Speaker 1: This is off track.
Speaker 2: It's the old saying it's okay to pee in the pool
provided you get in first.
Speaker 3: So my question is, so like if you're,
if you're at, um, let's take Atlantis
in The Bahamas for an example.
'cause I was just there, right? Yeah. Let's do it.
And they have some, some massive bodies of water, right?
Like let's look at the Lazy River. Yeah.
Let's use that as our example.
Would you not Lazy River if you
knew there was a dead body in there? No,
Speaker 1: Probably not. Or
Speaker 3: Would Speaker 2: Probably not. Yeah.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Interesting. See, I wouldn't
Speaker 1: Mind it.
I think it's like, here's the thing.
I I feel like you would,
Alex, I feel like you're saying that. No. 'cause
Speaker 3: It's moving, it's moving water.
It's the, the a thousands, it's a circle.
Tens of thousands of gallons mm-hmm .
That are going through their,
Speaker 2: Let's let's back up because
'cause people weren't listening to our bull.
Speaker 3: No. So like, I, I killed someone
and I'm looking for a place
to dispose them. And I was thinking,
Speaker 1: And you think the lazy River at Atlantis is a nice
casual, low key place
Speaker 3: To do it. Yes. Right, right. Yes.
Speaker 1: Okay. Okay.
Speaker 2: Did you kill them in The Bahamas?
, because like, if you killed them there,
that makes a bit of sense.
But like, if you killed them in Indiana,
he's got a plane now we're talking about like crossing
international borders with a body. It's stop plane.
Speaker 3: It's fine. Speaker 1: It's fine. It's, you can get it there.
Stop plane. I feel like a lazy river. Yeah.
It's still like a closed loop.
And like, if you removed the obstacles of like, the
walls and like, you could see like,
you're not far enough away from the body
to not see it floating in the water.
Right. Like if I was in the ocean, hold on.
If I was in the ocean and I saw a body floating in the
water, I would get out of the water.
Speaker 3: So you're, you're specific only to human bodies.
Because I've seen Yes.
Dead fish floating in the ocean
and I Yes. Still stay in the ocean.
Speaker 1: I'm absolutely being specific to human
Speaker 3: Body. So, so why
Speaker 1: Alex?
I don't, I don't have like a super logical answer for that .
It's just like a common sensical one. Um, okay.
Like a, maybe it's like a genetic programming.
Like, hey, dead body that looks like me.
I should probably get outta the water now. Okay.
Speaker 2: Okay. So to back this up beforehand,
I pointed out there's an old thing
about going around the internet.
Cool. . There's an old thing going around the internet
that says you wouldn't get in the pool
if there was a dead body in it.
But you do get in the ocean even though there are certainly
dead bodies in there.
So there's an innate ratio of water to dead bodies
that we are just comfortable with.
And that's started this
Speaker 3: Lazy, lazy river is weird conversation.
Kind of my limit. Like I'm alright.
Speaker 1: Objective. Which that, so that's like,
that's your, that's your floor.
Like that's, you'll go no lower
than that, but you'll go there.
You'll go to that level.
Speaker 3: Like, I, I won't be in, in a pool. Right.
Even if it's a huge pool at the Atlantis with at wave pool.
Mm. I don't like wave pools regardless of bodies. Fair,
Speaker 1: Fair. Speaker 3: .
So I'm just saying like, let's say the main big pool, right?
It's just still water.
And like, I'm not the fact that it's, I'm not, I
Speaker 1: Have Speaker 3: Pumps
Speaker 1: Not going, like the water's constantly circulating.
Speaker 3: I'm not going past treated, moving past it without my own
effort to get past it.
Whereas if I'm on an inner tube, I'm kind
of detached from the water anyways
and like, I'm gonna just fire past this body.
I might not even see it if I'm having a good time. Oh,
Speaker 2: You probably won't.
Like, because it's gonna also be moving. Right.
Speaker 1: But if it like bumps into your tube as you're floating,
Speaker 3: I wouldn't like it. I wouldn't like it .
Speaker 1: So like an easy way to avoid that scenario is I
Speaker 3: Just Speaker 1: Get out. You
Speaker 2: Don't know that you would get out. So
Speaker 1: I Speaker 3: Don't think I would get out.
Speaker 1: I do think that's like Speaker 3: This. Think I'd tell someone.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I think it's just like a societal expectation
that you would alert somebody to the fact there's a body.
For sure. And the best way to do that is to get out
and be like, Hey, there's a
Speaker 3: Body.
I just wave be like, there's a body back there.
And then they'd probably, but you go by to make you get out
Speaker 1: One, one of the lifeguards in the little tower, uh,
about five, 10 tubes back.
There's a dead guy floating.
You guys might wanna take care of that. Yeah,
Speaker 3: Right.
But like what? You're gonna stop, drop
and roll outta there. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Here's what I'm thinking is
Speaker 3: That you're gonna finish the Lazy
River, dude, come on. If
Speaker 1: You're, if you're the lifeguard that sees Alex Rossi,
go buy a tube saying, oh hey, just back there.
Dead guy might wanna look into it.
And then sure enough, just back there, there's a dead guy.
There's two things I'm doing.
One, I'm calling the authorities
to take care of the dead guy.
And then also giving your description to the authorities
as a likely murder suspect
because the casual nature with which you're just like, yeah.
Has a dead body flowing back there.
But I'm gonna keep sip of my corona floating
down. This river was very
Speaker 2: He did already, he did already say
that he did murder this hypothetical
Speaker 1: Person in that scenario.
Yes, that's true. But again,
Speaker 3: I'm just, I'm yourself, I'm surprised.
I'm surprised you're so against it.
Speaker 1: I'm surprised you're surprised by that. Well,
Speaker 3: I understand my pool.
I'm not getting in it like,
but this is a, this is a big,
so are you just done at the waterpark?
Like what if, what if you're in Qatar, right?
And you're at this, this massive
Speaker 1: Facility that is insane 67 water slide waterpark. Are you
Speaker 3: Just, are you packing it up and going home for the day?
Like if just some old guy unfortunately
had a heart attack, right.
It's not like he fired it off the slide into oblivion.
Like there's a malfunction. Like he just died, you're done.
Speaker 1: No, no, but I'm not gonna be in the water
with him while he is dead.
Speaker 3: No, not, Speaker 2: Yeah. I don't know.
How long would it take for you to go back in?
Speaker 1: Well, so this is a, this is a messed up story.
This is like a real thing
that I can actually sort of relate to.
When I was a kid, I was at a friend's cottage
and one of the neighbors older guy was at first swim,
had a heart attack while he was swimming, drown.
All like, the parents that were at the cottage we
were at pulled him out.
CPR, the whole bit guy didn't make it.
So like, we basically saw a guy that drowned there on,
on our dock as our parents tried to resuscitate him.
We were back in the lake the next day.
I don't think we went in the lake that day,
but we were back in the lake the next day.
Speaker 3: Hmm. Speaker 1: Because again, he wasn't like eaten by a shark.
He had a heart attack. But like,
it definitely kept us outta the lake that
day. Speaker 3: .
But you were young, right?
Speaker 1: I was, Speaker 3: Yeah. So I get that.
Like, I get why a kid wouldn't conceptually want
to be in the water where there was a dead person.
Like I understand that, but again,
Speaker 1: As a, like an adult should be almost even more reluctant
to get into the water after a dead person.
Speaker 3: But it sounds scary for a kid. It's scary
Speaker 1: For you.
Yeah. But kids are also like fearless in ways, right?
Speaker 3: There's a cause and effect of this happened. Yeah.
This very sad thing happened.
It has nothing to do with the establishment that I'm at.
Am I really gonna let this sad thing that happened that has
absolutely nothing to do with me and the safety of myself
or my family affect the rest of my trip?
No. It's what he would've
wanted. Speaker 2: .
Speaker 1: I honestly can't tell if your,
the, the, the enthusiasm
with which you are continuing this debate comes from you're,
you just feel really strongly about being
okay swimming with dead guys.
I just feel like he's busy with us. Or you're just debating
like you're just, you just don't wanna,
you don't wanna like relent on this topic. You want us to
Speaker 3: No.
In in this specific example mm-hmm. Of the lazy river.
I don't, I don't see where your guys' issue is.
I completely am on board with the pool.
Speaker 1: I just don't see how they're that different man.
It's, it's water circulates in a pool too. Yes, exactly.
Speaker 3: No one. Yeah, but it's, you're a pool
Speaker 1: Guy.
You know this, you know more about pools than media.
Speaker 3: It's a very, it's a very, there's a lot of surface area
of water Right.
That is continually moving and you are floating on it.
Mm-hmm . You're not swimming and pushing your way past him.
Right. Like you could just float all that. Well
Speaker 1: Actually, okay, so here's, you know what, now
that I think about it, I hate
that I've somewhat moved in your direction on this,
but your, your pool, it's
Speaker 3: Not like, oh there's an arm in my face.
Lemme push this outta the way and keep on going,
Speaker 1: But hang on.
Y you your pool philosophy, it a lazy river is just a pool.
It's just a pool with <inaudible> in the middle.
So like that part I'm not gonna give you,
but I'll, I'll give you the moving water thing.
Right. So like if there was a guy that died in a lake,
I probably wouldn't go back in the
lake that day, even today.
But like if a guy died in a river
that's like a fast moving river,
I probably would go back in the r like the,
that would weird me out less because of the,
Speaker 2: Because the water's down there now.
Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly. So like to a certain extent your
your your logic and the philosophy of the moving water.
I actually kind of buy into the claiming
that a pool in a lazy river are different
for the way the water moves I think is insane.
Speaker 2: Yeah. 'cause it's not like unlike a
river, it's going back. Right.
Speaker 1: I'm talking like, like a Yeah, exactly. It's a circle.
You know, it's coming back
Speaker 3: Guys.
This has nothing. We're not talking about the
purification of the water.
I'm not talking about contamination
or filtration or anything.
Do not tell me that the rate
of which the water moving in a lazy river
is the same as a pool. It's literally,
Speaker 2: But is moving.
But it's just going back around. Right. This
Speaker 3: Is not, this has nothing to do
with the purity of the water.
It does. This has to do with you are going
to be near this dead body for 1% of your lazy river journey.
You're not floating with the dead body body. It
Speaker 2: Has to do with the water for of your
Speaker 3: Time in the pool.
Speaker 1: So, sorry, you, it does Speaker 2: For me,
Speaker 1: Your whole thing is about proximity to the body.
Right? So like in this scenario, is the body anchored
to something and not also floating in the river?
Because your argument could actually backfire.
'cause he could be right with you and you guys could just be
going around
Speaker 3: Floating on our lazy river with the dead guy next to me.
No, I'm saying he you flew
Speaker 2: Him just like, would you hold onto the wall Okay.
And let him go down a bit
and then, then let, let then let go so that you
Speaker 3: Just, okay.
In my mind the body isn't moving.
Speaker 1: Right. Okay, well why? Speaker 2: Okay, but why?
Speaker 1: That's all right. Yeah. This is a very spec, there's a lot
of caveats to this scenario. Okay.
Speaker 2: Why would the body not be moving?
Speaker 1: Because he's half in, half out
Speaker 3: Because he, he got tangled up in the rocks
and he is just stuck there.
Speaker 2: What lazy river are you in? Speaker 1: I still, he up to
Speaker 2: The bottom.
That's not how it would work. He would float. Okay.
Speaker 1: Don't, don't they sink first
and then they float once they like bloat
and all the gases start.
Yeah. I don't know why we're having this conversation.
Whatever, whatever. Anyway, so NASCAR have gone back
to a different championship format
after the failure of the playoff system, uh, .
So, so Alex, how do you feel about the fact
that NASCAR has dropped the one race to win 'em all?
Lord of the ring style championship showdown.
Speaker 3: Here's the thing, James. Uh,
I'm finding out about this this second immediately
Speaker 1: Now.
Right. Um, okay. So upon the uproar of fans
and us really this podcast, everyone right?
Is, I don't wanna say we single-handedly influenced the
direction of nascar, but I'm not gonna not say I'm willing
Speaker 2: To say it. I'm
Speaker 1: Willing to say it.
I don't know. I don't, we don't know for sure.
So let's not, you know, um, are
Speaker 2: We heroes?
That's for others to say, but yes,
Speaker 1: Absolutely no doubt about it.
So they've gone back to what the original kind
of playoff format was, which is the chase, right?
That's what it was called originally
because it was like a reset with 10 to go
and then you race 10 races
and whoever has the most points at the
end of those 10 races wins.
That's the gist. I'm sure there's some
nuances that I'm missing there.
But you no longer just win in.
I think you have to like points in,
so you gotta be in the top 10 in points at the cutoff race.
And then there's still I think some bonus points
for winning and whatever.
So that way, you know, you're, you're seated if you will,
the way you would be in a normal playoff kind of program.
And then it's a, it's a 10 race blast to the finish.
Speaker 3: I like it. I I don't have any, um,
I don't really have any other comments, uh,
about it at this point.
I, I love it exponentially more than the old system
and I think that that is a much more fair
and correct representation of the effort
and the work that, that people would put
in for a whole season. So
Speaker 1: What's funny about it,
and I'm, I'm sort of making up a little bit of this stuff
because I don't, I read this last week
and um, we didn't get to it, so I've forgotten some of it.
But somebody show,
'cause I, one of the things I know that's come out of the,
this whole like one race, uh, program was,
there were a few seasons, I think when Logano won,
when he kind of like was not the guy all season,
but just did well in the playoffs
and is really good at Phoenix
and Penn State's really good at Phoenix.
And so he like won two of the championships
of his three or whatever.
People were like, well he
wasn't the best guy, blah, blah blah.
So then somebody went
and like applied this 10 race format, the chase format
to the last however many years since they went away from it.
And Joey would actually be a five time champion
now if it would've been that way.
So it's like, eh, actually, all right.
Fair play, you know, that actually kind of worked out.
I mean, not really for him, but still kind of for him.
Speaker 3: So how, how much of this do you think really
forget our kind
of jokes about this bean because of offtrack?
'cause clearly that's not the case, but
how much do you think this is because of fan uproar
or discontent or whatever?
Or do you think this was always something that, I mean,
NASCAR will say that this is an evolution
and you know, something
that they had in mind and all this sort of thing.
But do you think there was enough pressure put on them
that it was like, we have to change it or,
Speaker 1: It certainly seems that way.
Yeah. Because like if if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Right? Right. So if it was a raging success,
I don't think we would be doing this
so, or they would be doing this.
So I, I do think it comes from some of that fan pressure.
I do think it comes from some internal
pressure within the series too.
I think a lot of teams and drivers
were kind of over this format.
Um, look, I, on one hand I actually, I give them credit
for trying something different, right?
This was a, an idea that when it first came out,
all the purists were like, this is not a good idea.
We don't like this one race does not
sum up a championship, whatever.
But you compare it to other sports where the, you know,
the underdog can still win in one final game.
So like I, I get the philosophy, I get the logic behind it
and I give them genuinely a lot of credit
for trying something that a lot
of people were like, no, don't do this.
Um, it did create some exciting scenarios.
It definitely made me tune into the cut cutoff races
probably more often than I would have.
So it sort of worked in some ways.
But at the end of the day, in terms of like viewership maybe
during that, that time,
but at the end of the day, does it, does it
result in the most deserving team
and driver winning the championship?
No. And I think that's what people were, were kind of over.
Speaker 3: So you, you commend NASCAR for trying something different.
They're obviously having to backpedal a little bit,
continually adapt their product.
Um, where, where does IndyCar fall into this?
Because obviously, you know,
we had a small change a couple years ago in the fact
that the last race wasn't double points
and the 500 is no longer double points.
Um, which I think we all can agree
is the right thing.
Keeping qualifying points for indie is important.
Um, which they did. They, they reduced it,
but they, there's still a reward for qualifying well
and as there should be considering the amount of time
and effort that goes into that.
But are you as a
race car driver fan
and promoter of this sport happy with our championship,
uh, format or do you think it needs some sort of twist
Speaker 1: To it?
No, so I am happy with it
and I think think what
makes it just a slam dunk for IndyCar to kind
of keep this traditional system right.
Again, I fully agree with the points in indie.
I would actually give more points at Indie qualifying.
You know, I, I would honestly go back
to giving it like full race weekend points where, you know,
pole sitter gets 50 and you go back
'cause it's a big deal, 12 or whatever it is you get.
And it's only one point more in the guy in second.
Like, but whatever, at least there's something, um,
I think why NASCAR needed something like this
and honestly F1 is, is
getting into some precarious territory here.
The longer you make the season,
the more likely it is a championships wrapped
up before the last race.
And the more you know, pressure you feel to do something
to keep it exciting to the end.
Sure. Sure. So if we had 36 races Yeah. Yeah.
PLO would've won the championship by June
Yeah. Last year. Good
Speaker 3: Point. Good point.
Speaker 1: Right? So we have this sweet spot in IndyCar.
I I still think we could, we could do another
two to three races, right?
I think twenties is the max, 18 to 20
for me is the perfect length of a, of a race season.
Mm-hmm. Anything more than that.
You really start running into this thing where not
Speaker 3: Not in the same five and a half months though.
Speaker 1: No. I wouldn't hate if it was
spread out a little more certainly.
But, um, I think,
I think IndyCar lives in a really good pocket in
terms of number of events.
Um, and so we don't have to do that.
Like look, last year was a, last year was a,
it was an outlier, right?
You look at the last, you know,
you look at the data from the last 20, 25 years,
I think IndyCar's not been settled on the last race like
four times in 25 years.
It's pretty good. Um, so I, I think, I think
that's, I think that's okay.
But it's funny 'cause it actually, this brings up, this kind
of reminds me of a topic
or leads me to a topic I wanted to talk about today,
which is about F1 and how, you know,
'cause it's all geared up.
Some cars have hit the track,
the Audi's done its first laps,
the Cadillac's done its first laps, a couple
of livery unveils have happened and we'll touch on those.
But I was thinking about how do you remember the
last rule cycle change, right?
21 into 22. Mm-hmm .
Speaker 3: Mm-hmm Speaker 1: Remember the 2021 season.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Speaker 1: How would you describe it?
Speaker 3: Perfect. Speaker 1: Awesome. Perfect.
Speaker 3: Except for the last lap, but Speaker 1: Right. But like as a Yes.
Speaker 3: Incredible. Probably one then probably the best
season of F1 I've ever watched.
Speaker 1: Yeah. And then they change everything
and for a couple years it's okay.
For one year it's like awful because Max won 20 races.
Mm-hmm . And then this year, last year, oo cycle.
How would you describe this year? Pretty good.
Last four, last lap. Not 21. Good last, not 21. Good.
But it went to the last lap pretty good.
It was settled by two points. Pretty good. Pretty good.
And we're gonna change it all next year.
I can't help but think that F1 needs
to like lengthen their rule cycles a little bit.
I feel like just when the whole group
Speaker 3: Merges, take a page outta the IndyCar book.
Huh? Go two decades. I
Speaker 1: Mean No, no, no, no.
Hold on. I was, that was a point I was also gonna make.
Is that ? There's probably a happy medium in there. .
I'm not saying two decades,
but like, maybe I don't, I don't know
how many cars NASCAR's come out with since, um, since 2012.
But it's probably, I don't know,
three different iterations of their program.
That seems about right. I think
Speaker 3: It's, I think it's three. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So like if you think of F1, Hmm.
Every time we get to the end of a rule cycle
or to the point in a rule cycle where there's a lot
of convergence, the midfield battles are, are wicked.
You have two to three to four drivers fighting
for the world championship at the front.
Yeah. We're like, great season,
let's completely clean slate,
wipe house, get rid of everything.
And like almost guarantee that one
or two teams dominate for the next two to three years.
Speaker 3: How much of that though is new?
Because aside from 2021 mm-hmm .
Aside from this, this last call it three years,
there hasn't been this said cost cap in place.
Right? And so if you take out 2021
where there wasn't a cost cap in place either prior to that
you had to do these regulation changes
because it was impossible for anyone to catch up for
Speaker 1: Teams to catch up.
Yes. That is a great point. That's
Speaker 3: A great point.
Now F1 is gonna have to adapt and, and learn
because ultimately we,
we might not need the refresh every couple years
because teams are able to catch up
because there is only so much you can spend, which is
what I think we got in this year in 2025.
So I think it's a good point,
but I think in, in F one's defense, that's a new thing
that they're having to Right.
Deal with and understand.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's a great point. That's a great point.
But I do wonder because like they're already talking
about 20, 40. Yeah.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Speaker 1: because like, you know,
we need to change stuff immediately.
Well we haven't had a single like car run
Speaker 3: Some of the things that I've heard regardless
of competitiveness across the teams.
I think there's the potential
that people wanna rule change in 2030 regardless.
Speaker 1: A a hundred percent. I 100%.
I think it's, I think the fact
that those conversations are already
happening is because those
Speaker 3: Some very specific things.
So speaking, speaking of that, there have been a couple cars
that have been launched, some just liberties,
but there have been some 20, 26 cars
that they've viewed specifically the Audi,
which I think is the clearest representation we've gotten
so far of what a 2026 F1 car is gonna look like.
Um, and I'm gonna be the first
to say it super underwhelming.
Like not not any sort of wow factor, um,
to it, which is a little disappointing.
Um, they're kind of in this weird purgatory
of like, okay, yes, the car's simpler.
Um, which is a, is a flashback
to when the cars are super cool and, and awesome,
but like with the size that it is now,
it just is, it's like too big to be simple,
but it's too small to be like cool looking.
I don't know if that makes sense. Like it's just, it's it's,
it, it, it looks like a, like a, like a like a little bit
more intense version of an F two car,
which maybe was their idea.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, you're right. But it kinda looks like an f
an f two car on steroids. Right?
Speaker 3: Exactly. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Um, but it's funny 'cause we were, so we,
we had this discussion, you and I were talking about this
yesterday or the other day, whatever it was.
And so like, I've been thinking about it
because it has sort of bothered me
because I had this same thought.
Like, you look at it, you're like, oh, that just looks like,
yeah, it looks like a spect car.
Right, right. I guess until we have more,
um, more cars launched,
and again, every team will tell you what you see
at the livery unveil is gonna be very different than
what you see at Barcelona, at Bahrain,
and ultimately at Melbourne for the first race.
So I'm gonna hold off complete judgment until we get
to the actual first Grand Prix.
And we've seen all the cars
and they've all been put into whatever their race back is.
But it does seem like, like the last generation, yes,
they were too big for racing, but they, they looked cool.
Like they were low, they were wide, they were mean looking,
they looked like little fighter jets on the ground, right?
Mm-hmm . And then you think back to that kind of simpler era
and you know, I always kind of default to mid
to late nineties, right?
And I was actually just, when I was out, out in LA with Fox,
we went to the Peterson Museum
and in the vault there, they had this collection
of Formula One cars and there was like a, a 95 Ferrari
and a 98 McLaren.
And I'm looking at them and I'm like, these are very simple.
By today's standards, they, they, they're a lot closer to
what, what Audi showed
and like what we saw of, you know, what we saw
of the Cadillac and what we've seen of the, the Red Bulls
and the, and the racing bulls.
And the more I thought about
how I feel when I look at those mid nineties,
mid late nineties cars, the more I'm like, no,
this is actually not a bad thing, right?
Like it's the, the, at the end of the day,
if they race well,
like the cars are gonna be different, right?
We've only really seen one properly. Mm-hmm.
So the cars are gonna be different.
So you're gonna be able to differentiate them in some
capacity and as long as they race well,
I don't think they have to look like the 2008 McLaren,
which was like, to me, one
of the sexiest Formula one cars ever made.
You know, it looks like a little spaceship.
Uh, they just, they, they need to sound good.
They need to race well. I mean, they still look cool.
It's just, I think we've been spoiled a little bit almost in
some of the previous, like couple years
or a couple generations ago.
Speaker 3: I guess time will tell, time will tell.
I'm less optimistic than you are just
because Formula One, formula One is supposed to be this,
this idea of what's unattainable, right?
Mm-hmm . From a performance standpoint, from a
event standpoint,
just everything about it is supposed to be alright.
This is the, the highest level of everything
that you can possibly get Motorsport all in one place.
Mm-hmm . And currently I will say that
the car does not represent that.
Speaker 1: I, I think, Speaker 3: Yeah, it'll be interesting.
Speaker 1: I'm really interested to have this conversation again
after the first grumpy, just to see how much,
'cause like I think back to when
F1 first announced the ground effects
rules set, right?
And they had like a show card done up in
F1 Liberty or whatever.
And when you saw it, you are like, okay, it's, it's bigger
and it looks okay, it looks kind of cool,
but it was so simple, you know, it was so kind
of bland in all the aerodynamic stuff and side pod shape
and all that stuff compared to
what ended up actually being on the race cars.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And I, and I wonder if
that's like a version of what we're seeing now.
So time will tell the, uh,
the Audi livery itself is getting a lot of, uh, a lot
of on the internet and rightly so. 'cause it's pretty ugly
Speaker 3: pretty bad, pretty bad.
Speaker 1: People compare you to like an energizer, uh, battery.
There was one, one guy posted something.
It looks exactly like a, like an Old Spice deodorant.
Like the colors are exactly the same.
It's the red, like line red, gray. So funny man.
Speaker 3: It's very German. It's very, yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2: I feel like when it comes to that, these companies need
to just hire like a few people in their twenties
who are just chronically online.
And so it's like, all right, you develop everything
before you release it.
You're just gonna run it by these guys
and say, how would you make fun of this?
And just figure out whatever it's gonna be smart.
Smart, right? It's like your, your last stop gap,
Speaker 1: I feel like.
I feel like the Red Bulls, the racing bulls look pretty
sick, like the white.
Mm-hmm . Pretty sharp. The Red
Bull just looks like a Red Bull.
Speaker 3: They do a good job. Extra blue.
The, the Red Bull's got that like glitter.
It's like a glittery blue now though, which is pretty,
yeah, it looks pretty good.
I'm sure it'll look. Alright, well all of that is fun
to talk about, but ultimately it does not matter
because those cars are not racing currently.
But I can tell you what cars are racing currently. Tell me.
And that is our young, uh, what is it?
International Motor Sports
Sports Car Association.
What does ims A stand for?
Speaker 1: Tim, I need you to Google
this is when you, you're supposed to, how
Speaker 3: Do you not know that James?
Speaker 1: Honest stuff. Speaker 3: International Motor Sports
Association. Okay.
Speaker 1: Okay. I thought, yeah, I thought you got me thinking
that sports car was in there somewhere. .
That seems too simple. That was like the on the multiple
Speaker 3: Choice.
Well, it's weird. It's weird because
Speaker 1: Can't be that because Speaker 3: Motor sports isn't too words.
So it's weird that it has its own acronym. Acronym.
Speaker 1: You know what's funny man, is I always type it
as one word, but then Apple always underlines it in red.
So I feel like it might actually be two words
and we just, in the biz, we just don't do that.
Speaker 3: Not according to the dictionary,
Speaker 1: But yes, there is some SSA racing coming.
We have roared the roar before the 24, uh, is is done
and dusted and yeah, I mean, nobody knows anything.
That's the, the beauty of the roar. That's
Speaker 3: The fun part about the International Motor Sports Sports
Cars Association. Nope,
Speaker 1: Don't add stuff.
Oh, so it should be ica.
Speaker 3: Well, it shouldn't be a at all. It should be
Emma Speaker 1: .
I'm a, I'm a, I'm a, yeah, I mean, look guys, the, the,
you can't tell anything from the test.
That's, that's, I mean that's kind
of true of all motors sports.
It's exceptionally exaggerated in, uh,
sports car racing for various reasons.
But, um, our tests went really well.
Uh, the car is running great, which is nice.
Still working on a couple little handling things
to make sure it's good for the start of the race
through the night, the end of the race, all that stuff.
Uh, but we're kinda just getting
through our program, which is nice.
It hasn't really been like that at a lot
of Rolex 20 fours for me to be honest.
Speaker 3: So you, you had some Fox commitments, um,
so you missed a little bit of the roar,
but by the time you got there, like do you feel like,
I mean, you never feel prepared going into this race,
but did it feel any different this year?
Speaker 1: Yes. And so you'll appreciate this, right?
So when you go to the roar
and then, so race week itself, there's like five sessions,
which sounds like a lot.
You get maybe six laps as the fourth driver. Yeah. Right?
Yeah. So the roar is kind of the same thing.
There's two sessions every day.
I think there's three sessions on one day
because they throw a night practice, you're like, oh,
there's so much track time, but you're getting
through four drivers.
But as a bonus guy,
Speaker 3: Yellow flag red Speaker 1: Flags.
Right? But as, as the bonus guy,
the race drivers really have to do most of the setup.
You're just kind of like feeling what they're setting up.
Right? So you are somewhat
of a lower priority then you get red flags and, and
Speaker 3: Not somewhat they tell you you don't matter
Speaker 1: Blatantly You don't matter.
Yeah. You are a seat spacer for a few hours.
Exactly. So our real drivers
Speaker 3: Can get to sleep, you drive so that we can sleep. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Right. So when, when you get to the race,
you've probably not done more than like
five consecutive laps.
And your total lap count for the week is
for sure is maybe 20.
Yep. And every year you go in feeling under prepared
and then you do your first stint in the race,
which is an hour of uninterrupted,
hopefully maybe there's a yellow or something.
But roughly uninterrupted an hour of running
and it's 30 laps.
And by the end of that first 10 you're like, okay, now I,
now I'm up to, now I'm good, let's go.
Right. Is that true? Is that how you feel? Yeah.
Speaker 3: I mean sometimes I've gotten outta the first
stint and still been like, oh my god, .
Speaker 1: Okay. But yes, Speaker 3: Generally,
Speaker 1: So at minimum you need that first in to be kind
of be in the right realm of like, okay, now we're good.
Right? So, so I missed Friday, which
I think was actually like great for the team
because they could focus on the car,
make sure it's running well, you know,
get the race drivers in like the full season guys,
do some setup work
and not feel the pressure of kind of rushing
through the fourth guy.
Because when you're the fourth guy, it's always like
the plan is for you to do.
There's, it's a, it's a 90 minute session.
So the first half hour is this guy,
second half hour is this guy,
you're gonna be the third half hour.
Well setup changes take longer.
There's a couple red flags,
there's a little mechanical issue that took us back.
So you get like eight minutes at the end of the session
and they're like cutting the other guy's last run short,
not getting a totally honest read just
to fire you out into a bunch of traffic.
First laps, chaos.
Like it's, it's awful for everybody, right? Yep.
So they didn't have that pressure on Friday.
They had a great Friday, ran
through the program, it was great.
Saturday, there was two sessions.
They used the first session with the two full-time guys just
working through the setup changes from
overnight, from from yesterday.
And then the second session was an hour long session.
And they just let me do the whole thing.
They put me in at the green flag, dude, it's even better.
They put me at, they put me at the start full tank
of fuel, new set of tires.
And they were like, just go.
We had no red flags, no mechanical issues.
I drove from the green flag to the checkered flag nonstop.
And it's essentially a stint.
And I got outta the car and I was like, I
feel we can race tomorrow.
Let's go. I don't even need to,
I don't even need to practice this week.
Don't even put me in the car if you don't want to.
I could go into the race tomorrow
and feel better than I have at any point
of my Rolex 24 career.
It is the way to do it.
Speaker 3: Hmm. Speaker 1: So good. So good. Hmm. Feel
Speaker 3: Great. I bet you got tires too.
Speaker 1: So I started on a brand new set, started a brand new set,
full tank of fuel, just run.
Got to work on saving fuel and saving energy.
Got to work on traffic stuff.
Got to just like, feel the, the ti like
what is the balance shift over a stint?
So I'm ready for that, you know, and great. Awesome.
I don't know, I don't know how we've missed this
for the last 12 years.
14 years I've been doing. Yeah, it sounds
Speaker 2: Like, it sounds like a much more
efficient use of time too. 'cause
Speaker 1: It's the best man.
I'm gonna ins I'm just gonna insist on this next, next year.
I might not even come to the roar.
I'll just show up and like, hey,
first practice on Thursday or whatever.
Just lemme do the whole thing and
then, and then I'll just get in the race.
We're good. So that's where we're at.
That's where we're, so I'm excited about that.
Um, um, you who
Speaker 2: Looks, we don't get need to get to me yet.
Who looks good. Um, I know it's hard.
I know it's hard, but still.
Speaker 1: So yeah, you can, you can tell certain
Speaker 2: Cars will look better than others.
Speaker 1: The the Mercedes GT cars look
obnoxiously fast in a straight line.
Nice. And so do the Fords. Mm-hmm .
The difference is the Fords are pretty much all being run
by, I'm trying to pick my words carefully here.
Speaker 2: Wanker Speaker 1: Ex? No, no. The opposite.
Experienced professionals
where there are a couple like customer Mercedes cars
that aren't like factory backed
and just lone stars.
You know, guys just kind
of like shooting from the hip doing their own
thing. Hmm. And um, it
Speaker 2: Sounds like blinkers to me.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah. So, but there's, there's a couple,
there's multiple cars that are running in the pro class,
but they have an AM driver just
because they wanna win the pro class
and they can just do the driver minimum with the pro,
with the am and it doesn't really matter.
So they got three pros and,
and one guy paying bills probably,
but like that guy doesn't understand the game.
And some of the lap times that these bronze,
amateur guys are setting in those cars,
it's like, oh my god.
Oh my god. Oh my god.
Like if a Mercedes doesn't win this race,
they <inaudible> something up or inside.
Speaker 2: So say they, so when they don't understand,
when you say they don't understand the game,
are you saying like everybody else is
sandbagging a little bit? Or
Speaker 1: If you have a super fast car?
Yes. Yeah, you basically have to kind
of just not show your whole hand.
That's just the nature of sports car racing.
Now if you don't have a super fast car, you're like trying
to get to the laptop that everyone else is just
doing by default.
And that's, you know,
I've been on every side of this equation.
Um, but ma'am some of these guys just don't get it
and it is comical to see.
So I would be so shocked if there's not slight changes
for the race to at least the Mercedes.
I would love to see a difference to the Fords as well, just
because they're also ridiculously
fast, but they're just hiding it better.
Um, but we'll see. We'll see.
I don't know where I legitimately don't know
where we are, so,
Speaker 2: So you don't, you don't wanna show your whole hand
because it, they'll change your car for BOP or?
Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Okay.
The, the series has the right to adjust the, the BOP,
the balance of performance, which is the formula
that they use to equalize the different manufacturers.
'cause on paper, a Ford Mustang should not be racing a
Ferrari, you know, uh,
should not be racing A Lexus should not be racing a Porsche.
They're all different cars. So they have this formula
that adjusts things like power and, uh, top speed and weight
and fuel capacity and whatever.
Um, so anyway, if you,
if you do something silly at the roar, they can adjust
that BOP for the race.
And so everyone's trying to avoid getting
anything negative for the race.
So we'll see. But those guys do look strong.
That is for sure. I have not been, been attention
to prototype stuff at all.
I don't even know who's quick.
I've not been paying attention.
It's, uh, we've been running our own deal
and focused on that, so, uh,
I'm not entirely sure what's happening in the big class,
but it's a pretty good,
like pretty good IndyCar contingent here.
Yeah. There's more guys than I remembered when we were
talking about it other last week
or the week before. Yep. So
Speaker 3: Good.
Speaker 1: Yeah, man, it's nice to be back. Love it behind the
Speaker 3: Wheel.
Love it. Well, I can't wait to, uh, watch on Sunday.
Um, at very selective times. I'll watch the start.
Very selective times. Very, I'll probably watch
your first stint.
Um, I'll probably watch, you know,
a good chunk in the middle of the night when I'm up
with the little guy and then, uh, I'll watch the finish. So
Speaker 1: That's a good strategy. That's
Speaker 3: Really all, all you need to see, quite frankly. That's
Speaker 2: Really it.
When he says up with the
little guy, he means hanging out with
deep Speaker 1: .
Uh, I mean, you mentioned didn't.
Speaker 3: I don't, he would be up at that hour and he is little. So
Speaker 1: That is true.
All that is factual. Um, you mentioned
that I was in LA for Fox stuff.
I don't think we, we haven't talked about
Joseph's commercial yet, have we? We
Speaker 3: Have not. We have not.
Speaker 1: We should talk about Joseph's
commercial. What did we think? Think of
Speaker 3: Speaking of dead bodies and pools. Speaker 1: .
That's true. There was kind
of both of those things in that commercial.
Yeah. Uh, what was your
Speaker 2: Initial reaction?
I understand why they put the date on the meat
of his indie 500 win,
but I was just thinking to myself like,
that's expired ground beef by like a year. I'm sorry,
Speaker 3: What?
Speaker 1: Sorry. That you clocked
Speaker 2: That the best buy date.
Yeah. On the ground beef was the date that he won the 500.
But that was, why did you see that?
That means that means means it really expired.
You guys didn't, it was very large.
Speaker 3: No. Speaker 1: Hmm. I did notice that,
but I only saw it one time quickly in passing. Same. Um,
Speaker 3: Um, what did I think?
I thought, I thought it was awesome
because some of the most popular
and talked about television shows these days are all kind
of either docuseries
or fictional series about
the neighborhood serial killer guy,
but on the face is a normal guy
or at least appears to be for some part of the show.
Um, and they're really enjoyable and entertaining to watch.
And so I think you got you, you nailed like secular culture
and what's current with that.
I think that fits Joseph's personality.
Not that Joseph kills people,
but Joseph is, he does so very intense.
He does individual right.
Um, who commits his entire life
and mental energy to
being the best race car driver
and version of himself that he can be.
Um, and so I thought it really played on who he is
as a person, his success on track,
and also what people like to watch on television.
So it was a, a plus for me on that one.
Speaker 1: And, and I just loved the, like,
I loved the narrative the way they kind of went like,
well he did rip a guy's heart out last May or whatever.
Yeah. It's just incredible because it's so true.
Like, that is the only thing you can describe that like
what Pata was feeling in that moment.
Right. And, uh, the way they did it.
And then I gotta, I gotta give the guy props, man.
Like he's got some acting chops.
The the way when, when they're like talking about it
and he's got the, he takes the ground beef throws on the
grill and he looks up at 'em and he goes
and he's just like licking the blood off his fingers
while staring them down.
It was . It was <inaudible> scary. He did a good job.
I was very impressed. I was impressed with the, uh,
the concept, the execution.
It was great. It was great. The
Speaker 3: Scary part for me was the expired mate.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's, yeah, it's weird. You're so weird, huh?
It's weird that that's what you So weird, huh?
Um, I mean he wasn't eating it.
He was just making it for everybody else.
Um, so Pat's got a commercial that's coming out.
There's two others after that.
Um, I'm not sure exactly when they're all launching,
but it's, that's how, you know, it's, I I love the end
of football season 'cause we get
to start seeing IndyCar commercials, so I'm like, oh,
that means IndyCar season's coming up.
I like that. So this is cool. Kudos to Fox. Mm-hmm .
We're getting those in some pretty big games
and uh, I imagine we're gonna see more of that
Speaker 3: And thank you, um, to Fox, not just kudos.
Thank you very much for continually driving our
marketing efforts forward.
Thank you. I wanna just kind again say I'm available
to be in any of these commercials.
Mm. No one they're aware. I could have been the neighbor.
Speaker 1: You know, they're aware. Yeah.
So I just want to touch on one thing from last
or two weeks ago real quick before we go.
Becky and I had a funny exchange
after our Peach Bowl episode
because, you know, Tim, you brought up the,
the Mark Cuban story, which we then told on the show,
which evidently I had forgot to tell Becky.
Um, and, and so I guess she listened to the show
and she was just like, you, you just met Mark.
Like Mark Cuban just came up
to you guys and shook your hand.
I'm like, oh yeah, yeah, no, it was really cool.
And I started telling, she's like, no, no, no, no, no.
I heard this story from the podcast James.
She goes, she goes, she's getting so mad.
She was like, I don't want this life James.
I don't want this life . You don't tell me anything.
I don't know what's happening in your life.
Listen, listen to the podcast. And I'm like,
and in my head I'm like, Tim really
<inaudible> me on that one, man. He really, how
Speaker 2: Is that my fault? Speaker 3: ?
Sounds like you ain't even talk to your wife more
Speaker 1: Because you brought it up.
No, I have a terrible memory. I've hit my head a lot
Speaker 2: Guys.
You're also, there's no way I brought it up
because I didn't know about it
until I heard about it when you were recording it.
Speaker 1: Okay, well, you left Speaker 4: In
the show. You're the editors complete
Speaker 1: Problem.
Yeah. Yes. I know, I know.
I'm just trying to deflect blame
because I have a terrible memory.
But yeah, she, it was, it was funny,
but she was like, I don't want this life.
I was trying really hard not to laugh,
but I was definitely laughing inside.
Um, so yeah, I need to be better at remembering stuff.
Uh, I need to start listening to our episodes back
and then be like, oh yeah, I should probably mention that
to Becky before Tim posts this episode. Well,
Speaker 2: Unbelievable.
Unbelievable that I'm catching strays
for your dysfunctional marriage. .
Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1: What, uh, what are you up to this weekend, Alex,
other than your three hours of watching the Rolexs 24,
Speaker 3: Well, seven hours of watching football.
Speaker 1: Who do you think is going to the Super Bowl?
Speaker 3: I think it is the Seahawks and the Patriots.
Speaker 1: All right. And are you still Patriots guy
or were you just a Tom Brady guy?
Tom Brady guy. So do you care who wins if it's that?
No, well look, the highlight
of the sewer bowl is clearly gonna be my nanny, um, report,
which I really have to finish
because I'm still,
still got a few seasons to go on my writing.
Speaker 3: Funny story. Um, I'm not gonna be there. So
Speaker 1: What, where are you gonna be?
Speaker 3: I'm gonna be in Florida. What's in
Speaker 1: Florida?
Speaker 3: Something that Canadians can't come to.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Oh, that's, we'll get into that.
That's over Super Bowl. Yeah,
Speaker 2: It's the, it's the Friday before it.
Speaker 3: Yeah. And then test.
Speaker 2: We'll get into that on a future episode.
I'm very excited about it. Ah,
Speaker 1: Yeah.
I was, I I I learned from Tim Alex
that I did not qualify for that drip .
Speaker 3: Well, you were the first person I asked.
Speaker 1: I know. I appreciate that.
, how many times have you been to Space Camp, bro?
We'll talk about this next week, uh,
and we'll recap Nashville.
Thanks for watching.
Speaker 4: This has been off track with Hinch and Rossi.
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