Wrapping up the Sukup IndyCar Race Weekend At Iowa with winners Pato O’Ward and Alex Palou. Plus, much, much more

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

Bruce Martin: IndyCar fans, it's time to start your engines. Welcome to Pit Pass Indy, a production of Evergreen Podcast. I'm your host, Bruce Martin, a journalist who regularly covers the NTT IndyCar Series. Our goal at Pit Pass Indy is to give racing fans an insider's view of the exciting world of the NTT IndyCar Series in a fast-paced podcast featuring interviews with the biggest names in the sport. I bring nearly 40 years of experience covering IndyCar and NASCAR, working for such media brands as NBCSports.com, SI.com, ESPN SportsTicker, Sports Illustrated, AutoWeek, and SpeedSport. So let's drop the green flag on this episode of Pit Pass Indy. Welcome to Pit Pass Indy presented by Penske Truck Rental as we continue our 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. Pit Pass Indy was in Newton, Iowa for last weekend's only doubleheader of the season, the Sukup IndyCar Race Weekend at Iowa Speedway. We have plenty to cover in today's episode, so let's get right to it by talking to our two winners over the weekend. Paddle Ward of Errol McLaren won Saturday's Sukup 275 by beating the King of Corn, Team Penske's Josef Newgarden, in a fierce battle to the checkered flag. Newgarden led 232 laps in the 275-lap contest, but the decisive moment of the race came on the final pit stop sequence. Newgarden was the first to pit on lap 233 after leading every lap up to that point. Award pitted two laps later, and his Arrow McLaren crew got him out of the pits and ahead of Newgarden, who was at speed on the track. After the pit stop sequence concluded and all drivers in the race had pitted, O'Ward was in the lead on lap 244. Newgarden made it a battle, but O'Ward raced him hard but fair and drove to the 8th victory of his career in his 100th start. O'Ward also won at Iowa on his 50th career start, so the numbers added up for the driver from Monterey, Mexico. It was also Chevrolet's first victory of the 2025 IndyCar Series season. Here is my exclusive PitPass Indy interview with award after Saturday's race at Iowa Speedway. The winner of the CYNC 275. Pado Award, Errol McLaren, you get your eighth career IndyCar win, your 100th start, I think I'm gonna call Vegas, put money down on you to win your 50th, won an IndyCar race on your 50th, and who knows, maybe I'll put some money down on you. one on your 200th. But how important was this win because you outraced the King of Corn, Josef Newgarden, to get your first victory of the season?

Pato O’Ward: It was great, man. We've had a lot of duels, studied him for many years already, many races, many laps, as he has me as well. So it was all about just being perfect on the last sequence. And we beat him at his own game, really. That's the best way I can say it.

Bruce Martin: You also beat him in the pits. He pitted, you pitted two laps later. You got a better pit stop than him when he came out. When you came out, you were ahead of him. Yeah. And that was pretty much race on at that point.

Pato O’Ward: Yeah. We had a mega in lap. Um, and we, we had a great pit stop. by the guys and gals at the 5-hour McLaren Chevy and that's what obviously gave us the opportunity. He was still on our gearbox right as we went out but he pitted into clear track and yet even with that we We got it.

Bruce Martin: He closed the gap several times in the battle of the checkered flag. It got a little bit close there, but you always had the advantage. At any time, were you nervous that he might find a way to get past you?

Pato O’Ward: No. I just knew where to place the car.

Bruce Martin: Big win for Errol McLaren. First win of the season. First win for Chevrolet this year. Tony Kanaan's first win as the team principal. You got to feel pretty good about that because Tony's taken over the operation. What does this win mean to you to give one to Tony?

Pato O’Ward: It's great. It means he'll be proud. It means that the team hopefully feels good about what we've been doing. And yeah, we'll take that.

Bruce Martin: How do you celebrate today's win? Because you've got another race coming up here at noon tomorrow. I don't know what time it is, but a nice dinner would be great. To be able to do this, you've been one of the stars of IndyCar for several years now. Hey, you're second in points, 105 behind Alex Palou. You got to feel like there's still a charge left this season.

Pato O’Ward: I mean, it's never over until it's over. There's still plenty of ovals to come. Counting tomorrow, there's four to come. I believe it's one more Iowa, Milwaukee, Nashville. So no, that is only three to go. So I think we've got a great opportunity to try and close that gap. We have some challenging courses for us as well coming up, so it'd be good to capitalize on those. And finally, why are you so good at Iowa? I don't know. I think it's just, you know, a great, a great package under me. That's, that's what lets me do my job.

Bruce Martin: Pat O'Ward, Errol McClaren, congratulations on your eighth victory and your 100th career start. Get a good night's sleep because you go back at it at 12 noon tomorrow. Thank you for joining us on Pet Pass Indy.

Pato O’Ward: Appreciate it. Thank you.

Bruce Martin: Awards went on Saturday, moved him past Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti Global for second place in the IndyCar Series standings, and for 24 hours, cut Alex Pillow's lead to 105. Pillow finished fifth in the Sukup 275, but that would change 24 hours later. In the second race of the doubleheader, the July 13th Farm to Fresh 275, Pillow started on the pole and led 194 laps. Six-time Iowa Speedway winner, Team Penske's Josef Newgarden, once again was a major contender for the win for the second day in a row. But on two different pit stops, New Garden pitted one lap before a driver crashed and the caution light came on. By getting caught in the pits, it took away any advantage New Garden would have had if it had been a full pit stop sequence under green. Once the pits were open, Newgarden restarted the race at the back of the field. He fought his way back to Palou's rear after the first time he got caught in the pits. He fought his way to Palou's rear after the first time he got caught in the pits, but couldn't overcome it the second time it happened. New Garden would finish 10th, continuing another major disappointing season for Team Penske. As for Palou, he held off Chip Ganassi racing teammate Scott Dixon by just 0.5280 of a second for the closest IndyCar finish in Iowa since the first race when the track opened in 2007. For Palou, it was his first ever win on a short oval. He is the first IndyCar driver to win 7 races in a season since Sebastian Bordet in 2007. By winning 7 races in the first 12, it matches Elitzer Jr. who won 7 races in the first 12 starts in 1994. By winning the race, combined with Padua Ward's fifth place finish, Pillow's lead in the standings has ballooned to 129 points with just five races remaining. Let's hear what Pillow had to say in this exclusive Pit Pass Indy interview.

Alex Palou: Hello, Alex.

Bruce Martin: Hello, Bruce. We ought to call this segment Hello, Alex, because we're speaking to you after every IndyCar race. In fact, I think we ought to make it a regular part of every IndyCar race weekend podcast for Pit Pass Indy.

Alex Palou: How does that sound? It sounds amazing. I wish it was true. Like, honestly, it's been incredible. I'm happy to be here. I'm happy to be doing all the stuff this year that that I have to do or that I get to do when when we win. It's been incredible. But yeah, what an amazing day today for us.

Bruce Martin: We can finally call you or you can finally call yourself an IndyCar Series driver because your victory in the Farm to Fresh 275 of the Sukup IndyCar Race Weekend at Iowa Speedway, your first short oval victory. Now you can check off all the boxes.

Alex Palou: Absolutely. It's huge. And we've not only done it in my career. We've done it the same year, like winning on a street course, road course, super speedway, short oval. It's been incredible. It's been super fun. And this short oval for me, the winning here today, it's huge. It's a place that I struggled before. And for me to be here on the victory feels incredible.

Bruce Martin: You led 194 laps of the 275-lap race. Josef Newgarden led 72 laps. Early portion of the race, though, pretty good battle between the two of you. Who do you think had the edge?

Alex Palou: Honestly, Joseph, we know that he's very good here, he's very consistent and he's able to get through traffic really, really good. So, honestly, I think he had better chances to win without any strategies going on. But we're there. We were not making it easy on him. We were just making it tougher and tougher on him to try and get him to either make a mistake or to have to fight for it. And it worked out for us.

Bruce Martin: So second pit stop, Joseph pulls in one lap before the yellow goes off for a crash. Then all, you know, next thing he's back there in your rear view mirror. Were you surprised to see him get back up there that quickly?

Alex Palou: Yeah, I actually, yeah. Ask if that was for position or not, because it was actually very quick. I, I would need to check, uh, how many laps he took him. Uh, but he was, uh, he was like half of a stand and I was pushing, I was feeling good. And then he, he came, uh, super fast, uh, overtook my Lucas and then myself. And I was like, all right, man, like that's pretty impressive. So yeah, it's, uh, it's impressive to see.

Bruce Martin: And then he actually took the lead on lap 241 of a 275 lap race, but Chevy's pitted under green and wouldn't you know it, yellow flag. So that really benefited the Honda drivers. Do you feel that Honda had better fuel mileage and that was a real help to the Honda drivers? Cause it wasn't all one, two, three Honda podium.

Alex Palou: For sure. For sure. It helped us for sure. Uh, we, we had that in our strategy in our back to try and, uh, get, uh, a couple laps longer than everybody else. And yeah, I mean, it's, we've seen it yesterday. It kind of didn't really work for us yesterday, but, uh, getting it today and making it work was, was, uh, super fun.

Bruce Martin: Seventh IndyCar Series victory of the season out of the first 12 races. You're the first IndyCar Series driver since Sebastian Bourdain in 2007 to have seven wins. You also have the best 12 race start to a season since Al Unser Jr. in 1994. you start hearing those names, even as a little kid growing up in Barcelona, you had to know those two drivers for meant big time IndyCar race.

Alex Palou: Absolutely Oh, yes. I think everybody in the world knows those big names. It's, um. Honestly I've been saying it. It's been incredible. I don't really have words to describe what I feel how happy I am and how Man, um, how.

Bruce Martin: So there's five chances out there left for you to get 10 victories this season. Do you think that you should start a new marketing campaign? 10 for the 10.

Alex Palou: 10 for the 10. It's actually a good marketing idea. I'll send you an invoice. No, you just said it without copyright or anything, so you don't have rights for that verse. But honestly, it's incredible. As Barry said, we just take it race by race and we try and choose to do the best every single weekend. And although the 10 doesn't look like super far, it's actually three wins away. So it's a long, long time. So we'll do our best to try and be as competitive as possible and try and get as many wins as possible, but it's not going to be easy.

Bruce Martin: And of course, you drive the number 10 DHL Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing. It's off to Toronto. You've been good there. You got to feel like that could be another shot at another Alex Palou victory celebration.

Alex Palou: Yeah, we've been amazing there. I know there's a couple of drivers and cars that have been even better than us, like Andretti in straight courses this year has been incredible, so hopefully we can fight with them, we can fight for the win there, but it's a place I love and hopefully

Bruce Martin: It's going to be a good one. You named yourself Lightning McQueen. How did you come up with that?

Alex Palou: Yes and no. I said that I felt at some stages like Lightning McQueen. But yes, honestly, I've been struggling so much on short ovals. And I've been feeling like everybody was overtaking me with no problem. So for me today to be here and to be able to overtake traffic and also to fight for the win was Yeah, felt like Lightning McQueen for a couple of laps.

Bruce Martin: You can call him Alex Palou, you can call him Lightning McQueen, but one thing you have to call him is champion and race winner. Alex Palou, congratulations on your seventh IndyCarSeries win of 2025. Good luck as you pretty much are wrapping up your fourth IndyCarSeries championship. And thank you for joining us on PitPass Indy. Thank you, Bruce.

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

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

Bruce Martin: Welcome back to Pit Pass Indy.

Bruce Martin: Team Penske's Scott McLaughlin crashed on the first lap of Saturday's qualifications and had to start both races of the Su-Kup IndyCar Race Weekend at Iowa in last place in the 27-car field. On Saturday, however, the New Zealand native drove like a Tasmanian devil, charging his way through the field. Scotty Mack drove all the way from the back and finished fourth, the hard charger of the race. Let's hear how McLaughlin did it in this exclusive Pit Pass Indie interview.

Bruce Martin: Scotty, Matt came all the way to the back for a fourth place finish, the biggest move of the race.

SPEAKER_18: How did you get it done? Just ripping the top, Bruce. It worked really well for me there. And I was able to sort of just like, you know, rip that second lane and get runs and work really well. So, you know, I'm really proud of everyone on the Expel Chevy. They told me to go out there and drive as hard as I could, and I did. And yeah, really rare. That was a fun race. I just wish we could start front tomorrow. But end of the day, we can still do this tomorrow. It's just a hard day's work.

Bruce Martin: You were one driver that made the high line work. A lot of other drivers didn't try it until later. But what was it about that? Was it just like, the only way I'm going to get to the front is to do something that the other guys aren't?

SPEAKER_18: Yeah, literally that. I had moments doing it. It was a little sketchy. But yeah, I just had to get up there. And I said to RP and everyone, I was like, I'll put on a show. So strap in. And thankfully, I did.

Bruce Martin: 2-3-4 finish for Team Penske. It's not a victory, but after the season the team's had, it's a pretty big comeback.

SPEAKER_18: Yeah, huge comeback. Yeah, we're really proud of it. And, you know, look, at the end of the day, we know we run well here. You know, I really felt like we could've got polled today on both races in my car, but I made the mistake, so it's all about making up for it. And that's one way, that's half the job.

Bruce Martin: And how was the track? How did it race different than last year? There had been trouble with the surfaces and the turns. Was it better? How much better?

SPEAKER_18: I think it was better because it's degged out a little bit. So the track's not as new. So it's a little bit slower on that bottom lane. At least that's what I felt. But yeah. Yeah, overall, all good. You get to do it all again tomorrow. Yeah, unfortunately. Nah, it was all good. We'll have fun.

Bruce Martin: All right, Scotty Mac, good job. And thank you for joining us on Pit Pass Indy. Thank you, Bruce. Connor Daly is another driver that made the high line work at Iowa Speedway. Although he would get shuffled back to seventh at the end of Saturday's race, he put on a show. Connor Daly has joined us after what I thought was a pretty good race at Iowa Speedway. It looked like there was a lot more racing in the sink 275 than some people thought there would be. How did it look from your point of view?

Conor Daly: Yeah, I mean, the double lanes, you know, even at the first few laps on the start, I basically stayed half a lane up like I did at Gateway on Joseph. And I probably could have got a run on him, but I wanted to save fuel. So I tucked back in. But yeah, every restart, I mean, it was really good. It was good to see cars kind of running higher. And it did seem like that lane was somewhat staying clean. So I think that bodes well for tomorrow because there are definitely cars that can run it better than others. And you just got to go there. you

Bruce Martin: Well, a couple of drivers went there. I believe Alex Pillow went there for a while. You went up there. But Scott McLaughlin's driver that really went up there, that's how he was able to make his way from 27th to 4th. Yeah. Usually, a driver that does that just has the bravery to say, I'm going to do what the other drivers aren't. And is that the attitude that a lot of drivers will have to take in Sunday's race?

Conor Daly: Well, for sure. But I mean, obviously, the Penske cars are very good here. And Scott's a very good driver. So that definitely helps. But yeah, I mean, I think I will be more comfortable going up top. I think it's a lane that you can defend as well if someone is trying to go up there. So it's interesting, and hopefully it makes for a better race tomorrow.

Bruce Martin: Did the tires work and the changes that they made to the car, in your opinion?

Conor Daly: Yeah, I mean, it was a better race than I expected it was going to be. Yeah.

Bruce Martin: If only there was a better crowd than what we saw. That's got to be the one disappointment about today. The crowd was pretty sparse, and we're used to seeing much bigger crowds than that in Iowa.

Conor Daly: Yeah, I don't know about that one, man. That's just, it is tough, because I think we put on a great show. And I don't know what, that's a deeper problem than I understand. And I just wish that we could, wish that we could fill these stands, because I think we got great racing to put on a show for folks.

Bruce Martin: Well, Connor Daly, go get them in tomorrow's farm to finish 275. Good luck, and thank you for joining us on Pit Pass Indy.

Bruce Martin: Thank you. Alex Pillow finished fifth in Saturday's Soukup 275, and here's what he had to say on Pitt Road afterwards.

Bruce Martin: Alex Pillow has joined us after a fifth place finish in Iowa. Considering everything that's happened, this is one of your better short oval races. You were in the lead there for a bit. You were challenging the entire race, so you have to walk away from here feeling pretty good about a fifth place finish.

Alex Palou: Yeah, I mean, you always want more, but honestly, it was a great day for us. Like, I think we're running really good in the race at some stages. Took two couple decisions that didn't go really well. Lost a position with Power and then with McLaughlin. But yeah, overall, solid day for us. We're challenging a little bit, and hopefully we can make it tougher for everybody tomorrow.

Bruce Martin: If you take away the 230 laps that Josef Newgarden led in a 275-lap race, the end of the race looked pretty racy out there. How would you judge the way this track was in terms of raceability over the disappointment from last year?

Alex Palou: I think at the beginning of the stints and at the end of the stints, it's quite exciting. There's always those 50 laps in the middle of the stint that, unfortunately, we don't really have much to do. There's, like, no big differences between the cars, and there's not enough grip on the second lane. So, yeah, it's frustrating at times, but I think it was a bit better than last year, and hopefully tomorrow, after everybody learning from today, it's going to be even better.

Bruce Martin: Big moment in the race. Kyle Kirkwood, who was 113 points behind you in second place, crashed it in the race. Pat O'Ward wins the race, so now he's second, but you have 105 point lead. That's still pretty good going into Sunday's farm to finish 275 at Iowa Speedway. Oh, for sure.

Alex Palou: I mean, great day for us. I mean, yeah, whenever somebody wins, it makes a big chunk of points. We know that. But overall, I'm really happy with the top five. It's not easy to get, especially at crazy races like today. So looking forward to starting on the front row tomorrow.

Bruce Martin: And it's a quick turnaround because the race starts at noon local time. It ends about 6.30 local time here. What do you do? It's got to be early to bed, early to rise for Alex Palou. Yeah, for sure.

Alex Palou: I'll get a big, big foot now. Try and recover a little bit. Try and go to bed early. I think it's needed. But we need to work a little bit on the car and driving as well to try and be better.

Bruce Martin: Well, Alex, below Chip Ganassi Racing, you still have a firm grip on the championship lead. Good luck in Sunday's firm to finish 275 at Iowa Speedway. Thank you for joining us on Pit Pass Indy.

Roger Penske: Thank you, Bruce.

Bruce Martin: Paddle Awards win in the Sukup 275 was the first victory of the season for Chevrolet, the first one of the year for Arrow McLaren, and the first IndyCar Series victory for Tony Kanaan as Arrow McLaren's team principal. The former IndyCar series great shared his thoughts afterwards. Tony can on finally a victory in 2025. Your first is the team principal, so just how great a moment is this for you?

Tony Kanaan: For us, this is a team effort. Obviously I gotta thank everybody back in the shop and the guys here. I mean it. It feels awesome Bruce I. I stand in that podium myself a few years ago, so I went here is always good. First one as a team principal so. Big lift, big weight off our backs. Great win for Chevy. I wanted to be the first team to do it. Pato's always been the man. So we, you know, he's been the franchise of… We all knew Pato Award was going to win. It was just a matter of when.

Bruce Martin: He seems to take a liking to this track at Iowa Speedway. Really seems to suit him well. What do you think the reason is for that? It seems to be an attack track. You were the attack guy here at Iowa Speedway when you were a driver.

Tony Kanaan: It's a track that you have to be aggressive and you have to put it out there. So that is just the way this track goes. And he is one of the most aggressive guys out there. When he got in the lead, I knew that it could be anybody that they're not going to pass him. So, yeah, it's a driver's track, Bruce.

Bruce Martin: Second in the standings, 105 points behind Alex Palou. Could be game on if he has another victory on Sunday. And never know what can happen at Toronto.

Tony Kanaan: So, this championship isn't over yet. No, we're not going to give up the fight until the last race. Obviously, the tent car is being pretty strong. We're going to give them the run for their money, for sure.

Bruce Martin: Is it as much fun from the top of the timing stand as it was from the cockpit, the winner race?

Tony Kanaan: You know, different feelings, but as rewarding, for sure. I think today I'm responsible for 120 people and a huge legend of a fan. So it's just a different feeling, but it's always good to sit in victory lane.

Bruce Martin: Well, Tony, can I congratulations on Arrow McLaren returning to victory lane paddle awards victory and your first victory is team principal at Arrow McLaren. And thank you for joining us on pit pass, Cindy. Thank you.

Tony Kanaan: Thanks.

Bruce Martin: In Sunday's farm to finish 275, Meyer shanks Marcus Armstrong finished third after starting 12th. That pleased his team owner, Michael Shank, who joined me for a quick interview afterwards. Hey, Marcus. Alva run for Marcus Armstrong. I know that you told me at Mid-Ohio, we still got a lot of faith in this kid's future.

SPEAKER_02: You got to feel even better after today's race. Yeah, we sat down and he and I talked on Thursday night. I think when we showed up here, I said, just let's get going here. Let's get a something going here. And that was eight top tens in a row now, two top fives in the podium. It's exactly what I asked of him. He did exactly what he needed to. And I couldn't be more proud of him and the group. And by the way, his guys on pit lane were fire all day. So what a great day. What a great day.

Bruce Martin: You have a technical alliance with Chip Ganassi. During the race, Marcus clipped Scott Dixon's front wing, damaged it a little.

SPEAKER_02: I guess it didn't seem to slow him down too much. He still finished second. Yeah. I saw that, and I took a half a breath, but they collected themselves. It's hard, you know, hard short track racing. They raced 100 laps next to each other yesterday, so with no problem. So it's going to scrap once in a while.

Bruce Martin: Well, you guys make all these minute detail changes, and then here's a guy with a broken front wing finishes second. It's not broke. I think he's all right. He's all right. Well, that's what what a good pit stop will do to be able to correct all that. But Michael Shank, you got to really feel upbeat after today.

SPEAKER_02: I'm very, I'm very happy for our team, our people, our Ganassi alignment, everything, everything. And Marcus for sure that he works hard at this and I'm really, really proud of him.

Bruce Martin: Well, Michael Shank, I know you've invested a lot into the team. Good luck the rest of the season. Thank you for joining us on Pit Pass Indy. Thank you guys. See ya. AJ Foyt Racing's David Maloukas started third and finished fourth on Sunday, but had some complaints about Colton Herta and other Honda drivers for blocking on the track. Here's Maloukas after the race. David Maloukas, strong finish, but it could have been better. I know that you have voiced some displeasure over blocking by the Hondas. If you could elaborate a little bit, please.

David Malukas: Yeah, I mean, it was happening throughout the race, but I mean, at the end there, that was just nuts. You defend, you go sliding up, and you put yourself in the wall, ruin your race. And obviously, that was the end of our race because we pitted early, so went for the undercut. But I mean, I don't know why he's defending that aggressively for. So yeah, crazy. Puts himself in the wall for that. Could have been a mistake, but it was kind of happening repeatedly. I don't know what's the communication there. But overall, really good race from the number four clearance technologies car. I mean, that was the hardest P4 in my life. And of course, you were talking about Colton Hurd of Andretti Global.

Bruce Martin: It seemed like the Chevy teams at the end of the race picked just the wrong lap to come down pit road, because then a caution comes out later and it really determined the winners of the race. But you were able to battle back, so you got to feel good about your effort at the end.

David Malukas: Yeah, I mean, Chevys were dominant here. I mean, we were definitely kind of the, it seemed like the majority of here, and it's just unfortunate. That's just how IndyCar plays out. You know, you get a yellow, and no matter what the situation is, you can't really guess that that's part of the game. That's why we love it. That's why we're here, and we're part of playing that game. So we did the best we could. We pushed all the way up to the front, and even at the end there, that yellow, what didn't help us, fell back to, what, the eighth, I think it was, and worked our way back up to fourth.

Bruce Martin: Right front failures throughout the race, even saw some tires after they were changed with cords showing through. Did you have any issues?

David Malukas: Yeah, we were kind of just managing it. I don't know how the race looked from the outside, but gaps were always just kind of going in and out. And I think it was just between all the drivers managing that front right tire. So we were really aggressive, then had a cool down and had some vibrations building up here and there. Yeah, I don't know why it was more of an issue today than yesterday. I don't know if pace was higher today, people more committed. But yeah, we managed to keep it together when, you know, and I think that was part of it.

Bruce Martin: And are you going to talk to Hurta?

David Malukas: Yeah, I just, I mean, I wonder if it's a mistake or if they told him to defend or what it was, because, I mean, that was wild. Yeah.

Bruce Martin: Well, David Maloukas, good job in the Sunday race here at Iowa Speedway. And thank you for joining us on Pit Pass Indy. Thank you very much.

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. Prior to the race weekend, AJ Foyt Racing's Santino Ferrucci, along with Sukup Manufacturing CEO Steve Sukup, visited a working farm in Waukee, Iowa. Ferrucci got a chance to drive a combine down on the farm and told me about his experience in this exclusive Pit Pass Indy interview. I don't know whether I should introduce our next guest by singing Old MacDonald Had a Farm, E-I-E-I-O, but it's Santino Ferrucci, AJ Point Racing, who yesterday got to drive a couple of interesting things. They certainly weren't Indy cars. They were farm equipments. I heard you drove a combine.

Santinio Ferrucci: I did. I drove a combine with a massive corn head on there, and it was really cool. I mean, the thing is 40 feet wide, and the combines are huge, and they let me take it around a silo, which was kind of nice. I bet you that combine may have cost as much as your IndyCar. They do. I think they're about par. So if not, the combine might be a bit more expensive.

Bruce Martin: So how complicated is it to run a piece of farm machinery like that? I imagine the cockpit and those things probably takes you a little while, like, OK, what's this lever for? What's that button do?

Santinio Ferrucci: What do I do? The initial, like, just to get it around is quite simple with the gear shift and the steering. But when you have to actually start using it to harvest the corn and follow the GPS track, it's quite complicated, I feel like, until you put it on autopilot. But it was really cool to drive.

Bruce Martin: Well, that's one thing I've always wondered about race drivers, because an IndyCar cockpit is far different than an IMSA sports car. And a USAC midget or Sprint, if you run the chili bowl, that's different. Maybe a little more old school, the way they do things with shifting and things of that nature.

Santinio Ferrucci: How are race drivers able to adapt so quickly to a different type of vehicle? I think, obviously, the fundamentals are all the same. You know, you're trying to have one goal of just going fast. Once you understand the two things… Except in the combine. Except in the combine. Now you're going slow. But at the end of the day, even driving the combine, you know, your basic instincts are there to drive. And then it's just understanding the different types of tooling and how it affects the car and just kind of learning a different set of disciplines, which, I mean, it's difficult, but it's not impossible.

Bruce Martin: And what did you think of the entire farming agricultural experience that you had at the working farm in Waukee, Iowa?

Santinio Ferrucci: You need a lot of patience. I mean, they got 6,000 acres that they farm, and I mean, like I said, that combine does not go fast. So it's, yeah, patient game for sure.

Bruce Martin: As far as your season, you're having a great stretch here. Mid-Ohio may have been a little tricky. What was it about this portion of the season where AJ Foyt Racing has really hit its stride?

Santinio Ferrucci: You know, I think it was kind of more so picking up from last year. You know, we had a lot of success in the end of the year, and it was just trying to find that same stride again, and that's something I feel like we've done. We knew mid-Ohio would be the most difficult track for us on the calendar to finish out the season, so happy to be here in Iowa. We're still sitting top ten in points, still have a lot of great tracks for us to go to, four ovals, which I'm looking forward to, another street course, and two road courses, which I absolutely love, so it's going to be an awesome end of the year.

Bruce Martin: I'd be remiss unless I asked you this, but there were portions of the race where you and Connor Daly looked like it was a NASCAR race there for a while, with some beating and banging. What was that all about?

Santinio Ferrucci: Yeah, to be honest, when I got underneath him, and then when we went up over the hill, I spotted him on the outside, and when I looked, I just missed my turning point. And when I got in the gray with the marbles, I tried to rotate the car on the power, which you can see I tried to do. But the way that we had just touched in the mid corner, it just straightened me out. And at that point, I was completely max lock on the steering wheel, trying to get it to turn down the track. And there was literally nothing I could do. I was just sliding in his bit of a passenger. So then he decided to break check me in pit lane. So I was going to go apologize. And then he did something dumb like that. So, yeah, no, I'm OK now.

Bruce Martin: So would Connor Daly make a good scarecrow out in the middle of a cornfield in Iowa?

Santinio Ferrucci: I mean, I wouldn't want to be out there if he's there. But it might scare away the crows. Oh, for sure. I mean, yeah.

Bruce Martin: All right. Heading back to racing. We're now the second weekend of a five-race and four-weekend stretch. Iowa's a doubleheader. Doesn't get any easier after Iowa. You got to go across the border to Toronto for a street race. It's always rough. It's always a bumpy track. And then after that, everybody's got to go all the way across. the country to Monterey, California. That's got to really be grueling, not only in terms of travel, the crew members, the truck drivers, all of that. This is a very difficult part of the season. NASCAR fans may not understand why IndyCar teams complain about that, but NASCAR teams have 500 team members. IndyCar teams might have 20 to 30.

Santinio Ferrucci: So how difficult is that on everybody? I mean, it's definitely tough on us, tough on the crew, tough on equipment, too. I mean, you're trying to turn cars around from short oval configurations to street course all the way to the smoothest, fastest road course. Also, this is the most challenging stretch of races. I mean, Iowa is no easy feat. Cars without power steering you back to back and ninety five hundred degree heat. So your body is just consistently getting beat. But I'm doing kind of the drive with the truck drivers, too. So I'm actually flying up to Toronto and then back and I'm driving out to Laguna. So I'm going to complete some road miles this month. I'm looking forward to it a lot. But, you know, the guys are working hard. They're ready for this stretch. I think getting good results like we have been is what makes it go a little bit easier.

Bruce Martin: So is this Santino Ferrucci discovers America?

Santinio Ferrucci: Is this a tour? I've done it. So I used to do it all the time as a kid. Me and my dad used to travel the country for go-karting events. So, you know, this year I just kind of figured with the dogs, why not do it again? And what are some of the things that you love the most about going to Toronto and going to Monterey? Man, Toronto is just a beautiful city. I love it. I love the food. I love the culture. It's very unique to anything that we have. It's one of the largest cities, I believe, in North America.

Bruce Martin: It's the fourth largest city in North America.

Santinio Ferrucci: Yeah, so it's cool to be at. I mean, Dallas is a big, small city where I live, and, you know, getting to go up and do something new is a lot of fun. And then Monterey is just nice because it's Monterey. Who doesn't like to be by the beach? Yes, people don't realize Toronto is bigger than Chicago in population. Oh, yeah. Toronto is huge. I mean, it's hard to fathom. I mean, growing up in Connecticut, going to New York City, I mean, Toronto is essentially the same size.

Bruce Martin: All right. I'm going to put you on a spot here.

Santinio Ferrucci: Name the largest city in North America. The largest city? Houston. Nope. No? It's not Houston? It's Mexico City. Mexico City?

Bruce Martin: Mexico City is the largest city in North America. I would not have thought. Always remember that. All right.

Santinio Ferrucci: Houston's got to be up there.

Bruce Martin: Houston, I believe, is the fourth largest city in the United States.

Santinio Ferrucci: Okay, maybe I was thinking square footage-wise.

Bruce Martin: No, square footage-wise, I believe it's Jacksonville, Florida. Really?

Santinio Ferrucci: Okay.

Bruce Martin: But anyway, we're going to try and pit pass it in the geography lesson here. I know, right? But anyway, when you're in Toronto, remember, the city's bigger than Chicago, and a lot of people see how huge Chicago is. Connecticut's not big in general. Yes. You can fit most cities, Connecticut inside most cities. But you're pretty close to New York City, and that's a behemoth. Yes, it is. Anyway, Santino Ferrucci, good luck the rest of the season, and we'll catch up with you later this year. And thank you for joining us on Pit Pass Indy. Thank you, Bruce. Entering the race weekend at Iowa, Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti Global took a few moments to talk about his season and his hopes of trying to keep the fight alive for the 2025 IndyCar Series Championship. We're going to now have the undersea world of Kyle Kirkwood.

Kyle Kirkwood: Undersea?

Bruce Martin: Yeah, you're out there on the big sea, deep sea fishing and diving. You don't get a chance to do that much here in July since it's five races and four weekends. How much do you miss being able to go out on the Atlantic, especially in the middle of July?

Kyle Kirkwood: I don't know, racing. 800 Trump's all yeah racing 800 horsepower any car is pretty cool.

Bruce Martin: I can't I can't complain We're coming off the mid, Ohio race and mr. Perfect Alex below made a mistake did that shock you? Did he pretty much he admitted it he threw the race away with the turn nine situation.

Kyle Kirkwood: It's very unlike him but Many people make mistakes. I know I've made plenty of mistakes in my career. He has as well. Just another one of those. I mean, when a mistake is finishing second, is it really a mistake?

Bruce Martin: Not really.

Kyle Kirkwood: Not really.

Bruce Martin: Because the thing is, you had a top 10 day and lost 20 points in the championship league.

Kyle Kirkwood: Yeah, and we didn't really make many mistakes.

Bruce Martin: Well, that's a tough track. You can have a race where you don't make many mistakes and still have a day like that. However, there were a lot of points up for grabs in the doubleheader at Iowa, so how valuable is that? We don't know next year whether we'll have a doubleheader or a single race with the Iowa weekend, but do you believe a doubleheader weekend kind of adds a little spice into the points championship? Or would you rather have it be single races?

Kyle Kirkwood: This one, now, with how physical it is, I think it should be a single race because this is tight turnaround time for the teams, for the drivers, to get ready for the second one, if I'm being honest. But in some ways, I guess you can look at that as an opportunity to potentially do better than some of the other guys, right, physically. Yeah, it's hard to say. This is a big one for us because it is two races here, and we have been the only winner at another short oval. So if we can continue that trait, we will be back in the championship after this weekend, or we'll be considered as one that's fighting for the championship. Because once you get triple digit points out away from the next guy, typically, you get pretty much count yourself, write yourself off. So if we can, if we can get back this weekend, if we have a couple of really good races here and claw back at Palo, as the season progresses, there's a couple, few races on the calendar that we'll have a good opportunity at. We'll need some things to align, some stars to align for us, but it's still not impossible.

Bruce Martin: Well, looking ahead to Toronto and also looking beyond that to Monterey, A lot of road course skills, street course skills. So how do you feel you stack up for those two races?

Kyle Kirkwood: Yeah, so street course, obviously, we're going to be really good at. We're going to be solid at Toronto. We were last year. And on the schedule, I think it's our best track. We're going to go there. We're going to be really solid. Laguna last year, we qualified second by a few hundreds. We led a majority of the first stint in Laguna. And ultimately, we just didn't have that great of a race. I think we finished fourth or fifth. But yeah, then looking towards the end of the season, Nashville, like that's where I was going to come down. We were by far the best Honda team there. And I think Honda's brought something pretty special this season, right? With looking at 10 races, 10 wins in a row, 11 if you count last year. So yeah, there's a lot of positives coming up, but we do need to capitalize on a couple of these races. And this is one of them here this weekend.

Bruce Martin: And then Ohio, you were the Honda Honda because you had the Honda livery of Honda Racing Corporation. At Iowa, you were the Sukup Honda carrying delivery of the sponsor of the race, Sukup Manufacturing. How cool is it to have that much added attention that you're pretty much the the face of the race for those two events?

Kyle Kirkwood: Well, I wouldn't say the face of the race.

Bruce Martin: Um, maybe Bruce, you can say that.

Kyle Kirkwood: Yes, yes, there we go. Um, yeah, it's two weekends in a row. I've had title sponsor on my car. It's pretty, pretty cool. Um, Honda has obviously been very close to us, very close to team, wonderful partner of ours, um, and have been producing race winning cars for 10 races. Now this season, um, 10 races in a row, I should say. And, Yeah, and then this weekend also with Sucup, that's a new title sponsor for the IndyCar Series and also a new sponsor for us in the Andretti team. So, wonderful to have them on board, great group, very important to the heartland of America here and all the farmers out here. So, I'm glad to be supporting them in their home state.

Bruce Martin: You've been able to have a pretty successful season. It seems that your teammates, they have speed, but for whatever reason, they also have some race incidents or some locker or parts failures or things of that nature. What's it really going to take to see Colton and Marcus? get up there and start challenging for victories.

Kyle Kirkwood: I mean, Colton's there, right? Like, he's had many opportunities to do very, very well, and things just didn't materialize properly for him. Marcus, on the other hand, he's struggled a little bit, but he's also had really good pace. He just hasn't had the pace in the sessions that he really has needed to. There's been a lot of sessions that he's actually beat Colton and I in practice, and then something happens in qualifying, so he's just had a string of bad luck, if I'm being honest. But nonetheless, Marcus is a phenomenal driver. He's a great teammate. We have a great team atmosphere between him, Colton, and I. And I don't want to see anything change. And I think only time is definitely going to show that both Colton and Marcus deserve wins here in this championship.

Bruce Martin: Well, Kyle Kirkwood, you've had a pretty good year so far. Three victories isn't anything to laugh about. You'll probably get a few more before the end of the year. Good luck in trying to track down Alex Pillow for the championship. And thank you for joining us today on Pit Pass Indy.

Kyle Kirkwood: Thanks, Bruce.

Bruce Martin: Iowa Speedway is one of Graham Rahal's favorite tracks. He played a role in helping to revive Iowa Speedway in 2022 and believes it's important to keep short oval tracks on the IndyCar schedule. I'm going to call our next guest, one of the men who helped save Iowa Speedway, it's Graham Rahal. The way the story goes, back in 2020, a sponsor named Hy-Vee joined on Graham Rahal's car for the second race of a doubleheader at Iowa Speedway. And that relationship grew into Hy-Vee helping save Iowa Speedway with Roger Penske, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds. Hy-Vee had a great three-year run. Now it's the Su-Kup IndyCar race weekend at Iowa. It's going to be a little bit different. It's going to be back to racing, more so than being an entertainment and musical extravaganza. But in a lot of ways, do you feel proud of the role you played in helping to save Iowa Speedway?

Graham Rahal: Well, I don't like taking too much credit for me. Yeah, I was involved, and I, you know, yes, I mean, I was a dot connector, which is important.

Bruce Martin: You were the B to B. You were the business to business.

Graham Rahal: Yeah, you know, that's important, but, yeah, I mean, look, I'm excited to be back here. Obviously, we miss Hy-Vee. Randy Edeker's here, and I saw Matt Nichols, one of the marketing guys at Hy-Vee, and, I mean, it's great to see them. You know, we miss Randy. I mean, Randy was a big thinker at Hy-Vee's. He's now retired, which is why there's been the shift in them getting out of the sport. Randy was a big thinker. He was a big dreamer. He was a big promoter. And he made it happen. And, you know, we certainly miss that. But I've known the Sukup family a long time as well. They're wonderful people. Very charitable people. They're a supporter of our foundation. So I certainly love them. And I'm, you know, I'm eager and hopeful for a great weekend for them as well.

Bruce Martin: The thing about this weekend at Iowa, it's going to really be focused on the grassroots race fans of Iowa. There's a lot of them out there. Maybe it's not going to have all the bells and whistles it's had in the past, but you guys can always put on a good race. I know that with the lower lanes being repaved in 2024, it's affected the grip level a little bit. Yeah. How important do you believe it is to have an Iowa Speedway on the IndyCar schedule? Because it really is a race for the grassroots fans.

Graham Rahal: Yeah, but I think it's what's most important is that the fans come, you know. Wow. Most important is put on a good race. Second most important is the fans come. And you know it. I know it. Nathan knows it. Everybody, right? All I hear all day long is we need more ovals. But the reality is we need the fans to show up to the ovals, to have more ovals. And other than the Indy 500, ovals have been a hard sell over the last 15 years. And so it's going to be important that we get a great crowd. I think that's part of it going forward. Obviously, for the people here in Iowa, You know, critically, they need to see a good race, too. Last year wasn't a good race. This year we're going to try to do the things that we need to do to put on a better show. I think IndyCar has taken that to heart. But, you know, having that new lane, you know, just that single groove, you know, repaved last year at Iowa speedway definitely made things harder. I wish they would just repave the whole damn track. It would have made our lives a lot better. But that's not what happened. So, you know, we're going to have to fight that fight. Would repaving the turn areas help? I mean, just repave it all. I mean, I know it's money, but it's a great facility. And I think it's a worthwhile investment to fix her up and invest in the future of that racetrack, whether it be us, whether it's NASCAR, whether it's midgets, whether it's a variety of different cars that can race there. I think that's important.

Bruce Martin: Why do you see a disconnect between the ticket buyers that go to street course and road course races from the crowds that don't buy tickets for oval races, even though the oval races put on a heck of a show?

Graham Rahal: Well, I think most of it is because, you know, traditionally, You know, oval tracks are further outside of towns than road and street core, particularly street course racing. That is right there in your in, you know, in the center of your town. But having said that, you know, Milwaukee's close. St. Louis, not too far. Even here now used to feel like Newton was a million miles away, and now it feels like five minutes. But, um, you know, I mean, I don't know. You know, Bruce, I I'm a driver, not a promoter. So I certainly think, you know, promotion is part of that, too. You know, look at what look at what Hy-Vee did here, right? Yeah. You know, when you promote the hell out of something, it works. And so, you know, I think they were certainly proof of that.

Bruce Martin: As far as the season's going for Rahal, Letterman, Lanigan Racing, Devlin's had some good runs. You've had some good runs. Louie's had some great runs in terms of qualifying performances. So you have to see the improvement. And you being involved a little more than just a driver has to really feel excited about the future of Rahal, Letterman, Lanigan Racing.

Graham Rahal: Yeah, I feel good. I feel like our team's done a really good job. And, you know, everybody's worked very, very hard. So there's no doubt about it. I mean, I feel I feel confident where we're headed and the future of the program. And, you know, we although this is an important weekend, we've stumbled a lot this year and we need to try to overcome that and have a really solid weekend for sure.

Bruce Martin: And finally, spinning ahead to Toronto and Monterey, Toronto, classic street course, very bumpy track, Monterey, beautiful road course.

Graham Rahal: How do you and it's been a great track for Ray those two places are like we were good at Detroit qualified fifth We've been good on the road courses So I mean, you know Those are two tracks that I'm very hopeful for and you know fingers crossed we can have the pace and do what we need to do Well, Graham Ray all good luck the rest of the season.

Bruce Martin: We'll catch up later this year and thank you for joining us on pit pass Indy Thank you, sir We'll be right back to pit pass Indy after this short break and

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! Randy Edeker is the man who helped bring Iowa Speedway back to life when he was the CEO of supermarket chain Hy-Vee in 2021. From 2022 to 2024, Hy-Vee turned the Iowa doubleheader into an entertainment and racing extravaganza by combining major concerts involving such names as Post Malone, Ed Sheeran, Gwen Stefani, Blake Shelton, Luke Combs, Tim McGraw, Carrie Underwood, Kelsey Ballerini, Eric Church, and Kenny Chesney during that time. Iedeker retired as CEO after the 2022 race, but remained as the chairman of Hy-Vee until the end of 2024. Hy-Vee continued to support the race weekend, but stepped back as the title sponsor beginning in 2025. Edeker, however, remained as a strong supporter of IndyCar after forging a business relationship and friendship with Roger Penske and Penske Corporation President Bud Denker. Here is my exclusive interview with Randy Edeker for PitPass Indy. I'm going to introduce our next guest is the man who helped save Iowa Speedway back in 2021. It's former Hy-Vee CEO and chairman Randy Edeker. Randy, of course you're retired now from Hy-Vee. But in a lot of ways, if it hadn't been for what Hy-Vee, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, the mayor of Newton, Iowa, and Roger Penske on that day back in 2021 when you announced you were going to revive Iowa Speedway. We may not be standing here with an IndyCar race coming up this weekend. So how proud are you of the role that you helped play in saving a great track in the middle of Iowa?

Randy Edeker: Yeah, I think it's an important thing for us to be a part of. It's an important kind of landmark in the middle of the state needed to be used. And of course, IndyCar, I'm biased, but I think IndyCar is the most exciting racing in the world. And so I'm totally biased towards that. But yeah, proud of the event, proud that it's still going on, proud of Sukup for stepping up and really supporting it and keeping it going.

Bruce Martin: And to have the concept that you came up with, which really brought in some big crowds for three years to Iowa Speedway, of combining musical entertainment, big, and we're not talking about small acts, we're talking about A-listers. Big day musical entertainment along with IndyCar doubleheader races. It was really a pretty successful concept. To be able to do that, it really made the event seem huge. And how proud are you that you were able to have that type of impact on that event?

Randy Edeker: I'm proud of our Hy-Vee team and all they invested in making that all work and making it happen. It was a huge undertaking and and you know everything runs its has its time and it kind of ran its course and so we Hy-Vee's moved on but I'm proud of the event proud that it's still going on and want to do anything I can do to help keep supporting it.

Bruce Martin: I know you were a great admirer of Bud Denker and Roger Penske. And you're here today, even though you're retired and Hy-Vee's not involved with the race weekend anymore. But what is it about the business to business relationships that you were able to forge during that time?

Randy Edeker: Yeah, Roger and Bud, they're just great individuals. I love them dearly. I consider them both good friends. And so I love the sport. Just wanted to come and help support them and help keep it going and do anything I can do to help them in any way I can.

Bruce Martin: Now, this may be a little bit of a delicate question, but I'm going to ask anyway. NASCAR owns the track.

Randy Edeker: Yeah.

Bruce Martin: The track was dormant for the most part in 2021. I believe they held an ARCA race and that was it. NASCAR didn't seem to have much interest in doing anything with their property. Hy-Vee comes in, cleans it up, paints it, builds new structures, really brings it up to speed. And then beginning in 2024, NASCAR decides, hey, thanks, we're going to have a race here now. Did that have a negative impact on the IndyCar race?

Randy Edeker: I'm sure it doesn't help. I mean, Iowa's a small state, and there's limited resources, especially with the economy the way it was. I'm sure it didn't help. It's good to have NASCAR back. We're glad that they're here. We hope that IndyCar and NASCAR can live together in the same spot, and it'll continue. I mean, you need more than one event a year to keep the track going. So, yeah, hopefully having a couple big events there will help keep everything moving.

Bruce Martin: So Randy Edeker is a huge IndyCar fan. How many races are you able to get to?

Randy Edeker: Well, I went to the Indianapolis 500 this past year. I have several others that I'm going to get to. I'll probably get to five or six this year.

Bruce Martin: And how much do you stay in contact with Roger Penske and Bud Denker? As you said, you consider them very dear friends of yours.

Randy Edeker: Well, I saw Roger at the Indy 500 and Bud, of course. And Bud and I keep in touch about every other week or so. So good friends.

Bruce Martin: From a sponsorship side, we all know business is business. Not everything in business sponsorship is permanent, as we all know. Few things are, but they were able to keep the sponsor within the state of Iowa with Sukup. Stephen Sukup's been a supporter of Iowa Speedway since pretty much the very beginning of the track. How important was it to really keep it in the state of Iowa?

Randy Edeker: I think it is really important. I'm proud of Sukup for stepping up. It was a big lift on their part, and that's why I wanted to come and support not only the event, but support them.

Bruce Martin: A lot of people wonder about what the crowd's going to be like, the future of the race, whether it should be a single race weekend and all that. Now that you're out of the picture, do you have any thoughts that you might think of whether a single weekend race may be the way to go from here on out?

Randy Edeker: Yeah, that may be the way to go moving forward. And so, again, I'm out of it, but if they ask my opinion, that'd be my opinion, to keep a single race here in the state of Iowa, to push it and support it any way we can.

Bruce Martin: And finally, how cool was it to pull up to Iowa Speedway during all those years and see all that Hy-Vee signage everywhere?

Randy Edeker: Well, obviously, I'm biased, so I'm proud of Hy-Vee, proud of Jeremy and the team for what they're doing now. They're really focused on the economy, lowering prices, and fighting for the customers, and so I'm proud of that. But I was proud of our event that we put on also.

Bruce Martin: Well, not only that, it got a lot of national awareness for the company.

Randy Edeker: Yeah, there's a ton of attention. So it's all good.

Bruce Martin: And then finally, Steven Sukup, he's interesting guy, big time businessman. Anybody who's involved in the agricultural industry knows what the Sukup name is. How do you envision his involvement in this event and how he can really keep it in the state of Iowa?

Randy Edeker: Yeah, I mean, there's a lot of agriculture assets in the state. And so I would just encourage everybody to join around them, support the event, come alongside of them and help boost them and pat them on the back for stepping up and taking the lead, keeping this event here in Iowa.

Bruce Martin: And this will be my final question, I promise. Alex Polo is on a spectacular run. And you, as an IndyCar fan, former sponsor, former CEO of a major supermarket chain, when you see perfection like that or brilliance like that, isn't that something that a lot of companies and athletes should strive for?

Randy Edeker: Oh, absolutely. He is just on a tear. He seems to be unstoppable. And so, you know, you get a team and an organization that's on a run like that, and they are hot right now. And so, yeah, that's what everybody strives to do. Everybody wants to be Alex Pillow right now.

Bruce Martin: Well, Randy Edeker, former CEO and chairman of Hy-Vee, enjoy retirement. Good luck in the future. We'll look for you at some IndyCar races the rest of the year. And thank you for joining us today on Pit Pass Indy.

Randy Edeker: Thanks. Thanks.

Bruce Martin: This year's Iowa Doubleheader was sponsored by Sukup Manufacturing. Let's get to know more about the Sheffield, Iowa-based company in this exclusive interview with CEO Steven Sukup on Pit Pass Indie. Steven Sukup is back on pit pass. Steven, I talked to you a couple of weeks ago leading into the Sukup IndyCar race weekend at Iowa Speedway. We're a few days out. How would you gauge the way promotion and fan interest and ticket sales and corporate interest have gone now that you're involved as a sponsor?

Steven Sukup: Well it's one that just the excitement coming down today listening to the radio ads and you pull into town and across the overpass the bus is going by with the IndyCar logos on it and just everybody touching base. We had Santino Ferruccio out to a farm yesterday with one of our million plus bushels of grain storage and Santino got to drive a combine. It was like at four miles an hour, so he wasn't real happy with that. It was like pit lane speed, but just the excitement working with the IndyCar folks, the drivers, whether it's Kyle, Graham. We've known Graham for a while. It's been fabulous. And, you know, the Speedway, that's a signature place here in Iowa.

Bruce Martin: Now, you know the answer to this, but I told Santino I bet that combine costs as much as an IndyCar.

Steven Sukup: I think it does. Yes, it does. It's at the seven figures. So, yes.

Bruce Martin: So, you being involved in the agricultural industry with manufactured buildings, grain bins, silos, things of that nature, one thing that I don't think the average American really understands is How difficult it is to be a farmer because the money pretty much all comes in one big lump sum when you have your harvest, and then you gotta make that work the rest of the year. How difficult is that?

Steven Sukup: Well, that's where the grain storage gives them opportunity. They harvest everything, but if they can store it, And usually there's volatility in the grain markets, like whether it's the stock markets, grain markets, there's volatility. And that way, with the grain bins, they can judge when they're going to deliver that product to the ethanol plants or the feed mills or wherever it needs to go.

Bruce Martin: Another question I have about grain bins is when you have grain, obviously there's dryers to keep it dry because mold has got to be the enemy of all of that grain. So if you could explain that process to us. Sure.

Steven Sukup: When you harvest like the corn, you're going to harvest between 20 and 25 percent moisture. But in order to store it, it has to be down to 15%. So our grain dryers dry it quickly, we cool it, and then put it in the grain bin for them to be ready to sell and things. And hopefully, on your way out from Indy, or I know I talked to some people that came from Ohio from last week's race. They started looking for some grain bins. Whose grain bins are out there in the field?

Bruce Martin: Well, I'll be honest with you, on I-88 in Illinois, coming from St. Charles, Illinois, I started, immediately saw a Sukup Grain Bin. And that was near DeKalb, Illinois, and from the rest of the way, I saw Sukup Grain Bins all over.

Steven Sukup: Northern Illinois is a great spot for us, and Iowa and Indiana is a good way also.

Bruce Martin: Tell your grain bins apart from others, because yours are nice and shiny.

Steven Sukup: We really have put great emphasis on that. All our steel comes from the U.S. market. It's in Indiana, Ohio, Arkansas. It's our steel mills that we primarily work with. I go visit them, we visit them. They know our product coming through, and we bring in about a million pounds of steel a week.

Bruce Martin: Taking over from Randy and from Jeremy and the people at Hy-Vee. They promoted one way making it a music festival. Of course, you can't necessarily do it that way. So what do you envision the future of the Iowa IndyCar race in terms of your involvement and now it's being geared back toward the race fans rather than making it an entertainment and racing extravaganza?

Steven Sukup: I think everybody's going to adjust to it quite well. I mean, there's no doubt that Governor Reynolds and Roger Penske and Randy at Hy-Vee really brought the race back. We have the opportunity to keep it what everybody expects there, a beautiful track, well kept, and take care of the customer and give them a great race experience.

Bruce Martin: And I see Randy Eidecker is here today at the Sioux Cup Media Luncheon, and the fact that he's still a major supporter. He's retired at Hy-Vee, but he is still a huge IndyCar fan, a huge IndyCar supporter. And what does his support mean to you?

Steven Sukup: Well, it means the continuation. It wasn't just that they handed off and said, here you go. It's one that they want to be part of a successful. They brought it up to a high standard. They want it to be there, to stay there, and appreciate Randy's support on it. So I had a good chat with him earlier, and he bought a suite at the track. And so he's all in.

Bruce Martin: And your involvement began very early on at Iowa Speedway with the Indy Next by Firestone series and maybe some other races. What years was that? Because the track opened in 2007.

Steven Sukup: Actually, yeah, we got involved with the Indy Lights race and actually we had Josef Newgarden and Sage Graham come up to Sheffield to our manufacturing plant. Joseph won the Indy Lights one year. We gave him the winners award. We make the winners award and we make the pole awards for the race and we've got some special winners trophies for this race as well.

Bruce Martin: And even though the Penske Corporation is in the transportation industry, The B2B has to be valuable for your company to be involved with the Penske Corporation.

Steven Sukup: Well, there's no doubt. We know Penske set the bar high that everything needs to be exact and precise. And that's who you want to associate with and benchmark with.

Bruce Martin: Well, Steven Sukup, the CEO of Sukup Industries, or Sukup Manufacturing, correct me on that.

Steven Sukup: Yeah, Sukup Manufacturing.

Bruce Martin: Sukup Manufacturing. Good luck with your IndyCar endeavors, especially at Iowa Speedway. And thank you for joining us today on Pit Pass Indy. All right. Thank you much. Bud Denker is the president of Penske Corporation and plays a major role in the promotional aspects of IndyCar and Penske Entertainment, the official promoters of the IndyCar races at Iowa Speedway. Danker knew there would be tremendous challenges heading into this year's race because the format had changed dramatically from the Hy-Vee days and the big name concerts. Danker explained the differences in its exclusive pit pass interview that was conducted prior to the race weekend at Iowa Speedway. The president of the Penske Corporation, Bud Denker, is stopped by. Bud, we're in Iowa. Dawn of a new era at Iowa Speedway for the Iowa race weekend, which this year is going to be sponsored by Sucup, an Iowa-based company. But yet, I've noticed an awful lot of friends from Hy-Vee are back, including your friend Randy Edeker, retired as CEO and chairman. In a lot of ways, Hy-Vee is still a big part of this event, even though they may not have the naming rights anymore. So how great is it to still have that relationship?

Bud Denker: Well, you know, the good thing about the partnerships that we have across the Penske organization, whether it be Team Penske, you know, we've been here for a long time, and no matter how big. Penske Corporation or Penske Entertainment is, I will tell you that almost every one of those relationships and we have 80 some partners. It's the friendships we develop along the way, and the partnerships are one thing. But when you develop the partnerships and the friendships together, it makes it pretty special and the partnership and the friendship we've had with Randy Edeker, former chairman of In fact, Randy actually bought a suite, bought a suite on his own at the event this weekend to have his kids, his friends, his family out there. That's how tidy it is into our series. Now, you're not going to see all the red you've seen in the past years out there because their strategy's changed, but they're still a part of our event, a big part of our event. You're going to see their branding here in ways you didn't see it in past years, but remember, Hy-Vee was the reason that we came back to Iowa post-COVID. That partnership we developed for those three years really brought us back to this great market. And having these double-headers here was Randy's idea, and we're still doing it to this day.

Bruce Martin: Without Hy-Vee, there may not still be an Iowa Speedway. And without Hy-Vee and the Penske Corporation cleaning up the track, painting it, doing structural improvement, there may not be an NASCAR Cup Series race at Iowa Speedway. So in a lot of ways, Hy-Vee's involvement has had long-lasting impact on that facility and on racing in Iowa. How valuable is that?

Bud Denker: Well, you're very perceptive on that, Bruce, because you're right. Remember, when we came back here four or five years ago, they had to bring the combines out, and the grass and all of that they used to collect hay. That's how much grass had grown. It hadn't been used. It was a dormant facility. So when we met with the mayor of Newton, Iowa, and the governor of Iowa, Governor Reynolds, and then Randy Edeker, the combination of Newton, of our governor, and of Randy and his team brought this race back along with Roger Penske. You are absolutely correct. And we spent, as you know, the first year helping clean the place up, painting it, as you said, making it look brand new. The suites were painted by us. The doors were painted by us. The stair steps were painted by us. The walls were painted by us. Those are things that we did at Penske Entertainment to make it look good. Hence, now, they have their first cup race ever last year, right? Their first cup race they've had back in Iowa. So, you know, Rusty Wallace and the Clement family built this years and years ago with the hope they would have a cup race here. Well, they've now got their dream many, many years later. And I think, as you said, a lot of it being because of what we did to reestablish this track for the sport and for NASCAR since then.

Bruce Martin: So how different is the event's going to look? There won't be any big-name entertainment. There might be some local entertainment at some of the music stages behind the grandstands, but not any full-scale concerts. From your point of view as the promoter, how different is the event going to look?

Bud Denker: Yeah, it's going to look different because of the fact that for the last three years, it's looked a sea of red, right, Hy-Vee, from the sweets they had in turn one to the sweets they had in turn four. That's all gone now. So you're back to really a racing event, a focused racing event. There will be fewer people because so many of them came to see the concerts in the past and just the concerts as well. So it's different than that respect also. So it'll be a good looking crowd but different as you mentioned in previous years because now we're focused on racing versus focused on Ed Sheeran or Gwen Stefani or Blake Shelton or Kenny Chesney or Zach Brown coming here. Those years have now gone.

Bruce Martin: How different will the crowd look?

Bud Denker: Crowd will look different also. We'll have fewer people than those races as well. Still have a respectable crowd here. We're happy with that. But the crowd will be less than it has been in previous years for sure.

Bruce Martin: And as far as ticket sales, obviously you'd like to have a sellout. Where do things stand with ticket sales? Hy-Vee did a great job letting people know, hey, the race is coming. Don't see so much of that now. So what can we expect about ticket sales?

Bud Denker: Yeah, you're going to see the fact we've got room for more people to come. We hope the walk-up, because the weekend weather is so much better than it's been in previous years. We have a good walk-up. We had a good number yesterday. We still watch the numbers every day in terms of what will be sold. But we're not going to have a sellout. We're not going to have near of a sellout there. It's just the reality of the marketplace. Remember, the dynamics of this marketplace that we're in also can be challenged also, from farming to what people have experienced here, from tariffs as well, too. They're not immune to that. So it's not a big market, a huge market, but we have a lot of open-wheel fans in this market that are going to come out and see a good show.

Bruce Martin: It's been a very rough year for Team Penske. Three of your key team leaders, Tim Sendrick, the president, Ron Rzewski, the managing director, Kyle Moyer, the general manager, were all dismissed after the qualifications at the Indianapolis 500. They've named new team leadership with Jonathan Duguid and Travis Law now taking over. But in the middle of the season, how long is it going to take for them to really help turn the program around? Because you're heavily involved in Team Penske also.

Bud Denker: Well, I think we've got great leadership there. The good thing about our organization is, as it is our businesses, whether it be dealerships or our truck leasing organizations or logistics, is that we always have a good funnel of people available to come up through the organization. You don't see us very often go out and hire leaders. We don't do it in our business. We don't do it in our racing organization. And the same thing is true now with example with Travis Law and Jonathan Duguid, as you mentioned, moving up into these new roles. So they have great experience in the IndyCar. Both of them, you know, raised themselves in the sport through IndyCar. Obviously they've been in the sports car program now. They're going to be responsible for both of those. So yeah, we've had a tough year at Team Penske in terms of the circumstances of the races from the Indy 500 to what you saw with Joseph last week at Mid-Ohio. But you know what? Leadership's in place. Team is motivated. Team is focused. And as you know, you couldn't come to a better place to turn your season around than Iowa. Because if I remember right, I think the number was, what, nine or eight of the last nine races were won by a Team Penske driver. So we'll see what they can do this weekend.

Bruce Martin: You spend as much time with Roger Penske as anybody, but I imagine he's probably got to be pretty disappointed with 2025 and how would you describe? I know that he's a man that expects results and will get results done, but how can you describe his attitude? Toward IndyCar 2025 after all that's happened.

Bud Denker: Yeah, you know, there's obviously, we're disappointed in the results. You know, we're a driven organization, as Roger mentions, effort equals results, right? It isn't the fact that the effort hasn't been put in, the results haven't come out as a result of those situations. So there's disappointment. But, you know, Roger is the most resilient man you'll ever see in your life. He focuses maybe a second or two on what happened, but it's all about what can be done to improve your results. Even if you win a race, what can still be done better and better and better. So there's not much time, Bruce, that we spend with Roger, myself, our leadership, focusing on the past. Disappointment, obviously, in the past results, but it's all about what we're going to do to improve in the future races beginning this weekend here in Iowa.

Bruce Martin: Will Power's future is in doubt. This is a contract year. I know there's not much you can say because those things aren't announced till the end of the year, but is it likely that Will Power may be driving for a different team in 2026?

Bud Denker: Yeah, as you mentioned, we're not going to talk about contracts. We never do. And we haven't made the decision yet. We haven't. That's the truth. So there will be some time here with us over the next several weeks to gather ourselves. And not only got Jonathan Duguid, you know, in place now in a responsible area in Travis law. Those discussions will also include those two individuals as well. So, uh, but I think the fact is that we haven't made a decision yet, and, uh, those things will come here in due course.

Bruce Martin: Well, it appears that he is in demand in the paddock, as he should be. I mean, he's had a monumental career in New Car. He really has. And as one team owner said, we'd love to have him. He's in the high rent district, so I don't know if we can afford him, but we'd love to have him.

Bud Denker: Well, I'm not surprised by those comments, because he's done a great job. I mean, where else? He's a leader ever in polls, right? Look at what he's done in his tenure and his speed. He hasn't lost that speed. You see his numbers still even this year. Yeah, they haven't fanned out because we had a fire last week. a car with an engine failure, but it's one thing or another, it seems like, even for all the Team Bensky drivers, but still, Will hasn't lost it. However, we're always looking in the forward, through the forward glass, not the rearview mirror, and like I say, I'm sure he's in high demand.

Bruce Martin: And Josef Newgarden's had a really rough stretch here. I mean, what can you… He's a very competitive guy.

Bud Denker: Oh yeah.

Bruce Martin: And for him to, like, issue after issue after issue, didn't even make it past the green flag very far at MedOhio.

Bud Denker: Yeah.

Bruce Martin: How do you even begin to describe that? We know how that's eating him up.

Bud Denker: Yeah, it is. You know, I sent him a note on Monday morning, and I said, just remember this. When you got home last night, your son Koda, right, didn't even know what happened, right? Didn't care what happened. And all he wanted to do was his father's attention. So, same thing for you. Don't dwell on it. It happened what happened. It was a free situation where the car just absolutely jerked to the left on him, as it happened before to him. But, you know, it's one thing after another. And he said, you know what, bud, you're up. I'm ready. I'm focused. I'll be spending time in the simulator this week getting ready for this race ahead. And so, yeah, a disappointment, but certainly, as I said before, there's no better track to come to than coming to this one, because he's had a pretty good success rate here the last few years.

Bruce Martin: weekend of July 26th, where's Bud Denker going to be? Monterey, California or the Indianapolis Motor Speedway?

Bud Denker: Well, we're breaking it up that week. It's a good question because we don't want to have everybody in one location. But because we are hosting our NASCAR friends at that track, we've got some folks that will be in our leadership team who will be in Laguna. But that weekend, I'll be at the Brickyard.

Bruce Martin: Well, Bud Danker, you've always been a straight shooter with me. I know you're going to get results, because that's why you're at the Penske Corporation, is to get results. But good luck with the rest of the season. Good luck with Team Penske, bringing them back to competitive status. Good luck at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, IndyCar, Penske Truck Rental, Penske Automotive, you name it. But good luck with all that, and thank you for joining us today on Pit Pass Indy, presented by Penske Truck Rental.

Bud Denker: Always good to be on your show. Thank you. Appreciate that.

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: And that puts a checkered flag on this edition of Pit Pass Indy presented by Penske Truck Rental. We want to thank our guests, Sync 275 and Iowa Speedway Race Winner Paddle Award of Errol McLaren, Farm to Fresh 275 Race Winner Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing, Drivers Scott McLaughlin of Team Penske, Connor Daly of Juncos Hollinger Racing, David Maloukas and Santino Ferrucci of AJ Foyt Racing, Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti Global, and Graham Rahal of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Also, Errol McLaren team principal Tony Kanaan and Meyer Schenck co-owner Michael Schenck. Finally, former Hy-Vee CEO and chairman Randy Edeker, Sukup Manufacturing CEO Steven Sukup, and Penske Corporation president Bud Denker for joining us on today's podcast. Along with loyal listeners like you, our guests helped 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, uppercase B, uppercase M, underscore 500. And we will have more IndyCar content later this week as we wrap up the IndyCar Doubleheader at Iowa and look ahead to this weekend's big race on the streets of Toronto. So be sure to keep your eyes out and your ears for that episode. This has been a production of Evergreen Podcast. A special thanks to our production team. Executive producers are Bridget Coyne and Gerardo Orlando. Recordings and edits were done by me, Bruce Martin, and final mixing was done by Sean Rule Hoffman and Nathan Corson. Until next time, be sure to keep it out of the wall.