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01x04 - Stay on Track

Episode transcripts for the TV show, "100 Days to Indy". Aired: April 27, 2023 – present.*
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American sport television docuseries about the IndyCar Series and the Indianapolis 500 automobile race.

01x04 - Stay on Track

Post by bunniefuu »

- Pato O'Ward and Dixon.

- What happened there?

I think both drivers have a

different view of what happened.

All right, Pato, if you can

make a move,

you can make a move.

Pato went for a late,

far-back lunge.

- Oh, no.

- You got a car in the barrier.

- Dixon didn't see him coming.

- They hit.

One guy ends up in the tires.

One guy carries on.

Racing incident?

Maybe. Not if you ask Scott.

That seemed extremely late.

But if that's how the series

wants us to race,

then I guess

it's all gloves off.

I was on the inside

and he decided to stay

on the outside and put himself

in the tires.

I'm not apologizing for that.

Kyle Kirkwood! He wins the

Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.

It's been a really exciting

start to the 2023 season.

Let's go!

Penske Racing

and Chip Ganassi Racing

are really the two titans

of the sport,

but already this year

Andretti Autosport has two poles

and a win and the McLaren team

has been really fast as well.

We love the Penskes and

the Ganassis and we need them.

But you also want new blood.

You want the series

to continue to grow.

Agustín Canapino has been

part of that big surprise,

that is Juncos Hollinger Racing

and the start of the season

that they've had.

This guy's 32 years old

when he makes

his IndyCar debut.

Never raced in open-wheel car

before in his life.

One of the most

incredible stories

I've ever seen in racing.

With that many more teams

and drivers

consistently competing

for wins,

it makes it hard for some

of the established guys

like last year's champion,

Will Power,

to really kick-start his

campaign

to defend his championship.

Power -- He is

going backwards in a fury.

What happened to Will Power?

It's not been an awesome start

for Will Power.

Personally, he's balancing

a lot.

He had a tough off-season,

but I think he's still focused.

But he's not so far back that

he's out of the championship.

We've had three different

races, three different tracks,

three different winners

from three different teams.

I'm looking forward

to hopefully seeing

a fourth different winner

in four races.

Yeah. What did you

guys do with the?

I'm going to get up

and say some words.

It's going to be very dramatic.

[Dull clink]

This doesn't ding very well.

[Dull clink, laughter]

Just got to hit it harder.

[Imitates glass shattering]

Getting paid to drive

racecars is just incredible.

To have been able to do this

for 18 years now, amazing.

No matter how bad of a day

you have in the racecar,

really anywhere, you can

never complain. Never.

Yeah, well, I just wanted

to thank you guys

for coming tonight, obviously.

But thank you for all the hard

work coming into this season.

No one really picked us

in the media

to win the championship

last year,

and they didn't this year.

So I think we showed last year

that you don't have to do

anything special

to win a championship.

Doing something special is just

doing what you know well.

I feel like I actually

stopped trying to win races

and I just went out

and extracted the most

out of myself each weekend,

each race, each lap.

It worked out well, so --

[Ringtone plays]

Guarantee that's my wife asking

"You at that dinner?"

Yeah, of course. Lizzie.

You just really have

perfect timing, you know?

You call -- You -- Because

I'm standing up

in front of all the guys,

trying to give them,

you know, some inspiration about

having a great season.

- Here, you're on loudspeaker, so.

- Hi, everybody.

[Laughter]

- Anyway.

- All right, babe,

I'm going to try

to finish up here.

- Bye.

- Yeah. Thank you.

Anyway.

[Laughter]

Getting back to it,

let's just go out and have fun

and try to win some races

and win another championship

and a 500. Let's do it.

[Applause]

Team Penske has three

drivers -- Scott McLaughlin,

Josef Newgarden and Will Power.

He's the veteran of that team.

He's a two-time champion.

He's won the Indy 500 once.

Will's season has gotten off

to a little bit

of a slow start, but

this is how he built his

championship campaign last year.

He only won one race, but he was

always there or thereabouts.

He can be so blindingly fast.

The 2022 season found

the driver that was

the most consistent.

Will Power won the championship.

Will Power, two-time

NTT IndyCar Series champion!

Power has done it!

Power is literally the

fastest driver ever in IndyCar.

Last year, he won his 68th pole.

That's one more

than Mario Andretti.

It's just been an okay start.

At St. Pete, he salvaged what

was there.

And at Texas, it wasn't good.

But bringing home a top 10

on a day like Long Beach

where he didn't have

the fastest car,

maybe not on the best strategy.

Those are the kind of damage

control days that can really,

really pay dividends later

in the season.

Okey dokey.

♪♪

I hate getting the air

out of these things.

There we go.

♪♪

It's a weird feeling.

Straight to the heart.

- Straight to the heart.

- Cold heart.

- That's right.

- Cold-hearted.

My wife. We met in 2006.

We both were starting at the

same race team at the same time.

She was starting

as a PR girl there.

My first impression was,

okay, he's kind of shy,

but then that goes away and he's

just kind of -- kind of quirky.

But I liked that.

♪♪

In January, I actually

got really sick.

I had been having

some back pain,

but I've always had back pain,

so I didn't really think

anything of it.

That happened on a Friday.

Fast-forward to Tuesday

and I could barely walk.

I was in so much pain and I was

running up to a 106 fever and so

Will had to call 911.

This is a lot of heroin.

[Laughter]

sh**ting up. That's great.

That's a lot.

She just started hallucinating

and just talking

no sense at all.

And yeah, she had

an infection in the blood.

After a week of being

in the hospital,

they did an MRI

and they found that

I had this horrible infection

in my spinal column.

So they had to go in there

and they had to cut

the top of the spine off,

take the infection out.

Pretty intense there

for -- for a while.

Almost died,

like looking pretty bad.

It's definitely been a

struggle.

Something that I admire

about Will

is how he's been great here.

And then put that aside

and do what he needs to do.

- All righty.

- All done.

There we go.

Oh, man.

♪♪

[Laughter]

[Dog barks]

Agustín Canapino --

He's a hero back home.

He's a 15-time touring car

champion down in South America.

But that is such

a different discipline.

But he is an incredible talent

and he got up to speed

in these cars really quick.

How about Argentina's Agustín

Canapino going

from strength to strength.

It's been an awesome start

for Agustín Canapino.

He gets a pair

of 12th-place finishes,

including his first oval.

This guy's a lot better

than anybody thought.

Canapino.

He's something to watch.

♪♪

[Laughs]

Agustín is one of

the two drivers

that raced the most

in Argentina history.

♪♪

To have him with us

obviously is very special.

His father also has an idea

with me together

that we're going to

put him somehow in an IndyCar.

He's not here with us

to see this,

but it's very special for us.

Sharing all this together

is very amazing.

Ricardo Juncos has got

one of the coolest stories

I think, in racing right now.

Just coming over to the States,

getting involved in motorsports

at the lowest level

and slowly just building

his organization

up all the way

to the top level in the sport.

For a team with a very

inexperienced driver lineup,

they are doing

some great things

so Ricardo can be really proud

of what he's done.

♪♪

Basically what

brought me here

was I was running out

of options in my life

after losing everything

in Argentina.

And when I mean everything,

it was everything.

Argentina's economic crisis

has been building

for three years.

The effects all too prevalent.

During 2001 was the crisis

in Argentina.

At that point,

the whole country collapsed.

I have enough money

just to buy a flight ticket

for Miami where a friend of mine

was living.

♪♪

In September 2003, I opened

Juncos Racing as a go-kart team.

We put everything we have.

Absolutely everything we have.

In 2017, we decided

to start in IndyCar.

To be part of this,

it's already growing.

We enjoy the moment

that we're going to participate

as a victory in general,

but I believe

this is not the end.

The experience

the other team have,

money cannot buy experience.

The only way to get it

is by going.

One day we will win, for sure.

Everything is possible.

Delta, maintain 4,000.

[Radio chatter]

- Speed of 200 miles an hour.

- It's pretty fast.

I need speed in my life.

It's kind of an addictive thing.

When you're a competitor,

you want to challenge yourself.

Some days it goes well,

some days don't go well.

But I think if you,

in the evening,

you know you've done

everything you could do,

you've pushed yourself

to become better, stronger,

then it's a good day.

There's Grosjean.

There's McLaughlin

on the right.

[Indistinct shouting]

Man, what are you doing?

[Static]

How about that turn of events?

We just got really unlucky

and we move on.

♪♪

Since my last win,

I want to win every day.

♪♪

One of the storylines

with Romain Grosjean

is the fact

that he hasn't won a race

since he was in GP2

and it's a dozen years ago.

But in all three races

this season,

he's had a chance to win.

It's coming on

and it is coming for Grosjean.

Maybe the first one comes

at Barber Motorsports Park

for the first time

in a dozen years.

♪♪

If the IndyCar schedule was

measured like roller coasters,

this track here at Barber

is the gnarliest.

Everything you could want

for high drama.

What separates IndyCar

from a lot of other series

is the variety in racetracks.

So you go to St. Petersburg,

a temporary street circuit

through a city.

Then you go to Texas.

That's the oval.

And then the third category we

have is a permanent road course.

That's a racetrack,

permanent facility.

And that's what we have here

at Barber.

♪♪

Going into Barber, you're

almost a quarter of the way

into the season, and if you

don't have any kind of a result

in the top five so far,

you start to get a little bit

worried.

Momentum from this race

carries over to Indianapolis.

We want to go into May

with momentum.

♪♪

What you did, I would never

do that to you, man.

- I'm sorry, mate.

- I didn't think that

- it was that bad.

- You gave me no option.

The only option I had was

I couldn't -- I'd already

committed to the corner.

Then I see you last minute, man.

I got nowhere

- Scott didn't see me.

- That's the problem.

The door was wide open.

And, well, I was there.

But I wasn't going to go

apologize for that because I

don't think I was in the

wrong for making that move.

I know we disagree on it and --

I don't know how

you can disagree on it.

It wasblack and white.

But if that's how you

want to race,

then that's, I guess,

how we're going to race.

But I wouldn't do that to you.

It was just a clear dive b*mb

into turn 8.

It was just disappointing that

there was no call on it as well.

If that's the way that we're

going to race, that's fine.

But it just seems

like a gutless move.

- Hiya.

- Hi, how are ya?

- How was practice?

- Um, I'm losing --

losing like a tenth and a half,

two tenths on the straights,

which is frustrating.

Well, remember,

you are the one,

so you can do it.

It doesn't

- You'll be good. Hey, Beau-sy.

- Um.

- Hey, baby.

- What are you doing?

We're gonna say,

"Go, number"

- 12.

- Ah, good boy.

Very grateful for my wife

for convincing me

to keep racing.

All right, all right. I'm gonna

rest and get my head in

- the game, and

- Yeah. I love you.

- Love you, babe. Bye.

- All right. Bye.

For a while there, I was

really suffering with anxiety,

and I almost quit.

Worst years of my life.

Absolutely.

Oh, here we go. Trouble,

contact and a huge crash.

Oh, multiple cars involved.

- Racing is dangerous.

- Couple of friends k*lled.

This is the horrible accident

that everybody has

always hoped would never occur.

In 2011, Dan Wheldon was k*lled

and then '15, Justin Wilson

was k*lled.

And there were some instances

where I was saying to my wife,

"I'm finished, I'm done."

There were actually races

where I was like,

"I cannot do this anymore."

When you have severe anxiety,

there is no escaping it.

You can't just switch off.

But she kept me going. She said,

"Look, just get in the car

and just -- just start the race.

If you can't do it,

you can't do it."

The thing that he thought

was k*lling him --

he thought it was racing --

was the one thing

that was actually saving him.

And I knew if he stopped,

it wouldn't be good for him.

♪♪

The thing that would happen

is you'd start the race

and you'd just,

you know, you'd have no anxiety

when you were so in the moment.

I guess in that way she knew me

better than I know me.

Ultimately, it made me much more

mentally strong.

Will Power leads

the Indianapolis 500.

At that point in my career,

probably

won more races than anyone,

more pole positions

and led more laps.

But I hadn't won the Indy 500.

It's the one thing

you just want to have.

You've got to have that

on your résumé.

From now on, it'll be

Will Power,

Indianapolis 500 winner

for 2018.

What had transpired,

what we had gone

through together, I was bawling.

I'm so glad that I toughed

it out through that.

I think I would have stopped

if she wasn't there.

We are in here.

What did you think

of the first episode?

That was good. That was good.

Yeah, I thought it was real.

[Indistinct conversation]

I actually think I might have

a bigger arm.

- I think I can get you.

- [Laughter]

- Pecs, pecs.

- You have very large pectorals.

Pecs are bigger than yours.

What did you think

of Josef's house?

It's a nice house.

It looks like a hotel.

Very posh.

Very, very posh hotel.

You want to know

the best thing

about these cameras hanging out?

- What's that?

- We're getting nothing done.

We're literally getting

nothing done in here.

I've done all my work.

I'm taking away from your work.

That's 100% going in.

It's qualifying

for the Children's of Alabama

Indy Grand Prix here

at beautiful Barber

Motorsports Park.

Hey, man, do you want to sit

here?

[Cheering]

Oh, hello.

I would have tidied up

if I knew.

This is very small.

It gets a bit smelly

by the end of the day.

- Oh, come on, boy.

- Oh, yeah.

I don't know how you do that.

- [Bone cracks]

- Oh, yeah!

♪♪

It's time to see

who has the speed.

It's just so much fun, Marty,

to wheel an Indy car

around this racetrack.

♪♪

Qualifying critical here

at Barber.

If you start on the front row

here, history tells us

you've got a very good

chance of victory.

Yeah ♪

Yeah ♪

Wait for me, girl ♪

Wait for me ♪

Wait for me ♪

♪♪

- Whoa!

- Kyle Kirkwood had some drama.

Whoops. Sorry about that.

♪♪

Juncos Hollinger really

starting to show

a lot of resource,

a lot of capability.

♪♪

Agustín Canapino,

the rookie for Juncos Hollinger.

He continues his

building process.

No, last lap.

Doesn't look like

it's going to be enough.

And he is going to be

working hard tomorrow.

Buried in the pack.

Let me be ♪

- Here's Power.

- Struggling for pace.

It's not been good

this weekend.

In fact, it's not

gone great all season.

♪♪

I don't know, man.

Uncharacteristic to see

Will Power down there in P9.

Will Power unfortunately is not

able to get it done.

Kinda didn't think

we'd make the top six.

So just going to do our best.

Just hanging in there.

Damn, man.

I'm just disappointed.

- What's Pato O'Ward got?

- Defending race winner.

- You'll have one more lap.

- Let's keep pushing.

It's aggressive but

controlled from Pato O'Ward.

Almost a tenth to the good.

This is going to be a shootout.

This could be the tightest fast

six in history.

Early P1. We'll just have to

see how it shakes out.

- Grosjean's on one as well.

- He's so close.

- Keep pushing.

- Here's the line.

Romain Grosjean to the top?

You betcha!

- We're P1.

- Nice job, brother. Nice job.

Second pole of the year

for Romain Grosjean.

Look out. This is going

to be quite the scrap tomorrow.

And who knows who swings big

from further back.

♪♪

We're off, man, which is

a little -- little troubling.

So it makes the job much harder.

Mostly me studying the data

and video to understand

where I can pick up some

half tenths in a few corners.

- Yeah.

- All right, man. Good luck.

You got it.

♪♪

I think I was solid.

Really good.

Grosjean, way to go.

Second pole of the year.

Do you get the sense that

the win

might be in the offing

for this team tomorrow?

We'll see. We're starting

in the best position.

But no, we've got 90 laps

to lead, so we'll see tomorrow.

But I'm really proud of my guys

and really happy

with everything we're doing.

[Cheering]

[Laughter]

♪♪

Every race,

this is what we get.

This is all from the 500.

This is 500 miles worth

of bottles that we saved.

And we keep it by the

milk bottle and everything else

because

that takes a lot of work.

I've got strong hands.

So when Will got into IndyCar,

I was working for another team.

I was working

for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.

Up until 2012 when I quit,

I was working, so I was busy.

My mind was distracted because

I was focused on our team.

And then I wasn't

doing that anymore. [Laughs]

I was in Will's pit box

and I just, like,

had to have something.

And so it just kind of started

with a water bottle

and every race I do it.

So yeah. So it's since 2012.

I always just pray. Be safe.

Just be safe

and come home in one piece.

And that's a good day.

Did not sleep that well.

Kind of just struggle to go to

sleep every night.

But just this year, I just have

not been able to get.

I don't know why.

Sometimes when I haven't slept,

I've had some of my best races.

- Oh.

- Yeah.

Which race is that from?

Liz is famous

for stressing in the pit

while he's out racing.

And that was the Evian bottle

at the Detroit Belle Isle win.

Another trophy case.

Welcome to the South.

Here we are in Birmingham,

Alabama.

We're starting to get

into the teeth of the season.

Here you go, man.

It's a very easy way

of getting going.

The difference between

your highs and the lows.

I learned to do that

in an airport lounge.

Three races,

three different winners

representing three different

racing organizations.

We couldn't ask

for a better start.

Well, I would say that

you're due for a win.

- That'd be nice.

- You're actually due for a win.

- I'm excited.

- Today could be a day.

Round number 4 of 17

is starting to take shape.

And we're looking, of course,

at racing in the month of May

at the Indianapolis

Motor Speedway.

But first, we're here

at the first permanent road

course of the season.

♪♪

♪♪

Gentlemen, start your engines.

Just so stressful.

It's times like these

where I wish

I married an accountant.

Romain Grosjean, former F1

pilot

for Andretti Autosport,

on the pole

for the second time this year,

is in search for that elusive

first IndyCar victory.

It could come here today.

- Pace car's rolling away.

- You've got the field.

- Let's get ready for the start.

- Have a good one today.

And we're about ready

to go racing.

First permanent road course

of the season

- here at Barber Motorsports Park.

- Green, green, green.

The green flies and Grosjean

leads this star-studded field to

green.

Great start for Romain

Grosjean.

Side-by-side behind him

as Pato O'Ward

- tries to go on the outside.

- And Grosjean runs wide.

It opens the door not only for

O'Ward, but for Palou.

Look at this, wheel

to wheel on the opening lap.

Grosjean's got the better line

and keeps the lead.

- Nice job. Nice job.

- Where's Will? There he is.

Here's Will Power

fighting with Colton Herta.

- Ah, Herta got him.

- Damn it to hell.

- Think you can pass?

- Yes, I think I can.

It'll be okay to go.

Oh

No! No, be smart!

- Was there contact?

- That was close.

Rather Will start out easy

and then attack.

I forgot to ask Will

if it was going to be a 2-

or 3-stop race.

Glad I had wine in here.

Because of this strategy

question mark,

two stops or three,

if you're the cars out front,

you want to go to the two stop.

But to do it,

you got to save fuel.

Alex Palou one of the best

in the biz at doing it.

He is pressuring

Romain Grosjean right now.

- There's a move for the lead.

- Alex Palou inside turn 5.

And Grosjean's

going to prevail again.

And I promise you Grosjean's

inside the c*ck

going, "Dude, what are you

doing?

We've got to be able

to save some gas

if we're going to make this

on two stops."

Coming into Barber, there were

two distinct strategies.

The general consensus

was the leaders were going

to try to dictate

with a two-stop pace,

but there were going to be

some behind them

that would do three stops.

The two-stop strategy is

a little bit more conservative.

If you get in an outright race

with someone

that is not saving fuel,

it's going to be tough

to hold them off.

But you are dependent on

when the cautions

come more for a three-stopper.

If it comes at the wrong time,

then your race is over.

And you might have gone from a

chance to win to finishing 12th.

Josef Newgarden gained

one spot on the start,

but he has said something

is wrong with the car.

I think my right rear

might be going down.

That is not the kind of news

that you want to hear

if you're the driver

of the number 2

only 5 laps into this race.

Yeah, it should be okay. It's

not great, but it'll be okay.

Keep doing your thing here.

At this time, at this time.

Three-stoppers coming in now.

- We're pitting on this lap.

- We're pitting on this lap.

McLaughlin in the pits now.

All these Penskes

are doing this three-stopper.

Three, two, one.

Looking for that clean air

and fast lap times.

[Radio chatter]

Go, go, go, go. Clear out.

I wasn't prepared for that

stuff.

I thought --

So he's going three.

So they're doing three.

25 complete, 4 or 5 more.

Pato, you are the exact same

pace

as Grosjean, Palou, and Dixon.

You're doing a great job.

Careful of Dixon here.

He's closing in.

Dixon's been on him

the whole race.

- Malukas is not a threat.

- We're just worried about Dixon.

Still 60 laps for Dixon

to just prowl back there

and wait for his chance.

- Here is Grosjean.

- All the way down here.

Right on your mark.

Three, two, one.

Put on the brake.

29 laps in the books.

Roman Grosjean has led every one

of them so far.

Alex Palou at the front end of

pit road.

All clear. All clear.

Look at that. A long stop for

the 10, Grosjean,

with a good jump here

on pit road.

Teammates have

swapped positions.

McLaughlin gets ahead of

Josef Newgarden and Newgarden

looks like he's got his hands

full with that PPG Chevy.

Pit lap here, pit this lap.

- Oh!

- That's why.

We saw it on the previous lap

and it was going away from him.

Newgarden is in

for the second of three stops.

There is a stalled car,

the 51 of Sting Ray Robb.

Well, if the yellow comes out,

then it stacks them up

and they all just have

to make one more stop.

- There it is.

- There's the caution.

I think if you're McLaughlin

right now, you're stoked.

You're laughing because

you've got a ton of fuel.

We're both on a one-stopper,

but he's still going

to have to save fuel.

So obviously, this yellow

didn't really help us that much,

but it didn't k*ll us here.

Just keep working your fuel.

You've got McLaughlin

behind you.

He was --

He's on that three-stopper.

Everybody still has

to make one stop here.

It's going to be hard,

obviously,

with the -- with

the guy behind you.

- Okay.

- What do you want to do with him?

We're going to go as hard

as we can on this restart.

We're going to hold him off.

Ready to go back

to racing here at Barber.

Grosjean will lead this field to

green.

But how long will he stay

in the lead? Here we go.

And it's the two guys who

gave us that ultimate theater

on the streets of St. Petersburg

to start the year,

McLaughlin and Grosjean

going for the win again.

Let's just take a look

at who leads right now

on the different strategies.

Your top three on

the two-stop --

Grosjean, Pato O'Ward,

Lundgaard.

It's all Team Penske

on the three-stop.

When the two-stop drivers pit

in about six laps,

the other drivers on

the three-stop strategy

are going to go full press

with clean air,

and then we're going to see

how they blend together.

Argentina's Agustín Canapino.

We're at mid-race and it

is not looking good.

That is definitely a blow

for the rookie.

He's starting to get big

eyes -- Scotty Mac.

He knows he's got

a really good shot today.

Be smart here.

- Doing great.

- Just keep the pressure.

But remember, we got plenty of

time here. No panicking.

- A hell of a job.

- Get on the fuel until we stop.

Josef Newgarden sitting back

in the sixth position,

hanging on to the racecar.

We just need to stay

attached to the 10 car.

- I probably won't make it, man.

- Really bad.

Damage is really

causing problems in the 2 car.

Newgarden is really

hurting teammate Will Power

because these drivers

are all trapped behind him.

Now Will's going to

be behind Newgarden.

I hope he can get around him.

Dixon on the inside

of Newgarden.

- Whoa!

- Oh

Here comes Power.

[Shouts]

God. Did they touch?

Pit this lap. Pit this lap.

Looks like the 28 crew

is setting up.

- Around Pato here.

- Three, two, one.

So crucial now for Scott

McLaughlin to push, push, push.

Okay. Romain's going

to pit on this lap.

We just need to do about

five laps here the best we can.

We're still increasing our gap.

It has been

a dominant performance,

pitting with 31 laps to go.

Just keep pushing.

We're going to have to save here

in a minute,

but just keep pushing

on this out lap.

Okay, give me everything you got

here.

Everything we got,

we're going to pit on this lap.

- Here's McLaughlin.

- Race leader is in.

Three, two, one.

Now we put our eyes

on Romain Grosjean.

Here comes McLaughlin.

No fuel-save concerns.

So he can go harder

than Grosjean.

You're going to meet Grosjean.

That's our prayer.

And watch where these two

guys come out, where they join.

- Here comes Romain Grosjean.

- This is going to be good.

McLaughlin comes out ahead

but on cold tires

and Grosjean is going

to be pushing 100%.

That's the leader.

It's St. Pete

take two, guys, version 2.0.

♪♪

Romain Grosjean's got to do

a Josef Newgarden-style move.

Inside opportunity coming up.

Can he get his car tight

to the right?

Tight to the right? No.

McLaughlin blocks that.

Watch him try to cross it up

and make it happen right here.

Whoa! Inside, inside!

Romain Grosjean wheel to wheel

with Scott McLaughlin

for the lead!

Fantastic stuff.

Scott McLaughlin gave him

just enough room to pull it off.

Meanwhile, Will Power

just turned

the fastest lap of the race.

- Pitting this time.

- Pitting this time?

Guys, have a really good stop,

smooth, fast.

Gonna have a clear in

around the 6.

Will has done a tremendous

job behind the wheel.

Is he going to be able

to get on the podium

for the first time this year?

- Oh, dear.

- Oh, he's pitting.

- He's pitting. Oh!

- I can't watch.

He's pitted.

♪♪

Watch, Trev. Watch, Trev.

Watch, Trev. Watch, Trev.

Go, go, go, go.

Power is gonna charge.

Can he race his way up

into the podium?

- Final stop is done.

- Pushing her out.

Lap leader just went by.

Scott McLaughlin

kind of in the wheel tracks now.

I bet he's on the button.

It's going to be

a late move.

And not quite close enough

into turn 5 this time.

19 laps to go. He has

28 seconds to push the pass.

Just keep up with him

and run him.

If you get up to him and need

anything, use your overtake.

- Grosjean goes way wide!

- Way wide.

Oh! And almost comes back in.

That turn 5 spot is a real

handful for Grosjean.

There's going to be

a new race leader.

His name is Scott McLaughlin.

Got to think Grosjean's

heart just sunk there.

Yep.

Is it going to be second again?

I can't feel right now.

Understand big picture here,

we got the next car

for position

10 seconds back.

Let's just get it home.

There's McLaughlin.

There's Grosjean cresting

the hill down into turn 5

and the red machine,

the Verizon Chevy of Will Power

looming large in the mirrors.

- Come on, Will.

- You got open track. You can go.

Just go, go, go.

Now he's in the wake

of Romain Grosjean.

So now this is where the driver

really has to get up in the seat

and try to figure out

how to mix your lines up,

find some clean air and wait

for the right opportunity.

- Three laps left.

- He's not going to get him.

He's done a great job.

16 seconds to push

to pass left for Will Power.

16. That ain't much.

White flag. Plus 2.7.

Scott McLaughlin was going

for the win at St. Petersburg,

and it didn't happen

with that late race collision.

Today, the picture of speed

and consistency.

Checkered flag.

Scott McLaughlin wins

at Barber Motorsports Park!

[Indistinct shouting]

Right on, team, let's go!

Wow, Will got on the podium.

- That's good.

- That was a good day.

Go, Willie. You did good.

Great job. Great job,

everybody, today. P3.

That was a championship day,

guys. Another championship day.

Nothing special

but put it together.

- Nice job today, brother.

- One hell of a drive.

One of the best drives

out there for sure.

We just got really unlucky

with that yellow.

That was impressive.

And that is a monstrous

confidence booster

heading to Indianapolis

and the month of May.

Scott McLaughlin,

your race winner.

He gets his first win of 2023.

The Thirsty 3s are

in victory lane.

- Scotty, you can get out. Yeah.

- [Laughs]

Scott McLaughlin, a winner.

[Cheers and applause]

♪♪

So ultimately, the way it

worked out for Scott McLaughlin

is he had a quick car.

He got clean track

after he made the first stop.

And then by the end,

Romain Grosjean was saving fuel

on a two-stop strategy.

And McLaughlin

didn't have to save,

so he just had

the outright pace.

For a team like

Juncos Hollinger,

success is not really measured

in wins or podiums,

but they're measuring growth

on just getting quicker,

getting better each race.

We're on another championship

run, man.

We're still

just chipping away here.

We're going to get

a win here soon.

We've just got to keep at it,

improve in qualifying

and yeah, just having fun,

enjoying it a lot.

- Go, Daddy. Go.

- Say, "Go, Daddy."

As far as Liz

goes and her health,

you're seeing the light

at the end of the tunnel.

She feels better, I can tell.

And that gives me relief.

And, yeah, having

a podium here today, it's --

it's all positive stuff.

- Hi.

- Hey, babe.

Yay! That was, like, a win.

- That was a pretty good day.

- That was a really good day.

- Hang on. I'll FaceTime you.

- Okay. Gosh.

- [Laughter]

- [Speaking indistinctly]

- I know. I hate FaceTime.

- I know, babe.

You look real pretty, babe.

I don't know why you're

stressing.

You look really pretty.

Well, you know, it's good

that you didn't win because

- Why is that?

- Because you're not there?

I'll be there.

You'll be there

for the next one, so

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- So that works out real good.

- Yeah.

- All right. Love you.

Call me when you're at the

airport. All right. Bye.

Love you, babe. Bye.

And now we honor our

third-place driver

in today's race,

let's hear it for Will Power.

[Cheers and applause]

Will Power getting a podium

I'm going to guess

makes him feel

a little bit better

going into the month of May.

Now it's about the Indy 500,

and the Penske cars

have not been awesome

the last three years.

I think the feeling is

they're back in the game.

Coming in to the road

course race at Indianapolis,

the Grand Prix, maybe

the biggest storyline

is Romain Grosjean.

He's finished second

in the last two races.

This might be Grosjean's

best chance to win.

- Am I happy?

- Yeah, of course.

You know, you cannot say

you're not happy

with a podium.

Second is good.

First is better,

but second is good.

[Cheers and applause]

[Crowd chanting "Scotty"]

For Scott McLaughlin,

the win at Barber was huge.

I really think this jump-started

McLaughlin's season

and he was one of those that

said momentum from this race

carries over to Indianapolis,

so now it's all eyes

on the Indy 500.

Winner here, winner here.

The battle between you

and Romain there.

What was going through your mind

as you're trying to

hold him off?

Well, I knew if I hit him

this time, it would be bad.

But it was hard. I knew it was

going to be hard passing him.

[Cheers and applause]

That was the best IndyCar race

I've ever driven in my life.

So good. And I'm having

Australian beer now,

so I'm very happy.

- Thirsty 3s?

- Mm.

Thirsty 3s to the moon, baby.

[Cheers and applause]