PIT PASS INDY – SEASON 4, EPISODE 64 – A ‘Season of Celebration’ with NASCAR Cup Series Champion Joey Logano and 2-Time Indianapolis 500 Winner Josef Newgarden of Team Penske 

December 24, 2024

Show host Bruce Martin has a special “Season of Celebration” edition of Pit Pass Indy, featuring two of the biggest winners in auto racing in 2004. Martin has exclusive interview with 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Champion Joey Logano and two-time and back-to-back Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden.

Both drivers are with Team Penske.

During this special time when we celebrate the holidays, throw another log on the fire, grab another cup of Egg Nog, enjoy the aroma of the Turkey, Prime Rib or Ham roasting in the oven and enjoy this special holiday edition of Pit Pass Indy.

From all of us at Pit Pass Indy, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

For more INDYCAR coverage, follow Bruce Martin at X, previously known as Twitter, at @BruceMartin_500

PIT PASS INDY – SEASON 4, EPISODE 63 – Mark Montieth, author of ‘VUCKOVICH The Man Who Wouldn’t Lift’

December 17, 2024

Show host Bruce Martin has a special Pit Pass Indy, featuring an exclusive interview with Mark Montieth, an author and former sportswriter at The Indianapolis Star who helped turn a manuscript that was also 70 years old into a book on one of the greatest legends in Indianapolis 500 history.

The book is entitled, “VUKOVICH The Man Who Wouldn’t Lift” and tells the incredible life story of the great Bill Vukovich, who won back-to-back Indianapolis 500s in 1953 and 1954 and was running away with the lead in the 1955 500-Mile Race before he was killed while leading the race in a crash on the backstretch. He was just 36 years old.

Racing fans have heard the name “Bill Vukovich” but few know the story of the man. Montieth was able to take a manuscript written by Indianapolis News sportswriter Angelo Angelopolous, who died of Leukemia in 1962, into a hardcover book by Halfcourt Press in Indianapolis. 

The book is available at Amazon.com or by contacting Mark Montieth at [email protected]. 

Signed copies are also available by contacting Montieth. It would make a great Christmas or holiday gift for any Indianapolis 500 or IndyCar fan.

For more INDYCAR coverage, follow Bruce Martin at X, previously known as Twitter, at @BruceMartin_500

Borg-Warner Trophy Special Edition with back-to-back Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden, IMS President Doug Boles and BorgWarner’s Michelle Collins

December 10, 2024

Show host Bruce Martin has a special Borg-Warner Trophy edition of Pit Pass Indy, featuring exclusive interviews with back-to-back Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden of Team Penske, Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Doug Boles and Michelle Collins, Global Director of Marketing and Communications for BorgWarner.

Newgarden is just the sixth driver to win the Indianapolis 500 in back-to-back years in 2023 and 2024. Newgarden joins Wilbur Shaw in 1939 and 1940, Mauri Rose in 1947 and 1948, Bill Vukovich in 1953 and 1954, Al Unser in 1970 and 1971 and Helio Castroneves in 2001 and 2002 as back-to-back winners of the world’s biggest and most famous race.

Newgarden was honored at a special ceremony in Indianapolis on December 4 when his latest face was unveiled on the famed Borg-Warner Trophy. Pit Pass Indy was there to deliver these exclusive interviews.

For more INDYCAR coverage, follow Bruce Martin at X, previously known as Twitter, at @BruceMartin_500

PIT PASS INDY – SEASON 4, EPISODE 61 – Catching up with Team Penske engineer David Faustino

December 3, 2024 

Show host Bruce Martin has an exclusive interview with one of the hidden heroes of IndyCar, it’s Team Penske’s David Faustino, the longtime engineer for driver Will Power on the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet.

Faustino has become one of the most successful race engineers in the NTT IndyCar Series with a victory in the 2018 Indianapolis 500 and two IndyCar Series championships in 2014 and 2022, all with Power as the driver.

For more INDYCAR coverage, follow Bruce Martin at X, previously known as Twitter, at @BruceMartin_500

PIT PASS INDY – SEASON 4, EPISODE 60 – Get to know Borg-Warner Trophy engraver Reid Smith

November 26, 2024

Show host Bruce Martin has an exclusive interview with the engraver of the famed Borg-Warner Trophy that immortalizes the winner driver of the Indianapolis 500. It’s Reid Smith, an engraver from Charlotte, North Carolina. He explains the process on this edition of Pit Pass Indy.

For more INDYCAR coverage, follow Bruce Martin at X, previously known as Twitter, at @BruceMartin_500

PIT PASS INDY – SEASON 4, EPISODE 59 – Mario Andretti Pays Tribute to Bobby Allison 

November 19, 2024 

Show host Bruce Martin has an exclusive interview with racing legend Mario Andretti, who pays tribute to the “Blue Collar Hero” Bobby Allison, who passed away at age 86 on November 9, 2024. 

Andretti also gives his thoughts on his son, Michael, leaving IndyCar as team owner, as well as other IndyCar topics.

For more INDYCAR coverage, follow Bruce Martin at X, previously known as Twitter, at @BruceMartin_500

PIT PASS INDY – SEASON 4, EPISODE 58 – Team Penske’s “Season for the Ages” with Roger Penske

November 12, 2024

Show host Bruce Martin celebrates Team Penske’s “Season for the Ages” as Team Penske nearly completed a sweep of 2024. 

Penske won the NASCAR Cup Series Championship for the third season in a row, the fifth in team history, when Joey Logano won the NASCAR Cup Series Championship with a victory in the final race of the season at Phoenix Raceway on November 10, 2024.

It’s the first time Roger Penske’s team won the Indianapolis 500 with Josef Newgarden, the NASCAR Cup Series Championship with Logano, the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Title with Porsche Penske Motorsport and the World Endurance Championship (WEC) Drivers’ title, also with Porsche Penske Motorsport.

Ironically, the only season championship that Penske didn’t win in 2024 was the NTT IndyCar Series Championship.

Penske is the owner of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Indianapolis 500 and IndyCar.

His latest title is the first time his NASCAR Cup Series team has finished 1-2 in the championship. 

It was the third-straight NASCAR Cup Series Championship for Penske. In the 76-year history of NASCAR, he is just the third team owner to win at least three NASCAR Cup Series Championships in a row.

Penske joins legends Junior Johnson and Rick Hendrick in that category.

For more INDYCAR coverage, follow Bruce Martin at X, previously known as Twitter, at @BruceMartin_500

PIT PASS INDY – SEASON 4, EPISODE 57 – How Borg-Warner Trophy Sculptor William Behrends dealt with Hurricane Helene as he creates a second face for Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden 

November 5, 2024

Show host Bruce Martin has an exclusive interview with William Behrends, the famed sculptor who creates the face of the Indianapolis 500 that becomes part of the permanent Borg-Warner Trophy. 

Behrends art studio and home are located in Tryon, North Carolina. On September 27, 2024 Hurricane Helene ravaged the Western North Carolina area, including Tryon. Behrends was in the process of creating Josef Newgarden’s face in clay – part of the lengthy process that is ultimately reduced to the size of an egg and cast in sterling silver before it is attached to the trophy. 

Newgarden was scheduled to sit in for a live study at Behrends’ studio in Tryon on October 4, but the damage in Western North Carolina left many communities devastated with many of the citizens stranded as roads and bridges were washed away.

Behrends explains how he was able to complete the process while giving an update on the ongoing recovery effort in Western North Carolina.

For more INDYCAR coverage, follow Bruce Martin at X, previously known as Twitter, at @BruceMartin_500

PIT PASS INDY – SEASON 4, EPISODE 56 – Catching up with Conor Daly 

October 29, 2024 

Show host Bruce Martin has an exclusive interview with IndyCar Series driver Conor Daly. who finished the season with Juncos Hollinger Racing in the 2024 IndyCar Series season. 

Daly wasn’t a full-time IndyCar competitor in 2024 but was able to compete in seven of the 17 races on the IndyCar Series schedule. 

He started 29th and finished 10th after leading 22 laps in the 108thIndianapolis 500 for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. He was a fill-in for Dale Coyne Racing in the Hy-Vee OneStep 250 at Iowa Speedway in July before finishing the season with five races for Juncos Hollinger Racing. The highly was a third-place finish from a 25th-place starting position at The Milwaukee Mile on August 31. 

Daly also drove in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Pennzoil 250 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 20, three races in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and one ARCA Series race in 2024. 

For more INDYCAR coverage, follow Bruce Martin at X, previously known as Twitter, at @BruceMartin_500

Show host Bruce Martin has an exclusive “Deep Dive” interview with Arrow McLaren Team Principal Gavin Ward. Arrow McLaren is coming off its most successful season in IndyCar with driver Pato O’Ward of Monterey, Mexico winning three IndyCar Series races in 2024.

For more INDYCAR coverage, follow Bruce Martin at X, previously known as Twitter, at @BruceMartin_500