We’ve got another special guest for you this week, as reigning IndyCar champion Alex Palou joins the latest episode of The Race IndyCar Podcast.
Despite winning last year's championship, Palou tells hosts Jack Benyon and JR Hildebrand how he and his Chip Ganassi Racing team redoubled their efforts to improve in the off-season. 
He addresses why some may have underestimated the start of his title defence - he sits third in the standings after big improvements at tracks he didn't perfect last year - and how the relationship has (or hasn't) changed with his team-mates after his title win.
Palou - who has 10 podiums in 19 starts for Ganassi - also reflects on his first career IndyCar win last year, which came at the next stop on this season's calendar: Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama.

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Alex Palou on defending his title and why his 2022 start is better than it looks

Analysis, interviews and race reviews from one of the most competitive motorsport series in the world. The Race’s American Editor Jack Benyon is joined by Indy 500 regular and Indy Lights champion JR Hildebrand to dissect the main stories with the help of some of the series’ biggest names

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This special bonus episode features a heartfelt interview with 2016 IndyCar champion and 2019 Indy 500 winner Simon Pagenaud, who drove his late mentor Gil de Ferran's car at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway last week.
Pagenaud raced for 2000-2001 CART champion de Ferran, who died in late 2023, when the former first came to America, and through the rest of his career de Ferran was a close friend and confidant Pagenaud could always lean on.
Speaking to The Race, Pagenaud discusses the origins of that relationship, and how Gil's family asked him to run demo laps of de Ferran's Penske car at The Brickyard. Pagenaud even wore de Ferran's suit and gloves from 2003 and ran a special helmet design.
We wanted to bring you the interview recorded on Thursday of race week because of Pagenaud's honest and emotional insight into de Ferran.
We won't be discussing Pagenaud's 2023 crash in this episode as we respect his right to privacy during his recovery, and wish him all the best in that continued journey.

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SPECIAL: Simon Pagenaud pays tribute to Gil de Ferran

Less than a couple of hours after his Indianapolis 500 win, Josef Newgarden joins The Race to discuss defending his title with a spectacular move on Pato O'Ward for the win.
Newgarden discusses the move that won it, what it means given the controversy surrounding him and the team after he was disqualified at St Petersburg earlier this year, and how qualifying laid the foundations for the success.
After that, JR Hildebrand joins Jack Benyon to analyse the key moments of the race with more detail on Pato O'Ward, NASCAR star Kyle Larson and more.

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Newgarden on consecutive Indy 500 victories + O’Ward's heartbreak and Larson's rollercoaster run

Our annual Indy 500 retro special episode features special guest Kenny Brack, looking back on his landmark 1999 Indy win, 25 years ago.
Brack explains how, after failing to get on the F1 grid, he landed in the newly formed Indy Racing League, first with Galles Racing in 1998, and then with Foyt, for whom he won the IRL title and the Indy 500 the following year.
He recalls the 1999 race, what it did for his career generally (and in Sweden especially), and also packs in some other key career events like the 2003 Texas crash he was lucky to walk away from, and how his comeback in 2005 was enough for him to call time on his career. That comeback came with Rahal, a team he has joined again as a consultant in 2024 - and he explains that move, too.
Ahead of the interview, host Jack Benyon is joined by The Race's Matt Beer, to provide background on the unusual racing landscape in the US at the time of Brack's victory, when top-level single-seater racing was split between the IRL and CART (and top teams like Ganassi and Penske weren't racing at the 500).
Jack also speaks to journalist, podcaster and media ace Mattias Persson, a Swede who explains how important Brack’s win was for helping the country fall in love with motorsport again after a tough period, and how Brack helped inspired the current crop of Marcus Ericsson and Felix Rosenqvist.

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Kenny Brack on his 1999 Indy 500 win, inspiring Sweden's next stars

This episode features an interview with the winner of the fastest-ever four-lap pole run in the history of the Indianapolis 500, Scott McLaughlin.
The Team Penske driver talks about how a change of line helped unlock speed, his journey from tin-tops to single-seater superstar in just over four years, and gives some insight into his race car for Sunday’s 108th running of the Indy 500. Tune in for more from McLaughlin.
Elsewhere, co-host JR Hildebrand has been sleuthing in the paddock over the last week, identifying some of the key reasons for Chevrolet’s apparent gains over Honda and how a suspension part has been causing plenty of intrigue.
Kyle Larson’s stunning run to fifth on his Indy 500 debut and Marcus Ericsson’s fight to make the race as he was under threat from going home after a crash on Thursday as part of the ‘Bump Day’ drama are also analysed.
We’ll be back before the race day with a special annual retro episode featuring an interview with an Indy 500 winning driver on a special anniversary.
To join The Race Members' Club, click here to sign up, or you can sign up for all of The Race's bonus audio content (but not the other perks of membership) directly in the Apple Podcasts app.

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Indy 500: Pole winner McLaughlin interviewed + qualifying analysis

Alex Palou’s Indy road course win, a host of expletive-filled spats and a look at the Indy 500 starting this week makes up this episode of The Race IndyCar Podcast.
Hosting duo JR Hildebrand and Jack Benyon look at Alex Palou starting May in the same way as last year, with a pole and a win on the Indy road course, what that means for his title rivals and how Christian Lundgaard was hard done by.
Of course, Colton Herta calling his team-mate Marcus Ericsson an “ass” and Romain Grosjean and Santino Ferrucci’s unusual wheel-banging feud are also analysed.
After that, Hildebrand explains some intricacies of how Indy 500 qualifying works, and gives his thoughts on how badly impacted reigning winner Josef Newgarden will be after some of his crew have been suspended ahead of the event.
There’s also a run through the schedule this week and some things to look for as practice unfolds.

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Alex Palou on defending his title and why his 2022 start is better than it looks

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