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Author: Official Release

DENSO TO CONTINUE AS TITLE SPONSOR OF NHRA SONOMA NATIONALS AT SONOMA RACEWAY

SONOMA, Calif. (Jan. 15, 2025) – NHRA officials announced today that DENSO will continue as the title sponsor of the annual NHRA national event at scenic Sonoma Raceway.

The DENSO NHRA Sonoma Nationals will take place July 25-27 in Sonoma, and is part of the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series. This year’s race marks the 10 year anniversary of DENSO serving as title sponsor for an NHRA national event.

The annual trek to wine country in Sonoma and picturesque Sonoma Raceway is one of the highlights on the NHRA circuit. For nearly four decades, fans have been treated to a scenic racing facility that is also one of the fastest tracks on the NHRA tour, showcasing incredible performances year after year.

The title sponsorship in Sonoma continues DENSO’s long relationship with NHRA, and DENSO also partners with a number of top NHRA competitors, including Pro Stock Motorcycle riders Matt and Angie Smith, Jianna Evaristo and John Hall, as well as 2024 U.S. Nationals Top Fuel winner Clay Millican and his 11,000-horsepower dragster.

“DENSO is proud to continue its sponsorship of the NHRA Sonoma Nationals,” said DENSO Marketing and Communications Manager Daniel Muramoto. “This event has been a cornerstone of our longstanding commitment to the NHRA and its passionate fans. This partnership reflects our dedication to innovation and performance both on and off the track, and we’re excited to once again be part of the action at Sonoma Raceway in 2025 and for years to come.”

The 2025 DENSO NHRA Sonoma Nationals will again feature the GETTRX NHRA All- Star Pro Stock Motorcycle Callout as well. Riders will compete in the Callout style specialty event, picking their first-round opponent in a bonus event that features big money and bragging rights. Matt Smith won the GETTRX NHRA All- Star Pro Stock Motorcycle Callout a year ago, finishing off a stellar weekend with a DENSO NHRA Sonoma Nationals victory.

Joining him in the winner’s circle last year was Top Fuel’s Antron Brown, who went on to win his fourth Top Fuel championship, Funny Car standout Bob Tasca III and Pro Stock rising star Aaron Stanfield.

Brown now has five Top Fuel wins at the fan-favorite facility, matching Doug Kalitta for the most in Top Fuel history. John Force’s eight Sonoma victories leads all Funny Car drivers, while reigning Pro Stock world champ Greg Anderson has a class-best six victories at Sonoma Raceway. Matt Smith has two Sonoma wins in Pro Stock Motorcycle to lead active riders in the two-wheeled category.

“DENSO has been a tremendous partner for many years and we’re thrilled to see them continue as the title sponsor of one of our marquee events, the NHRA Sonoma Nationals,” NHRA Vice President and Chief Development Officer Brad Gerber said. “They’ve helped make a great race even better, and it’s one everyone looks forward to each year. Denso’s support of NHRA and its race teams has been outstanding, and we’re excited about many more great years of working together.”

To purchase tickets to the DENSO NHRA Sonoma Nationals, fans can visit www.sonomaraceway.com or call 800-870-7223. For more information about NHRA, including the 2025 schedule, visit www.NHRA.com.

About DENSO

Globally headquartered in Kariya, Japan, DENSO is a $47.2 billion leading mobility supplier that develops advanced technology and components for nearly every vehicle make and model on the road today. With manufacturing at its core, DENSO invests in around 180 facilities worldwide to provide opportunities for rewarding careers and to produce cutting-edge electrification, powertrain, thermal and mobility electronics products, among others, that change how the world moves. In developing such solutions, the company’s 162,000 global employees are paving the way to a mobility future that improves lives, eliminates traffic accidents, and preserves the environment. DENSO spent around 7.7 percent of its global consolidated sales on research and development in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024. For more information about DENSO’s operations worldwide, visit www.denso.com/global.

In North America, DENSO is headquartered in Southfield, Michigan, and employs 27,000+ engineers, researchers, and skilled workers across nearly 50 sites in the U.S, Canada and Mexico. In the United States alone, DENSO employs 17,500+ employees across 14 states (and the District of Columbia) at 41 sites. In the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024, DENSO in North America generated $11.7 billion in consolidated sales. DENSO is committed to advancing diversity and inclusion inside the company and beyond – a principle that brings together unique perspectives, bolsters innovation and pushes DENSO forward. To learn more about DENSO operations in the region and to review current career opportunities, please visit www.denso.com/us-ca/en/.

About Mission Foods

MISSION®, owned by GRUMA, S.A.B. de C.V., is the world’s leading brand for tortillas and wraps. MISSION® is also globally renowned for flatbreads, dips, salsas and Mexican food products. With presence in over 112 countries, MISSION® products are suited to the lifestyles and the local tastes of each country. With innovation and customer needs in mind, MISSION® focuses on the highest quality, authentic flavors, and providing healthy options that families and friends can enjoy together. For more information, please visit https://www.missionfoods.com/

About NHRA

NHRA is the primary sanctioning body for the sport of drag racing in the United States. NHRA presents 20 national events featuring the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series and NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, as well as the Congruity NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series, NHRA Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown™, NHRA Holley EFI Factory X and Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage NHRA Mountain Motor Pro Stock at select national events. NHRA provides competition opportunities for drivers of all levels in the NHRA Summit Racing Series and NHRA Street Legal™. NHRA also offers the NHRA Jr. Street® program for teens and the Summit Racing Jr. Drag Racing League® for youth ages 5 to 17. With 110 Member Tracks, NHRA allows racers to compete at a variety of locations nationally and internationally. NHRA’s Youth and Education Services® (YES) Program reaches over 30,000 students annually to ignite their interest in automotive and racing related careers. NHRA’s streaming service, NHRA.tv®, allows fans to view all NHRA national events as well as exclusive features of the sport. In addition, NHRA owns and operates three racing facilities: Gainesville Raceway in Florida; Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park; and In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip in Southern California. For more information, log on to www.NHRA.com, or visit the official NHRA pages on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.

January 16, 2025
CHEVROLET NASCAR: JR Motorsports 2025 Daytona 500 Announcement Press Conference Transcript

NASCAR CUP SERIES
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
JANUARY 15, 2025

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kelley Earnhardt Miller, co-owners of JR Motorsports; Chris Stapleton, 10-time Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter and musician; and Justin Allgaier, 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Champion; met with the media to announce that they will join forces to field the Chevrolet organization’s inaugural entry in the NASCAR Cup Series in the 2025 Daytona 500.

Media Availability Quotes:

MODERATOR: We are joined by some great guests with Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kelley Earnhardt Miller, Justin Allgaier and Chris Stapleton. Dale, in the interest of time, I will kick it over to you. Obviously a big day for JR Motorsports with a big announcement today. Explain to us how all of this came together.

Dale Earnhardt Jr: “Yeah, thanks for joining us. We spent the whole day here at Whiskey River out on our property; capturing a lot of content, talking to Chris (Stapleton) and Justin (Allgaier), and visiting with

Kelley. There’s been a lot of work that went into putting this program together; designing a race car, logistics, and our roster of mechanics and all the people that we will need to go to the racetrack. Buying our race car and putting it together, it’s been a lot of fun.. a lot of work. But we’re now starting to get a dose of reality and get to know each other, right? It’s really the first time me and Chris have been around each other, so really enjoyed the day. I can’t wait to see the reaction on social media. We know we have a lot of people that follow JR Motorsports and pull for our success, and we’re excited to see how they all feel about the Daytona 500 and us having an entry.”

Justin, for you, obviously winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship in November and now the opportunity to run the Daytona 500 in 2025 – I would have to say, you’ve had a great winter. Tell us a little bit about your outlook as this opportunity came together and you get the chance to pilot the car.

Justin Allgaier: “I mean, obviously, it’s an amazing opportunity to win the championship last year and to kind of finally check a box that we’ve tried to check at JR Motorsports for so long with myself and with the team. And, you know, when I got brought into the office to discuss this, I thought I was being called to the principal’s office, to be honest with you at first. I wasn’t really sure what to expect. When they were explaining some of the process about it, I kind of didn’t put myself in the position of them offering me the job to drive the car. I just thought they were kind of filling me in on what the plans were for JR Motorsports. And so when the opportunity was presented to obviously drive the car and to be a part of the foray for JR Motorsports in the Cup Series – I mean, that’s a big opportunity. I take a lot of pressure on myself in that moment to see this organization compete on the grand scale of the Cup Series.. something that I am surprised that has never come to fruition before this point. But then to add somebody like Chris Stapleton and Traveller’s Whiskey into this – to see how involved Chris has been in this process and how much passion he’s had. I mean, really, in the conversations of what’s going back and forth between him and the team, and then just today to see his passion for this, is really, really cool for me and something that I’m not taking lightly. I know that it’s going to be a stacked field at the racetrack. There’s a lot

of open cars trying to battle for a few spots. But, you know, this is.. as somebody that’s been a part of the Cup Series, it’s great to get back. But this is a lot bigger than that for me. This is about seeing JR

Motorsports make this transition for this race. And, you know, who knows if there will ever be another JR Motorsports Cup Series entry. But regardless, there will always be one ‘first’, and this is obviously something that’s really, really important to all of us.”

Chris, for you, just tell us a little bit of what it means to you to be able to bring your whiskey brand to put on a car in conjunction with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the relationship you guys have. Tell us a little bit about how that came together from your perspective and being able to see that brand on the race track.

Chris Stapleton: “I’m not sure it’s fully sunk in. But yeah, it’s one of these things that you kind of think about.. what’s the coolest thing we could do with the whiskey brand? Well, maybe we should put it on a race car. And I happen to know Rick Hendrick, and Rick kind of hooked me up with Dale (Earnhardt Jr.). This opportunity came up and I was like – well, we’ve got to do that. So I went and talked to my partners in the whiskey and I said – hey, we’ve got to make this happen.. let’s make this happen. And they agreed. This is the best possible way that we could, you know, introduce our brand to the fans of the sport. And beyond that, I just think it’s super cool to see it on the car. You know, selfishly, I think that’s one of the things I wanted out of it the most, is just to see this thing happen. And now, like Dale said, a lot of realities are setting in like – oh, we’re entering a car in the Daytona 500 all of a sudden, and it’s just going to be a lot of fun. I’m excited to see what happens and, you know, enjoy just the whole thing.. the experience of it.”

A question for all of you. First, I want to know why Justin Allgaier? I mean, obviously, there’s a lot of drivers within the JRM camp, and now it’s out of the JRM camp. So, why is

Justin the guy?

Dale Earnhardt Jr: “For me, there’s a lot of layers to this. Obviously JR Motorsports, myself and Kelley (Earnhardt Miller) entering a Cup car in any race is a big deal for us. But this is also a bit of a continuation, at least for me personally, of celebrating Justin’s (Allgaier) championship – achieving a goal that, like you said, we’ve been after for a long time. We’ve came so close and we’ve had some really, really tough, heartbreaking moments, but it’s really strengthened our bond and partnership. And so when we were starting to talk about doing this, I think me and Kelley both knew that we had to consider Justin as the driver. And as all of that played out toward the end of last year, it was a no-brainer that that was what we needed to do. I want to let Kelley speak to this, too, because she’s probably more aware of this than I am.. but with Traveller, we want them to have a great experience. We know what Justin’s capable of doing outside of the car, as well as inside the car. And so we know that as a driver and through marketing engagement, that Justin will make sure this is a great experience for Traveller, Chris and his team.”

Kelley Earnhardt Miller: “Yeah, speaking to that part of it – you know, not only just having your brand on the car, but we want to make sure it’s a great marketing opportunity for the brand.. for the brand to

grow and for the fan base to get acquainted with the Traveller brand. And so as Dale alluded to – Justin being with our organization so long, he just goes above and beyond anything that’s asked or not asked. He’s always there for his partners. He’s there for our team partners. And so we know that Justin will do a great job, not only around the Daytona 500 when we get the opportunity to get out there and attempt to qualify, but really all year long, for this partnership and what it means to the Traveller brand. We’re just excited that Justin was our guy and that he said ‘yes’ the day that we brought him into the principal’s office.”

Justin, we talked a lot last year, last November, about whether or not the championship was

something that you could have ended your career having or not. And I’m

curious, how much did you think at this stage of your career about your two

Daytona 500 starts? Did you feel like you needed to have a Daytona 500 start with a quality team,

quality people, to make your career feel complete?

Justin Allgaier: “You know, I don’t know. I think for me, the interesting part of this is that I’m probably more excited about what I said earlier with this being JR Motorsports’ first Cup Series start. I love where I’m at. I love being a part of this organization and the people that I’m around. Dale, Kelley and L.W. are obviously the face and the upfront part of it, but it goes all the way through the organization; all the employees.. all the men and women that are part of it. You know, as large as our group has gotten, it’s still a family and it’s still the family feel. And I feel like, you know, with what Chris has brought with Traveller’s Whiskey, that feel is the same, right? It’s about just enjoying the experiences; being in the moment and kind of living present in the moment. This is something, for me, that’s really, really cool. And, you know, the championship last year was awesome, but I had conceded to the fact that I wasn’t really sure that that was ever going to happen. When we finally pulled it off, it was like – man, that’s a really cool, big moment. Seeing the excitement of our entire group at the shop was a big deal. And so this just takes that the next step further and I’m really proud to represent not only JR Motorsports, but the Traveller’s Whiskey brand. And like I said, we have our work cut out for us to even make the race, but there will be nothing cooler than if we can line up on Sunday. I told Chris already that the thing that I’m looking forward to the most, the thing that I miss the most, is the flyover and those chills of the pre-race moment of that event. There’s nothing like it in our sport. I stick around every year for Sunday and walk pit road and think about the days that I was there racing it. I don’t have to do that this year, hopefully. I can hopefully be there in a fire suit and getting my focus on for the race, and that’s really something that’s important for me.”

This is a pretty cool deal. Dale, you kind of touched on it in your last response, but can

you just kind of express what this means to have your entry in the Daytona 500? I know that this race means so much to you on so many levels..

Dale Earnhardt Jr: “Yeah, I still don’t feel like that. Like Chris said, I still feel like it’s still sinking in. I did tell Kelley that I wanted to be present for all the moments. And so from the moment we started to, you know, select the chassis and purchase the car; start to build, find the components, and get the components. And even going through that with NASCAR and understanding that whole process is really unique and new, compared to how things work in the Xfinity Series. So I want to be involved or at least a witness to everything. I’m going to be on pit road when the car is pushed out for qualifying. I’ll be there when it’s going out for practice. I’ll be there when they unload it on Wednesday at the racetrack. I want to go through tech. I want to see everything. I don’t know what’s realistic because there will be some other obligations, but I’m approaching this like it’s a one and only opportunity.. a dream come true. I told Kelley that I want her there for all of it, as well, because we’ve done this together from the start. This was something that we really waited for the right moment, and Chris and his brand, Traveller and their excitement around it feels nice and genuine. They’re experiencing it for the first time, as well. So yeah, we’re all kind of going through that.”

Chris Stapleton: “There’s a lot of synergy in that way, I think.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr: “Exactly, so it’s really cool. It’s hard to put it into words right now, but I think to Justin’s point – I told him, if we’re fortunate enough for everything to go well and we can be there on the grid for the 500, that pre-race moment is going to be very emotional, and really, really cool. So, you know, once it’s on the grid, it’s out of my hands, but getting it there is going to be a lot of fun.”

Kelley, if I could just follow up and get your answer to that question and what it means to you to be a part of this endeavor from the Earnhardt family side of things.

Kelley Earnhardt Miller: “Yeah, I can’t really sum it up any better than Dale did. You know, we talked about the opportunity. We’ve been talking about the opportunity to be in the Cup Series. And obviously, we’re a family of racers. This is our life. This is our passion. And so to be able to have a Cup entry at the Daytona 500 – a place that’s really special to us.. a place where the Earnhardt’s have had a lot of history and a lot of success with both my dad and Dale – you know, it’s just really kind of full circle. This is the perfect situation, the right moment, as Chris said. So we’re just pretty thankful and glad to be here.”

Chris, when you look at being teamed up with this legendary family.. forget about the business side of it. What does that mean to you, personally?

Chris Stapleton: “More things that aren’t really sinking in. You set out to do things and you meet people sometimes, and these are good people, beyond just being Earnhardt’s. It’s very important to me

to be in business with good people. I love that we’ve built something together, even though we’ve had this short period of time to do this thing in. I’m so grateful that they were willing to let me participate in the world just a small bit. And it really is, you know, it’s one of those surreal things that you get to experience.. once in a lifetime. Like I said, they don’t know.. they said they don’t know; it might be the only one we ever get a piece of, you know, or get to sit there and… It’s stuff you dream up that doesn’t happen, you know? And this is one of them. This is one of them. It’s one of those moments. Today has felt like, particularly with the car reveal, it became so real when the sheet came off the car. I was like – oh, this is not a napkin drawing anymore, or some ‘pie in the sky’ idea that we think would be cool. This is something we’re really going for and really trying to do, and I’m thrilled to be rolling the dice and taking the risk with them. I think it’s a wonderful energy. There’s great energy around it, for me.”

Justin Allgaier: “It’s also surreal to be sitting next to a legend in the music industry, right? You know, I mean, I see these guys (Dale and Kelley) all the time, and they’re amazing and they’re legends in the sport. But to have all of this is – I’m still pinching myself, to be honest with you.”

As you guys have built JR Motorsports and done this in kind of your own way, and obviously, Dale, you had your career in your own right and a lot of fans have followed you because they followed your dad. Going into the Cup Series for the first time, was there ever a sense that you wanted to do it for yourselves, you wanted to do it for the company, but you also wanted to do it for those fans that have stuck by you guys and the Earnhardt’s for so long? What do you think your dad would think about this?

Dale Earnhardt Jr: “Well, I hope that he’d be excited about it. I’m sure he would have told us how we should have done it differently (laughs). But, you know, he was also always very supportive. So I think he would be excited about this. I do feel a bit of an obligation with our connection to the fan base. I do feel that obligation to like achieve and have milestones as an owner. And so yeah, you’ve heard the rumblings over the years that fans are excited or hopeful of a potential Cup opportunity for us. And so yeah, there’s pressure not only on me and Kelley — Kelley said it the best the other day.. she’s like we’re a family, and we race and racing is what we do. We’re always going to race. And you know, we find a way to get to the racetrack and compete because that’s what we’ve always done and what we want to do. We’ve always wanted to race in the Cup Series, we were just waiting on the right pieces to fall into place. For our fans, there will be some pressure to go out there and get the car in the field; get it on the grid so that we can all enjoy this.”

When you guys have done things, it’s always been the No. 8, 88 or 3 with those connections. The No. 40, obviously with the connection to the sponsor, how cool is it going to be to kind of do something a little bit different?

Dale Earnhardt Jr: “I’ll let Chris talk a little bit about this, but Justin mentioned this – Chris was very involved and he knows what he likes. He knows what he wants this brand to be become and what they’re creating with Traveller. And so we were more than excited to allow them all of the creative influences that they wanted; to be able to have the race car on the racetrack that they want. As a traditionalist and someone that is a bit of a history buff, I was a bit surprised about how I felt about this because I didn’t mind what the number was. I was just hopeful to be able to put it together and get it on the racetrack. And the fact that there’s a connection for Chris and his team to the number makes it matter to me.”

Chris Stapleton: “Well really, the number – obviously Traveller Whiskey is blend number 40. We tried over 50 different blends before we picked the blend that goes in the bottle. I didn’t really know how much it was really, not necessarily a problem – but when I said can it be No. 40.. I was kind of throwing it out in the air, like will we have to check to see if we can have that? And I’m just like – oh, okay, yeah, it’s cool. But it really worked out for, you know, I think it’s a nice synergy to have that cue. I like Easter eggs and things like that on bottles and now on a car. And I wanted the car to also look like JR Motorsports, but also Traveller Whiskey. I wanted it to really look like both of those things, and I think we achieved that with what we did with the car. That was really my goal.”

Can you give more insight on bringing Greg Ives on board for this? I know you guys have a history together and you’ve both won at Daytona, but what else went into that business decision?

Dale Earnhardt Jr: “I saw how many times he’s qualified a car on the front row at Daytona (laughs). I’m like, do you have any magic left, Greg? Let’s go to the track and see what we can do.

But you know, I think being an open car, there’s some challenges to get into the field. It won’t be easy. There will be some very tough competition. I was confident that Greg understood, better than anybody, the things that we would all need to gather into place to go there with the best opportunity we could. And me and him are just really great friends, and I just trust him wholeheartedly with his decisions. And I don’t think he’ll be too annoyed with me standing over his shoulder throughout the whole process and asking him all kinds of silly questions. That went into the thought process, as well. He’s got a great track record, in terms of qualifying, and that hopefully can be a big assist for us.”

Justin Allgaier: “I think a follow-up on that too is that – you know, Greg has been on the Xfinity Series car for Hendrick Motorsports on the No. 17. We have a really good working relationship with him back-and-forth on the Xfinity Series side. He actually came to us for some help whenever they started running the No. 17 car. Greg has gotten to work really closely with all of our crew chiefs and all of our drivers, and he’s got a really good understanding – I mean, he was a championship crew chief at JR Motorsports. He understands the business really, really well, and I think that gives some comfort when you look at trying to assemble people for this organization and for what we’re trying to accomplish. It gives that little bit of comfort that I think makes a big difference. Dale’s got a comfort. I’ve got a comfort. And I’m sure Kelley has a comfort. Chris, he doesn’t know yet..”

Chris Stapleton: “I have comfort because they have comfort (laughs).”

Justin Allgaier: “When we got the news about Greg, it was really, really cool because I think he’s a great person to have on the box for the race.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr: “I’ll say this too about Greg – he worked at JR Motorsports for a while and was the crew chief on my car. But over the course of the last several years, there’s been moments where we’ve brought him into the building at JR Motorsports.. we were struggling a little bit in certain particular years and he came in to be an advisor for us and take a bit of a 40,000 feet view of what we’re doing to help us find ways to get ourselves back on track. So we utilize Greg all the time and his expertise has been beneficial to JR Motorsports, even over the past recent years, to try and continue our success.”

Justin, Dale referenced the challenge of making the Daytona 500. If you do have to race into the event through the Duels, with this being such a huge stand for JR Motorsports, can you kind of take me through what the emotions will be like.. trying to not just make the race, but keeping the car clean to get to Sunday?

Justin Allgaier: “We’ve had a lot of pressure.. Phoenix is a great example of what not to do in those moments (laughs). But I think one of the things for me that’s been important – Greg and I have talked about this, and we’ve talked about this internally – but I think your mindset has to be to try and go qualify. That has to be number one. That’s the easiest way to do it because then you can race the Duels in a different capacity. You can allow yourself to do a little bit more learning. You can work on some of the things that are going to be key for the race. You can work on some setups, balance changes and things like that. If you don’t qualify in and you have to race your way in through the Duels, I think your mindset changes. You know, we’re all understanding of what can happen in the Duels. I mean, we can have something happen coming to the green.. anytime in those races. We’ve seen it time and time again. I remember watching last year with Jimmie Johnson trying to race his way in – I remember thinking to myself that if I were ever in that position and you know you’re going to have to go for it, you just kind of have to lay caution to the wind and you’re going to have to go and try to see what you can accomplish.

Number one, I have a great mentor in superspeedway racing. Number two, we’ve had success on superspeedways in the past. We’ve won at Daytona, not this past summer but the summer before, in the Xfinity Series. So I think there are things that we have going for us in that capacity, but it’s not lost on me how much pressure there is in this. L.W., who’s sitting off camera here, he told me to just go focus on doing all that we can do. But I do take a lot of pride in this process and what that’s going to look like. I have to do a lot more homework before Daytona. I have to understand the drivers. Watching footage from practice is going to be important. Looking back on SMT data from past races. Watch how drivers made their way in. I look at pit road.. that could equally be the difference maker in whether we make the race or not. There’s a lot that goes into this. We still have to try and go win in the Xfinity Series.. that’s first and foremost on what we have, too. A lot of effort and time goes into this, but I look at who’s assembled and I look at the whole process – it just feels right. As Chris has already said, it just feels right. I feel like if there’s ever an opportunity to do this, it’s definitely this year.”

What’s it going to be like to see that car on the track for the first time? Are you going to be nervous? Are you going to be excited? Have you kind of imagined what it’s going to be like?

Chris Stapleton: “I have nothing to compare it to, so I imagine I’m going to be excited and then maybe nervous. I don’t know.. these guys are kind of laughing because (inaudible).. it looks like one thing on paper, but it’s another thing when it’s sitting out here in front of the building. And then it looks like a whole other thing when it’s out on the track. I think they’re speculating what is going to happen when I see that. I don’t know.. I really don’t know. We’ll have to take bets or something (laughs).”

In terms of the business and racing sides, what aspects are going to be most important to you or what will you go back to review everything from this process?

Dale Earnhardt Jr: “Well, I think – you know, obviously, this is a tough one to answer because you would hope fans would understand the answer to this question. Performing on the racetrack is absolutely important. We do want to go and win the pole and win the race every time we show up. But given the circumstances and Chris and Traveller have trusted us with their brand and to go represent them well – I think at the end of the day, I want them to be happy with the experience and be glad that they did it and did it with us. And so that’s probably the first thing that you want to feel on Monday morning after the Daytona 500. Everything else is secondary to that. We want to go race well and do well. We’re definitely going to be thinking about that very thing all weekend long as we go through the process of qualifying, practicing and so forth. But in the end, none of that matters if Traveller doesn’t enjoy the experience and Chris doesn’t enjoy the experience because that partnership is how this comes together. I think that Kelley and I are both extremely confident in our people at JR Motorsports that they will deliver, and we chose the right driver to make sure those boxes are checked for our partners. And so that’s probably the most important thing. And then again, yeah – going and racing.. going and running well.”

Chris, you have that friendship with Rick Hendrick dating back a few years, but do your ties with NASCAR kind of date back beyond that? What does that kind of look like?

Chris Stapleton: “You know, it would be a waste of time for me to sit here and talk about racing when you have these people sitting here that can do it so well. One time, I sat in on a major league baseball hitting meeting, and they were going through all these things that I had no idea went into it. That’s how I felt like hearing these guys talk about what needs to happen for this to happen.

I’m excited to partner with them and to kind of build off of what Dale was saying – I’m so pleased that you want us to be happy, but we’re already happy as partners with what we’re doing. Everything that I’ve ever dreamed this could be is happening right now. And now I want you guys to go out and do what you do. That’s what I want you thinking about.. doing what you do. I love to see great people being pros at what they do, and that’s what this is right now. It’s going to happen. It’s going to look good. It’s going to feel good. Just entering the track to qualify, that’s going to feel good, and that’s what I’m looking for out of it.”

Dale, when was the first time you guys started talking about this deal, and when did it start feeling like it could be a reality?

Dale Earnhardt Jr: “I hope Kelley has a better memory than I do..”

Kelley Earnhart: “July.. So yeah, we were presented with the opportunity, like Chris had alluded to his friendship with Mr. Hendrick, and this was something they had interest in doing. We were able to put all of our heads together on the marketing side. I have to give a big kudos to my team at JR Motorsports for working with their team; understanding what kind of objectives had in this process and putting together a plan that they liked and that they felt would work for their brand to bring this all together. You know, we’ve been working on it since the summer. Not a long time, but not too short of a time. We’re here and we’re excited to make it happen in February.”

About General Motors

General Motors (NYSE:GM) is driving the future of transportation, leveraging advanced technology to build safer, smarter, and lower emission cars, trucks, and SUVs. GM’s Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC brands offer a broad portfolio of innovative gasoline-powered vehicles and the industry’s widest range of EVs, as we move to an all-electric future. Learn more at GM.com.

January 15, 2025
CHEVROLET INDYCAR: Will Power Press Conference Transcript

CHEVROLET IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES
INDYCAR CONTENT DAYS
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA
PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
JANUARY 15, 2025

WILL POWER, driver of the No. 12 Team Penske Chevrolet, met with the media at the NTT INDYCAR SERIES Content Days in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Press Conference Transcript:

THE MODERATOR: Wrapping up content days 2025 with Will Power, back in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, beginning his 21st year of association in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES; three more wins last year gives him 44 for his career, along with his record 70 pole positions and two INDYCAR Series championships.

Here’s to 2025.

Q. What are the expectations for 2025?

WILL POWER: The expectations, yeah, based on the performance the second half, really most of the season last year were very strong. A very disappointing end, obviously, there to drop back a couple in the championship standings.

Yeah, very determined to come back and have a strong 2025. I think we’ll have the car, engine, package to do it, and I think Penske is in a very good spot right now. Obviously everyone goes back and works on their stuff. I’m sure Honda has gone away and worked, and Chevy has, also, and other teams.

Obviously Colton seemed very strong last year. I think Andretti will be strong.

I think McLaren will be strong. They’ve got Lundgaard there now with Pato, so that’s two very strong guys, as well.

It will be a tough year, as it is, and that’s why I enjoy it. I love that stuff.

Q. The Verizon car has got a little different look, clearly, this year.

WILL POWER: Yeah, I love it, man. I love the look. It’s nice and bright, and it’s cool they keep coming up with different liveries each year and get to try something new.

Q. It’ll look good in Victory Lane, too.

WILL POWER: It’ll look very good in Victory Lane.

Q. You were ahead of the curve on the FOX Sports promotions in that your car got unveiled on FOX’s NFL Sunday. Just to be able to have that type of platform which is how many millions of people tune in to FOX NFL Sunday, how valuable is that to you, and is that when you realized these guys are really invested?

WILL POWER: It’s great to see what FOX has been doing. You look at that commercial with Josef, the unveiling of the Verizon car, they’re serious. They’re advertising us before NFL games. I don’t know the numbers, but you can tell they are serious about making our series big and doing a great job, and I think it’s everything that we needed.

Just really, really happy to have FOX on board, to be on all network races, similar times.

Yeah, I think similar place, same times, all the stuff that INDYCAR has needed. And yeah, just watching it all, it’s such a difference even from five years ago, but just having been around the series so long, it’s so great to see.

Q. Scott Dixon and you are both performance level, competition level, still right there, top of your game, and to be able to sustain that through the ages that both of you are, just how impressive is that?

WILL POWER: It’s not just — so about being impressive, it’s like necessary. You’re certainly not sticking around if you’re not doing that. You’d better turn up or else she’s over. That’s just the way it is.

But I love it. I love the competition. I love the preparation. I love finding new little details and things to be better every year.

Yeah, it’s kind of funny you get to this point in your career and I feel you’re at your absolute best as far as putting a whole series together, weekend together, races together. You kind of have the same speed that you had but you don’t really build on speed. I think it’s just a natural thing that you have.

But the whole other package takes a long time to get unless you’re Palou, like some of those guys that just mature, and they work that out very early.

Q. I know the off-season after the 2023 season you were incredibly busy doing all sorts of testing, helping out with development of the hybrid. How different has this off-season that we’ve just nearly undergone been for you? Has it been a lot more low key? What have you been up to since you were on the racetrack in Nashville?

WILL POWER: Yeah, it’s been nothing like last off-season, like you say. I think they’ve restricted testing too much. To just have one day before we start racing I think is too far — I feel like we should at least have sort of three days spaced out or something like that.

You know, all you can do is get as fit as you can and sort of do all the homework you can do without driving a car really, without driving INDYCARs. Obviously there’s other things you can do. We have the simulator and so on that you can do work on. But yeah, it’s hard.

It’s the same for everyone. It is. Except for the guys that are just coming in, and they probably get a little bit more testing. But yeah, it’s just the way pretty much all of motorsports has headed to save costs.

Running a simulator is also — yeah, I think if you’re spending a lot of money on a sim, it would be nice just to spend some of that on actual true track testing.

Q. I don’t want to assume this, but I know there’s been a lot of talk about what you may be doing beyond 2025. Was it specifically important to get that settled and have someone else deal with that for you as you enter a 2025 contract year with Team Penske, which I think we all know could get — typically gets taken care of fairly early in the season?

WILL POWER: Yeah, some of that. Maybe I should have had a manager a long time ago. I think it’s just generally now, every driver has one. It’s just what drivers — drivers focus on what they do, and they have a guy taking care of even business stuff for you.

It’s many things, yeah.

Q. Helio is going to be running the 500 and of course has a provisional for that now. Is that something you want to do in the future given your partnership with Penske knowing you’re guaranteed for a spot now if you’d like to?

WILL POWER: For what?

Q. The Daytona 500.

WILL POWER: Yeah, I mean, certainly open to any of those things that I haven’t done, yeah, to do at some point. It’s not really on my radar at present. I’m so focused on just specifically INDYCAR, to be ultra competitive at that. Some of that stuff I really like to watch and would love to do.

Q. Talking about Josef going for three in a row, Alex going for three in a row, you’re also going for three championships. You’re the only one not named Alex Palou to win a championship since 2021, and we talked in Nashville and thought you maybe you should’ve been a little more conservative in areas, but you were going to go back and look at it. What is your thought process as we get closer to the season? How do you temper that aggression? Do you try to go back to that blueprint from your last championship or do you have to be aggressive to win this thing still?

WILL POWER: It’s that sweet spot of a balance. Definitely when I look at some of those moves, when I think about Toronto, that was just worth sitting there. There’s no question in my mind. The thing that sort of suckered me into doing something like that is I had done that move multiple times even in that race because people have to brake a bit early and you’re kind of put in a position where they have to lift out.

But that’s that sweet spot where you’re sitting in fifth and Palou is behind you at that point, you should be sitting there. That was a mistake. They’re the things that you’ve got to weigh up. It’s just walking that tightrope perfectly. I think if you’re too conservative in this current field you won’t get the performance you need to get the points. The field is too stacked. There will be too many people filling those gaps where you’ve just sort of let off a little bit.

It’s become harder to put that together. But yeah, I would say for our speed in the second half or the last quarter of the season, we had the potential to win like three more races or something, and it just didn’t happen.

I would say Palou didn’t have the outright speed and performance that those guys were sort of a little bit on the back foot, and it was sort of there for us as a team for the taking. We didn’t do it, and the team provided everything we needed to do that, and it didn’t happen. So yeah, certainly reflecting on that stuff.

Q. Last year is also the first year you didn’t win a pole. A couple years ago you didn’t get a win and then you stormed back. I know it’s just a pole but also that’s an extra championship point. How important is it to get back to winning poles this coming season?

WILL POWER: Yeah, I think you put yourself in a great position if you win poles. You qualify in the top 6, you put yourself in a really good position. I wasn’t heavily focused on that. I really wasn’t. In some respects I didn’t want to get poles on ovals because I think it kind of in some ways hurts you a little bit at times, just being out front in nice clean air. Car feels great, then you get put back and it takes you another sort of stint to get your head around a car in dirty air. So there’s some good and bad in that.

But for sure on road courses qualifying at the very front is a big deal, which I was sort of getting more top 6s than ’23.

But yeah, it’s hard to get poles these days. It really is. No one is like pumping out multi-poles in a year anymore. It’s very difficult.

Very race focused. I have been more recently. But yeah, you can’t — like I said, you can say all these things, but you cannot leave anything on the table in this series anymore. There’s no place where you can go, well, be a bit conservative here; those positions will be filled anytime you are basically.

Q. I know you mentioned doing Le Mans at some point —

WILL POWER: Yeah.

Q. But your INDYCAR performance was still really good. What is the timeline for you? Do you want to keep doing INDYCAR as long as you can?

WILL POWER: I think I could be absolutely competitive for another five years if I wanted.

Q. Is that the goal then to keep doing INDYCAR?

WILL POWER: It’s absolutely the goal, yeah, to definitely keep rolling while I’m really competitive. I was like very competitive last year. I won three races and seven podiums. No one else in the field but McLaughlin did that. So I’m still performance really high.

Yeah, if I wasn’t performing, I wouldn’t want to do it. I’m still learning. It’s crazy, but you’re still learning stuff.

Q. Your longevity as a driver speaks for itself, the tremendous success you’ve had and continue to have. I can’t remember a time, though, when you weren’t driving for Verizon. The relationship, talk about what that’s been like for you individually, not just for Team Penske, and how proud you must be of that.

WILL POWER: Yeah, I feel like I’ve been very fortunate in that respect, to have kept Verizon as a sponsor for — I think we’re for 16 years now.

Yeah, it’s hard to do that in this sport, and there’s been a couple of different CEOs in that time. I’ve ended up having good relationships with all of them and sort of keeping them engaged in racing.

Yeah, I think a lot of that is the team that I drive for. Roger is a class act, obviously, and an organization that is sponsored like that would want to be associated with — when I look at it, for me signing with Penske full time in 2010 or getting my foot in the door in 2009 was just a pivotal moment in my career. Just set me up to be able to have these performances and keep a sponsor like Verizon for that long.

Yeah, I’m certainly reflective of how fortunate I am of being in a situation of driving for a team that will give you a car, that can win week in and week out and keeping that sponsor for that long.

Yeah, pretty cool. I can’t be more thankful to Roger for giving me the chance that he’s given me over the years.

Q. Will, it sounds like you’re really passionate about Le Mans. Has that been a key reason for the management change? It seems like you’re super keen to get over there and try and win that race.

WILL POWER: Yeah, I would love to have a shot at winning that race. I’ve won the Indy 500, and when I think about those sort of opportunities, someone like Fernando Alonso certainly has a lot of good contacts in Europe.

Yeah, it’s a very cool event that I haven’t been able to do yet. It’s definitely, definitely on the radar.

Q. I know you said you intend to continue in INDYCAR for another five or so years. Are you happy at Team Penske, and is that where you would like to do that? From the outside I can’t see you driving for another team, but what are your hopes and how do you hope that plays out?

WILL POWER: Yeah, like I said, I’ve been very lucky to drive for a team like Penske. There isn’t a better team in the series right now. The performance and the crews you’re given, everything. That’s ultimately the goal.

Q. As a multi-time winner and two-time champion, presumably it is your right to call the shots as to when you wish to end your career, right?

WILL POWER: Well, yeah, I mean, if I understand your question, it isn’t my choice, obviously, because I don’t own the team. It always become complicated. Obviously a lot of things that play into that.

But at the end of the day if you’re winning races and you’re very strong, that’s the best defense you have against any of that stuff.

Honestly, the way I performed last year, if you did the same this year — winning three races in a season in INDYCAR now is very, very difficult. The champion only won two, I believe. That’s difficult to do, and if you’re doing that, you probably should be driving in that series. You deserve a seat.

Q. Verizon must have been fairly pleased with their results with you over the last however many years, 15?

WILL POWER: Yeah, I’ve had some — yep. Won a 500, a couple of championships, a lot of races, a lot of poles. I’ve kept those guys on board, and I think companies like that want winners.

Obviously being associated with Roger Penske, and well, and that organization is a big part of it, too.

About General Motors

General Motors (NYSE:GM) is driving the future of transportation, leveraging advanced technology to build safer, smarter, and lower emission cars, trucks, and SUVs. GM’s Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC brands offer a broad portfolio of innovative gasoline-powered vehicles and the industry’s widest range of EVs, as we move to an all-electric future. Learn more at GM.com.

January 15, 2025
CHEVROLET INDYCAR: Robert Shwartzman Press Conference Transcript

CHEVROLET IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES
INDYCAR CONTENT DAYS
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA
PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
JANUARY 15, 2025

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN, driver of the No. 83 PREMA Racing Chevrolet, met with the media at the NTT INDYCAR SERIES Content Days in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Press Conference Transcript:

MODERATOR: Robert Shwartzman joins us, driving the No. 83 PREMA Racing Chevrolet, rookie who moves to the NTT INDYCAR Series back in 2019 as the F2 champion, F3 race winner, along with Callum helped unveil the team’s cars, big launch on Friday down in suburban Charlotte, North Carolina.

Welcome to your first NTT INDYCAR Series content day. What’s the review? How would you describe this today?

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: Well, it’s really well managed, honestly.

Q. We’ll take that.

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: I’ve never seen — obviously I’ve never done so much media in one day and I was like — I seen the list and I was like, how do we do that, so much. How do we squeeze it all in.

But really well organized, guys. Really quick, really spot on. Just go there, boom, boom, boom, off you go, done. Really well managed.

Q. What are the expectations for 2025? Nervous going into this?

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: Not actually. I’ve done 20 years of my career. You get nervous when you have something to lose, that thing when you can lose your name, your status or something or a race you are leading. I feel fully excited. Everything is new.

I’ve done like 20 years in Europe racing from karting to junior formulas to the higher level formulas, being reserve F1 and stuff, and here it’s like fresh air. Like at some point after 20 years you know all the tracks already, you know all the people.

Here it’s new. It’s cool. Last year in 2024 I’ve done hyper cars or WEC and we actually were in Austin, so I was like, well, that’s another good thing. I have a good vibe in the U.S. here because we took the win.

Yeah, really looking forward to racing here. We are rookies. We have nothing to lose. We have only to gain. So that’s the mentality.

Q. Just to continue the conversation, just to know you’re into music and have a song, how did that come about and how important is music to your life and what would you like to do with it and promote that through the series, too?

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: Yeah, so basically the music thing came a long time ago from my dad. My dad was educating me quite a lot in music, mainly classic. Like nowadays it’s rare you can see any teenager or a youngster listening to classic music, where at some stage I also was like, dad, what is this, it’s boring.

But at some point I got my ear into that. I realized how the melody is structured, how everything is structured, that that’s where it all comes from. Then I started listening to some different artists like from when I was a kid, I liked rock, heavy metal, some pop songs and stuff, but like a mix.

I just like the top level, so in any genre there is a top artist that is just, like, the best. So I listen and try to learn and understand what is their unique thing, like if you remember Michael (Jackson).

Like he’s incredible because his voice, his moves, the way he was putting the music with the rhythm with the moves. It was just like something out of this world. So that’s why nobody in the pop industry even came close to what Michael did.

I just got into it and it just caught my ear and I started to expand my knowledge in that, and at some point when my dad already passed away I was like, I was feeling really bad and I was listening to a lot of music and it helped me, just my mood, my motivation. It sort of felt like a friend, like I’m listening and somebody is talking to me in a sense.

So I was like, wow, this is really cool. I had a friend and he was doing hip-hop, like he was writing lyrics and stuff and I was like, can I join in? Can you just teach me? Can we just do something together? And he’s like, yeah, come in.

We started doing the beats and he started explaining to me how it works, the hip-hop industry and stuff, and I was like, this is cool. Then we decided to write a song. We wrote a song. I released it. I don’t know, it’s up to people whether they like it or not. I personally quite like it. I can’t say it’s the greatest, but I think as a baseline it was kind of good and I was happy about it.

But at that stage I had to stop it a bit because I didn’t really have any promotional company that would promote it well because where I was located it was not — like it was not English, the language that would be interesting.

Actually now that I come here to U.S. maybe at some point I would really love to speak with some people who would be interested into collabing and working, because I really love music, love the whole process of it.

Yeah, I just need a team, let’s say. Basically it’s like if you want to become a racing driver you cannot be just driver; you need a team to drive. So that’s the same with music.

Therefore at the moment it’s on break, but I really hope that here in U.S., because obviously with its quite famous hip-hop industry here, to get in along and try to do something and get back on that.

Q. Can we hear that anywhere?

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: Yeah, you can go to Spotify. It’s called Active, my song. My name is Shwartzy, so I shortened up my name. You can check it out. Have a listen.

I have others, but as I said, because that song that I released, it was mainly my following that was — that heard it. I need someone else from the music industry to expand it because racing people can hear it and it’s really cool, my fans and stuff. I like it a lot. But if you want to grow, you need to expand the boundaries.

Q. What does it mean to be chosen to be one of two drivers to lead PREMA into their U.S. adventure?

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: Well, I’m really, really happy and thankful for the team for their trust because when we had the discussion, they had a lot of other drivers, other opportunities, and obviously there are some drivers who have more experience in America than I do.

So for sure in one sense it’s sort of a risk for the team to go for it, but the team knows me. We worked four years together. We’ve won together. We’ve won a lot of races and we know each other really well. So we both have full trust that we can win here together.

At that stage it was pretty clear that none of us had any doubts about each other. We understand that we need some time, obviously, because everything is new and we need to set up the whole team, people. It takes time, and we kind of have an expectation to go in the first race and dominate.

But that’s the target, and I believe we can achieve it. Inside we will achieve it. I feel like we will achieve it.

But yeah, so from my side, again, it’s really cool that me and Callum are there because we’re both ex-PREMA drivers; now we’re back with PREMA. Again, I think that decision has been made because the team knew who we are. They knew what we are capable of, and I think they were searching for that as we were searching for a team who is motivated to win and are determined and will do everything for it.

That’s where we found each other, and our journey begins here.

Q. A little bit off of Steve’s question, you talked a little bit about the importance and the coolness of PREMA choosing you. Why did you want to come to INDYCAR? I know you have a lot of drivers that you competed against that have come here in recent years, but what was the pull of wanting to come here and compete in INDYCAR, a category that’s new for you but I imagine one that’s also fairly familiar?

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: Well, I think when you grow up and you race in the single seater — I’ve tried the WEC, and I’ve realized that it’s not for me, at least at this stage in my life, because you have to share the car. You don’t really drive much. I want to drive. I want that feel.

I really missed a lot because after Formula 2 when you reach the result, when you win and stuff like that, you kind of go back. That’s it; door is closed.

So there is either Formula 1 or INDYCAR or Formula E, as well. But those are the only three options for single seaters. I really liked and loved the racing in U.S. and the competition, and because the cars are quite similar alike to each other, so it’s much more for me up to the driver in this series to make the difference, let’s say.

So therefore already a couple years ago when I did the test with Ganassi we were already putting an eye on that series. I really wanted to join in, but at that stage there were no space, no places, and at that stage I was working with Ferrari and Formula 1, so I had a contract there, so therefore there was not such an opportunity.

It happens — like the timing happened that PREMA announced they were joining INDYCAR. Again, it’s a team that I know really well, and my contract was expiring at the end of last year, so I was like, okay, this is probably a right moment to push for INDY.

So it happened, everything in that sense. I think it’s like meant to be. And there we are. For me, I’m very happy where I am. I’m happy with the team I’m driving with. As I said, it’s just happened so that I’ve already been looking for the series for quite a few years.

Q. You’re making this jump to the series, having finished runner-up in the Formula 2 championship; you won the F3 championship in 2019, so you’ve done a lot of winning in your career. I know you maybe haven’t been able to do as much driving the last couple years as you would have liked, but can you describe a little bit what the mindset is going from someone who’s used to winning, who’s used to having a lot of success to a role with a team in a series that I imagine is going to struggle a little bit, going to have some ups and some downs just as you and PREMA are learning the sport and competing against folks that have been here for a long time?

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: Well, yeah, it’s a good question actually. Whenever I was winning with PREMA and generally I had this winning, winning consequence of races and championships and stuff and I was always up there. It’s obviously a rhythm that you get.

But it honestly gives you so much pressure because everybody is looking at you as a winner and they all expect you to win. So unless you don’t win, it gets on your shoulders. Honestly, it’s quite difficult. I had that for like three years, that pressure on me, and it’s tough.

Here, as I said, we come here and I have zero pressure. I just want to enjoy. I want to have fun. I’m sure that we’re going to have it and we’re going to come up to that level.

We’re going to come up to winning, and that’s what we are here for and that’s what PREMA showed in Europe, I showed in Europe. So we have everything. We just obviously need some time.

At the beginning, who knows. We don’t know how much we’re going to struggle. Is it going to be very difficult, medium, light? I have no idea. We’ll see. But in any circumstance, I will do my best to always deliver. And again, I don’t feel any pressure because everything is new to me here.

I just want to, again — I have only to learn and to gain. Therefore that was also part of the decision that I’ve done to come here, is to finally feel back that excitement of racing and learning and working with your team and come basically from zero to here.

How do you say? That’s my goal. I want to, with the team together, bring it up from scratch, up to the P1. That’s the target. I think that’s the best part and that’s the process where I will enjoy it the most.

To go to a team who is already dominating, it’s good. It’s nice, because it’s a high chance you’re going to win with them and bring results. But your own part, you would not feel like it. You already went to a buildup project.

But to build your own one and bring it up to the winning side, that’s another story. That’s what I want to do, and that’s what I’m here for.

Q. In Formula 2, that was about three years ago now. You’ve done some racing in the sports car endurance racing, things like that. Have you done any actual races in an open-wheel car?

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: Nope.

Q. You’ve done test sessions and practice —

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: Yeah, so after Formula 2 season, I’ve done only testing in Formula 1, practices, testing, so quite a lot of mileage on Formula 1 with different teams, and Formula E. That’s the 2 series. And one day testing with Ganassi two years ago. That’s basically the only testing.

Racing-wise since Formula 2, I haven’t raced in a single seater.

Q. So you’ll have quite a bit of side-by-side action here in open-wheel car again. Is that a different mindset versus the sports cars of how to race somebody side by side?

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: Well, in sports cars it’s not that you have much opportunities to bump each other. There’s some contact, it’s more durable as a car, but you can easily ruin your race by contacting things.

We had some moments last year where if you, like, have a contact and they break your rear diffuser, you’re going to lose so much track. I did one hour like that and we lost a lot, a lot of time in it.

It’s not as simple — it’s not as different. Also for me as a driver I don’t like to have much contact. I always trying to be fair and give some space and play fair. I hope that other drivers here are going to be the same and respectful, and unless it’s like this, there should not be any problem.

Q. What’s your relationship like with Marcus Armstrong? He said he knows you pretty well.

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: Well, with Marcus, we started off from New Zealand end of 2017. We had this TRS championship where we had a lot of fun and we were battling until the end in that championship. I managed to win it.

Then we went to Formula 3 Euro Series. We had a season there together.

Then the next year in Formula 3 in 2019, again, we were teammates.

So we were teammates for quite a while, plus we were in the same junior program in FDA, in Ferrari Driver Academy. So we spent quite a lot of time together, had some quite fun. So it was me, Callum and Marcus that were in that sort of group.

So yeah, that’s where I know him for quite a long time, and then because I stayed in Europe, he went here to U.S. to Indy, and now we’re back. So obviously we know each other. We had some good fun in the past.

Q. And an impressive line of drivers that have competed with PREMA earlier in their career that are now in INDYCAR. To be able to continue that tradition, how cool is that for you?

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: Yeah, of course. I think PREMA very often chooses the best drivers as possible. That’s their target. That’s where they are working really hard to get the best of the best in any category.

To be a part of the team here in INDYCAR, it’s a big privilege. As I said, I’m very, very happy about it, and I’m just looking forward to having a good time and to just improve, improve and gain, gain, gain until we come to the moment where we’re going to be winners.

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN, driver of the No. 83 PREMA Racing Chevrolet, met with the media at the NTT INDYCAR SERIES Content Days in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Press Conference Transcript:

MODERATOR: Robert Shwartzman joins us, driving the No. 83 PREMA Racing Chevrolet, rookie who moves to the NTT INDYCAR Series back in 2019 as the F2 champion, F3 race winner, along with Callum helped unveil the team’s cars, big launch on Friday down in suburban Charlotte, North Carolina.

Welcome to your first NTT INDYCAR SERIES content day. What’s the review? How would you describe this today?

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: Well, it’s really well managed, honestly.

Q. We’ll take that.

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: I’ve never seen — obviously I’ve never done so much media in one day and I was like — I seen the list and I was like, how do we do that, so much. How do we squeeze it all in.

But really well organized, guys. Really quick, really spot on. Just go there, boom, boom, boom, off you go, done. Really well managed.

Q. What are the expectations for 2025? Nervous going into this?

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: Not actually. I’ve done 20 years of my career. You get nervous when you have something to lose, that thing when you can lose your name, your status or something or a race you are leading. I feel fully excited. Everything is new.

I’ve done like 20 years in Europe racing from karting to junior formulas to the higher level formulas, being reserve F1 and stuff, and here it’s like fresh air. Like at some point after 20 years you know all the tracks already, you know all the people.

Here it’s new. It’s cool. Last year in 2024 I’ve done hyper cars or WEC and we actually were in Austin, so I was like, well, that’s another good thing. I have a good vibe in the U.S. here because we took the win.

Yeah, really looking forward to racing here. We are rookies. We have nothing to lose. We have only to gain. So that’s the mentality.

Q. Just to continue the conversation, just to know you’re into music and have a song, how did that come about and how important is music to your life and what would you like to do with it and promote that through the series, too?

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: Yeah, so basically the music thing came a long time ago from my dad. My dad was educating me quite a lot in music, mainly classic. Like nowadays it’s rare you can see any teenager or a youngster listening to classic music, where at some stage I also was like, dad, what is this, it’s boring.

But at some point I got my ear into that. I realized how the melody is structured, how everything is structured, that that’s where it all comes from. Then I started listening to some different artists like from when I was a kid, I liked rock, heavy metal, some pop songs and stuff, but like a mix.

I just like the top level, so in any genre there is a top artist that is just, like, the best. So I listen and try to learn and understand what is their unique thing, like if you remember Michael (Jackson).

Like he’s incredible because his voice, his moves, the way he was putting the music with the rhythm with the moves. It was just like something out of this world. So that’s why nobody in the pop industry even came close to what Michael did.

I just got into it and it just caught my ear and I started to expand my knowledge in that, and at some point when my dad already passed away I was like, I was feeling really bad and I was listening to a lot of music and it helped me, just my mood, my motivation. It sort of felt like a friend, like I’m listening and somebody is talking to me in a sense.

So I was like, wow, this is really cool. I had a friend and he was doing hip-hop, like he was writing lyrics and stuff and I was like, can I join in? Can you just teach me? Can we just do something together? And he’s like, yeah, come in.

We started doing the beats and he started explaining to me how it works, the hip-hop industry and stuff, and I was like, this is cool. Then we decided to write a song. We wrote a song. I released it. I don’t know, it’s up to people whether they like it or not. I personally quite like it. I can’t say it’s the greatest, but I think as a baseline it was kind of good and I was happy about it.

But at that stage I had to stop it a bit because I didn’t really have any promotional company that would promote it well because where I was located it was not — like it was not English, the language that would be interesting.

Actually now that I come here to U.S. maybe at some point I would really love to speak with some people who would be interested into collabing and working, because I really love music, love the whole process of it.

Yeah, I just need a team, let’s say. Basically it’s like if you want to become a racing driver you cannot be just driver; you need a team to drive. So that’s the same with music.

Therefore at the moment it’s on break, but I really hope that here in U.S., because obviously with its quite famous hip-hop industry here, to get in along and try to do something and get back on that.

Q. Can we hear that anywhere?

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: Yeah, you can go to Spotify. It’s called Active, my song. My name is Shwartzy, so I shortened up my name. You can check it out. Have a listen.

I have others, but as I said, because that song that I released, it was mainly my following that was — that heard it. I need someone else from the music industry to expand it because racing people can hear it and it’s really cool, my fans and stuff. I like it a lot. But if you want to grow, you need to expand the boundaries.

Q. What does it mean to be chosen to be one of two drivers to lead PREMA into their U.S. adventure?

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: Well, I’m really, really happy and thankful for the team for their trust because when we had the discussion, they had a lot of other drivers, other opportunities, and obviously there are some drivers who have more experience in America than I do.

So for sure in one sense it’s sort of a risk for the team to go for it, but the team knows me. We worked four years together. We’ve won together. We’ve won a lot of races and we know each other really well. So we both have full trust that we can win here together.

At that stage it was pretty clear that none of us had any doubts about each other. We understand that we need some time, obviously, because everything is new and we need to set up the whole team, people. It takes time, and we kind of have an expectation to go in the first race and dominate.

But that’s the target, and I believe we can achieve it. Inside we will achieve it. I feel like we will achieve it.

But yeah, so from my side, again, it’s really cool that me and Callum are there because we’re both ex-PREMA drivers; now we’re back with PREMA. Again, I think that decision has been made because the team knew who we are. They knew what we are capable of, and I think they were searching for that as we were searching for a team who is motivated to win and are determined and will do everything for it.

That’s where we found each other, and our journey begins here.

Q. A little bit off of Steve’s question, you talked a little bit about the importance and the coolness of PREMA choosing you. Why did you want to come to INDYCAR? I know you have a lot of drivers that you competed against that have come here in recent years, but what was the pull of wanting to come here and compete in INDYCAR, a category that’s new for you but I imagine one that’s also fairly familiar?

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: Well, I think when you grow up and you race in the single seater — I’ve tried the WEC, and I’ve realized that it’s not for me, at least at this stage in my life, because you have to share the car. You don’t really drive much. I want to drive. I want that feel.

I really missed a lot because after Formula 2 when you reach the result, when you win and stuff like that, you kind of go back. That’s it; door is closed.

So there is either Formula 1 or INDYCAR or Formula E, as well. But those are the only three options for single seaters. I really liked and loved the racing in U.S. and the competition, and because the cars are quite similar alike to each other, so it’s much more for me up to the driver in this series to make the difference, let’s say.

So therefore already a couple years ago when I did the test with Ganassi we were already putting an eye on that series. I really wanted to join in, but at that stage there were no space, no places, and at that stage I was working with Ferrari and Formula 1, so I had a contract there, so therefore there was not such an opportunity.

It happens — like the timing happened that PREMA announced they were joining INDYCAR. Again, it’s a team that I know really well, and my contract was expiring at the end of last year, so I was like, okay, this is probably a right moment to push for INDY.

So it happened, everything in that sense. I think it’s like meant to be. And there we are. For me, I’m very happy where I am. I’m happy with the team I’m driving with. As I said, it’s just happened so that I’ve already been looking for the series for quite a few years.

Q. You’re making this jump to the series, having finished runner-up in the Formula 2 championship; you won the F3 championship in 2019, so you’ve done a lot of winning in your career. I know you maybe haven’t been able to do as much driving the last couple years as you would have liked, but can you describe a little bit what the mindset is going from someone who’s used to winning, who’s used to having a lot of success to a role with a team in a series that I imagine is going to struggle a little bit, going to have some ups and some downs just as you and PREMA are learning the sport and competing against folks that have been here for a long time?

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: Well, yeah, it’s a good question actually. Whenever I was winning with PREMA and generally I had this winning, winning consequence of races and championships and stuff and I was always up there. It’s obviously a rhythm that you get.

But it honestly gives you so much pressure because everybody is looking at you as a winner and they all expect you to win. So unless you don’t win, it gets on your shoulders. Honestly, it’s quite difficult. I had that for like three years, that pressure on me, and it’s tough.

Here, as I said, we come here and I have zero pressure. I just want to enjoy. I want to have fun. I’m sure that we’re going to have it and we’re going to come up to that level.

We’re going to come up to winning, and that’s what we are here for and that’s what PREMA showed in Europe, I showed in Europe. So we have everything. We just obviously need some time.

At the beginning, who knows. We don’t know how much we’re going to struggle. Is it going to be very difficult, medium, light? I have no idea. We’ll see. But in any circumstance, I will do my best to always deliver. And again, I don’t feel any pressure because everything is new to me here.

I just want to, again — I have only to learn and to gain. Therefore that was also part of the decision that I’ve done to come here, is to finally feel back that excitement of racing and learning and working with your team and come basically from zero to here.

How do you say? That’s my goal. I want to, with the team together, bring it up from scratch, up to the P1. That’s the target. I think that’s the best part and that’s the process where I will enjoy it the most.

To go to a team who is already dominating, it’s good. It’s nice, because it’s a high chance you’re going to win with them and bring results. But your own part, you would not feel like it. You already went to a buildup project.

But to build your own one and bring it up to the winning side, that’s another story. That’s what I want to do, and that’s what I’m here for.

Q. In Formula 2, that was about three years ago now. You’ve done some racing in the sports car endurance racing, things like that. Have you done any actual races in an open-wheel car?

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: Nope.

Q. You’ve done test sessions and practice —

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: Yeah, so after Formula 2 season, I’ve done only testing in Formula 1, practices, testing, so quite a lot of mileage on Formula 1 with different teams, and Formula E. That’s the 2 series. And one day testing with Ganassi two years ago. That’s basically the only testing.

Racing-wise since Formula 2, I haven’t raced in a single seater.

Q. So you’ll have quite a bit of side-by-side action here in open-wheel car again. Is that a different mindset versus the sports cars of how to race somebody side by side?

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: Well, in sports cars it’s not that you have much opportunities to bump each other. There’s some contact, it’s more durable as a car, but you can easily ruin your race by contacting things.

We had some moments last year where if you, like, have a contact and they break your rear diffuser, you’re going to lose so much track. I did one hour like that and we lost a lot, a lot of time in it.

It’s not as simple — it’s not as different. Also for me as a driver I don’t like to have much contact. I always trying to be fair and give some space and play fair. I hope that other drivers here are going to be the same and respectful, and unless it’s like this, there should not be any problem.

Q. What’s your relationship like with Marcus Armstrong? He said he knows you pretty well.

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: Well, with Marcus, we started off from New Zealand end of 2017. We had this TRS championship where we had a lot of fun and we were battling until the end in that championship. I managed to win it.

Then we went to Formula 3 Euro Series. We had a season there together.

Then the next year in Formula 3 in 2019, again, we were teammates.

So we were teammates for quite a while, plus we were in the same junior program in FDA, in Ferrari Driver Academy. So we spent quite a lot of time together, had some quite fun. So it was me, Callum and Marcus that were in that sort of group.

So yeah, that’s where I know him for quite a long time, and then because I stayed in Europe, he went here to U.S. to Indy, and now we’re back. So obviously we know each other. We had some good fun in the past.

Q. And an impressive line of drivers that have competed with PREMA earlier in their career that are now in INDYCAR. To be able to continue that tradition, how cool is that for you?

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: Yeah, of course. I think PREMA very often chooses the best drivers as possible. That’s their target. That’s where they are working really hard to get the best of the best in any category.

To be a part of the team here in INDYCAR, it’s a big privilege. As I said, I’m very, very happy about it, and I’m just looking forward to having a good time and to just improve, improve and gain, gain, gain until we come to the moment where we’re going to be winners.

About General Motors

General Motors (NYSE:GM) is driving the future of transportation, leveraging advanced technology to build safer, smarter, and lower emission cars, trucks, and SUVs. GM’s Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC brands offer a broad portfolio of innovative gasoline-powered vehicles and the industry’s widest range of EVs, as we move to an all-electric future. Learn more at GM.com.

January 15, 2025
Fulltime NASCAR Cup Series Drive for Cody Ware in 2025

Fourth-Generation Racer To Pilot No. 51 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for RWR

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (Jan. 15, 2025) – Cody Ware is a fulltime NASCAR Cup Series driver. The 29-year-old from Greensboro, North Carolina, will contest the entire 2025 Cup Series schedule behind the wheel of the No. 51 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Rick Ware Racing (RWR). Billy Plourde will be his crew chief.

In 2024, Ware competed in nine Cup Series races and earned the second-best average finish among drivers who ran a limited Cup Series schedule. Ware’s average result of 21.0 was second only to A.J. Allmendinger, who competed in 16 races and earned an average finish of 20.5. Buoyed by a career-best finish of fourth in the Aug. 24 Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, Ware bested Shane van Gisbergen (12 starts, 22.8 average finish), B.J. McLeod (seven starts, 28.3 average finish), Kaz Grala (24 starts, 28.5 average finish), Derek Kraus (six starts, 29.7 average finish), Jimmie Johnson (nine starts, 30.6 average finish), Austin Hill (four starts, 31.8 average finish) and J.J. Yeley (eight starts, 33.6 average finish).

“The NASCAR Cup Series is where every driver wants to be and I’m grateful to be back fulltime,” Ware said. “I’ve improved as a driver and RWR has improved as a team, and this is, by far, the best opportunity I’ve had in NASCAR. I aim to make the most of it and earn the respect of my competitors.”

Ware began racing at 16, following in his family’s footsteps as a fourth-generation racer. It was a late start considering many drivers begin their careers at age 5 in go-karts, but since climbing into a Legend Car and running upward of 50 races in his first season, Ware has seemingly been making up for lost time. After racing Late Model stock cars in 2012-2013, Ware began his NASCAR career in earnest in late 2013, securing a handful of starts on the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour before racing across the NASCAR Mexico Series, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2014. On March 5, 2017, Ware made his Cup Series debut at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Outside of NASCAR, Ware has made his mark in sportscar racing. He won the 2019-2020 LMP2 championship in the Asian Le Mans Series with co-driver Gustas Grinbergas. In a prelude to that title, Ware was the 2014 Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America Rookie of the Year. Last January at Daytona, Ware piloted a Ligier JS P320 to a podium finish in the IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge LMP3 class. Ware has also competed in Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup and the NTT IndyCar Series.

“Cody made a lot out of the nine races he ran for us last year and proved that he was deserving of a fulltime opportunity,” said team owner Rick Ware. “Running a part-time schedule isn’t easy because it’s hard to develop consistency when you’re out of the car for weeks on end. But Cody made it work and he and crew chief Billy Plourde developed a good rapport. It made sense to see what could come of their collective efforts when they’re working alongside one another week in and week out. A full season together provides the best chance for everyone to succeed.”

The 2025 Cup Series season begins with the exhibition Cook Out Clash Feb. 2 at historic Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, before the 36-race slate of points-paying events kicks off Feb. 16 with the 67th Daytona 500. Both races will be broadcast live on FOX and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

About Rick Ware Racing:

Rick Ware has been a motorsports mainstay for more than 40 years. It began at age 6 when the third-generation racer began his driving career and has since spanned four wheels and two wheels on both asphalt and dirt. Competing in the SCCA Trans Am Series and other road-racing divisions led Ware to NASCAR in the early 1980s, where he finished third in his NASCAR debut – the 1983 Warner W. Hodgdon 300 NASCAR Grand American race at Riverside (Calif.) International Raceway. More than a decade later, injuries would force Ware out of the driver’s seat and into fulltime team ownership. In 1995, Rick Ware Racing was formed, and with wife Lisa by his side, Ware has since built his eponymous organization into an entity that fields two fulltime entries in the NASCAR Cup Series while simultaneously campaigning successful teams in the Top Fuel class of the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series, Progressive American Flat Track and FIM World Supercross Championship (WSX).

January 15, 2025
CHEVROLET INDYCAR: Josef Newgarden Press Conference Transcript

CHEVROLET IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES
INDYCAR CONTENT DAYS
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA
PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
JANUARY 15, 2025

JOSEF NEWGARDEN, driver of the No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet, met with the media at the NTT INDYCAR SERIES Content Days in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Press Conference Transcript:

THE MODERATOR: Josef Newgarden is the No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet. Why don’t you start things off with the off-season, what you’ve been doing, mindset in 2025. What are you looking forward to?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Thank you so much for having me. It’s great to be here. Mindset is a good question. Great place to start. I’m glad you asked that. My mindset is really good right now. I feel positive. I feel excited about the year.

I think our team is in a good spot. I think we have all the potential in the world, as always, and that gives me a lot to look forward to. Certainly the Indy 500 is going to be a highlight, as always. We’re all looking forward to that. But really FOX is probably the most pivotal ingredient.

I think they’re going to be transformative for this series and what they’ve done so far has been tremendous and we haven’t even hit the ground running yet. Very excited for what we have to come and can’t wait to really hit the ground, like I said, in St. Pete and see how far we can go.

It is good to be back. It’s been a busy day. Tough day. For me, this is always the hardest day for me. I know no one has any sympathy for that, but you’ve got to get through this grind today, and I feel like when we get through this day, then we can start the season. That’s kind of the carrot at the end of the rope.

Q. How does it feel to be told you’re better looking than Tom Brady?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I think Tom disagreed with that.

Q. Alex doesn’t like your book, too.

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: That was the best part was Alex’s bit. They’ve done a good job. More than a good job. They’ve done a tremendous job. It’s been a long time since we’ve had a partner like FOX that has fully bought in and understands the significance of INDYCAR.

I think it can’t be overstated how appreciative we are of Eric, his entire team. The FOX team is a big group. They’re very innovative. They’re capital intensive when it comes to entertainment and as far as production quality and innovation. They’re not scared to try things.

I think we have needed that for quite a while, and they’re going to help push the sport where it deserves to be. I don’t think we’re — I’ve told this to people a lot, but we’re not hoping and dreaming for INDYCAR to be this thing that it’s never been before.

INDYCAR used to be a household name, and it deserves to be. It’s been this hidden gem for so long now, so I think FOX will take it to new heights and really excited about what they’re doing.

Q. I know as a driver you’ve said in the past that winning an INDYCAR Series championship is a great reward because it’s what you’ve done for an entire season. Probably in some ways more of a complete package of your work, your body of work. But now that you’re also a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner, do you find you get mentioned a heck of a more than a two-time INDYCAR Series champion?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: You do. I think it’s kind of the nature of our championship. The Indianapolis 500 really transcends anything else. There’s nothing like the Indianapolis 500. You certainly realize that after you win it, to your point. And I felt the magnitude of it, not from the recognition afterwards or how much notoriety there was, but more so like the personal impact. You really feel the weight of the 500 in the moment, when you’re there and winning it.

It’s crazy what it feels like than just being in the race. It already feels like a huge deal when you’re in the race, but when you win it, it just hits differently and you really feel the impact.

To answer the question, winning the championship is certainly a different task than winning Indy. It’s so hard to compare the two. One is a single event that’s a big buildup, it’s a lot of time commitment throughout the month of May. There’s more pressure to win the Indianapolis 500 than anything else, so that’s the key difference there.

Then for the championship you have to be good for so long across so many different types of courses.

They’re both gratifying. I think they both deserve extreme recognition. They’re just different. You can’t put them in the same category.

Q. We asked Alex and Pato about this yesterday, but curious to get your take on what that experience was like going out to LA and filming the spots for that commercial that we saw on Sunday.

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: It was great. I mean, I had an awesome time. I was there for — this is a 45-second spot. I think we filmed for eight hours, and they probably needed more. But we’ve been — my message has been we’ll give you whatever you guys need. If you’re willing to give us everything, we’re going to give you everything. We’re really trying to work as a team.

It felt like the real deal. When you were out there it was like, okay, someone is giving INDYCAR the platform and recognition that it’s probably deserved for a long time.

I don’t say that arrogantly. I believe that for everybody. Everybody in this room, everybody that makes up the INDYCAR Series, they deserve to have a big platform, and it felt like FOX was delivering that. I certainly felt the magnitude when you were in LA.

You saw the spot; it was better than I thought it would be. I remember looking at the script when it was first presented to me and seeing the vision. I thought, oh, that’s funny. Like that’s really well written. It’s a great idea. Like that should be pretty good. Then I saw the actual spot, and I thought, that’s even better than I could have imagined.

Yeah, just feels like the platform that we’ve been missing in a lot of ways.

Q. I know you had a very notorious previous INDYCAR commercial that we sometimes joke about that you filmed a while back. Did you have any nerves going into this knowing that you were probably going to be the first one that was going to come out knowing that maybe that didn’t quite come out the way you were expecting it to before and maybe just seeing a script that you thought was cool, but again, until it comes out you probably don’t quite know what you should expect?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I mean, not really, no. I’ve got to tell you, I felt pretty trustworthy. When we first started interacting, I’ve really liked everybody on the team. It has not been difficult to get used to everyone and start moving forward. I felt very trustworthy in what they were going to put together, even if it wasn’t — even if it’s not a home run, I felt like they were going to put a good piece together and they cared about what they had in front of them, the asset that they had acquired, that they were now needing to protect and grow. I think they understand it.

So trust is probably the number one word there. It’s pretty easy to trust and feel like they’re going to do the right thing. And I don’t think that means we’re going to be perfect. We might make some missteps. That’s normal. I think we should have a little bit of grace if we make some missteps and we probably will.

But I think they’ll try to do the right thing, but if we make a misstep we’ll correct it and moving forward.

Q. Do you get any speaking time in Alex’s spot?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I don’t, no. It was supposed to be something different originally, and when it turned into Alex doing it, it just became more perfect. It made a lot of sense, too. It’s the reigning champ, so he brought the humor to it. It’s going to bring that visibility to Alex.

They’re going to connect, create dots that people can start connecting, which is really good for everybody.

Q. The question is going to be awkward, but for as good as you’ve been in Indy here the last couple years, you’ve just not led a whole lot of laps in this event. You’re actually tied with Conor. 10 guys have led more laps at Indy than you have in this race. Have you thought about how you’d change your approach to the race, or is it still I want to lead every lap and I just haven’t?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: You know, it’s a good question.

Q. Just a dumb statistical question.

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: No, it’s a great question. I’d have a simple answer for it. We have figured out how to win the race twice so far. I like our process. I really do. We’ll see if it keeps working. If it doesn’t, we’ll change the formula. But I think we’ve got a good process.

Q. I just wanted to get you to reflect a little bit how 2024 went because obviously there were big highs but also some lows there, as well. What do you feel was maybe behind some of the peaks and troughs, and like you spoke about last year, has there been any recalibration this off-season?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, I do think it was a dynamic year is maybe the way to put it. It was a year of great highs, as you said. There was multiple strong points to it. But then there were some tremendous lows. Very volatile and rocky. But I would say transformative, if anything. For me, it was a really good year to go through.

It makes me excited about 2025. It ended up being a really positive year for the way everything transpired, even the waviness of the year. It just put us in a good spot to come out firing in 2025, and I think we can do that.

I don’t have many more adjectives for it. It was just very up and down. So many good things to take from it. Certainly Indy was the biggest highlight, but a lot of positives all around. Even within the negatives, they all turned into positives I thought.

Q. Following on from that, what do you feel like you’ve learned about yourself or learned about the team? Anything in particular?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, lots. We definitely — we’re always growing. I think that’s the goal, is you’ve got to get better every year. Certainly I think even as humans we’re trying to constantly evolve and be better prepared or be in a better spot year after year, and I think that’s true for us, and certainly after a season like 2024, resilience is a word that comes to my mind.

I think we have tons of it, so everybody is rallied together and ready to go.

Q. There’s been a lot of talk about a possible new car for 2027. I’d just like to get your take on what you feel a new formula would ideally consist of?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Less weight is critical. For me that’s the number one point. I’ve expressed that. I think most everyone has expressed that. But certainly the engineering team led by Rich is very strong. They’re doing a great job already.

We certainly know the direction that they’re headed. They’ve given us a lot of time for feedback and opinion.

I think as you look at the car now, it’s developed into a pretty heavy race car. I’d like us to get the weight down. That’s ideal.

Then producing a high-horsepower car, more than we have now, with a stable aero platform, it’s always kind of the ingredients you look to have in this type of series.

Our racing product has been quite good over the last four or five years, so I don’t think we want to disturb that or completely overhaul it, and they’re working on some new ideas how to even improve that.

Indianapolis is probably one of the places that could be mixed up the most where we have a great racing product there but maybe it’s not completely what we want. Having more competition throughout the field and ease of passing throughout the field is something we’re lacking at the moment. You can pass up front between two cars but not five deep.

So improving those type of things is top of mind for the development group and what they’re going to put in front of us for ’27.

Q. You’ve always been known as the king of ovals, but how much work has gone in over the winter to try to become a consistent challenger at the front on road and street courses? Can you take any learnings from Power and McLaughlin?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Well, ’24 was kind of unfortunate in a lot of ways when you look at the numbers and you study average position, all of these sort of metrics. We’re in just as good of a spot as we’ve always been. There were some outlier events as everybody is aware of in 2024, but when I look at the numbers I go, this is really not different to what it was in years prior.

When we were spreading wins across the board on ovals, road courses and street courses and kind of getting the trifecta, I think that’s still very intact.

I’m not dwelling on that too much. I think we’ve just got to right the ship in some ways from what we saw last year. We just had choppy water, and I think once we find a little clearer water, we’re going to be in a good spot.

I guess that’s what I took from last year, when I really dove into the numbers, that nothing was that far off.

Q. You’ve been working at Penske a couple years back, the team really struggled at Indy to qualify well. Then front row last year all of a sudden. I don’t know how much could be attributed to the joint engineering with Foyt now that Michael Cannon was at Foyt, but now he’s gone to PREMA, and they have such a history of being so competitive. What do you expect to see from them, and do you think it’s going to make a difference from cannon being there?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: You know, it’s hard to predict. I think PREMA should be a powerhouse much like a Carlin. I had experience a very short time in Carlin and seeing their transition over to the States and to be a part of INDYCAR, I would expect PREMA to have just as good if not better of a trajectory.

I think they’re both very reputable strong teams. That’s the first thing that comes to mind. Indy is its own thing. It’s hard to assess the Cannon deal. Some of this stuff you would say, well, crossover and they should know this and they should know that and they should just apply. Sometimes it doesn’t work like that. Every case is a little different.

So we’ll see how they perform at Indianapolis. It’s its own beast. But they’ll definitely have a great opportunity to show up and be competitive right away.

If that doesn’t happen, then that’s just the nature of motorsports. I’m sure they’ll find their way at some point. They’re a strong enough team. They’ll have strong drivers, strong engineers. They will get there at some point, and I think they’ll be a great addition.

But Indy, we could talk about that forever. It’s its own thing. So we’ll see how they hit the ground running. But I think more than anything they’re going to add a great dynamic to the mix. It’s another strong team. It’s international, which I think is great.

It’s one of the things I love with INDYCAR. I don’t really think of INDYCAR just as domestic product. I think of it as the collection of the best people from around the world, whether that’s engineers or the team talent or the drivers.

I love seeing an influx of more global talent, and PREMA adds to that in a great way, so I think it’s only positive across the board for the INDYCAR Series.

About General Motors

General Motors (NYSE:GM) is driving the future of transportation, leveraging advanced technology to build safer, smarter, and lower emission cars, trucks, and SUVs. GM’s Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC brands offer a broad portfolio of innovative gasoline-powered vehicles and the industry’s widest range of EVs, as we move to an all-electric future. Learn more at GM.com.

January 15, 2025
CHEVROLET INDYCAR: Callum Ilott Press Conference Transcript

CHEVROLET IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES
INDYCAR CONTENT DAYS
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA
PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
JANUARY 15, 2025

CALLUM ILOTT, driver of the NO. 90 PREMA Racing Chevrolet, met with the media at the NTT INDYCAR SERIES Content Days in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Press Conference Transcript:

MODERATOR: As mentioned, Callum Ilott joins us now, driver of the No. 90 PREMA Racing Chevrolet, beginning his fifth year associated with the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, clearly his first with a brand new PREMA race team in 2025 as you can see right there, fresh off the huge launch, a successful launch Friday down in Concord, North Carolina —

CALLUM ILOTT: Thank you for coming.

Q. It was great. You guys knocked it out of the park for sure. Obviously there’s some momentum with the team. How do you keep this going with the first race coming up in a couple months?

CALLUM ILOTT: We’ve obviously got some testing coming up. Still a bit fluid with the plan. But it’s a lot of work. It’s not easy for the whole crew. Yeah, it’s definitely a lot more work starting from scratch than all the other teams have from the end of last season.

But it’s part of it. It’s what we’ve committed to. Yeah, I’m really happy with how it’s going. The launch was amazing. Cars look great.

Hopefully they’re as fast as they look, but we’ll find out soon.

Q. There’s a lot of drivers in the paddock that know all about PREMA or have been with Prema. If not, they’ve seen them on TV. They know the championships over four decades. The numbers go on and on and on. Do you feel there’s a buzz with the team and the drivers in the paddock, curious about how this is going to work out?

CALLUM ILOTT: I think there’s a lot of people curious. A lot of people know PREMA’S history, and if you don’t, they are the most successful junior formula team that there is, and they’ve won in almost everything they’ve competed in. So to bring them to INDYCAR and have them here is amazing.

But INDYCAR is another ballgame. We’re going to have to work hard. It’s not going to be easy, and especially not with everyone else having the same car for 10 plus years. We’re going to have a steep learning curve.

But we’ve done all the right things so far and pushing like crazy to have everything we need and more for the first races.

Q. You’ve talked a little bit about just the struggle that you guys will have to get up to speed with this team that’s got a lot of folks that have INDYCAR experience, yourself included, but still joining a field that includes tons of teams that have been in the sport for lots of years if not decades. How different is this compared to what you joined at the end of the 2021 season at JHR (Juncos Hollinger Racing), a team that had been in INDYCAR before but still was joining late in the year and hadn’t been in the sport for a couple years?

CALLUM ILOTT: Yeah, it’s a completely different situation because even with JHR we were very fortunate with the Carlin merger but a lot of what we’d had had been from previous Indy 500s and had been built up. So there was quite a good storage facility of stuff.

With us, it is kind of everything we need we have to find or build and start from scratch. It’s quite an odd thing, especially for some of the people within the team that have been in other INDYCAR teams to kind of go, um, where do we get this? We’re going to have to order it; going to have to wait a little bit.

But for anyone who’s seen PREMA in Europe and then what we’ve created in Fishers — I say “we” like I built it. No, they did an amazing job, and in such a short amount of time. It is an incredible facility, and at the moment for two cars, it’s really impressive.

But that is one thing. On track is another. We’re just keeping our heads down. Where we start is where we start, and then we’ve got to build from there.

There’s not really any pressure. It’s more work with what we’ve got, and yeah, like I said, it’s very different. It’s very new. It’s been a long time since anyone has joined INDYCAR this way, and especially from Europe, and I think, not to put words in people’s mouths, but we’ve almost had to help create a starting point for bringing new teams into INDYCAR because it’s a bit of a — normally you do it with a partnership or something like that where someone has done it, where this is a bit more hands-on from the beginning.

Q. I know you are talking with the mindset of being patient, knowing that you’ve got to start somewhere and see where you guys are in St. Pete and work from there. But how much are you champing at the bit to get in a race car and know what the car is like and what you guys have, having launched this team and been signed to the team for several months and still not yet been in a race car?

CALLUM ILOTT: I’m not frustrated because there’s an element of you want to jump in the car and get going, but also you want to have everything ready and options to test and try. I think for me it’s very important for the team to be ready and then we go from there, so that’s been the focus on the team side.

I’m sure for Robert, who’s driven the INDYCAR once before but a long time since then, I’m sure he’ll be really wanting to get the experience of it and the oval side of things.

But yeah, I’ve got the Daytona 24 Hours and then afterwards full on with INDYCAR. So I’ll be ready to go no matter what. But it’s a team effort. I’m sure the engineers are as wanting if not more than I am to get going.

But yeah, we don’t have a lot of time. We don’t have a lot of days and we have to hit the road.

Q. Is it too early to even say what a successful season is like for this team? As you’re going into it, what kind of benchmarks, if any, are you setting for you or the team itself?

CALLUM ILOTT: I think that’s a question I’d like to answer probably after the first two, three races, see where we start and then where we go from there, because the street courses could be one way, road courses another way, and then the ovals is a another question.

Until I’ve done one of each, I think then I’ll be able to kind of set the tone for that. But end of the season, yeah, I don’t see a reason why we can’t be pretty competitive.

But at the beginning, I mean, we could be great, could be not. Whatever it is, it is. But we’ve got some amazing people, good partners, and yeah, pretty excited.

Q. Speaking of amazing people, what’s it like working with Michael Cannon? He’s a little bit of a mad scientist when it comes to INDYCAR engineering.

CALLUM ILOTT: INDYCAR’s own Einstein, right? Yeah, he’s great. Obviously it’s limited so far. We’ve only done some simulator stuff, and that was establishing the foundations of the team and just getting things going. Haven’t seen the full creation as of yet.

But yeah, he’s been working hard with the team. Let’s see where it goes, and I’ll answer that again later on. But right now it’s a good start, but everyone’s head is down at the moment.

Q. You’ve driven INDYCARs a lot but your teammate hasn’t. What’s going to be the biggest eye-opener for him?

CALLUM ILOTT: I think aside from the obvious part, the ovals, it’s going to be the length of the races, kind of the strategy, the fuel saving.

He’s probably had experience of all those things but not in the same way. With World Endurance Championship, which we both just came from, there is fuel saving, the races are long, but it’s less intense. The fuel saving is less important a bit more automated.

So coming here, it’s just full attack

.

And then beyond that, I think the fast-paced nature of the weekend, the season. Once it starts, it doesn’t stop. I think you kind of realize those things by mid-season.

But he’s ready. He doesn’t know what he’s ready for yet, but he’s one of those guys you just take, put in and drive and he’ll be fine.

Q. You’re working with Steve Barker again. Is that a nice transition, going to a new team but a bit of a familiar face who you’ve worked with on the engineering side before?

CALLUM ILOTT: Yeah, it was a bit of a shock. I arrived back January 6 on the Monday, and I was like, oh, hello, welcome back. Okay, fine, good to have you.

He was awesome to work with, and yeah, to have him in PREMA, another familiar face who’s been in INDYCAR. The team, a lot of them I’ve worked with in Europe.

There is people I’ve seen around the INDYCAR paddock, there’s people I’ve seen around the WEC paddock, and one or two been around the Formula 1 paddock.

So it’s a mix of people I have either worked with, seen, and yeah, Steve is just the cherry on top for that. It’s perfect. I love the atmosphere right now.

Again, the season is going to be intense, but to start it off like I have, I’m very happy.

Q. The melding of all the different European racing, U.S. racing, when Carlin came over here, which Steve was obviously a part of, they basically brought a European team over here; whereas you guys are doing it kind of a meld of American and U.S. Is it interesting to watch the culture of the two different ways of racing meld together?

CALLUM ILOTT: It’s definitely very interesting because there’s a certain way of doing things in INDYCAR, which is hard to explain but it’s just done that way. A lot of the Europeans, especially clever young engineers coming over are like, what about this? What about that? You’re like, it doesn’t quite work like that. It’s a bit different.

But they’re great. They have a really amazing analytical side of things, which is not to say you haven’t had in INDYCAR, but it’s refreshing to see the intensity of it. Then the experience that Mike Cannon or Steve has in INDYCAR of doing it in that way.

I think there’s going to be a good blend, but I don’t know in which way it’s going to settle, if you know what I mean. But it is refreshing.

Also on the mechanic side, it’s nice to see a lot of young Italian, French people coming over and enjoying the lifestyle. The cold is a bit of a shock to them, but they’ve got their coffee and they’re happy. But their own coffee, not your coffee. No offense.

Q. They know where the best Italian restaurant is in Fishers?

CALLUM ILOTT: They’ve found a really great Indian and a good Mexican, as well. So they’re experiencing culture.

Q. I just want to know, your very first thoughts when they asked you to drive for PREMA seeing as they were going to be a brand new team in INDYCAR.

CALLUM ILOTT: I was in touch with René, who was my contact for all the years I was in Europe, big boss, and I’d been asking him, so are you going to be doing INDYCAR?

I knew end of 2023 that they were going to be doing this, and he’s like, shh, not yet. I’m like, okay, we should be in contact. He’s like, definitely, definitely. Nothing, nothing, nothing, and then I was very close to continuing in European WEC, and then suddenly for no reason, he’s like, yeah, let’s do it. I’m like, if you could have told me a couple of weeks in advance that would have been great.

But yeah, once — it was a project that I was very interested in and wanted to be a part of because I knew the way that they were going to do it and are going to do it is hopefully going to be another level.

But it will take time. I’m super excited to be a part of it. So as soon as we got the ball rolling it was pretty easy. Just had to wait a bit. Had to wait for the factory to be ready because we were running out of a small shop the end of last season. That’s where I did the C fit. And we’ll be ready to go hopefully.

Q. Looking at the schedule, is there a certain track you look forward to going to this year that you think fits your driving style?

CALLUM ILOTT: I’ve always been a road course guy. I think Prema is also naturally a road course team. It’s going to be interesting how the INDY 500 is just because of so many unknowns with PREMA going in there. But I’ve felt like every year I’ve been to the 500 I’ve improved and improved.

Beyond that, I’m looking forward to Long Beach. That’s one that I’ve always thought I could have been better at. So there’s room for improvement for me.

Q. Can you just expand a little bit on your mindset through last year? Obviously you said that Prema was kind of in the background and you were maybe waiting for a call. But was the priority always to be back in INDYCAR, back in single seaters, or were you having offers for some top teams in WEC, for instance, for your services?

CALLUM ILOTT: It was a bit of a mix. I wanted to leave it open. I was enjoying my time in WEC, and that was leading to a couple of things and I was very happy in the situation I was in.

But with INDYCAR, it’s a very tough championship, as you can see with a couple of drivers, to maintain and stay in. I felt like this was the perfect way to get back in with a team that I think shows so much promise in the future.

And yeah, as soon as our sit-down meeting came it was like, okay, I think this is what I have to do, and let’s make it work from here.

Q. What sort of weight do you feel is on you as kind of the experienced driver in the lineup in helping to build this team up? Are there any skills you feel you’ve learned during your time at JHR that you maybe could transfer to this opportunity?

CALLUM ILOTT: I think the thing I’ve learnt from my previous endeavors was to be patient. With Prema we’re going to have to be patient. You never know at which point it kind of clicks and the results start coming.

That’s one of the kind of founding points that I want to take through the season, is just to not push anyone too far, work and work and work, but what we have is what we’ve got.

And beyond that, obviously being the kind of veteran driver in the team, although I’m still young and not many seasons in INDYCAR, but with two different teams, is to take that and to expand within the team, keep everyone positive, and yeah, move forward.

It’s not simple but just keeping it simple is important.

Q. Will Buxton is going to be joining FOX Sports. How much does it mean for you to have someone from obviously the same country to be a part of the full-time INDYCAR season with you?

CALLUM ILOTT: For me obviously being from the same country, it’s nice and helpful. But no, I’ve known Will for a while. I’ve seen a lot of his stuff, even before the Formula 1 times. He is amazing, very enthusiastic. Amazing vocabulary, as well, so he’s like an amazing encyclopedia of words that I learn every time I chat to him. I think he’s great for the booth. James (Hinchcliffe) and Townsend (Bell) also do an amazing job, so I think he fits that group very well.

I’m hoping that he builds and takes the series forward. He’s been through a lot of championships which have grown and engages with a very young audience. I really enjoy hearing him talk, and I think he can only add a lot of positivity to everything that is INDYCAR.

Q. Of course Michael Cannon coming to the team, you’ve had pretty decent runs at the Indy 500. With Prema being a new team, how much optimism and what’s the thoughts going into the Indy 500, even though it’s a couple months away?

CALLUM ILOTT: Yeah, it could be good. Again, it’s still a bit unknown. We don’t know what we’re going to rock up with. There’s a lot of preparation which is Indy specific which a lot of other teams have started on.

Of course Michael has great experience and is very helpful on that side, but you just never know, and we need to be able to prepare and take time for it.

Who knows at this point. Could be good. I think a lot of people are expecting us to be very good. But remember, that’s with teams that have all the foundation, all the equipment to kind of select and choose from. We’re starting from scratch and building everything from the beginning.

About General Motors

General Motors (NYSE:GM) is driving the future of transportation, leveraging advanced technology to build safer, smarter, and lower emission cars, trucks, and SUVs. GM’s Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC brands offer a broad portfolio of innovative gasoline-powered vehicles and the industry’s widest range of EVs, as we move to an all-electric future. Learn more at GM.com.

January 15, 2025
CHEVROLET INDYCAR: Scott McLaughlin Press Conference Transcript

CHEVROLET IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES
INDYCAR CONTENT DAYS
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA
PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
JANUARY 15, 2025

SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN, driver of the No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet, met with the media at the NTT INDYCAR SERIES Content Days in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Press Conference Transcript:

THE MODERATOR: Wrapping up with Scott McLaughlin, driving the No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet, beginning his fifth full season in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, coming off a year with three wins and five NTT P1 awards and tying his career best with a third-place finish in the championship.

All that aside, we want to know how fatherhood is treating you.

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Great. Yeah, she’s a superstar, little Lucy. Yeah, she started sleeping through the nights, which is good. So we put her down and we’ve got a pretty good rhythm the last three — I’ll probably jinx it now. She goes down at like 9:00 and she wakes up at 8:00 or 7:30.

But I have made the mistake a couple times, and I’ve asked — of waking up in the morning, and I’ve gone, geez, she slept through the night, and Karly goes, no, she didn’t. So that’s the drama.

But yeah, my wife, she’s amazing. She knows it’s important. I’ve got to keep training her, keep going, and that’s the best part about it, is finding how we’ve both adapted to it.

Q. Moms are amazing.

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, she’s killed it. I was there for the whole thing, too. It was incredible. I cut the cord, got in there. It was awesome. I’d do it again. 40-hour labor she went through. It was crazy. Oh, man, she’s an absolute trooper. Love her. Shout out Karly.

Q. Since you’re a big football fan, do you think Bryce Young is panning out better now that he’s returned at quarterback?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: 100 percent. The question is going to be is he better than CJ Stroud. Texans are in the playoff absolutely, but I thought Bryce and his throwing, he’s been really good lately.

Q. His upside is probably better than —

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: I’m just glad we’re sorted in that regard because we’re not going to make an emergency QB situation kind of like the Vikings are looking at, or Jets.

Q. Having the same gang back together, three of you push each other pretty good. Sometimes you get along great, other times you may get a little ruffled with each other. But having that consistency at Team Penske, I guess that’s one of the hallmarks of the operation. How important is that?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Well, it’s very important to set foundations, and obviously we’ve worked together this is my fifth year full time with these guys. We’ve had our ups and downs for sure, but I think that’s just normal for guys that are really competing at the highest level, and I feel like we’ve all got a chance to win a race week in, week out.

But it’s certainly brought out the best in me. They’re the best teammates I’ve ever had in that regard.

But yeah, you’d be surprised how good we work — for how competitive it is behind closed doors like in the truck and stuff, we’re very open book and everyone sees everything, and I think that’s why we see ourselves pushing each other even harder.

Q. There’s a lot said the last year, particularly down the stretch, about Will being in the title hunt, being second a lot of the time to Alex Palou who eventually won the championship, and you kind of quietly maybe to some extent overtook him in the standings over the last couple weeks of the year. You had the second season in a row where you’re the top Team Penske driver in the championship. What kind of pride do you take in if you don’t win a championship that year to still be the best among your teammates across a 17-race season?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, it’s been a goal of mine even before I was at Team Penske. For me, I always want to beat my teammates because you don’t want to be — you have all the equal machinery, and that’s just a common ground for any race driver.

But at the same time, it was a bummer for Will. I shouldn’t have probably passed him at the end. He had a pretty — misfortune in the last few races. But that is the sport we’re in.

But yeah, I was really proud of our stretch, our homerun, run to home I guess you could in the last couple years have been great. I’ve just got to get off to a better start, and I know that. But I’ve got all the ingredients that I need to not only be the best Penske driver again but also potentially take that next step, which everyone knows is what I want.

Yeah, working really hard in the off-season, but surprisingly having the baby and stuff, it’s been great to get away from it all, as well, and just focus on something other than racing for once.

Q. I think I remember you told us coming into last year that you really truly felt like you could come out and win this championship, and you got fairly close. But coming in winning now two oval races in the back half of last year, something that you hadn’t done yet. Do you feel in any way even more prepared having gone through last year? Do you feel like you really know maybe even more what it takes as you kind of plot out your goals and how you approach the 2025 campaign?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, I think every year for me is such a learning deal, particularly from where I started in late 2020 to like now I’m a completely different race driver.

The mindset needs to change compared to other championships that I’ve been in, as well, because things can just turn on their head so quickly in INDYCAR.

I thought I had the ingredients to win last year, and I still think I did. I just hadn’t won an oval yet. We were close. But now having won the oval, obviously that’s given me a lot of confidence.

But I’d be lying to say that I feel any different to last year. I certainly feel like I’m in the same boat. It’s just a matter of circumstances and me putting myself in different positions, and hopefully sometimes you’ve just got to have a little bit of lady luck, as well. It’s jut got to go your way.

I don’t think that has been kind to us, but it’s been kind in other places. We’ll keep working, but I’m as confident as ever for sure.

Q. As you reflected on last year, are there ways that you feel like you could improve or the team could improve or maybe what are the missing pieces to put a championship program together?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, I look back at two races, probably Toronto. Obviously that was a teammate drama. But that was a race where I was probably in my head that I was just going to finish where I finished, but it didn’t happen, and that hurt.

Then Laguna, where I made a move on Will which didn’t need to happen, whether it was Will or whether it was Kyle Kirkwood. That was a move that I probably didn’t need to make at that point, and I cost myself a ton of points for what I was ultimately going to gain if I made the move come off.

That was a big learning after that race, and I think from that race onwards, that’s why I was probably most bummed about the Toronto incident, because I felt like I was in a spot where I had set up everything to be in a good position and just be satisfied with where I was finishing.

But yeah, you always learn, and I think that’s what I can do better, is maybe just accepting the position I’m in and taking the points.

Q. You’ve arguably been improving each year you’ve been here, and that shows on the results. It looks somewhat similar to your time in Supercars where you got better each year, each year, and then that ended with three seasons in a row in the championship. Does that feel similar to you, and do you feel like you’re on that cusp now?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah. It’s funny you brought it up because I’ve said that to Ben, my engineer, a couple of times. I feel like I am in exactly the same position when I signed on with Penske in 2017 for Supercars back then. I feel like I’ve done a lot of my learning.

I think in 2016, as well, in Supercars I finished third in the championship and had a couple race wins, and I really felt like I could have that next step. And ultimately I didn’t win that championship, I lost it on the last race, but I put myself in a really good spot.

I feel like I’m in that same mindset here. I feel like I’ve lost all my habits that I had in touring cars. I feel very — with my fitness and all that stuff, my neck and stuff that is outside of the car, I feel very comfortable with.

I also know a lot of faces in here. I know what this day is all about. I know what airports to fly into. It’s just like so many different things that you come to a new place that you forget how easy it is.

But I feel a lot more comfortable now.

Q. We were talking in Nashville and you said your 3 team, you kind of felt like you were the Buffalo Bills of INDYCAR. A rowdy fan base, Thirsty 3s; haven’t won the big one yet. Do you feel in ’25 you’re going to shed this moniker and this is almost a championship-or-bust type season?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, because the Bills are going to win the Super Bowl. That’s my pick. I love Josh Allen, man.

Yeah, I feel good. Everyone knows I have fun and muck around and whatever, but I’m pretty serious obviously at the same time. But that’s just how I go about my racing.

I think we certainly feel like we’re on the cusp of something really cool, but at the same time what I talked to Bruce about, I’ve got two amazing race drivers as teammates with exactly the same opportunities, so it’s about me trying to find the most out of myself as much as anything.

Yeah, I’ve learnt sort of things and bits and pieces that I need to learn from, but I’m going to have to evolve throughout the season like we all do to be there at the end.

Q. Have you studied the path to maybe win this championship? Alex won, five wins, won a championship; he wins twice last year. Will talked about maybe going back. He was maybe a little aggressive last year and wanted to go back to how he won the championship. Have you guys studied what’s the right method, the right path to win this championship?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: I think you’ve just got to do it your own way. As much as you can plan and think about what you can do and what you can’t, we all know the right path is just consistent results. With a few wins along the way. I think you need to win a couple wins. I think you need to win a couple times for sure. But consistency is key, and we all know that.

But you’ve got to eliminate those big bad results, and we had a few of them last year which really hurt.

Yeah, I’d probably say three. Detroit, where I crashed out by myself, and then Laguna and Toronto. Regardless, Toronto, whatever, like I still crashed out and it cost us a lot of points, where Palou and Dixon were just from the back to the front and just cruised.

That hurts. But yeah, we can all learn from that and get better.

Q. All three of you guys talked about last year from Team Penske how much work you’ve done in the off-season and you were looking at maybe the short track oval program and the whole oval program, and we saw the results of that. I just wondered whether during this off-season if there’s been something that you’ve been targeting as a team, whether it be road course or oval again, to keep that improvement and momentum going?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, I think the 10 car, Alex has been really quick on road courses over the last few years, so I think ultimately maybe trying to find a little bit of speed. I think our race pace is really strong, but our overall outright pace, places like Mid-Ohio or whatnot, need to improve a little bit.

But yeah, we had a pretty solid year pace-wise on all tracks, but definitely room for improvement. I’d probably say street circuit wise I’m highlighting Long Beach. I don’t think typically I’ve been that strong there as other street tracks that I go to, so I’m circling that a little bit on the simulator.

And then yeah, obviously just continuing our work that we’ve done on short and superspeedways.

Q. Then looking at a place not too far from where you are right now and the fact that Penske took the clean sweet at Indianapolis last May and you took your first pole position for the Indy 500, that was obviously a very special moment. Going into this May, does that mindset become, we need to do the same thing again, more of the same? Does that linger in your mind, or is it clean slate, move on, new year type deal?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: A bit of both. I think we’ve got to continue to evolve and get better because everyone saw what we had last year, and they’re going to be chasing that deficit, as well, particularly in qualifying.

But I think for me mentally as a driver, it was nice to run at the front at the 500 and lead laps and stuff that I haven’t done before that put me — I think it puts me in a really nice headspace going into it knowing what that feels like and the position I need to be in.

We had a mechanical sort of issue throughout the race last year with the clutch that really honestly hurt us a lot and took us out of that lead group, or at least those first few positions.

So knowing that mistake, fingers crossed, won’t happen again, and we can know that we can race pretty aggressively at the front and I know what I need to do from a timing perspective.

Yeah, driving perspective, not going to try and change too much, but we definitely have to evolve as a team to get better because everyone is going to be chasing.

Q. You had Simon on board, as well, so that played a part for you personally, as well.

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yep.

Q. One final thing. Obviously you’re teamed up in a couple of weeks’ time with an ex competitor, SVG. How does it feel to be in the same team as a former rival?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, it’s funny, it’s weird, actually. We certainly — especially over here now, we go out for dinners and have beers and whatnot and hang out a little bit more than we probably did in the past.

But not that we didn’t like each other beforehand, it was just awkward, and now we’re sort of friends and teammates and excited for Daytona. I head to Daytona for The Roar, and then the 24. It’s such a good start to the year, and I think we’ve got a really good car and a good team lineup.

Connor Zilisch is a superstar over here now, and then Ben Keating is probably the best bronze you can have. We’ve got a good shot, but it all depends on BOP and all that sort of stuff. I have full confidence in GM and Corvette that we can come with a really good package and give these European manufacturers a good go in our land.

Q. Scott, looking at the performance you put on at Indianapolis last year, taking the pole, leading that Team Penske front row lockout, as well as were it not for the penalty at St. Pete, let’s say, the championship could have been firmly in your grasp. Looking at 2025, what would it mean more to be, Scott McLaughlin, Indy 500 winner, or Scott McLaughlin, INDYCAR Series champion?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: I’ve always said the Indy 500 for me because — it’s similar to how I felt in Australia. It’s not a disrespect not championship itself, but everything needs to go perfect on that one day. You have to have a perfect race and make it happen, and ultimately that’s what happened to us when we won Bathurst and then we won the championship.

But the 500 — the championship itself, you can have a bad race and come back and there’s a lot of things that can happen. Your competitors can have moments throughout the season, whatever, and look, that would be an amazing objective, as well.

But for me, the 500 one, the history of it, but also it’s just an amazing race, and yeah, that’s certainly what I dream about the most.

Q. From the Team Penske perspective, assuming the current trend continues, has the team identified anything that you as drivers individually need to do or on a team level to do to make even a budge toward the immovable object that Alex Palou has been over the last two years?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: I think ultimately we were as fast if not faster than him. It was just about putting together the year that he had. As we know, he’s like a professor with half the stuff that he does. He’s very good and very consistent and have a huge amount of respect for the boy.

But we’re not overthinking it. I think there’s also plenty of other drivers that are super good. I think Colton Herta had an amazing year last year. Without a couple of incidents he was going to be right there, as well. This INDYCAR racing is going to be so many world class drivers up the front every year, and we know that.

It’s just a matter of focusing on ourselves and what we can improve. That’s all we can control, and hopefully what we’ve done is enough.

About General Motors

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January 15, 2025
CHEVROLET INDYCAR: Conor Daly Press Conference Transcript

CHEVROLET IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES
INDYCAR CONTENT DAYS
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA
PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
JANUARY 15, 2025

CONOR DALY, driver of the No. 78 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet, met with the media at the NTT INDYCAR SERIES Content Days in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Press Conference Transcript:

MODERATOR: Conor Daly joins us, driver of the No. 78 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet, beginning his 12th year being associated in the NTT INDYCAR Series, back as a full-time driver, 115 career starts to his credit with many more to come in 2025.

What’s it been like so far, content day 2025?

CONOR DALY: Well, honestly, it’s nice to be back. I think a lot of drivers are like, oh, this is tough. But you don’t realize how much you miss it until you don’t have an opportunity to do it.

I think it’s important to appreciate it, and it’s cool to be here. It is a long day, but it’s cool to be here and just chat with everyone.

Q. Just getting to know the team again; any changes that you’ve noticed on the outset?

CONOR DALY: Yeah, obviously there’s a couple little personnel movements, and we have different suit colors, so that’s new. But yeah, it’s just been a lot of working on putting the best possible organization together as a group. We want to be successful together. We want to focus on actually preparing now instead of just jumping in and going.

With preparation comes much more success we hope and believe, so yeah, it should be fun.

Q. Of the handful of times that you’ve had a full-time situation in your career with one specific team and not those years bouncing back and forth between Carlin and ECR, how does it compare to those years being with this one group for a full year?

CONOR DALY: Yeah, honestly it definitely feels a little different only because of kind of — we got a taste of it last year. It’s almost like I got a little pregame ceremony or something like that. It all happened so fast, though, and it was so much fun.

Now it’s like, oh, we can — I can make a new seat, my first new seat since 2020, which is ridiculous. My seat has been painful to be in for the last however many years. But guess what, it costs money to make a seat, and none of these teams that I’m going to jump in for one race are going to spend money to get me a seat.

I can do something like that, which is very helpful. I can have my own steering wheel grips. That’s very nice. All those small things are — again, all of the people that are winning and contending, you have to have all those things because this is the most competitive championship right now, and it’s like, everything has to be perfect. Everything has to be right.

It’s just doing all those things feels right. And just getting a little desk in the office. I’m going to get my own desk in the engineering office. I want to have a computer so I can finally be fully integrated in the team systems. All of those things are what you are supposed to do as a racing driver at the highest level.

That’s going to be nice to be a part of. I get to work with my engineer that I’ve worked with for however many races we did last year, and I think he’s a really good young guy, and that team over there is a good group of people.

It’s just all the things that you want to have as you move forward, and yeah, we just kind of see how it plays out really.

Q. How would you describe the mentality difference of going through your day-to-day life say last year or at other times in your career where you were — maybe you only knew you were doing the 500 that year but you were wanting to be around for other opportunities? The year that you ran for MSR and RLL, things like that, versus this year it seems like you, I imagine, probably have a lot of pressure on yourself because you have this great opportunity, you want to perform really well, but I imagine there’s a different mindset or mentality that you’re living with. Can you put that into context?

CONOR DALY: Honestly, I don’t think I really need to change my mindset because I think we’ve seen recently in this INDYCAR world that, yeah, probably good to just live it one weekend at a time. You never really know what’s going to happen, and we’ve seen people just kicked out. I’ve been kicked out.

It’s just something that you have to be ready to give everything you’ve got, every single weekend, because everyone’s attention span is very short, and you’re only as good as your last lap that you’ve done.

No one is willing to wait around it seems anymore. There’s I think drivers on the out side looking in right now that shouldn’t be because there’s — it’s like, well, some of the things didn’t go great, you’re gone. It’s something that you just have to be aggressive with yourself. You have to be aggressive with the way you attack every weekend.

Honestly, I’m super lucky to just be here anyway. Just going to try to enjoy that.

Still crazy we only get like one test day before St. Petersburg. That’s kind of a bit wild. But that’s going to be the most important day of the last eight months. So use that test day at Sebring the best we can to make sure when we roll out at St. Pete we’re ready to go.

Q. Would you say that feeling that I have to take this one race at a time and do my very best because I never know when my last race is going to be, is that something you’ve always had in your career? Was that maybe really solidified to you when you had the shock of losing your seat mid-season a couple years ago?

CONOR DALY: Honestly, I think I guess just don’t mind it being like that because it does — I put a lot of pressure on myself, which I’m working on relieving that a little bit and just kind of doing what I know how to do, which is be a race car driver and be competitive.

But yeah, this sport will put you through every mental and physical battle you will ever know. I feel like I’ve experienced most of those.

But yeah, I’m super thankful to be here with Ricardo and Brad, who they want to be a successful race team. They’re trying everything they can to be competitive, to use the resources that they’ve got. We’ve got to find the resources, as well, to compete. We want to be able to make sure we find as much as we can because other people are doing that, as well.

That’s what happens when you’re competing at the top.

Q. When you look back at Milwaukee and your podium finish there, how much of a moment was that that’s really helped you get this spot that you’re in this season?

CONOR DALY: I think it’s the only reason why I’m here, honestly. That’s it. It’s a results-based industry. It’s an industry that — we showed a lot of other speed in other places, but even the 10th place in Nashville that I thought was one of our best races in a long time, we qualified sixth, finished 10th, that’s not really what matters.

You’ve got to get trophies. You’ve got to be up front. You’ve got to be doing stuff that makes people take a second look, take a third look even

.

Even still, there was times where — thankfully that I’m there, our engineering group, they’re like, Portland we were pretty fast too but no one will know because we got wrecked and we missed a session.

But in the race I think they were actually more impressed than they thought, because everyone thinks I’m just an oval guy. So it was just nice to at least show them that, too, because we’re going at this for the whole thing. We want to go at this every weekend and try to get podiums every weekend.

Yeah, it’s nice to be in the position we’re in, I think

.

Q. Also you’re one of the most recent INDYCAR drivers that have stepped outside their comfort zone and tried the Daytona 500. Helio is doing it this year. He’s picked a year where there’s a lot more entries than normal. How difficult is it going to be for him to get into that field just because there’s only a couple of spots that you can get into the race with?

CONOR DALY: Well, I mean, they made a rule for him that he’s going to make it no matter what. That was nice. I definitely wouldn’t have got that.

But honestly, I’m super pumped to see how Helio likes it. I actually talked to him a little bit about it before because I started hearing rumblings about it. I know Justin Marks. That guy is awesome. I’ve talked to him multiple times about how much excitement he’s got for the Indy 500 and stuff like that.

I think it’s going to be cool and I’m going to be cheering for him. That’s our guy. Helio is our guy.

It’s tough, though. I’m glad they have a practice session now, which before was something that I did not have. We were in very different scenarios when it comes to the situation, but I think it’s cool.

Just great to have motorsports crossover. I don’t know why we don’t have more. I think it’s huge for just the general racing community.

Q. Also because you’re involved business-wise with Dirty Mo Media, you get a little more interest in a broader aspect of motorsports because of who owns that company and how well they place their podcasts. How much has that really helped benefit you?

CONOR DALY: Well, the fact that Dale Jr. is on your side is cool. He’s a great guy. He’s been very supportive of us, and they love INDYCAR. There’s a reason why we’re there as an INDYCAR podcast. They see how exciting INDYCAR is. They see that it’s probably an under-utilized asset right now and they want to help the growth process.

So we’re going to keep trying to put stuff out there, keep getting our racing out to more and more people, and Dale is a great boss, and he loves racing of all kinds, just like I think a lot of us. We can watch all kinds of forms of racing on Saturdays and Sundays. Dale is one of those guys that loves all that stuff.

Q. (Indiscernible).

CONOR DALY: All of them but two, so I don’t know how many. No Ganassi and no Penske.

Q. As a driver, you’ve had to really put on the business hat. You’ve been really determined to stay in INDYCAR racing. You went to Vegas and then landed the Bitcoin sponsor and then Polkadot. It seems like you’ve done that pretty much on your own. You must have a sense of the whole picture now of what it takes to fund a team for a ride. I’ve heard that the costs are now maybe eight to ten million for a car ride instead of five to six million, and that can’t all be the hybrid cost. Do you know what’s contributed to raising that up so high in the last couple years?

CONOR DALY: The more money you spend, the faster you go. It’s as simple as that. That’s honestly the equation of it. If you can spend extra day at the wind tunnel, an extra day on the shaker rig, get more damper development work, that’s what it is. This is extremely competitive, and if you’re not doing everything, someone else is.

That’s the difficult part. And yeah, when I was a rookie in INDYCAR with ECR, we were happy to have like a $1 million sponsor. Like sweet. I wasn’t making any money, but we had a shot at it.

But now if you want to compete, you’ve got to do a lot of work and it is — it’s actually my least favorite part of the business is the business side. I focus — I spend 98.9 percent of my time probably on the business side for most of what’s going on, and the peacefulness of that 1.2 percent that I can actually just be like, oh, cool, driving, that’s great.

But thankfully once it’s all locked in and once we’re in the position we’re in now I can shift more of that focus to being a driver and my manager and the team at JHR to kind of take care of all the rest of the stuff.

But it is just stressful. I wish it wasn’t the way it was, but for someone like myself, I have to create opportunities for myself. Like I obviously know that. There are drivers that have plenty more trophies than me that don’t have to worry about that, which is justifiable, so I just have to work on getting more trophies, and then it’ll be easier. That’s up to me, and that’s the team and us as a group. So hopefully it becomes easier.

Q. What did you think of FOX’s commercial featuring the racing Greek God?

CONOR DALY: Well, look, I think that Josef commercial I think put a smile on everyone’s face. Got to make stars, right? Josef is a star, and some people hate him now, which is funny, but boy, is that a huge deal for us.

But it’s also cool to see. If you make something cool, it will go very far because everyone thinks it’s cool. So sometimes when we see things and we’ve seen ads or this, that and whatever, it’s like, well, that was cool if you really love INDYCAR, but it wouldn’t appeal to maybe someone who didn’t like INDYCAR.

But this was just like — it shouted at your face, like hey, whatever is going on here is sweet. I thought it hit everything exactly how it needed to. Fastest racing on earth right at the end. It was like burned into my brain. I was like, I need to see what’s going on here. I know what’s going on here, but it makes you ask the question of I’d like to see that again or I’d like to know what else is going on here. It gave you a plot twist. Alex Palou, who’s that guy? Why does this kid hate it?

There was something that I think appealed to just an audience, and it was 45 seconds or whatever it was. Very, very excited about what the future is looking like there for sure.

Q. This is content day. We have no mohawk. We have no shenanigans. Is there anything happening in the back alleys of this convention center?

CONOR DALY: Not that I’ve seen yet. It might be too early. It’s still before noon, so I don’t know if anyone has had enough coffee. Will Power, I said his hair looked like he had dad hair, and he’s like, oh, no, really? So he was upset about that because he had to put on a hat.

But Will also, it’s weird seeing Will in a white and red suit. I’m like, is that Josef but different? It’s not the black and red Verizon — I’m like, this is kind of wild. A lot of different costumes out there everyone has got on, so it’s a fun day.

And Robert Shwartzman who I have never met before, he’s like, I thought half the day has already been gone by and it’s 10:00 a.m. I’m like, welcome to the big show, brother. This is what it’s all about.

Q. What is dad hair?

CONOR DALY: I don’t know, it’s dad hair. Nathan knows. He’s a dad now. A little tired maybe, doing some work, maybe didn’t pay as much attention to it as normal. It’s not a bad thing.

Q. I want to ask you about the evolution of the team, Brad and Ricardo, if you can tell us a little bit about that.

CONOR DALY: Yeah, so Brad has been super supportive of us as a group, and then Ricardo, I mean, Ricardo is like — that guy would die for this team. That guy loves what he’s doing. He wants this group to be successful as much as possible.

Bringing in Dave O’Neill, too, Dave O’Neill is very experienced. He’s a great guy. David Brown, as well, who I’ve met, who I believe was my dad’s mechanic in Formula 1 in 1982 at Williams, which is crazy. I don’t know if that’s a confirmed fact, but I’m sure that makes them feel experienced.

But yeah, it’s a good group, and there’s a lot of young guys there, too, that I think are extremely, extremely talented mechanics and chief mechanics. The youth and the energy in that team is really, really strong.

It just feels like a great growing environment and a team that obviously — it takes a while to find success in this sport. Like any new team that’s come in, it takes you some time. We’re working our way there, and I’m excited to be a part of the journey.

We’ve got to get them — let’s try to win the Indy 500 this year together. That would be a great start. Then go from there.

Q. Talking about the young talent, did you meet Leandro when he was a kid? Last year I spoke with him and he’s arming all the strategies. What do you think about this growing even in the family?

CONOR DALY: Yeah, Leandro Juncos was a child when I met him at first. I held him like a baby when we won the 2010 championship, and now he’s on my pit stand. That makes me feel old, actually, if we’re talking about elderliness.

But the kid is smart. He’s grown up around racing his whole life, which is cool, and to have Ricardo be able to have his son in the team, that’s got to be a proud moment as a dad, as well.

Q. Everything is on the internet is real, then you are a very wealthy driver who came with budget. Can you explain to me what happened with your Subaru?

CONOR DALY: Well, it’s still in my garage, so it’s a car that I will never sell. I love Chevrolet, though. I’m a Team Chevy guy, obviously. But yeah, it’s been a long journey with my blue car in the garage, and it’s got some flat spotted tires currently, but it will never be sold. It’s an endless pit of money that never returns, but it’s been fun. It’s been fun.

Q. You’ve mentioned a lot how you want to shed the oval specialist tag and that you’re also a road course driver. How important is that for this season, to jump out of the gates in the first five races on road courses just as a reminder that I’m an all-around driver here?

CONOR DALY: I mean, super important. St. Pete is a race that my rookie year we were close to winning that race. We were in the top 3 until we had a piece of Carlos Muñoz’s front wing side pod and we overheated.

We’ve had strong runs at St. Pete. I love St. Pete. But I’ve had a lot of weird stuff happen to me, as well. And Barber is a place that I don’t really enjoy, but Thermal was a place that I got to test at. That was cool. I don’t know how good the racing is going to be there. But the Indy GP is a circuit that obviously I know very well, have had some pretty reasonable speed there before.

There’s a lot of tracks at the beginning that I’m actually very excited for. I love Long Beach. So yeah, it’s important to start strong. It’s important to start with a lot of points on the board and just a bit of — probably a bit of reassurance for sure for myself.

But we get a test day at Sebring, which could be super helpful, and yeah, we’re trying to wait to see how much simulator time we get, as well. Simulator time is going to be important with the Chevy folks, and just get ready. The team was quick at St. Pete last year with Romain. Obviously we didn’t have the hybrid there last year, so it will be a little bit different this year, but should be fun. I’m excited for it.

Q. In a previous life did you compete against PREMA?

CONOR DALY: Probably, yeah. I knew of them. They were the team that was the team in F3. I was doing GP3 and then F3 Euro Series was still a thing. PREMA wasn’t in GP3 when I was doing it, but for sure knew of them and you can pick their cars out from a mile away.

Q. Also the lineage of drivers that are in INDYCAR that have had Prema backgrounds is impressive.

CONOR DALY: Oh, yeah.

Q. How well do you think they’ll be first year out of the box?

CONOR DALY: That’s a great question. Honestly from what they’ve put into it so far, if you just do the math, they brought in a lot of good people, a lot of smart people. They did a really cool YouTube announcement which was very high level.

So there definitely seems to be no shortage of funding over there, which is the most important thing, like we talked about. Good for them, man. If you want to get in and swim with the sharks, just jump in, go for it. It’s cool, and I’m excited to see how they do.

Obviously Callum (Illott), we know he’s a good driver. I like Callum a lot. Yeah, I’m glad he’s back, too.

CONOR DALY, driver of the No. 78 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet, met with the media at the NTT INDYCAR SERIES Content Days in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Press Conference Transcript:

MODERATOR: Conor Daly joins us, driver of the No. 78 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet, beginning his 12th year being associated in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, back as a full-time driver, 115 career starts to his credit with many more to come in 2025.

What’s it been like so far, content day 2025?

CONOR DALY: Well, honestly, it’s nice to be back. I think a lot of drivers are like, oh, this is tough. But you don’t realize how much you miss it until you don’t have an opportunity to do it.

I think it’s important to appreciate it, and it’s cool to be here. It is a long day, but it’s cool to be here and just chat with everyone.

Q. Just getting to know the team again; any changes that you’ve noticed on the outset?

CONOR DALY: Yeah, obviously there’s a couple little personnel movements, and we have different suit colors, so that’s new. But yeah, it’s just been a lot of working on putting the best possible organization together as a group. We want to be successful together. We want to focus on actually preparing now instead of just jumping in and going.

With preparation comes much more success we hope and believe, so yeah, it should be fun.

Q. Of the handful of times that you’ve had a full-time situation in your career with one specific team and not those years bouncing back and forth between Carlin and ECR, how does it compare to those years being with this one group for a full year?

CONOR DALY: Yeah, honestly it definitely feels a little different only because of kind of — we got a taste of it last year. It’s almost like I got a little pregame ceremony or something like that. It all happened so fast, though, and it was so much fun.

Now it’s like, oh, we can — I can make a new seat, my first new seat since 2020, which is ridiculous. My seat has been painful to be in for the last however many years. But guess what, it costs money to make a seat, and none of these teams that I’m going to jump in for one race are going to spend money to get me a seat.

I can do something like that, which is very helpful. I can have my own steering wheel grips. That’s very nice. All those small things are — again, all of the people that are winning and contending, you have to have all those things because this is the most competitive championship right now, and it’s like, everything has to be perfect. Everything has to be right.

It’s just doing all those things feels right. And just getting a little desk in the office. I’m going to get my own desk in the engineering office. I want to have a computer so I can finally be fully integrated in the team systems. All of those things are what you are supposed to do as a racing driver at the highest level.

That’s going to be nice to be a part of. I get to work with my engineer that I’ve worked with for however many races we did last year, and I think he’s a really good young guy, and that team over there is a good group of people.

It’s just all the things that you want to have as you move forward, and yeah, we just kind of see how it plays out really.

Q. How would you describe the mentality difference of going through your day-to-day life say last year or at other times in your career where you were — maybe you only knew you were doing the 500 that year but you were wanting to be around for other opportunities? The year that you ran for MSR and RLL, things like that, versus this year it seems like you, I imagine, probably have a lot of pressure on yourself because you have this great opportunity, you want to perform really well, but I imagine there’s a different mindset or mentality that you’re living with. Can you put that into context?

CONOR DALY: Honestly, I don’t think I really need to change my mindset because I think we’ve seen recently in this INDYCAR world that, yeah, probably good to just live it one weekend at a time. You never really know what’s going to happen, and we’ve seen people just kicked out. I’ve been kicked out.

It’s just something that you have to be ready to give everything you’ve got, every single weekend, because everyone’s attention span is very short, and you’re only as good as your last lap that you’ve done.

No one is willing to wait around it seems anymore. There’s I think drivers on the out side looking in right now that shouldn’t be because there’s — it’s like, well, some of the things didn’t go great, you’re gone. It’s something that you just have to be aggressive with yourself. You have to be aggressive with the way you attack every weekend.

Honestly, I’m super lucky to just be here anyway. Just going to try to enjoy that.

Still crazy we only get like one test day before St. Petersburg. That’s kind of a bit wild. But that’s going to be the most important day of the last eight months. So use that test day at Sebring the best we can to make sure when we roll out at St. Pete we’re ready to go.

Q. Would you say that feeling that I have to take this one race at a time and do my very best because I never know when my last race is going to be, is that something you’ve always had in your career? Was that maybe really solidified to you when you had the shock of losing your seat mid-season a couple years ago?

CONOR DALY: Honestly, I think I guess just don’t mind it being like that because it does — I put a lot of pressure on myself, which I’m working on relieving that a little bit and just kind of doing what I know how to do, which is be a race car driver and be competitive.

But yeah, this sport will put you through every mental and physical battle you will ever know. I feel like I’ve experienced most of those.

But yeah, I’m super thankful to be here with Ricardo and Brad, who they want to be a successful race team. They’re trying everything they can to be competitive, to use the resources that they’ve got. We’ve got to find the resources, as well, to compete. We want to be able to make sure we find as much as we can because other people are doing that, as well.

That’s what happens when you’re competing at the top.

Q. When you look back at Milwaukee and your podium finish there, how much of a moment was that that’s really helped you get this spot that you’re in this season?

CONOR DALY: I think it’s the only reason why I’m here, honestly. That’s it. It’s a results-based industry. It’s an industry that — we showed a lot of other speed in other places, but even the 10th place in Nashville that I thought was one of our best races in a long time, we qualified sixth, finished 10th, that’s not really what matters.

You’ve got to get trophies. You’ve got to be up front. You’ve got to be doing stuff that makes people take a second look, take a third look even

.

Even still, there was times where — thankfully that I’m there, our engineering group, they’re like, Portland we were pretty fast too but no one will know because we got wrecked and we missed a session.

But in the race I think they were actually more impressed than they thought, because everyone thinks I’m just an oval guy. So it was just nice to at least show them that, too, because we’re going at this for the whole thing. We want to go at this every weekend and try to get podiums every weekend.

Yeah, it’s nice to be in the position we’re in, I think

.

Q. Also you’re one of the most recent INDYCAR drivers that have stepped outside their comfort zone and tried the Daytona 500. Helio is doing it this year. He’s picked a year where there’s a lot more entries than normal. How difficult is it going to be for him to get into that field just because there’s only a couple of spots that you can get into the race with?

CONOR DALY: Well, I mean, they made a rule for him that he’s going to make it no matter what. That was nice. I definitely wouldn’t have got that.

But honestly, I’m super pumped to see how Helio likes it. I actually talked to him a little bit about it before because I started hearing rumblings about it. I know Justin Marks. That guy is awesome. I’ve talked to him multiple times about how much excitement he’s got for the Indy 500 and stuff like that.

I think it’s going to be cool and I’m going to be cheering for him. That’s our guy. Helio is our guy.

It’s tough, though. I’m glad they have a practice session now, which before was something that I did not have. We were in very different scenarios when it comes to the situation, but I think it’s cool.

Just great to have motorsports crossover. I don’t know why we don’t have more. I think it’s huge for just the general racing community.

Q. Also because you’re involved business-wise with Dirty Mo Media, you get a little more interest in a broader aspect of motorsports because of who owns that company and how well they place their podcasts. How much has that really helped benefit you?

CONOR DALY: Well, the fact that Dale Jr. is on your side is cool. He’s a great guy. He’s been very supportive of us, and they love INDYCAR. There’s a reason why we’re there as an INDYCAR podcast. They see how exciting INDYCAR is. They see that it’s probably an under-utilized asset right now and they want to help the growth process.

So we’re going to keep trying to put stuff out there, keep getting our racing out to more and more people, and Dale is a great boss, and he loves racing of all kinds, just like I think a lot of us. We can watch all kinds of forms of racing on Saturdays and Sundays. Dale is one of those guys that loves all that stuff.

Q. (Indiscernible).

CONOR DALY: All of them but two, so I don’t know how many. No Ganassi and no Penske.

Q. As a driver, you’ve had to really put on the business hat. You’ve been really determined to stay in INDYCAR racing. You went to Vegas and then landed the Bitcoin sponsor and then Polkadot. It seems like you’ve done that pretty much on your own. You must have a sense of the whole picture now of what it takes to fund a team for a ride. I’ve heard that the costs are now maybe eight to ten million for a car ride instead of five to six million, and that can’t all be the hybrid cost. Do you know what’s contributed to raising that up so high in the last couple years?

CONOR DALY: The more money you spend, the faster you go. It’s as simple as that. That’s honestly the equation of it. If you can spend extra day at the wind tunnel, an extra day on the shaker rig, get more damper development work, that’s what it is. This is extremely competitive, and if you’re not doing everything, someone else is.

That’s the difficult part. And yeah, when I was a rookie in INDYCAR with ECR, we were happy to have like a $1 million sponsor. Like sweet. I wasn’t making any money, but we had a shot at it.

But now if you want to compete, you’ve got to do a lot of work and it is — it’s actually my least favorite part of the business is the business side. I focus — I spend 98.9 percent of my time probably on the business side for most of what’s going on, and the peacefulness of that 1.2 percent that I can actually just be like, oh, cool, driving, that’s great.

But thankfully once it’s all locked in and once we’re in the position we’re in now I can shift more of that focus to being a driver and my manager and the team at JHR to kind of take care of all the rest of the stuff.

But it is just stressful. I wish it wasn’t the way it was, but for someone like myself, I have to create opportunities for myself. Like I obviously know that. There are drivers that have plenty more trophies than me that don’t have to worry about that, which is justifiable, so I just have to work on getting more trophies, and then it’ll be easier. That’s up to me, and that’s the team and us as a group. So hopefully it becomes easier.

Q. What did you think of FOX’s commercial featuring the racing Greek God?

CONOR DALY: Well, look, I think that Josef commercial I think put a smile on everyone’s face. Got to make stars, right? Josef is a star, and some people hate him now, which is funny, but boy, is that a huge deal for us.

But it’s also cool to see. If you make something cool, it will go very far because everyone thinks it’s cool. So sometimes when we see things and we’ve seen ads or this, that and whatever, it’s like, well, that was cool if you really love INDYCAR, but it wouldn’t appeal to maybe someone who didn’t like INDYCAR.

But this was just like — it shouted at your face, like hey, whatever is going on here is sweet. I thought it hit everything exactly how it needed to. Fastest racing on earth right at the end. It was like burned into my brain. I was like, I need to see what’s going on here. I know what’s going on here, but it makes you ask the question of I’d like to see that again or I’d like to know what else is going on here. It gave you a plot twist. Alex Palou, who’s that guy? Why does this kid hate it?

There was something that I think appealed to just an audience, and it was 45 seconds or whatever it was. Very, very excited about what the future is looking like there for sure.

Q. This is content day. We have no mohawk. We have no shenanigans. Is there anything happening in the back alleys of this convention center?

CONOR DALY: Not that I’ve seen yet. It might be too early. It’s still before noon, so I don’t know if anyone has had enough coffee. Will Power, I said his hair looked like he had dad hair, and he’s like, oh, no, really? So he was upset about that because he had to put on a hat.

But Will also, it’s weird seeing Will in a white and red suit. I’m like, is that Josef but different? It’s not the black and red Verizon — I’m like, this is kind of wild. A lot of different costumes out there everyone has got on, so it’s a fun day.

And Robert Shwartzman who I have never met before, he’s like, I thought half the day has already been gone by and it’s 10:00 a.m. I’m like, welcome to the big show, brother. This is what it’s all about.

Q. What is dad hair?

CONOR DALY: I don’t know, it’s dad hair. Nathan knows. He’s a dad now. A little tired maybe, doing some work, maybe didn’t pay as much attention to it as normal. It’s not a bad thing.

Q. I want to ask you about the evolution of the team, Brad and Ricardo, if you can tell us a little bit about that.

CONOR DALY: Yeah, so Brad has been super supportive of us as a group, and then Ricardo, I mean, Ricardo is like — that guy would die for this team. That guy loves what he’s doing. He wants this group to be successful as much as possible.

Bringing in Dave O’Neill, too, Dave O’Neill is very experienced. He’s a great guy. David Brown, as well, who I’ve met, who I believe was my dad’s mechanic in Formula 1 in 1982 at Williams, which is crazy. I don’t know if that’s a confirmed fact, but I’m sure that makes them feel experienced.

But yeah, it’s a good group, and there’s a lot of young guys there, too, that I think are extremely, extremely talented mechanics and chief mechanics. The youth and the energy in that team is really, really strong.

It just feels like a great growing environment and a team that obviously — it takes a while to find success in this sport. Like any new team that’s come in, it takes you some time. We’re working our way there, and I’m excited to be a part of the journey.

We’ve got to get them — let’s try to win the Indy 500 this year together. That would be a great start. Then go from there.

Q. Talking about the young talent, did you meet Leandro when he was a kid? Last year I spoke with him and he’s arming all the strategies. What do you think about this growing even in the family?

CONOR DALY: Yeah, Leandro Juncos was a child when I met him at first. I held him like a baby when we won the 2010 championship, and now he’s on my pit stand. That makes me feel old, actually, if we’re talking about elderliness.

But the kid is smart. He’s grown up around racing his whole life, which is cool, and to have Ricardo be able to have his son in the team, that’s got to be a proud moment as a dad, as well.

Q. Everything is on the internet is real, then you are a very wealthy driver who came with budget. Can you explain to me what happened with your Subaru?

CONOR DALY: Well, it’s still in my garage, so it’s a car that I will never sell. I love Chevrolet, though. I’m a Team Chevy guy, obviously. But yeah, it’s been a long journey with my blue car in the garage, and it’s got some flat spotted tires currently, but it will never be sold. It’s an endless pit of money that never returns, but it’s been fun. It’s been fun.

Q. You’ve mentioned a lot how you want to shed the oval specialist tag and that you’re also a road course driver. How important is that for this season, to jump out of the gates in the first five races on road courses just as a reminder that I’m an all-around driver here?

CONOR DALY: I mean, super important. St. Pete is a race that my rookie year we were close to winning that race. We were in the top 3 until we had a piece of Carlos Muñoz’s front wing side pod and we overheated.

We’ve had strong runs at St. Pete. I love St. Pete. But I’ve had a lot of weird stuff happen to me, as well. And Barber is a place that I don’t really enjoy, but Thermal was a place that I got to test at. That was cool. I don’t know how good the racing is going to be there. But the Indy GP is a circuit that obviously I know very well, have had some pretty reasonable speed there before.

There’s a lot of tracks at the beginning that I’m actually very excited for. I love Long Beach. So yeah, it’s important to start strong. It’s important to start with a lot of points on the board and just a bit of — probably a bit of reassurance for sure for myself.

But we get a test day at Sebring, which could be super helpful, and yeah, we’re trying to wait to see how much simulator time we get, as well. Simulator time is going to be important with the Chevy folks, and just get ready. The team was quick at St. Pete last year with Romain. Obviously we didn’t have the hybrid there last year, so it will be a little bit different this year, but should be fun. I’m excited for it.

Q. In a previous life did you compete against PREMA?

CONOR DALY: Probably, yeah. I knew of them. They were the team that was the team in F3. I was doing GP3 and then F3 Euro Series was still a thing. PREMA wasn’t in GP3 when I was doing it, but for sure knew of them and you can pick their cars out from a mile away.

Q. Also the lineage of drivers that are in INDYCAR that have had Prema backgrounds is impressive.

CONOR DALY: Oh, yeah.

Q. How well do you think they’ll be first year out of the box?

CONOR DALY: That’s a great question. Honestly from what they’ve put into it so far, if you just do the math, they brought in a lot of good people, a lot of smart people. They did a really cool YouTube announcement which was very high level.

So there definitely seems to be no shortage of funding over there, which is the most important thing, like we talked about. Good for them, man. If you want to get in and swim with the sharks, just jump in, go for it. It’s cool, and I’m excited to see how they do.

Obviously Callum (Illott), we know he’s a good driver. I like Callum a lot. Yeah, I’m glad he’s back, too.

About General Motors

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January 15, 2025
Multi-Platinum Nashville Band Old Dominion To Rock the Pre-Race Stage at 66th Coca-Cola 600
- Seven-time reigning Country Music Association and Academy of Country Music “Group of the Year” Old Dominion will bring their record-breaking hits to the pre-race stage ahead of the 66th running Coca-Cola 600, Sunday, May 25
- The infield concert is free for all Coca-Cola 600 race ticket holders; fans can get stage-front access, including the concert and driver intros with a Track Pass upgrade
- Coca-Cola 600 weekend tickets can be purchased online at charlottemotorspeedway.com or call 1-800-455-FANS (3267).
CONCORD, NC (Jan. 15, 2025) – Memorial Day weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway will hit a high note as chart-topping, GRAMMY-nominated country superstars Old Dominion bring their electrifying energy to the pre-race stage ahead of the 66th running Coca-Cola 600, Sunday, May 25.

Old Dominion has taken the industry by storm with smash hits like “Memory Lane,” “One Man Band” and “No Such Thing as a Broken Heart.” With an incredible seven ACM “Group of the Year” award wins and record-breaking seven CMA “Vocal Group of the Year” titles, the renowned band is known for their electrifying live shows and fan-favorite anthems.

“We are thrilled to have Old Dominion headline the Coca-Cola 600 this May,” said Charlotte Motor Speedway President and General Manager Greg Walter. “Their electrifying energy will undoubtedly elevate the day is sure to set the tone for an unforgettable weekend at America’s Home for Racing.”

Comprised of lead singer Matthew Ramsey, guitarist Brad Tursi, multi-instrumentalist Trevor Rosen, bassist Geoff Sprung and drummer Whit Sellers, Old Dominion has cemented its place as one of country music’s most popular bands. With nine No. 1 singles, five billion streams and over a dozen RIAA platinum and gold single certifications, the star-studded group is ready to rock yet another stage at the 1.5-mile superspeedway.

TICKETS:

The pre-race concert is free for all Coca-Cola 600 ticket holders. Upgrade to a Track Pass for stage-front access to the concert, driver introductions and more. To purchase Coca-Cola 600 weekend tickets, camping and upgrades, fans can visit www.charlottemotorspeedway.com or call 1-800-455-FANS (3267).

MORE INFO:

Fans can connect with Charlotte Motor Speedway and get the latest news by following on X and Instagram, or becoming a Facebook fan. Keep up with all the latest news and information with the Charlotte Motor Speedway mobile app.
January 15, 2025