Road America wrap-up with Alex Palou, Kyle Kirkwood, Santino Ferrucci, Rinus VeeKay, Will Power and Scott McLaughlin

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 Speed Sport. So let's drop the green flag on this episode of Pit Pass Indy. Welcome to this bonus episode 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. It was a very hot weekend at America's National Park of Speed, Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, for the June 22nd Xpel Grand Prix at Road America. The beautiful 4.014-mile 14-turn road circuit is a favorite of IndyCar competitors and the spectators, and Sunday's race showcased why it is so popular. There were 348 on-track passes, including 345 for position, 96 passes in the top 10, and 29 passes in the top five. All those numbers are second all time among IndyCar Series races at Road America. There were 11 lead changes among nine different drivers, but in the end, it was Alex Pillow who returned to victory lane for the sixth time in nine races this season. Polo expanded his lead to 93 points over Andretti Global's Kyle Kirkwood with the victory in a race of varying fuel and tire strategies as the season passed its halfway point with eight races remaining on the 17 race schedule. Palou's win continued a historic storyline this season in the series. Palou has six wins and Kyle Kirkwood three victories and are the only victorious drivers in 2025. The last time two drivers dominated the first half of an IndyCar series season came in 1980 when Bobby Unser and Johnny Rutherford were the only winners through nine races. On this special bonus episode of Pit Pass Indy, we have exclusive interviews with both Alex Pillow and Kyle Kirkwood. Both interviews were at the beginning of the race weekend at Road America, but both drivers look ahead to next week's upcoming race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Steam Corners, Ohio. First off will be the driver who scored his sixth win in the first nine races in 2025, including the 109th Indianapolis 500. It's Alex Pellot, who joins me for this exclusive Pit Pass Indy interview that was conducted before his win in the June 22nd XPEL Grand Prix at Road America. Our old buddy Alex Pillow is joining us now. Alex, a lot has been made about Kyle Kirkwood's stretch here where he's won back-to-back races and both him and Pat O'Ward have gotten it into the 70 range behind you. But in some ways, do you feel like what they're doing is like the sound of thunder way off in the distance?

Alex Palou: No, I mean, I'm glad that Although Kyle has done an amazing start of the season, we're still ahead and that we had even a better one. So that makes me feel super proud of the work we've done. But it doesn't feel like it's super far. Like honestly, I think it's still very early on. And as he's won two races in a row, he can win five. Like who knows? So him or any other driver, and then suddenly you're back there tied on points and stuff. So I think we need to feel proud of what we've done, but still pushing, man. The way we've opened this gap was by winning a lot of races, and we need to get back on that track for sure.

Bruce Martin: Maybe a better way of putting it is in a best-of-seven series, do you feel like you had a 3-1 lead?

Alex Palou: Yeah, I mean, it's great. Like, it's been, as I said, it's been amazing. Obviously, what happened at Detroit and maybe not being able to fight more up front in St. Louis doesn't help, but if you look overall at how everything started since March, late February, it's been a hell of a season so far.

Bruce Martin: Now some people will look at your season and say after the Indy 500 you had what a lot of people term Indy 500 winner's hangover because the finish at Detroit was 27th, your worst finish of the year, and then at Gateway Pretty good finish, it was a top 10 finish, but not necessarily, and also that's a short oval and you'll be the first to admit, not exactly your strongest type of tracks, but in some ways do you feel that as the Indy 500 winner you do get a little drugged down to a degree?

Alex Palou: No, I mean, we were fighting for the race at Detroit until somebody clipped us on the back. We were at the moment running top five and we were comfortable there trying to attack for the podium. So there was no hangover there. If you look at St. Louis, there was hangover, but it was just like lack of pace instead of an Indy 500 hangover. We just struggled a lot in St. Louis. Overall, like all weekend, but especially the race. And it was tough. Yeah, hopefully next week we're testing in Iowa and we can get back on track in those short ovals.

Bruce Martin: Does it amaze you that we're almost to the 4th of July and so far there's only been two drivers that have won IndyCar races?

Alex Palou: Yeah, that's pretty unusual. I think we need to understand that this is not normal. This is not going to be the norm for the year or for the future. It just shows that Kyle has done an amazing job this season, and I think we've done as well. So yeah, hopefully we can keep it that way, like I would be pumped, but it's going to change.

Bruce Martin: You're the coolest guy in the cockpit, but in some ways you look at that five races and a four weekend schedule coming up in July as this is going to really test a lot of drivers.

Alex Palou: Oh, for sure. It's a big stretch. It's tough for drivers, for teams, for fans, media, for everybody. But yeah, you have almost 30% of the season right there in one month, in five weeks, as you said. So it's going to be tough, and we need to keep working, keep our heads down, and hopefully we can come out alive after that.

Bruce Martin: And a lot has been made of your sponsor at road America, the famous red solo cup. Do you feel that fraternity houses, sorority houses, basement bars, and just holding them all bars all over the country. Now I have a reason to cheer for Alex below.

Alex Palou: I would love that. I would love if they can feel closer to the tank car and to the CGR car. The car looks great and hopefully we can get it up there on victory lane. I think it's also perfect timing. It's probably one of the funnest weekends to be at at the racetrack here at Road America and hopefully we get a lot of people cheering for us.

Bruce Martin: Did they have anything like that in Barcelona? No. Spain is more famous for their sangrias and wines than necessarily for their keggers.

Alex Palou: There's a lot of parties, but we don't really, it's not usual, so I'm obviously very used to seeing these on the films and great movies that I've watched since I was a kid, but I've never partied with a solo cup, so we might change that on Sunday.

Bruce Martin: Is there a game such as Beer Pong in Spain?

Alex Palou: No. I mean, nowadays, I think yes, just because of being able to see it on social media and movies. But no, we've never played it there.

Bruce Martin: But in some ways, the paint scheme of the car looks pretty cool. It's a little reminiscent of the red that Scott Dixon had a lot of success with when it was a Target car.

Alex Palou: I know, it looks good. It's red, it looks fast. Hopefully, it's the same fast when we're out on track. But yeah, so far, it's looking great.

Bruce Martin: And our final question with Alex Polo, a lot was made out of this week. Nolan Siegel, some of the things that he got caught saying over the radio, generally that won't happen with you because you don't generally say controversial things over the team radio, but in a lot of ways. Do you think it's fair or unfair that in auto racing the fans and the media can eavesdrop on the radio communications whereas if that was an NFL game nobody would have heard the trash talk because they'd be so far removed from the field of action?

Alex Palou: I think we should embrace moments like that whenever it's not super disrespectful. I think he was angry. I'm not like supporting the message but I'm I'm supporting that we're driving at 220 miles an hour car, we're fighting for the race, we're fighting for our career, and everybody gets a bit anxious when they're on the road car, so imagine Inset and IndyCar, so as long as you're not being super disrespectful. In my opinion, that should be fine. And I think it's good for the fans to be able to hear that and to be able to know how different drivers react and what we think when we're in the car. So yeah, I think obviously it was not good. It's not what you need to hear all the time, but it's the first time he's done it, so it should be fine.

Bruce Martin: Well, Alex Polo, good luck the rest of the season and we'll catch up with you some more. I imagine some of those will be winners interviews after some of the races this season, but good luck in your fight for the championship. And thank you for joining us on Pit Pass Indy.

Alex Palou: Thank you, Bruce.

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. Kyle Kirkwood arrived at Road America third in points, trailing the leader, Alex Pillow, by 75 points. Kirkwood finished fourth to Pillow at Road America and moved in the second place in the standings. However, Polo's points lead grew to 93 points as the series heads into the July 6th Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio. Kirkwood had two straight wins heading into Road America, three overall in 2025, when he joined me for this exclusive Pit Pass Indy interview.

Kyle Kirkwood: I haven't done anything since the last time I spoke to you.

Bruce Martin: I know that.

Kyle Kirkwood: Okay.

Bruce Martin: But you probably will, which is why I only have a couple of questions because I talk to you quite often, but as the week's gone on and you arrive at Road America, now you have to really feel like the excitement of being in the championship race, even though it's more than a race for some points, you're one of the guys charging and whittling away at Alex's lead. So do you feel that?

Kyle Kirkwood: We're charging, yes, but at the same time, we're not even halfway through the season. This is the halfway mark here, and we gotta continue what we're doing. In my mind, I've already forgotten about what we did last weekend. You're only as good as your last race, and the next race is this weekend here, coming up in a day or so. You know, it's hard to focus on anything like that right now. We just want to go and keep winning races. Ultimately, winning races wins championships. And if we can keep doing what we're doing, we should be looking pretty good by the end of the season, but we can't really focus on it yet.

Bruce Martin: So this upcoming weekend is an off weekend, and there's not going to be any off weekends for the next five races over a four-weekend period. So what do you have planned to try to get ready, recharge for that big stretch that happens in July?

Kyle Kirkwood: I'm gonna go stress myself out trying to catch fish for sure on Saturday and Sunday, as long as the weather permits, which is almost more grueling than racing cars is if you wake up at 4 a.m. and you're out there till 6 or 7 or 8 p.m. That's a long day in the ocean. I like to relax by stressing myself out with fishing.

Bruce Martin: But all in all, you're on a magical run at the moment, and I know you like to take it one race at a time, but do you have time to savor the moment?

Kyle Kirkwood: No, if I'm being honest. And I think any racing driver that has the mindset of just going out and winning and performing and doing the best that they possibly can every given weekend, all of us kind of have a similar mindset. Yes, we're thankful in the moment. Yes, we're glad in the situation that we're being in, but we also want to continue what we're doing and that just takes full on focus and never coming off the throttle.

Bruce Martin: But all in all, it really has to be a great opportunity for Andretti Global. The new owner, Dan Towers. Hey, Mark Walter goes out and buys the LA Lakers for $10 billion.

Kyle Kirkwood: Your team owners don't sit still and neither does the team. I was just asking her, I was like, what do we say about this? Because we don't know, I don't know anything about it. I've read the same reports that you've read. It'd be great. It's cool that TWG is building this arsenal of teams, right? It's absolutely massive, and it's cool to be a part of it. It'd be cool to be able to say that I'm a co-worker with some of those guys, right?

Bruce Martin: So you're two team owners, one guy they named the Fieldhouse after his company, Gainbridge Fieldhouse, and the other guy now owns the Los Angeles Lakers. So between the Indiana Pacers and the LA Lakers, I guess blue and gold's a popular color among those.

Kyle Kirkwood: I don't know, yeah, I don't know which one to root for now, right? That's the main question. I think you still need to root for the Pacers. Of course. As a guy that lives in Indiana most of the time, yes, I'm going to root for the Pacers, as I will again on Sunday.

Bruce Martin: Well, Kyle Kirkwood, good luck in your charge to the championship. It's going to be exciting. You're closing the gap, and that's exactly what IndyCar needed after the start that Alex Pillow had, but thanks for making an interesting. Good luck, and we'll catch up with you later this year. Thank you for joining us on Pit Pass Indy. Thanks, Bruce. Santino Ferrucci of AJ Foyt Racing is on a roll. He finished third in the Xpel Grand Prix at Road America, his fourth top five in the last four races. He has moved up to ninth in points as the entire two-driver effort at AJ Foyt Racing, including David Maloukas, is having a great stretch of the season. It began with a fifth place finish for Ferrucci at the 109th Indianapolis 500, second place at the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix, fifth in the Bomberito Automotive Group 500 Gateway, and third at Road America. As Ferrucci's number 14 Chevrolet ran out of fuel after the checkered flag at Road America, the AJ Foyt Racing driver climbed out of his car and took a bow in front of the fans after a third place finish in turn one. As the fans went crazy, they offered him a beer. Ferrucci gladly accepted and shotgunned the beer in a manner that would have made any fraternity boy proud. Up to that point, Ferrucci was wondering if his car had enough fuel to make it to the finish on a very hot day at Road America. Plus, he had a mirror full of Kyle Kirkwood's number 27 Honda rapidly approaching from behind. Ferrucci's car stalled on one of the pit stops and he lost four or five spots, but he was able to quickly refire the engine by using the self-starter on the hybrid unit. From that point on, Ferrucci had to play the fuel strategy game. It worked in his favor and Ferrucci will head to Steam Corners, Ohio, hoping to keep up his recent streak. Here is my exclusive interview with Ferrucci for Pit Pass Indy. Hello, Santino. Hey, you like to race a lot, so you're gonna get your wish coming up here in July by going to Mid-Ohio, then a back-to-back doubleheader at Iowa, then a street race at Toronto, and then, oh, by the way, now you gotta fly all the way back cross-country to Laguna Seca. Driving?

Santino Ferrucci: You're going to drive? Gonna drive to Laguna. From Toronto? No, so I fly home from Toronto. I drive from Dallas to Laguna.

Bruce Martin: Oh, well that's halfway there.

Santino Ferrucci: Oh, then I drive- Really, it's more like three quarters. I've got a good 5,500 mile road trip coming up. So I'm gonna go Dallas, Monterey, to Napa, Portland, Montana, back to Dallas.

Bruce Martin: But it takes a day and a half to drive from Dallas to El Paso.

Santino Ferrucci: Pretty much. I know. Depends on the speed limit.

Bruce Martin: Well, there's always that. But anyway, that's a grueling schedule. So how do you stay fit during that time? More importantly, how does the crew stay fresh?

Santino Ferrucci: You know, I think having momentum like we do with the multiple top fives has been a really big deal. It keeps everybody energized. At the end of the day, it's a mental sport. You know, physically, I feel really good. I think all the crew's working out really hard. You know, we've been practicing our pit stops. But mentally, we're in a great space because we've just had three really good finishes. So everybody's really, you know, hyped up and ready to go and excited to and hungry to do more and, you know, get on the top step of that podium.

Bruce Martin: The thing about your team is it's not just one driver that's doing well and the other one struggling. Both of you have elevated your game. So that goes to show the strength of the team.

Santino Ferrucci: So how important is that? It's a big deal. I mean, the synergy between both cars is really good. Both sets mechanics, you know, obviously. One of the goals is you really want to be competitive with both cars and to lead this team up into the top ten and then eventually to the top five in the championship. Me and David are right next to each other, right there as points go. Obviously, we had the 26-point loss from Detroit, but at the end of the day, we're still fighting very hard and continuing the momentum. of the upcoming races. Which ones are your favorites? This is definitely my favorite, followed up by Iowa, and then probably Toronto. Mid-Ohio is not, probably not my favorite track. So it's one of my favorite venues, but not favorite track. And why is Mid-Ohio not one of your favorite tracks? I just think it's slow. It's a slower paced track. So I like the high speed of Road America and stuff like that.

Bruce Martin: All right, well, Santino Ferrucci, good luck during that stretch of races coming up. We'll catch up with you later in the year. And thank you for joining us on Pit Pass Indy. Thank you. Ritas Vike of ECR recently discovered Wisconsin delicacy cheese curds when he stopped at Culver's following an IndyCar test at the Milwaukee Mile. Prior to last Sunday's race at Road America up the road in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, VeeKay still had cheese curds on his mind, but was saving the fried cheese as a reward for a great performance, either in qualifications or in the race. VeeKay started 22nd and finished 10th in the XBEL Grand Prix at Road America, and it remains unclear if that was enough for a stop at Culver's. Let's hear more from the driver from the Netherlands and his love of cheese curds in this exclusive Pit Pass Indy interview. All right, the king of the cheese curds has joined us. It's Renas VeeKay, Dale Coyne Racing. We know the story you told us a couple of weeks ago. You tried Culhers for the first time after the Milwaukee Open Test, or the Milwaukee Test. You love the cheese curds, so are you… Yeah, they're good. Now that we're at Road America, are you hooked on them?

Rinus VeeKay: I feel like they are a post… post-test day or post-race weekend snack. You gotta deserve them. You gotta race hard for them. So I was P1 after the Milwaukee test. Felt like that was, you know, good enough to get some cheese curds on the way back home.

Bruce Martin: So what will you have to do at these upcoming races to deserve the cheese curds?

Rinus VeeKay: Maximize. So whatever's going to happen, maximize what we have. I have a good feeling that we're going to be in the top 10, maybe around top 5 again this weekend. So that's going to be my goal to just continue to be in the low part of the top 10.

Bruce Martin: We're doing this interview at Road America. By the time it airs, the race will have already happened, but we're going to get a weekend off. Then we're going to be going to mid Ohio. Then after that, back-to-back races at Iowa, then the streets of Toronto, then Laguna Seca. It's going to be very busy in July. How do you keep yourself ready to go for that? Because a lot of guys who don't watch the physical fitness may be struggling toward the end of that month.

Rinus VeeKay: It's gonna be hot, it's gonna be hard, but yeah, I take pride in my training, I take pride in… what I do outside the racetrack. The hotter it is, the more excited I am because I feel like I can make a difference. It's going to be hard for everybody, not just the drivers, I think, especially the mechanics, the engineers, everybody traveling and then working hard and making their hands dirty. We get to sit on the couch when we get home and then just take it easy. How about the crew guys? Oh, exactly. The mechanics, engineers, everybody out there that go home and don't have a few days off. If they're lucky, they get one. They show up earlier than us drivers and they go back to the hotel later than us. It's going to be hard for everybody, but I feel like we've got the car to make it go by a little bit easier. Of those stretcher races, which ones do you look forward to the most? Uh, well, that's getting hard. I'm excited for all of them. I feel like Road to America here is always a highlight of the season. It feels like coming home even though it's very far from home for me. I would say a doubleheader in Iowa is going to be a nice change up for us this part of the season.

Bruce Martin: Is the great thing about the Iowa doubleheader is if you do have the first race doesn't go the way you want it to, you can bounce back 24 hours later and make it a great weekend with a good finish in the second race.

Rinus VeeKay: Yeah, that's true, but honestly I like when we get two top tens in two races like we did last year in Iowa. That's the kind of weekends you need.

Bruce Martin: You started off the season with some good performances and you hit a stretch there where you had a couple of bad races. So now how much of a bounce back do you feel you're making?

Rinus VeeKay: Um, oh yeah, it just, we're making those two races feel less bad since, we basically had a mechanical issue and in Detroit, you know, I had a brake issue at the 500, so now coming into, well, already a top 10 seventh place in Worldwide Technology Raceway was awesome, but now, yeah, Road America, I feel like we have another chance for for a solid top 10 and I'm hoping to take home some hardware, honestly, because that's the one I've been missing is the Road to America one.

Bruce Martin: And are you still getting some nibbles from interested parties for next season?

Rinus VeeKay: A little bit. I have to say it's fairly quiet. I think everybody's waiting on the power domino to fall and I think that's when the pistol fires and everybody starts running. So we'll see. None of my worries. I'm focused on racing and racing successfully right now with Docoin Racing. So we'll see what happens later on.

Bruce Martin: And finally, your thoughts on the fact the new car may be delayed now to 2028. I know we've been talking about a new car for a decade. You as a driver, how do you feel about that?

Rinus VeeKay: I don't know. I don't like that we've got, just like the hybrid, we get promised one thing. And in reality, we get something else. That's an unfortunate sequence of events, kind of back to back. I just, yeah, we need a new car. I know, even though the one that needs it least is Del Coin, he wants a new car. So, yeah, I feel like it's something to get the real diehard fans that are into F1 and, you know, other big series that change their cars every year. I think that's what they're waiting on to tune into a new car.

Bruce Martin: Well, Renis VeeKay, we'll catch up with you later this season. Good luck the rest of the way. Thank you for joining us on Pit Pass Indy. Yeah, thank you. Thank you. 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: Welcome back to Pit Pass Indy. We wrap up today's Pit Pass Indy with Team Penske drivers, Will Power and Scott McLaughlin. All three Team Penske drivers, including Josef Newgarden, keep hoping for a resurgence to the 2025 season. But unfortunately, the beating continues. At Road America, Newgarden lost control of his number two Chevrolet, coming out of the final turn and slid into the tire barrier on lap 30. He finished 25th in the 27-car field after landing on his top in the previous week's race at Gateway. New Garden is 17th in IndyCar points, just past the halfway point of the season. Power started 8th and finished 15th, at times serving as a pinball to several other drivers, including Kyle Kirkwood, in the wild action on the track. McLaughlin started 4th and finished 12th at Road America, although he led 8 laps in the race. That was the second most laps led to Scott Dixon's 27 laps up front. Prior to the race weekend, McLaughlin joined me for this exclusive Pit Pass Indy interview. Our old pal Scott McLaughlin is back. Scott, it looks like everything went great for you on Father's Day, except for the race itself. Yeah. So how do you put it all in a perspective? Because at the end of the day, it was still Father's Day and you still have little Lucy there waiting on you, smiling, even after

Scott McLaughlin: Well, it's been a whole year, you know, like it's been the whole year. I mean, I don't. I'm having a great year off track. I'm very happy, but on track, it's another thing. Unfortunately, we're fast, and that's better than being slow and having bad luck as well. I think it's got to turn at some point. I'm a big believer in that. I feel like 10 years ago, I had a very similar season in supercars, and I came back and won nearly four championships in a row. I feel like this is all character building. I'm around here for a long time. I'm not going anywhere.

Bruce Martin: What happened with your car? Cause you were the last Penske running at that point.

Scott McLaughlin: Yeah, we had a drive shaft go. So, um, yeah, it's very, you know, a car part that really doesn't break on, on, on a Penske car. It's been a long time since it has, um, wasn't anything, it was just a freak accident. Wasn't a, wasn't a person doing it, not doing their job or anything like that. It was just a freak accident. So it's kind of laughable when you, when that sort of stuff happens, you just got to move on and move on quick and get ready for a weekend ahead.

Bruce Martin: So we're doing this interview at Road America, and by the time the interview airs, the race will have already happened, so who knows? Maybe you ended up winning that race, but we'll know on Sunday. But as far as those looking ahead, we've got mid-Ohio, we've got two races in Iowa, we've got Toronto, we've got Laguna Seca. That's a lot of races in a short period of time. So how important is that going to be for you? How important is that going to be for the team?

Scott McLaughlin: Yeah, I mean, like Iowa, doubleheader, you know, you got Toronto, Meadow High, like you said, all tracks that I love as well. So it's an important stretch, but I think it's just an important stretch for us now just to get up back on the horse and get some positive vibes, get some positive races going. The vibes are still very high. We're just, we're in a bit of a rut right now, performance-wise and execution-wise. We'll keep working like we will. You know, there's no no defeat in us. We'll just keep going and then we'll be right.

Bruce Martin: Also, I know there's a lot of competitiveness, you with other drivers, you with even drivers on your own team. But what went through your mind when you came around and saw your teammate Josef Newgarden's car upside down after what was really a horrifying looking crash?

Scott McLaughlin: Oh, no, first, you know, you see that scary when their heads up against the fence like that. Yeah, that's for sure very scary and you just want him to be okay. Seems like he was fine. Yeah, it doesn't matter who it is, whether it's teammate or not teammate or a friend or a foe. You want him to be okay.

Bruce Martin: And finally, I've heard you on the radio before. You know, you do have some opinions from time to time. Nolan got a little bit of trouble after the race last week at Arrow McLaren by voicing some opinions about his teammates over the radio. How do drivers look at all that? And in a lot of ways, in other sports, we would call it trash talking, but we don't hear that.

Scott McLaughlin: We've got to be careful about what we apologize for. I don't think he needed to apologize for what he said. I mean, we spoke after the race, man to man, and it was a good chat. And this was before I heard what he said on the radio. But we all say he did stuff in the moment. Like he said, I'm no angel. Um, you know, move on, but I think we've got to be careful from a sport perspective by filtering us like that. I think you've got to, it's heated. You got to allow us to emote. And if you don't want to, if you don't want to hear it, then don't listen. And that's ultimate.

Bruce Martin: Well, do you think in some ways the fans have an opportunity to listen to what's said in the field of battle that they don't get a chance to unless they're courtside seats?

Scott McLaughlin: Yeah. And an NBA game. I mean, and that's the great thing about the IndyCar app and everyone that helps that thing, you know, it gives us an opportunity for fans to basically be courtside as such, you know, in our sport. I mean, you can't, you can't, I was surprised they put out as big a statement as they did. I understand why they did, but like, I thought it was a little, you know, whatever.

Bruce Martin: Well, one of the things we admire about you is your fire, and you show it from time to time, but we also know what a pro you are. But Scott McLaughlin, good luck the rest of the way. We'll catch up with you later this season, and thank you for joining us on Pit Pass Indy, presented by Penske Truck Rental.

Scott McLaughlin: Thank you, Bruce.

Bruce Martin: Our final interview is with Will Power, who heads to Mid-Ohio 7th and Points and is doing his best to remain upbeat at Team Penske. But this is also a contract season for the driver from Toowoomba, Australia, and his future is uncertain. If he doesn't get a new contract with Team Penske, Power will be a hot commodity in the IndyCar paddock because he is still a driver that can win polls and has the potential to still win races. Power's future will be determined later this season. But for now, he joins me on this exclusive Pit Pass Indy presented by Penske Truck Rental interview. Every week. That's right. It's the weekly willpower. Every week. Experience here on Pit Pass Indy. You do know it's presented by Penske Truck Rental. Uh-huh. And you drive for Team Penske. For now. Oh. Ooh. Hey, you found some speed in qualifying by winning the pole. Yeah. Race didn't go so well. What happened at gateway?

Will Power: Uh, the tire failed right front. Um, yeah, it was just, just, ah, it's unfortunate, man. I feel like we're going to have a great day. Great car. I'd turned the fuel all the way down and I was just, um, you know, trying to make the time in the corners and. Yeah, it was a real pity.

Bruce Martin: Was your game plan in that race to not lead from the beginning?

Will Power: It was to not fight hard for the lead. It just makes it so much easier to get that fuel number when you're sitting behind someone. When he passed me and I thought, well, I'll try one corner and then I just sort of pulled back. I was like, nah, I'll let him burn fuel and I'll sit behind.

Bruce Martin: But a lot of other drivers had problems in the high line with marbles. You, though, say it was a tire failure on yours. Did you notice by being up there the few times that you were up there about how the track got?

Will Power: Well, at that point in the race, there were no marbles. It was too early. They just started to feel it fail on the way in and then lifted quite early and it started to fail and it just went up into the wall.

Bruce Martin: But this interview is being done at Road America. By the time it airs next week, the race will have already happened. So we look ahead to July, mid-Ohio, Iowa doubleheader, Toronto, Laguna Seca. How important is that stretch going to be for you, not only for trying to get back into the championship in some way, but to create an opportunity for you in the future.

Will Power: Very important. I would say that's quite an important run as all the races and all the sessions have been for me this year. So, yeah, I Putting my head down, really not, you know, what the style of the season has been is not affecting me in any way. I'm just very focused on what I need to do.

Bruce Martin: You were the first person to get over to the IndyCar medical unit when Josef Newgarden had his horrifying-looking crash. Is that as bad a crash on an oval as you've ever seen?

Will Power: No, no, it's not as bad. I've seen much worse than that, with much worse consequences.

Bruce Martin: But yet that was a pretty scary incident because he could have cleared the pit wall.

Will Power: That was, yeah, that has been, I've worried about that in particular at Indianapolis for a while. Someone's going to get over that in a similar incident. Um, and that's, yeah, depending on the time of the race, it's not a, not, not ideal, but yeah, not much he could do right there. I mean,

Bruce Martin: And in your point of view, how long did you think it was that the yellow light took for him to turn it on?

Will Power: Well, I don't know, they must have missed, I didn't see the time, but yeah, I think as soon as someone's in the wall, you probably need to be on the yellow light, but the others that happened, I think they just, something, so I think they missed that one.

Bruce Martin: And last question on willpower, after the way that the entire team had incidents at Gateway, what seems to be the mood on the team as we're at Road America heading into Mid-Ohio.

Will Power: The mood has not changed. It's quite happy and no one's, yeah, not at all. Once you get into another weekend, it's like full of hope and optimism that you're going to have a great weekend. So, yeah, that's just me every week.

Bruce Martin: Well, maybe by the end of the weekend, you can do the happy, happy, joy, joy song, like on Ren and Stimpy, but willpower to you, Penske. Good luck the rest of the way. We'll catch up with you later this season. Thank you for joining us on Pit Pass Indy, presented by Penske Truck Rental.

Will Power: Yeah, you got it. Thank you.

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: And that puts a checkered flag on this edition of Pit Pass Indy presented by Penske Truck Rental. We want to thank our guests, XBEL Grand Prix of Road America winner Alex Fallot of Chip Ganassi Racing, Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti Global, Santino Ferrucci of A.J. Foyt Racing, Rinas Vique of ECR, and Team Penske drivers Scott McLaughlin and Will Power 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 on X, previously known as Twitter, at BruceMartin, one word, uppercase B, uppercase M, underscore 500. This has been a production of Evergreen Podcast. A special thanks to our production team, executive producers are Bridget Coyne and Gerardo Orlando. Recordings and edits were done by me, Bruce Martin, and final mixing was done by Dave Douglas. Learn more at evergreenpodcast.com. Until next time, be sure to keep it out of the wall.