Speaker 1: This is off track
Speaker 2: Gross.
Speaker 3: Way worse than dc.
Speaker 1: Oh God. It's just terrible. It's awful. Well,
Speaker 2: Why would you do that to yourself? It tastes
Speaker 3: Like, it tastes like, um, river water.
Carbonated river water. Um, how do you
Speaker 2: Know what river water tastes like? Because
Speaker 3: I've been in Geist a lot.
Speaker 2: Fair touche. Speaker 3: .
Um, what was I gonna say?
Because it's the only free sodas available here, so
Speaker 2: No, that makes me so upset.
I mean, a diet Coke.
Speaker 3: Literally, beggars can't be choosers.
Speaker 1: , uh, okay, so it's the only free diet pop
where you are. Where are you?
Speaker 3: I am in a hotel lounge in San Francisco. James,
Speaker 1: A hotel lounge in San, why aren't you in a hotel room?
Speaker 3: Because it's too early to check in.
We've had this conversation. I feel like even though they
have rooms available, the four people in front of me,
they checked in and then I got there
smiled and was like, hi.
She's like, oh yeah, it'll be four o'clock.
Sweet. I'm sure you this, I'm
Speaker 2: To you a lot. I feel like
Speaker 3: Always, I, I was literally just telling my dad,
I don't think I've ever, I,
I can't remember the last time I was allowed
to check into a room before 4:00 PM
Speaker 1: That's strange, man.
I feel like I get pretty lucky with that.
I feel like I've, I mean, I've definitely, like,
even if it's 50% of the time, that's not bad.
Speaker 3: Oh dude, I'm, I'm 0% of the time.
Speaker 1: That's crazy. Speaker 3: And it's like, it's a Monday.
Like, come on, you ain't
Speaker 2: Full.
Yeah. It feels like they're just doing that
to exert some power over you, which
Speaker 3: Is weird considering I do have quite a lot of status.
Yeah. You're still, I mean, that's a curly chicken.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I feel like you've been flagged.
I feel like you did something.
It's not eight to some room
and you've been flagged at all Bonvoy
properties or something.
Speaker 3: I don't think it's, I don't think I've done anything
to a room, but I probably, I don't know someone
Speaker 2: Off.
I see it just based on how we've traveled in the past. , you
Speaker 3: Probably of all, first of all, Tim,
those were Hilton and Hyatt properties. Very
different Speaker 2: .
I just, I'm, I'm just thinking about Texas
Speaker 3: And mostly it's you.
Speaker 2: Yeah. But they don't know that, right? Yeah.
Like they don't get there and clean the room after
and be like, this must have been his friend,
Speaker 3: Right?
Speaker 1: No, they would've been like, we saw
the two of them checking in.
It definitely was the other one.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Speaker 1: Yeah. Why, why?
I have a question about hotels
while we're talking about travel.
Um, how come like
so many hotels put the hair dryer into a bag?
Speaker 3: Hmm. Speaker 1: Why are, why are hair dryers bagged everywhere?
Not everywhere, but like a lot of places
Speaker 3: Probably because the, on that it look, it looks more
Speaker 1: Like if it's in a easier Speaker 2: Throw the bathtub, I guess.
Speaker 3: Okay. Speaker 1: I mean, if it's not plugged in,
that's just a waste of a hair dryer,
so you gotta take it outta the bag anyway.
Speaker 3: Mm-hmm. I don't know. Speaker 1: Seems weird, right?
Speaker 3: Yeah. Why, why are you messing
around with hair dryers, James?
Speaker 1: No, I'm not, but I just noticed it. Oh, okay.
Like I, you just, I just, the other day I, my hotel in
Speaker 3: Portland.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Speaker 2: Or Hungary.
Speaker 1: Oh my God. No, it was Portland.
Speaker 3: I don't know that Europe does free blow
dryers probably have to pay like five euro,
Speaker 1: The white one.
But yeah, I just saw it sitting and I
was like, why is it in a bag?
And then sometimes it's like in a bag
that even has hair dryer written on it.
In case someone comes to another country
where they don't just keep their hair dryers in bags.
They'd be like, oh, that's where the hair dryer is.
Speaker 3: Sure. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Well, sometimes you see 'em when they're like,
Speaker 3: So why don't they, why don't they do different languages?
Speaker 1: Well, it's just it, if you're not familiar
and you don't naturally know that that's the hair
Speaker 3: Jack your host.
Speaker 1: What if you don't speak it? I'm not
Speaker 3: Open this, I'm not gonna open this weird soft black bag.
Speaker 1: Correct. I know.
Speaker 2: I feel like if I was in a, if I was in a country
where I didn't speak the language,
I'd go rifling through everything.
Just outta curiosity.
Speaker 3: What would you do when you got to the Bible?
Speaker 2: Well, other than read it cover
to cover like I do every night.
Speaker 3: Right? Speaker 1: , Sam, do you not dry your hair
or does you just let that air dry?
Does it take a full day?
Speaker 2: This is gonna sound really bad,
but like I've just now started putting stuff
in my hair after I shower. I've, it doesn't,
Speaker 3: Doesn't surprise me at all.
Speaker 2: 35 years of not being that Speaker 3: Usually it looks
Speaker 1: Horrible.
I didn't think you were doing it now.
It hasn't changed the look.
If that makes you feel worse.
Speaker 2: I didn't do it today. I didn't
Speaker 3: Do it today.
Oh. I don't know. It's got some more shine
and texture to it than usual.
Speaker 1: But, but so sorry. You didn't answer the question though.
Do you, do you blow dry your hair or do you just air dry it?
Speaker 2: Just air dry it. Well, I mean towel
and the air dry. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Speaker 3: So
Speaker 1: Just, you got so much of it.
It wasn't, I wasn't sure if you needed like,
outside assistance.
Speaker 2: It takes a while. Speaker 3: While we're on the topic of hair,
hair, lube, hair,
Speaker 1: Lube, .
Speaker 2: This was just games getting around to asking for some
Speaker 3: No.
Does
Speaker 2: Some hair Speaker 3: If girls,
Speaker 1: Yeah, I know what I got it. Get
Speaker 3: Extensions, girls get extensions.
Mm-hmm . That hair is dead, right?
Speaker 1: Yeah. It's like, what do you mean dead?
Speaker 3: Well, it's not, it's no longer attached
to a living organism.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Speaker 3: Yes.
So how does it stay looking alive?
Because like if I were to cut, if I were
to cut a leaf off my plant, it wouldn't stay green.
Speaker 1: Right? So leaves the hair are not the same. But if hair,
Speaker 2: The hair doesn't lose its color.
Right? Yeah. Like it's not just sitting there.
Speaker 3: No. But it's getting, it's getting some form, some
Speaker 1: Kind of nutrient or something
Speaker 3: Nutrient from the body.
That's how it grows.
Speaker 1: Yes. When it grow it grows from here.
Speaker 2: It grows from here out.
So it's like getting something new.
Speaker 1: You think? Think, I don't Speaker 3: Think it's like, sure.
Speaker 1: You gotta think of hair like fingernails, right? Yeah.
You flip off your fingernail.
It looks the same as when it was attached. It's just, it
Speaker 3: Doesn't, it gets, it gets yellow. It grows. Does
Speaker 1: It?
I've never kept fingernail clippings
around long enough to, to
Speaker 3: Know that.
It definitely does. It gets smaller and yellow and
Speaker 1: Dude, like, this is why like they've got locks
of people's hair from like 500 years.
Speaker 3: Hair doesn't No. My right. That's great point.
I was just wondering if like, if, if like you were
to get hair extensions mm-hmm.
Do you need like, some sort of vitamin
serum lube ointment to keep it
like, I don't, don't think so.
Speaker 2: No. I think you would just like wa
because you're, you're already using like shampoo
and conditioner on your regular hair.
Speaker 3: Here's how, here's how I, this thought came up.
Um, I just flew,
Speaker 1: That was gonna be my follow up Speaker 3: .
I just flew, um,
I literally was on a plane under an hour ago
and the lady sitting next to me, um,
most definitely had hair extensions
because not only was her hair all over my shoulders,
but her legs were also in my side
of the little cub foot cubby thing. Yeah.
Speaker 2: You sent a picture. I'm gonna include it right now. Yeah.
Just so you people. Yeah. She had some,
Speaker 1: She had some boundary issues.
Speaker 3: Oh, it's, and not only was her hair on me
and her leg in my space,
but like, at least she also took up both armrests
and she wasn't like, this wasn't, was
Speaker 2: She in the middle?
Speaker 1: She was in the middle, Speaker 2: Yes.
Then those are her armrests. That's fine. You
Speaker 3: Get armrest.
But that's not, it's not her shoulder
and it's not her foot. That's
Speaker 1: Fair.
That's her foot. Well, the fact
that her leg was in your foot well is just mind blowing to
Speaker 2: Me. That was, that was insane. That was
insane. Speaker 3: .
And, and I, and I went over to like wake her up
and she was sleep mask on passed out.
And this wasn't like a, this wasn't like a giant,
this wasn't a huge person.
This was a normalized human being.
It's not like Yeah, she was seven feet tall and like, okay.
You could have some sympathy.
Like this was just, it's a normal five foot seven lady
anyways, so with very long hair,
Speaker 2: So, okay.
Speaker 3: And then, and then my favorite part of it,
my favorite part of it couldn't wake up.
I wasn't gonna wake her up. It was a too
Speaker 2: A hundred percent what? I woke her up.
Speaker 3: So my favorite part was we land
and the seatbelt sign comes off and she gets up
and climbs over the person sitting on the aisle.
No. Like no one has gotten up.
Speaker 2: Is this, Speaker 3: This just getting up. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Was this the, the person's first day in public,
was she one of those situations
Speaker 1: Where she was this in the jungle?
Speaker 2: Is she, I dunno. Raised by wolves.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Has she ever been assimilated into society
Speaker 3: Also?
Well, maybe not. Because also, um, I was on the window seat
and I had the shade open
and she wanted to take pictures on an early morning flight.
Great. It was 11:00 AM
Speaker 1: Oh, okay. Yeah.
Speaker 2: It's Speaker 3: That's fair. Midday.
It's perfectly okay to have a shade.
Speaker 2: I think, I think we should make, make it more normal
to have windows open on
Speaker 3: Midday flights.
And she, she was, she was leaning over me
to get her phone on the window to take picture.
Speaker 2: Did she ask first? No.
This is either my least favorite
or my absolute favorite person.
And I can't, I
Speaker 1: I, I don't, I'm very clear on which
one that is for me. Very
Speaker 2: Clear.
I'm, I'm like leaning real hard,
towards least favorite person.
But I kind of wanna meet her
because I also just wanna meet somebody like
that unencumbered by the thoughts of others.
It's like, she's just like, oh, I don't really give
Speaker 1: A shit.
It, does any of it seem freeing in a way?
It seems freeing in a way, but also seems like a really good
way to get stabbed at some point. Yeah.
Speaker 2: I feel like she just, if she needs
to take a <inaudible> some more, she just lets it out.
She just doesn't, she doesn't need
to follow any of society's rules.
And i's
Speaker 1: That's what, that's Speaker 3: Where step.
That's a big stent.
Speaker 1: That's a large leap.
Speaker 2: She's climbing over you. She's in your footwell. I mean,
Speaker 1: Over me public.
I don't think that's, I don't it's a linear, well, I don't
Speaker 2: That is the logical next step
Speaker 1: That is No, there's is where Speaker 2: You go
Speaker 3: From I to come to San F.
We did come to San Francisco. So maybe Tim has a point.
Speaker 1: There is normally a lot of human poop on
the sidewalk in San Francisco. That's true.
Speaker 2: Like, more, more than there should be given the size
of the city and the population. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Now on the topic of human feces, on sidewalks,
I'm gonna go out on a limb here
and say Portland has actually really cleaned,
its sacked up quite a bit.
Speaker 3: Interesting. 'cause I disagree completely.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I know you said that.
'cause you got out there earlier than I did
and you sent us a text that you were getting harassed
by somebody.
Something in a state of Oh,
Speaker 3: A guy Speaker 1: Influence, shall we say?
Yeah. Yeah. Um, but we stayed downtown
and dude, I gotta say from from my four days
or whatever there I saw way less open crack
smoking on the sidewalk.
Speaker 3: That's interesting. Because me
and Brian Simpson, our buddy
thought it was exponentially worse than last year.
Speaker 1: Really? Speaker 3: Yes.
Speaker 1: Oh wow. They must have all just like re congregated in
a different area or something?
Speaker 3: Potentially, Speaker 1: Yeah,
because I don't know, I don't know
where you guys were staying in relation to
where we were staying, but yeah, we all,
we all made the note that it was like surprisingly
clean and horrible.
Yeah. Oh wow.
Speaker 3: So like it digressed. I didn't see
Speaker 1: A single intravenous needle.
I didn't see a single person, you know, lighting up a pipe.
I saw, I saw a couple people that looked like, yeah,
they didn't have a super comfy bed to sleep in, but hey
Speaker 3: Brian, Brian saw a guy die on the street.
Excuse me. Brian saw a guy die on the street
Speaker 1: This weekend.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Speaker 1: How did I spent most of last night with Brian?
How did this, what happened?
Speaker 3: I don't know. Well, he killed, I mean, I don't know that,
I don't know that he died or so much
as passed out on the street, but Fair
Speaker 1: Anyways.
So he was just what?
Just walking and stopped walking or was laying
and stopped breathing or
Speaker 3: What?
No, he was, he was using substances.
Mm-hmm . And then passed out.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah. He was just, he was just having a great time.
Speaker 3: Right. Anyways, we don't need to talk about that anymore.
Speaker 1: Okay. Oh yeah.
I was, I did want to have that conversation though.
'cause I remember what you had said in your text
and then I was like, man, it was nice
sir, where we were. But
Speaker 2: Eh, well we should recap
what everybody wants to hear about.
Um, I saw Jurassic Park on Friday.
Speaker 3: Still good as there a new Speaker 1: One or the original?
Speaker 2: No, sorry. I saw the original on Friday. Got
Speaker 1: It.
Is there a new one? It was good.
Speaker 3: Yeah. There's a new Jurassic
World. Looks terrible. Terrible.
Speaker 1: I just hate that they're taking these movie franchises
and just literally squeezing every
ounce of life out of them.
Like, it makes me not even like you
Speaker 3: Originally.
Yeah. How about, how about were like
Speaker 2: Six Tarn movies in the 1920s.
Like, we've always been doing this.
We're just, it's more noticeable now. It's because
Speaker 3: That was the only idea in the 1920s.
Um, how about the fact
that F1 became the highest grossing sports movie
in movie history,
Speaker 1: Sports film of all time. Yeah. Now look,
Speaker 2: Adjusted for inflation.
Speaker 1: No, of course. I was gonna say
there's always caveats to that right?
Speaker 3: Population Speaker 1: Now
Speaker 3: It would be cars too. So
Speaker 2: Just say it's easy now for it to be like,
get made more in theaters when like,
the average ticket price now is like $26.
Speaker 3: Okay. Tim. But there's no movies
that come out all the time and they're not winning
the most gross movies. It's
Speaker 2: Still impressive.
I was just say, it's probably not the highest grossing
sports movie of all time adjusted for inflation.
Speaker 1: It's Brad Pitt's highest grossing one. I bet.
Speaker 3: I I bet you're completely wrong.
What do you think is Higher Air
Speaker 2: Bud?
Probably. That looks great.
There's nothing in the F1 handbook
that says a dog can't have a super license
as long as he's not American .
Speaker 1: As long as he doesn't raise Cindy car.
Um, well you look that up Tim.
Um, wait, what were we just talking about?
Oh yeah, it was Brad's Peace was Brad Pitt's highest
grossing film of all time. I mean's
Speaker 3: Is crazy mean? That's crazy when you think about that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's, that is crazy.
Speaker 1: Like some of the movies, I mean Ocean's 11,
Rocky, let's just talk about that.
Speaker 2: When adjusted for Inflation,
Rocky from 1976 is the highest grossing
sports movie of all time. But
Speaker 1: Wait, when was that report done?
'cause this just happened like last week. You
Speaker 3: Need to ask the robots.
Don't Google. Yeah. You need to ask Chad GPT.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you you're looking it up and it's psychia.
Speaker 2: I get, there's like everybody who's like, oh,
I'm not gonna use ai
'cause of like ethical reasons,
which there's like some pretty strong arguments,
but it's impossible to not use ai.
Speaker 1: You're using it. Speaker 2: Don't realize it. Even
Speaker 3: Google stuff, even when Oh yeah.
I mean they, it's called Gemini.
Speaker 1: What's Gemini? Speaker 3: Google's Chad. GBT.
Oh, you know when Google something
Speaker 1: Now that pops up and it says Yeah, it's, yeah.
Yeah. That's Gemini old GM cricket.
Speaker 2: Oh man. Okay. They're counting some real interesting stuff
on the Wikipedia page as sports movie.
They're saying Inside Out Two is a sports movie that's not
Speaker 3: Okay. Of course. Count
Speaker 2: As sports movie.
Speaker 1: No, he did play football and ping pong
Speaker 3: And run. It's
Speaker 2: Counting all of the Fast
and the Furious movies as sports movies.
Speaker 3: Oh God. Okay. Speaker 1: Okay. You can stop,
Speaker 3: Stop. Yeah. Dumb.
Speaker 1: Either way. Ones killing it.
F one's doing well for itself.
We can, we can all agree on that.
Speaker 3: Like, let's be honest. Um, you know, I bet
F1 would also get bumped for the
CFL of golf.
Speaker 1: No, no, no. Hang on, hang on, hang on.
Okay, so now we're in Portland and
Speaker 3: Big Fox guy coming out to defend
Speaker 1: Fox.
Big Fox guy coming out to explain television.
When, when you're, when you're doing live
sports, things happen.
Mm-hmm . Everything can go long. Soccer games go long.
Football games go long.
Pretend golf goes long, racing goes long. Right.
If we were before Liv Golf
and we had, you know, 13 cautions
because of turn one at Portland
and the race took 26 minutes longer than our scheduled
network window, guess what?
You would end up watching golf 26 minutes later.
That's just kind of how it works.
Like in some cases there are opportunities to bounce things
to different networks, but you had a three-way playoff,
like an exciting end to something.
They weren't gonna take that off
of the network to miss the start.
Speaker 3: That's completely fair Speaker 1: To catch the start. That's fine.
And what the other thing that I wanna throw out there is I,
I, IndyCar deserves a ton of credit
because we actually delayed the start of the race in person,
the start time at the track, even for all the fans
that were there to help accommodate coming on air late so
that way we could try to get the start on television.
So credit to Indy Carr for getting that done.
Fox did what Eddie and every network
does when you're dealing with live sports.
These things just happen. Um, so we, the,
the start was still on tv,
it was just on the a different channel.
Then we switched over to the main channel for
what was ended up being a pretty exciting
end to a race. How
Speaker 3: Does it, how does it, how does it make you feel?
And you kind of just brought this up in your explanation.
How does it make you feel that, uh,
ever since you stopped racing IndyCar we have no
issue getting through turn one. Oh it's not great. Yeah.
Speaker 2: It kind of feels like maybe you were
Speaker 3: The problem.
No, I feel like you were probably the issue. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yes. The data would suggest that that is is a thing. Yeah,
Speaker 3: I'm just saying.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Um, I am just like, so why
Speaker 2: Are we so bad at turn one?
Speaker 3: Yeah. Like it's pretty straightforward corner.
Speaker 2: It feels like Speaker 1: Turn.
So one of the things that we do Yeah.
Here at Portland is always play replays
and packages of replays of crashes in turn one to highlight.
Sure. The potential. Right.
And one of the ones they love, love showing um,
is 2021. Which
Speaker 3: I mean you did break pretty Speaker 1: Early is a great
example of what's that?
Speaker 3: You broke pretty early Speaker 1: Dude.
I was in the middle of the corner when Rojan came from
400 meters back.
Completely out of control. Well
Speaker 3: Maybe if you had Speaker 1: Broken and wiped me out
Speaker 3: 400 meters later and would've,
Speaker 1: I would also have not made the
corner Speaker 3: .
Yeah. But only one to find out.
Speaker 1: I still didn't so I guess it doesn't really matter.
I'll never forget the one
that got me the most was actually in 2019
because 2018 was the year I think that I ended up, no, hang
Speaker 3: On.
Was it 18 the year Dixon was in the, the dust cloud with
Speaker 1: Marco?
Yeah, I think it was 'cause Yeah
'cause he won the championship that year.
So yeah, so 2018, that one was like, I made it to turn three
and then Veech and I got together
and caused that whole thing.
But the next year, uh, 19. Yeah.
'cause we didn't go in 20. So in 19,
I'll never forget I qualified, I don't know,
eight-ish or something like that.
And I was just so hell bad on getting 51
'cause I was so mad about the year before
and I'm driving around and I look and dude, I'm not kidding.
I had four, five car lengths in front of me.
I had five car lengths
behind me somehow it was like an early start
and I just happened to be all alone on an island.
And I was like, thank God at least I can get through.
Turn one. And I hit the brakes
and sure enough, I think it was Graham fired Veach into me
mid corner and one again.
And I was just like, how did I get hit?
How did I get hit when there was nobody anywhere near me?
And he watched the replay gram's like right sides on the
white line and just pla just misses it completely. Just
Speaker 3: Dominos again. I
Speaker 1: Think it, Speaker 3: He broke later
Speaker 2: To me.
Alex, that sounds like it was James's fault. Is that
Speaker 3: Honestly, is that how you Speaker 2: Read it as a, an
Speaker 3: Expert?
There's a lot of things he could have done
different. He could have not turned
Speaker 1: I could way through.
Speaker 3: He could have broken later. And speaking of not turning
and breaking later, it's a pretty good segue into some drama
that went on during the Portland race.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Lot of not turning going on there. Um, okay.
Speaker 3: Or or breaking. Speaker 2: So we're just
done talking about Jurassic
Park. Speaker 3: .
Speaker 1: What's your favorite character in Jurassic Park?
Speaker 2: All Speaker 3: Of 'em. The
dinosaur Speaker 2: ?
No, it's gotta be Jeff Gold Single.
Speaker 1: Gotta be Jeff Speaker 2: Goldblum mean.
I just love, and I was kidding about talking about
Jurassic Park, but now I will.
I just love that multiple times in the eighties
and nineties there were film executives that had to say,
get me the raw sex appeal of Jeff Goldblum.
And like it worked.
Speaker 1: I gotta be honest with you, I'm not sure
that's the line they went with,
but we'll never know. Are you kidding me? Um,
Speaker 2: He, when he is got his shirt open
and he is just kind of like laying there like that off off.
Speaker 1: So you can tell we're recording early in the week
because Tim is swearing a
lot 'cause he knows he's got time to edit.
Speaker 2: I got time. I got time. Yeah.
Speaker 1: another good time. Alright,
let's do our usual format here of Alex.
You tell us about how your day went because it was a
or weekend and because it was a good weekend.
Speaker 3: It was, it was good.
It was much needed after a very hard July
and some of June.
Um, but it just goes to highlight like how,
how straightforward your life can be versus
how hellish your life can be when like,
you start the weekend and the car is in a good window car
and it's just like, it's pretty easy to drive
and it's predictable
and it does most things well
and you kind of are just having
to tune on little things here and there.
But like in general, you know what you have. Right?
And so as conditions change, which, um, you know,
you're always gonna get on IndyCar weekends,
but especially in Portland, you know, it it it,
it officially was the hottest Portland GP on record
at 97 degrees.
Um, historically this is a track that is, you know, the 63
to 72 degree type temp.
Um, Friday wasn't that warm.
It was sunny, but it wasn't that warm.
Saturday morning was pretty cool,
still qualifying heated up.
So I guess my point with all that is like, even
as conditions are changing pretty drastically,
like the car didn't really change.
It was right, it was just the same.
Like your time might be scaled differently depending on the
ultimate performance that was available,
but like the balance wasn't swapping ends on you
and any and, and everything.
So, um, yeah, I mean that, that was really cool.
Uh, I didn't really do a great lap, um, in round two.
Um, and so we missed transferring by a hundredth, which
was a little disappointing because I do think we had a
pretty good shot at the front row, maybe top three-ish.
Um, I thought our single out pace was pretty good.
What it did mean though was with Christian
lung guard's engine penalty.
I started sixth anyways
and I actually had an extra set of the alternate tire.
We knew it was gonna be an alternate tire race.
Um, so yeah, it, uh, qualifying was successful.
We knew that it was an alternate race, so we knew
that we wanted to start on primes.
Um, 85% of the grid started on primes, so a lot
of people were kind of thinking the same thing.
Um, and the race was,
was fairly straightforward except for as always in Portland
there's always enough incidents that seemed to happen
to make it go between a,
well in this case a four stop and a three stop.
But really a, a two stop
and a three stop if you take out the,
the fake stops under yellow.
Um, and so we, we opted for
the same strategy as most of the guys.
Um, there was in front of us.
So it was myself, um, lard, Patto,
Felix, Lucas Dixon, we all kind
of took the, the Connor yellow.
Um, and we knew that we could get home
on on two more from there.
Um, there were some other guys that stayed out below power.
Um, some other guys had taken the first yellow,
but ultimately what it meant was there was, there was cars
that were having to save to, to do it on two more
and then there was cars that were kind
of flat out through the whole race.
Um, I don't think, think there was one clear strategy
that was better than the other as you saw.
I mean you had the top three cars were all on
a slightly different strategy.
Um, and they all finished on top of each other.
So, um, I thought it was,
it was a cool race from that standpoint.
And yeah, we finished fifth, so the best result of the year,
it's really annoying that it took until the basically three
to go to get something like that.
'cause we've been in position for, for that for a while.
But, um, yeah, like I said, it was just a nice bounce back
and, and good, good morale boost for, for the team.
Speaker 1: And Ed took all the credit
because he was the strategist on the 20 car
for the first time this weekend.
And uh, he was someone,
Speaker 3: He was Speaker 1: Strategery type race.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, no, he called a great race.
Um, for those that don't know, ed, um, took over the,
those duties from, from Tim Boyles, um,
for no reason other than
we're getting towards the end of the year.
Um, the off season is, is fast approaching.
There's not many races left.
We're in a critical time in terms of trying
to grow the organization, trying to hire people, trying
to really get aggressive on that front.
Um, so it was better suited for Tim,
who's ultimately the president of VCR to be focused on that.
Also have more of an oversight on both cars, um,
throughout the weekend to,
to identify strengths and weaknesses.
Um, because as you can imagine, if you're just on one car
for the weekend, like you're,
you've got tunnel vision on the 20 car,
you don't really know what's going on on
on the other side of the garage.
So, um, this was, this is not a permanent kind of solution,
but um, at least for the end of the year, uh,
it's what's happening going forward is, is Ed's on my car,
which obviously is pretty plug
and play considering the relationship him I already have.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm sure it's pretty seamless
to transition that. Yeah,
Speaker 3: Very easy. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So is it, is it like, is it a really,
I know you said it's a morale booster to kind of get that,
that first top five of the season,
but is it, is it more like from your side, is it,
is it relief or is it still kind of like a little bit
of frustration because it's like, yeah, no, we got it,
but like I don't wanna celebrate this too much
because we've been in positions
to do it. It just hasn't happened
Speaker 3: Neither for me neither.
Okay. I think it's, I think it's just for the organization.
Like we haven't, we haven't had
good results on paper.
We've had good races going, um, but
before this, like our best result was eighth
and that was thermal like a long time ago.
Oh wow. Yeah. Yeah, right.
So, um, it feels like a different season, right?
So we've had, we've had races going where, you know,
we thought it was gonna be in contention for podium thought,
you know, the 500 we were in contention for, for more than
that, plenty of races where we were in contention for,
you know, top five, top six
and nothing ever ever came of it.
So I think it's just, especially when it's,
you are with the team for the first time
or for the first year, like it, there's a little bit
of like, everyone's like, ah, we can still do this.
Right, right. I think it's, it's that sort of thing.
So yeah, I guess relief is is a fair word,
but from my side it's more just like it was,
and it's so often we talk about it like it was the first
complete weekend we've had like just everything went
smoothly from start to finish.
There was no glaring errors or issues or, or whatever.
And it just was, the car started off in a good spot.
We executed qualifying despite kind
of a red flag coming out.
Um, we chose the right strategy in the race
or at least the right strategy for us in the race.
Pit stops were great. Like we beat the nine car out.
Like just everything was filing, firing on all cylinders.
Speaker 1: Yes. I, you, you bring up Dixon.
I was gonna say like, it was, for me watching,
it was a really impressive run because you
and Dixie were on the same strategy, which
ultimately ended up, meaning you guys had
to do a little bit more fuel saving
than some of the other guys.
And in the pits the team performed
and on track, like you, you kind of out Dixie Dixie, right?
Like that's, that's his bread
and butter is those races where you gotta keep the pace up
but save fuel and that's usually when he is
able to make a lot of headway.
But you stayed in front of him, I mean the entire race,
like you kind of had him on your
gearbox until he got his penalty.
So that must be kind of a relief
because you know, we, we do talk about
how it seems like Honda's got a bit of a mileage advantage,
but you stayed in front of him pace wise,
pitted on the same lap.
So it it was really strong.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean the thing is you gotta, now that's great.
That's, that's gotta back it up
Speaker 1: Like, Speaker 3: Well no, I, it's more, you know, in video games
where there's varying levels of bosses
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Like, okay, so we beat this one boss, right?
But then there's the big, big giant boss, right.
Speaker 1: Then that's Speaker 3: His boss's gonna take you. Right.
It's gonna take you many, many attempts to beat.
Yeah. So a lot of
Speaker 1: Reset buttons required, like Speaker 3: I said, it was a good day.
Happy for the team. Um,
and we will take some positivity going into Milwaukee,
Nashville where I I know will be strong. So
Speaker 2: From an outsider, one of the like relationships
that's always interesting to me is between the driver
and whoever's on their radio.
So like having a relationship with Ed
that goes back years now
and is outside of racing,
was there anything unexpected having him call the race?
Or was it just all
Speaker 3: Speaks out?
No, because here's the thing, like we, we talk on the radio
with each other in an airplane as much as we do .
Speaker 2: Got it. Speaker 3: Not on a radio. So like no, there it like, no,
Speaker 2: It just felt it was completely locked in
because I did, I don't know, it's always interesting to me
because like I give a driver as much leeway
as possible for any of the stuff they say on the radio
during a race because I'm,
I've never been in that situation. I don't,
Speaker 3: Good thing you don't work from a
Speaker 2: Adrenaline flying and things like that.
Yeah, exactly. So like, but uh,
but also you are one
of the calmest people on the radio if I'm
like listening in on stuff.
So I guess it's less of an issue for you,
but I would make me nervous if it was like my friend,
my boss and all these different stuff.
Doesn't matter,
Speaker 1: Alex.
I can tell that it's easy. My, my bigger thing is I,
I would love to have loved to have heard that at some 0.1
of you ended a radio transmission
with like November five, November eight,
five, Mike, Mike, Mike . That
Speaker 3: Would've been hilarious. . You
Speaker 1: Guys just talk to each other and ending every
combination with your tail number.
Speaker 3: Well we kept, so he always, he always says, um,
like Roger and I always say copy.
Yeah. Like on in the airplane
and during the race we were alternating back and forth .
So he would say copy and I'd say Roger
and then he'd switch to Roger and I'd say Copy .
Speaker 1: So Speaker 3: We're kind of digging with each other a little bit.
Speaker 1: And then, then there's someone
who chucks in and write him ten four,
Speaker 3: Right?
Speaker 1: Yeah. Affirmative. Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: That's funny. Um, all right, so the race itself, we'll get
to the end 'cause that was the exciting bit.
But um, there was a, there was, well
Tino's accident on like the first lap was kind of strange.
I dunno if you saw the replay that Alex, he like got loose
off the last corner, but he just like,
he just stayed buried in it.
And I guess he was, I assume he was maybe trying to spin it
around kind of once he was going,
but it was, when you watch the onboard,
it's like he has a moment which often happens coming onto
the front trade of Portland but just
didn't crack the throttle.
I don't know if he was trying to drive out of it
or like had already felt like he lost it
and was trying to bury it and spin it around.
It just sounded, it sounded kind of weird.
But that was a big hit on a concrete
and you know, he was lucky he wasn't a couple feet earlier.
It would've been right in the end of the attenuator
and that would've been a much more uncomfortable incident.
Um, and then, yeah, and then the 21
and the 76 Raz
and Connor started a little lap and a half.
Speaker 3: We like to call that a <inaudible> swinging contest.
Speaker 1: Yes. That is pretty accurate. That is pretty accurate.
So first incident at least
that we saw on TV was the turn seven one Thoughts,
questions, concerns on that one?
Speaker 3: Um, yeah,
teammate, uh, and friend.
Um, here's, here's what I will say is reality
and it's, it's understandable I guess.
Um, but Connor
and Reus both race Christian
and I really hard Connor, and, and it's, it's obvious
Speaker 1: But Oh, okay.
Got it. Got it. Yeah. Understand.
Speaker 3: And so there is some like unspoken tension that exists
and it's even like during practice.
Yeah. Yeah. Like it's, when it's,
whenever you come out with one of those cards,
you're like, great.
Right. Not because you don't,
I have nothing against Reina or Connor.
Yeah, yeah. But Reina and Con
and they don't have anything against me or Christian.
Speaker 1: Right. I hear Speaker 3: Connor, I now,
but they both have something pretty severely
against the organization.
Yeah. Um, so I will say that, so the fact that this incident
happened doesn't really surprise me just based on
that the Turn seven situation is, is a tough one
because Christian Christian's car doesn't have an onboard
for Fox, but there's team onboards, right?
And what happened to him was a very similar situation to
what happened with Rojan
and I in mid Ohio, for those of you that remember
that whole shindig.
Right. And it stems from,
and we've talked about this plenty of times on the podcast.
It stems from the fact that
ultimately in IndyCar you are allowed to kind
of open your hands and, and run the car out.
That, that, that's the precedent that's been set.
We don't need to get into the rhyme
or reason as to how we got there.
What happened in this case with Christian was his,
his front left tire hit in a kind of a weird angle
to Connor side pot and stuff
and it ripped the wheel out of his hands.
So the, the the the overhead shot of you seeing
Christian drive Connor out
while taking himself off the racetrack
wasn't an intentional move.
Like he wasn't turning into him out there.
His hand was off the wheel for a second.
By the time he regained control of the car
and was coming off Connor, they were both out there.
So what started as an intentional, I'm gonna open my hands
and run this guy wide,
turned into a much more dramatic looking
incident than it was.
A lot of people were comparing it to Santino
and Connor in mid Ohio where Santino got a penalty.
The difference was Tino's hands didn't come off the wheel.
Remember over the crest in turn five
where Santino drove himself off the curb?
Speaker 1: Oh yes, yes. Speaker 3: Yeah. To push Connor off. Yeah. Yeah.
Santino was actively driving out there. Yep.
In this case, Christian
for a split second wasn't actually in control of the car.
So there wasn't, so
Speaker 1: Lemme just, lemme just jump in there
because you say like, that's the
reason he didn't get a penalty. 'cause his hands didn't,
Speaker 3: I don't, I don't know, I don't
know if that's the reason he didn't get a penalty. I'm
Speaker 1: Assuming I was saying because Right.
But IndyCar don't have access to
that onboard footage in real time. Great
Speaker 3: Point. Didn't even think about that.
Speaker 1: So like they would've seen the same
exact same shots that we did.
Good point. And very again,
and I think I even said on the broadcast, I I,
I get that that's how the rules have developed.
And I be, I'm just so firmly against
how the rules are written because
it allowed <inaudible> like that.
So let's say, let's say he,
his hands don't, don't come off the wheel.
He still was gonna push Connor clean
off the race rack, right?
Yeah. Connor was wheel to wheel,
if not frankly a tiny bit ahead.
Right. And so I just,
it just eliminates good side-by-side racing.
It eliminates guy's abilities
to do that in corners like that.
And corners like turn five at mid Ohio
corners, like turn five at Barber.
Speaker 3: Yeah. But James, we, it's not your job as a driver to
create good racing if that No, no.
Is not in your best interest based on the rule book is
Speaker 1: That's why I'm saying I I, I said the broadcast,
I don't like how the rule is written and I Right.
Okay. I hope that that's something
that we can address maybe in the off season
just because of that.
So anyway, what what it then led
to was both guys were super pissed
and driving Red Mist style.
Connor did one of the most NASCAR moves I've ever seen in
the, she came just like in between turn one
and two was firing it over the curb and like dooring him.
It's the best that se best is to take a NASCAR turn.
He doored him in turn two, which I thought was hilarious. .
Speaker 3: Yeah. Speaker 1: Because it didn't affect either one of them
and like they stayed in the same position.
Like it was so like was it uncalled for it? Yes.
But it was also kind of funny in the moment,
but then, yeah, the one, two, uh,
into 10 little less funny. How do you see that one
Speaker 3: Probably gonna get myself in trouble for saying
this A racing incident.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Obviously that's how IndyCar looked at it, right?
Speaker 3: Yeah. Speaker 1: Um, I
Speaker 3: Mean because here here's here's the thing.
Um, there is a rule now
the rule in its intent was written.
The rule is the overtaking car has the majority
of the responsibility to avoid conduct.
That rule is really set up for if you're diving up the
inside of someone, you can't like door them
off, right?
When you're on the outside, it's much of a rarer situation
that this would occur.
But the view I saw was Christian was like
inside of the turn 10 apex, like there was dust
that came up on the turn 10 Apex group.
This wasn't a situation where again,
he didn't turn into Connor, like Connor was,
was was making a, a good move.
He did the same thing on Colton, um, around the outside
into 10, which we'll just set him up on the inside of 11.
The difference is Christian's, not Colton,
and we know this like Christian we've seen this year,
especially on the ovals.
Like he, he don't care.
Like he is, he's coming through, he's gonna pass you
and his car control
and ability to not crash, backs it up.
And so of all the people that you're gonna try
and roll the outside of, he ain't that guy in my mind.
Speaker 1: So, so I I I get everything you're saying
and I agree with everything you're saying.
The, the two points that I wanna make are
Christian has developed a reputation
for being very flamboyant in his
overtakes, especially on the ovals.
Uh, and not a guy to back out.
And you say that he's pulling it off
and so you can't really argue with it.
I'm gonna argue that he's pulling it off.
'cause other guys are giving him the room, right?
'cause they know that he's not going to do that.
And so they're like, I'm not even gonna fight
this. I'm gonna go let it go.
Speaker 3: Okay. That's the same thing
that Santino gets celebrated for. So I,
Speaker 1: I've never ever celebrated any driver for that.
People used to refuse that same thing of Kuma.
Speaker 3: That's the same thing a lot of, a lot of people do.
Speaker 1: Right? Fine. So,
but my point is it like, yeah, he, he looks like the hero
until somebody doesn't,
until somebody races him the way he's racing them
and then it ends in an accident.
In this case, he got away with it again.
But to your point, he's on the inside.
Connor's ahead at Turnin
and for, for Christian to have to put wheels on the inside
of the turn, 10 curb means there's
not enough room for him to be there.
He needs to back out of it. And that's what Colton did.
Colton's like, oh, if I turn in here
and try to hold this, I'm gonna end up in the dirt on the
inside that's gonna push me into the
other guy and that's gonna end poorly.
So I think it's a, it's, it's from a, from a,
the way the rules are written standpoint,
I think it's more on Christian for sure.
But to your point, Connor needs to be,
or any driver, when you're racing any driver, you have
to be aware of who they are, how they race,
and not put yourself in a position with someone
that's not going to race you the way you need
to be raced to make that move happen. If that makes sense.
Speaker 3: I mean here he, let's let's play scenario for a second.
If instead of Christian, it's Joseph
mm-hmm Speaker 1: .
Speaker 3: Are you gonna, are you gonna
say the same thing about Joseph
Speaker 1: And what, which part, like would I be willing to pull
that Connor move on Joseph more than
I'd be willing to pull it on Christian? Yes. Because
Speaker 3: No, Speaker 1: But do I think Joseph should have
backed out if he was Christian? Yes,
Speaker 3: But Joseph wouldn't.
Joseph is just
as aggressive if not more
aggressive of an over taker. Okay,
Speaker 1: Fine.
Okay, fine. But then you have to, you have
to know that, right?
You have to know what position
Speaker 3: You put yourself in.
But again, but again, I think, I think sometimes guys that
haven't won races, haven't shown
years of success, aren't driving for top organizations,
don't have the, the pedigree, if you will,
are accused a little bit harsher
than someone like Jo Joseph.
Joseph drives people like an animal on short levels.
Like he's, he's like giving you a wheel in the straight,
he'll push you up high
before he turns in to turn three at Iowa.
Like he is an, he's an animal, right?
But he wins all the time.
Like look at what he did to his teammate at St.
Louis in 2017 with au right? Yeah. That
Speaker 1: Was, Speaker 3: But, but, okay.
But because it's Joseph Newgarden two time Indy 500 winner,
two time champion, 30 time race
winner, whatever he is done, right?
Versus Christian who is doing the same thing
but with none of the resume,
it doesn't feel like it's a fair comparison
or a fair judgment.
Speaker 1: I um, Speaker 3: Here's the thing.
One is like, oh, this kid has a lot to learn
and the other one's like, man, this guy, he's got Boss Steel
and he's just, he's a, he's a gladiator.
Speaker 1: If you go back and listen to our episode
after Gateway 2017, what you'll hear me say is, I thought
that move was bullshit that Joseph pulled off on,
I I criticize Joseph for that move. You
Speaker 3: Might.
So, but the, the internet doesn't.
Speaker 1: Right? I Right. Um,
I'm just making sure we're on the same page of Okay.
Where we're coming from. So then to, to the,
to your other point, it's at
that's a very valid point for sure.
A a driver that has accomplished more is gonna be given
more leeway in that stuff.
Or it's gonna be looked at as like, oh, well
that's how you drive as a win.
That's how a winner drives, you know, whatever.
But I am, I'm kind of coming at it
for more if that's what's happening.
It's kind of on the field, it's on you guys
to not make that differentiation.
Because I don't hear people
after Iowa say, oh man, Joseph drove me really hard.
Joseph was this, Joseph was that.
But I hear people be like, man,
did you see that move Christian did?
Like, what was that? So yes you can, I can only see
what I can see from the broadcast,
but then getting feedback from the
paddock, I'm just saying, I'm saying my,
Speaker 3: I completely disagree with that because there are a lot
of people that have a lot of complaints off of the two car,
mostly on short ovals most of the time.
Speaker 1: Fair. I just, I said in my experience,
I haven't heard quite as much of that.
So, but I think, I think it,
I think that's a very valid point.
I do think that a young driver who hasn't done X, Y, Z look,
people said that about Joseph before he'd ever won a race.
Joseph in his first two years, very fast,
sometimes very reckless, had some very big accidents,
caused some very big problems, right?
But developed into Joseph Newgard.
So it's, it's not, it's not so much a, it's not
so much a criticism of
what Christian's doing or how he goes racing.
It's an understanding of the guy
that you're going wheel to wheel with.
You cannot race everybody the same. And so, right.
Speaker 3: But that, but that's on Connor not Christian.
Speaker 1: No, no, no. That's what I'm saying. Okay.
This part is this, this is the part
of response I think in the mechanics of the accident,
Christian is more at fault.
Hmm. I think when you zoom out
and you look at the situation in totality
and you take in to account what happened in turn seven
and you take into account what happened in turn two
and you take into account of their seasons together
as a whole and last season and what, whose team
and all that other <inaudible>, that is
where Connor's responsibility comes in, is you have
to be aware of the scenario you're in
with the driver you're racing
and make that decision, is this a good move or not?
Mm-hmm . And so look at the end
of the day, I'm just glad he is okay.
'cause that was a big hit. Yeah,
Speaker 3: Huge Speaker 1: Hit, big hit.
And the fact that he was like, fine.
Like I think he maybe banged his foot up a little bit
or something, but like, um, for that speed, you know,
like credit to any cars, credit to the track like that,
that could have been a whole lot worse.
Um, anyway, we're running outta time.
Let's talk about the final stint.
Willpower, Christian linard, Alex Palolo,
all on different fuel levels, different life tires,
and ran with a blanket over them for like the last 20 laps.
And the, the pressure that will was under keeping those guys
behind, managing the traffic in front, having
to burn his push to pass, to pass lap cars
that then immediately pulled
outta the way for the other two.
Like it was a distinct disadvantage
to be leading in some ways, but he held it together
and it was a brilliant drive from start to finish
and a very well deserved win. Could
Speaker 3: You imagine being team Pensky right now? I
Speaker 2: I might have to double check this,
but I think I might be an executive there now
after being shuffled up. Might,
Speaker 3: Yeah.
So maybe, maybe that's an unfair question
because we, none of us really have any clue as to
what is happening behind the scenes.
But let's just, let's just say the rumors are
ultimately true, right?
That will, doesn't really have a spot there next year.
Will's looking for a ride.
All these sort of things that seem to be the reality
that at least the outsider knows or has been privy to.
But he is by far, like hands down your best guy.
Not just this year, but like the past couple of years
he has been the benchmark at that team.
Like it is, and, and, and his frustration
and some of his quotes are so warranted.
And it's like any, any driver in this series who,
and this is referring to last year, who's won three races
and had two polls
and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, would have a contract.
And it's a, it's a wild scenario
that the reality is he doesn't,
that doesn't mean he is not gonna have a job next year.
Doesn't mean he is not gonna have a great job next year.
But the point is, it's a very weird kind of situation
that's presented itself because it's not, and
and from my understanding, this isn't a scenario
where it's like, oh, he's not being resigned
'cause he is demanding some absurd amount of money.
Like this isn't a, this isn't a money sort of holdup
that is preventing this.
It's, it's purely a, there's,
there's an ideology shift, right?
And will's just not a part of that.
And for him to a understand that,
accept that, and then still perform like he just did,
is just, is phenomenal to
Speaker 1: Me.
Alex, that is beautifully put.
Um, I very much agree with all the sentiment there
and there's a lot to unpack and dig into
and I think, I think there's a lot
of good discussion have about this.
So we're not gonna do that right now
because we are outta time.
So we're gonna, we're gonna revisit this topic next week
though, 'cause we don't have a race to talk about.
So we're gonna talk about that. Uh,
I think we should then also dedicate some time next week
to acknowledge the greatness that as Alex Palolo
as he did wrap up his fourth championship.
Speaker 3: Why, um, we said that was happening in April.
Speaker 1: No, I know, but like, let's look back on
how he did it a little bit more.
Okay. Sorry. Um, but yes, that, that is all for this week.
And um, tune in next week for more of that good stuff
and all.
We'll learn all about Alex's fun time on the golf course
and all the fun things we're up to on our off week.
This has been off track with Hinch and Rossi.
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