02x04 - Crossing The Line

[bunniefuu]

The reigning Indy 500 champ
Josef Newgarden

just got a win revoked.

Team Penske manipulated
the overtake systems

so the drivers could use push
to pass on starts and restarts.

This is the first time
in a 100-plus-year history

of IndyCar racing that a winner
will lose the win for good.

- Josef Newgarden!
- [cheering]

I don't want to say that,
but it felt easy today.

How did this happen?

It certainly has consumed
the paddock.

It's almost unprecedented
to take a win away

from someone after the fact,
and particularly damning

because Josef is such
a poster boy for the series.

We exacted what we thought
were appropriate,

significant penalties based
on breaches of our rules.

The mood heading
into Barber is tense.

- Shocking.
- You know, it's not a good look.

There are a lot of people
that are angry.

I think the paddock
is pretty pissed.

That's a lie.

There are a lot of questions
that need to be answered.

How much of the rule book
have you read?

- Mistakes are made.
- I'll stand by my team on that.

Team Penske,
they've got to move forward.

The best way to move forward
is produce and execute.

Our reputation
is on the line here.

The problem for me
is I don't think anybody

actually knows the truth yet.

If you haven't seen
the news yet,

Josef Newgarden,
Scott McLaughlin

disqualified
from St. Petersburg.

I can't remember a winner
disqualification

of this level has happened...
I don't remember that.

As a result of
the disqualification,

Newgarden's win
in the Grand Prix

was denounced
and given to Pato O'Ward.

Hm.

How to explain what happened
with Penske at St. Pete...

In IndyCar, we have a function
called push to pass.

It's like getting
a star in Mario Kart.

It gives you a 50 extra
horsepower

and you can use it
to make passes,

you can use it in defense,

but you have a finite amount
in each race.

The rules for push to pass
don't allow it to be used

on the first lap of the start
or the restart,

and in this case, the Penske
cars had access to it

on the restarts,
which is a massive advantage.

Josef Newgarden used it
to his advantage

to help him win the race.

Scott McLaughlin
used it very briefly.

Did not gain any positions.

Will Power had it,
but did not use it.

- Good morning, everybody.
- Um...

I appreciate everybody
showing up.

I thought it was really
important to do this in person.

You know, there's no doubt that
that we were in breach

of the rules
at St. Petersburg.

You know, I used push to pass

at an unauthorized time,
twice on two different restarts.

You know, I failed
my team miserably.

Your three pushes of push
to pass on restarts at St. Pete,

did you feel those instances
in the car?

Of course. Yes.

No, I mean, I...

I purposely was hitting
the button.

So yeah, it's something
you feel every single time.

I don't know how you couldn't.
It's a very obvious thing.

Are you conscious
in that moment,

in the days following St. Pete,

that you hit the button when it
shouldn't have been working?

And if so, did you do anything,

talk to anyone
about that feeling?

It's...

I knew... getting into this part

was going to be difficult
for me.

You know, you guys can...

you can call me every name
in the book.

You can call me incompetent.
Call me an idiot.

Call me [bleep], call me...

You know, stupid,
whatever you want to call me.

But I'm not a liar.

And the story that I know,
which is the truth,

is almost too convenient
to be believable.

Somehow, someway,
we convinced ourselves

that there was a rule change,
to restart specifically,

with overtake usage, and
we somehow genuinely believed

and convinced ourselves
that at St. Pete,

the rule was, now you can use
it immediately on restarts.

You don't have to wait till
the all-start finish line.

It's going to be available
immediately.

So after Long Beach, it came
out that IndyCar had discovered

that Penske cars had
a line of code

in one of the electronics' boxes
that controls the car,

that allowed them to use
push to pass on restarts

when it's supposed
to be inactive.

The craziest part
of the story is...

The software issue
that no one knew about.

Just perpetuated
that belief even further.

So then you go through St. Pete,

you go through Thermal
where it's an actual change

and everybody's using it.
And then you go to Long Beach.

And it's still in the car.

And the first time
that any of us hear

about this software issue
is at warm-up.

At Long Beach,
in the morning warm-up,

there was an issue
with push to pass,

so it was disabled by IndyCar,

but Team Penske's
was still operative,

so it was taken care of
for the race

and turned off
for the Team Penske cars.

Even when you learn
about the software issue

that no one knew about
and it was fixed,

I still believed the procedural
difference on restarts

was applied for Long Beach.

I tried to do the exact
same thing

leading the race
at Long Beach.

I even pushed the button.
I came over the radio, I said,

"Hey, guys, the overtake's not
working correctly."

I mean, I don't know how

or why in your right mind
you would do that.

Why would I...

You know, did I try
to come up with a conspiracy

and then cover...
It's not!

The truth is, somehow
we got that mixed up

and it somehow got entangled
with the mistake,

and it's created some
ridiculously,

unbelievable story line now,
but the facts in the matter are:

I used it illegally.
I wasn't allowed to.

And you know,
I can't change that.

It's just... it's embarrassing.

It's an embarrassing
thing to get wrong.

We're going to leave it there.

Josef, thank you
for your time today

- and good luck this weekend.
- Thank you.

People push the boundaries
in motorsports all the time.

In racing, there's a saying,

"If you ain't cheating,
you ain't tryin'."

It's a significant penalty.

But in this case, it needs
to be a significant penalty

because the winner of the race
benefited from something

that not everyone else did.

And you also obviously
have the dynamic

that the offending team
is the owner of the series.

We're talking
about a group that is

one of the most respected teams
in motorsports,

has been winning
for the last 50 plus years.

Their motto is "Penske perfect".

Josef saying, "I thought
there was a new rule,"

is the most ludicrous of all
the explanations,

because if they're going
to have a major rule change,

it's going to be announced.

So there's only two
explanations possible for this.

The first explanation is that
they blatantly cheated.

The second explanation is,
if they didn't blatantly cheat,

then a bunch of idiots
work for them.

Now it's just a question
of who do you believe?

What was your reaction
when you heard of the penalty?

I thought IndyCar got hacked
on the social media channels.

Josef explained to us.

He was under the impression
that the push to pass rules

for starts and restarts had
changed for the whole calendar,

and not just for Thermal.

Does that seem believable
to you?

- No.
- Okay.

That's [bleep].
That's wrong.

Um...

No. He knows.

Honestly, I'm not really mad
at the drivers.

Like, if I was in that position,

I'm not going to say
that I would have not used it.

Did it make you, at least,
for a moment or two

think back to 500 last year
and how that went.

- Maybe a little bit.
- You think a bit about it.

But that's the problem
with a thing like this.

And then, you know, it's easy
then for people to question,

you know, what happened
before then?

You know, what else...
You know, those kinds of things.

I know that people will make
comments, and make assumptions.

But I know from working
in this team,

it's just a simple mistake.
Honestly, nothing you can...

It is what it is.

So you are the new
winner of St. Pete.

What was your reaction
to the news?

- Uh, surprised.
- Very surprised.

But, you know, wins a win.
We'll take the point.

So what it did
for the championship,

is it really hurt
Josef Newgarden.

He drops from the leader
back to 11th,

and Scott McLaughlin
is 29th.

There are only


so he's behind two drivers
that have only done one race.

That's going into
the Barber race now.

Will Power, deducted ten points,

so not a big deal
for Will Power.

McLaughlin is going to have
to really get on his giddy up

to get back in the championship

because he had a mechanical
at Long Beach,

so he essentially did not race

in the first two races
this year.

I'd feel defeated if I was
going into the third race

of the year sitting bottom
of um... I would.

How about you?

I don't look at it that way.

You know, I think I look
at it as a challenge.

I look at it with excitement.

I know what this team
is capable of.

I'm proud to drive
for this team.

And, you know, I know we can
win this race this weekend.

I know we can potentially win
the 500 and then go on to do,

you know, amazing things
if we get momentum,

because that's exactly
what we did last year.

[rumbling]

So you like this new drama?

[giggles]

It's a bit of a shock.

With Josef being disqualified
from the race,

Pato O'Ward is elevated up
from second place to the win.

Three days ago, I had just
woken up to a call from Gavin

and he was saying,
like, "You won St. Pete."

I was like, "No.
You're joking."

He's like, "No."

I feel good, but I'm kind
of bummed about it

because of the way
that we got it.

Like, I want to win a race and
I want to get out of the car,

celebrate it with the team, and
I want to see everyone's faces

because right now, for us
it was like, oh, well, cool,

we won something that we did
six weeks ago.

And...

...focus forward into Barber

because we can't just lose sight
of what's coming.

Yeah so it's here waiting for
Will Power to come pick it up.

[giggles]
Um, and...

I don't know. I don't know
where Josef's trophy is.

I don't know if he brought it.
Maybe he burned it.

Put it on a pit.

I think it's a horrible
thing for Penske.

But in terms of, like,
what's going on in the series,

I don't think...
I think drama is good.

- 168.7.
- What were you last time?

So last time I was 168.5.

- Cheeseburger.
- Point two... not yet.

- 162.
- Oh my God, I'm so light.

How the hell are you lighter
than I am?

- What the hell?
- Athlete.

Athlete, yeah.

Claims he's a full-blown
athlete.

- There is some drama in there.
- I would expect, you know,

a team like Penske to realize
what had happened.

And from the sound of it, it
sounds like they didn't do that.

It seemed like it didn't match
up between Josef and Scott,

so I was a little...
I'd like to know more.

I think as time goes on,
more information will come out,

you know, and fortunately,
IndyCar has done a really good job

of managing all this situation.

I feel a bit bad for Will,
for sure, because he, you know,

he got dragged in something
he wasn't really any part of.

It's been a pretty crazy week
team-wise with what's happened.

I put out statements saying
I did nothing wrong

because...
I did nothing wrong.

I just want people know, like,
I got a ten-point penalty,

but, you know, I think
the series really had no choice

because what it would have
meant is my two teammates

getting disqualified would have
moved me up in the championship,

which means moving the team.

So they had to put me back
where I was.

At the end of the day,
everyone else has gained

from this mistake

because it's not like
they're not unhappy about it,

it's like...

These other drivers have
gained because we've lost.

What can you do? You can't just
dwell on this stuff.

I mean, it's done.

I'm just going
to go do my thing.

The last thing that Power
wants in his life right now

is a scandal off track.

It's well documented why Will
had a bit of a tumultuous 2023.

It was a tough year.

It was tough
from the beginning,

with my wife getting sick.

So the root cause was a staph
infection in my spinal column.

So the infection got
into my bone essentially.

Very, very close
to dying, very close.

It does affect you.
It just does.

It weighs you down a bit
mentally,

you know, you're just not
as in the game.

Oh, Kirkwood hits Will Power
and turns him around.

I'd won... Ah, is it 16 years
in a row I'd won a race.

Really wanted to keep
that going.

Will Power spins
at turn number 4.

Will Power just went
through the grass,

exiting turn number 10.

I was headed to go
to Road America

and opted not to because
I wasn't feeling good.

Road America
was a bad weekend for me.

Everything is going on
with my wife.

It's just... that's just
a bad weekend all around.

Grosjean moved to the right,

put Will off, race track off
into the grass.

He's probably not too
thrilled about that.

So I'm sitting here watching
practice with my mom.

[rumbling]

[impact]

Absolutely nothing Will Power
could do in that scenario.

I saw how heated he was.

And I thought, "Don't do it,
Will, please stay calm."

Like hoping that
telepathically I can like...

But he...
No, it didn't work.

Will Power and Scott Dixon
are off and Power is incensed.

Man, I have never seen
Will Power that fired up.

So I'm sitting here watching
it and I'm dying inside.

And then he gave his interview.

I was dying a little bit more.

This track's terrible
when you go off.

They do a terrible job here.

They need a kick in the butt
for this place.

It's just piss what Dixon
did this morning.

He just ruined
the whole weekend.

And Grosjean is a piece of crap.

If you saw what he did
in practice,

he needs a punch in the face.

I wasn't focused,
I was stressed.

[sighs]
Stressful.

It was a scary year for sure.

Yeah. It was.

Sorry.

That was tough.

And watching him kind of
have to manage, you know...

um...

It was, yeah, it was.

Having that in the back
of your mind in the car

is a tough one.

Thinking what if something
happens to your wife

and something happens to me
in the car,

and you got a kid
without parents.

That certainly plays
on your mind.

A year ago, it was pretty
stressful time for me.

But now very much in the game.

Very well prepared
for each race.

Hey, Will,
did the oven come on?

Nah.

We could lose lights.

I'm having an issue
with the oven.

- Oh, yeah.
- I'm gonna do the breakers.

She's dangerous
when it comes to this stuff.

Like, I don't even know what
she's doing right now, but...

I'm...

She's going to blow up
this whole bus.

I'm making sure I turn off
the right breakers.

I feel so much better
than what I felt last year.

And he's hungry.

He's definitely
a man on a mission.

We were talking last night.
I'm like, it's kind of funny,

a lot can happen in a year.

A year ago, I was sitting here
and the Bus Bro's come in

and ambush me
and have their interview.


Bus Bros, it's all gone.

Even though Will sort of
came out the best

from the penalties in St. Pete,
he still wants to put this

all behind him
and get back to racing.

It's a track
that he's won at before.

He's always run well at.

It's just about it
all coming together

at the right time on Sunday.

- [indistinct]
- Good. Yeah.

Start slow.

I hope it'll be good to... Can't
wait to get out on the track.

That's a big hit to have
two cars disqualified,

massive hitting points
to the whole team.

But I'm driving the best
I ever have right now.

And we're going to fight
hard from here out.

Our role is to enforce
the rules

to make sure the competition
is fair.

We were surprised
because it was something

that hadn't happened before as
far as we know, and secondly,

because it was kind of obvious
at the end of the day

that it was happening and would
have been difficult to hide.

Jay, how, in your mind,
after reviewing everything

was this not caught either
during the race in St. Pete,

or in any sort of data review

that you guys would typically
go through post St. Pete?

Obviously, we did not
catch it in St. Pete.

That's on us, right.
So we have to go back

and evaluate what we did or what
we didn't do at that point.

We think at Long Beach,
when we address this infraction,

we think we reacted
very quickly.

Again, the biggest part
about this taking so long

was just the time between
St. Pete and Long Beach.

How does a fine of this nature
actually exist

when the owner of the team
is also the owner of the series?

There's no financial
connection between Team Penske

and Penske Entertainment
or the IndyCar series.

So if a fine is to be paid,

it will be paid by Team Penske
and it'll come to IndyCar.

It's a severe penalty,

probably the first one
we've had in quite some time,


the significance of it

from our perspective.

But again, it's...

We're gonna have practice here
in 15 minutes.

It's a new day.

[rock music plays]

It's been a week dominated
by the headlines.

It feels good to be back
on track

for the first official session
of the weekend

here at beautiful
Barber Motorsports Park.

[tires screeching]
[rumbling]

I think all three Penske
drivers were like,

let's just weather this storm,

let's just get through this
and do what we do best,

which is race.

Let's face it, there's a lot
of pressure for Team Penske.

Here's Josef Newgarden.

If it goes poorly,
maybe the people

that don't want to believe you
are going to come out

and say, "See, the only reason
you're winning

is because you're cheating."

[rumbling]

Here's Will Power
heading to turn 5.

Barber is one of the most
physical race tracks

that you go to in IndyCar.

It has a lot of very high speed,
very long duration corners.

The faster the corner,
the more G-forces

that the body is subjected to.

There's not a lot of
straightaways to take a break,

catch your breath,
get a rest.

So you're just constantly
working very hard

around this race track.

This guy here was elevated
to the winner

of the Firestone Grand Prix
of St. Petersburg, Pato O'ward.

- A little trip to the beach.
- Mmm.

How about this guy?

Scott Dixon last weekend
at Long Beach,

his 57th career victory.

Unnecessary move
from Grosjean.

And he created this situation.

Heads up from Rossi
to stay out of that mess

and thread the needle there.

When you have 27 cars
in the series,

it is so easy to find yourself
tripping over each other.

Here's the Good Ranchers Chevy
for Scott McLaughlin.

There's no doubt about it,
guys.

There's tensions
in this race team right now.

He would dearly love
to kind of erase

all of this controversy that
he has been in the middle of.

I think from
the Penske standpoint,

they've got to move forward.

And the best way to move forward

is to circle the wagons
and produce.

Penske, the dominant force

at Barber since this series
started coming here,

Will Power has won here,
Josef Newgarden won here.

Scott McLaughlin has as well.

And this is Newgarden.

Newgarden spins!

[tense music plays]

Beautiful afternoon here
in Birmingham, Alabama

for qualifying.
It's go fast time

in the Children's of Alabama
IndyCar Grand Prix.

- Last time...
- [laughs]

At the end of the day,
the last time was pretty good.

Because you missed the pole
position in St. Pete

by just that much.

And you got the pole position
by that much.

You learn your lesson.

I feel like all these things,
like you just move on, like.

I'll take the points.

- No, hey good place, right?
- Yeah. Top 5.

- Top 5!
- [laughs]

- Here we go, brother.
- I'll take it.

- Force of habit.
- You always press the button.

I don't know you,
but I always...

[Bleep], if there
is something there,

you will be there.

But in this case,
there was something there.

I clearly didn't get the invite.

The memo huh, the memo.

- I actually came to...
- He went to do an expl*si*n.

Yeah.

I came to lay a nice little...

[overlapping chatter]

A lot of places we go to,

a good toilet is worth
its weight in gold.

And here we have
one right there.

In the pit lane.
So this is hot commodity.

Have you ever drove when you
wanna have to do a number two?

- I used to go faster.
- What, holding it?

Holding it.

[laughing]

All right. Make sure you get
this image now.

And play that music
on the background.

- Bam bam bam.
- Here we go.

[laughing]
Warm-up.

- I can't even go now.
- [laughing]

- We are set to go.
- We'll see who's got the speed.

Let's see what the Penske guys
can do here in qualifying.

[rumbling]

There's been a big demand on
this guy, on his mental focus,

Josef Newgarden.

But it's been tumultuous,
to say the least.

And it's been controversial,
it's been eventful,

there's been a lot
of questions.

[tense music plays]

Newgarden about
half a second off pace.

He's going to have another
tough battle ahead tomorrow.

How are you at this point? It
has been a tumultuous weekend.

This is not the way you normally
prepare for a weekend.

- Are you ready to race tomorrow?
- Yeah. I'm here.

I'm here with my team, man.
I'm ready to rock.

Okay. Thank you, Josef.

The car was, maybe great,
but I didn't do a good lap.

Probably a little bit of both.

Who's going to grab the NTT P1
award here in Alabama?

The King of qualifying
is quickest.

He's in the green, Will Power.

Come on, Willy.

McLaughlin still on
and out there.

It could be a Team
Penske front row. We'll see.

Can you imagine if Will Power
lost out to his teammate

by a couple hundredth
he was up.

A little nervous.

Unnecessary heart attack.

Here we go!

It's Power versus McLaughlin.

[tense music plays]

Scotty Mac to the top!

P1 for the Thirsty Threes!

Yes!

Dang it.

How about that, the guy who
was last in the championship

answers emphatically.

What?

That's okay.
You're on the front row.

- It's okay.
- Yeah.

- Let's go!
- [cheering]

- Here we go.
- One, two, three.

[all moaning]

That was very good.
[laughing]

- Yeah.
- How good was that?

Yeah, that was nice.

It's obviously been a hell of
a week for everyone involved.

You have a lot of people sort
of, you know, talking [bleep]

and, you know,
testing your character.

But it's important
how you shine through this.

Definitely seeing him down and
down on himself has been hard.

But the way you bounce back
and, you know,

the fact that you're just able
to wake up and go and race a car

right after you've been
dragged through the mud.

Karly's birthday on Friday,

so her birthday--her birthday
was a little...

- Little overshadowed.
- But what are you going to do?

Yeah, it was a great day.

But we need to keep
locking in, man.

Yeah. It's good.

Good feeling.

- I need a bottle of wine.
- Why?

And that's why Will did not
get on pole,

is because I didn't
have my wine in a coffee cup.

And I had it in there!

I said, where the heck
was my wine?

I could put it in a coffee cup.

That is my good luck.

Hell yeah!
[laughing]

Where is it on here?

Flavor Flav.

Yo! Come on, man,
stop playing, man.

Yo! What's up?

Yo, Will Power!

What's up, Flav? Wait.

Excuse me, guys,
I'm on the phone.

- Hold on, guys, I'm on the phone.
- You got to tell those kids.

- That's my grandchildren.
- Oh, man. Yeah, you're lucky.

You got a big family.

I got eight children
and 11 grandchildren.

- That sounds expensive.
- [laughing]

And, man, I qualified
second today

so I have a pretty good
chance to win.

- I hope you win tomorrow.
- Oh, I'm planning on it.

I know the day that I come

to see you and hype you up,
you're gonna win.

- May 26th.
- Yes, sir.

Two weeks from now.

You're going to get first place
when I come.

- Oh, man. That's big.
- May 26th.

Yes. All right, man.

- To the 12th Power, baby.
- To the12th power. Let's go!

All right. Let's go.

- All right.
- I'll speak to you later.

See you. Bye.

- I'll see you, my friend.
- Bye-bye.

[laughing]

Oh, my God,
he's the best.

[crowd chattering]

Well, this stinks.

- You smell that?
- I don't think it's that bad!

Will, it stinks.

The problem is this one here,

I'll show you
what the problem is.

This one here is like...

it's a little short, you see?

See? Got a bit of a problem.

[expectant music plays]

Let's see how the race goes.

- I'm going today.
- Going.

- You gonna get it.
- I'm gonna get it.

Where do you start to sort
of rebuild the trust

with the rest of the paddock?

I think today I'm just really
focused on the race, you know,

I'm focused on doing a great job
for my team.

Have you had conversations
with fellow competitors,

and if so, how did those
conversations go?

No, I haven't talked
to anybody.

Will's kind of in the best
shape of anyone on Team Penske.

He didn't have
a full disqualification,

just ten points docked
from his championship run.

He can kind of
disassociate himself

from all the noise
that's happening

and just focus on getting
the job done on track.

We've been given two
or three stops.

I hope that one of you does
two one of you does three.

Doesn't matter.

I just don't want you all
to do the same thing.

You just tell me what
the right thing will be

and I'll do that.

The two different strategies
in play at Barber

are the two stops
and the three stops.

The three stoppers
are driving fast,

trying to build a gap and build
in that extra pit stop.

And the two stoppers are
cruising around saving fuel,

which means driving slower.

It's round 3 of the 2024
NTT IndyCar series

here at Barber Motorsports Park.

- I see you go to the...
- [indistinct]

- I go where I'm told.
- Yeah, right.

[laughing]

Have a good race, man.

Team Penske is certainly
hogging the headlines,

whether that be
the controversial ones

or the performance ones.

Hey, look, off track
turmoil aside, on track,

they are absolutely dominating
and it is looking just fine.

Drivers, start your engines.


at their disposal.

Ready to race.

It's been a week
of controversy.

It's green,
we're racing in Alabama!

A great jump for McLaughlin.

He's going to lead comfortably
into turn 1.

- Oh!
- We've had a spin in the back.

McLaughlin leading Power,
Lundgaard, O'Ward

then Felix Rosenqvist.

Oh, contact for Colton Herta.

Santino Ferrucci getting really
dirty up the inside.

We are going to have two very
different strategies.

Scott McLaughlin was just told

you have a seven second gap
on the two stoppers.

So the top 3 are going hard.

They'll do it on three.
Starting on fourth.

Some of those back there
are saving a little bit.

- Oh and a big rack.
- Look at that.

Pietro Fittipaldi.

He got onto the curb there
and into the side of the 30.

That's a disaster for O'Ward.

We are reorganized, restacked
and ready to go again.

And it's sort of a game within
the game here for these guys.

Will power, second place,
runs off track!

That's a big mistake
from Will Power.

[Bleep] Take in, take in.

And now McLaughlin
has a lot of breathing room.

McLaughlin is now 8 seconds
ahead of teammate Will Power.

It looks like Armstrong
is going to challenge Newgarden

- on the outside.
- They hit!

They hit and Newgarden's off!

[Bleep]!

There's been plenty
of contact today.

Right up and down the field.

There's been crashes,
there's been cautions.

We've had it all.

Scott McLaughlin has been
the man in control

all race long.

Oh, boy. There's been an
accident of a different kind.

- Okay, so that bridge there--
- Not a real person.

- We should point out right away.
- It's a full mannequin.

Normally, she's tied up
here hanging down as,

yeah, a little bit
of tongue-in-cheek humor.

By the way,
her name is Georgina.

- You gotta be kidding me.
- Oh my goodness.

Lap 54 of 90.

Here's where the game
stands right now.

Those on the two-stop plan,
including Alex Palou up front.

They'll pit here
in about 6 or 7 laps

and they can make it
to the end from there.

All of these
on the three-stop strategy,

they're going to go
to about lap 75.

Sting Ray Robb is heavy
into the barriers.

Pit stops coming under caution
at Barber Motorsports Park.

And this is a little bit early
for those like Alex Palou.

Felix Rosenqvist second on
that two-stop strategy.

Just 34 laps to go.

By the math, you can do 30
laps here on a tank of fuel.

On the A strategy, you got
McLaughlin, you got Power,

you got Lundgaard.

Scotty Mac is gonna
send it hard.

And try to go crazy quali-mode
and open the gap to Alex Palou.

Back to racing here
in Baber Motorsports Park.

McLaughlin to Palou,
currently in about six seconds,

needs to grow to 27
for McLaughlin

over the course
about the next ten laps.

McLaughlin. Look at the gap
to Palou.

Now almost 16 seconds.

Horrible situation
for Palou right now

because he knows
he cannot go any faster.

He won't make it on fuel.

For Scotty Mac, it is game on.

Is this the winning stop?

Is this the winning strategy?

He's got a pit again?

- Yeah.
- Shut up.

Why did you do three stops?

And we're really watching
Alex Palou in sixth,

about 32 seconds behind,

so McLaughlin,
just in the last few laps,

picked up about 6 or 7 seconds.

Will Power wanted no changes
to the car.

[Team Penske over radio]:
Let's go, let's go. Go, go!

Let's see where it happens.

Scotty Mac, smooth sailing,
keeps the gap to his teammate.

And there is Alex Palou.

They pulled enough of a gap
between the others

that are on a two stop

because they have to save,
like Will in Long Beach.

- See? Look.
- Oh, so what does it mean?

It means Will's second.



And it's looking good
for McLaughlin and Power.

Worst case, we're second,
which is a good day.

I want that going into Indy.

Hey...

Do you know what
you're talking about?

I know exactly
what I'm talking about!

Whoa! Rasmussen.

With five to go,
engines dead--

- There it is.
- There it is.

Oh, boy!

This thing is not over yet.

This is a McLaughlin-Power
one quest sh**t-out

for the finish here.

Oh!

Oh, Will's going for it.

Yeah, I know...

Be smart, don't be dumb.

And the two Team Penske
cars at the front.

Let's finish this one off!

McLaughlin, whose week
started with controversy,

couldn't believe when he got
the news that himself

and Josef Newgarden
were disqualified

from the season opener.

He has answered
it emphatically.

McLaughlin wins at Barber and
Team Penske back on top!

[cheering]

Three different winners in as
many races so far this year.

Couldn't ask for any more.

And Scotty Mac defends
his win of a year ago.

[cheering]

[epic music plays]

Potentially could have been
the worst weekend

of his racing career. Nothing
cures the ails like a victory.

Ninth in the points standings.

That's a pretty big jump
for one race.

Yeah, it's a big jump,

but it's been pretty full on
the week.

And I'm just super proud
of everyone.

Scott had a point to prove
at Barber

and man, he proved it in very,
very serious style.

Really, all of Team Penske,
I think, wanted to kind of

put a period on all
the conversation for Barber

by locking out the front row
and having a 1-2 finish.

Good job, man.

- Oh lord.
- They're all texting.

Everyone's texting.

They're all saying this is good
for Indy.

It is good for Indy.

You're not going to always
have good fortune.

So if you're there knocking,
Indy looks happier.

I mean, yeah, Will's in
a drought by Will standards,

but those are very
high standards.

He didn't win a race in 2023

for the first time in 16 years,
fine.

But he has started 2024
very strong

and Will Power will win again.

The one thing
that I'm missing is a win.

You know, I'm really...

that's really starting
to add weight to me.

I want to get a bloody win.

So we're in a good spot
going into the month of May.

You know,
it'd be nice to sweep it.

[laughing]
[indistinct]

[cheering]

- Not everyone hates me.
- [giggles]

So with what happened
at Barber,

it's very clear
that Team Penske

can block out the noise
and still perform.

That was the best, man.

The fact that they finished


towards helping
them move forward.

Come here.

It's certainly quite an
emotional feeling at the end of it.

Just like a relief
in some ways.

You just come back and just
execute the way we have,

but we just keep taking it
a one-rate race at a time.

We can still win
this championship,

we can still win the 500
and that's our ultimate goals.

We'll keep working.