IndyCar Content Days: Bus Bros is gone, Helio Castoneves reflects on Gil de Ferran & more
Nathan BrownThe IndyCar season kicked off Wednesday morning in the hallways, conference rooms and ballrooms of the JW Marriott in downtown Indianapolis two months before it takes the track in St. Petersburg.
Roughly half the series’ full-time driver field shuffled through one-on-one interviews, press conferences, photo shoots, silly games and more for IndyCar’s first of two of its annual "Content Days."
Here are the biggest takeaways from Wednesday.
'Bus Bros' comes to an abrupt end
In May 2022, Josef Newgarden and Team Penske teammate Scott McLaughlin launched what became an entertaining, hilarious, unpredictable off-track content series riffing off the pair’s growing relationship that involved loads of off-track time in the driver bus lot at race weekends. The pair became an internet sensation – throughout the racing world, at least – in the lengths they went to garner laughs and willingness to do just about anything. For the traditionally buttoned up Team Penske, it was a stark new look.
But after 22 episodes – the latest dropping in August – the YouTube series has been put on pause, connected to the split between Newgarden and his one-time business partner Brian Simpson, who together had launched the media services company Dream Digital. Just over a month ago, Simpson launched a new, similar endeavor, Stillhouse, that seems similarly set to create content for teams and drivers.
Newgarden, though, is not among its driver pool.
“’Bus Bros,’ right now, they're taking a long nap. But you just never know with those guys. Anything is possible,” Newgarden said when asked about the status of the series.
Though Newgarden didn’t make the connection directly, the change seems to be centered around his choice as a veteran driver in the throes of celebrating an Indy 500 victory, and looking to hoist an Astor Cup championship trophy, to simplify his life.
“I pared down this offseason a lot of things, which I think has been productive personally. I've tried to refocus my task list and really my priorities, and from that standpoint, it's been really, really positive,” he said. “That was really my intentions by some of these changes in the off-season. In a lot of ways, just to be transparent, I want to get back to loving this.”
Asked about the development hours later, McLaughlin seemed similarly resigned to putting a close to that sometimes zany chapter.
“I guess Josef sacked the producer, so we’ve got no producer,” said McLaughlin through a hearty laugh. “Yeah, 'Bus Bros' is not going to happen. (Josef’s) doing his thing. Brian has his new stuff at Stillhouse, which is going to go fantastic.
“'Bus Bros' was fun because it was like -- it was just an opportunity for people to get to know me and Josef and see who we are outside the car. We did some pretty stupid stuff, but it was fun chapter. If this is the end, it's the end.”
Scott Dixon: CGR's expansion 'won't be easy'
You could say Scott Dixon has seen a thing or two in his 22 seasons spent with Chip Ganassi Racing, but somehow, the 2024 season ushers in a new experience: four full-time teammates. Alongside two-time champ Alex Palou, the decorated pair are joined by last year’s part-time driver, Marcus Armstrong, and rookies Kyffin Simpson and Linus Lundqvist.
After four years of running four full-time entries (2014-17), CGR scaled back significantly in 2018, something Dixon applauded since he and the team could better focus on the little things that left the veteran short of the title races in 2016 and '20'17. Now, after jumping to three cars for 2020 and four in 2021, CGR will run more full-time entries in IndyCar than ever.
“I guess we have yet to see how that goes. It's never easy,” he said, “It’s all about the people. There sometimes can be a limit to how many of those people you can find, or how many people that are compatible. I think with different programs and maybe the size of the team maybe not changing so much and having depth there, I think really helps. But you're still adding a lot of moving parts to an already pretty big team.”
Helio Castroneves reflects on loss of Gil de Ferran
Forcing back tears, newly-named Meyer Shank Racing co-owner Helio Castroneves was asked for the first time publicly about the passing of his longtime friend Gil de Ferran, who suffered a heart attack at 56 years old Dec. 29 while racing with his son at a private track in Florida.
The IndyCar veteran, who’s now in an Indy 500-only driver role along with his ownership stake, still remembers fondly the pair’s early days at Team Penske, where Castroneves joked de Ferran hogged more than 90 minutes of the 1 hour, 45-minute sit-down.
More:Gil de Ferran, the 2003 Indianapolis 500 champion, has died at 56
“Certainly, his personality was completely different than mine. Even though he's trying to be funny, which he wasn't funny, became funny,” Castroneves said. “He was one of those guys that -- big heart, very, very intense, incredible knowledge, and yeah, we had a lot of good moments, myself, Gil and (Tim) Cindric. We were called the ‘Three Musketeers.’ Nothing could stop us.
“I'm sure he is up there right now redesigning the gates of heaven, so trying to make a modernized or electric or whatever it is. I'm sure he's having fun up there.”
Alexander Rossi reveals key to title contention
Once a serious championship contender during his second contract with Andretti Autosport, the 2016 Indy 500 winner has found himself back in the pack since early in the 2020 season.
“Ninth-place purgatory,” as he called it Wednesday, with four straight campaigns ending with 9th- or 10th-place finishes in the points.
“I think we were pretty good on Sundays, but we were really, really poor by a lot of standards on Saturday. We didn't qualify well at all, so that's been the sole focus this off-season, figuring out what we need to do different, what I need to do different,” Rossi said. “To be competitive and to win these races, you have to start in the top 6.”
Graham Rahal reflects on roots of disastrous 500
Maybe it was the 5-Hour Energy – Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s newest associate sponsor – but series vet Graham Rahal appeared particularly upbeat as he discussed his team’s outlook for 2024, following a rollercoaster of a 2023.
In hopes of putting last May – where he failed to qualify his No. 15 Honda for the Indianapolis 500 and, as a whole, RLL struggled mightily – behind him, Rahal dove into some of what the team discovered was holding them back nearly a year ago.
“There's a lot of low-hanging fruit, unfortunately, that was missed. That's part of the game, but it's disappointing now to look back,” Rahal said Wednesday. “Having said that, I've got to tip my cap to my dad, which everybody thinks, ‘Oh, you should do that.’ No, he was very motivated after May to get responses and immediate responses, and then from that, (team COO) Steve Eriksen has done an amazing job to put the plan together, and now to let (technical director Stefano Sordo) and his group implement the plan.
“They have invested a lot of money. We've got sponsors that have jumped on board to help us with some of the R&D costs, and it's going to make a big difference.”
Will Power refocused for 2024 rebound
Following the end to his IndyCar title defense in 2023 that saw Will Power fall back to 7th, without a victory and with just four podiums, the Team Penske driver spoke in Laguna Seca about a particularly trying campaign that had him, at times, considering retirement. Well before the 2023 season began, Power’s wife Liz was rushed to the hospital with a 106-degree fever stemming from a staph infection in her back that led to emergency spinal surgery.
The recovery road was long and arduous, so much so that Power told reporters at the end of last season he juggled stepping away so he could look after Liz. She managed, though, to support her husband in-person in May at IMS and was also present at the finale where a year prior, in celebrating her husband’s second championship, that she’d predicted it the prior offseason.
Now a year removed from Liz’s health scare, Will said his wife is doing “a lot better.”
“She's actually back starting to work out a little bit. Way, way better from where she was,” Power said Wednesday. “Not having that stress, the constant thought in the back of your mind of what's going on there frees up a bit of space. You can get back to the sort of normal routine of preparing for a season and working during the season.
“Those distractions really take away -- you just cannot compete at a high level if you're not 100% ‘in’, and if you're not 100% in, you're going to struggle in this field. It's too tough. Depth is too strong. You need to have everything going for you if you're going to win in this series.”