Indycar 2025. Round 4. Barber. Childrens of Alabama. Race Part 2
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00:00:00Doing a great job keeping touch with those in front and keeping himself in contention
00:00:05for a strong finish here.
00:00:07So it's Pelos still leading from Christian Lundgaard, six seconds the gap between them
00:00:12as it stands.
00:00:13Scott McLaughlin third, then VK, and this man, Will Power in fifth.
00:00:17Tell me, I would have tried to pass him instead of saving fuel.
00:00:18What did you tell me?
00:00:19The cycle's still going.
00:00:20Fired up Will Power.
00:00:21I'm not an expert, but I think he's upset.
00:00:32I think what he was saying is, why are you telling me to save fuel?
00:00:35I could have passed McLaughlin, so maybe they gave him a fuel number, and now he's realizing
00:00:40he didn't need to save any gas.
00:00:41If it's a three-stopper, you shouldn't have to.
00:00:45Just saying, trying to save that Shell 100% renewable fuel when he absolutely didn't need
00:00:52to.
00:00:53It's dropped him down the order, dropped him away from fighting for a podium.
00:00:57And now down to fifth place, looking at the back of Rinus VK.
00:01:02It's Pato Award sixth, then Rossi seventh, Herter, Armstrong, and Lundgaard, and drivers
00:01:07on the move so far today.
00:01:08Scott Dixon is up 11 places to sit 15th.
00:01:12Alexander Rossi has made up eight places to sit seventh.
00:01:17Rahul has made up seven places, Lundgaard and Kirkwood, both five places to the good
00:01:23from where they started, and for Christian Lundgaard, that means he is staring at yet
00:01:28another podium in 2025.
00:01:38Phenomenal stuff from Christian Lundgaard and Aaron McLaren so far with the undercut.
00:01:45Last two races has seen him on the podium, a third place at Thermal, a third place at
00:01:51Long Beach.
00:01:52And he's tracking to go one better here at Barber Motorsports Park if it finishes this
00:01:59way.
00:02:00But there's still plenty of racing left in this, as we see now Carl Kirkwood making a
00:02:09move up into one of the fastest elements of the circuit.
00:02:16Carl Kirkwood, Felix Rosenquist now passed down to 12th, hasn't been the best of weekends
00:02:24for him.
00:02:25On pole and one last time out at Long Beach of course, just about half a second shy of
00:02:33his teammate when it mattered in qualifying, and Andretti didn't test here as I said in
00:02:38March, and maybe that's hurt the likes of Marcus Ericsson and Carl Kirkwood.
00:02:44It hasn't hurt Colton Hurter, but what has hurt Colton Hurter is another issue in pit
00:02:51lane.
00:02:52Carl Kirkwood down to 8th as it stands.
00:02:57On board with Scott Dixon, who's moving up the field, two stops to his name, currently
00:03:03in 15th place, trying to find a way up to the back of Graham Rahal's Rahal Letterman
00:03:11Lanigan machine.
00:03:13As we see a bit of bumping and boring further back, one of the premier machines on the move
00:03:22into the chicane at turns 7 and 8.
00:03:28It's a fabulous circuit this, you can see the greenery lining this Birmingham Alabama
00:03:36circuit and if you make a mistake it's very, very easy to be punished, there's no giant
00:03:43tarmac run offs and you will be travelling to the scene of your own accident.
00:03:50Alex Polo continues to lead, Christian Lungard is about 6 seconds behind and Scott McLaughlin
00:03:58is in 3rd place and just as I say that, I think that is Mr. Foster.
00:04:06That is the rookie Louis Foster and this is the issue with the wet grass, trying to get
00:04:13back onto the track has managed it, the two premier cars take evasive action and a little
00:04:22mistake there at the last corner, didn't see what led to it, but still no caution.
00:04:29Welcome back to the NTT IndyCar Series on Fox, live from Barber Motorsports Park, Alex
00:04:35Polo still leads from Christian Lungard, the gap has dropped to 5.8 seconds, Scott McLaughlin
00:04:41is 3rd, then it's V.K., power and O. Ward down the pit lane and Georgia Henry.
00:04:47As we get close to what is presumed the last pit stop of the race, let's do a tire count,
00:04:52Alex Polo does have a pair of sticker reds left but Scott McLaughlin does not, he does
00:04:58have a pair of sticker blacks.
00:04:59Kevin, what are you seeing?
00:05:01Christian Lungard running in second and V.K.
00:05:04Also both have a set of the sticker softs to play with and V.K.
00:05:08Might even gamble and come in a little bit earlier than everyone else.
00:05:11Jack, what are you seeing?
00:05:13The number 12 of will power does still have one set of the new red soft compounds.
00:05:18I did talk to the 12 stand and just said, hey, will started a little bit agitated there.
00:05:22Was it a miscommunication?
00:05:23And they said, no, it was about pit sequence, it was trying to cover versus how far forward
00:05:28can we go.
00:05:29So that's where that little bit of miscommunication happened from stand to driver.
00:05:32Little extra urgency for will power this season as he doesn't have a contract for next year.
00:05:38He's been racing like a guy driving for a contract next year.
00:05:42He's been performing like a guy that deserves to stay in this series for another ten years.
00:05:47So will power, extra motivation to deliver another strong result today as he looks to
00:05:52secure his long-term IndyCar future.
00:05:55While we were in break, we very nearly had our first caution, believe it or not.
00:06:02Off went Louis Foster, skidding through the gravel and the grass.
00:06:07And crept along by the side of the track and just kept it going.
00:06:12The premier doing well to get out of his way as was Alex below as he made his way back
00:06:17out on track.
00:06:18But we remain green as we have been for 58 of these 90 laps due to run here today.
00:06:24Now, we remain green and it's still this man up front, but the man behind him, Christian
00:06:28Lundgaard is eating away at that lead a few laps in a row now.
00:06:32He's been quicker, and he was 7 tenths of a second quicker on that last lap.
00:06:38So Lundgaard in a great rhythm right now, maybe a bit of a hiccup there from below.
00:06:43But that gap, 5.7, obviously still a sizable gap, but with coming up to 30 laps to go,
00:06:49that last pit window is going to be opening up.
00:06:53And the next car up the road for Alex below is Devlin DiFrancesco.
00:06:59Still sits on the lead lap, but his pace has been about a second slower per lap than
00:07:04Pelos.
00:07:05And DiFrancesco will feel no obligation to let the 10 by.
00:07:09I'm seeing on my screen 66 on pit lane.
00:07:12That the car of Marcus Armstrong.
00:07:14We saw he had a fuel issue with his last stop.
00:07:17Maybe it didn't go on, let alone getting it off.
00:07:21There is Dev.
00:07:22P24 for RLL.
00:07:23We will keep you updated with what's going on with Marcus Armstrong when we come back.
00:07:34Marcus Armstrong back in pit lane, right, looking at the leaders, 14 laps completed
00:07:40for Alex Pelos since his last stop, Christian Lundgaard, 21.
00:07:45He'll be the first of the lead runners in for his pit stop.
00:07:51And Scott McLaughlin, 18 laps completed.
00:07:55David Maloukas getting very racy down there with one of the Gunnkos-Hollinger machines.
00:08:02It's Connor Daly on the inside into turns seven and eight.
00:08:07David Maloukas can't get that move done.
00:08:09Marcus Ericsson, it is who is behind them.
00:08:14And at the moment, they are battling for 18th and 19th place.
00:08:22Connor Daly had a really strong run in qualifying, the race hasn't quite come together.
00:08:28Little Dave in that AJ Floyd machine, I haven't seen much of him.
00:08:33Seen a bit of Santino Ferrucci at the moment, who's actually behind at the moment.
00:08:39Santino's running in 21st place because he's made a third stop, I think, and so he will
00:08:49track forward.
00:08:50But all eyes now, with 30 laps to go on the next sort of five, six laps, and then we'll
00:08:58start to see the leaders blink.
00:08:59And of course, for the likes of Pelos, once Lundgaard pits, they're exposed should there
00:09:06be a caution.
00:09:08And that will mean that Lundgaard will hold the cards, hold the advantage, filter to the
00:09:13front.
00:09:14So, yes, pitting first has its challenges, but it also has its benefits as well.
00:09:22Could anything unseat Alex Pelos and Chip Ganassi as we tick down these laps here at
00:09:29Barber Motorsports Park?
00:09:31Still no caution.
00:09:33Still the drivers in the wheel tracks of the cars in front.
00:09:38Louis Foster, we've seen off the track, but rejoined from the wet grass.
00:09:45Still, we'll wait to see who wins this fourth round of the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series.
00:09:54Don't forget, Alex Pelos has an average finish of about 1.25.
00:09:58He either wins or finishes second at the moment.
00:10:02Christian Lundgaard tracking for his third consecutive podium.
00:10:09It's going to be our final stop before the Indy 500 as the NTT IndyCar Series hits the
00:10:16IMS road course for the San Siro Grand Prix.
00:10:19The fastest racing on earth continues live Saturday at 4.30 Eastern on Fox.
00:10:29This, the battle back here at Barber Motorsports Park, the Children's of Alabama Indy Grand
00:10:36Prix.
00:10:37That is Conor Daly.
00:10:38That is Malukas.
00:10:39That is Ericsson.
00:10:40And Ferrucci currently scrapping over 16th place here in Birmingham.
00:10:49Hey, guys, we can't be far away now from the final pit stops of the day.
00:10:54Choices for everyone to make on to what they roll onto for that final stint.
00:10:59But Pelos has to take a set of fresh softs.
00:11:04And he's got to get by Devlin DeFrancesco as Pelos continues to try to get around the
00:11:11number 30 here.
00:11:12And this is not what Pelos needs.
00:11:14He does not.
00:11:15Oh, there goes DeFrancesco.
00:11:17A gentlemanly move.
00:11:19He jinxed it, man.
00:11:20Not what we wanted in the booth, though.
00:11:23That was a gentlemanly move there from Dev.
00:11:27At the same point, though, there's still a lot of racing to go.
00:11:29A yellow could come out.
00:11:30You're not going to want to be on the losing end of that.
00:11:34And you see that stat in this race.
00:11:38Alex Pelos clicked over 1,000 laps lead in his IndyCar career.
00:11:43Wow.
00:11:44Which is so, so impressive when you think about being in a sixth season.
00:11:51Another driver named Scott Dixon hit his 1,000th lap lead in year six of his career.
00:11:56But remember, that was back in a time when they were doing a lot more oval racing.
00:11:59And this guy right now has been passing cars like it's his job.
00:12:03Plus 13 on the day.
00:12:04Biggest mover.
00:12:05We said, I mean, if there's someone that can salvage a good result from a bad qualifying,
00:12:09it's this guy.
00:12:10You know, we spent the first four or five laps celebrating Alexander Rossi as the biggest
00:12:14mover.
00:12:15He was up, I think, six spots at the time.
00:12:18But so Dixon-like to quietly and without any spectacle pick off 13 cars since the start.
00:12:25This is what this guy does.
00:12:26Remember, no yellows.
00:12:27Yeah.
00:12:28Nothing to help him on timely yellows.
00:12:30It's been an all green race.
00:12:32He's done it on race craft and speed.
00:12:34And not on an alternate strategy either, as we so often see him pull off these amazing
00:12:38last to first kind of strategy results.
00:12:41Now, O. Ward is the first to pull the pin and make his stop.
00:12:4664 of 90.
00:12:48The McLaren driver brings it in from sixth place.
00:12:51Jack down there on pit lane.
00:12:53A huge pit stop for the five here.
00:12:55I don't know if you guys have noticed.
00:12:57He doesn't have that much push to pass left.
00:12:59That was the biggest conversation between him and the stand was push to pass management.
00:13:04Brand new tires on.
00:13:05Pat O. Ward's finished this race.
00:13:07A lot of other cars and teams, I should say, laid out on pit lane.
00:13:12I think I saw the 18 point through.
00:13:14Ready to go.
00:13:16These stops so critical.
00:13:18We've seen two huge mistakes or issues, I should say, with Fulton Hurd stalling.
00:13:22Marcus Armstrong's fueler getting stuck.
00:13:24This is the most important one.
00:13:26The last stop of the day as the 60 of Rosenquist down and away.
00:13:29That looked clean.
00:13:31Yeah.
00:13:32Fuel beat tires on that one.
00:13:34Not needing a full tank of gas.
00:13:36But you mentioned it earlier.
00:13:38Those over cuts are important.
00:13:41So we'll see a lot of people come down pit lane at this time.
00:13:47Along with Scott McLaughlin.
00:13:49And Alex Pillow is down there as well.
00:13:51And in front of me, we see Christian Lugar going to Georgia.
00:13:54They are so calm and collected.
00:13:58Every bit of this team perfect right now.
00:14:01That looked like a Tuesday afternoon at the race shop practice.
00:14:05The number 10 team executing flawlessly.
00:14:09As they have all season.
00:14:11Let's pay attention to these over cuts as we see the Verizon car of Will Power come in.
00:14:15Nice clean away there.
00:14:17But guys like McLaughlin, V.K. Ross, he heard of staying out.
00:14:21Trying to get a little bit of track position on that over cut.
00:14:24Will Power end up with Padawa Ward.
00:14:27Here comes Power.
00:14:29There he comes into turn one.
00:14:31On hot tires.
00:14:33But he's got traffic with Louis Foster.
00:14:36But as we saw, the benefit of having those warm tires with a lap already on them.
00:14:41We saw what it did for Lundgaard as Foster getting a little bit in O. Ward's way there.
00:14:45And O. Ward will sweep or hope to sweep around the outside of the rookie.
00:14:49Does so with ease.
00:14:51But all of that will have just stopped him from eating into Will Power's lead as much as he'd have hoped.
00:14:57I don't know if that was with ease.
00:14:59It was with a tremendous amount of confidence.
00:15:01Had to throw it around the outside there.
00:15:03We saw how O. Ward had to lift and the king coming out of turn three.
00:15:06As the front downforce disappears in traffic.
00:15:09And a huge pit stop for Dale Coyne.
00:15:11Issue on the right front.
00:15:13The wheel nut has gone missing.
00:15:15Precious few seconds lost.
00:15:17That is not what V.K. wanted.
00:15:19Oh, what a shame for Rinas V.K.
00:15:21Such a brilliant afternoon.
00:15:23That will doubtless drop him.
00:15:25The question is by how much?
00:15:27He was battling Will Power.
00:15:29Power was behind by about three seconds.
00:15:32V.K.'s coming out now.
00:15:34He did it once before on the last round of stops.
00:15:36Defending on cold tires.
00:15:38Here comes Will Power.
00:15:40V.K. has position.
00:15:41But now he's got to hang on.
00:15:43And Power has the tire advantage.
00:15:45Has the heat in them.
00:15:46And V.K. will have to defend once again.
00:15:49With his mirrors full of Power's Penske.
00:15:51Another sticker set of the soft Firestones on the 18 of Rinas V.K.
00:15:55He said he did it once before.
00:15:56He's got a bit wide.
00:15:57That's going to open the door for Power on the back straight.
00:15:59Down into turn eight.
00:16:00It's a drag race.
00:16:01But Power's going to have to go the long way around.
00:16:03Gets tucked up underneath him.
00:16:05If he's going to try a pass here it will have to be bold.
00:16:07But he won't because he knows that he can't.
00:16:09He'll try a little later in the lap as they come down the hill.
00:16:13And now into the blind sweepers uphill.
00:16:15Perfect job from Rinas V.K. in the museum corner.
00:16:18He hit his marks.
00:16:19This is where he got mad sideways on the hard compound.
00:16:21But there you see the difference.
00:16:23The softer Firestone hanging on.
00:16:25Rinas V.K. delivering under pressure on this out lap.
00:16:29One of the most impressive side-by-side wheel-to-wheel racers
00:16:33that you can see in the NTT IndyCar Series is Rinas V.K.
00:16:37who almost went this season without a seat.
00:16:40He was the last driver to sign for 2025.
00:16:43And thank goodness that he did.
00:16:46Because this is a guy who turns up to race every single weekend.
00:16:50But guys, how about that previous stint from Rinas?
00:16:53He came out on cold tires in front of Will Power.
00:16:56Held him off and pulled out enough of a gap to give his team a bit of a gimme,
00:17:00a get-out-of-jail-free card for that dropped wheel nut.
00:17:03That was all Rinas V.K. saving that position.
00:17:07Such an impressive driver.
00:17:09And Alex Below is showing no sign of slowing down.
00:17:13But it's another Alex.
00:17:14Alex Rossi that's leading the race right now.
00:17:16Yet to do his last stop.
00:17:18This has been a great run for Rossi and ECR.
00:17:21I spoke to him after warm-up.
00:17:22He said, look, the car wasn't great, but we know why.
00:17:24Something was wrong.
00:17:25Confident in his race car coming in.
00:17:27He's leading right now.
00:17:28He was running seventh on merit before this cycle stopped.
00:17:32And we see him now in pit lane.
00:17:34This is going to be important.
00:17:35The only driver left to not have run the black sidewalled,
00:17:39harder compound Firestone tires.
00:17:41And he comes into the pits now to take that final set.
00:17:44And he's going to come out right with Rinas V.K.
00:17:47And we saw before what a struggle the outlap is on the harder compound.
00:17:51A wing adjustment for Alexander Rossi.
00:17:53I think they took out front wing.
00:17:55And watch this.
00:17:56This is a handful as he comes out.
00:17:59There goes power.
00:18:00There goes award.
00:18:01Unfortunately, Rossi will not get any overcut benefit.
00:18:05But he still sits ahead of Carlton Hurd, which he will be happy with
00:18:10considering where they both started this race.
00:18:13Georgia.
00:18:15Update on Scott McLaughlin's scuffed reds.
00:18:17They only have one and a half laps on them.
00:18:19So the team updated them.
00:18:20They said, take your time.
00:18:22Bring them up to temperature.
00:18:23You have plenty of room between third and fourth.
00:18:25Take your time.
00:18:29So McLaughlin, third.
00:18:31Lundgaard, second.
00:18:33Pelot, first.
00:18:3622 laps to run here at Barber Motorsport Park.
00:18:41It's not over yet.
00:18:45What a few heart-stopping moments there in the Dale Coyne garage,
00:18:53or box, I should say.
00:18:55As Rinas VK lost his right front wheel nut.
00:19:00And they managed to rectify the problem.
00:19:04VK out just in front of power.
00:19:07And now starting to pull away from the Penske driver.
00:19:12They are running, at the moment, fifth and sixth.
00:19:15You've got an outlier in that gaggle.
00:19:17Chris Jim Rasmussen, of course, in the ECR car,
00:19:21who's running fourth on the road, but still yet to stop.
00:19:26So that'll make VK about ten seconds behind Scott McLaughlin in third.
00:19:32He's about five seconds behind Christian Lundgaard.
00:19:36And then, of course, Alex Pelot has that seven-second buffer.
00:19:41Fantastic stuff, still, from the surgeon Alex Pelot.
00:19:46That's what they call him.
00:19:48If you're looking for Pato Award, he's down in seventh at the moment.
00:19:52Colton Herter is ninth.
00:19:55Nolan Siegel is tenth.
00:19:58Santino Ferrucci, twelfth.
00:20:00Armstrong, thirteenth.
00:20:01Kirkwood, winner last time out, fourteenth.
00:20:04Just ahead of Scott Dixon.
00:20:06Hasn't been a great weekend for Felix Rosenquist.
00:20:09He's currently sixteenth.
00:20:11Marcus Ericsson down in twentieth.
00:20:15And for Louis Hoster, who we saw off the road, twenty-sixth at the moment.
00:20:20Just picking out one or two names as we run down the leaderboard.
00:20:25Twenty to go here in Alabama, Birmingham.
00:20:28Or Birmingham, Alabama.
00:20:31And it's been very much the Alex Pelot show.
00:20:36Won his first ever race, or IndyCar race, around this track.
00:20:41He knows how to win around Barber.
00:20:44His first pole position around this track yesterday.
00:20:47And that meant he started in the best possible place.
00:20:51Because it's so hard to win from outside the front two rows.
00:20:56And so far so good.
00:20:57What I liked about Barry Wanzer and Chip Ganassi there,
00:21:02is they weren't going to risk the caution.
00:21:04They were not risking anything in terms of the overcut.
00:21:07They came in as soon as possible to avoid any issue with a caution coming out.
00:21:14Don't take any chances.
00:21:15They do the simple things really, really well.
00:21:18They don't beat themselves.
00:21:20And they don't overcomplicate things.
00:21:22And then, of course, Alex Pelot just does the rest.
00:21:27Seven seconds the gap between Pelot and Lungard.
00:21:30It's still the Spaniard who continues to lead.
00:21:36A huge amount of racing coming your way over the coming weeks.
00:21:39Indy road course, Saturday, May 10th.
00:21:414.30 Eastern on Fox.
00:21:43NASCAR in Kansas, Sunday, May 11th.
00:21:45That's 3 Eastern on FS1 at NHRA Chicago.
00:21:49Sunday, May 18th.
00:21:502 p.m. Eastern on FS1.
00:21:5319 laps to go.
00:21:55Marucci almost destroyed that number 14,
00:21:59trying to make ground on Joseph Lungard.
00:22:02That is at about 160 miles an hour.
00:22:05That kid, he's a wheel man, whether it's the chili bowl
00:22:09or the high groove at Milwaukee.
00:22:11But, man, that was close.
00:22:15Lungard makes his way past Foster, who is the cork in the bottle.
00:22:19We ride on board with one of the most exciting drivers
00:22:22we can drive on board with.
00:22:24Santino Ferrucci, courtesy of Sexton Properties.
00:22:27Man, he's hustling.
00:22:28Might take a lap to catch his breath here
00:22:30as he closes in on Louis Foster up ahead.
00:22:37Guys, 18 laps to go
00:22:39as he slips down the inside of Foster, a lap down.
00:22:42Nice.
00:22:4318 laps to go on a very physical race.
00:22:46Flat out running, we've had no yellows.
00:22:49This is when you start to feel it from inside the cockpit.
00:22:52The neck is sore.
00:22:53The grip, your hands, your forearms, your shoulders,
00:22:56everything's starting to hurt.
00:22:58Check this out, James.
00:22:59We'll see an on-board replay here for Santino Ferrucci
00:23:03in exactly this moment one lap ago.
00:23:05Let's watch and listen.
00:23:10Oh, man!
00:23:12And that's what I'm saying.
00:23:13The steering wheel is loaded up.
00:23:14When it has little issues, you're starting to fatigue.
00:23:17It's harder to catch those moments
00:23:19when you're at this stage of an all-green race.
00:23:22That was Colton Hurda at N.D.G.P. road course level of save.
00:23:26In the wet.
00:23:27Impressive stuff.
00:23:29Hasn't backed off as Ferrucci goes after Newgarden.
00:23:33Poor Alexander Rossi having to finish
00:23:35on the harder black tire here
00:23:37and under all kinds of pressure from Nolan Siegel.
00:23:40This is the battle for ninth.
00:23:43Nolan Siegel with the best finishing position
00:23:46of seventh place, which took at Gateway last season.
00:23:50On for a top ten as things stand at the moment.
00:23:52We ride on board with him, courtesy of NTT Data,
00:23:55the ECR car ahead of us.
00:23:56Rossi's having a good day, but as you said,
00:23:58it's going to be tough for him in these last 17 laps
00:24:01on the harder rubber with everyone around him
00:24:04on the softer tire.
00:24:05And what's tough for Rossi in a situation like this
00:24:08is Nolan gets a pretty good run here off of threes.
00:24:10Oh, I see some spots on the camera.
00:24:13That might just be from the curb.
00:24:15But one of the big things, you know,
00:24:16when you're in the position Alex Rossi's in right now
00:24:18is you're having to drive in your mirrors.
00:24:20You're looking forward, trying to hit your marks,
00:24:22but you always have to have one eye
00:24:24off to the side of the cockpit, checking the mirror,
00:24:27making sure Nolan's not close enough to make a move
00:24:29and you don't have to move to a defensive driving line.
00:24:32So this is a tough phase of the race
00:24:34to be under that kind of pressure.
00:24:36Big pressure for him.
00:24:37How much pressure will Scott McLachlan come under,
00:24:40though, I wonder.
00:24:41Rinas Vique, we've been talking about
00:24:43how impressive he's been this afternoon.
00:24:45At the moment, he is on average a second a lap faster
00:24:48than Scott McLachlan.
00:24:50At minimum, 8.7 tenths of a second.
00:24:54He is pulling the gap into McLachlan.
00:24:57It was 11 seconds.
00:24:59It's now seven.
00:25:01And it almost, almost slipped away from Rinas Vique
00:25:04there on pit lane with that wheel nut on the right front
00:25:09escaping the grasp of the wheel gun
00:25:12as Rossi continues to hang on.
00:25:14But let's take a look back at disaster
00:25:17almost for Rinas Vique.
00:25:18There goes the wheel nut.
00:25:20Mechanic can't find it,
00:25:21so he wisely sticks with the protocol,
00:25:24get the wheel on, grab the spare wheel nut,
00:25:26get it partially threaded, get the gun on,
00:25:29and he did a brilliant job to recover Rinas Vique.
00:25:33That could have gone so horribly wrong for the team,
00:25:36but they managed to stay calm under pressure.
00:25:38It's Rossi-Siegel battle still heating up right now.
00:25:41Siegel's been a little trigger-happy with his push to pass.
00:25:44He only has four seconds remaining.
00:25:46That's one blast.
00:25:47Won't even get you all the way from turn three to turn five.
00:25:50Rossi, on the other hand, has got 21.
00:25:53So that is going to be something that's definitely in Rossi's favor
00:25:57if Nolan does manage to get a little bit of a run here.
00:26:02Yeah.
00:26:03But Nolan doing a great job.
00:26:05Again, the physicality of this place,
00:26:06you saw from some of his onboards,
00:26:08his head already starting to lean up against the headrest
00:26:11a little bit more in some of the flat-out corners.
00:26:14And Rossi doing a really good job.
00:26:16I can tell his car is loose, James.
00:26:18They did take front wing out on the last stop
00:26:21to anticipate the harder compound tire.
00:26:23Let's just watch and see what kind of balance
00:26:26Alexander Rossi's hanging on to.
00:26:28Oh, Nolan trying to sneak around the outside.
00:26:32He's probably burning his last of his push to pass.
00:26:34Gets some air awash.
00:26:36Gets loose.
00:26:37Rossi defends.
00:26:39That's smart driving from Alexander Rossi
00:26:41as Siegel gets on the power
00:26:43and tries to take it to him side by side.
00:26:45Out and down and under the bridge
00:26:47and into the museum section.
00:26:48So hard and brave to try and put on a move there,
00:26:51but ducks out of it.
00:26:53Rossi's got nothing for rear grip right now on power down.
00:26:56He is just doing everything he can
00:26:58to just roll it on without spinning up the rear tires,
00:27:01but he's just looking for forward bite.
00:27:04And he'll be told now that Nolan Siegel
00:27:06out of push to pass,
00:27:08and at the same time, he'll say,
00:27:09Okay, cool. How many laps left?
00:27:11And when they say 14, he says,
00:27:12You got to be kidding me, man.
00:27:14I got to hang on to this thing with this kid
00:27:16breathing down my neck for another 14 laps.
00:27:19But no stranger to pressure is Rossi.
00:27:22Nolan Siegel hanging on to those four seconds.
00:27:24He hasn't used them yet.
00:27:26It's like a teenager at the amusement park
00:27:28who just found out he's got to take the bus home.
00:27:32Needs every penny.
00:27:35All over the back of Alexander Rossi.
00:27:37The fight for eighth place in this race.
00:27:40Ahead of them, Colton Herder is seventh.
00:27:42Patois Wards sits sixth.
00:27:44Then it's power fifth.
00:27:46VK fourth.
00:27:47Kat Shing's got McLaughlin ahead in third.
00:27:49Then Lungard and Pelot.
00:27:54Ah.
00:27:55Siegel starting to lose a little bit of the back end
00:27:58of his NTT car.
00:28:01And just as I say that, the team comes on and says,
00:28:03Make sure you take care of these tires.
00:28:12Dixon has quite incredibly made up another place.
00:28:15That's 14 from race start.
00:28:17He now sits 12th, having started 26th.
00:28:21We sit on board with him now.
00:28:23And folks, as we were saying, that is just down
00:28:25to the pure pace of one of the greatest
00:28:29that has ever sat in an IndyCar.
00:28:37Fantastic battle between Rossi and Nolan Siegel.
00:28:41A lap or so ago.
00:28:43Nolan Siegel now has no overtake left.
00:28:47Alex Pelot has 63 seconds.
00:28:51He has more than Christian Lungard,
00:28:53but they are too far apart at the moment
00:28:56for Christian Lungard to do anything about.
00:28:58Alex Pelot and Chip DiNasi.
00:29:00Scotty Mack has a whole heap of overtake left as well
00:29:05in third.
00:29:07But at the moment, he's got a comfortable gap on VK
00:29:10and he's too far behind Christian Lungard.
00:29:13On board with Nolan Siegel.
00:29:15He's going to find it pretty difficult to find
00:29:18a way past the Chevrolet of Alexander Rossi
00:29:22in front of him if it stays like this.
00:29:26Because with no push to pass around Barber,
00:29:29nigh on impossible.
00:29:31They are on different tyres though,
00:29:34so that could help Nolan Siegel
00:29:36because Rossi's black sidewall tyre
00:29:38has a limited amount of grip.
00:29:40But at the moment, Rossi doing a good job
00:29:44in eighth place.
00:29:45Nothing Nolan Siegel can do behind
00:29:48to find a way past.
00:29:50This will be Alexander Rossi's best finish of the season
00:29:54if he does finish in eighth.
00:29:57Currently 11th in points for the best finish of night.
00:30:01That was at Thermal.
00:30:03Out front, Alex Pelot looking to make it three wins
00:30:07in four races.
00:30:09He's comfortably ahead of his nearest championship rival,
00:30:12Kyle Kirkwood, who's had a difficult weekend.
00:30:16Christian Lungard started this weekend third in points
00:30:20with a second place finish
00:30:22and a third consecutive podium.
00:30:25Odds on to find a way past Kyle Kirkwood
00:30:28into second place in the championship.
00:30:31Felix Rosenquist who came here fourth in the championship.
00:30:36Well, it's been another difficult weekend for him
00:30:39and Scott Dixon who was fifth in the championship.
00:30:42He's doing his best to work his way up the leaderboard,
00:30:46currently 12th.
00:30:47But if you think it's a good day in the office
00:30:50for Alex Pelot in terms of the points he gets for a race win,
00:30:55it's a very good day in the office
00:30:57considering his closest rivals,
00:30:59all bar Christian Lungard,
00:31:01have not had the best of weekends.
00:31:05Right, Will Buxton and co.
00:31:07Going to talk us to the checker.
00:31:12Live from Barber Motorsports Park,
00:31:15Alex Pelot leads Christian Lungard,
00:31:18Scott McLaughlin, Rinas VK,
00:31:20Will Power and Pato Award.
00:31:22That your top six with 11 to go.
00:31:25Lungard now 10 seconds behind Pelot,
00:31:28McLaughlin five further seconds behind him
00:31:30and VK now 22 seconds off race leader Alex Pelot.
00:31:35Still about that seven seconds behind Scott McLaughlin.
00:31:47Time to take a look at the moment of the race
00:31:50sponsored by Pennzoil
00:31:51and as all drivers out there struggling
00:31:54with the physicality of this track,
00:31:57Santino Ferrucci put in a masterful display of car control
00:32:02just when he needed it the most.
00:32:04And I'll tell you why that's a key moment of the race
00:32:06for Alex Pelot
00:32:07because that would have been a long, massive,
00:32:10that would have been a massive crash
00:32:11leading to a long caution
00:32:12which would have eliminated Pelot's dominant lead.
00:32:16But Ferrucci, as he has done countless times behind the wheel,
00:32:20narrowly avoids disaster with quick hands
00:32:25and eyes focused forward.
00:32:27That's a key part too.
00:32:28When the car steps out like that,
00:32:30so often drivers look at what they could hit
00:32:33as opposed to where they want to go
00:32:35and Ferrucci does a great job keeping his eyes high
00:32:39and staying focused on where he wants to land
00:32:43once the moment ends.
00:32:44Usually the first thing they teach you in racing school
00:32:47is the car goes where your eyes are looking.
00:32:49That's right.
00:32:50Keep your eyes up.
00:32:51Don't look at the walls.
00:32:52And I mean, the pace has been there for Ferrucci as well.
00:32:53He does have the second fastest lap of the race right now
00:32:57as you ride back on board with Siegel
00:32:59still hounding the back of Alex Rossi.
00:33:02Jack.
00:33:03James, I was honestly just thinking about something
00:33:05that you were saying.
00:33:06So I went and found his dad, Mark.
00:33:08Physicality.
00:33:09Just how physical this circuit is.
00:33:12You've spoken a lot about it.
00:33:13I asked his dad,
00:33:14what training did he do in the off season?
00:33:15He said that he has gained somewhere between
00:33:1715 and 20 pounds of muscle
00:33:19to be able to withstand this kind of track.
00:33:22The strain on the driver.
00:33:24And also so that when he's in one of these battles
00:33:26with someone like Alexander Rossi,
00:33:28who is incredibly difficult to get by,
00:33:30he physically is able to do it.
00:33:33That's twice what his teammates put on over the winter.
00:33:36That's absolutely huge.
00:33:38That is the car of Marcus Ericsson
00:33:40dragging the right-hand side of his front wing
00:33:43along the track.
00:33:44Has not yet been given a black flag
00:33:46to bring that into pits
00:33:47and make any changes to it.
00:33:49Change that out and get a new front wing.
00:33:51Seemingly running okay.
00:33:52And Carl Novak thinking that's not a problem.
00:33:54And this is a real problem
00:33:55for Christian Lundgaard right now.
00:33:57He needs to clear these cars
00:33:58because this is going to allow Scott McLachlan
00:34:01to maybe threaten Lundgaard for second place
00:34:03in the closing stages.
00:34:05The gap right now,
00:34:06just under four seconds.
00:34:08And on the last lap,
00:34:09Scott McLachlan a one minute 10.5.
00:34:11Lundgaard was an 11.8.
00:34:13That's 1.3 seconds over one lap.
00:34:16He's got to make this move soon
00:34:19or McLachlan is coming for him.
00:34:21Kevin.
00:34:22And he's been asking for help from IndyCar
00:34:24but he won't get it
00:34:25because they're not a full lap down to the field.
00:34:27Now meanwhile,
00:34:28while Lundgaard is working on his third straight podium,
00:34:30spends a lot of time working on his golf game
00:34:32and he's getting a lot better.
00:34:33Just started a couple years ago
00:34:35but not nearly as good as his girlfriend that you see.
00:34:38Gabrielle Gilrowski is a college golfer.
00:34:41She played at Georgetown.
00:34:42She's a grad student playing at Tulane
00:34:44and she tried to qualify for the U.S. Open last week
00:34:48and Christian in the D.C. area was her caddy.
00:34:51She played well.
00:34:53Not well enough to qualify
00:34:54but only two out of the many that attempt get to qualify
00:34:58so she's making progress on that.
00:35:00I asked her how's Christian as a caddy.
00:35:01He's good.
00:35:02He gets to be in the right club
00:35:03but he's not yet in charge of the yardage book
00:35:05so that's still a work in progress.
00:35:07She might be grabbing her three iron here
00:35:09and go down and start whacking on the eight crew
00:35:11to let her man by.
00:35:12Christian Lungard really starting to get fierce
00:35:15and aggressive.
00:35:18Looking to the high side of Kiffin Simpson.
00:35:20That is close but he makes it work.
00:35:22That's a nice move from Christian Lungard.
00:35:24Needs to make these moves happen.
00:35:26Needs to make them stick.
00:35:28McLaughlin is cutting that gap down.
00:35:30It's just three seconds now between the two of them
00:35:34and he now has to try and pass Marcus Erickson
00:35:36whose car is injured.
00:35:39That right front part of the front wing
00:35:41dragging along the ground, slowing him up.
00:35:44And you saw Christian Lungard having to use push to pass
00:35:47to make that move.
00:35:48That's one of the things that's so frustrating
00:35:50as a driver is having to burn push to pass
00:35:52on a lap down car.
00:35:53But as Kevin mentioned, the rules in IndyCar,
00:35:55unless you're a lap down to the entire field,
00:35:58you do not get a command blue
00:36:00and you are entitled to race for your bit of the racetrack.
00:36:03But just to highlight how well Christian's done
00:36:05since switching to McLaren in that seven car.
00:36:09McLaren took over this team back in 2020.
00:36:13In 81 starts, since then, the car,
00:36:17between 20 and 2024, that car's had four podiums
00:36:21in four races.
00:36:23He's about to get his third podium if things finish
00:36:25as they are going currently.
00:36:27So the rate at which he has gotten on top of this program,
00:36:30so, so impressive.
00:36:32Lungard will move up to second in the championship
00:36:35should they finish as they run right now.
00:36:38Meanwhile, as Lungard backs up to Scott McLachlan,
00:36:43six laps to go.
00:36:44It's not impossible for McLachlan to catch this group
00:36:47and start to back up to Renus Viquet,
00:36:50who is now less than four seconds off
00:36:53of the number three team Penske car.
00:36:55And Lungard just blasted some push to pass
00:36:58as he goes again now to try and get past Marcus Eriksson.
00:37:01McLachlan will be smiling at this
00:37:04as Lungard's push to pass is depleted
00:37:06and McLachlan still uses none, six laps to go.
00:37:08If Scott can start making his way through,
00:37:10Lungard is wasting all of this,
00:37:12trying to get past Marcus Eriksson,
00:37:14who is defending his place on the lead lap.
00:37:17Now he makes the move.
00:37:18Now he gets it passed.
00:37:20And boy, did he ever need to do that
00:37:22because McLachlan was coming fast
00:37:25on a day where we have had three pit stops
00:37:27for everybody.
00:37:28This race, normally, a decision to make
00:37:30between do we try and conserve Shell 100% renewable fuel
00:37:34or do we blast all out and take three stops?
00:37:38Today, everybody taking that decision
00:37:40to blast it and push with everything they've got
00:37:43on every lap.
00:37:44So Marcus Eriksson did still one 12.2 lap time.
00:37:48And I'm looking at Renus Viquet, a 1.10.
00:37:51So Viquet is two seconds faster than Eriksson.
00:37:54Why is that important?
00:37:55Because if McLachlan gets stacked up,
00:37:57Viquet will have a chance to make the podium today.
00:38:01Absolutely huge.
00:38:02With all of that and McLachlan catching Lundgaard,
00:38:05I had completely lost sight of where Viquet was.
00:38:09And he is just three seconds behind McLachlan
00:38:11as McLachlan was three seconds behind Lundgaard.
00:38:14The difference when we get to see him
00:38:16is how many cars will there be between McLachlan and Viquet.
00:38:21From the looks of it, it's just the 90 car of Callum Eilat.
00:38:25Eilat.
00:38:30Alex Pelot still leads.
00:38:3116 seconds the gap to Christian Lundgaard.
00:38:34He has done everything today perfectly.
00:38:37This guy is coming for Scott McLachlan
00:38:40and a potential podium.
00:38:41And guys, I cannot overstate how important,
00:38:44how meaningful, how impressive that would be.
00:38:47He's taken the fight to Openski
00:38:49in a Dale Coyne, a team with limited resources,
00:38:53limited budget,
00:38:54a driver who didn't even have a seat
00:38:56with a couple of weeks to go until the season started.
00:38:58And that's just it.
00:38:59I mean, you think about the difference
00:39:00in preseason preparation of a driver like McLachlan
00:39:04and Team Penske,
00:39:05and then all of a sudden at the last second,
00:39:07to your point, Will,
00:39:08Viquet gets his opportunity
00:39:09and has to scramble to get caught up with a new team,
00:39:12new engine manufacturer,
00:39:14and he is delivering.
00:39:15Guys, he's not just putting the fight to Openski.
00:39:18He shipped him by 10 seconds.
00:39:19I mean, he is just...
00:39:20And that's after a botched start.
00:39:22He had three or four seconds in hand before that stop,
00:39:26brought Will right back to his gearbox,
00:39:28so an absolutely incredible run.
00:39:30And there they are in the same shot.
00:39:33You think he did that to Will Power,
00:39:35a two-time champion with 44 wins under his belt.
00:39:39That's no chump.
00:39:40That's Will Power that he's just gapped by 10 seconds
00:39:44in a Dale Coyne.
00:39:45Viquet having one of his day of days
00:39:49in the NTT IndyCar Series.
00:39:51What an impressive drive,
00:39:52even if it's fourth at the flag.
00:39:54This would be big if he could get by right here.
00:39:57Callum Eilat swings wide.
00:39:58I thought Viquet might get the clean air that he needs.
00:40:01He needs Callum Eilat to be just a little bit quicker
00:40:04right now to get in the mix.
00:40:09He needs some help from Eilat.
00:40:11Might get him here.
00:40:12He's setting him up really nice through turn three.
00:40:15Eilat gets way wide.
00:40:17Viquet with a great run on the button,
00:40:19probably right here as they come to turn five.
00:40:21He is on the button, moves to the inside.
00:40:24Will break as late as he dare.
00:40:26It's on.
00:40:27McLaughlin's going to have trouble.
00:40:30This is good stuff.
00:40:32Here we go.
00:40:33Three to go.
00:40:35That's McLaughlin.
00:40:36That's Viquet.
00:40:38That is the gap.
00:40:39That is all that is in it.
00:40:41It is just over a second.
00:40:43Not for long,
00:40:44because McLaughlin has a bunch of dirty air in front.
00:40:48I just don't know that he has the same pace
00:40:50that he's had the last couple of years.
00:40:52What's changed?
00:40:53The hybrid system.
00:40:54A little heavier race car at the back.
00:40:56And Viquet and Dale Coyne Racing have found the setup
00:41:00to make it work.
00:41:01On board here with Scotty Mac
00:41:02as he tries to hang on with two to go.
00:41:08As frantic as this battle is for the final podium spots,
00:41:11up front, Pelos, so far in front.
00:41:13He could be wrapped up on his couch
00:41:15in a snuggie sipping a tea.
00:41:17He is just absolutely cruising on a Sunday drive right now.
00:41:21Meanwhile, all hectic.
00:41:23Back in the throes of second and third,
00:41:26trying to sort out these podium positions.
00:41:28And can Viquet enter the conversation,
00:41:30try to get himself some hardware today?
00:41:33Look at the body language of that Dale Coyne Racing car
00:41:36of Renus Viquet.
00:41:38It has purpose and intent.
00:41:40Viquet can smell that podium.
00:41:44Two to go.
00:41:46One and a half when they get through the museum complex.
00:41:49And there's the traffic.
00:41:51Look at the seconds remaining.
00:41:52McLaughlin, critically.
00:41:55Ten-second advantage for that extra 50 horsepower.
00:41:58And they're both on the button on the back stretch.
00:42:02Viquet has one and a half laps to make the move.
00:42:07But Alex Pelos is already on his final lap
00:42:11here at Barber Motorsports Park.
00:42:13Guys, he has been perfect.
00:42:16Again.
00:42:18As he does, James, race after race.
00:42:21And Chip told us at the second race of this season,
00:42:24watch out, he's only getting better.
00:42:26And where we think he found improvement?
00:42:28Outright one-lap pace.
00:42:30Just dominant this weekend.
00:42:32I didn't believe him.
00:42:33But, I mean, it's hard to deny what's happening here.
00:42:35Coming to three wins in four races.
00:42:37Unreal.
00:42:39He's come to the Advanced Auto Parts checkered flag
00:42:42on the track where he won his first IndyCar race.
00:42:46In his very first race with Chip Gnassi Racing
00:42:50and wrote the first chapter of a book
00:42:53that has come to define the modern era of IndyCar.
00:42:58Mr. Perfect.
00:43:00Alex Pelos will do it again.
00:43:04Untouchable.
00:43:06Undeniable.
00:43:07Inevitable.
00:43:09It's going to be three wins from the opening four races
00:43:13for Alex Pelos.
00:43:18Yes! Let's go, boys!
00:43:23Oh, man.
00:43:25You guys are the best.
00:43:27What a car.
00:43:28And it's not over yet.
00:43:30There is VK tucked up behind Scott McLaughlin
00:43:32in the red and white car ahead of him.
00:43:34He has one final chance.
00:43:35I don't think he's quite going to get there.
00:43:38But a fourth place for VK behind McLaughlin and Lundgaard.
00:43:42That is your podium.
00:43:43Pelos, Lundgaard, McLaughlin.
00:43:47But VK.
00:43:49Brilliant, VK.
00:43:51For Dale Coyne with a fourth place.
00:43:54What an astonishing drive.
00:43:56And I'll tell you what.
00:43:57If you're one of the bigger teams
00:44:00looking to strengthen your lineup in 2026,
00:44:06you better start texting and dropping by the VK house
00:44:09because that is probably the hottest talent
00:44:12that could be available for next year.
00:44:16But, guys, what do we say about this young man?
00:44:21About Alex Pelos.
00:44:23He had two wins last season en route to the championship
00:44:26of races that counted towards the championship.
00:44:29He had three, if you include thermal,
00:44:31which was a non-championship race.
00:44:33He has three race wins from the opening four rounds
00:44:37of the 2025 season.
00:44:40It's incredible.
00:44:41He's about to have two less Firestones
00:44:43and one less Honda engine.
00:44:45He's going to do some donuts.
00:44:46But that looks to me like one of those situations
00:44:49where the driver requested and the team denied.
00:44:53Don't even think about it.
00:44:55Be smart and think of the championship.
00:44:57That's all I'm saying.
00:45:00They're saying, listen,
00:45:01we're going to bubble wrap this race car.
00:45:03Don't abuse it right now
00:45:06because it's the best out there
00:45:08as they go to, what, Indy GP, Indy 5.
00:45:11You were there at the open test.
00:45:12I was watching from California, James.
00:45:14This car and this team look to be the best
00:45:16of the bunch for the 500, too.
00:45:18It was my favorite car on pure pace.
00:45:20There's no doubt about it.
00:45:21And, I mean, with the performance we saw today,
00:45:23you might as well just drive that thing
00:45:24straight to the museum and park it here
00:45:26because that was one of the most dominant drives
00:45:28we've seen here at Barber.
00:45:29And nobody even had a chance today
00:45:32to mix it up, to rough this guy up,
00:45:34to block him, to go wheel to wheel.
00:45:36He just never even let anybody get close.
00:45:39McLaughlin tried.
00:45:40Lap one, lap two, lap three, he tried.
00:45:43He knew that was his one opportunity.
00:45:46But once he was gone, he was gone.
00:45:48And he ran away and hid.
00:45:51A brilliant drive from Alex Pallone.
00:45:53Let's also talk about Christian Lungard, guys.
00:45:55Another podium for McLaren.
00:45:57What a sensational start to his career with that team.
00:46:00Terrific job.
00:46:01He's doing exactly what was expected,
00:46:03what was hoped of him when he was signed
00:46:05to the McLaren organization.
00:46:07And like Pallone, Lungard, I think,
00:46:10will only get better.
00:46:14Pallone then into victory lane
00:46:17to celebrate with his team.
00:46:19We will hear the cheers.
00:46:21We will hear the celebrations.
00:46:23And we will see if he maintains the leg slap
00:46:27that he did in thermal
00:46:30and said that he might consider keeping it
00:46:32if he won again.
00:46:52Oh, the jack.
00:46:55The jack's by the...
00:47:00Well, no leg slap required.
00:47:02A lot of cheers and a lot of enjoyment
00:47:05and some bubbles to follow for Alex Pallone
00:47:09for the HRC liveried number 10 car this weekend.
00:47:14Good job.
00:47:20And he just keeps getting better.
00:47:22He's won from outside the top five.
00:47:25He's won from inside the top three.
00:47:27Now he's won from pole position.
00:47:30And Georgia, as you can see,
00:47:32is down there as Christian just goes up to
00:47:36the boys on the team at McLaren to celebrate with them.
00:47:39And he has every right to be delighted
00:47:42with what was another phenomenal drive.
00:47:45Georgia, though, is standing by with our race winner.
00:47:4816.26 seconds.
00:47:50That is what you paced this field by.
00:47:52How were you and this team able to pull off
00:47:54what seemed like the perfect day?
00:47:56It was. It was a perfect day.
00:47:57I would say a perfect weekend.
00:47:59First time we're rocking that number 10 HRC livery.
00:48:02I'm super proud of everybody
00:48:04that has been working on the 10 car
00:48:06and Chip Ganassi Racing and HRC as well.
00:48:09Let's go, man.
00:48:12Yeah, honestly, it's been just a perfect day.
00:48:14The car was amazing, super fast,
00:48:16and I just had a ton of fun.
00:48:18Yeah, I was a bit lonely there, but I loved it.
00:48:20It was an amazing day.
00:48:21Four years ago, you got your first win with CGR right here.
00:48:24How special is this win doing it
00:48:26four years later with the same team?
00:48:28It's amazing.
00:48:29I mean, we've always been really good here.
00:48:31I love this place.
00:48:32Like every single lap here just feels amazing in an Indy car.
00:48:35So, yeah, it's going to be extra special from now on.
00:48:38Alex Pillow and Chip Ganassi Racing victorious
00:48:41here at Barber Motorsports Park.
00:48:43An incredible drive.
00:48:4563 seconds of push to pass left at the end there.
00:48:49It shows you he really was just in a class of his own.
00:48:53And his biggest complaint, I was a little lonely, but not now.
00:48:57That's going to enrage a lot of other drivers
00:48:59when they hear that quote later, and rightly so.
00:49:02I mean, this is a generational performance
00:49:05that you're witnessing.
00:49:06And when you're racing against someone like this,
00:49:10you see his daughter, Lucia.
00:49:14It's cool glasses.
00:49:16They're very cool.
00:49:17I think I've seen you in something similar.
00:49:19But it's so demoralizing.
00:49:20You've seen my daughter in something similar.
00:49:22It's so demoralizing as another driver to see him win like that.
00:49:25You've got to figure out, how do we do it?
00:49:27How can we match him?
00:49:28How can we beat him?
00:49:30It's so hard to find out.
00:49:31Questions.
00:49:32You know you did me wrong.
00:49:35Just one more cup of coffee before I go.
00:49:39I know I better stop and cut the show.
00:49:43I'll leave you all the memories and go.
00:49:46I'ma go.
00:49:47Two hours conversation.
00:49:49Everyone in IndyCar is.
00:49:52Well, you do run out of superlatives.
00:49:55He's nicknamed The Surgeon for a reason.
00:49:59He is just so precise, so perfect.
00:50:03I shared a message on socials a second ago.
00:50:06Is there a racing driver anywhere in the world as good as Alex Pelot?
00:50:11At the moment, Barmax Verstappen.
00:50:14I know he's a great driver.
00:50:16I don't know.
00:50:17It's a viable discussion.
00:50:18I think he's that good.
00:50:19I think we're actually witnessing something very, very special.
00:50:22And he continues to get better.
00:50:24This is a vintage era of IndyCar.
00:50:26And Alex Pelot is putting his name in and amongst the greatest of all time.
00:50:30Already.
00:50:31That is how good he is.
00:50:33Christian.
00:50:35Lungard.
00:50:36Well, he is very special.
00:50:37And we're already seeing that.
00:50:39And he's just in his infancy.
00:50:41In terms of his Arrow McLaren career.
00:50:43Look out for the papaya of Lungard.
00:50:45They're really impressed with the way he goes about things.
00:50:48He's got a real.
00:50:49TK is really impressed with Christian Lungard.
00:50:52And he's leading the team charge in his new team colors.
00:50:56Scotty Mac.
00:50:57Missed out.
00:50:58Christian Lungard.
00:50:59And he's just in his infancy.
00:51:01In terms of his Arrow McLaren career.
00:51:03Look out for the papaya of Lungard.
00:51:05They're really impressed with the way he goes about things.
00:51:08He's got a real steely determination.
00:51:10He's got an inner belief that doesn't boil over into arrogance.
00:51:13TK is really impressed with Christian Lungard.
00:51:16And he's leading the team charge.
00:51:18Scotty Mac.
00:51:19Missed out on the three-peat there.
00:51:21But for Team Penske.
00:51:23And Scott McLaughlin.
00:51:24Who started this weekend.
00:51:27If you look at those cars.
00:51:29Eight, ninth and tenth in points.
00:51:32With only one podium.
00:51:34From the three races.
00:51:37Between them all.
00:51:39And that was Joseph Newgarden.
00:51:41First race out at St. Pete.
00:51:43So Scotty Mac getting Team Penske's second podium of the season.
00:51:46Quite incredible.
00:51:47That we say that.
00:51:49But a different weekend for Team Penske.
00:51:51If you reverse a year ago.
00:51:53That fateful weekend of what went on.
00:51:56Regarding the push to pass saga.
00:52:00And so forth.
00:52:01We won't revisit that.
00:52:02More smiles on faces of Team Penske drivers.
00:52:05This weekend.
00:52:06And a real shout out to Runeus VK.
00:52:08The Fox team did a great job.
00:52:10Just explaining how good a performance.
00:52:13This was from him.
00:52:15And Dale Coyne.
00:52:16Runeus VK in fourth place.
00:52:18Arguably with Alex Pillow.
00:52:20The drivers of the race.
00:52:29Barber Motorsports Park.
00:52:30Let's take a look at the advanced auto parts.
00:52:33Checkered flag moment.
00:52:34That man does it again.
00:52:36Alex Pillow.
00:52:37Three wins from four races.
00:52:40Takes the checkered flag.
00:52:46That's not an advanced auto parts.
00:52:48A fan.
00:52:49A big piece of rubber.
00:52:50A big piece of rubber.
00:52:54And there is your race winner.
00:52:56Alex Pillow.
00:52:57There is Chip Ganassi.
00:52:58He likes winners.
00:53:00Kevin.
00:53:01Standing by down there.
00:53:03With our other guys on the podium.
00:53:05If it wasn't for what Alex Pillow was doing.
00:53:07Which is pretty unprecedented.
00:53:09The numbers that Christian Lungard is putting up.
00:53:12Eight third, third, second.
00:53:13Should be enough to lead the championship.
00:53:15Still second.
00:53:16How big is this?
00:53:17Starting with a new program.
00:53:19It's awesome.
00:53:20It's everything we could have hoped for.
00:53:22Much better.
00:53:23The number seven.
00:53:24Chevrolet crew has done an awesome job all year.
00:53:27I think in thermal.
00:53:29We proved it straight on pace.
00:53:31Strategy was good.
00:53:32The ten cars still beat us.
00:53:34We put the car on the wall in qualifying in Long Beach.
00:53:37And we raced our race forward to the podium.
00:53:40And the crew did an awesome job on strategy.
00:53:42And once again today we did so.
00:53:44We knew we could go aggressive after yesterday.
00:53:47The car hasn't been as good all week as it was at the test.
00:53:51It's been tough mentally dealing with that.
00:53:54We didn't have time to do a lot of changes.
00:53:57We had an issue in P1.
00:53:59You started in P2 and started raining.
00:54:02We made that change overnight.
00:54:04It was a deal breaker.
00:54:06I think that's why we're on the podium today.
00:54:10You had some good battles including the one with Scott McLaughlin to get you on the podium.
00:54:16Take a look at this.
00:54:18Yeah.
00:54:19I did this on Scott Dixon a couple of years ago.
00:54:23So I thought I would do it on the other Scott this time.
00:54:26That's a pretty good company.
00:54:28If you can get by Scott Dixon it might work on some other people as well.
00:54:32On the podium again.
00:54:34Now to Jack Harvey.
00:54:36We just saw him on screen.
00:54:38I know you wanted that three podiums in a row.
00:54:40You've still got to be pretty happy with this weekend.
00:54:42Yeah, Jack.
00:54:43The good Rancher Chevy has been fast the last few years.
00:54:45We just didn't have enough today.
00:54:47Props to Alex Lungard as well.
00:54:49That was super quick.
00:54:50We were third best car today.
00:54:51That was it.
00:54:52Very interesting race.
00:54:55I wish we had a little bit more tyre life on our car.
00:54:57But overall we're all good.
00:54:59What do you think there might be left that you can squeeze out of this Thirsty Threes to try and really challenge Alex?
00:55:05Yeah, look.
00:55:06I think when a guy is on top of his game, you just can do the best you can in that regard.
00:55:11I feel like week in, week out we can challenge him.
00:55:14But if he keeps executing, all we can do is execute as well.
00:55:17So, hey, props to his team.
00:55:19But it's a long season.
00:55:20And this is way too early to be even worrying about points.
00:55:23We've just got to keep being there.
00:55:25And if we're there, we'll be okay.
00:55:27Congratulations, mate.
00:55:28Thanks.
00:55:29Cheers.
00:55:30An extraordinary start to the season and an extraordinary run for Alex Pelot.
00:55:34Three wins out of four.
00:55:35An extraordinary run of green flag laps.
00:55:38Another race goes by without a caution.
00:55:411986 was the last time there was three consecutive races with no caution.
00:55:47A little disappointed in Georgina, if I'm being honest.
00:55:49She could have let go.
00:55:50Yeah, where was she?
00:55:51She could have brought out that caution to mix things up.
00:55:54But what another spectacular day at Barber Motorsports Park.
00:55:58The beauty, the grandeur, the museum, the pristine grounds here.
00:56:04Always so special as Georgina holds on for another day.
00:56:08Let's go from Georgina to Georgia.
00:56:12I thought you were saying you were disappointed in me for a second.
00:56:15Never, never.
00:56:16Alexander Rossi, 15th to 8th today.
00:56:19You're also one of the only cars, few cars, on the black tires on that last stint.
00:56:24I'd like to talk about that.
00:56:25It's horrible.
00:56:27We knew it was going to be bad at some point.
00:56:30But with where we started, we were just trying to get as much track position as we could
00:56:35on the alternate tire and build a big enough gap to the cars we were racing
00:56:39to be able to put them on at the end.
00:56:41And it was a lot of work to keep Nolan and Joseph behind there.
00:56:44But the team called a great race, and they were great in pit lane.
00:56:47So I think that was the most we could do on the day.
00:56:50Still a little bit disappointed about our performance yesterday.
00:56:53I thought we had a quicker car than that.
00:56:56But ultimately, it was a decent recovery today.
00:56:59Thanks, Alex.
00:57:00Thanks.
00:57:01Three top tens this season.
00:57:03I think he'll probably be pretty happy with that.
00:57:06A great drive to hold on to eighth over the line.
00:57:10Wonderful stuff.
00:57:11But here's your top three and your podium at Barber.
00:57:14Race fans, it's time to honor the top three finishers
00:57:18in today's Children's of Alabama Indy Grand Prix presented by Am First.
00:57:24And now let's honor our third-place driver in today's race.
00:57:27Let's hear it for Scott McLaughlin!
00:57:39And here to present our third-place trophy is Gene Holman, CEO of Zoom Motorsports.
00:57:49Oh!
00:57:55Congratulations, Scott!
00:57:58Now we move on to our second-place finisher.
00:58:01Let's hear it for Christian Luna!
00:58:10And back to present our second-place trophy is Gene Holman!
00:58:19Congratulations, Christian!
00:58:24And now, folks, the moment we've all been waiting for.
00:58:28Let's hear it for our Children's of Alabama race winner.
00:58:31Congratulations to Alex Pallone!
00:58:41And back to present the trophy is Gene Holman!
00:58:49All right!
00:58:55Race fans, let's hear it for our top three finishers
00:58:59in today's Children's of Alabama Indy Grand Prix presented by Am First.
00:59:10All right, drivers!
00:59:12It's time for some fun!
00:59:14Spray a little champagne!
00:59:28Well, the celebrations begin here at Barber, Hinch, Townsend, Alex Pallone once again.
00:59:36Untouchable and unbeatable.
00:59:39But what a day for all three on the podium.
00:59:43And what a day for Rinus VK.
00:59:47He is standing by with Kevin Lee.
00:59:50And he's a race winner.
00:59:51He's been on the podium four times.
00:59:53You just missed a day.
00:59:54But your dad just told me this was the best drive of your life.
00:59:57Do you agree?
00:59:59It was definitely my second best, at least.
01:00:02I had a win, so I like to count the win as my best one so far.
01:00:05But it was a great race.
01:00:07I had a lot of fun out there and showed a lot of strength
01:00:10in a car that was really allowing me to be strong.
01:00:13So what was the key today for you?
01:00:15And what was it like being able to hold off willpower under cold tires?
01:00:18Yeah, I think exactly that.
01:00:20The key is pit sequences and being in clean air from there on.
01:00:24So we lost a few positions on the first pit sequence.
01:00:28I think we stayed out a few laps too long on the blacks.
01:00:31Then going to the reds on the second stint.
01:00:34I thought I had so much pace because we saved a set of sticker reds
01:00:38for the race and qualifying yesterday.
01:00:40So I had some pace.
01:00:43I told the team, let's go long because I think we can beat those guys
01:00:46on the pit stop.
01:00:48And we narrowly did that, and I can keep them behind me from there on.
01:00:52Very impressive for Dale Coyne racing in Renus VK4 today.
01:00:55And he heads to the Indy road course where he's got a win and a podium.
01:00:58Jack.
01:01:00Willpower, you have continued this run of really strong Sundays.
01:01:03You did have some tasty radio communication with your team.
01:01:07Can you just talk us through it?
01:01:09That was just we saved fuel.
01:01:13We maybe could have gone a lap longer.
01:01:15It was nothing to do with the team.
01:01:17It was more to do with the situation on the track.
01:01:20We thought we should have tried to cover VK.
01:01:23It was a bit of hard racing there, but it was still a good day.
01:01:28It was just really difficult for the guys with the strategy.
01:01:32You had Lungard who undercut, but we could have overcut
01:01:35and got a couple of people.
01:01:37It was just difficult decisions, but still a solid day.
01:01:41Thank you, buddy.
01:01:45Well, a brilliant day once again for Polo.
01:01:49There is your top three here at the Children's of Alabama Indy Grand Prix.
01:01:53More race reaction coming up.
01:02:05Indy Annapolis, it's back!
01:02:08Come on, baby!
01:02:39Come on, boy!
01:02:42Come on, boy!
01:03:12Come on, boy!
01:03:42Come on, boy!
01:03:57Come on, boy!
01:04:00The Indy Annapolis 500 never gets old.
01:04:03It's our crown jewel. It's our champagne.
01:04:06We prepared for months for the Indy 500.
01:04:09Over 300,000 people on the stands.
01:04:12You can feel the energy.
01:04:14I want three in a row. I want it so bad.
01:04:17I want to set history.
01:04:19I dream of doing things that have never been done before.
01:04:25Well, we are well within the month of May now,
01:04:28and the Indy Annapolis 500 comes your way May 25th on Fox
01:04:33with coverage beginning at 10 a.m. Eastern.
01:04:38I can't wait.
01:04:40Townsend, Hinch, you excited for the 500?
01:04:44Best part of the year. Best racetrack in the world.
01:04:47And for a lot of these drivers today,
01:04:50what they look for is momentum in May
01:04:53as we take a look at the top ten results again.
01:04:56And I know it's been a tough start to the season,
01:04:58but he just barely got himself on this chart.
01:05:01Joseph Newgarden there getting a top ten
01:05:05and importantly establishing just a wee bit of momentum
01:05:08as he tries to roll into his third straight Indy 500 win.
01:05:12What are you looking at, Will?
01:05:14Scott Dixon up 14 places to P12.
01:05:17What a drive from the six-time champion.
01:05:20Phenomenal job from him.
01:05:22And I tell you what, Jack Harvey standing by with him right now.
01:05:29Scott Dixon was the biggest mover of the race.
01:05:31What a fantastic drive,
01:05:33especially considering it went green the entire way.
01:05:36Yeah, we were hoping for some caution, man.
01:05:39It's definitely frustrating starting 26,
01:05:41and I think when you've got a field that's so strong right now,
01:05:44to pass 14 cars is really, really tough.
01:05:47So, yeah, we would have loved a caution at some point.
01:05:51Kudos, obviously, to the one, I mean, to Palou getting another one.
01:05:56Three out of the first four races is pretty epic,
01:05:58so huge for the team.
01:06:00Congrats to our team.
01:06:01I think we were fastest on pit road today, which was good.
01:06:03Everything was very smooth as far as that went,
01:06:05and strategy was pretty much right on it.
01:06:07We kind of had one overlap there where we got the primer on the end lap,
01:06:10which cost us a little bit.
01:06:12But, yeah, you know, strong day for us,
01:06:14but obviously a 12th position is not great.
01:06:17Very classic Scott Dixon drive.
01:06:20Great drive from Scott Dixon,
01:06:22but it does drop him down the championship table to seventh.
01:06:26Look at Christian Lundgaard rising up to second place behind Alex Palou.
01:06:32Guys, thank you so much for your company this weekend.
01:06:35Hinch, Townsend, it's been an absolute joy.
01:06:38And you look at that gap of this guy.
01:06:4060-point lead in the championship.
01:06:42That's the gap past the next nine cars.
01:06:46James covers the rest of the group in the top ten.
01:06:48A massive lead.
01:06:50Pole, win, fastest lap, led the most laps.
01:06:53That's a maximum points haul, 54 points.
01:06:56The Grand Slam, it was an incredible weekend for Polo.
01:07:00Coming up next on Fox, it's a rematch of last year's UFL Championship Games.
01:07:04The San Antonio Dramas battle the defending champions,
01:07:07Birmingham Stallions, in our next IndyCar race.
01:07:10Indianapolis Road Course, Saturday, May 10th, 4.30 Eastern.