INDYCAR Heads ‘North of the Border’ for the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto

Roger Penske:
This is Roger Penske, and you're listening to Pit Pass Indy, 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 SportsDecker, Sports Illustrated, AutoWeek, and SpeedSport. So let's drop the green flag on this episode of Pit Pass Indy. Welcome to this special bonus edition of Pit Pass Indy presented by Penske Truck Rental as we continue our fifth season of giving IndyCar fans an inside look at the most exciting form of racing on the planet, the NTT IndyCar Series. And a big thanks to Penske Truck Rental for helping bring you the inside stories of IndyCar from the paddock to the racetrack to the highways and streets of America. IndyCar teams and drivers are north of the border this weekend for the only international race on the schedule, the Ontario Honda Dealers IndyToronto at Exhibition Place. The annual street race in North America's fourth largest city is one of the highlights of the season for the drivers and teams, and is the largest city on the IndyCar schedule. We have plenty of interviews leading into this weekend's race on the streets of Toronto, and a few interviews that complete our coverage of the Sukup IndyCar Race Weekend at Iowa on today's Pit Pass Indy. Let's kick off our interviews with six-time NTT IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing. Dixon has four wins at Toronto in 18 starts, including two starts when he was in kart. Dixon's most recent Toronto win came in 2022, when IndyCar returned after a two-year break because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Dixon joins me on this exclusive Pit Pass Indy interview. The legend, Scott Dixon, is back. Scott, some of your legendary races have been on the streets of Toronto. What is it about that course where you do so well?

Scott Dixon: Yeah, it's a fun track. You know, I think it's one for me that I think I've been to since 1999. There's been definitely some different iterations of it. But, you know, I think it's a chaotic race. You know, this year we'll have to see if they implement the same rules like we had at IRC, where you have to use two sets of each compound, which I think will definitely spice it up, especially with how fragile the soft tire is. And, you know, that could definitely make it interesting. I think, unfortunately for me, I'll have an engine penalty at Toronto, so we'll have to see how that rolls. But, yeah, the fans, you know, the facility, it's a cool place to race in.

Bruce Martin: Plus, it's a track you raced at when you were a member of CART. So in some ways, that's got to be pretty cool that that track, that race, is still on the schedule. It's shown some real endurance to be able to be on the schedule as long as it is. Plus, it's in a great city.

Scott Dixon: Yeah, it is. And it's crazy to see just the change of the city, to be honest. You know, from where the convention center is, you know, the city didn't really go beyond that. Now it's, you know, completely engulfed by it. So that city has expanded, you know, tenfold. I think my first time there was in Indy Light. So, you know, I've done a few different iterations of cars at that place. And, you know, we've had some great races there. So, yeah, looking for a positive weekend.

Bruce Martin: Do you like a course that's got varying track surfaces like Toronto has? Because I've had drivers tell me when there's a bump on the track, a good driver can make the bump work in their favor.

Scott Dixon: Yeah, it's always a combo. You want to be confident, and you want to be comfortable, which is not always easy on a street course. But I think if you can get the car in the right place, I think this year, at most of the street courses, we've had really good cars. one, two at St. Pete. You know, I made the mistake, actually, in Long Beach, where I think we would have, you know, gone quite easily through to Q3. And, you know, there's definitely a lot of positives throughout that, you know, course of the season where we've had street courses. So, yeah, you know, until we get there, we won't really know. It's definitely a difficult track and one that races really well. So, you know, strategy will be key as well. Favorite place to eat in Toronto? Oh, that's tough, man. I don't even know the name of it, but there's a sushi joint that we go to on one of the main roads there that we go every year. But there's loads. I think last year, actually, my two daughters went up there. And there's that new area kind of behind the track to the north side of it that has a bunch of great spots as well. So yeah, nothing specific, but there's a great Italian there, too.

Bruce Martin: Now after Toronto, everybody gets on a plane, flies all the way out to Monterey, California. Laguna Seca, a much different race course than you'll have at Toronto. Beautiful flowing road course up and down the scenery is outstanding. What is it about Monterey that sticks out in Scott Dixon's mind the most?

Scott Dixon: Yeah, Monterey's cool. Obviously a very different date for us this year. Most of the time it's kind of been either a season ender or later in the year. They've moved it up a little bit. But no, I love going out there. Carmel and the surrounding areas are some of the best spots in the world. You know, it's definitely an area where you look forward to go. Your family looks forward to going. The West Coast is a bit of a, a bit of a jaunt, but especially from Toronto. But yeah, love the track. It's, it's difficult in its own way. It's definitely maturing a little bit now after it's repaved that we saw. So excited to get out there too.

Bruce Martin: Now, is that a track where qualifications really mean a lot because track position is the key to winning out there?

Scott Dixon: Yeah, it can and it can't. You know, I think the last time we won there, we had an engine penalty and actually we kind of started mid-pack, had a really good start, got up front, then got a drive-through penalty, and then had to kind of play the strategy game to make it feed through. So, you know, there's always an opportunity, and sometimes you can see a clear favorite that can go from the top three spots and win it, or you can have a mid-pack craziness. Favorite place to eat in Monterey? Yeah, I don't know, man. Lots of good spots out there. Pick one. Just pick a number and you'll end up at a good restaurant. We always go to Barnatus. Barnatus is always a good spot there. They have good food, too.

Bruce Martin: Well anyway, Scott Dixon, he knows several things. He knows great venues, he knows great cities, and he knows how to win. Only A.J. Foyt's won more races than Scott Dixon, but good luck the rest of the season. We'll catch up with you later this year. Hey, congratulations on that big win at Mid-Ohio, and thank you for joining us on Pit Pass Indy.

Scott Dixon: Thanks, my man.

Bruce Martin: Christian Lungard is another former Toronto winner when the Arrow McLaren star won on the streets of Toronto in 2023 when he was at Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Let's hear from Lungard in this exclusive interview. Christian Lundgaard has joined us. Christian, we're doing this interview at Iowa Speedway. In the past, you would have already made four or five sponsor appearances by now. We would have seen billboards with your face on them. Stand-up cutouts. Different sponsor, different team. So are you able to slide in and out of here a little bit better than in past years when you were the face of the sponsor of the race?

Christian Lundgaard: Yeah. I took a few pictures with some kids in the airport yesterday. I did still see myself in a Hy-Vee store yesterday as well. Slightly different branding. It was through Mission. But I was still there, so I kind of felt a lot better. A few years ago, when I was walking into whatever store it really was, there would be a huge billboard of me. And I don't ever think you'll get used to that. I have a few of them at home as well, so I kind of get reminded every day. But I came back this year and was kind of expecting not to be anywhere. But it's great to see the mission cut out boards of all three of us.

Bruce Martin: But in some ways, I walked through the Hy-Vee store in Newton, Iowa yesterday, and they're still checkered flags up, Iowa Speedway flags up. They are still in the race theme, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that. The big cardboard stand-ups now are for Kate Lenny Clark, the WNBA player who's with the Indiana Fever, who's from Iowa, an Iowa legend. But in a lot of ways, you got to feel like even though they're not the title sponsor anymore, there's still a little bit of a connection between Hy-Vee and Iowa Speedway and IndyCar.

Christian Lundgaard: No, absolutely. And I think you can never forget what Heidi has done for IndyCar and for Iowa Speedway and everything that they stand for and how much they really help the community. And obviously, I got to have an insider of that the last couple of years and really properly get to understand what they do for the communities. and how much they really support the organizations, the communities, the people around them. And really, when they set a goal, they don't have to. They almost kind of do it with 200% versus 100%. And everybody in the NTT IndyCar series can only be grateful for what Hy-Vee has done for us and even for Iowa Speedway the last couple of years. Well, we'll all miss the concerts. I loved, you know, after the race on Sunday, before driving home, go visit the concert on the main straight. And, you know, I have a great time with the family and friends that were here, where now it's just going to be spent in the car driving home.

Bruce Martin: Speaking of driving home, turnaround time's short, but it's going to be off to Toronto, where you have won. And to go back to a race where you've won before, do you always feel like, if I do things right, I can win again?

Christian Lundgaard: I mean, sure. I think we've let some opportunities this year slip away, for better and for worse. Going back to a race that you won, I think everything kind of felled our way in 2023. But again, we did the job when it mattered. It's always difficult to replicate. You can argue, are you good on that track or was it the surroundings? Was it a one-time deal? To be honest, I struggled there in 2024. We weren't really able to get the package to work together and the difference was really the hybrid. I think joining Aaron McLaren, we have a much, much better understanding of the compensations from how the old car used to drive without the hybrid and now with the hybrid. I've definitely felt that change, you know, moving to Aramacline this year, and we're only moving forward from here.

Bruce Martin: Our final question. There's still a lot of time left in the season. You're still in the championship chase, so how key is this portion of the schedule to really close up the gap and make it a real fight at the end of the year?

Christian Lundgaard: Yeah, you know, if you have one of those weekends where you're strong and especially here at Iowa Speedway for a doubleheader, you're coming into a track where so much can happen. But you can score so many points on your competitors. One guy having a bad weekend can turn your kind of season around. If I have a good weekend here this weekend, we can gain a lot of points on whoever's in front and even whoever's behind. But I don't really think about the championship too much. For me, I take every weekend as it comes. If we're in a title hunt or hunt for something really good at the end of the season, then I'll focus on it at Nashville.

Bruce Martin: Well, Christian Lungard, good luck the rest of the season. We'll catch up with you later. Good luck to Errol McLaren, and thank you for joining us on Pit Pass Indy.

Christian Lundgaard: Thank you.

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

Will Power: This is Will Power of Team Penske and you're listening to Pit Pass Indy presented by Penske Truck Rental.

Bruce Martin: Welcome back to Pit Pass Indy. It's time to hear from Team Marcus, the two drivers in the NTT IndyCar Series with the same first name. It's Marcus Ericcson of Andretti Global and Marcus Armstrong of Meyers Schenck Racing. Both drivers are looking for their first victory at Toronto this weekend. First up is this exclusive interview with Marcus Ericcson. Marcus Ericsson of Andretti Global has joined us now. Marcus, you've got one guy on the team that's won three races. How soon till we see you in victory lane?

Marcus Ericsson: Hopefully very soon. This weekend would be nice. Yeah, it's been a while now, so it's for sure something that I miss. I think both me and Colton, you know, we We've had a bit of a strange season, so we want to get back there. And obviously, like I said, Kyle has been doing really well and winning races. So yeah, it would be a good time this weekend to be back in Viksröding.

Bruce Martin: Any weekend would be a good time to be back in Victory Lane, because after Iowa, it's off to Toronto. It's a very bumpy course, different asphalt or different surfaces, not so much asphalt. You have different surfaces all over the track. And also, you make a mistake, you're into the boards. It's almost like a hockey game in some ways. Do you approach it as one of the most physically demanding street courses of the season?

Marcus Ericsson: Yeah, I would say so. I mean, I love street course racing. I think, like you say, it's bumpy. It's no margins for error. It's just a fun type of racing. I mean, the cars are built for, you know, those kind of races. Toronto is always a highlight. I've had some good races there over the years. So, yeah, really looking forward to that one. That should be a good one for us. Favorite restaurant in Toronto for Marcus Eriksson and Iris? Yeah, that is a good question. I don't know. I can't remember any restaurants on the top of my head now. But I know Iris was very excited because she made some reservations now for Toronto already. So I'm sure we're going to go and try out some really good ones. And I'll let you know next time. Next time I interview you, I'll tell you which one was the favorite restaurant in Toronto.

Bruce Martin: And I'm sure Iris is excited about the shopping in Toronto.

Marcus Ericsson: I'm sure, I'm sure. I'm not so excited about that.

Bruce Martin: You being from Sweden, a hockey guy in some ways, I've always looked at the Toronto race as IndyCar's version of a hockey game. Because even if you do well, you've got to be beat up from It's a tight course with a lot of bumps and probably hitting your elbow against the side of the tub.

Marcus Ericsson: How strenuous is it physically? Yeah, it is a very physical race. Like I said, the bumps makes it tough. It always grips up a lot with the rubber throughout the weekend. So it makes it just a challenging race to do. And I think this year, I think they've added laps to the race as well. So it's going to make it even more physical. So definitely beats you up. But again, I like that. I think that's fun.

Bruce Martin: Then it's off to Monterey. Beautiful course. Monterey, California. Another place that has great restaurants and shopping. So Iris will be happy about that trip. But as far as you being on the Laguna Seca course. How challenging is that? Because there's not a lot of room to pass. There's plenty of room on the course. But the way it's set up, it's more free-flowing and up and down.

Marcus Ericsson: Yeah, no, I mean, Laguna is always a fun place to race at. It's obviously a very classic track with some really cool corners. The corkscrew is always a blast to drive through with an IndyCar. The races there is usually pretty good. It's obviously tricky there with the sand blowing into the track, making it usually quite low grip. It's definitely a challenge, but, yeah, I enjoy it. I think we've had some good improvement on road courses as a team here lately, so looking forward to continue that at Laguna.

Bruce Martin: We're in the midst of the five-race and four-weekend stretch. How well do you think your team is going to be able to hold up through all that, also the drivers? The team guys, I mean, that's a lot of demands on them to get the cars turned around, but the drivers, that's… No rest.

Marcus Ericsson: Yeah, no, it's definitely a tough, the toughest part of the year, apart from the month of May, really. So it's going to be hard for the guys. You know, they work really long hours. And for the drivers, yeah, it's tough. But, you know, we love go racing. So I think for us, it's just fun. I think it's more tough for the team personnel. But, you know, that's what we prepare for all year, to go through stretches like this. And I'm just very excited about it.

Bruce Martin: And also a couple of long flights.

Marcus Ericsson: Even when you travel by air, you're not really resting. No, it's definitely the travel takes a toll on you as well. But you just got to enjoy it and embrace it. And like I said, this is what you always look forward to all winter when you're waiting for the season, is to come into stretches like this with a lot of racing. So for me, it just makes me super excited.

Bruce Martin: And finally, we just came off the Iowa doubleheader in years past. It had a huge vibe. big-name concerts, big-name entertainment. There were four concerts, doubleheader weekend, big temporary suites being constructed. This year, it's more of a race, more of a grassroots crowd. And in some ways, how much do you miss the Hy-Vee days when they really blew it out?

Marcus Ericsson: Yeah, I mean, Hy-Vee was a great partner to the series, to the race here. And we're going to miss them this weekend to not have those activations. But at the same time, we've got to make the most of what we have. Hopefully we can put on two great shows, two great races, and show the pure IndyCar racing that we can have. So we've got to make the best of what we have. And that's the mindset I have for this weekend.

Bruce Martin: Marcus Ericsson, Andretti Global, good luck during the stretch races. I'm sure we'll chat again later. Thank you.

Bruce Martin: But thank you for joining us on Pit Pass Indy. Thank you. And now, let's hear from Marcus Armstrong of Meijer Shank Racing. Marcus Armstrong has joined us.

Bruce Martin: Marcus, after Iowa, we're off to Toronto and Monterey. Street course in one of the most beautiful cities in North America, Toronto. How do you like going to that race, and how physical is it?

Marcus Armstrong: I love going to Toronto. I always try and get out there early as well. Usually I have my sim session as early as possible, fly out there early, just have a couple of days before, you know, the business gets going. But I really enjoy racing there. Physically it's a tough one, you know, when the track really grips up towards the end of the race and usually the steering weight gets quite a bit higher, but especially last year for whatever reason. But, you know, it's business as usual as an IndyCar driver really.

Bruce Martin: How bumpy is that track? Because in the past, we've really seen a lot of bumps. There's a lot of different track surfaces. So how challenging is that?

Marcus Armstrong: It is super bumpy, and it's pretty much untouched since Dario was there. So it's kind of cool, or even further, go back ages ago, and it's the same. Yeah, it's cool. I mean, I enjoy that part of Toronto. It's a proper challenge to string a lap together. Even to get the car balance right from corner to corner is super tough. It's one of my favorite races of the year.

Bruce Martin: Favorite restaurant in Toronto. Where's one place that you always gotta make sure you go to?

Marcus Armstrong: Yeah, I've forgotten the name of it. It's a Greek restaurant just around the corner from the One Hotel. It's super cool. We eat like boatloads of hummus. It's brilliant. I suggest it.

Bruce Martin: Boatloads of hummus. It's gotta be good for the diet. Chickpeas are good for the diet. Yeah. Now, Monterey, very picturesque, very long, open, stretching road course. But there's still a lot of challenge for the drivers. What do you see? Is it the up-and-down nature of the track?

Marcus Armstrong: Yeah, it's tough physically, Monterey. Laguna Seca is very heavy steering nowadays. But, you know, I would say it's a very typical road course in the sense that we've got a nail qualifying. For whatever reason, 2023, it was very chaotic. Like, there was a lot of yellows, and it was very dirty offline. It was a little bit less so this last year, and I expect it to be, again, a little less this year. So qualifying well and just doing the basics right will be important there, just like any road course.

Bruce Martin: And our final question for Marcus Armstrong, Michael Shank's very high on your future. How well do you like that team and the way things are working out for you at Meyers Shank Racing?

Marcus Armstrong: Yeah, I'm enjoying it thoroughly. It's a great organization to be a part of and I'm lucky to be here, you know, and the cars are strong and we're getting better every single race. Yeah, honestly, it's great to be here in Iowa because I think we had a good test here, too. The car felt very strong. It was super close between everybody, but I'm happy where I am, certainly.

Bruce Martin: Hey, and also when you go to Toronto, is there a decent-sized population of people from New Zealand that you see during the weekend?

Marcus Armstrong: Not really, to be honest. There's a lot of Formula 1 fans from, like, the Montreal stuff, so I see a lot of people that used to support me, like, when I'm in my Formula 2 days, but no Kiwis. No Kiwis in Toronto. We got to change that.

Bruce Martin: Anyway, Marcus Armstrong, Meyers Schenck Racing. Good luck the rest of the season. We'll catch up with you later this year. Thank you for joining us on Pit Pass Indy. Rhenus VeeKay has put together a solid season at Dale Coyne Racing, and the driver from the Netherlands explains why in this exclusive Pit Pass Indy interview. Our old pal Rhenus VeeKay is back. Rhenus, we're heading off to Toronto and Laguna Seca and Monterey. What are those tracks like for you? I know everybody loves going up to Toronto. Who doesn't love going to Monterey?

Rinus VeeKay: Oh yeah, it's a good stretch. It's going to be some traveling for the teams, that's for sure. But no, I'm really excited. I think definitely Toronto and Long Beach were, not Long Beach, Toronto and Portland, there we go, were the best two races for the coin racing last year. So I'm looking forward to those. And I've always loved the Pacific Northwest, Canada, and California. So it's going to be a fun stretch. And I've had some good results there myself.

Bruce Martin: How do you feel about, I don't want to say rebirth of your career, because your career never really went away, but in some ways you've had some great runs with Dale Coyne Racing. And how important has that been for you this year?

Rinus VeeKay: Yeah, it's been really good for me. It's important. Definitely morale was down a little bit in the off season with everything happening. But now with Dale Coyne Racing, already six top tens in after 10 races, my best in my five years of IndyCar, has been seven top 10s in a season. So we're almost there. So it's been really good, having a lot of fun. And the team shows a lot of dedication and hard work.

Bruce Martin: I talked to Dale Coyne in the paddock last week, and he actually doesn't believe, other than willpower, that there's going to be a significant amount of driver movement next year. Do you sense that, or are you still one of the key guys that's looking?

Rinus VeeKay: Um, I mean, I'm on the market, uh, but I don't think a lot of stuff is happening in the off season. I think it really depends on willpower, what, what's happening with him. I think he's the, he's the, he's the big, the big link there. But, um, no, I don't think a lot of stuff is happening. And, uh, it doesn't seem like the market is very, very open right now.

Bruce Martin: And because of that, if willpower stays at team Penske, then do we really see very many changes at all? I don't think so.

Rinus VeeKay: I don't think so. Uh, you know, any car is crazy. Maybe somebody gets injured and there's a whole big thing happening. Who knows? But for now, it doesn't seem like it's going to be one of those crazy off seasons.

Bruce Martin: Now, if willpower moves, do you see that starting abdominal effect?

Rinus VeeKay: Well, I think then, in my eyes, I think David Maloukas will move up, and then somebody moves to that void seat, and that's where kind of the whole switcheroo happens. So I don't know what's going to happen, but I can see Will be the most wanted guy. Most wanted free agent for the first time in 20-something years. IndyCar was just at Iowa Speedway.

Bruce Martin: That used to be a race that had a huge vibe to it back when Hy-Vee was the sponsor because they had big name entertainment. They would have four concerts. Really seemed like a weekend festival. A little bit different vibe this year. As drivers, you're here to race, but you have to somehow sense that, that it's a little bit different. Maybe you will be watched by race fans as opposed to entertainment fans that wanted to see the concerts. But from a driver's point of view, how much do you really miss that vibe?

Rinus VeeKay: Oh, I miss it a lot, really. It was cool in the past when you would go to the track here and they were building these big, huge suites everywhere. It just, the track looked different because of all that stuff around it. I hate to say it, but it kind of looks like we're walking to a series test right now. But, you know, hopefully some fans will show up. I was looking at the ticket sales. There's still a lot of seats available, so we'll see. We'll see how it really ends up by Saturday and Sunday. But yeah, I'm going to race. I hope it's going to be a show with the changes they made to the aero package, the Indy 500 power we're running. So hopefully that makes it better. And we get a lot of people tuning in on TV.

Bruce Martin: You're in the midst of a five race and four weekend stretch. We know you're in great shape. But what about the crew guys, everybody else? Pretty grueling part of the schedule.

Rinus VeeKay: It is a grueling part of the schedule. I think everybody's doing well. Well, even the guy that got his foot run over, Nico, last weekend. We were fearing the worst for him with his ligaments and everything, but everything seems to be OK. quite okay and he's been working all week. He's out of his gray looking boot. I'm not sure what they call it, but the boot. He's out of that and he's moving a little wonky, but the plan is for him to do pit stops again. Yeah, I mean, he's a strong guy. He seems to suck it all up. Yeah, it just goes to show the risk involved with the crew, guys. Oh, yes, it is. It is. I mean, they are risking their lives as much as we drivers are, so really appreciate them. And he still put together a really quick pit stop for me when he got his foot ran over.

Bruce Martin: Arenas VeeKay, good luck during this grueling stretch of races here. Five races in a four weekend period. We'll catch up with you later this season, and thank you for joining us on Pit Pass Indy. Yes, thank you. Thank you. Stingray Robb is another driver who loves racing at Toronto and hopes to continue to make progress for Junecoast Hollinger Racing. But the driver from Payette, Idaho also shares a few thoughts on the value of IndyCar competing at Iowa Speedway in spite of last weekend's low attendance. Stingray Rob has joined us again. Stingray, we're off to Toronto, and then after that, it's gonna be Monterey. How do you like those two courses?

Sting Ray Robb: They're both pretty good. You know, I'm a big fan of Laguna. That's one of my favorite places that we get to go to. I had my last race win there, so fond memories of that place, and I just love the area as well. But Toronto, much of the same. I mean, I think that that track is kind of a tradition now on the in-car calendar, and I love street courses, so can't really miss out on that one.

Bruce Martin: The Toronto course, very bumpy, very demanding. Usually it's pretty hot and humid up there in Toronto. How challenging is that race?

Sting Ray Robb: It's very challenging. I think that's why we saw so many accidents there last year. Guys were challenging the conditions and the track wasn't giving them any room for air there. So that's why we ended up with guys in walls and flying cars in turn one.

Bruce Martin: So as we're at the halfway point of the season, we're a little past halfway. How would you assess the way your season is going and also Junko's Hollinger as a whole?

Sting Ray Robb: I think we're still building. You know, I think that this has been a great year with some highlights. I think Connor recently has done well in the Ovals, running well at Gateway, running well at Indy. And then our highlight from Long Beach being the top 10 there was really good. I think that our street course package has grown a lot better over the last six months or so. And I think that we'll continue to grow. So it's a young team. I think that we still have a little bit of learning to do, but every weekend I feel like we learn something. So I'd say that that's pretty good to have.

Bruce Martin: As far as your own development, how would you gauge it at the moment?

Sting Ray Robb: I think I'm a lot better than I was last year. So that's just, I think that's the natural growth of being an Indian car. You kind of learn the ropes. I understand the car a lot better now. I understand what I need from the car a lot better. And that just leads to a better package on race weekends.

Bruce Martin: We're coming off of a doubleheader weekend at Iowa. Had to dodge some raindrops early. It's one of the few short ovals left on the schedule with a different sponsor. Didn't quite have the same vibe as we noticed when Hy-Vee had the big concerts and everything. You have to still look at Iowa Speedway. It's a very important track to keep on the IndyCar schedule because you guys race ovals and you need more ovals.

Sting Ray Robb: Yeah, but we have to go to places that we're going to draw attention to. And it's unfortunate that Iowa wasn't the event this year that it has been in the past years, but we got to go to places that grow the series, grow the sport. And so for me, I think that, uh, I trust what, what we have as far as leadership goes in this series to get us there and get us to where we need to go. And, uh, if that means staying at Iowa, then we'll stay at Iowa. If that means going somewhere else, then I guess we'll have to go somewhere else.

Bruce Martin: So geography question, Portland obviously is the closest race to Idaho. Would Iowa be closer than Monterey?

Sting Ray Robb: Uh, I don't think it would be. I think there's a few extra States between here and there. And, uh, actually I've driven to Monterey in the past. Uh, so it's not too far of a place to drive. I don't think I want to drive to Iowa from Idaho.

Bruce Martin: How many hour drive would that be?

Sting Ray Robb: I think it's probably over 12 hours.

Bruce Martin: 12 hours. If I wanted to drive from here back to North Carolina, I believe it'd be 14. Yeah.

Sting Ray Robb: Yeah.

Bruce Martin: This is central, but it's still not the type of track where the stingray Rob caravan is going to make it down from, well, you'd be surprised.

Sting Ray Robb: You'd be surprised. We still got a lot of people here this weekend, but definitely nothing like Portland.

Bruce Martin: When you think of Americana, Midwestern vibe, nothing says that better than the cornfields of Iowa in many ways. So in some ways, what do you just think of the grassroots level of that track and the fans that come to it?

Sting Ray Robb: I think it's great to see the Americana, as you said. It's one of those places where I feel like we're in a very patriotic part of the country. And with someone as a partner like Freedom Service Dogs of America on the side of the car, it's been a cool program actually to see because just two hours from this track at Fort Dodge, correctional facility. They're doing a service dog training program there and their handlers get to train those dogs for up to a year of the first year of life. So I feel like Iowa is a great place to kind of see Americana happen, second chances happen, great opportunities happen. So it's inspiring. I like being here and it feels fun to be here. It's just a matter of hopefully having a good race here in the future.

Bruce Martin: But you follow that up going from Americana to an international race in Canada, Toronto, major metropolitan city, one of the great cities in North America. How much fun do you allow yourself to have on a weekend like that? Because you've got a race to run.

Sting Ray Robb: Yeah, I mean, it's a great city to tour around and get to see. They have great food there. I love Toronto food. But I also love the Canadian fans. We have a lot of friends from up north, and that's the one race they get to kind of show up at in full force. So we get to see a different kind of patriotism there, but all in honor of motorsports, which is pretty cool.

Bruce Martin: And finally, you go to Monterey, and who doesn't love going to Monterey? It's a beautiful place. Challenging course. What's your attitude toward that event?

Sting Ray Robb: I love that track. And I think that that's one of the places where I can just go and have fun and enjoy the track itself more than anywhere else we get to go to. And then obviously the weather is usually beautiful. The city is great. And I think that for us, our road course package has been growing throughout the season quite a bit. We've made leaps and bounds over the last few weekends, I think for sure, after growing off of mid Ohio. So I'm excited for Monterey in that aspect to apply what we've learned and hopefully roll off in a window that we can go challenge with.

Bruce Martin: Well, Stingray Rob, June Coast Hollinger Racing, good luck the rest of the season. We'll catch up with you later. And thank you for joining us on Pit Pass Indy.

Sting Ray Robb: Thank you.

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

Josef Newgarden: 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: Welcome back to Pit Pass Indy. Let's hear from two rookies who are heading to Toronto for their first IndyCar Series race in Canada. Although Louis Foster of Rayhall Letterman Lanigan Racing has raced in Canada in IndyNext by Firestone, this will be the first time Robert Schwartzman of Tel Aviv Israel has ever been to Canada. Here is my interview with Schwartzman for Pit Pass Indy.

Bruce Martin: Robert Schwartzman has joined us.

Bruce Martin: Robert, we're here on another short oval in Iowa. Do you like this type of racing? You did very well in qualifying for the Indianapolis 500. It's a little bit different track than the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, much shorter, more traffic. But how do you like this form of racing?

Robert Shwartzman: I like quite a lot, honestly. It felt quite fun. You know, oval racing, I started to get along with it. Yeah, I mean, the Indy 500, that was special. It's, like, unique. But, you know, coming to the small ovals as well, you know, I'm having fun. Gateway was quite fun, especially in the race, you know, when we finally got a bit the car in the right window. It was a lot of fun. And here, you know, we've tested a bit here. Still obviously getting some new stuff in. I think we misjudged a bit the gearing for today for quali. Also a bit the car balance was not ideal. The car felt quick. The car felt like it could have been more, but it is what it is. But yeah, I'm just getting to like it a lot.

Bruce Martin: We're a little past the halfway point of the IndyCar Series season, your rookie year. How do you assess your rookie season so far?

Robert Shwartzman: Well, I want to believe it's a decent one with what we have. Obviously, we struggle quite a lot with performance, with the car and stuff like that. So I try to, every time, maximize what I have, what I can with what I have. And yeah, just trying to do my best. And, you know, sometimes, you know, when we get things right, as in the 500 pole position, you saw it, you know, things can happen.

Bruce Martin: Hey, you get your first international race in IndyCar next weekend in Toronto, so that's got to be an interesting trip. You've never been to Toronto before?

Robert Shwartzman: No, I haven't. I've been only flying by through Canada, but never been inside Canada, so it's going to be my first time visiting Canada. And also, return of a street race. You've got to love that. Yeah, for sure. I mean, I did a couple of laps in the sim, and honestly, it seemed like a fun track.

Bruce Martin: And also, many drivers around the world have heard of Laguna Seca in Monterey, California. Have you ever had a chance to drive there before in any other form of racing? And if not, how excited are you to take a spin in an IndyCar next week in the race at Laguna Seca later this month?

Robert Shwartzman: I mean, I really like a lot Laguna. I've played video games driving that track. It's really fun. And at the beginning of the year, we did one day of testing there. The track is really cool. So I'm really looking forward for that.

Bruce Martin: We'll catch up with you later, and thank you for joining us on Pit Pass Indy.

Bruce Martin: Thank you. And now, let's hear from Louie Foster of Rayhall-Linnerman-Lanigan Racing.

Bruce Martin: Louie Foster is joining us now. Louie, you've had a pretty good run of street course Firestone Fast Six qualifications. Right, Colson. road course, Firestone, fast six, street course, road course, all of those types of courses that aren't all. So how excited are you that after Iowa, it's off to Toronto, a street course, and then a road course at Laguna Seca?

Louie Foster: Yeah, I mean, obviously, first things first need to focus on this weekend. This is a very important weekend for points. But yeah, obviously, when we go back to Toronto, I haven't raced there. And now God, nearly three years, two years or so. Last time I was there, I won both races and double pole. And, you know, I really enjoyed the track, so I'm really looking forward to racing there again, honestly. And I love the circuit, I love the city. So I'm looking forward to that. And then also Laguna Seca, that race falls on my birthday, so that'll be fun. That'll be a good one. So, yeah, I think it's going to be an interesting couple of weeks for sure. Everyone's going to be quite tired by the end of Laguna Seca, I'm sure. But, yeah, going to those two next tracks, I'm very much looking forward to it.

Bruce Martin: You know, Monterey, California's got some great restaurants, so you shouldn't have much trouble going to a great place for your birthday dinner.

Louie Foster: Yeah, yeah, don't worry. I've already got something booked up. You got it booked up? Yeah. Care to share? It's a little Italian place in Monterey that I know quite well.

Bruce Martin: Oh, well, Italian food in Monterey, especially the seafood, outstanding. You haven't been to Toronto in a while, but that's another place that has great restaurants. Do you have any favorites picked out there?

Louie Foster: Yeah, Black and Blue Steakhouse is quite nice there. There's a few old English pubs as well there that I like. I've been to Toronto quite a lot. I know the city quite well. So, yeah, I do enjoy going back there.

Bruce Martin: As far as your season, you've shown progress, you've shown improvement, you've nailed it in qualifications. So how about you assess your first year in IndyCar?

Louie Foster: We're not finished yet. Still got about halfway to go. More or less, I think. God, it's flown by. Jeez, hasn't it? Wow. Anyway, I think definitely positives and negatives. You know, I'm quite harsh on myself. I think some people look at my season, especially after the last few qualifications, and look at it as a successful season, but at the end of the day, you know, being… Hard on myself as I am. We're 21st or 20th or something in points. Not where we want to be, obviously. Working hard to try and rectify that in the last seven races, for sure. But yeah, I think we've shown we've got the speed and we've got the pace to be able to compete up front. We just need to be able to convert that into a race result, simple as that. And that's going to be something that 100% we're looking to focus on for the rest of the year and definitely through to next season. Because for sure, something that I'm disappointed about.

Bruce Martin: Did things change the day Jay Fry walked in the door as president of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing? Because it really does seem like there's a whole new vibe and energy at the team. I feel like Kathy would answer that better.

Louie Foster: Do you want to? Obviously, I didn't really know RLL before Jay, really. You know, he's kind of been my president the entire time I've been here, more or less. Obviously, we had Steve beforehand. But I didn't have too much communication with Steve. And yeah, I mean, Jay's an amazing guy. I mean, everyone knows him in the paddock. He's a great guy to talk to. He's a great guy to be around. And he's been influential in bringing sponsors, bringing the team morale up, managing the team as he has. So yeah, 100%. You know, he's been a great addition. And we're looking forward to, with more and more time with him, I'm sure it'll only get better.

Bruce Martin: But he has this football coach mentality where he likes to fire everybody up. And how important has that been for you as a young driver?

Louie Foster: Yeah, massive. I mean, the guy's really, really good at doing that kind of stuff and being very but very helpful to everyone in the organization, especially when we have difficult results. You know, he gives us the ability to focus forward and focus on the important things. So yeah, once again, for us, where we've had a bit of definitely some morale issues with some poor results, as anyone would, he's been able to fire us back up and get us going again.

Bruce Martin: And I don't really want to use this, because Bobby Rayholz basically is the team owner. He's the team dad. But is Graham like the older big brother? To me?

Louie Foster: Yes. Yeah, I mean, yeah. Graham's been obviously massively helpful to me. You know, we get on really, really well, and we're quite close. And I think he's a great guy to obviously have around. And I'm glad that he's stuck around for as long as he has, because it means that I can feed off of his knowledge, right? So Graham's a super talented driver. He's super fast. And yeah, he's a great person for me to have alongside me.

Bruce Martin: Well, Louis Foster, you're having a great rookie season. There's still a lot left in the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series season. Good luck the rest of the way. We'll catch up with you later this year. And thank you for joining us on Pit Pass Indy. Thank you. Callum Eilat is Schwarzman's teammate at Prima Racing. Here is a quick interview with the driver from the United Kingdom who returns to Canada this weekend. Callum Eilat, we're a little past the halfway point of the season. How would you categorize your season so far with Prima Racing?

Callum Ilott: It's been tough a lot of times. Results-wise hasn't been good, but in terms of potential, up until last stint, it's always been strong.

Bruce Martin: And also we're back on short oval. You didn't really get a chance to run many short ovals last year because of your WEC program. But what's it like to be back out here? It is a unique way of racing, far different than what you came up with, came up on, I'm sorry.

Callum Ilott: Yeah, I love it. I mean, it's just a shame that we're not able to run the lanes that we used to here. But normally, well, back then it was a really fun race and being able to put the car in various different positions is pretty nice. And yeah, they're quick, fast paced, quite dizzy afterwards. Did the highline practice seem to help today? It definitely put some rubber down there. And looking at the Indynex, they were using it a little bit. Just depends on how many marbles we put up there before there's a yellow.

Bruce Martin: And also, quickly, looking ahead to the next two races, Toronto, great street race, bumpy track, narrow course, big city. And then you also go to Laguna Seca, one of the great road racing facilities in North America. So how do those two events stack up for you?

Callum Ilott: Yeah, I think we do the best we can here, get the results we can, and then I think I look forward to Toronto and Laguna. Laguna's been a good one for me in years past, and Toronto I've had some good speed at, so yeah, I'm pretty excited for this.

Bruce Martin: Well Callum, I like good luck, and thank you for joining us on Pit Pass Indy. Thank you.

Bruce Martin: Connor Daly and Santino Ferrucci traded words on social media after the July 6th race at Mid-Ohio that drew some interest from IndyCar steward Max Pappas. He invited Daly and Ferrucci to talk to each other after the driver's meeting at Iowa last weekend. I talked to both drivers afterwards.

Bruce Martin: Let's first hear from Santino Ferrucci.

Santino Ferrucci: Oh, it was good. You know, I think we were both under the impression that we did it intentionally. And obviously, now we're both under the impression that it was honest mistakes. So no, we're good. We're looking forward to racing each other hard today and tomorrow and throughout the rest of the season. So make sure we put on a show for everybody.

Conor Daly: Thank you. Here is Connor Daly's thoughts. Oh yeah, people are actually very upset by the wonderful conversation we had, honestly. Max Pappas got us together. I think it's a little bit less violent and awful than people think it is, but a lot of comments. Wild quote game. Yeah, I mean, it is what it is. I mean, realistically, there's a race to be run, and hopefully it's obviously a smart race. There's no reason. Like I told Santino to his face, I was like, dude, you're in a great position. You have a great spot all year long. There's no reason. to do something that would kind of take us both out of a spot to have a good day. So and like we shook hands and all. I mean, it was fine. I think this whole I actually think Santino plays up the quotes really well for like the Internet. I think he's very good at that. And obviously, I never lie about what I want to say. But, yeah, if people actually saw us, like, communicating, you'd be like, oh, that's not as violent as we thought it would be. But, I mean, again, I don't think opinions change. Like, it's not like all of a sudden I'm like, that guy's my best friend. You know what I mean? That's for sure. So, you know, we'll see what happens.

Bruce Martin: Hey, every race driver is going to do what's best for him. So how do you get other drivers to go up high in the race?

Conor Daly: I think you're going to have to force them up there. I don't know. We'll see what happens. I think it just depends on the start, how too wide we stay for how many laps. And are you going to tiptoe your way up there in the beginning to try to feel it out? I just did. You got to go where there's clean air. I think right now, these cars with so much drag on the top side and not a lot of downforce on the floor, I feel like you're still going to want clean air any time you get it. Thank you.

Bruce Martin: And now, a few words from little Dave, David Maloukas of AJ Foyt Racing.

SPEAKER_11: So did you stop at the world's largest truck stop? I didn't, because I was already so late as I normally am. So I didn't have time. The engineers were already screaming at me.

Bruce Martin: I could tell by the fact you didn't get the gold teeth that obviously you didn't go in and see the dentist at the I-80 truck stop. Yeah, that's definitely what it is. But who knows? Maybe with some good results, I'll hit the dentist after the race. Well, you got many food options in that joint. Yeah. But you're right.

Bruce Martin: It is an amusement park in terms of truckers. Plus, they're having Truck Fest this weekend. So you might want to catch that on the way back to Chicago.

SPEAKER_11: Yeah. And then if they're on their way to Chicago, they can also stop at H&E Bar and Grill. It's really good food over there. I highly recommend it.

Bruce Martin: Take care of the people that take care of you.

Bruce Martin: Exactly. Exactly. 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. We wrap up today's show with Penske Corporation President Buck Denker as he gives his thoughts on last weekend's Sukup IndyCar race weekend at Iowa. Denker oversees Penske Entertainment and IndyCar, which was the promoter of the IndyCar doubleheader at Iowa Speedway. Although both races were much better on the track than after NASCAR added pavement in the turns prior to the 2024 race, it was the first race in the post-Hy-Vee era when the supermarket chain combined big-name entertainment with two IndyCar races. Danker expected a drop-off in attendance as two disappointing crowds attended the race. We touch on those topics and more in this exclusive interview with Bud Danker for PitPass Indy. We're wrapping up the Su-Kup IndyCar Race Weekend in Iowa with Penske Corporation President Bud Danker But both races were very good. I think much better than a lot of people expected. Sunday's race had 382 on-track passes, 229 for position. The race winner, Alex Pillow, had 28 on-track passes. So in a lot of ways, you got to feel good about the racing. Unfortunately, I think you don't feel that great about the crowd. So if you could give your viewpoint of how the race weekend went.

Bud Denker: Yeah, you know, it was interesting weekend, um, you know, to back up a little bit, you have to remember that in, um, in February, um, you know, Hy-Vee notified us that their, their strategies had changed relative to marketing and business strategies that changed. So they've, um, as a result of that, they pulled back as you can, as we know, considerably relative to their support of the event, still a supporter of the event. Um, but in a smaller, different way without the entertainment we've had in the past three years. So. Um, you know, from that late notice, we were scrambling obviously to get the team together. And I want to thank Kristen Stepinski, um, of, uh, formerly of team Penske who stepped in to be our general manager there. And Michael Montrey and his team and the, most of the Detroit grand prix team, um, Kylie and the others that have stepped in there to help put the event on, because you just don't show up and go racing. Do you, you've got to have months and months and months of planning. And, and we did that, um, in the market of, uh, of Iowa. So the market is a smaller market, as we know, and we had a lot of big crowds there with the entertainment, but certainly we knew the attendance was going to be a challenge from day one when you start having a plan so, so, so late. So as a result of that, we saw the attendance there. Yes, it was smaller than we'd expected in previous years. However, back to the on-track action, you know, I think there were a lot of people, drivers included, that felt that the racing was not going to be very good because it wasn't that great in 2024. And, um, you know, we've heard the same thing. However, if you think back to Milwaukee, think back to St. Louis last year, and also Nashville, where there were some, um, concerns about the quality of racing. But I think the quality of racing concerns were put aside because we had some good racing on Saturday. We had even better racing on Sunday when the rubber. was on the track from the previous day. So happy with the quality of racing for sure. Um, but certainly, um, we'd like to see more people in the grandstands Bruce.

Bruce Martin: So what is the future of that event? Will it be on the schedule in 2026?

Bud Denker: Well, you gotta look at a number of factors as we build the schedule, which should be out sometime in probably mid August in the next month or so, actually. A number of factors go into, you know, the race schedule. First of all, our partners at Fox and the windows they have and so when you race, what dates. You also got to look at the factors of the market, the markets that we race in. You don't want to be oversaturated in one market. You want to go to markets that are willing to support putting on a big event. Every one of our races should be a big event. You want to ensure you have diversity of racing, meaning that we want short ovals. We want, um, of course, the Indy 500 Speedway, we want to have a road courses, street courses. So our series has been identified. And valued because of the diversity of racetracks we race on, which means we have the best drivers in the world that can race any of these racetracks. So those factors all go in to where we're going to, um, race. And then also I mentioned the quality of racing too, is very, very important. You don't want to have a parade. You want to have a quality race that people are excited to watch, both doing and at the track. So those things all go into our determination, Bruce. And as a result of those factors, you know, we'll come back in the next month or so with a schedule that will be with or without Iowa. But remember, ovals are important to us. And the right ovals in the right markets are important to us. That's what I'll say about the schedule. We'll know more here in a few weeks.

Bruce Martin: But one of the things that both the drivers and Roger Penske have said in the past is that the series needs more ovals. which was one reason why you stepped in to help revive Iowa Speedway. You revived it to the point that NASCAR decided to bring a cup series race there. They own the track, of course. So in a lot of ways, it's still a valuable venue to have on an IndyCar schedule. Is that what made this past weekend a little bit difficult?

Bud Denker: Well, it is a valuable place and we've, you know, when I walk around there and I see all the work that we've done, all the updates we've done, the painting, We painted every suite, if you remember, three years ago. We painted every staircase, every railing and the grandstands. We did a lot of work there to make this place presentable to the public after it had been dormant for many years since NASCAR bought it, I think back in 2013 or so, 2014. So I think we revived it, brought it to life, which I'm proud of. And as I walk around, I see all the work that we did. So yeah, it's, you know, it's, We'll see where places in the schedule next year. Um, but certainly, um, I'm proud of the team's efforts that went into reviving this track. It is a terrific track. If you watch that track from the grandstands, you can see every part of that track. You can see every turn, um, every pass. So it's a great place to go racing and the quality of racing, of course, has gotten better. Um, but it certainly wasn't what it was two years ago. But I think we had 1,200 passes in one race and 1,500 in the other race. So all those factors, as I mentioned, will go into our decisions relative to the schedule.

Bruce Martin: With the NASCAR pavement, as I call it, in the lower lanes in turns one and two and three and four that was done by NASCAR in order to help their race with some areas of the track that they thought needed some help, do you think another year of aging in the Iowa weather could really improve it even further?

Bud Denker: Oh, certainly we've seen that multiple times, wherever you go racing as those tracks cure, um, with the heat. And with the coldness in the winter times, um, we've seen it time and time again. Uh, look at the examples around the schedule and around their tracks that get better as the tracks mature. So we saw it this year as well. Um, I think also the fact of having the Highline practice that we started doing last year certainly helps. But I also think having a high line practice is important because it gives the drivers the confidence to go up and try the high line. And I love watching Conor Daly. I love watching Scott McLaughlin. Scott had to start on Saturday from the very back. And his words to me were, I'm going to use the high line. You just watch. And watching what Conor did and other drivers, the Prema cars were up there using it as well early. So Will Powers' comments after the race on Saturday were, thank you, Conor. I watched you go up there and you gave me the confidence to go up there. So I think more maturing of the track will certainly make it better. And I think the confidence of the drivers will raise as a result of that. So as I mentioned, those are, it's a great place to go to. We love going to a race to the, uh, the track in Iowa we have for many, many years, decades now. And, uh, but we'll see what happens next year.

Bruce Martin: Are you considering moving it to a one race weekend with a Saturday night race?

Bud Denker: Well, it would have to be a one race weekend, Bruce, because remember, we're adding Arlington, the Arlington Grand Prix next year in Texas. So we want to keep our schedule at 17 races. That's important for a lot of factors, important for Fox, important for the series, important for the teams that have sponsors to represent. All those factors go into a 17 race schedule. So, you know, it already would be a one race event relatively to the fact we've added a new race in Texas. We also would love to have the night races that you mentioned as well. But those night races are tricky because they've got to fit into our partner's schedule. And we've chosen to go with Fox for great reasons. And we're so happy to have every single one of our races on network. But finding the windows at nighttime is tricky. However, we did see in St. Louis at the Gateway Race, we're having a Sunday night race. for the first time work for us. So we thank Fox for giving us the ability to, to look at different options of racing at night, racing different times of the day. Um, and, uh, but the nighttime races are tricky based upon the windows that we get from our, our network partner.

Bruce Martin: Well, one thing that needs to be pointed out as Fox has a regular Saturday night, major league baseball package that they show every Saturday night. So that would have to be something that would be an obstacle to having a Saturday night race at Iowa. Sunday night worked out pretty well at Gateway. I'm going to bring up an interesting name, a man who helped you in your efforts to save Iowa Speedway with his company at Hy-Vee, Randy Edeker. He's still great friends with you. He's still great friends with the Penske Corporation. He's a guy who understands the state of Iowa. Could you see him as maybe being a guy that you could bring on board for that one event to maybe help work, help promote boots on the ground with the people in Iowa? in more of a 12, 11 a month, a year promotional effort that he might be able to oversee?

Bud Denker: Well, Randy, as you mentioned, was former chairman, CEO of Hy-Vee and retired last year. And, and, uh, we're blessed that, uh, Graham and Bobby Rahal brought him to our, our attention, you know, several years ago when they came on board as the sponsor of their race team. And from there, we obviously developed a very great, great, good relationship with, um, Randy, with Jeremy Gosch, with Aaron Weiss and Anna Stormer and others at Hy-Vee and Donna Tweeton and others that became not only our partnership at Hy-Vee, the racetrack in Iowa, but became great, great personal friends. Um, Randy retired this past year, as I mentioned, um, still is a great friend. In fact, he personally bought a suite at the track this week to have his family and have his friends there as well, too. But Randy also, to your point, uh, Bruce reached out. to various sponsors and various companies. And we had some of those companies that Hy-Vee had last year as sponsors this year with suites. I saw Google, for instance, as one example of that. So, we're happy with him as a partner. He raised his hand after the decision was made by the current organization to step back their support and said, how can I help? So, He was instrumental as well as some others at Hy-Vee to help us get the partners and sponsors this year, and we can't thank him enough. I also want to thank Steve Sukup. Steve, after the decision was made by Hy-Vee to pull back, Michael Montry and I called Steve, and he's obviously a great Iowa-based company, sells storage systems and silos and innovation tools to the farming community, and we asked him, would he be able to help us out from a title sponsorship standpoint? It took Steve about 24 hours was all to say, I'm here to help, love to do it. Steve and his company have been a long-term partner of IndyCar. Can't thank him enough, can't thank them enough for their support, their passion, their enthusiasm for helping us out when we needed some help in a very short period of time. So thank you, Steve.

Bruce Martin: Well, the reason I brought up Randy's name is maybe more of a full-time in Iowa type guy who could help you promote your team, Michael Montrey, everybody that works on the Detroit Grand Prix. They've got several races that they're involved with the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix the week after the Indianapolis 500. Then you have Iowa, and then you have the season ending race at Nashville that Penske entertainment is in charge of. And also. you're in charge of the Grand Prix of Arlington, although you've done a different model there by bringing in Bill Miller as a president to help run things in Texas. Could you possibly see the best way to get Iowa to succeed would be to have a model similar to what you're doing with Arlington, Texas?

Bud Denker: It could be for sure. And but Randy's got full time. He's got he's why he's retired. He's got he's never been more busy if you talk to him. So I think it takes a village as we know the term and And I think that's true for the help that we're going to need. And I remember we're not based in Iowa. Um, we don't know the people to call there like we do in Detroit and some other markets that we are in strong in. So, um, all those factors will go into what happens to, uh, to Iowa next year. But I'll also say, you mentioned all those, those tracks that, that. Penske entertainment now overseas, you know, from, from the Detroit race to long beach that we bought this past year. And Jim McAleon has been there 50 years, putting that race on. He does an amazing job, Arlington. Nashville now for the first time is under Anne Fisher on an organization. Um, the Milwaukee folks in the Milwaukee mile state fairgrounds with Sherry black, they've taken that one on themselves this year, which we appreciate. And, um, we're going to have a great event there. They've already sold so many tickets already for their, their Milwaukee event, which we're very excited about. In fact, I'll be in Milwaukee on this Friday. Um, with them to review the track. I also want to thank the state of Wisconsin who's put in $9 million of improvements. To that racetrack for us over the last three years. It's a very, very proper track. Now the Milwaukee mile, all new walls, all new fence from turn one to turn two, uh, all new, uh, lanes going out of the pit lane, uh, smooth as can be. So we're going to have a great event at Milwaukee come up here in a few weeks as well. Thanks to the folks that, uh, Sherry block and her team at the state fairgrounds.

Bruce Martin: So as we wrap up here, I'll just ask you, you've listened to some people in the paddock, you listen to some team people and they'll say that we're not coming back to Iowa from the crowds that were there. It's not going to happen. Here's your opportunity to say whether those reports are true or incorrect.

Bud Denker: Well, we haven't made the decision yet. So those true, those reports are incorrect. All right. So there's a lot of factors, as I mentioned, going into the schedule for next year. Um, new markets. Um, but you have to also remember, as I said before, the diversity of our tracks is very important and, and ovals are very important. So Hy-Vee has value. True value because of obviously the fact that provides us, you know, I would say good racing now, can it be greater in the future? Sure. It can be. Um, but also we have to look at the market dynamics as we mentioned about and being able to put on a great event. Every one of our. Tracks should not be a race. It should be an event. It must be an event And that market dynamic is very important as we go into it So I go back to your question say reports are incorrect because we have not made the decision yet We have not announced our schedule yet, but we will know that answer in the next few weeks But I also know that any time in business, there'll be a post-mortem of any event and when you look over the ticket sales

Bruce Martin: And you asked yourself, what could we have done different? So I'll ask you, what could you have done different to sell more tickets?

Bud Denker: Well, having obviously a lot more time to do that would have been, uh, obviously most helpful. And, um, you know, getting a team on the ground there sooner, Bruce, like we have now, of course, will certainly help us for the future with Kristen there on the ground. Um, it's certainly important. Remember she got there about March, April, and, uh, as a result of that, it wasn't. They shouldn't have much time. We didn't have much time to develop a plan, but, um, cause remember Hy-Vee in the last three years was the promoter. Um, they advertise in their stores, they advertise with ticket master because of the entertainment. They'd all that they did the heavy lifting. We were the operators. They were the promoters. And when you change that model so quickly, it's not easy to do. So, as I say, you just don't show up on a Thursday or Friday and go racing. You take, it takes months and months and months, and sometimes years, like we've seen in Arlington, like we saw in Detroit. to develop a marketplace to correctly and do it the right way. So like I say, we'll see what happens in Iowa, but I'm thankful for having a good race, strong competitive racing. And like I say, we'll know in a few months or a few weeks here, rather a few weeks, what our 2020 schedule will look like.

Bruce Martin: And finally, I will say as a promoter of any race, I'm sure you didn't expect to be out there on Friday and see a tornado a mile and a half away.

Bud Denker: No, I didn't. And I was, you know, it was interesting. We had, you know, Pat Warren, he oversees many tracks. He's out of Kansas. He's seen a lot of bad weather. Tyler Clement, thank Tyler for his, all his support. Tyler runs the Iowa Speedway from an operations standpoint. But when you see those guys nervous, because they've been through a lot of these, you better get nervous yourself. And our job was to protect the safety of the people that were there, the fans, the crews, This was everybody and Michael mantra and my job was to ensure the safety of our folks, the attendees and thank God for all of us. The tornado funnel cloud went by us, didn't come at us, but it was a very anxious and nervous period there on Friday when you saw what could have happened that thankfully did not happen.

Bruce Martin: Well, one thing that I think works in Iowa Speedway's favor is it's built as a bowl into the ground, which would have probably been helpful had it actually came toward the Speedway, because a lot of times the way tornadoes work, they pretty much hit highest ground. So still, it's the debris cloud that would cause a lot of damage.

Bud Denker: Well, and there's a lot of debris inside that Speedway, as you know, inside those garages. So now we're thankful that the good Lord protected us in that one. Nothing happened both at our track, but also nothing happened in the city of Newton either. Um, but it was the nasty weather that we avoided and the show had to go on. And despite the few weepers in the morning that the crew did a great job, um, you know, tip off and his team, Tyler Clements and their team from Iowa, you know, they had the track ready to go both mornings. Far more in advance. I thought we were, because if you look around that track, there were hundreds of weepers and, uh, they did a good job in getting them cleaned up to have safe racing.

Bruce Martin: Well, Bud, I know that you love Iowa. I love Iowa. I think it's a great track and a great part of the country. And the fans of Iowa seem to really love racing. They did in the beginning when that track opened in 2007, all the way up to the COVID years. Then when Hy-Vee took over, we saw great crowds come out because there was some great entertainment in addition to the racing. So I'm sure that in your heart, you want to try to find a way to save Iowa.

Bud Denker: Well, I would. And, uh, because I do, as you said, I love the people there. They call them, you know, Minnesota nice and Iowa. Nice. It's certainly, um, worthy of that phrase because the people there are just, uh, are just so humble, um, hardworking, um, high values. We love that. Um, but, uh, like I say, we'll, um, we'll know more about that decision here in a few weeks.

Bruce Martin: Well, Bud, I know you've always been a straight shooter. Whenever I ask you a question, you usually give a direct answer. So we'll wait and see what happens with Iowa. Hopefully things work out. If not, I'm sure there's going to be a tremendous 2026 NTT IndyCar schedule announced soon. But thank you for taking some time out to walk us through everything that happened at Iowa Speedway in 2025. I know it's a business day. at the Penske Corporation, so you've got to get back to your real job here. But I want to thank you for your time, and thank you for joining us today on Pit Pass Indy presented by Penske Truck Rental.

Bud Denker: Great. Thank you, Bruce, for having me on this early in the morning. I appreciate it. Thank you.

Bruce Martin: And that puts a checkered flag on this edition of Pit Pass Indy presented by Penske Truck Rental. We want to thank our guest, Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing. Christian Lungard of Arrow McLaren, Marcus Ericcson of Andretti Global, Marcus Armstrong of Meyers Schenck Racing, Rinas Vike of Dale Coyne Racing, Stingray Robb of Juncos Hollinger Racing, Robert Schwartzman and Callum Eilat of Prima Racing, Santino Ferrucci of A.J. Foyt Racing, Connor Daly of Juncos Hollinger Racing, David Maloukas of A.J. Foyt Racing, and Bud Denker, president of the Penske Corporation, for joining us on today's special bonus edition of 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. 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.