics gets involved in almost every aspect. of the day you can't even leave the house without seeing some political battle one way or another over the way things are going. Were you a little surprised and disappointed to even read some comments from IndyCar fans on social media that wanted to take sides on this?

Bud Denker: You know, it doesn't surprise me. You know, we, you know, as I say, sometimes if Someone asked for a hundred dollar bill and I gave him two fifties, they would complain. And, um, so that doesn't surprise me at all. Um, you know, there, I mean, knew there would be some banter about that, but as long as I know. That we are doing this in the right way and for our country, taking no profit from it. You know, that's to me important. Remember. I started this mission on Capitol Hill in a bipartisan way, and it continued to be a bipartisan way for five months. Amazing, Bruce, is this. I had 81 meetings on Capitol Hill. Not one person from the press, not one driver, not one team knew about that. This is happening for five months, Bruce. When's that happened before, right? You know why? Because every time I went to a person's office, I said, let's keep this among ourselves and keep this bipartisan. And it ended that way from Mr. Jeffrey's office on the democratic side in the house to Mr. Thune, the speaker of the house. I met with, you know, Amy Koba, char's office. I met with Padilla's office, the Democrat in California. I kept this thing bipartisan throughout the entire piece. And it wasn't until I realized I couldn't get the 60 votes where Mr. Trump jumped in to make it happen. And I'm pleased that he did, because without that, we wouldn't be having this race and this celebration. Remember it's a race, but most importantly, it's a way for us as Americans to celebrate our 250th anniversary. And as a result of that, I'm going to put on the most bipartisan event you've seen possible free to the public, where we can feel proud, put our hand over our heart and celebrate our country in ways we've never had before. on these hallowed grounds of our city of Washington, D.C. and the National Mall, you know, between the Washington Monument and our nation's capital. And I'm sorry if people don't view it the way I do, but I have a strong feeling about the patriotism of this. And this one's in my soul. This one's in my heart to make happen the right way.

Bruce Martin: For those of us who remember the Bicentennial in 1976, that was a day where all of America was unified. We all felt patriotic. It was a fantastic day. One of the great times that I remember from my youth, it seems like 50 years later, there is way too much hostility one way or another on things. And just how do you get back to, we're honoring the 250th birthday of the United States, which is still the best country on earth in many ways.

Bud Denker: Well, I keep this in mind, you know, here's an interesting story, but it's just historical significance in 18 Oh one Thomas Jefferson, our president wanted to find a way to celebrate our country's 25th anniversary. Thomas Jefferson I've learned was a horseman, had a lot of horses and stables throughout the area around Washington, DC, including around what's now the white house. Thomas Jefferson put on a horse show and competition of horses. For the anniversary of our country, the 25th anniversary. And now here we are 225 years later, having a celebration of different horsepower around the same area that happened 225 years. Hence after before that. So isn't that amazing? So I'm going to keep this absolutely about the patriotism. I'm going to celebrate all six branches of our, of our service, men and women. Um, I want to have not one flyover. How about six flyovers to celebrate each of our branches? These are the ideas in my mind, how I bring this thing to life. You know, I'm often asked in Washington, DC. How many people do we expect? And my answer is typically 50, 60,000 on a Sunday at any of our road courses, I've been warned and I've been told by those in DC. No, bud. No, no. You're going to have perhaps 200,000 people on Sunday, because when you have an event on the national mall, when you have an event around our, our, the Capitol, and when you have an event, that's free, you get that many people, the kite festival, Bruce, that they have in the summer, the kite festival draws 1 million people to the national mall. So I'm preparing for crowds. We haven't seen before in any kind of event. all the way down the National Mall. I'm going to have big screen TVs, concerts going on, a celebration of our heritage. And that's what keeps me positive about the event and able to, frankly, move away some of the noise that I hear that's negativity. I have to rise above that. And if I don't, then I'll be sucked down into that vortex that no one wants to be in.

Bruce Martin: how much help will you have with security from the federal government and from the municipal government from the district?

Bud Denker: Yeah, that's a very good question because as you can imagine, this is the highest of security in our, in our, in our world probably as Washington DC. Right. Um, so there's six different agencies I've been working with Homeland Security, FBI, secret service, Capitol police, metropolitan police, national park police, Previously, the Supreme Court police, believe it or not, now that I'm off that area, I'm not dealing with them anymore. Those are all agencies, Bruce, that I deal with. That's the complexity of what I've been dealing with here for six months, right? Bringing all of them together in a unified way for a security protocol and a security perimeter. If the president attends this event, which I expect him to, It becomes obviously much higher in security nature, and we're preparing for that. So I've had tremendous cooperation from all these agencies. I would call out one individual, Commander Bagshaw. Commander Bagshaw is the head of special events for the Metropolitan Police Department of the district there, and he has been amazing. I also want to call out two people from Fox. Joanna Orlando and Chris Jones are two people that run The, uh, government affairs group for Fox they're located right across the street from the nation's Capitol. They have set up every single meeting for me and I've attended most of them for Joanna has seen me present the same presentation 75 times on Capitol Hill to our legislatures and other people in agencies. So, you know, I'm now in 90 plus meetings as of last week, and those will continue every week. But the security portion of it, Bruce, is very important for those that attend, because it's a coordinated effort that I'm very pleased to say has been very well supported. It's interesting, Bruce, when you dig into these security agencies, you find a lot of fans in our business, NASCAR fans, IndyCar fans. And now the excitement is growing within these security agencies to say they're pretty excited about bringing it to DC.

Bruce Martin: We'll be right back to Pit Pass Indy after this short break. Welcome back to Pit Pass Indy. Penske Corporation President Buck Denker gave us some incredible insight on the background of his dealings with the United States government for an IndyCar street race in Washington, D.C. But there is much more that needs to happen before IndyCar hits the streets of the nation's capital August 21st through the 23rd. Let's hear more from Denker in this exclusive Pit Pass Indy interview. As you said earlier, Eric Shanks, the CEO and executive producer of Fox Sports played a really big role in helping this come together. How would you describe his impact and his influence? And also the fact that now that Fox is a one third partner in the ownership of IndyCar in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, that this is another example of how they're able to help use their business resources for the betterment of IndyCar?

Bud Denker: Well, you know, the partnership with Fox that we announced a year and a half ago now, and, you know, has been obviously a huge, huge influence in the success of our sports so far. Our ratings being up 27% last year was not coincidental in the fact that Fox is involved. And Eric's leadership and his entire team, whether it be, you know, in the West coast, East coast, or in Washington, DC, I can't, I can't ever, um, You know, dissipate what they've done for me in terms of how they've helped me through the Capitol chambers. I didn't know any of that before I got involved in this and, and Eric's leadership and his vision, his creativity is all part of this. It's funny story. When I went to Washington, DC to look for a racetrack, I called him from the Fox government affairs office on that day and said, Eric, I found a track. He goes, you're kidding me. I said, no. He goes, where is it? I said, in circles, Capitol Hill, up Constitution Avenue, down Independence Avenue, he goes, find another one. That's never going to happen. So anyway, I didn't give up. And, um, I think his persistence and my resilience obviously got it true, but, um, now they've been amazing partners. They will continue to be amazing partners. And by the way, Fox sports tells the best stories, the best storytelling. Imagine the stories they're going to talk about. for the Freedom 250 Grand Prix at our nation's capital. You saw what they did last year for the Indy 500 with a brick by brick, you know, narrated by Peyton Manning and all the things they've done for us to build our sport. Imagine the majesty, the storytelling, the patriotism, and the images you're going to see resonating from our race, the Freedom 250, on August 22nd and 23rd of this year. It's going to be epic.

Bruce Martin: Earlier, you brought up, you can't have advertising around Capitol grounds. How will the ban on advertising be in play around the national mall?

Bud Denker: When you're off Capitol grounds, those, those rules go away. Okay. So when you're on the city grounds, you know, you can do those advertisements. They do it all the time. Red Bull had an exhibition there. If you remember last June and I think it was 24. Um, all kinds of branding up and down Jefferson Avenue or I'm sorry, Pennsylvania Avenue. So, um, the branding concerns go away, Bruce, the national, the national mall, which is the, um, part of the national park service has some, you know, ordinances around branding. Um, but the cooperation I'm getting from the secretary of interior Burgum and. Secretary of transportation, you know, Duffy, um, will be able to brand things as you normally see them. So those issues have gone away now that we're one inch off of the capital grounds.

Bruce Martin: And because this is a different type of race, it's being run as a not for profit. What happens with say sanctioning fees that IndyCar generally gets to put on a race?

Bud Denker: Yeah, those, there's, there are certain things, you know, it will be a points race, right? We made that very clear. I didn't want to have an exhibition. The teams will still get paid. The sanctioning fees here are, you know, very different, obviously, because, as you said, we're, you know, it's a nonprofit in D.C., so those things will be worked out. But, you know, being in D.C. is a bigger deal than just the sanctioning fee, isn't it? It really is. It's a bigger deal to our sport. It's a bigger deal to our country than worrying about those kind of situations of who gets paid what. So I've got a great partner in, in, in monumental, who's going to help us raise the money. Um, I've got great partners in Harbinger to help us put the thing on. Um, I've got, I've got a great team. I'm going to take my team in Detroit and transfer many of them to DC before Detroit and after Detroit, I'm going to bring in resources from Indy car. We've got an Indianapolis to help me pull this off. Um, but it's going to be Michael Montrey and myself. as the conductors in the orchestra leading this thing. And I never thought I'd have to do this again, Bruce. I thought I did enough of that in Belle Isle, you know, way back when. And here I am again, you know, many years later, but this is different. As I said before, this is very different for me. It's in my heart. It's in my head. And so my soul to put this thing on and far more than just for our sport, but mostly for our country.

Bruce Martin: So two weeks before that race, IndyCar is going to be in Portland. Then the week before that race, they're going to be in the Toronto suburb of Markham, Ontario. Then they come down to Washington, D.C. for this event, the Freedom 250, which is part of America 250. Then after that, it's a doubleheader in Milwaukee. Not one race, but two. And then the week after that, you close the season. with the race in Monterey, California. That's a lot of time on the road and they're not exactly close by. So how do you begin to describe the impact and the stress that the teams are going to have to deal with of making everything come together with such a difficult schedule?

Bud Denker: Yeah, it is not going to be easy, but you know what, um, you know, last year we, we heard loud and clear from people complaining about, There wasn't enough activity to start the year, was there? We had St. Petersburg, and then we had a gap. Well, guess what? IndyCar, ourselves, myself, took care of that, didn't they, with filling the race in in Phoenix? Right after, we go to St. Pete, and then right after that, Arlington. Bang, bang, bang. And we're going to finish the year on the same kind of schedule of momentum. We're starting the year with momentum, and we're going to finish the year with momentum. And yes, that's challenging. It's difficult to do. For the betterment of our sport, It's going to be great. I'm not discounting the fact that there's a lot of travel going to be happening to the teams. Um, but just remember after September, the first part of September, I've got five months to rest. Okay. And I look at it that way as the opportunity versus something that's negative to the, to the effect. And once again, DC may be a one-off. We may never go back there again, Bruce. Right. Um, people have asked me, will you be making this a recurring event? And my answer is, let us see how it goes the first year. I have support to do it in the city. Um, and I have support to do it in the administration. Um, but I want to see how it goes off this year before I commit to anything else beyond that. Now, it would be better if we went multiple years, because remember, I've got to buy four and a half to $5 million of barrier walls to start making them March 1st. And Fredericksburg, Virginia, those don't move. They stay there. So economically would make more sense to have it there for multiple years, but I'm not willing to make that commitment until we see how the first year goes.

Bruce Martin: You'd mentioned that after the 1st of September. IndyCar teams have five months off. We thought maybe you and other members of the Penske Corporation would take a little bit of time off this past season. But then we come to discover 81 meetings in Washington, D.C. What was your off-season like? Because there was a lot of things that I expected to see you at that you weren't at. And I'd always ask Merrill Kane and some other people, where's Mr. Danker? And they're like, oh, he's working on some stuff. He's a busy guy. So how do you even begin to describe just how hectic it was for you?

Bud Denker: I guess my wife would be the one to describe that. It hasn't stopped for me since July of last year, far before the season ended. I knew when we were in Nashville, I knew when we were in other races what I had been undertaking. As you said, I hadn't been to a lot of things. I missed the outer show this year. I missed a number of things this past year. I couldn't get to, cause I was in Washington DC. And, um, you know, it's interesting on Capitol hill is not many secrets are there in politics. How I was able to keep this a secret for five months and 81 meetings, I thought was pretty amazing because we had a mission. We had a mission to, to keep it under wraps, to keep it bipartisan and announced at the right time. So back to your original question, it's, it's been, um, it's been hectic. Um, it's been crazy. The holidays were very short for me this year. Um, but you know what, uh, I wouldn't do it, Bruce. If I didn't love it, I wouldn't. And, and Roger would say the same thing. He hasn't seen a lot of me. Um, and he said, but if this is what you want to do, then you'd have the right to do it and go make it happen. So he's been my biggest supporter. Um, He knows the ups and downs and me being able to pull the plug, ready to pull the plug. I was ready, but I had, I had resolved in my mind. I'm moving on on January 21st. I'm moving on and. Things happened 24 hours later that kept me going. So I'm glad it's going. I'm not sure my wife is, but I'm glad it's going. I'm excited about it. And, um, we'll have a vacation August 24th of this year.

Bruce Martin: But then again, though, you gotta get ready for the Milwaukee Doubleheader, the Snap-on Tools. That's a big event on the schedule, too.

Bud Denker: It is, but I plan to be at the first three events. I plan to be at all three of our first events. I'll be at Daytona, obviously, next week. I have responsibility there, as well, with Team Penske. And then our board meetings at Penske Corporation and other things I do, as well. So I'll be at Long Beach. I can't say I'll be at every single race event this year. I think we're already seeing about 60 of them. And, um, but I'll, I'll, uh, I gotta keep my time and focus on what's happening in August. We cannot make this event in August, anything less than what it should be as a grand celebration, a grand celebration of patriotism. We have one opportunity. Only one opportunity to put this on the first time. And I'm not lost on that responsibility. I'm not lost in the job ahead. I'm not lost. I got a great team around me. It's going to help me do this because it's not all me. It can't be all me. But I also have a great group of partners, mayor's office, the task force in D.C., Homeland Security, security agencies, the administration. We're going to help me pull this thing together and make it happen. So it can't be done by one person. It's done by an army. And we're going to make that happen here with our army.

Bruce Martin: One other thing that. needs to be pointed out, this is an opportunity that didn't go to Formula One. This is an opportunity that didn't go to NASCAR. This is an opportunity that went to IndyCar. That's got to be a huge accomplishment for IndyCar to be able to pull this off. NASCAR is going to be in San Diego to help celebrate America's 250, but IndyCar is going to be in the center of it all, the nation's capital for America 250 celebration.

Bud Denker: Think about that, what you just said. Right. No one else was able to do this. No one else is going to do this. Um, the NFL draft is in the, is in DC and in 2027, um, we're going to be there with the first ever motor sports race around our city streets ever. And, um, that's not lost on me and I hope it's not lost in the paddock. I hope it's not lost in our fans, not lost in the drivers. Alexander Rossi came to DC last week. I met him there. He did some PR for impressed for me. And, um, I took him on the. The circuit and he was speechless. He said to me, I am so honored. And a note to me afterwards that I have the ability as a driver to be part of this event. I don't think it struck him until he saw it and was there to see it for himself. And I don't think any of our drivers will think, realize the same thing until they pull up there and see this event. beforehand. And, um, I'm going to announce the race circuit here, uh, in the next probably two weeks, three weeks, the race circuit is, um, you've seen it, Bruce, I'm keeping you under wraps. Okay. Um, that hasn't been shown to anybody else yet publicly. Our logo has not been unveiled yet. It's a beautiful logo, um, celebrating two freedom, two 50. So I'll be having a press event either March 2nd or March 3rd in DC, where I plan to unveil. our circuit, but also unveil our logo and really kick things off with the Secretary of Interior, Secretary of Transportation, and our Mayor, Mayor Bowser.

Bruce Martin: And finally, I think it needs to be reaffirmed once again that this event is a patriotic event. It's not a political event. And this is something that all Americans, whether they like IndyCar racing or not, can help celebrate in because this will be a spectacular event in an iconic setting. And just how do you stress that anymore?

Bud Denker: Well, I go back to the platform that I had from the start. You know, I was here to make this a bipartisan event and it's been that way all along. It's never been down party lines. And I met with as many Democrats on Capitol hill as I met Republicans. And you can look at my diary and see that. And every single person I met with on Capitol hill, whether you're a Democrat, Republican agencies, whatever, no one was disappointed by this. They're all, we're excited about the event. They all were excited about the event. Now there's a lot of things that have to happen that are against the, the, the, the rules on the hill that I was looking to, to change. But there's nobody that was disappointed by it. So as I say that, because anybody listening to this and coming to the bench to also think about it that way, the folks at Capitol Hill didn't make this partisan. The people that run our country viewed it as a positive event. And as a result of that, I hope those that are thinking about our event or thinking about this in a partisan way, look at it a bit differently. Remember. It's a nonprofit. Remember, it's free to the public. And remember, we're gonna give a lot of money to charities, just as we have in Detroit, by making this thing a successful event. So I can't change everybody's minds. I don't intend to. But if they believe in me and what I just said, I hope they'll view it a bit differently than they did before.

Bruce Martin: And because it is a non-profit event, is there any federal funding involved? Is there any municipal funding involved from the district? I'm sure there's a lot of cooperation. As we've seen in Detroit, you guys do races like that all the time and are able to generate it through contributions from corporations, things of that nature. So how do you describe the business model of it?

Bud Denker: Yeah, it's similar to what we do. Many of the locations we go to, from Texas, support, municipality support, Detroit, as you know, we get state support, you know, up in Ontario, they get provincial support as well. And that's, that's a no, and we'll get some support here as well. But a lot of our funding that we're gonna be doing, like we typically do in other events is will be raised by the private sector. Penske Corporation will be contributing a significant amount of money to this as well, because we know how important it is for our our sport, but also our country. So multiple factors are going to help in this thing as they do in many of the cities across the country.

Bruce Martin: And correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this also coming out of a fund that was set aside for the America 250 celebration that was already earmarked and passed and approved?

Bud Denker: Yeah, we're not, we're not looking to tap into that fund, but there are, there are funds out there they're doing across the country. But, um, you know, we think with the support of the corporations, others in this event, Um, as well as the help of some of the, um, funding locally, that will be okay. But, um, there is, you know, there's a freedom to 50 organization that Mr. Trump's organization is running. Um, therefore our name is freedom to 50. Um, and there's America to 50 also that's going on as you see it and other, other, uh, um, sports as well, too. So ours will be focused on freedom to 50 and, um, and, and not so much America to 50, the two different organizations.

Bruce Martin: uh… uh… so just remember our our our name is the printed fifty grand prix of washington dc at the american to fifty grand prix dot that there's much difference in that we're focusing on the freedom to fifty moment nomenclature and i would be remiss if i didn't ask the reaction from sponsors from what i've heard a lot of them have really jumped on board with their teams and everything asking what they can do special paint scheme special activation that they can do for this race. What has that response been like for you?

Bud Denker: Oh, it's unbelievable, Bruce. I mean, um, we have a lot of business partners at Penske, but let alone, um, our sponsors as well. Um, first of all, they all wanted to have that extra race, didn't they? They all caught calling Jonathan Gibson and organization saying, I want our brand to be on that race car. Um, so the teams I'm sure benefited from that as well, as a result of, you know, additional income from additional races. But on top of that, you can imagine all the companies that want to be part of this. Look at all the defense contractors and the contractors that do business with the various cabinet positions. They want to be part of this thing. Companies that we haven't been engaged with before, they want to be part of this. We'll have about 72 suites we're going to build. That'll be stretched across the National Mall facing the Capitol and then more facing the Washington Monument. Picture a suite, two stories high like we have in Detroit, with glass on both sides of an air conditioning because it's hot that time of year. One side facing the Capitol, one side facing the monument, one side looking down at a racetrack. Can you imagine what it's going to look like on August 22nd and 23rd? It's just going to be Incredible. And this week. We'll have our collateral being sent out to partners that shows them pictorially what this is going to look like. So fasten your seats. It's going to be a ride. I've got a lot of work to do with my team between now and August 21st. I'm anxious, but I'm confident that we're going to put off the most amazing celebration for our country's 250th anniversary of anything that happens this year in America.

Bruce Martin: And it also has the prospect of generating a very big TV ratings.

Bud Denker: You would also Bruce, wouldn't you? I mean, uh, think about Fox being able to promote this thing during the American, during the, um, the world cup, right? World cup comes off, you know, our, our, our events a few weeks later after, of course, Nashville is going to be this same day as the final of world cup, which would be a massive event, but our partners in Fox, you're going to leverage this thing heavily. Um, And the ratings on this thing, I just can't imagine what they're going to be. They'll be special. And we've already got the race times determined, but I can't say what they are right now. But I can tell you that our race will be ending before the NASCAR race begins. That always helps, doesn't it?

Bruce Martin: Well, Bud Denker, it's always an honor and a privilege to have you on Pit Pass Indy. Like I said earlier, a lot of people have always said IndyCar needs to swing for the fences. Well, I think you hit a Babe Ruthian clout with this one. This is one that's going to be huge. And even if it is a one-time event, that one time is going to be a monumental day for IndyCar. But good luck with the Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C. And thank you for joining us today on Pit Pass Indy.

Bud Denker: Thanks, Bruce. Good to be on your show.

Bruce Martin: We'll be right back to Pit Pass Indy after this short break. Welcome back to Pit Pass Indy. This is also a special week for racing in the United States as NASCAR kicks off the 2026 season with its biggest race, the 68th Daytona 500. Our next guest won the Daytona 500 in 2015 and heads to Daytona International Speedway hoping to become a two-time Daytona 500 winner on Sunday, February 15th. It's three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano of Team Penske. In addition to his thoughts on the Daytona 500, Logano also shares some creative plans from his sponsor, Shell, and its fuel rewards program that offers 22 cents off for every gallon of every fuel grade on every race day for the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season. Shell introduced the Race Day Rewards program for the entire season. Shell Fuel Rewards members will save 22 cents per gallon on all fuel grades when filling up on race day at Shell. The program starts with this Sunday's Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. Fans that opt into the offer and fill up on race day will save all season long. The $0.22-a-gallon is in honor of Team Penske driver Joey Logano, a three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and 2015 Daytona 500 winner, who drives the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse. Logano joins me for this exclusive pit pass interview to explain the program as well as his forecast for the 68th Daytona 500 and his thoughts on NASCAR returning to the chase format to determine the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series champion. A NASCAR driver can't win every race of the season, but his fans can end up winning on every race day in the season with this promotion that the Shell Fuel Rewards is gonna have. The race day rewards, it's gotta be good to be a Joey Logano fan. And it's even good for NASCAR fans who aren't Joey Logano fans.

Joey Logano: Absolutely. This is good for even people that aren't NASCAR fans. Everybody can enjoy this one, which is super cool. You'll be able to save 22 cents off per gallon on all gasolines on a race day. And that's pretty exciting, right? It's a 37-week opportunity for everybody. Pretty simple to sign up. You get the Shell app, sign up for the fuel rewards program, and then you opt in for the special offer. Uh, and it's, you know, obviously great. There's a lot of ways you can save money as well with the fuel rewards program, which is, uh, it's pretty neat how they do that. So, um, it's great for everybody. Right. So, uh, I think by the end of the day, everybody likes saving money. And, uh, if I can help them do that, then maybe the root for the 22 curl a bit more too.

Bruce Martin: How important is it from a driver's point of view to be involved with a sponsor that also is involved with the fans, that's able to have activation with the fans as the way that the Shell Fuel Rewards is doing with the driver of the Shell Ford?

Joey Logano: Well, this is, I don't think it's a program that, a similar program we had years and years ago. It was called Wednesdays and it was the Wednesday after we won, you get 22 cents off a gallon. Now it's every Sunday. Uh, so they've really, really dialed it up until they bring it back with, with a vengeance. So I'm excited to, to. I want to get the word out. That's one of the biggest things about this thing, right? Like everyone's able to save money. That's great. We got to get the word out, let everyone know that opportunity is there and it's easy for them to do. Um, and so it's just kind of about getting the word out there and it's, uh, you know, 22 cents off a gallon. every week, you can start stacking that up pretty quickly and realize how much you're saving. It's a pretty big number.

Bruce Martin: Fellow driver Corey LaJoy has a podcast called Stacking Pennies. With this program, you're actually stacking dimes. That's a little bit of a kick up in the amount of savings that a user of Shell Fuels and an NASCAR fan can get from this program. And when you think about it, 22 cents is a nice savings into the wallet.

Joey Logano: Well, when you put quite a few gallons of gas in your car, if you drive like me, you're burning it up. It's a much bigger savings if you drive like me. So, um, yeah, I mean, it's, like I said, it's great that shell is, uh, you know, taking advantage of the, the, the relationship they have with, with team Penske and myself and the 22 car, um, and leveraging the, you know, the fun number of 22 and, Uh, given everyone the opportunity to, to, you know, jump on board, right. And be part of that team. That's, it's a really fun thing to be involved in.

Bruce Martin: How much pride do you take wearing the shell colors and representing the brand? Some of your greatest racing accomplishments have come with that company.

Joey Logano: Yeah, almost all of them. Um, and, and, you know, to me, this is multiple things that make it so special to drive the shell car. One is, you know, the heritage of, of it. I think if you look at. A lot of races over the years, way before I was born, uh, you'll see shell and Pennzoil, uh, you know, branding around the racetrack on race cars and on winning race cars. And so to have the opportunity to represent their brands, great. Um, the partnership from the technical side and the development of the lubricants in our race car, uh, are, you know, unmatched, uh, compared to others. Um, right. When you're able to have a partnership that. You know, not only is just about marketing, it's about improving your race car to go faster. Uh, that's pretty great as a really, really unique. Um, and the fact that I've gotten to drive the car for, you know, the last shoot, I think it's been what, four, 13 years, 13 or 14 years. Um, you know, since 2013, uh, really, so that's, that's something that I take a lot of pride in to have, you know, a longstanding relationship like that. Um, I know Roger takes a lot of pride in that as well. It shows that we're doing it right. Um, right. Relationships don't last real long when you're cutting corners or not treating people correctly or returning a, you know, a good return on their investment. Um, those relationships don't last long, but to see what we've been able to do has been pretty special.

Bruce Martin: What did you think of this concept when it was first presented to you that they're going to let users save 22 cents a gallon on every race day? I said, shell. Yeah. I was excited.

Joey Logano: I think it's great. Um, like I said, I think anything we can do to help leverage the partnership at the pump, uh, is definitely something I get excited about doing, but also, um, you know, to be able to. You know, give something back to the race fans, you know, it's, it's something that, uh, you know, we want people to see a shell station and think the 22 car and they want us to be the 22 car and think shell stations. Uh, right. We want to be able to see, you know, kind of have that, uh, that brand identity together. And, um, this does nothing but help that.

Bruce Martin: This debuts with the Daytona 500 on February the 15th. You're a former Daytona 500 winner. So to be able to go out and unveil this program at the Daytona 500. There's a lot of people that watch that race and they're going to be exposed to the fact like, Hey, when this race is over, better go fill up the car. Cause I can save myself some money, but what's your attitude going ahead to Daytona this year?

Joey Logano: Yeah, I think we're looking forward to it. Um, you know, Daytona is always a fresh start. You're in the first race of the season. You got a little fresh look at things and, um, You know, you look forward to seeing, you know, the adjustments you've made over the off season, the things you've been working on in the off season start to come to fruition a little bit. Um, you know, it's just one race, right? It's just one of them. And it's a long season. It's a pretty unique race. So, yeah, you want to go down there and take your chance to, to win the great American race. And then, um, and then you kind of settle into the season and start thinking about, you know, what this new chase format is going to be and making sure we keep ourselves in contention.

Bruce Martin: I phrased that question incorrectly. You've won the Daytona 500 once, but maybe I'm. looking into the future and can see you as a multi-time, I'm forecasting a multi-time Daytona 500 victory in your career. Maybe with the coming up here with the kickoff of this promotion, that'd be a great way to kick it off.

Joey Logano: That would be all right. That would be pretty good.

Bruce Martin: This is also America's 250th birthday. And a week ago, Friday, your boss, Roger Penske, along with The president of the United States announced the freedom to 50 IndyCar race. It's going to be held on the streets of Washington. NASCAR gets to celebrate the two 50th in San Diego with that big street race. It's going to come up there during the summer. But what are your thoughts though, on IndyCar getting a chance to run in the nation's Capitol on the 250th birthday of the United States?

Joey Logano: I love it. I love the amount of pride Americans are showing. this year, uh, being the 250th anniversary, honestly, it should be like this all the time. Um, but I do like how this can maybe kickstart that into, uh, maybe something we see all the time, but definitely some really special events this year. And, you know, you said at the freedom, two 50 with IndyCar running up there in DC, that's going to be just. Just America, right? I mean, it's like exactly what you would expect. So I'm excited about that. And, you know, NASCAR is doing it their way as well. Racing on the, on the base race, the base out there in San Diego, that's going to be something really special as well. Having our military members there. And so, um, you know, motor sports and in America, to me, just go hand in hand and, um, leveraging that with some really awesome experiences and events, uh, for, you know, for everybody to enjoy. That's going to be really awesome. Can't wait to watch both of them. I get to be in one of them, but I can't wait to watch the other one.

Bruce Martin: These type of events also break the boundaries in that it's putting the product out there to people who normally may not watch NASCAR at the San Diego race or people that watch IndyCar at the Washington, D.C. race. I'm sure there's going to be a lot of NASCAR drivers are going to have their eye on how things go in Washington, D.C., just like a lot of IndyCar drivers are going to watch that San Diego race for NASCAR. How important are those events that really break the boundaries?

Joey Logano: Uh, it's going to be huge. Um, you know, if you can reach the different demographics that haven't been exposed to NASCAR before you just get in front of them. Right. And, uh, that does grow the sport, you know, we already have a huge sport. We already have, uh, some amazing fans. Uh, diehard fans that have been watching our sport for years. Um, but that doesn't mean everyone's been exposed to it. And, uh, a lot of times it seems like the people that live in cities may not, you know, be exposed to NASCAR racing or just automotive, you know, stuff, right. You think of New York city, a lot of people don't even own cars. Right. So you can imagine in cities, it's just a little different, uh, you know, demographic than, than a lot of places we raised. So bringing the race to them, uh, is. Important to do. And, um, you know, I think you've seen some success, you know, from the Chicago street course doing that, uh, you know, or the LA Coliseum when we raced out there the first time moving things around and doing these inaugural events are always big. They always, it's always a really huge deal.

Bruce Martin: And every time you think Roger Penske, your team owner has come up with a crowning achievement for his career. He always surprises us with one. We didn't see coming. And I think in a lot of ways to orchestrate this race on the national mall at Washington, DC, along with the president of the United States and the department of transportation and the department of the interior, that's got to really be something of historical significance for your team owner. So how do you feel about his accomplishments, what he's been able to do to pull this off?

Joey Logano: I'm excited for him, to say the least. I, I, I can't say I'm surprised because these types of things, when you're around them enough, you just expect it, you know, amazing things will happen. Uh, the guy's a winner, right. And he surrounded himself with other great winners and people that have put these deals together. Right. But banker is a big piece of, of putting that together as well as Jonathan Gibson and the IndyCar crew over there too, as well. So, you know, he's got, um, some fantastic people around them. Um, and, and he's a fantastic leader. And, uh, yeah, the guy figures out a way, right. Whether that's in motor sports, if it's promoting events, if it's, uh, truck leasing or dealerships or any other projects he's got going on, he figures out how to do it. But I think that the most impressive thing about it is he doesn't just figure out how to do it. He figures out how to do it in an elite way, um, in a professional way and not in a way that, uh, is short-term, you know, gains for long-term losses type of thing, right. Where you're, you know, maybe. you know, not doing it the correct way and you'll never see that happen again. Like he's been able to do things the right way, the Penske way, as we say here at the race shop.

Bruce Martin: As far as NASCAR's race on the base out in San Diego, what are your forecasts of that so far? What do you see as being the most intriguing parts of the race course? And even though it's a temporary course, you can't really do a lot of testing on it. Has any of the simulators been able to come up yet, scale the course, and give you an idea that you can go into the sim and get an idea what that race is going to be like?

Joey Logano: Not really. Not really. Not really sure where we're going to end up with it yet. But, you know, I haven't had much time to really dig into that too much yet. As we get closer, I'll definitely, you know, we'll be As much as we can, but it's going to be pretty new for everyone, right? Even, you know, when they get the track layout figured out and, uh, go out there and scan it and all that, we start working on the same. I mean, there's just so much. What if, you know, how realistic is it? What are we really going to see when we get there? How consistent the track layout going to be from what we see on the same, like, there's going to be a lot of things that we're going to be, uh, a little lost out there. Right. And so, um, That's okay. It usually puts out a good race is when races don't know when they don't have things figured out. It's usually the best races. Um, but I think that race really, um, it's about the military and honoring them, um, racing in their home, right? Like that's their home, not ours. And they're letting us come in there and, uh, we want to make sure we show respect to them over there. That's the number one thing.

Bruce Martin: The NASCAR season is going back to the chase format. Last 10 races, 16 drivers in. Figure out the points during those last 10 races. The guy with the most points is going to be the champion. How do you like going back to that format? I know the old format worked out pretty well for you, but how do you like the decision that NASCAR made?

Joey Logano: Uh, yeah, I feel good about it. Um, you know, I, I was happy with what we had and I'm happy with what we got now. I don't have an opinion. Um, just tell me the rules and let me go to work. And so that's where I'm at with it. Uh, that's what I want. That's what we're going to do.

Bruce Martin: Would there be a lot of personal satisfaction in winning it under this format the first time out? Just because a lot of people seem to always make it seem like a championship race. wasn't really an organic way of determining a champion, but it worked out great for you. I mean, it seemed pretty organic to me.

Joey Logano: Um, the rules were the same for everybody else when they got there and we got there and I was able to pull it off a couple of times or three times. So, um, you know, it'll be a little different this time, the way we do it, we got to attack the season a little different, but yeah, I mean, overall, I, you know, I, I don't, I don't think a champion is, any more deserving or less deserving on whatever the format is. It's just, you know, you got to go out there and attack it, whatever they give you, whatever the rules happen to be.

Bruce Martin: We'll find out on Superbowl Sunday, one of those two teams is going to win the Superbowl. So, and that's a one game championship game. So we'll crown a champion that way. But final question about Daytona, you've won that race before. Winning championships is what NASCAR drivers are probably mostly remembered for. But as far as single race victories in NASCAR. There's none greater than the Daytona 500. So what did winning the Daytona 500 in 2015 do for Joey Logano to help elevate him into an NASCAR star?

Joey Logano: Um, I mean, it was, it was obviously a huge deal to be able to do that. Um, you know, I think something, when you win the 500, there's obviously a lot of great things that go along with it, but you know, I, I don't think one race makes your career. Um, You know, although it is a great American race, it's a huge deal. You got to back that up with, uh, I think quite a few other things to, to really solidify that. Um, but yeah, I mean, it's been, it was big, um, in my opinion, winning championships will always be a larger deal, but, um, when it comes to a single race event, the Daytona 500 definitely has, you know, the most prestige around it and it should, um, with the history and. and the hype around it now, it really has become the largest event.

Bruce Martin: And last question, how brutal were the conditions for a driver the other night at Bowman Gray Stadium? Very, very cold. Seemed like the race was never going to be able to get over. Seemed like it was never going to get started because of the weather, but they got it in. Was that one of the more difficult times behind the wheel of a race car just because of all the elements adding up and the way the race played out?

Joey Logano: Um, I mean, yeah, I mean, I thought it was, uh, you know, the first half of the race in the dry was great. Um, the racing was actually really good and just kind of what we expected the, the, from last year, a lot of things are going away. We kind of anticipated, um, Racing in the rain, I don't know. It was the best thing for us, if I'm being honest. And also I think we could have dried the track and probably get the race done at the same time because we've got so many times to be left in the caution. Uh, I think we could have fit the jet dryers out there and had it dry and ran laps on the green. Uh, I think it would have been a little better personally, but, um, Hey, we got it in and, uh, we tried to race in the fleet and, uh, I don't know if that was what everyone wanted to see or not, but that's what they got.

Bruce Martin: And win or lose the fans of NASCAR and even the fans who may not be NASCAR fans, people who are shell purchasers and go to Shell, and even those who don't buy their gas at Shell, they can end up in Victory Lane every race day with the 22 cents off Fuel Rewards promotion. Good luck with that. Good luck in the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season. Good luck in the Daytona 500. Thank you for joining us, Joey Logano.

Joey Logano: Well, thank you very much. Make sure everyone signs up. Shell Fuel Rewards is where you need to be. Shell.com slash Fuel Rewards. Fuel Rewards.com slash race day rewards. That's what it is. Go there and check that out.

Bruce Martin: That puts a checkered flag on this edition of Pit Pass Indy as we continue racing into 2026. We want to thank our guest, Penske Corporation President Bud Denker, for his incredible insight and behind the scenes look at creating the Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C. Also, we want to thank Team Penske NASCAR Cup Series star Joey Logano as he heads to the 68th Daytona 500 on Sunday, February 15th for joining us on today's Pit Pass Indy. Along with loyal listeners like you, our guests helped make Pit Pass Indy your path to victory lane in IndyCar. And in Joey Logano's case, his path to victory lane in the Daytona 500. For more IndyCar coverage, follow me on 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 Sean Rule Hoffman and Nathan Corson. Learn more at evergreenpodcast.com. Until next time, be sure to keep it out of the wall.