Pit Pass Indy

OCTOBER 4, 2021 It was a whirlwind of a week of celebration for 2021 NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing, culminating with the INDYCAR Victory Lap at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum on Friday night, October 1. The 24-year-old driver from Spain was honored for his first series championship along with team owner Chip Ganassi, team manager Barry Wanser and chief mechanic Ricky Davis, who won the INDYCAR Championship Chief Mechanic Award presented by Pennzoil. The winning team was awarded with The Astor Cup. Scott McLaughlin of Team Penske was honored for winning the INDYCAR Rookie of the Year award. McLaughlin produced five top-10 finishes, including second place in the Genesys 300 at Texas Motor Speedway in his first oval race, in the No. 3 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet. Also honored were second-place in the standings Josef Newgarden, third-in-the standings Pato O’Ward, Takuma Sato of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing for the TAG Heuer “Don’t Crack Under Pressure” Award for advancing the most cumulative places during the season, and Honda Performance Development (HPD) took home the INDYCAR Manufacturers Award for the fourth consecutive season. HPD President David Salters accepted the award on behalf of his team. Show host Bruce Martin interviews the champion, Alex Palou. Martin also has interviews with Josef Newgarden of Team Penske, Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren SP, Scott McLaughlin of Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing team manager Barry Wanser on this edition of Pit Pass Indy. For more INDYCAR coverage, follow Bruce Martin at Twitter at @BruceMartin_500

The 2021 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season is over and 24-year-old Alex Palou of Spain is the champion. Palou sealed the championship with a fourth-place finish in the September 26 Acura Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Twenty-one-year-old Colton Herta of nearby Santa Clarita, California scored his second-straight victory. The winner of the September 19 Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey won his first Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. He started 14thbut led 43 laps in the 85-lap race. Show host Bruce Martin interviews both drivers on this edition ofPitPassIndy. First up is race winner Herta followed by an in-depth interview with Palou the morning after he became the 2021 NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion. For more INDYCAR coverage, follow Bruce Martin at Twitter at @BruceMartin_500

SEPTEMBER 21, 2021 The 2021 NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship will be decided in this weekend’s final race of the season, the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. Pit Pass Indy has all the storylines entering this weekend’s championship as show host Bruce Martin interviews all three of the drivers still eligible for the title. That includes Alex Palou, Pato O’Ward and two-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Josef Newgarden as the last three drivers to determine the championship in Sunday’s fabled street race. Twenty-four-year-old Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing has a 35-point lead over 22-year-old Pato O’Ward of Mexico entering the final race of the season. Two-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Josef Newgarden of Team Penske is 48 points back and would have to score the maximum 54 points available in the race to claim a third INDYCAR SERIES championship. This will be the 16th consecutive season in which the NTT INDYCAR SERIES title race will be decided at the final race of the season. This week’s Pit Pass Indy also features interviews with Colton Herta, winner of last Sunday’s Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey, seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and INDYCAR Rookie Jimmie Johnson. Show host Bruce Martin also has an extended interview with Grand Prix Association of Long Beach President Jim Michaelian, who talks about the great history of this famed street race that ranks only behind the Grand Prix of Monaco as the great street races in the world. For more INDYCAR coverage, follow Bruce Martin at Twitter at @BruceMartin_500

SEPTEMBER 14, 2021 A 35-point flip in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship race at the Grand Prix of Portland has Alex Palou back in the lead with just two races remaining. This week’s Pit Pass Indy tells how it all happened as show hostBruceMartin interviews the Chip Ganassi Racing driver as he takes a 25-point lead into the final two races of the 2021 campaign. Palou entered the Portland weekend trailing Pato O’Ward by 10 points. Palou’s dramatic win, combined with O’Ward’s 14th-place finish, has put the 24-year-old driver from Spain in the lead heading into this weekend’s Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway at Laguna Seca. Show hostBruceMartin also has interviews with O’Ward, and Team Penske driver Josef Newgarden, who is third in points just 34 out of the lead. Martin also catches up with Jack Harvey, as he prepares for his final two races at Meyer Shank Racing and Colton Herta of Andretti Autosport. For more INDYCAR coverage, followBruceMartin at Twitter at @BruceMartin_500

There are just three races remaining in the 2021 NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship with Pato O’Ward of Mexico leading Alex Palou of Spain by just 10 points and two-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Josef Newgarden of Team Penske by 22. Show host Bruce Martin talks to three drivers who hope to end the season on a positive note. It’s Andretti Autosports drivers Alexander Rossi and Colton Herta. Martin also interviews owner/driver Ed Carpenter of Ed Carpenter Racing. Carpenter drives on the oval tracks of the schedule, but with no more oval races in 2021, he will focus on his two-car operation that includes second-year driver Rinus VeeKay of The Netherlands in the No. 21 Chevrolet and veteran driver Conor Daly in the No. 20 Chevrolet. The 2021 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season continues with the Grand Prix of Portland at Portland International Raceway on Sunday, September 12. For more INDYCAR coverage, follow Bruce Martin at Twitter at @BruceMartin_500

AUGUST 31, 2021 Longtime motorsports journalist Robin Miller passed away on August 25, 2021, after a lengthy battle with multiple Myeloma that had developed into leukemia. Show hostBruceMartin devotes the entire episode of Pit Pass Indy to Miller’s life and legacy. Martin gives his tribute to Miller and interviews some of the all-time greats, including Roger Penske, racing legend Mario Andretti, four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Rick Mears, three-time Indianapolis 500 winner and four-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Dario Franchitti and 2013 Indianapolis 500 winner and 2004 INDYCAR SERIES champion Tony Kanaan. Also included is Miller’s acceptance speech when he was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame, just 12 days before he passed away. For more INDYCAR coverage, followBruceMartin at Twitter at @BruceMartin_500

INDYCAR returns to Iowa Speedway in 2022, and this week's episode focuses on the people who helped make this possible after a one-year layoff. Bruce Martin conducts exclusive interviews with Roger Penske, Bobby Rahal, Graham Rahal, and Hy-Vee’s CEO Randy Edeker. Also, Gateway winner Josef Newgarden and rookie driver Romain Grosjean. INDYCAR owner Roger Penske talks about leasing Iowa Speedway from NASCAR to take full control of the race track. Also, Hy-Vee chairman, President and CEO Randy Edeker talks about the Iowa-based supermarket chain and its role as partner at Iowa Speedway. Team owner Bobby Rahal also talks about Hy-Vee’s importance to INDYCAR and to his team, as a full-season sponsor of a third entry beginning in 2022. One of his drivers is Graham Rahal, who was the first driver Hy-Vee sponsored at Iowa in July 2020. Also, a quick look back at the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway as Pato O’Ward takes over as the new points leader after Alex Palou was involved in a crash early in the race. Bruce Martin spoke with race winner Josef Newgarden immediately after the race. Also, former Formula One driver Romain Grosjean made his first-ever start on an oval. He spoke with Martin before the race about the differences between oval racing and his forte on the road and street circuits. For more INDYCAR coverage, follow Bruce Martin at Twitter at @BruceMartin_500

It’s a jam-packed Pit Pass Indy featuring some of the biggest names in both INDYCAR and NASCAR racing on this special edition following the only INDYCAR-NASCAR Tripleheader weekend of the season. Show host Bruce Martin has an exclusive interview with former NASCAR star Dale Earnhardt, Jr., he gives his thoughts on former teammate and NASCAR legend Jimmie Johnson switching gears and joining INDYCAR this season. Martin also interviews Johnson after his best complete race of the season this past Saturday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. Team Penske’s Will Power drops by after he won Saturday’s Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix INDYCAR race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway followed by interviews with NTT INDYCAR SERIES points leader Alex Palou. Arrow McLaren SP drivers Pato O’Ward and Felix Rosenqvist are also guests as they look ahead to the final short oval race of the season on August 21 at World Wide Technology Raceway in Gateway. For more INDYCAR coverage, follow Bruce Martin at Twitter at @BruceMartin_500

Featuring a tribute to Bob Jenkins, a two-part interview with Marcus Ericsson along with interviews with six-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES Champion Scott Dixon and Pato O’Ward Another action-packed edition of Pit Pass Indy, as show hostBruceMartin has a tribute to the late Bob Jenkins, who passed away on August 9 from brain cancer, a two-part interview with Big Machine Music City Grand Prix winner Marcus Ericsson, six-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Scott Dixon and Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren SP race. For more INDYCAR coverage, followBruceMartin at Twitter at @BruceMartin_500

AUGUST 4, 2021 As the NTT INDYCAR SERIES returns to action this weekend in the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix, Pit Pass Indy host Bruce Martin has an in-depth interview with Ryan Hunter-Reay. The Andretti Autosport driver is one of the most accomplished drivers of this era, with 18 career victories including the 2014 Indianapolis 500. He also won the 2012 NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship. Those accomplishments have earned Hunter-Reay the nickname “Captain America.” Martin has a lively interview with Hunter-Reay as they discuss a variety of topics and recap his extremely impressive racing career. For more INDYCAR coverage, follow Bruce Martin at Twitter at @BruceMartin_500