Incredible Weekend For IndyCar At Java House Grand Prix with Roger Penske, Dallas Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones, Race Winner Kyle Kirkwood, Scott Dixon and Java House Grand Prix of Arlington President and GM Bill Miller

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

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, AutoWeek and SpeedSport. So let's drop the green flag on this episode of Pit Pass Indy. Welcome to Pit Pass Indy, presented by Penske Truck Rental, as we continue our sixth season of giving IndyCar fans an inside look at the most exciting form of racing on the planet, the NTT IndyCar Series. We welcome back our friends from Penske Truck Rental, who return as the presenting sponsor of Pit Pass Indy. Penske Truck Rental helps Pit Pass Indy bring you the inside stories of IndyCar from the paddock, to the racetrack, to the highways and streets of America. And this season, Penske Truck Rental and Pit Pass Indy will celebrate Team Penske's 60th anniversary. Team owner Roger Penske began the most successful racing team in history in 1966 out of a small garage in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, along with his driver, engineer, and team partner, Mark Donohue. By 1972, Donohue was the winning driver of the Indianapolis 500, the first of Penske Racing's record 20 Indy 500 wins. After a successful time based out of Reading, Pennsylvania, since 2007, Team Penske has operated out of a massive facility in Mooresville, North Carolina that also includes championship winning teams in NASCAR, IMSA sports car racing, and the World Endurance Championship. Pit Pass Indy, presented by Penske Truck Rental, was at one of the most memorable debut events in IndyCar history, the Java House Grand Prix of Arlington, March 13th to the 15th. I've been covering IndyCar for a very long time, and I can't recall a first-year street race that went off as well as this past weekend in Arlington, Texas. About the only things that didn't go perfectly was a catering cart and workers who attempted to cross the track just as IndyCar practice went green and then quickly red so the crew could safely deliver their food, and high winds that were forecast on Sunday in the Dallas-Fort Worth area that led IndyCar and race officials to move the start time from 12 noon local time to 11 a.m. It was a wise move as wind gusts were recorded at 35 mph in Arlington and 63 mph in nearby McKinney, Texas. But in terms of presentation, promotion, grandstands, suites, fan amenities, the condition of the temporary street course, and track layout, it had a huge, big event feel. The 2.73-mile, 14-turn street circuit raced around AT&T Stadium, the home of the NFL's Dallas Cowboys, Globe Live Field, the home of Major League Baseball's Texas Rangers, and Arlington Live, a major entertainment district in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Sunday's race was a sellout for all grandstand seats. There was also a large general admission crowd to view the racing action from the many viewing areas. From a business standpoint, all 73 suites were sold with two spectacular club areas that were actually over the race course. There was also record merchandise sales for a non-Indianapolis 500 event, underscoring extraordinary fan engagement and enthusiasm in North Texas. It has the makings of challenging the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach as the second biggest event on the NTT IndyCar Series schedule behind the mammoth and epic Indianapolis 500. Pit Pass Indy presented by Penske Truck Rental is jam-packed with so many interviews from over the weekend, we are going to carry over some of those interviews for next week's podcast. But this week's show will include interviews with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, IndyCar owner Roger Penske, Java House Grand Prix of Arlington president and general manager Bill Miller, six-time NTT IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon, and, of course, Java House Grand Prix of Arlington winner Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti Global. With so many interviews, let's start off with a man who has helped make everything big in Texas, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. The Jones family and the Dallas Cowboys were a partner in making this event a success, along with Penske Entertainment, the Texas Rangers, and Rev Entertainment, Texas Live, and Lowe's Live. Already known as America's Team when Jones purchased the Dallas Cowboys on February 25, 1989, he has built the NFL team into one of the most valuable sporting properties on earth. In August 2025, Forbes estimated the Dallas Cowboys' value at a record $13 billion, making the team the most valuable sports franchise in the world for a record 19 consecutive years. Pit Pass Indy, presented by Penske Truck Rental, was able to talk to both Jerry Jones and Roger Penske before the weekend began for this interview. Your involvement in this, how excited are you to be part of IndyCar? Because IndyCar lately seems to be the hot ticket in sports.

Jerry Jones: Well, I like to be with winners, but seriously, it has such a natural passion. what the players are doing, what they're, if you will, competing to do. And that's what got me into football and the Cowboys is a passion to just be around those people. I know that's what fans really gravitate to. And so it's pretty easy. You've got great tradition. And then I don't mind telling you, I gravitate where I can against a winner. And Roger Penske, from the time he sold the league on doing the Super Bowl in Detroit, has always been someone that could get my attention.

Bruce Martin: How important is it to bring the party to the people? That's one of the things that this race is going to be able to do. Whereas the last couple of years at Texas Motor Speedway, they weren't able to do that.

Jerry Jones: Well, first of all, I will attest to, I have the Cowboys home is here. It's the proximity It's the ease of being able to come here and be involved. We're right in the middle of nine million people. And there are a lot of people here that can appreciate what's going on when those racers are out here committing and what's involved behind it. So I've got all the excitement you could possibly have, not only about tomorrow or the next few days, but the future. This thing has been done first class and no detail has been spared. And one thing for sure, Roger and his group, they wanted first impressions to be the right one and our fans need to feel it.

Bruce Martin: I asked Roger Penske about how two of the most successful businessmen and sportsmen in the world were able to join forces to create the Java House Grand Prix of Arlington.

Roger Penske: I think it's iconic because we are here between the Cowboys and the Rangers real estate and to have this as our playground you might call it for a weekend is amazing. We don't have this kind of a commitment any place we go if we do here and I can see it the investment by the partners along with IndyCar is amazing and I think the Teamwork, I have to say the teamwork between the organizations has been amazing and we're so excited. And this is a benchmark. This takes us to the next level when we go to the next city or the next state. And this is going to be our benchmark.

Bruce Martin: You always do things first class with your businesses and your racing teams.

Bruce Martin: The Dallas Cowboys have always exemplified that with their franchise. So how many similarities do you see between the way you guys do business?

Roger Penske: Well, the people that are here, when you think about Jerry and Neil, we're in a position here, these are winners in a city, in a state that's growing faster than anywhere in the world probably. And to be able to come here and compete, I think is amazing and it continues to grow. We see it on television. We see the championships coming out of here and we want to be part of that in the future.

Bruce Martin: The Dallas Cowboys and AT&T Stadium are also hosting FIFA World Cup soccer beginning on June 14th as the world comes to North America to determine the World Cup champions for 2026. Adding IndyCar to the calendar was a very important move for Jones.

Jerry Jones: Well, it is, I've always known it was good to hang out. with the best. And so certainly we know what the World Cup's gonna be, but it is amazing at what we're gonna do with IndyCar. And there's no way that you could present any better, any classier. with any more fan-friendly presentation than has been put right out here, thanks to the Penske Group.

Bruce Martin: As a professional sports team owner, what do you think of when you realize this guy's won the Indianapolis 500 20 times?

Jerry Jones: Yeah, all. All. A lot of us, we love every part of sport. No one has the right any more than someone who's risked it all to win what he's putting teams together to do. That's impressive. And I promise you, he doesn't just have to be talking about race cars. He can talk about some other stuff, too, and it'll get your attention.

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

Josef Newgarden: Hey, everyone. This is two-time Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden, and you're listening to Pit Pass Indy presented by Penske Truck Rental.

Bruce Martin: Welcome back to Pit Pass Indy. NTT IndyCar Series drivers all hailed the incredible opportunity that the Java House Grand Prix of Arlington presented to help elevate IndyCar. That includes six-time NTT IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon. Here is my exclusive interview with Dixon.

Scott Dixon: Yeah, looking forward to it. You know, I think St. Pete was, you know, I think a podium that we threw away, unfortunately. You know, and I think that's true for Phoenix as well. The cars had good pace in the race. And yeah, and that's part of racing. You know, you win or lose as a team and, you know, for all of us, you just regroup and get on with it. Excited to be here, blown away by this facility, blown away by the activation and just what they've done to even the hospitalities. You know, it's nuts. So kudos to everybody.

Bruce Martin: Dixon spent time with one of the greatest athletes in history, six-time NBA world champion Michael Jordan, who is owner of 2311 Racing in NASCAR at the NASCAR Cup Series race in Phoenix on March 8th. He tells Pit Pass Indy about his experience in this exclusive interview. It's Michael Jordan's new friend, Scott Dixon. How did you like that last week?

Scott Dixon: That was very cool. I think we'd been we'd been trying to link up for a little while. But, you know, huge thanks to Steve Lilleter. And yeah, what I was expecting, maybe for a five minute, you know, how are you doing? It was it was like 30 minutes of sitting down and actually chatting and going through a lot of stuff, but I didn't realize how much of a race fan he is. He watches IndyCar races, MotoGP, watches everything, so it was cool. Pleasant surprise, man.

Bruce Martin: You also share something in common. You're both six-time champions.

Scott Dixon: Yeah, there is that. We didn't talk too much, obviously, about that stuff, but just great to catch up and obviously get a photo with him. It was cool. Uh, he said he saw that stuff. He said that it's probably better to have four wheels than three. And I agreed with that one. So, you know, I think he definitely knows the basics and he's got the basics down, but no, you know, I think, uh, you know, I think kind of looking at, you know, motorsport in general and, and, you know, where F1 is, where NASCAR is, uh, to where IndyCar is. So it was, it was a good, uh, all around conversation, man.

Bruce Martin: Dixon was asked about the importance for IndyCar to return to Texas for the first time since 2023. Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth was an oval that hosted IndyCar racing from 1997 to 2023.

Scott Dixon: I think it's, you know, it's great. You know, I've got a lot of fond memories, obviously, here in Dallas, obviously, at the Super Speedway. But, you know, I think, you know, how they've done this and, you know, what IndyCar does, I think, in street racing and how they've activated here. I think it's epic, so excited to be back. I'm always excited to be in Texas, always excited to be in Arlington and Dallas. But for us, you know, it's just focus on the race. Could this potentially rival Long Beach as the second biggest race of the season? I think this is the new standard. This is what IndyCar needs to stick to. Even the detail of how much work they've put into grinding spots that we've never seen that level before. So it's really, really nice to see.

Bruce Martin: Thanks, Scott. Dixon also shared his thoughts on IndyCar using a single-car format for the final round of the Firestone Fast Six during Saturday's qualifying instead of the six-minute Fast Six format.

Scott Dixon: Yeah, I've seen that movie. I've been in it. We've done it before. It was a little while ago. Maybe mid-2000s or something. So, you know, nothing new for me. Obviously, I think for the majority of the grid, it's probably a new thing. Or it might only just be me. I'm not even sure. So, I think it's cool. You know, change it up. You know, puts emphasis. I think once you're locked into the Fast Six, you know, I don't think it matters too much, you know, on strategy. You've still got a lot to play, but I think it's fun for IndyCar to change that stuff up.

Bruce Martin: Entering the big race weekend, Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti Global believed he could win the race. He backed that up in a thrilling contest on race day. But let's hear some of his thoughts entering the race weekend.

Kyle Kirkwood: We have a lot of fans in Texas, right? IndyCar was very, very big here for many years, and it was a little bit disappointing to see it go off the schedule at Texas Motor Speedway. It was one of my favorite events, even though we didn't have great success there. I think it's great that we're back here. I think it's incredible. It feels good. This place is almost like a second home to me with having a lot of family out here. My only other direct family that's not in Florida is here. So it's a cool area to come into. And I think everybody loves Texas. And this is going to be such a kick-ass event. And I think everyone's excited for it.

Bruce Martin: Do you think this race could rival Long Beach?

Kyle Kirkwood: Easily, I don't know if it'll do it in the first year, right? Because what's Long Beach now, it's going on our 51st year. So yes, it definitely can. The build, the layout, where it's at, I think is absolutely incredible. It might be even better than Long Beach with everything that they've done here, but Long Beach is just so historic, right? It's gonna be hard to just triumph that, but maybe in the coming years, if this continues to be a marquee event for us, it very much could be. Thanks Kyle. No worries. Thank you.

Bruce Martin: Kirkwood went into further details on the actual race course.

Kyle Kirkwood: They've kind of assessed everything, right? With it being a new circuit, there's obviously going to be nuances. I think some of the drivers might pick out a little bit easier. And the only thing that we pointed out that was crucial was turn 10, just with the curbing there. We didn't really want a Monaco situation, so Kyle Novak, IndyCar, addressed it very quickly. Yeah, so kudos to them for addressing the small issues. I mentioned, I think it came out here on Wednesday, looked at some of the tire walls, pulled some of the tire walls back, that way they're not in the way on track exit. But quite honestly, the track build looks incredible, right? A lot of new fencing out there. The walls look great. There's no leading edges. Usually find leading edges with how many concrete walls there are out there. looks solid track that looks great and the only place that i would be like yeah it's a little it's not ideal is turn nine and that's that's only due to the runoff because there is no runoff there so if you do lock lock a tire up the odds of you finding the tire wall are very high but um outside of that it wouldn't say it's a dangerous position it's just a a lot of a lot of risk for for reward there So, but outside of that, it looks beautiful. I think, I think this is one of the best track builds that I've ever seen from IndyCar.

Bruce Martin: Scott Dixon called it the new standard for IndyCar. Do you believe that tracks moving forward should look like this?

Kyle Kirkwood: 100%, right? This is what IndyCar racing should look like. Just the hospitalities, the hype around this place, where we're at, the build. I mean, it looks beautiful. All the branding on all the walls looks perfect. It's what a marquee event should look like for us in IndyCar. And it's exciting to be here. This is a good time for our sport.

Bruce Martin: So you've won some pretty big street races. You've won Long Beach a couple of times. Do you see the ability that you could be the winner here on Sunday, and how important would that be to you?

Kyle Kirkwood: I don't think I'd be here if I didn't think I had a chance to win this race, right? I think this is going to be one of our… It's hard to predict, but I'd say given if history repeats itself, Us in new street courses, especially street courses with long straights, big break zones tend to be really good for us. And this is that on steroids. So we have a lot of high expectations here, but we obviously won't know until we get through practice one and we'll be drinking from a fire hose from there on out.

Bruce Martin: Unfortunately for Kirkwood, his qualification attempt in the second round wasn't timed properly to get the most out of his number 27 Honda, and he did not advance to the Firestone Fast Six. Pit pass in, he had a chance to talk to Kirkwood later on Saturday at the Andretti Global Hospitality Unit.

Bruce Martin: I guess when you see your other two teammates in the Fast Six, you probably meant to me.

Kyle Kirkwood: kicking yourself a little bit because yeah probably got old i mean i kicked myself and as soon as i got out of the car and was very hard on myself in in a fox interview um but looking back at it now i i think i know why we had the mistakes that we did and and uh we understand it And quite honestly, I was like, why did we pit on a lap when we had an extra lap of fuel? But after looking at everybody, nobody was really doing it on lap three if they had pushed, if they had already pushed a lap. So I'm not kicking myself as much. We're starting seventh. Of course, I want an opportunity in the past six, but got a clean car, got a fast race car, and I've won from those positions a few times now. So we'll give it our all.

Bruce Martin: Will said that he thinks the regular format of FAST 6 is more exciting.

Kyle Kirkwood: Cars are going faster, right? I think what the car is going slower now. I don't know what the optics are. I don't know People are super interested in it's an interesting thought right? But I do think that The guy who went first which was Marcus had an advantage. Yeah, right. Everything's warmer tires are warm brakes were warm I was big around this place and Yeah, it creates a little a little bit of an uncomparable for the guy that goes first versus the guy that goes last. So I'm not sure if it'll stick around. It's an interesting thing. It changes some things up. And that's what the fans want. They want a little shake up in qualifying, then so be it, right? We're in the entertainment business, so we'll see what happens.

Bruce Martin: Joseph wins last week, but he crashed, had to go to a backup starting last. Alex is sixth in points, so you kind of feel like The rest of you guys got to feel like, hey, this is when we need to make something happen to keep the points from… Well, we think that every weekend, you know, right?

Kyle Kirkwood: We're going to always try and do the best that we possibly can, not really look at the points of this time in the year and make sure we capitalize on streetcourses particularly, right? It's important that we do. really well here, really well in Toronto, Markham now, Detroit, Long Beach, DC. It's going to be important for our championship hunt and it starts here now. We have that mindset every single weekend we come into it. We've had a good season to start off, but had an opportunity to win at St. Pete and I killed my tires and we had an opportunity to win it at Phoenix and didn't have the tires to do it. So we're going to want to play our cards right tomorrow and try and capitalize on potentially another win. We had a lot of prime tire pace in practice and in qualifying. So it's likely that those will be probably the preferred tire right now, which will probably make things shake up a little bit in strategy land.

Bruce Martin: How did you like seeing Colby?

Kyle Kirkwood: It's great to see him. You know, I haven't seen him. I haven't seen him. I actually knew him, I saw him at the Daytona 24. But we talk, text him every week or so, and ask him how his tests went, how his races have gone. It's cool to see him. You know, he's a pure racing driver. A guy that has been overseas for the last three months, and the first thing he wants to do is come see IndyCar racing. I mean, it shows how committed he is. You know, we all love him, we all miss him. Of course, we love Will, and he's been a great addition to the team. He's doing really good for us, although the results haven't come yet. He's been a big proponent for our pace that we've had, specifically on short ovals, but also everywhere. He's a great reference for all of us. So, yeah, it's cool seeing him, but yeah, we wish him all the best.

Bruce Martin: I would imagine, since you're from Jupiter, Florida, that you're a Miami Dolphins fan.

Bruce Martin: Yes, unfortunately. So what do you think when you see that place and also think about what it represents?

Bruce Martin: Because I mean, I'm not a Cowboys fan, but to see those names in the ring of honor does send a chill down your spine if you're in the NFL football.

Kyle Kirkwood: Yeah, I mean, I'm into NFL football and seeing Jerry Jones here do the track walk on Thursday and be fully involved with this entire event is a big deal for IndyCar. It's a big deal for us. You know, this is, I think it's the biggest team in all the sports, right? Dallas Cowboys are, you know, that's a major name that anybody knows. and it'll be great to get through this event and see what the numbers were, right? I think that's important. I think the crowd has been phenomenal. The track build has looked better than anywhere else we've ever gone. The track itself has been great and with the city of Arlington and Jerry Jones and the Rangers, Texas Live, all these people pitching in to make sure that we have a good event. It's been great thus far.

Bruce Martin: Not only do you have an iconic venue where the Dallas Cowboys play, there's not, I don't know if there's any NFL stadium that matches AT&T Stadium, but like right next door is a fantastic ballpark where the Texas Rangers play. So you have to really look at this whole complex as just an incredible showcase of top level sports. And now IndyCar is part of that showcase.

Kyle Kirkwood: We're tying it all together, right? Being able to run around both of them and run in between them. I mean, this is like I said, this is one of the best backdrops. Hopefully this starts a trend for us, right? I think Stadium races have done really well for us. We obviously have ran around the stadium at Toronto. That's a much smaller stadium for their soccer team. And we've also ran around the Nissan Stadium in Nashville, and that was an absolute blast.

Bruce Martin: And also, even before you started, they ran around Houston, Reliant Stadium. They've had several that have really been big. But finally, just wrapping up,

Bruce Martin: Do you think this race could one day rival Long Beach? Long Beach has the history, but depending on the pizazz, this place is kind of tough to beat when it comes to the showcase.

Kyle Kirkwood: You know, for a first year shot at this, it's very remarkable. And I think this will turn into one of, if this continues and we have a long term deal and we keep moving on, this might turn into the biggest event of the year outside of the Indianapolis 500 very shortly. Of course we all love Long Beach, 51st year coming up, one of the most historic races we're ending for. Yeah, it'll be very interesting down the road to see where this one stacks up.

Bruce Martin: And finally, just the ratings. Everything seems to be on the upswing for IndyCar.

Kyle Kirkwood: Yeah, I mean, look, 1.4 on the first weekend, and then 1.2 last weekend, or just over. That's big. That's huge for IndyCar. And it's great that we have three events. Pretty much three events in a row and then another one two weeks down the road to keep that viewership up and keep people psyched about IndyCar and keep them watching. I think that's played a big role in it. It's a key factor.

Bruce Martin: 11 a.m. starts, gonna be a little bit earlier. Are you gonna put like a… One of them coffee things in your cockpit, because that's an early start.

Kyle Kirkwood: We'll roll with the punches here. Everybody's going to have to do the same thing. 20 minutes of practice, two hours in between practice and the race is the tightest turnaround I've ever had in motor sports. But we'll get it done. We'll try and learn as much as we can in practice and then move on from there. And hopefully, we've already got stuff nailed down before we even get into warm up. But we're doing all the work right now.

Bruce Martin: Despite not winning the poll, Kirkwood had the fastest car all weekend and proved that in the race. He started 7th and raced his way to challenge for the lead. Kirkwood stalked race leader Alex Pillow in the closing laps of the race and passed him for the lead and turned 13 with a brilliant dive-bomb pass with 16 laps to go. Kirkwood stayed out front for the final 16 laps and defeated Pillow in a race that ended under caution after Roman Grosjean and Nolan Siegel both crashed coming out of the final turn on a one-lap restart. Kirkwood, Andretti Global teammate Will Power, and Pillow each led 16 laps in the 70-lap race. Kirkwood joined me after his big victory for this exclusive Pit Pass Indy presented by Penske Truck Rental interview. It's not often that IndyCar's fastest driver of the weekend wins the race, but it certainly happened this weekend in the Java House Grand Prix of Arlington. It's Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global. You scored your sixth career IndyCar Series race victory in the inaugural race of what was a spectacular event here at Dallas Cowboys, where the Cowboys play, where the Texas Rangers play. How do you describe just what a great weekend this was?

Kyle Kirkwood: It was a great weekend for IndyCar, great weekend for the 27 crew, great weekend for Honda, great weekend for Andretti. A lot of good things came from this weekend and just the event in general was incredible, right? The signage, the hospitality units, the beauty of the racetrack, the walls, the fencing, everything was absolute top-notch. And then going around to the most iconic sports teams in America in their facilities is just phenomenal. And we're sitting here in the media center, which is in the AT&T Stadium. And we're able to look at the field like, how cool is this? Right. I think this is a great, a great I don't know the right word, representation of what IndyCar can and should be.

Bruce Martin: It was also the first race back in the Dallas-Fort Worth market since 2023. That race was at Texas Motor Speedway after a long tenure or relationship between IndyCar and Texas Motor Speedway. They both went their separate ways because that race had trouble drawing attendance toward the end. Can't say that about this race. It was packed pretty much the entire way. The grandstands were sold out, big crowd in the general admission area. How does it feel to bring the buzz back to one of the biggest markets in America?

Kyle Kirkwood: Dallas, Texas, there are a lot of IndyCar fans here. This is a great market for us and obviously Texas Motor Speedway wasn't going that well, but nobody knew that we were even there. It was one of the best races of the year. Nobody really knew that we were there and it was a little bit disappointing, but I have to say everybody in this area, I've got family here, I've got A lot of close friends and everyone in this area knew that there's an IndyCar race happening around the stadiums in Arlington. And that's what we need. And that's why we had great viewership. That's exactly why we had a massive fan base come out there. It was hard to get around anywhere, anywhere for drivers, right? The traffic. just walking around like you just get stopped by everybody. It feels like the 500 here. So in a very short period, I said it before, but I'll say it again. This can turn into our second biggest race of the year.

Bruce Martin: It's rare that you can go into a first year race without having some type of problems, whether they be minor or major, but it really seemed that this event didn't have any of those problems. Maybe the track was a little bumpy, but it's street course racing. It should be bumpy. What did you think of just the extreme level of preparation that they put into this event?

Kyle Kirkwood: I mean, it's been going on for months, right? This is not an easy setup. The length of the track, I would like to know how many concrete barriers they had at this place and how many tons of concrete they had to bring in to make this event happen. And it is, it's incredible what they've been able to do. And like I said, we're very hopeful that we can come back here. This is, yeah, this place was incredible. There's nothing really else to say.

Bruce Martin: And also the way the Dallas Cowboys and the Texas Rangers, you go into Ranger Wright, there's the Rangers logo. You go into Cowboy Corner, there's the Cowboy logo. They both embraced this event. And I think that's one of the big reasons why it was so popular.

Kyle Kirkwood: Yeah, no doubt. It's important to have good partners. And they were a phenomenal partner to us at IndyCar, us at the teams. Everything was top notch. I say it again, it's everything we expect and want to see out of IndyCar racing. Yeah, Jerry's obviously been, he was walking the track with us on Thursday, right? That's how invested he was. So yeah, hopefully there's a lot more of that.

Bruce Martin: Six career IndyCar wins, five of them have come on street courses. What is the reason why Kyle Kirkwood is so good on street courses? It's the team.

Kyle Kirkwood: You know, obviously I've been getting more of the wins than the other guys have been, but it's honestly the team. It's a car that they provide to me. I have a good feel for what a good street course car needs to be like, and we just have pace, and pace wins races sometimes, and that showed today.

Bruce Martin: We're doing this interview at AT&T Stadium and as we look out at the field where the Dallas Cowboys play, there's the Ring of Honor where some of the greatest, most iconic names in NFL history have been honored on the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor. I think they should come up with a ring of honor for the Grand Prix of Arlington, and we could have you as the first name on that ring of honor. Do you think that that's something they should add to this complex?

Kyle Kirkwood: I would never push for that, right, because I don't want all the attention to that, but that would be Absolutely surreal. If they did something like that, that would be cool, right? We do it at Long Beach. They put the stars down, right? For all the legends there. Maybe that's a new trait. Maybe it's a new trend if everyone thinks this event went as well as I think it did. And do you think this is the start of something big for IndyCar? I think it is, right? That we just showed that we can set up a absolutely incredible event for the fans and bring out and have I mean, accessibility to 100,000 people, if not more, on race day around their events when they have nothing going on, you know? Like this is off season for NFL. Nothing's really happening in the stadium. They're putting new grass down, new sod. Nobody's really coming through here. It's a way to fill the void for the NFL, which we're never gonna compete with the NFL, I don't think. Hopefully we will, but I don't think so. But if we can tag team off of that and help them, they help us, I think we can elevate our sport massively.

Bruce Martin: Java House Grand Prix of Arlington race winner Kyle Kirkwood and Andretti Global, congratulations on a monumental victory for IndyCar and for you. And thank you for joining us on Pit Pass Indy presented by Penske Truck Rental.

Kyle Kirkwood: Of course, thank you.

Bruce Martin: We'll be right back to PitPass Indy after this short break.

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

Bruce Martin: Welcome back to PitPass Indy presented by Penske Truck Rental. Bill Miller has had a long time career in running racetracks, including Auto Club Speedway when it was known as California Speedway in the early 2000s. Penske Entertainment chose Miller to be the person in charge of creating the Java House Grand Prix of Arlington and the day-to-day details of that event. He worked closely with Greg Penske of the Penske Corporation, along with the Dallas Cowboys, Texas Rangers, and Rev Entertainment. Pit Pass Indy, presented by Penske Truck Rental, had an exclusive deep dive interview with Bill Miller after the Jabba House Grand Prix of Arlington concluded on March 15th. Joining us now on Pit Pass Indy presented by Penske Truck Rental is the man who made most of this happen at the Java House Grand Prix of Arlington. It's Bill Miller. This was your project. And you've been in racing for a very long time. You used to be the president at California Speedway back when that was a palace of racing. Have you ever pulled off a project this successfully as you did the inaugural IndyCar race here in Arlington, Texas?

Bill Miller: Well, I'm blessed to be the steward of this project and work with the team that really just delivered an epic event. We've got the best of the best working on this and the deep staff along with Penske Entertainment, along with our partners at Dallas Cowboys and Texas Rangers, we had this vision of what we wanted to do to provide a venue and a canvas to just elevate the IndyCar series and provided a platform that it's so deserving of. And we couldn't be more thrilled.

Bruce Martin: When you have a partner like Jerry Jones, who owns the Dallas Cowboys, and also the Texas Rangers, the Major League Baseball, one of the most successful teams in the American League, were in the World Series in 2023. Those were two major entities that are used to dealing with successful Ventures, how important was it to have them as partners with Penske Entertainment?

Bill Miller: It was huge. When you take the common thread that goes through all three organizations, it's the premium and the priority that they put on the guest experience. And so when you start with that foundation, I don't want to say it's easy, but it's that thread that you just build around. And when you've got that vision and that mission of this is what we're going to do and how we're going to do it, it sets a tone of what you want to deliver to the guest. And the guest is those that go through the gate, that are working in the media center, that are the competitors on the track, and the people working the event and providing that. When you bundle that all together, you can deliver something really special. And, you know, they're such premium brands and Penske is such a premium brand and IndyCar is, and we wanted this race out of the box to be held in very high esteem and establish it as one of the marquee events on the series and make it a bucket list destination for for IndyCar fans all over the world and be a pillar of the sports marketplace here in North Dallas.

Bruce Martin: You've worked for Roger Penske for a long time in your career, and in this past year or so, you've worked closely with Jerry Jones. When you think of two of the most successful businessmen in the world, and also two of the most successful sportsmen in the world, team owners, people who are involved heavily in successful sports, what are the similarities you see between the two?

Bill Miller: Well, they take care of the customer and they put a high value on their brand. They just make sure they take care of the guest and that takes care of business. If you provide that great service all along the way, you can do great things and it's just great. to have them, you know, as visionaries for this. And when you have that type of leader in your following, and I include Greg, Roger's son, you know, because he truly was a part of elevating that guest experience too when we opened Fontana and California Speedway. really that guest first approach. And now we like to say one guest at a time. And if you can do that and execute that well, you've got magic and you can just continue to build on that all the way through.

Bruce Martin: unless I ask this because you had to make a decision in the interest of safety for the spectators because some high winds are coming into the north Dallas area a few hours after we taped this interview on Sunday which was race day you had to make the decision to move what was already an early start an hour earlier to basically make sure that the customers were safe that none of the temporary grandstands were compromised in any way or flying debris of any type, how difficult was it to make that decision? And the fact that you were able to pull it off, you can tell me, I don't think there were any complaints.

Bill Miller: I have not heard any complaints. How difficult was it to pull it off? Well, one, you start with your partner Fox and how that can work within the telecast in their windows. But first and foremost really is, as you mentioned, the safety of the guests and the competitors and everybody attending the race. you're not going to compromise that. The wind was down a little bit this morning, better than we anticipated. We needed to cancel our post-event musical entertainment, unfortunately, but that's a small price to pay, if you say, to still deliver this unbelievable inaugural Java House Grand Prix of Arlington and showcase this epic canvas to not only those in attendance, but to the worldwide audience. And we're glad we were able to deliver that.

Bruce Martin: How many suites did you have? And I know that all the suites were sold out, but Denker told me yesterday the suites were all sold out. He kept saying tickets were available, but during the race you announced all the grandstands had been sold. So if you could put any type of number onto the number of suites that you erected and what the capacity was for the grandstands.

Bill Miller: Yeah, we had 73 corporate suites and we sold them all. And I think they had just an unbelievable premium hospitality experience. And then we also had two clubs that were built over the track. That's all about, call it re-imagining the whole experience for the guest. And to have the cars racing underneath it was pretty awesome. with the WinStar Winners Club and then in the horseshoe where you just had this panoramic stadium style setting to have the cars go around the carousel was pretty cool. From overall numbers, you know, we hit them. We sold out our grandstand seats and we wanted from the beginning to really define this as a epic and unbelievable general admission experience. We put up temporary standing room platforms so our general admission guests could have an elevated view around the track and some really cool areas. And there's some natural spectator mounds too that we had. So it was a great weekend all the way around.

Bruce Martin: Would you categorize the crowd that you had here this weekend as race fans or as big event goers?

Bill Miller: I'd say it was a combination of both, and that's part of the magic that the series has now about coming back here to North Texas, is you have that strong foothold of people that just love IndyCar racing and love motorsports, but walking around I met more people that this was their first event. And that was our goal. We wanted to bring in new fans, new guests into the sport. And we did a children 12 and under free program, which brought a lot of young kids out with their parents. You saw a lot of pot of award. Errol McLaren shirts with young kids around and that was cool. So we've accomplished our goal. If we can keep planting those seeds, we're going to keep building on it.

Bruce Martin: Also, another major partner in this event was Fox Sports. Eric Shanks, the CEO. How big a role did they play?

Bill Miller: Well, they have played such a tremendous role for the entire NTT IndyCar series. I mean, they are, I feel, the best storytellers in the business. And I can't wait to watch the telecast to see how they shared our story. to the audience around the world. And they're so good. Now they're a partner in Penske Entertainment, which we love that as well. They're just first class all the way around. And I think, you know, what I can imagine is just gonna be this incredible telecast and really showcasing, like you say, the city of Arlington and the series in a new light. It's gonna be pretty awesome.

Bruce Martin: But one of the things that they were able to do was when this race was announced in 2025, they announced it on Fox NFL Sunday. They announced it on the pregame show. They ran plugs about it during Dallas Cowboys game later that day. And then all the way up on their other sports programming, you saw promotions for the Java House Grand Prix of Arlington. Those can be priceless in terms of having a successful event.

Bill Miller: You know, yes, you make a great point there, and I think that's this new partnership that you see with the network, Fox in this case, and the IndyCar series, and how they want to elevate the sport all the way around. Those partnerships and collaborations are priceless. It also lends itself for us being partners with the Cowboys and the Rangers that we're able to utilize their marketing muscle, which is why you can have drivers at Cowboys games during a Fox telecast. It's why you can have Pato Ward throwing out the first pitch in a Rangers game. during a Fox weekend broadcast on Major League Baseball and really capitalize on that and again cross-pollinate those different sports and different audiences.

Bruce Martin: What is the length of the contract to have this event?

Bill Miller: We have a multi-year. We don't disclose the actual terms, but multi-year. And I've always said, as I've talked in the community, if you look at Long Beach, and if you look at Detroit, and you look at St. Pete, where, respectively, you have 21 years at St. Pete, 48, 49 with Detroit, and Long Beach is going to celebrate its 51st year. I go, if we can do what they've done and establish ourselves within the community, partnerships all the way around that The guest wins coming to our event. The city wins in working with us in collaboration. The hospitality partners, meaning the hotel and restaurants, they win because we're bringing commerce in. When you have a winning formula there, you are able to establish a long-lasting relationship with the community. In 50 years, you think Long Beach, 50 years that they have been able to successfully implement an event. I mean that that is the gold standard and I sit there and said somebody I hope is standing here in the city of Arlington 50 years from now in my role saying that's one hell of a run. Have you talked to Roger Penske since the end of the race? I have not. I look forward to it. I saw him beforehand and saw him Thursday when we did a ride around with Jerry Jones. He was ecstatic and I chatted with Greg here after the race. He's thrilled. He's thrilled for every guest that walks through the gates that they had a great experience. He's excited for our partners and for this series and for everyone involved because I think there's such great momentum I think for everybody coming out an event like this that that we were able to deliver it deliver it from the onset for this first time out and now leading leading up to the Indianapolis 500 coming up it's just great momentum for the series. Have you talked to Jerry Jones since the end of the race? I have not. Same thing, I saw him before during Driver Introductions and I tell you, he came out on Thursday and he came back out on Friday and he was here on Sunday. So he adjusted his schedule so he could join us and be a part of it and I think he was pretty thrilled with what he saw.

Bruce Martin: And I don't want to overlook the impact that the Texas Rangers had on helping this event. Even though the ownership may have stepped back a little bit from the spotlight, let Jerry Jones have a lot of the attention and credit for working with Roger Penske and Penske Entertainment to put this on. But how do you describe the role that the Texas Rangers did to make this a successful event?

Bill Miller: critical. Neil Liebman and Ray Davis, they're incredible owners. They provide the support and the tools for their staff to do their job very well. First class people, individuals, and organization all the way through. And Sean Decker, who is the president of of REV, which is Rangers Entertainment Ventures. Their team was instrumental in supporting us from the sales side as well as the operational side. And half of our footprint was on their property and we needed to use their workers, which they train extremely well, again, to deliver that guest experience. And it was key and critical. And what was the nightlife like around Arlington Live?

Bruce Martin: Because this is a all-encompassing major sports and entertainment district.

Bill Miller: Yeah, it was pretty vibrant last night. When I swung through about 5.30 going from one part of the property to the other, I went in and the entire bar area was filled. and people were waiting to get a seat and table to sit down for dinner. And the music was blaring, they had some good bands going there. It's about having everything all contained in an area. And that's what's great about, and why they call it really the Entertainment District, is people come here for a good time. And Texas Live, our partners, With that, it's one of the biggest bars in the state of Texas. And it was pretty darn full all weekend. And then you take the two Lowe's Hotel properties. They were certainly filled all weekend and the restaurants there. And it's just such a great setting to hang out and have a good time.

Bruce Martin: And as we wrap up here with Bill Miller, the president and general manager of the Java House Grand Prix of Arlington, we're doing this overlooking AT&T Stadium where they're going to have the FIFA World Cup soccer tournament game. They're already going to be transitioning the field to a soccer field here. But it's the ring of honor that the Dallas Cowboys have that have some of the greatest, most iconic names in NFL history. Everybody from Randy White to Don Meredith to Bob Lilly to Roger Staubach to the great Tom Landry, Tony Dorsett, Drew Pearson. Then you come to more recent Jimmy Johnson, Charles Haley, Michael Urban, Troy Rickman, Emmett Smith. Those are some of the greatest, most iconic names in NFL history. Just to name a few, there's more names up there. I'm gonna come up with an idea for you. If this race has the staying power that you hope it does, will there be a ring of honor that will include Kyle Kirkwood's name as the winner of the inaugural Java House Grand Prix of Arlington somewhere in this sports and entertainment district?

Bill Miller: Hey, it's wonderful celebrating champions. We did that in Fontana at Auto Club Speedway, where the winner put their hands and feet in concrete and we had it out there. to memorialize their well-deserved victories. That would be a fun thing. Again, people like it when they show up and they've got these little artifacts that they can see. There's a thing that we like to say about the entertainment district in Arlington. We're champions, our crowned in history is made and today we made history and our team should feel nothing but pride and the IndyCar Series should feel nothing but pride on the event that we collectively put together for everybody here.

Bruce Martin: Well, you certainly made history. I've been covering IndyCar for a very long time, and I can't recall a first-year event that went off as smoothly as this one did. I think it is the start of great things to come. But Bill Miller, President and General Manager of the Java House Grand Prix of Arlington, Just huge congratulations on the great success of the first year. Now you have to top it in 2027.

Bill Miller: Exactly. Hey, you always want to get better. You always want to get faster on the track and we want to get better and continue to evolve what we're doing and provide a great guest experience.

Bruce Martin: Like Roger Penske always says, he likes to put numbers on the board, but it's all about the next number that he's after.

Bill Miller: That is exactly it.

Bruce Martin: But I want to thank you for joining us here on Pit Pass Indy presented by Penske Truck Rental.

Bill Miller: Thank you, appreciate it.

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

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

Bruce Martin: And that puts a checkered flag on this edition of Pit Pass Indy presented by Penske Truck Rental after a spectacular first-time event, the Java House Grand Prix of Arlington. We want to thank our guests, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, IndyCar owner and Penske Corporation chairman Roger Penske, Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing, Java House Grand Prix of Arlington race winner Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti Global and Bill Miller, the president and general manager for the Java House Grand Prix of Arlington, for joining us on this edition of Pit Pass Indy. We will have more interviews from the big race weekend in Arlington, Texas, on next week's Pit Pass Indy. Along with loyal listeners like you, our guests help make Pit Pass Indy, presented by Penske Truck Rental, your path to victory lane in IndyCar. On the highways, the raceways, and every pit stop in between, Penske Truck Rental keeps you moving forward. Gain ground with Penske. For more IndyCar coverage, follow me at X, previously known as Twitter, at BruceMartin, one word, uppercase B, uppercase M, underscore 500. This has been a production of Evergreen Podcast. A special thanks to our production team. Executive producers are Bridget 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.

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