1 00:00:08,039 --> 00:00:11,240 You're listening to the Back Home Network presented by Home 2 00:00:11,240 --> 00:00:21,400 Field Apparel. Welcome back to Crimson Cast 3 00:00:21,400 --> 00:00:25,640 Galen Clavia, Scott Caulfield joining you midweek here in May 4 00:00:26,280 --> 00:00:29,720 as we hurtle towards Memorial Day weekend. 5 00:00:29,720 --> 00:00:34,360 We're almost there, Scott, and a lot going on in the city of 6 00:00:34,360 --> 00:00:38,120 Indianapolis over this weekend. Obviously, for those of us who 7 00:00:38,120 --> 00:00:41,840 have recovered from that gut punch Pacers loss in game one, 8 00:00:41,840 --> 00:00:45,840 wow. I I I felt all kinds of feelings 9 00:00:45,840 --> 00:00:48,000 that I didn't think I was capable of feeling anymore. 10 00:00:49,040 --> 00:00:50,320 That was a gut punch. It's like the bill. 11 00:00:50,360 --> 00:00:52,320 I don't know where that fits in the Bill Simmons level of gut 12 00:00:52,320 --> 00:00:55,720 punches, but man, that was that. Yeah, that sucked. 13 00:00:56,160 --> 00:00:58,920 But but that going on, you know, we got the, you know, the the 14 00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:01,680 fever and Caitlin Clark around and then of course. 15 00:01:01,840 --> 00:01:03,400 Pacers, man. Like legitimate racers and 16 00:01:03,400 --> 00:01:05,280 Pacers. I know it's, it's, it's it's 17 00:01:05,280 --> 00:01:08,400 like we're in high school again, you know, it's it's it's pretty 18 00:01:08,400 --> 00:01:12,120 wild. But yeah, we're we're going to 19 00:01:12,120 --> 00:01:14,000 focus on the Indy 500 for this episode. 20 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:16,840 As Scott and I, for those of you who have followed Crannis and 21 00:01:16,840 --> 00:01:18,640 Cass for a long time, both big fans of the race. 22 00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:22,760 We've both been going for years and many of you in the audience 23 00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:25,280 are fans of the Indy 500. I'll warn you right now, there's 24 00:01:25,280 --> 00:01:30,800 no IU content at all in this. So numbers going down, just 25 00:01:30,840 --> 00:01:32,560 people. I mean, catch you next time. 26 00:01:32,720 --> 00:01:34,280 You know, it's funny, actually, I was thinking about this 27 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:35,720 yesterday. Like, you know, we've posted 28 00:01:35,840 --> 00:01:38,440 some podcasts recently and you know, anything with basketball 29 00:01:38,440 --> 00:01:41,480 content, it's like you've got thousands of people listening or 30 00:01:41,480 --> 00:01:42,960 watching. We've I posted that football 31 00:01:42,960 --> 00:01:45,840 podcast with Taylor the other day and it's got like 400 views. 32 00:01:46,400 --> 00:01:48,920 You know, it's like, I know we have so many, we love football. 33 00:01:48,920 --> 00:01:51,600 We've got so many football centric fans, but it's kind of 34 00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:54,600 like when you read about how it's like the the Bronny James 35 00:01:54,600 --> 00:01:57,000 thing where it's like, no, we shouldn't be talking about 36 00:01:57,000 --> 00:01:58,600 Bronny James as a draft prospect. 37 00:01:58,600 --> 00:02:01,800 And yet the ratings during those segments are like sky high and 38 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:03,400 you get. You know, 10s of thousands of 39 00:02:03,400 --> 00:02:06,160 views, you got to give the people what they want. 40 00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:09,680 And so this I'm going to do like an ESPN TS here. 41 00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:12,680 We're going to do 40 minutes of Indy 500 talk with then Galen's 42 00:02:12,680 --> 00:02:15,200 going to have the hottest basketball take at the very end 43 00:02:15,480 --> 00:02:17,800 that you've ever heard. Right after this break. 44 00:02:17,800 --> 00:02:18,680 No. Yeah. 45 00:02:18,720 --> 00:02:23,680 So it's, but no, we're gonna, we're doing this one for us and 46 00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:27,200 one for our Indy, Indy 500 fans. So we're gonna jump into that. 47 00:02:27,320 --> 00:02:30,880 But first, before we get to that, just a reminder that you 48 00:02:30,880 --> 00:02:33,400 need to check out Home Field apparel.com, proud sponsor of 49 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:36,840 the back home network and increasingly the place to go for 50 00:02:36,840 --> 00:02:39,640 all of your your racing apparel needs. 51 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:43,360 They have jumped fully into the racing world. 52 00:02:43,560 --> 00:02:45,920 They've got collections available on the website that 53 00:02:45,920 --> 00:02:48,240 I'm looking at right now. They have an entire Hendrick 54 00:02:48,240 --> 00:02:50,840 Motorsports collection. They have an entire Arrow 55 00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:54,240 McLaren collection. And of course. 500 they got. 56 00:02:54,520 --> 00:02:56,520 And they've got the Indianapolis 500. 57 00:02:57,320 --> 00:03:01,720 They've got shirts, they've got hats, They've got just a little 58 00:03:01,720 --> 00:03:03,160 bit of everything across the board. 59 00:03:03,160 --> 00:03:04,880 Some really really. Making the race this year. 60 00:03:05,240 --> 00:03:07,440 The trucker hat is making the race, absolutely. 61 00:03:07,640 --> 00:03:08,920 So I'll. Give you a race for the trucker 62 00:03:08,920 --> 00:03:10,960 hat. Probably not the bomber jacket. 63 00:03:10,960 --> 00:03:15,360 I think even though, even though it looks like we might get a 64 00:03:15,360 --> 00:03:18,400 high under 80, I don't think I'm going to wear the bomber jacket 65 00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:20,720 to the Speedway on Sunday. That's a bold move. 66 00:03:20,880 --> 00:03:24,000 Bold move. I I've seen people like normally 67 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:26,040 those are the people you're like that guy's passing out like 68 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:30,160 10:00 AM yeah, he's done passing out on the ground. 69 00:03:30,520 --> 00:03:33,000 We've actually used the bomber jacket to cover the body up 70 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:39,800 until until the coroner arrives. But yeah, so anyway, home field 71 00:03:39,840 --> 00:03:42,760 apparel, you're you're this is where you end up going to find 72 00:03:42,760 --> 00:03:45,080 your racing apparel to wear, obviously. 73 00:03:45,280 --> 00:03:47,640 So check them out, use the code home 23. 74 00:03:47,640 --> 00:03:53,040 Get 15% off your first order. And you, you, you've got all 75 00:03:53,040 --> 00:03:54,680 kinds of events going on this week. 76 00:03:54,680 --> 00:03:58,160 The one that you want to check out is actually in Broad Ripple 77 00:03:58,160 --> 00:04:00,400 on Friday. Still some tickets available. 78 00:04:00,640 --> 00:04:05,240 Half Liter BBQ is the location. We've got shutdown forecast with 79 00:04:05,240 --> 00:04:09,560 special guest Atlanta King coming in to talk the race talk. 80 00:04:09,640 --> 00:04:11,040 You know, I mean, it's shutdown forecast. 81 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:13,000 If you haven't checked it out, just check it out. 82 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:17,279 You'll understand immediately and home field the proud sponsor 83 00:04:17,279 --> 00:04:18,680 of that. Doors open at 6:00. 84 00:04:18,839 --> 00:04:21,120 Go to homefieldapparel.com. Go to their social media. 85 00:04:21,120 --> 00:04:23,040 Still tickets available. So go check that out. 86 00:04:23,840 --> 00:04:26,240 Also just a reminder, we're on sub stack Crimson cast at 87 00:04:26,240 --> 00:04:28,200 substack.com. It's free to sign up. 88 00:04:28,840 --> 00:04:31,840 We will send you podcast info right to your door or your 89 00:04:31,840 --> 00:04:33,760 e-mail. The door would be a little bit 90 00:04:33,760 --> 00:04:36,880 weird, I agree, but but definitely to your e-mail. 91 00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:38,960 We also have a a paid subscriber option. 92 00:04:38,960 --> 00:04:42,080 Scott just dropped a video about some priority point stuff. 93 00:04:42,080 --> 00:04:43,960 We're going to have another video coming up here relatively 94 00:04:43,960 --> 00:04:47,560 soon, so check that out. It's crimsoncast.substack.com. 95 00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:48,920 We'd love to have you as a part of the community. 96 00:04:49,320 --> 00:04:52,480 All right, Scott, let's talk. Maybe, I guess let's start off 97 00:04:52,480 --> 00:04:56,920 by recapping Qualls weekend as that happened this past weekend. 98 00:04:57,720 --> 00:05:00,640 We got the field of 33 set we had. 99 00:05:00,760 --> 00:05:06,240 We sort of had bumping kind of it was a little anti climactic, 100 00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:08,320 which we'll talk about in a second. 101 00:05:08,440 --> 00:05:12,120 But obviously we want to focus our attention at at first, I 102 00:05:12,120 --> 00:05:16,120 think on the the top of the field and talk about how 103 00:05:16,120 --> 00:05:20,280 qualifying went in general. Let's maybe focus first on the 104 00:05:20,280 --> 00:05:23,080 results and then we can talk about the quality they're in. 105 00:05:24,320 --> 00:05:27,600 Looking at this, it's Team Penske across the board on the 106 00:05:27,600 --> 00:05:33,760 front row, and you end up with Scott McLaughlin on the pole, 107 00:05:34,440 --> 00:05:37,440 Willpower in the middle of row one, Joseph Newgarden on the 108 00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:41,560 outside of row one. You get Alexander Rossi on the 109 00:05:41,560 --> 00:05:44,080 inside of row two. You got Kyle Larson, who's been 110 00:05:44,080 --> 00:05:45,880 a pretty big name in the middle of row two. 111 00:05:46,240 --> 00:05:49,320 So you've got two teams for the first five spots and then the 112 00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:53,720 wild card of Santino Ferrucci, who finished 6th and qualify. 113 00:05:53,720 --> 00:05:56,680 He's on the outside of row two. And then just to round out the 114 00:05:56,680 --> 00:06:01,240 1st 3 rows, Renus VK recovers from a crash, ends up finishing 115 00:06:01,960 --> 00:06:05,320 ninth in qualify, excuse me, 10th in qualifying, Potto award, 116 00:06:05,520 --> 00:06:09,160 and then Felix Rosenquist. And then we can kind of filter 117 00:06:09,160 --> 00:06:11,720 through the field from there. So first of all, your overall 118 00:06:11,720 --> 00:06:15,120 impressions of how qualifying went and whatever take homes 119 00:06:15,120 --> 00:06:16,520 you've got from the top of the field. 120 00:06:16,880 --> 00:06:19,960 Yeah, I mean, so do do we know if Penske got extra push to pass 121 00:06:19,960 --> 00:06:22,000 for for qualifying? No, I I know they don't use it 122 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:24,280 on the ovals. You know it. 123 00:06:25,560 --> 00:06:27,280 Well, the other thing that I find interesting with the way 124 00:06:27,280 --> 00:06:29,800 the field, you know, shook out, I would not have had this on my 125 00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:34,160 bingo card is Meyer Shank Racing having the highest placing Honda 126 00:06:34,160 --> 00:06:36,640 in the field. So Fields Rosenquist is the 127 00:06:36,640 --> 00:06:40,760 highest placing Honda and then Rahal Letterman has Sato in the 128 00:06:40,760 --> 00:06:44,680 next spot and then Kirkwood Andretti to get to Ganassi. 129 00:06:44,680 --> 00:06:47,200 You've got to go down to Polo in row five. 130 00:06:47,840 --> 00:06:50,880 That that's kind of surprising. And you do see, you know, you 131 00:06:50,880 --> 00:06:54,640 know, of the first nine spots, eight of them, 128 are Chevys. 132 00:06:54,920 --> 00:06:57,880 So it does seem like Chevy does have the, the more horsepower, 133 00:06:57,880 --> 00:07:00,160 although maybe a little more reliability issues. 134 00:07:00,480 --> 00:07:02,600 But this is something you've seen over years where, you know, 135 00:07:02,600 --> 00:07:05,360 normally going into one of the five hundreds, one of the two 136 00:07:05,360 --> 00:07:07,680 engines seems to have it over the other. 137 00:07:07,680 --> 00:07:10,120 Although it normally seems it's hard to parse here 'cause you 138 00:07:10,120 --> 00:07:12,000 don't know if it's Chevy or if it's Penske. 139 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:16,440 Cause in the end, while Ganassi has been a, a very good team, 140 00:07:17,040 --> 00:07:20,800 it's been a team dominated by Dixon and Franchitti and then 141 00:07:20,800 --> 00:07:22,960 other driver Polo has done very well. 142 00:07:22,960 --> 00:07:26,400 But it at the Indianapolis 500, it's really been those two 143 00:07:26,400 --> 00:07:29,880 drivers who kind of led Ganassi. I mean, Andretti's almost had a 144 00:07:29,880 --> 00:07:32,840 little more high level success than Ganassi at times. 145 00:07:33,200 --> 00:07:36,800 But you know, it's like, is it, is it Penske or is it Chevy 146 00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:38,800 every year? Cause Penske is always the class 147 00:07:38,800 --> 00:07:41,280 of the most always the class of the field in the 500. 148 00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:43,200 It is interesting though, because we do. 149 00:07:43,200 --> 00:07:46,720 It feels like every year you've either got Penske at the top of 150 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:49,440 their game and Ganassi struggling off the radar. 151 00:07:49,440 --> 00:07:53,320 Yeah, vice versa like 2022, Scott Dixon's on the pole, Alex 152 00:07:53,320 --> 00:07:55,520 Pelo is is is second on the grid. 153 00:07:55,840 --> 00:07:58,800 And I think the, the highest qualifying Penske that year was 154 00:07:58,800 --> 00:08:00,840 willpower and he was in the middle of row four. 155 00:08:00,840 --> 00:08:02,160 And I think I've got that down right. 156 00:08:02,160 --> 00:08:05,360 And so it is I, I've always found that fascinating, The 157 00:08:06,160 --> 00:08:08,280 like, one team has their crap together and the other team 158 00:08:08,280 --> 00:08:11,080 doesn't, at least not the way that they do in the rest of the 159 00:08:11,080 --> 00:08:13,320 series. And then you've got whether it's 160 00:08:13,320 --> 00:08:17,120 Erin McLaren or whether it's Andretti or whether it's Meyer 161 00:08:17,120 --> 00:08:20,160 Shank kind of sprinkled in around them. 162 00:08:20,520 --> 00:08:25,120 But I do think, I mean, clearly Penske doesn't just seem to have 163 00:08:25,120 --> 00:08:28,600 the engine dialed in, but the way their cars looked throughout 164 00:08:28,600 --> 00:08:32,360 all of qualifying. They were just in a completely 165 00:08:32,360 --> 00:08:34,919 different class. It felt like like even even 166 00:08:34,919 --> 00:08:39,640 Rossi, who was clearly the next fastest driver both on Saturday 167 00:08:39,640 --> 00:08:43,240 and then also on Sunday, did not look like he was really in the 168 00:08:43,240 --> 00:08:46,400 conversation for the first row, let alone the pole. 169 00:08:46,680 --> 00:08:51,640 And it wasn't just the engine. It was the way the cars drove. 170 00:08:51,640 --> 00:08:55,000 Like there seemed to be almost like very little effort. 171 00:08:55,440 --> 00:08:57,560 I mean, it was clearly effort, but it looked like there was 172 00:08:57,560 --> 00:08:59,880 very little effort being given by the Penske cars to do what 173 00:08:59,880 --> 00:09:02,720 they did. Yep, no, I would all say, you 174 00:09:02,720 --> 00:09:05,120 know, I was thinking this. I I there's not a lot of great 175 00:09:05,120 --> 00:09:09,920 stat sites for IndyCar, but I know shocking eight former 176 00:09:09,920 --> 00:09:12,960 winners in the field. I think that's close to, if not, 177 00:09:12,960 --> 00:09:16,600 I don't want to say the record, but it's really close to a the 178 00:09:16,600 --> 00:09:18,480 most that I've seen in a long time. 179 00:09:18,720 --> 00:09:22,200 Along with I think there's like like a bunch of rookies too. 180 00:09:22,640 --> 00:09:25,160 So it it's an odd field that's basically you're either a 181 00:09:25,160 --> 00:09:28,080 winner, winner or a rookie or you're, you know, Marco Andretti 182 00:09:28,680 --> 00:09:31,560 kind of in that in that mold. Yeah. 183 00:09:31,560 --> 00:09:35,360 I mean, it, it's funny. We talked about this last time. 184 00:09:35,840 --> 00:09:38,440 I still have a hard time getting I'm having a harder time getting 185 00:09:38,440 --> 00:09:40,640 excited for this field and I'm not sure why. 186 00:09:40,920 --> 00:09:43,800 You know, you, you and I talked about, you know, I think there's 187 00:09:43,880 --> 00:09:46,080 a lack of personality. Then you're like, I I really 188 00:09:46,080 --> 00:09:48,200 watch the racing and the personalities, which is a very 189 00:09:48,560 --> 00:09:51,600 valid point I was thinking about and I'm like, not sure I have an 190 00:09:51,600 --> 00:09:54,840 answer to that, but you I think I graphed on the personality of 191 00:09:54,840 --> 00:09:58,280 the driver to the car and it's just, you know, when you look at 192 00:09:58,280 --> 00:10:00,640 the. This is this is basically Elon 193 00:10:00,640 --> 00:10:03,480 Musk's dream. Just install personalities into 194 00:10:03,480 --> 00:10:05,880 vehicles. It's it's like Elon really just 195 00:10:05,880 --> 00:10:09,680 wants the the like the plot of cars, but in real life. 196 00:10:10,760 --> 00:10:13,880 We can maybe get a cyber truck to be in the field, see what 197 00:10:13,880 --> 00:10:16,920 that looks like just. Fired to the whole Speedway, 198 00:10:16,920 --> 00:10:19,320 yeah. My, my biggest fear with the way 199 00:10:19,320 --> 00:10:22,000 things shook out and I've heard from a couple people kind of in 200 00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:25,280 the Speedway area is just that, you know, the way that the 201 00:10:25,280 --> 00:10:28,760 Penske cars were so dialed in and the fact they're 123 across 202 00:10:28,760 --> 00:10:31,040 the field. Does this just become a race 203 00:10:31,040 --> 00:10:34,400 that Penske kind of just dominates the race and dominates 204 00:10:34,400 --> 00:10:36,760 the front of the field? All there was a year a couple 205 00:10:36,760 --> 00:10:40,000 years ago like Dixon and Frank Kitty just we're just swapping 206 00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:42,480 first and 2nd for like the 1st 180 lap. 207 00:10:43,080 --> 00:10:45,880 And that that may be, but you know, I'll, so I'll go back. 208 00:10:45,880 --> 00:10:49,640 I'll use 2022 as an example. You know, Ganassi kind of 209 00:10:49,640 --> 00:10:52,240 dominates the the start and I, you know, Kanaan was in a 210 00:10:52,240 --> 00:10:55,320 Ganassi car that year as well, But the, the order of finish 211 00:10:55,320 --> 00:10:59,760 there ended up being Ericsson award, who was Erin McLaren 212 00:10:59,920 --> 00:11:02,560 Kanaan and then Rosenquist, who was also Erin McLaren. 213 00:11:02,560 --> 00:11:05,240 And he's had a crazy crash out of that one, right. 214 00:11:06,240 --> 00:11:08,680 Well, that's kind of the point. It's like, you know, that that 215 00:11:08,680 --> 00:11:13,920 you end up with this situation where, yes, it's very possible 216 00:11:13,920 --> 00:11:17,280 that you're going to have a situation where Penske could 217 00:11:17,280 --> 00:11:21,400 dominate. But as we've seen, mechanical 218 00:11:21,400 --> 00:11:25,440 issues will knock out one of the cars early on because that just 219 00:11:25,440 --> 00:11:27,720 seems to be how it is. And the idea with the current 220 00:11:27,720 --> 00:11:30,920 configuration of the cars in the way that they are engineered for 221 00:11:30,920 --> 00:11:34,960 this Speedway, I mean, when was the last time we really saw a 222 00:11:34,960 --> 00:11:39,640 driver pull away from the field or even a a pack of drivers pull 223 00:11:39,640 --> 00:11:42,080 away from the field and really get that much distance? 224 00:11:42,080 --> 00:11:43,720 I mean, it's been a while. Yeah. 225 00:11:44,280 --> 00:11:47,760 So that's that I'm, I'm not as concerned, but I certainly 226 00:11:47,760 --> 00:11:51,840 understand the concerns. You know, I mean, last year the, 227 00:11:52,040 --> 00:11:57,520 I think what was it the, the top 15 cars finished the race within 228 00:11:57,520 --> 00:12:01,120 5.7 seconds of each other, which is nuts. 229 00:12:01,120 --> 00:12:05,760 And you had to get down to 18th, sorry, the top 16 cars were 230 00:12:05,760 --> 00:12:07,560 within 5.8 seconds of each other. 231 00:12:07,560 --> 00:12:10,320 You had to get down to 18th to find your first lap vehicle. 232 00:12:10,600 --> 00:12:15,040 So, you know, I think certainly you'll have a situation where 233 00:12:15,040 --> 00:12:18,600 there'll be some separation early, but that's liable to get 234 00:12:18,600 --> 00:12:21,800 bunched up down the line. It's just for me, it's more like 235 00:12:21,800 --> 00:12:24,640 it's hard to envision a scenario towards the end of the race 236 00:12:24,920 --> 00:12:29,080 where either a Honda is going to have the horsepower to compete 237 00:12:29,080 --> 00:12:34,960 with a Penske Chevy, or another team's Chevy is going to be able 238 00:12:34,960 --> 00:12:37,720 to compete with Penske and the way that they've got their cars 239 00:12:37,720 --> 00:12:40,360 set up. And I say that knowing that you 240 00:12:40,360 --> 00:12:41,840 could have everything go sideways. 241 00:12:41,840 --> 00:12:44,120 Like, that's entirely possible, but that just kind of feels like 242 00:12:44,120 --> 00:12:46,160 the vibe right now. No, I completely agree. 243 00:12:46,160 --> 00:12:48,680 And you also have it, you know, from the the high level teams, 244 00:12:48,680 --> 00:12:51,320 you assume that Penske can ask you the two high level teams. 245 00:12:52,280 --> 00:12:55,920 You know, with with Penske, you just have more kind of drivers 246 00:12:55,920 --> 00:12:57,920 in their prime with McLaughlin and Newgarten. 247 00:12:58,200 --> 00:13:01,560 You know, if, if you assume that power is kind of on the tail end 248 00:13:01,560 --> 00:13:04,680 of his career, that it it's weird that looking at this field 249 00:13:04,680 --> 00:13:07,440 through the lens of, you know, watching some of the old races 250 00:13:07,440 --> 00:13:10,240 again, you watch some of those races in the 80s and 90s, you'll 251 00:13:10,240 --> 00:13:13,360 see like, you know, that there's a one year, like I think in 94 252 00:13:13,360 --> 00:13:15,280 when like AJ Foy was in the front row, but it's like, all 253 00:13:15,280 --> 00:13:18,360 right, but he really wasn't a front row caliber car and then 254 00:13:18,360 --> 00:13:21,640 he didn't finish there. I wonder if that's kind of the 255 00:13:21,640 --> 00:13:23,880 willpower spot. But then you also look to the 256 00:13:23,880 --> 00:13:25,920 back of the field, you know, Dixon's finishing and, you know, 257 00:13:25,920 --> 00:13:28,840 starting in the 7th row, just a not a great position. 258 00:13:29,240 --> 00:13:31,760 I always look to like the mid 8, mid to late 80s was always like, 259 00:13:31,760 --> 00:13:34,960 you know, Lone Star Jr. Johnny Rutherford always was 260 00:13:34,960 --> 00:13:37,840 kind of in the field in the back and as a young kids, like, oh, 261 00:13:37,880 --> 00:13:39,120 man, like there's a winner back there. 262 00:13:39,120 --> 00:13:41,280 And it's like, yeah, no, he's not going to do anything. 263 00:13:41,560 --> 00:13:43,920 I wonder if this is the the new Dixon. 264 00:13:43,920 --> 00:13:46,840 But you look at, you know, Dixon and Polo are really the the two 265 00:13:46,840 --> 00:13:49,640 bullets that Ganassi has. And it just feels like maybe 266 00:13:49,640 --> 00:13:53,120 Penske has an extra kind of younger in his prime driver. 267 00:13:53,800 --> 00:13:56,480 Possibly, I mean, one of the, you know, look, the and this is 268 00:13:56,480 --> 00:13:59,040 something I think you got to bring Elio Castroneves into the 269 00:13:59,040 --> 00:14:01,440 conversation when you start talking about this as well. 270 00:14:01,680 --> 00:14:04,200 One of the things that sometimes throws people off who are just 271 00:14:04,200 --> 00:14:07,080 starting to follow IndyCar for the first time is the qualifying 272 00:14:07,080 --> 00:14:09,200 speed doesn't really mean that much. 273 00:14:09,800 --> 00:14:13,480 It's, it's kind of just show ponying, you know, to see how 274 00:14:13,480 --> 00:14:17,560 fast the cars can go, but race configuration and the ability to 275 00:14:17,560 --> 00:14:19,880 drive in traffic, the ability to avoid incidents. 276 00:14:20,360 --> 00:14:22,480 You know, it's ironic that we bring Scott Dixon up with this 277 00:14:22,480 --> 00:14:24,720 because Dixon's actually been involved in a bunch of of 278 00:14:24,720 --> 00:14:26,800 incidents over the course of of his time in India. 279 00:14:26,800 --> 00:14:28,160 That's why he doesn't have more wins. 280 00:14:28,480 --> 00:14:31,000 But which is? Wild because in all other races 281 00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:33,400 he seemed to get he's able to get out of incidents. 282 00:14:33,480 --> 00:14:36,440 And yeah, it's, it is, it is kind of nuts to think about just 283 00:14:36,440 --> 00:14:40,520 from a, from a historical perspective, how he has had more 284 00:14:40,520 --> 00:14:43,640 than his share of bad luck. I would say in terms of, of, of 285 00:14:43,640 --> 00:14:46,840 what he's done in the race, going all the way back to like 286 00:14:47,120 --> 00:14:51,440 his first few years. He, you know, he was what, 717th 287 00:14:52,560 --> 00:14:55,800 and then eighth and then 24th, you know, in his first three 288 00:14:55,800 --> 00:14:57,280 races in India. And that's kind of how his 289 00:14:57,280 --> 00:14:59,320 pattern has gone to some degree over time. 290 00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:03,000 I mean, you know, in, in what it was a 20/21, he was 17th. 291 00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:05,640 In 20/22, he was 21st. Last year he was 6th. 292 00:15:06,960 --> 00:15:11,040 Anyway, I say all that because race setup is very different. 293 00:15:11,440 --> 00:15:15,000 And this is where a guy like Santino Ferrucci has shined. 294 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:19,720 It's where Helio Castroneves is has shined, Tony Kanan sticking 295 00:15:19,720 --> 00:15:23,320 around that long and not getting down a lap and and avoiding any 296 00:15:23,320 --> 00:15:26,320 major mistakes will put you in a better spot. 297 00:15:26,320 --> 00:15:28,640 And then it really to some degree comes down to fuel 298 00:15:28,640 --> 00:15:32,800 strategy and luck. And so that's where it's hard to 299 00:15:32,800 --> 00:15:35,960 count anybody out that has history in the race and at least 300 00:15:35,960 --> 00:15:38,560 a decent car. And it's hard to say exactly 301 00:15:38,560 --> 00:15:40,480 where the line for decent cars is. 302 00:15:40,480 --> 00:15:44,840 Like, you know, even in the lower ranges of of the qualified 303 00:15:44,840 --> 00:15:47,720 groups, you're still talking about a bunch of of drivers who 304 00:15:48,120 --> 00:15:50,880 we're very, very close to each other in terms of their 305 00:15:50,880 --> 00:15:53,400 qualifying speeds. You're talking 3-4 miles an hour 306 00:15:53,400 --> 00:15:55,480 difference from the top of the field to the bottom is 307 00:15:55,480 --> 00:15:58,720 essentially that. That may matter if you're in a 308 00:15:58,720 --> 00:16:02,480 dead Sprint, but maybe not even that because race trim is going 309 00:16:02,480 --> 00:16:04,160 to be so different from qualifying trim. 310 00:16:04,320 --> 00:16:07,840 I, I would say, you know, you're 100% right about the, the 311 00:16:07,840 --> 00:16:10,080 qualifying trim versus the race trim and the speeds. 312 00:16:10,440 --> 00:16:13,280 I would kind of put the line of demarcation at row seven. 313 00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:15,960 Row seven is Marco Elio and Scott Dixon. 314 00:16:15,960 --> 00:16:18,160 After that, I'm not going to read through the, the, the, the 315 00:16:18,160 --> 00:16:21,280 list, but you have, you know, Cantopino, you have Stingray 316 00:16:21,280 --> 00:16:24,520 Rob, you know, Romain Grosjean, you have a lot of rookies and a 317 00:16:24,520 --> 00:16:27,320 lot of guys who I would be shocked if you know, Christian 318 00:16:27,320 --> 00:16:30,280 Lungard ones wins this race or Pietro Frittipaldi. 319 00:16:31,320 --> 00:16:33,320 You know, Erickson has won the race before, but starting from 320 00:16:33,320 --> 00:16:36,440 that far back is tough. So I, I, it does feel like row 321 00:16:36,440 --> 00:16:39,960 eight and beyond. I would be pretty shocked if any 322 00:16:39,960 --> 00:16:42,440 of those people won the race. I think that's fair. 323 00:16:42,440 --> 00:16:45,800 It's, and even some of the folks who are in front of that, like 324 00:16:45,800 --> 00:16:48,520 I, you know, it's, it's hard to envision like Kiff and Simpson 325 00:16:49,320 --> 00:16:52,320 be being able to put something together throughout the course 326 00:16:52,320 --> 00:16:54,480 of the race or Marcus Armstrong like that. 327 00:16:54,480 --> 00:16:56,960 They just like rookies in the middle of the field like that. 328 00:16:56,960 --> 00:17:00,160 But I, I do think that a lot of these cars are, are close 329 00:17:00,160 --> 00:17:02,560 together in terms of their abilities and. 330 00:17:03,360 --> 00:17:07,359 This is where Indy just kind of becomes a character in the play 331 00:17:07,359 --> 00:17:10,640 that in itself is putting on and that that will be and, and this 332 00:17:10,640 --> 00:17:13,560 is where the teams matter where, you know, I, I really like 333 00:17:13,560 --> 00:17:16,079 Santino Ferrucci. I think he has, he had a really 334 00:17:16,079 --> 00:17:18,480 good car last year. And what happened is what I 335 00:17:18,480 --> 00:17:19,920 expected probably happened this year. 336 00:17:19,920 --> 00:17:23,720 What happened last year is that he's on an AJ Foy team and the 337 00:17:23,720 --> 00:17:27,280 team is just over five to six or seven pit stops, which you're 338 00:17:27,280 --> 00:17:30,400 going to have in this race. You got to be flawless in all of 339 00:17:30,400 --> 00:17:32,840 them because that's the thing with Penske is like they one of 340 00:17:32,840 --> 00:17:35,200 those guys between McLaughlin Power and New Garden, one of 341 00:17:35,200 --> 00:17:37,960 them might have a pit mess up. But like of those three teams, 342 00:17:38,120 --> 00:17:40,720 one of those teams is going perfect for all those pit stops. 343 00:17:40,720 --> 00:17:44,320 So if you're the one bullet that AJ Foyt has, you got to be 344 00:17:44,320 --> 00:17:46,720 perfect. And I just don't trust AJ Foyt 345 00:17:46,880 --> 00:17:49,640 to have a perfect pit stop every single time. 346 00:17:49,960 --> 00:17:52,680 And I think that's going to kill guys like Ferrucci and even some 347 00:17:52,680 --> 00:17:55,160 of the team like Aaron McLaren. I'm just not sure they have the 348 00:17:55,160 --> 00:17:59,200 team set up that Penske does because Penske is, there's only 349 00:17:59,200 --> 00:18:02,120 so many good, you know, engineers and pit guys and crew 350 00:18:02,120 --> 00:18:05,120 guys at for IndyCar and Penske hires all of them. 351 00:18:05,400 --> 00:18:08,400 Yeah, Well, even, I mean, we saw, we've we've seen that issue 352 00:18:08,400 --> 00:18:10,440 with with Ram Rahal. You know, I mean, there was 353 00:18:10,440 --> 00:18:12,440 that, what was it? What was it two years ago or 354 00:18:12,440 --> 00:18:15,960 last year where he's in contention to win and then he 355 00:18:15,960 --> 00:18:18,160 loses a tire because of a of a pit stop there? 356 00:18:18,160 --> 00:18:20,560 I mean, he's, it really does matter. 357 00:18:20,600 --> 00:18:23,480 And even, I mean, even if you want to draw some of the 358 00:18:23,480 --> 00:18:25,960 distinctions, I mean, obviously Andretti's had other problems, 359 00:18:25,960 --> 00:18:30,720 but I mean, they've been just that much slightly slower than 360 00:18:30,760 --> 00:18:33,200 than Penske and Ganassi in the pits. 361 00:18:33,200 --> 00:18:34,520 And that's, that's created an issue. 362 00:18:34,520 --> 00:18:38,600 It it, it makes, it'll be interesting because you know 363 00:18:38,600 --> 00:18:41,920 that you've got more teams that are kind of in that contending 364 00:18:41,920 --> 00:18:43,640 range. And we've seen them have some 365 00:18:43,640 --> 00:18:46,200 success. We obviously Meyer Shank won a 366 00:18:46,200 --> 00:18:49,000 race with Elio. We've I mean, Aaron McLaren 367 00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:51,200 seems like they've got their stuff together mostly. 368 00:18:51,200 --> 00:18:54,160 Like we haven't seen any that I can recall at least hideous pit 369 00:18:54,160 --> 00:18:57,520 errors or, or problems, they're timing wise, but you're just 370 00:18:57,520 --> 00:19:00,960 trying to overcome a monster with Penske and, and what a well 371 00:19:00,960 --> 00:19:02,960 oiled machine that is. And that's not a new thing. 372 00:19:02,960 --> 00:19:04,560 That's been the case for a long time. 373 00:19:04,720 --> 00:19:08,360 It is just interesting how Penske's luck has not always 374 00:19:08,360 --> 00:19:12,760 transitioned into actual success in the 500. 375 00:19:12,760 --> 00:19:16,280 And that I, you know, that's probably, it's just random 376 00:19:16,280 --> 00:19:18,680 statistical noise rather than being something that even 377 00:19:18,680 --> 00:19:21,280 necessarily point to as a trend 'cause when you got strong cars 378 00:19:21,280 --> 00:19:23,560 and strong drivers, that tends to trump quite a few things. 379 00:19:23,560 --> 00:19:24,920 Yeah. When they do have the defending 380 00:19:24,920 --> 00:19:27,680 champion, a new garden. And the other thing that I was 381 00:19:27,840 --> 00:19:30,040 curious about just taking a step back from drivers is just 382 00:19:30,040 --> 00:19:32,840 weather. This is the first year in a 383 00:19:32,840 --> 00:19:36,600 while that I can remember there being concern on my part. 384 00:19:36,960 --> 00:19:39,560 Looking at the weather forecast for Sunday, right now it looks 385 00:19:39,560 --> 00:19:42,840 like it's going to be warm, but there's like almost a 70% chance 386 00:19:42,840 --> 00:19:44,760 of thunderstorms throughout the day. 387 00:19:45,320 --> 00:19:48,720 See my this one of the things I've found fascinating about 388 00:19:48,720 --> 00:19:51,040 this year 'cause I, I follow the weather religiously. 389 00:19:51,040 --> 00:19:56,320 You know, this is the I, I read that on the IndyCar subreddit or 390 00:19:56,320 --> 00:19:59,080 I see it on Twitter. And then other people are like, 391 00:19:59,080 --> 00:20:01,080 what are you talking about? Like for instance, you just said 392 00:20:01,080 --> 00:20:03,600 70% chance of thunderstorms. I went to my weather app, which 393 00:20:03,600 --> 00:20:07,920 is AccuWeather and it has a, there's a 35% chance of 394 00:20:07,920 --> 00:20:13,840 precipitation, but no, no real like chance of thunderstorms. 395 00:20:14,280 --> 00:20:17,680 What is forecast is a heavy wind like a 13 mile an hour S 396 00:20:17,680 --> 00:20:22,040 southeasterly breeze gusting to 22 and cloud cover which to me. 397 00:20:22,640 --> 00:20:27,520 That sounds like a like really fast racing conditions cause 398 00:20:27,520 --> 00:20:31,480 like a, a high of 76 with 88% cloud cover means a relatively 399 00:20:31,480 --> 00:20:34,520 cool track. It also means like some weird 400 00:20:34,520 --> 00:20:38,240 stuff going on in terms of that cross wind, because if that's 401 00:20:38,240 --> 00:20:40,960 coming in from the South SE, like that's a very, that's, 402 00:20:41,200 --> 00:20:44,600 that's what hitting the drivers is they're, they're going on to 403 00:20:44,600 --> 00:20:47,680 the front stretch and it's at their back as they're coming 404 00:20:47,760 --> 00:20:50,440 down the back stretch. I don't know the, the, the 405 00:20:50,440 --> 00:20:52,160 weather is fascinating and it's Indiana. 406 00:20:52,160 --> 00:20:54,960 So we won't know until probably 12 hours before the race what we 407 00:20:54,960 --> 00:20:58,160 should expect. But there is such a widespread 408 00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:00,680 of things as far as what might happen there. 409 00:21:00,680 --> 00:21:02,920 But I understand your concerns. Yeah, well, I mean, and, and 410 00:21:03,000 --> 00:21:04,160 we'll, we'll still go and we'll see. 411 00:21:04,160 --> 00:21:06,560 And it's, but it's, it's been a hot minute since it's the race 412 00:21:06,560 --> 00:21:08,240 has been rained out or rain delayed. 413 00:21:08,240 --> 00:21:11,080 I think 2005 or so it's been, it's been a while. 414 00:21:11,080 --> 00:21:13,200 So hopefully knock on wood, that doesn't happen. 415 00:21:13,560 --> 00:21:15,840 Absolutely, yeah. I mean, what, what are you, you 416 00:21:15,840 --> 00:21:17,520 know, it's, it's funny. I was going to ask, you know 417 00:21:17,520 --> 00:21:20,680 what, you know, I always kind of think I, I don't do this as much 418 00:21:20,680 --> 00:21:22,600 anymore, but you know, who would, who would be the best 419 00:21:22,600 --> 00:21:24,960 storyline to come out of this? But it never seems to matter 420 00:21:24,960 --> 00:21:28,320 because we've had, you know, Marcus, Marcus Erickson win, 421 00:21:28,320 --> 00:21:30,960 who's kind of a boring dude with a chocolate company that you 422 00:21:30,960 --> 00:21:32,680 can't buy in the US as a sponsor. 423 00:21:32,680 --> 00:21:34,040 It's like, all right, that that sucks. 424 00:21:34,040 --> 00:21:37,360 But then you have like, you know, new Garden wins and he 425 00:21:37,360 --> 00:21:38,920 jumps in the crowd. He's an American guy. 426 00:21:38,920 --> 00:21:41,200 And it's like no bump. It's like that. 427 00:21:41,200 --> 00:21:42,920 You've had stories where it seems like it makes, I mean, 428 00:21:43,200 --> 00:21:46,560 outside of like Marco Andretti winning, I'm not sure if there's 429 00:21:46,560 --> 00:21:48,280 any real storyline. And honestly, I think where the 430 00:21:48,280 --> 00:21:51,400 series is at, I'm not sure anybody winning is unless like 431 00:21:51,400 --> 00:21:54,280 Marco Andretti somehow like jumps over Graham Rahal's car 432 00:21:54,280 --> 00:21:55,640 and wins. Like he drags. 433 00:21:55,720 --> 00:21:58,560 Car like the, the turbo movie into the, the finish line. 434 00:21:58,560 --> 00:22:01,200 Like I just don't think this makes any kind of national news 435 00:22:01,200 --> 00:22:04,480 at all, no matter who wins. Well, and, and I, I agree with 436 00:22:04,480 --> 00:22:07,440 you, I think, but I, but I don't know that, that it should be 437 00:22:07,440 --> 00:22:09,840 something that IndyCar is concerned about 'cause you can't 438 00:22:09,840 --> 00:22:12,680 do anything, you know? So you, you just from my 439 00:22:12,680 --> 00:22:15,120 perspective, I look at it and I say, well, what would be the 440 00:22:15,120 --> 00:22:18,560 best stories? So to me there's a cluster of 441 00:22:18,560 --> 00:22:23,520 like 4 drivers who I think if they won the race would open up 442 00:22:23,520 --> 00:22:27,440 a brand new front in the idea of who are the pre eminent drivers. 443 00:22:27,440 --> 00:22:29,120 I want to guess. Go ahead. 444 00:22:29,320 --> 00:22:31,040 I want to guess you're 4th. You have 4, right? 445 00:22:31,280 --> 00:22:34,320 I, I have let me, let me double check my my count here. 446 00:22:35,320 --> 00:22:37,840 Yes, I've got, I've got four. OK. 447 00:22:38,640 --> 00:22:40,960 Alex Pelow is one of them. Absolutely. 448 00:22:41,120 --> 00:22:44,040 Scott McLaughlin, No. So here's the thing. 449 00:22:44,040 --> 00:22:47,320 I think Mclaughlin's already positioned OK because he's with. 450 00:22:47,320 --> 00:22:50,080 Penske I don't I don't think Scott McLaughlin winning opens 451 00:22:50,080 --> 00:22:51,960 up any new fronts. I guess I think it'd be a great 452 00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:58,360 story, but Colton Herta Yep. Paddle award Yep, and this is 453 00:22:58,480 --> 00:22:59,720 this is where it gets interesting. 454 00:23:01,400 --> 00:23:02,680 Stingray No, I'm just kidding. Not Stingray. 455 00:23:02,680 --> 00:23:05,760 Rob probably like I mean, I think Santino Ferrucci. 456 00:23:05,800 --> 00:23:07,920 I think Santino Ferrucci is like two years away from getting a 457 00:23:07,920 --> 00:23:10,440 good ride, but I think that would be a wow. 458 00:23:10,440 --> 00:23:14,640 This guy won a 500 with AJ Foyt but I'm also a fan of his so 459 00:23:14,640 --> 00:23:17,560 maybe I'm I'm biased. I would I, I, I actually was 460 00:23:17,560 --> 00:23:18,960 going to go with Renus VK. Oh. 461 00:23:19,240 --> 00:23:21,000 That's that's a good, that's a really good one. 462 00:23:21,000 --> 00:23:25,360 Yeah, I mean, and Ferrucci was a wild card in as much as the, you 463 00:23:25,360 --> 00:23:27,320 know, the problem with Ferrucci is the baggage. 464 00:23:27,720 --> 00:23:30,320 And, you know, some people don't care about it all. 465 00:23:30,320 --> 00:23:31,880 Some people, that's all they care about. 466 00:23:31,880 --> 00:23:36,240 Like he is the, he is by far among the fan groups that I 467 00:23:36,240 --> 00:23:39,080 observe, the most polarizing figure, but it's actually he's 468 00:23:39,080 --> 00:23:41,320 not really polarizing because everybody just seems to dislike 469 00:23:41,320 --> 00:23:45,440 the guy except for Scott. And so it would be interesting 470 00:23:45,440 --> 00:23:49,760 if he won, But I, I think that the benefits for IndyCar would 471 00:23:49,760 --> 00:23:52,800 be much greater if one of those four drivers that I mentioned 472 00:23:52,800 --> 00:23:55,120 won. And, you know, because I, I just 473 00:23:55,120 --> 00:23:59,040 don't think I, I think of the, the problem that this, the first 474 00:23:59,040 --> 00:24:02,680 part of this season opened up for the series is that there is 475 00:24:02,680 --> 00:24:07,480 now a perception that Penske owns the series and that his 476 00:24:07,480 --> 00:24:08,920 team is getting all of the breaks. 477 00:24:08,920 --> 00:24:12,000 And that that that there's a there's a tainted element to 478 00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:14,680 whatever success they have, fair or unfair. 479 00:24:15,640 --> 00:24:19,840 So for a a driver from Ed Carpenter racing like Renus VK 480 00:24:19,840 --> 00:24:23,320 is driving for this year, you know, Polo or a ward who are 481 00:24:23,320 --> 00:24:25,160 both like young exciting drivers. 482 00:24:25,160 --> 00:24:29,200 I think award in particular being of Mexican heritage, that 483 00:24:29,200 --> 00:24:31,720 would be that would get a bunch of of people interested that 484 00:24:31,720 --> 00:24:34,640 might not otherwise be. And certainly Hurda with both 485 00:24:34,800 --> 00:24:38,800 the fact that he's an American driver and also is a legacy 486 00:24:38,800 --> 00:24:42,240 driver and has been kind of sniffing around higher level 487 00:24:42,240 --> 00:24:44,840 success. I think any of those drivers, 488 00:24:45,480 --> 00:24:48,320 there's a lot of knock on opportunities down the road 489 00:24:48,320 --> 00:24:50,160 there that make that suddenly put them back in the 490 00:24:50,160 --> 00:24:53,080 conversation at a much. Higher level totally agree that 491 00:24:53,080 --> 00:24:57,600 the in in using that same logic, the worst case scenario is one 492 00:24:57,600 --> 00:25:01,160 of those guys leading with like 6 laps to go and a controversial 493 00:25:01,160 --> 00:25:05,520 red flag, which then allows McLaughlin or Newgarden to win. 494 00:25:05,840 --> 00:25:08,000 Even though it even though if it was totally legitimate. 495 00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:10,000 Like, and this is and it's something that I did in one of 496 00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:13,040 our VIP videos about IndyCar, which again, keeping in the VIP 497 00:25:13,040 --> 00:25:14,960 section, 'cause I'm assuming nobody really cares about the 498 00:25:14,960 --> 00:25:17,480 stuff. But you know, this is, you know, 499 00:25:17,920 --> 00:25:21,120 IndyCar is not the NBA, it's not the NFL, it's not, you know, 500 00:25:21,120 --> 00:25:23,920 it's a collective of people who are also kind of their own 501 00:25:23,920 --> 00:25:25,960 owners and have their own points of view. 502 00:25:26,320 --> 00:25:30,400 And in the end, Penske buying the series was probably the best 503 00:25:30,400 --> 00:25:32,640 thing for the series. And the steward that understood 504 00:25:32,640 --> 00:25:35,720 the series, but he's also an owner of the series. 505 00:25:35,720 --> 00:25:37,240 It's just it's a conflict of interest. 506 00:25:37,240 --> 00:25:40,160 It's always going to be tough to kind of square that circle and 507 00:25:40,160 --> 00:25:41,880 so. You can you can get a way. 508 00:25:42,120 --> 00:25:44,520 Where if it happens, even if there's no but no connection, 509 00:25:44,520 --> 00:25:47,560 it's going to look just funky after the season you've had. 510 00:25:47,680 --> 00:25:49,760 And, and I think it's important for people to remember like 511 00:25:49,760 --> 00:25:53,320 this, this this is auto sports, like this is, this is how it 512 00:25:53,320 --> 00:25:56,800 works. Like, I mean, you know, the, the 513 00:25:56,840 --> 00:26:00,000 the previous owner of the Speedway, Tony George owned 514 00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:03,680 A-Team and his I don't know what what is Ed Carpenter to him. 515 00:26:03,680 --> 00:26:07,120 I forget the the relation like second nephew or something like 516 00:26:07,440 --> 00:26:09,120 that owns A-Team and has been a driver. 517 00:26:09,840 --> 00:26:12,080 But you know, Tony George's teams were never that good. 518 00:26:12,240 --> 00:26:15,280 So it wasn't that big of a deal. You know, I mean, the France 519 00:26:15,280 --> 00:26:18,240 family owned a team in NASCAR, but they were never like the pre 520 00:26:18,240 --> 00:26:20,400 eminent team, at least not in recent history. 521 00:26:20,400 --> 00:26:22,200 So. You it would be like the NFL is 522 00:26:22,240 --> 00:26:24,520 like given the Jaguars. OK, you guys own the NFL now. 523 00:26:24,800 --> 00:26:25,840 Yeah, I know. Yeah, No, it's like. 524 00:26:25,920 --> 00:26:28,400 The Rooney family like runs the league and oh, by the way, the 525 00:26:28,400 --> 00:26:29,720 Steelers keep winning Super Bowls. 526 00:26:29,720 --> 00:26:33,400 How does that happen? You know, it's but so this is a 527 00:26:33,400 --> 00:26:36,240 unique thing where, yes, I think Penske's ownership and 528 00:26:36,240 --> 00:26:40,120 stewardship certainly took the series to a better place than it 529 00:26:40,120 --> 00:26:42,680 was. But then you have this big 530 00:26:42,680 --> 00:26:45,000 cheating scandal involving the push to pass stuff. 531 00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:47,760 And and so there's this perception that it's if, as you 532 00:26:47,760 --> 00:26:51,960 said, if for a second year in a row you have a situation where 533 00:26:52,040 --> 00:26:54,400 we do this rules thing that we've never really done before, 534 00:26:54,400 --> 00:26:56,240 it just happens to benefit a Penske driver. 535 00:26:56,240 --> 00:27:00,840 That's that's a real issue. That said, I also think just in 536 00:27:00,840 --> 00:27:05,840 general, Indy being such a high profile event, being able to 537 00:27:05,840 --> 00:27:08,280 spread the wealth out a little bit is helpful. 538 00:27:08,280 --> 00:27:10,480 I know there's other good stories, you know, you mentioned 539 00:27:10,480 --> 00:27:12,400 like the Marco Andretti story. I don't think Marco's actually 540 00:27:12,400 --> 00:27:14,080 going to win. There's there's a reason why he 541 00:27:14,080 --> 00:27:16,640 doesn't win these things. And it's so hard to do as a one 542 00:27:16,640 --> 00:27:20,520 off driver unless you're Elio Castroneves where you're just 543 00:27:20,520 --> 00:27:23,680 kind of a supernatural guy on this particular track, you know, 544 00:27:23,680 --> 00:27:26,400 Ed Carpenter. I still don't understand why 545 00:27:26,400 --> 00:27:28,800 every media member that talks about Ed Carpenter's like he's 546 00:27:28,800 --> 00:27:31,000 beloved by the fans and people really want to see him win. 547 00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:34,080 And it's like, I, I got to be honest, I've never talked with a 548 00:27:34,080 --> 00:27:36,440 single fan who's like, God, I love Ed Carpenter. 549 00:27:36,760 --> 00:27:38,360 Like I really want to see Ed Carpenter win. 550 00:27:38,360 --> 00:27:40,600 I did not that people don't like him, but I don't think that 551 00:27:40,600 --> 00:27:43,680 that's that big of a story. I think the Romain Grosjean 552 00:27:43,720 --> 00:27:47,560 stuff has has faded. Like everybody just wanted to, 553 00:27:49,960 --> 00:27:52,560 you know, we saw him in Drive to Survive and you know, we want 554 00:27:52,560 --> 00:27:54,440 him to have success. And I feel like people are like, 555 00:27:54,440 --> 00:27:58,040 oh, he's actually just kind of a mid tier guy at best, just like 556 00:27:58,040 --> 00:27:59,760 he was in Drive to Survive. I wonder why? 557 00:28:01,800 --> 00:28:04,200 That would be a guy getting a fifth win like that would be a 558 00:28:04,200 --> 00:28:06,560 that would be a really big racing story. 559 00:28:06,640 --> 00:28:09,080 There's the second category of guys, and again, I'm going to 560 00:28:09,080 --> 00:28:11,240 leave the Penske guys out of it to some degree. 561 00:28:11,480 --> 00:28:15,480 But you know what's a better, what's a better story? 562 00:28:15,480 --> 00:28:22,400 Rossi winning his second, Sado winning another one, Ryan Hunter 563 00:28:22,400 --> 00:28:25,840 Ray in a one off winning a second one after. 564 00:28:25,960 --> 00:28:28,960 Lee Diffie's Captain America. The most? 565 00:28:29,240 --> 00:28:32,320 Of all the things that they do on the broadcast, it's like you 566 00:28:32,320 --> 00:28:34,520 are the only person who calls him Captain America. 567 00:28:34,600 --> 00:28:37,800 Even it is dressed up as Captain America for Halloween. 568 00:28:37,800 --> 00:28:39,600 Kids would be like, aren't you Ryan Hunter Ray? 569 00:28:39,720 --> 00:28:43,640 It is the fetch of of IndyCar, like just just stop trying to 570 00:28:43,640 --> 00:28:49,080 make it happen, you know, or, or, or Kyle Kirkwood winning his 571 00:28:49,080 --> 00:28:51,480 first, which which seems a little bit unlikely. 572 00:28:51,520 --> 00:28:53,800 He's still relatively young in his career and he's he doesn't 573 00:28:53,800 --> 00:28:54,960 seem to have a great car underneath him. 574 00:28:54,960 --> 00:28:59,960 Like a Sado 1, the the third Sado win would be bananas in a 575 00:29:00,520 --> 00:29:03,760 you and I had the discussion about him after he won his 576 00:29:03,760 --> 00:29:09,000 second in 2020. Just what a weird like what a 577 00:29:09,000 --> 00:29:12,040 weird legacy he has. And really, I think a much 578 00:29:12,040 --> 00:29:14,680 better legacy at Indy than people would look when you look 579 00:29:14,680 --> 00:29:19,160 at his finishes, you know, two wins a second, like he's way 580 00:29:19,160 --> 00:29:21,520 farther up the list. And I think a lot of people 581 00:29:21,520 --> 00:29:25,120 would would like to to say, and if you give him a third, it's 582 00:29:25,120 --> 00:29:26,920 suddenly like this guy is. Well. 583 00:29:27,160 --> 00:29:29,680 I mean, I'm not sure it's going to happen, but that would be a 584 00:29:29,680 --> 00:29:33,480 really interesting discussion of like where you slot Sato. 585 00:29:33,640 --> 00:29:35,720 I I know exactly where you slot him at least. 586 00:29:35,920 --> 00:29:40,080 In post World War Two, he, I think at that point he is like 587 00:29:40,200 --> 00:29:43,560 equal with Johnny Rutherford. Like he has to be like, and, and 588 00:29:43,560 --> 00:29:45,240 Johnny Rutherford's like this weird figure. 589 00:29:45,760 --> 00:29:48,600 Like, you know, part of it is because we didn't hear from 590 00:29:48,600 --> 00:29:50,520 Johnny Rutherford a lot after he stopped driving. 591 00:29:50,960 --> 00:29:54,240 So like Bobby Unser, who also won three races, is always going 592 00:29:54,240 --> 00:29:56,960 to have this kind of outsized level of importance in the 593 00:29:56,960 --> 00:29:58,880 sport, partially because of him and partially because of his 594 00:29:58,880 --> 00:30:00,360 brother and partially because of his nephew. 595 00:30:02,000 --> 00:30:04,880 Johnny Rutherford kind of exists in this weird ether where, you 596 00:30:04,880 --> 00:30:09,400 know, he won in 74, he won in 76, he won an 80. 597 00:30:10,960 --> 00:30:13,520 And, you know, it's like, I think, I think those were the 598 00:30:13,520 --> 00:30:16,120 three years that he won the race and and he was just kind of 599 00:30:16,120 --> 00:30:20,360 around for so many other races that you you end up with this 600 00:30:20,360 --> 00:30:24,640 situation where no one quite knows where to put him because 601 00:30:24,640 --> 00:30:28,080 he was in that period of racing where we hadn't really fully 602 00:30:28,080 --> 00:30:30,600 formed the teams. And unless you were a driver 603 00:30:30,600 --> 00:30:34,440 that really like, like you're an AJ Foyt who was so omnipresent 604 00:30:34,440 --> 00:30:37,880 throughout the sport, you didn't get the same level of vibe. 605 00:30:37,880 --> 00:30:39,440 And I kind of feel that way about Sato. 606 00:30:40,320 --> 00:30:44,120 You know, Sato is hard to like nail down in terms of what his 607 00:30:44,120 --> 00:30:46,440 legacy is really going to be, but. 608 00:30:47,480 --> 00:30:50,040 You know, interesting throwing him like then you have the real 609 00:30:50,040 --> 00:30:52,120 interesting discussion of like him and Frankiti, 'cause it's 610 00:30:52,120 --> 00:30:55,920 like if if Sato some, I mean he didn't, but if Sato passes 611 00:30:55,920 --> 00:31:00,200 Frankiti in that race of like 2012, Sato has four and Frankiti 612 00:31:00,200 --> 00:31:04,040 has two like. Or if Sato, what you know, 613 00:31:04,040 --> 00:31:06,000 completes the pass, what was it in 20? 614 00:31:06,080 --> 00:31:08,880 Was it 20/17/2018? I mean, there's that may be a 615 00:31:08,880 --> 00:31:10,800 five time winner. It's it's bananas. 616 00:31:10,960 --> 00:31:13,200 I know it's, it's it's like right there at the doorstep. 617 00:31:13,520 --> 00:31:15,800 Rutherford has his three wins and then was kind of a back 618 00:31:15,800 --> 00:31:17,160 marker for the rest of his career. 619 00:31:17,560 --> 00:31:18,960 Yeah. I mean, you look at, you know, 620 00:31:19,080 --> 00:31:21,680 the major wins in in Johnny Rutherford's career. 621 00:31:21,680 --> 00:31:25,880 I mean, he had 27 wins in champ car, you know, and he and he was 622 00:31:25,920 --> 00:31:29,000 he had 60 podiums. He won a race in 1986, for God's 623 00:31:29,000 --> 00:31:30,680 sake. Like the dude had a a career 624 00:31:30,680 --> 00:31:37,600 that lasted a long time, ran 314 races and and yet he, you know, 625 00:31:37,600 --> 00:31:40,040 he won one CART championship in 1980. 626 00:31:40,320 --> 00:31:42,840 He was a Sprint car champion 1965. 627 00:31:43,200 --> 00:31:45,480 He won three Indy 5 hundreds. And that's really all anybody 628 00:31:45,480 --> 00:31:48,240 knows him for. So that's kind of and again with 629 00:31:48,240 --> 00:31:50,960 Sato, he doesn't. Have a lot of other wins outside 630 00:31:50,960 --> 00:31:53,040 of the five hundreds. Yeah, I mean, you look at Sato 631 00:31:53,040 --> 00:31:57,320 from a historical perspective. He he has six wins total in his 632 00:31:57,320 --> 00:32:02,720 IndyCar Series career, 14 podiums, Yet he has, you know, 633 00:32:02,720 --> 00:32:07,520 the, the, the two Indy 500 wins and a bunch of other stuff that 634 00:32:07,520 --> 00:32:09,920 nobody particularly cares about. I don't know. 635 00:32:09,920 --> 00:32:13,400 I do find his position fascinating because I mean you 636 00:32:13,760 --> 00:32:15,960 in terms of his indie history, he's right there with 637 00:32:15,960 --> 00:32:18,360 Rutherford, but he's clearly didn't have the same level of 638 00:32:18,360 --> 00:32:20,800 success as a driver overall, which makes it even harder to 639 00:32:20,800 --> 00:32:24,080 classify him. No, I'll this is a good let's 640 00:32:24,080 --> 00:32:25,560 keep doing this. I like this where, you know, if 641 00:32:25,560 --> 00:32:27,160 people win where they fit, it's great. 642 00:32:28,000 --> 00:32:30,840 You know, I, I think it's going to be I've, I've never liked 643 00:32:30,840 --> 00:32:33,040 somebody winning the double or being, you know, the NASCAR 644 00:32:33,040 --> 00:32:34,520 thing. So Kyle Larson winning is kind 645 00:32:34,520 --> 00:32:37,480 of like that would be a little bit tough to deal with all of 646 00:32:37,480 --> 00:32:39,320 that discussion that would come out of it. 647 00:32:39,800 --> 00:32:43,880 Here's the thing with Larson. I mean, I, I am, I'm as I think 648 00:32:43,880 --> 00:32:48,960 many IndyCar fans are, I get annoyed at NBC trying to foist 649 00:32:48,960 --> 00:32:54,160 NASCAR drivers on the series and trying to filter everything, 650 00:32:54,160 --> 00:32:56,240 which they do. If you watch the coverage on on 651 00:32:56,240 --> 00:32:58,160 NBC and on Peacock. Everything. 652 00:32:58,160 --> 00:33:00,440 Whether it's Dale Earnhardt junior, who I genuinely like as 653 00:33:00,440 --> 00:33:03,560 a commentator, or whether that bearded dude who looks like he 654 00:33:03,560 --> 00:33:05,680 should be hosting a Food Network show or maybe does. 655 00:33:05,840 --> 00:33:08,000 Host the floor is lava on Netflix. 656 00:33:08,120 --> 00:33:11,240 I'm sorry, Paul, I don't I'm not up on all like like you're 657 00:33:11,240 --> 00:33:13,240 saying that it's like he literally hosts a show like 658 00:33:13,240 --> 00:33:17,080 that, like or like Jeff Burton, Jeff Burton hanging around that 659 00:33:17,080 --> 00:33:19,720 like I I do resent. That a bit as an IndyCar guy, 660 00:33:19,920 --> 00:33:21,640 but. I'd love to hear Lee Diffie be 661 00:33:21,640 --> 00:33:24,920 like Giggy Giggy giggity, Captain America giggity giggity 662 00:33:24,920 --> 00:33:25,400 giggity. Sorry. 663 00:33:26,240 --> 00:33:30,400 But but you cannot deny how talented of a driver like Larson 664 00:33:30,400 --> 00:33:32,600 feels like a completely different animal from the normal 665 00:33:32,600 --> 00:33:38,000 person who would try to do the double 25 wins in NASCAR 170 top 666 00:33:38,000 --> 00:33:41,200 10s, you know, won the series in 2021. 667 00:33:41,480 --> 00:33:45,800 I mean, he's and and he just what, competed for the pole 668 00:33:45,800 --> 00:33:46,680 here. I'm like really. 669 00:33:47,120 --> 00:33:48,840 And I mean, he just has this ridiculous. 670 00:33:48,840 --> 00:33:51,520 I mean, if you haven't gone go to his web, go to his Wikipedia 671 00:33:51,520 --> 00:33:54,600 page, you just look at all of the things he won or has won 672 00:33:54,600 --> 00:33:58,800 over the course of his career. It would be a great story, but 673 00:33:58,800 --> 00:34:02,040 it would feel there's always this, this was kind of the 674 00:34:02,040 --> 00:34:08,199 concern when when they wipe my blanking on the name of the F1 675 00:34:08,199 --> 00:34:11,280 driver, Fernando Alonso came in and everybody's like, oh, 676 00:34:11,280 --> 00:34:13,159 Alonzo's just going to come in and like, you know, laugh 677 00:34:13,159 --> 00:34:15,760 everybody. And then that's crazy. 678 00:34:18,480 --> 00:34:22,679 But it feels like with Larson, like the danger there, as always 679 00:34:22,679 --> 00:34:25,480 is, if he goes out and wins in his rookie appearance and then 680 00:34:25,480 --> 00:34:28,600 gets on a plane and flies to Charlotte and competes that 681 00:34:28,600 --> 00:34:33,040 evening, it's like it kind of makes the whole series feel like 682 00:34:33,040 --> 00:34:35,360 a junior circuit to some degree. And that. 683 00:34:35,880 --> 00:34:38,840 So it's a great story on the one hand, but it's also a story that 684 00:34:38,840 --> 00:34:41,560 if you're a big fan of IndyCar, you probably shouldn't be 685 00:34:41,560 --> 00:34:44,320 rooting for whether and whatever you feel about Kyle Larson as a 686 00:34:44,320 --> 00:34:47,040 driver on an individual basis. Well, and it also, I mean, the 687 00:34:47,040 --> 00:34:50,199 chance of him winning the 500 and then also winning the 688 00:34:50,199 --> 00:34:54,679 Coca-Cola 600 is minuscule. So, you know, if he wins the 689 00:34:54,679 --> 00:34:58,120 500, he probably will finish, you know, 15th or 20th. 690 00:34:58,120 --> 00:35:00,480 And the, the I don't, I do not keep up with NASCAR. 691 00:35:00,480 --> 00:35:03,520 But you know, the chance of him also getting a podium finish at 692 00:35:03,520 --> 00:35:07,080 the 600 is is tough. And then for a normal just 693 00:35:07,080 --> 00:35:09,880 random fan and be like, oh, so he won that race, but like 694 00:35:09,880 --> 00:35:11,840 couldn't even finish in the top ten of the other ones. 695 00:35:11,840 --> 00:35:14,600 Like that's how I know which series is better. 696 00:35:14,600 --> 00:35:17,600 And that's a completely unfair narrative. 697 00:35:17,600 --> 00:35:20,360 None of those things are are fair, but a A. 698 00:35:20,600 --> 00:35:23,360 Person just kind of walking by the, the racing section, that's 699 00:35:23,360 --> 00:35:24,480 immediately what they would think. 700 00:35:24,920 --> 00:35:28,080 Let's talk about Rossi 'cause I feel like Rossi's in a really 701 00:35:28,080 --> 00:35:30,920 interesting spot right now. I mean, it's the guy, obviously 702 00:35:30,920 --> 00:35:34,760 he wins his rookie year and it's, and it's always been one 703 00:35:34,760 --> 00:35:36,880 of those where it was such a weird year. 704 00:35:36,880 --> 00:35:39,560 It was on television, which it never was, you know, and it 705 00:35:39,560 --> 00:35:42,800 because it's the 100th anniversary and he doesn't win 706 00:35:42,800 --> 00:35:45,960 because he has the fastest car. He wins because they're, they're 707 00:35:45,960 --> 00:35:48,560 on a fuel strategy that when that's, that's a legitimate win. 708 00:35:49,040 --> 00:35:52,960 But he's been with first Andretti and now Errol McLaren 709 00:35:52,960 --> 00:35:54,880 and it's felt like his equipment has failed him. 710 00:35:55,760 --> 00:35:58,720 He's like a, it's almost like he's having a better version of 711 00:35:58,720 --> 00:36:02,840 Marco Andretti's career in that he won a 500, but he's only got 712 00:36:02,840 --> 00:36:04,640 eight wins. I mean, he's been, he's been, 713 00:36:04,640 --> 00:36:08,480 he's run 135 races, he's won eight races, he's got 29 714 00:36:08,480 --> 00:36:10,960 podiums. And he feels like a really, 715 00:36:10,960 --> 00:36:15,680 really good race car driver who has either made, has had bad 716 00:36:15,680 --> 00:36:18,680 equipment or not a great team set up or has opted for the 717 00:36:18,680 --> 00:36:22,200 wrong things. He clearly, I think has the best 718 00:36:22,200 --> 00:36:26,480 car that he's had probably since he won the race, maybe that one 719 00:36:26,480 --> 00:36:28,920 year where he was in contention up until about the last 20 laps. 720 00:36:28,920 --> 00:36:35,000 I think that was 2019 maybe, but I feel like this is there's a, 721 00:36:35,080 --> 00:36:39,160 there's a, there's a, there's a, a stratosphere for Andrew, for 722 00:36:39,160 --> 00:36:43,040 Alexander Rossi that he could hit with a second win that he 723 00:36:43,040 --> 00:36:46,200 probably won't get without a second win in Indy because a 724 00:36:46,400 --> 00:36:49,560 team championship or a drivers championship for the course of 725 00:36:49,560 --> 00:36:51,920 the season feels basically impossible for him right now. 726 00:36:52,320 --> 00:36:53,680 Yeah, no, I think you're you're right. 727 00:36:53,680 --> 00:36:56,200 And it's it's interesting when you look at his career, how much 728 00:36:56,200 --> 00:36:59,240 he he kind of helps. He's in like the Aaron Rodgers 729 00:36:59,240 --> 00:37:02,920 category where an early Super Bowl suddenly, I mean, you look 730 00:37:02,920 --> 00:37:06,960 at Rodgers career, he's had a lot of playoff unsuccess. 731 00:37:07,520 --> 00:37:09,520 But because he has an early title, it's like, oh, he's he's 732 00:37:09,520 --> 00:37:11,440 clutch. It's like, is he like, like 733 00:37:11,480 --> 00:37:13,120 maybe not. You look at it, you look at his 734 00:37:13,120 --> 00:37:15,360 Indy, he's he actually is clutch. 735 00:37:15,360 --> 00:37:20,360 His here's his total finishes in Indy, obviously won in 2016 on a 736 00:37:20,360 --> 00:37:23,880 timeshare team. You know which that that's even 737 00:37:23,880 --> 00:37:26,440 more impressive. Was 7th the next year, was 738 00:37:26,480 --> 00:37:33,120 fourth in 2018, was second in 2019 and in I kind of threw 20 739 00:37:33,120 --> 00:37:35,000 out. He was 27th that year, was 29th 740 00:37:35,000 --> 00:37:37,520 the next year, but then was fifth in 2022 and was fifth in 741 00:37:37,520 --> 00:37:39,520 2023. I mean that is that is a 742 00:37:39,600 --> 00:37:42,120 dynamite performance. No, he's great. 743 00:37:42,160 --> 00:37:44,920 I'm just saying, with only eight other wins, if you took away 744 00:37:44,920 --> 00:37:46,800 that first 500, I mean, he hasn't. 745 00:37:46,800 --> 00:37:48,960 But you take it away, suddenly it's like, all right, it's the 746 00:37:48,960 --> 00:37:51,840 guy who's really good at Indy who's, you know, kind of mid the 747 00:37:51,840 --> 00:37:54,600 rest of the time. So no, I I think that would be 748 00:37:54,600 --> 00:37:56,920 interesting. It also you wonder if he gets a 749 00:37:56,920 --> 00:38:00,000 second 500 and then he's like, all right, I can now go to F1. 750 00:38:00,360 --> 00:38:02,680 Now I have the resume to get the hell out of here. 751 00:38:02,840 --> 00:38:06,240 The thing is, and and this was shocking, I was looking at ages. 752 00:38:07,520 --> 00:38:09,680 He's 32 years old. He's going to be 33 in 753 00:38:09,680 --> 00:38:12,040 September. I mean, he's kind of out of of 754 00:38:12,040 --> 00:38:16,320 F1 range now. The the, I got to say the ages 755 00:38:16,320 --> 00:38:18,600 of the racers is, is pretty fascinating to me. 756 00:38:18,600 --> 00:38:21,560 So did you know who would you? Who would you guess is older New 757 00:38:21,560 --> 00:38:26,480 Garden or Rossi? That's a, these are young guys. 758 00:38:26,480 --> 00:38:28,960 And then it's like, no, like Mclaughlin's probably like 29 759 00:38:28,960 --> 00:38:33,680 and Power's like 37. I think that, well, you just 760 00:38:33,680 --> 00:38:35,640 gave me one of the here you have the answer. 761 00:38:35,920 --> 00:38:38,600 I'm going to say I, I bet new. I'm going to say Rossi's older 762 00:38:38,600 --> 00:38:41,240 based on what you just said. New Garden's older New Garden's 763 00:38:41,240 --> 00:38:43,080 33 It's funny you say McLaughlin. 764 00:38:43,080 --> 00:38:48,880 Mclaughlin's 30 and it's about to turn 31 and willpower is is 765 00:38:48,880 --> 00:38:51,640 what did you say he's 3/8? No, he's 43 years old. 766 00:38:54,080 --> 00:38:57,920 He's the same age as Ryan Hunter Ray, believe it or not. 767 00:38:58,320 --> 00:39:02,160 So so that's the the, the it's interesting because a lot of 768 00:39:02,160 --> 00:39:04,600 these guys I think maybe are thinking, oh, I'm going to I'm 769 00:39:04,600 --> 00:39:07,800 going to be able to make that jump like Potto award could 770 00:39:07,800 --> 00:39:10,920 probably still do it. He's 25, but Alex blows already 771 00:39:10,920 --> 00:39:14,920 27. And so for a lot of these guys, 772 00:39:15,080 --> 00:39:17,440 they're not going they're they're they're the IndyCar is 773 00:39:17,440 --> 00:39:21,880 about where they're going to be, which doesn't mean that the, you 774 00:39:21,880 --> 00:39:24,160 know, winning or losing the race is any more or less important. 775 00:39:24,160 --> 00:39:27,720 But it is interesting contextually the idea that 776 00:39:27,800 --> 00:39:31,160 you're going to get any of this particular field able to jump up 777 00:39:31,160 --> 00:39:35,200 to the F1 level, especially without Andretti having a team 778 00:39:35,200 --> 00:39:38,160 there that might, you know, be more receptive to to to certain 779 00:39:38,160 --> 00:39:39,280 drivers. I don't think it's going to 780 00:39:39,280 --> 00:39:42,560 happen. I'm going to throw one more, one 781 00:39:42,560 --> 00:39:43,600 more. You know what this does their 782 00:39:43,600 --> 00:39:47,360 legacy win category and that is Joseph Newgarden, you know, so 783 00:39:47,360 --> 00:39:50,400 he he wins last year, he's with Team Penske. 784 00:39:50,400 --> 00:39:54,680 He hopefully he can pull up like his overall stats, but he has a 785 00:39:54,680 --> 00:40:01,360 championship, he has a good. 29 wins, 52 podiums, 17 polls, Has 786 00:40:01,360 --> 00:40:05,200 won the series twice and obviously what? 787 00:40:05,560 --> 00:40:08,120 Oh, no, sorry. But and if he wins the 500 this 788 00:40:08,120 --> 00:40:12,120 year, you know, this is a stamp where he's now won back-to-back 789 00:40:12,120 --> 00:40:15,120 five hundreds, which puts you in pretty rarefied air. 790 00:40:15,440 --> 00:40:18,080 But he also this is kind of a silly thing, but it's something 791 00:40:18,080 --> 00:40:19,320 true. You know what one thing that 792 00:40:19,320 --> 00:40:23,000 brought Heli Elio a little bit of differentiation is he had a 793 00:40:23,200 --> 00:40:25,840 victory celebration like climbing the fence was part of 794 00:40:25,840 --> 00:40:27,360 that thing. It's a kind of like, oh, I want 795 00:40:27,360 --> 00:40:29,840 to watch the race and I have a lot of friends who are not into 796 00:40:29,840 --> 00:40:32,040 IndyCar, but it's like, oh, I, I, if he wins, I want to see him 797 00:40:32,040 --> 00:40:35,440 run up, run up the the fence. The new garden thing of going 798 00:40:35,560 --> 00:40:37,960 under the fence into the crowd was really cool last year. 799 00:40:37,960 --> 00:40:40,440 If he does that again, that's kind of like, oh, that's 800 00:40:40,440 --> 00:40:43,160 something that's wildly different than anybody's ever 801 00:40:43,160 --> 00:40:45,280 done. So I, I think there's a real 802 00:40:45,280 --> 00:40:48,640 moment here for Newgarden to grab hold of this series and 803 00:40:48,640 --> 00:40:53,400 really stake his claim of being, you know, yeah, it's 33 now, so 804 00:40:53,400 --> 00:40:55,760 next. But you know, but really, we'll 805 00:40:55,760 --> 00:40:58,920 have a moment and he'll put himself in a stratosphere that 806 00:40:59,120 --> 00:41:03,080 he's not in with again that unlike some of the other one 807 00:41:03,080 --> 00:41:05,280 time winners like Ryan, Hunter, Ray or Rossi. 808 00:41:05,280 --> 00:41:08,960 I think if Newgarden wins again or or power, Newgarden would be 809 00:41:08,960 --> 00:41:12,640 able to vault to a whole another level based on back-to-back and 810 00:41:12,640 --> 00:41:14,360 kind of having a a shtick, so to speak. 811 00:41:14,640 --> 00:41:17,200 I agree. I mean, right now, so that 812 00:41:17,200 --> 00:41:22,080 particular like who's the best, who's the best youngest driver, 813 00:41:22,560 --> 00:41:24,960 like that combination of like, you know, clearly, like with 814 00:41:24,960 --> 00:41:27,840 this, we're so basically I'm excluding willpower, I'm 815 00:41:27,840 --> 00:41:30,160 excluding Scott Dixon because they, as you said, they're both 816 00:41:30,160 --> 00:41:32,640 on the tail end of their careers. 817 00:41:33,360 --> 00:41:36,920 So it's like right now to me, and I would actually argue that 818 00:41:37,160 --> 00:41:40,440 while Scott McLaughlin has certainly performed quite well, 819 00:41:40,640 --> 00:41:43,520 he's not really in this conversation either right now. 820 00:41:43,920 --> 00:41:47,400 So to me, it's right now, this is a 2 horse race between Joseph 821 00:41:47,400 --> 00:41:51,960 Newgarden and Alex Pello. Those two are essentially 822 00:41:51,960 --> 00:41:55,200 fighting for the alpha status in the series. 823 00:41:55,280 --> 00:42:01,520 And I think I mean, Pelo, he's been so good in so much of of 824 00:42:01,520 --> 00:42:04,080 his time in IndyCar. And I mean, you look, last year 825 00:42:04,360 --> 00:42:07,360 he he won three races in a row and four out of five. 826 00:42:07,600 --> 00:42:09,760 The one that he didn't win in that stretch was Indy. 827 00:42:10,120 --> 00:42:13,240 And this year he comes in and he's won two races. 828 00:42:13,400 --> 00:42:16,160 He's at a podium, he's finished fourth, he's finished fifth. 829 00:42:16,360 --> 00:42:19,840 He's been the most consistent driver that hasn't cheated so 830 00:42:19,840 --> 00:42:23,520 far this season. And so I agree, it's like two of 831 00:42:23,520 --> 00:42:27,160 one to have won the title, the racing title of the series in 832 00:42:27,160 --> 00:42:31,520 20/21/2023, currently leading in 2024. 833 00:42:31,880 --> 00:42:35,640 If he's able, especially with this equipment package, which 834 00:42:35,640 --> 00:42:38,120 does not seem to be on the same level as Penske's equipment 835 00:42:38,120 --> 00:42:42,080 package, if he can win this year, that I think cements him 836 00:42:42,080 --> 00:42:46,480 as the top kind of mid level driver, mid mid age driver, the 837 00:42:46,560 --> 00:42:49,040 the alpha of the series moving forward. 838 00:42:49,040 --> 00:42:51,320 So I I do think that that's a fascinating implication. 839 00:42:51,960 --> 00:42:54,880 Yeah, no, I I agree. Apparently there's anybody else 840 00:42:54,880 --> 00:42:58,120 that would be interesting. Yeah, any. 841 00:42:58,520 --> 00:43:00,640 Any of the back markers, I mean no offense, but like, you know, 842 00:43:00,720 --> 00:43:02,360 Stingray Rob wins and just be like. 843 00:43:02,560 --> 00:43:05,040 Wow that's insane. What the hell does he happen? 844 00:43:05,960 --> 00:43:09,000 Connor Daley or you know, Phytopaldi or Lungard or, you 845 00:43:09,040 --> 00:43:12,640 know, I, I, I think a very Graham Ray Hall would be 846 00:43:12,640 --> 00:43:14,360 interesting. The last of first has always 847 00:43:14,360 --> 00:43:18,200 kind of been fascinating. I just don't think he has the 848 00:43:18,200 --> 00:43:19,560 equipment or the team to get there. 849 00:43:19,560 --> 00:43:22,640 You know, the only one out there is Marcus Erickson back row, but 850 00:43:22,640 --> 00:43:25,360 he seems to have just really struggled with his car and have 851 00:43:25,360 --> 00:43:28,320 any kind of set up. But you know, if he wins, that's 852 00:43:28,320 --> 00:43:30,320 a first. A second, a first in a 853 00:43:30,320 --> 00:43:33,360 three-year span. That would be quite a stamp for 854 00:43:33,360 --> 00:43:34,960 him. Yeah. 855 00:43:35,000 --> 00:43:37,840 And also boring interview. Just another, wow, this guy's 856 00:43:37,840 --> 00:43:40,960 really not fun. Now it's now I think I go back 857 00:43:40,960 --> 00:43:43,720 to her to I mean that he's the one guy I think his that his 858 00:43:43,720 --> 00:43:46,400 career might be enhanced the most by a win. 859 00:43:47,080 --> 00:43:49,600 Because again, this is a guy who's he's young, right? 860 00:43:49,600 --> 00:43:53,360 I mean, he really is young. He just turned 24. 861 00:43:53,760 --> 00:43:57,320 OK, that's young at the end of March and he's got seven wins in 862 00:43:57,320 --> 00:43:59,520 86 races. He's got 14 podiums. 863 00:43:59,520 --> 00:44:01,640 He is still a kind of that very beginning. 864 00:44:01,960 --> 00:44:07,000 You know, the concern with him is, you know, how how dialed in 865 00:44:07,000 --> 00:44:09,960 is Andretti, like how how much are they really going to be able 866 00:44:09,960 --> 00:44:13,640 to do out there? And whereas Kyle Kirkwood, that 867 00:44:14,080 --> 00:44:16,840 same Marco Mario Andretti thing where he like burns really hot 868 00:44:16,840 --> 00:44:19,520 and it's like, can he keep it together for 500 laps? 869 00:44:19,600 --> 00:44:22,280 Yeah, Whereas, you know, Kyle Kirkwood's got two wins over 38 870 00:44:22,280 --> 00:44:24,040 races and those are both of his podiums. 871 00:44:24,040 --> 00:44:26,880 Like he's been he's had a couple of shining moments and then he's 872 00:44:26,960 --> 00:44:30,200 kind of been a he's struggled. He's been mid, mid table at 873 00:44:30,200 --> 00:44:34,080 best. I feel like Herda there, there's 874 00:44:34,080 --> 00:44:37,040 there's a lot of things to potentially positive come out of 875 00:44:37,040 --> 00:44:38,360 that. And so that'll be interesting to 876 00:44:38,360 --> 00:44:39,480 watch. But anyway, should be 877 00:44:39,480 --> 00:44:42,760 fascinating, Scott. Any final thoughts I got we got 878 00:44:42,760 --> 00:44:45,520 to wrap up here as we're we're kind of at our time limit. 879 00:44:45,520 --> 00:44:47,640 But any other things just generally you're looking at as 880 00:44:47,640 --> 00:44:50,800 we go into the race? No, I mean it's it's always I 881 00:44:50,800 --> 00:44:52,680 love all of the pre way ceremonies. 882 00:44:52,680 --> 00:44:55,320 You know, I think we're having Jordan Sparks sing the the 883 00:44:55,320 --> 00:44:57,160 national anthem. That's your good Jim Cornelius 884 00:44:57,160 --> 00:44:58,960 and is back for the back home again in Indiana. 885 00:44:59,640 --> 00:45:02,080 I moved a little bit this year. I moved a little bit more into 886 00:45:02,080 --> 00:45:05,640 section the the B stands. So I'm excited to see that new 887 00:45:05,640 --> 00:45:07,440 seats always kind of bounce around a little bit in the same 888 00:45:07,440 --> 00:45:11,880 general area. No, I'm, I'm it's always, it's 889 00:45:11,880 --> 00:45:13,640 always fun. It kind of always catches up to 890 00:45:13,640 --> 00:45:16,320 you. But if you're, you know, yeah, I 891 00:45:16,320 --> 00:45:18,440 don't really have any other, any other outstanding thoughts. 892 00:45:18,440 --> 00:45:20,040 It's it's going to be fun, exciting. 893 00:45:20,040 --> 00:45:21,240 I think I got a new scanner this year. 894 00:45:21,240 --> 00:45:22,720 That's what I'm excited about. I got a new scanner. 895 00:45:22,720 --> 00:45:25,840 I think it's going to work a lot better and I'm excited to use 896 00:45:25,840 --> 00:45:26,560 that. So there you go. 897 00:45:26,680 --> 00:45:27,800 I'm proud of you. That's great. 898 00:45:28,240 --> 00:45:29,480 Yeah. Well, I mean, it should be a lot 899 00:45:29,480 --> 00:45:31,000 of fun. I hope everybody that's going 900 00:45:31,000 --> 00:45:32,800 gets a chance. I mean, I was hoping they would 901 00:45:32,800 --> 00:45:34,360 have announced that they're going to lift the blackout by 902 00:45:34,360 --> 00:45:37,240 this point, but it's a. Whole another discussion that's 903 00:45:37,240 --> 00:45:39,040 just that's. Yeah, we did that last year. 904 00:45:39,040 --> 00:45:40,440 I'm not going to do. I'm not going to do it again, 905 00:45:40,440 --> 00:45:44,640 but someday they'll learn maybe. Well, we know we know what'll 906 00:45:44,640 --> 00:45:46,760 happen again next year so we can we can do it every 3rd year. 907 00:45:46,760 --> 00:45:49,480 It can be like our Tri annual blackout discussion. 908 00:45:49,760 --> 00:45:50,800 Anyway I. Want to thank. 909 00:45:50,840 --> 00:45:51,840 Everybody for listening, we'll look. 910 00:45:51,880 --> 00:45:53,920 We'll talk to you guys next year, those IndyCar fans who 911 00:45:53,920 --> 00:45:55,800 stuck through. That's right, next year for the 912 00:45:55,800 --> 00:45:57,520 500. Well, ask for content. 913 00:45:57,520 --> 00:45:59,040 We gave you content. No. 914 00:45:59,080 --> 00:46:01,440 And we'll if we see you at the track or if you see us at the 915 00:46:01,440 --> 00:46:02,960 track, give us a wave. Come over, say hi. 916 00:46:02,960 --> 00:46:04,040 We'd love to talk with you anyway. 917 00:46:04,040 --> 00:46:06,360 For Scott, I'm Galen. Thanks for listening to Crimson 918 00:46:06,360 --> 00:46:09,720 Cast as we head into Memorial Day weekend. 919 00:46:09,960 --> 00:46:12,600 Have a safe time, have a wonderful time. 920 00:46:12,600 --> 00:46:15,640 Get out on a lake, do some grilling, and while you're at 921 00:46:15,640 --> 00:46:18,800 it, bring back the bison and candy striped rock. 922 00:46:18,800 --> 00:46:20,720 We'll catch you folks. On the flip side, that's all 923 00:46:20,720 --> 00:46:21,040 everybody.