NTT INDYCAR SERIES News Conference
Thursday May 22, 2025
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Santino Ferrucci – A.J. Foyt Racing
Starts 15th

THE MODERATOR: Santino, how would you describe your month or two weeks of May?

SANTINO FERRUCCI: I don’t know if I want to summarize my month (smiling). It’s been a lot. I really feel for my crew, who have probably split the car now eight times, which you’re only really supposed to do three. I feel really bad for those guys. They’ve been working really hard to give me a really, really solid race car.

Monday practice was the first time we got to really be out there racing in the pack. I felt really competitive. Was able to pass a bunch of people, especially in the train. Couple small changes we want to do for Friday’s practice. Hope that everything is the same once we put it back together for the weekend.

Q. Santino, INDYCAR season is finished after the European standard relatively early by the end of August. A couple of years ago you did some NASCAR stuff. Are you planning to do similar things the rest of the year to stay sharp?

SANTINO FERRUCCI: I’d like to. I don’t have anything currently on my schedule. The only thing past INDYCAR that I have is the Chili Bowl, which I’ll be back again for. As everybody knows, I love my dirt racing.

If I could figure something out over there once our season is over and my job is complete here at INDYCAR, then yeah, definitely.

Q. Santino, you’re always up in the front of this race leading. How do you think the race is going to run with the hybrid, the conditions?

SANTINO FERRUCCI: I think conditions… Even having the hybrid in the car, it makes it a little bit more free on the entry, which is one thing. Everybody is kind of fighting the same things, free in, pushy off. At the end of the day, the biggest thing that affects our racing other than downforce is the tires. If the tires are wearing really good or wearing out too aggressively or not wearing at all, really have a big impact on our racing.

From what I can tell, it’s going to be pretty decent. The weather is going to help us. When it gets really hot and you can’t follow and you have as much downforce on as you possibly can. Gets cool like this, we can trim the cars out, not run wickers on the rear and get a lot closer. It’ll also allow the track to run two lanes, which is nice. Two lanes at the start, not two lanes throughout.

I think it should be pretty good. If we get a nice 65-, 70-degree day, a little bit overcast, even for the fans that don’t want to be sunburnt, it will probably be good for everybody.

Q. Santino, how do you think the personnel changes at Team Penske could impact the technical alliance that you have?

SANTINO FERRUCCI: To be honest with you, I don’t know. I mean, like I said, I drive for AJ Foyt. For us, I mean, our focus is to win the 500. Nothing’s changed for us. Seriously, nothing’s changed under our roof.

Yeah, no, we still operate at two totally different teams in that respect. Like I said, it’s a bummer to see that happen. I think those are all fantastic people that have worked really hard to get to where they are today. It’s sad to see that happen in today’s world of motorsports.

Yeah, no, that’s all I got.

Q. Rookie on pole who has never been on pole in an INDYCAR race, let alone an oval. How do you navigate the start?

SANTINO FERRUCCI: Pretty cool. I’m not going to lie, it’s pretty cool. You have a brand-new team, a driver that I’ve raced with growing up in Europe. So I’ve known him a long time. All in all, something of history. Cool to see. Not just as a competitor, but as a fan of this beautiful race.

Now, I think does he trust his spotters? I hope so. Next to him you have probably one of the most talented people around this place starting it off, too.

Then Pato, as well, who has done amazing here.

I think, yeah, it’s going to be entertaining.

Q. Santino, third year for you driving for AJ Foyt. Is there any extra pressure on you to perform well here?

SANTINO FERRUCCI: Yeah, I mean, A.J. has won it four. He won it once as a team owner as well. I would love to give him his sixth 500 win. Obviously it’s been a few years since the team has won.

I brought them back a pole last year. I’ve come very close to winning this event in ’23 with them. I feel really confident in our abilities this year. I think this is going to be one of better shots I’ve had at it, too. It’s all about maximizing on race day.

Driving and spending time with A.J. in the pits is unbelievable. You can’t even put into words what it’s like to just sit in the garage with him, especially during one of the days like Monday to where you have a lot of time on your hands before you go out for two hours of practice. Him telling stories back in the day, talking about the car, explaining to him the feeling of what I have, what we were doing in engineering, hearing his opinions and thoughts.

It’s almost crazy to think that someone, when A.J. drove, he only retired in the early ’90s, that his car, what he would do with the setup, to what we’re doing in engineering really lines up pretty well. It’s pretty spectacular.

It’s just a joy to be around him, and try to cherish all those moments while I can.

THE MODERATOR: Do you have a favorite A.J. story?

SANTINO FERRUCCI: Not one that I’d like to share.

THE MODERATOR: We asked Malukas the same thing…

GRAHAM RAHAL: No stories (laughter).

SANTINO FERRUCCI: They’re all in the book. If you want to hear about the stories, read the book. I’m telling you, read the book.

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.

NTT INDYCAR SERIES News Conference
Thursday May 22, 2025
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Robert Shwartzman – PREMA Racing
Starts 1st

THE MODERATOR: Robert, what has the last several days been like for you?

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: Very busy. Yeah, it’s good to be that busy, let’s say I’m very happy. Actually, I’m extremely happy. It’s still quite an unbelievable thing that happened on Sunday.

Like the guys said, we’re all trying to now focus on the race and try to get our best from the car to have the most comfortable environment starting the race.

It’s 200 laps. Probably the conditions are going to be changing a bit. From what I’ve seen, I’ve never raced on the oval, but you can get a bit of traffic. We’ll try to find a good way for having a good car for all of these conditions.

We need to use wisely this Carb Day. I like the name of it, it’s actually fun day. I come from karting. We used to have a lot of playing with carburetors. Carb Day is quite cool.

We’ll see how we’re going to go on Sunday. We’ll have two guys quite experienced, one guy that won twice, one guy that really wants to win. Big hunger. Twice super close to winning it. For sure it’s going to be a big challenge for me, but at the same time I want to learn, I want to experience, I want things going smooth.

I try to be calm throughout all the race. From what we’ve seen, the race is decided on the last lap. Just hopefully be there at the top battling with the guys for the win.

THE MODERATOR: No better way to start your first 500.

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: Big responsibility. You see 350,000 people, it’s quite impressive. We come here to race and win and do our best. Whenever there is a green flag, it’s just full focus on the front.

Q. Robert, you knew when you won the Indianapolis 500 pole it was a huge accomplishment. After what you’ve been through the last couple days, has it been jaw-dropping the experience, the notoriety that has come with it?

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: Well, I mean, I don’t even know how to answer that question.

It obviously feels amazing. I’ve never felt such a great qualifying in my entire career. I come from Europe. Normally qualifying, it’s important, but it’s never something that stands out so much. The next day you go race. Here it seems like it’s a different event. The whole race separates in two phases. There is one that is qualifying, another one is the race.

It’s unique. It’s the only where I’ve seen that so far. It’s just awesome. Honestly the whole vibe and fans that come here to watch qualifying, support drivers, support us, it’s just awesome, honestly.

Obviously I was very happy and tired at the same time doing so many interviews, having so many questions. I will still probably do quite a bit. But yeah, this is part of the job and I’m looking forward for it.

Q. Robert, have you heard from any recording studios?

PATO O’WARD: I saw TikTok.

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: It just doesn’t leave me now. (Smiling). Not yet. Trying to focus on Indy 500. I hope eventually at some point some cool studio or Colares is going to contact me. Maybe I’ll get a couple of guys as well on the beat.

I heard Colton is good on drums or something.

PATO O’WARD: Will Power also.

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: Probably will take couple of guys with me to the studio to do an Indy 500 song or something like that.

Q. Have you noticed any additional views, bump in any of your socials?

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: Quite a bit, yeah. For sure. I mean, it’s such a big event here. I’ve had a lot of — I was coming from Europe, so like 90% of my following are people who were following me from Italy, Ferrari, or Europe because that’s where I was performing, showing myself.

When I come here in the U.S., especially in the beginning, not many people knew who I was or my story. Step by step I was trying to get them to know me a bit. Especially that’s the whole qualifying thing, it was just a big hit for everybody. Who is this guy? Out of nowhere I just pop up. This is interesting.

For sure there was a good, let’s say, amount of people that started to know me. I’m happy about that. I always wanted to have an American fan base, as well. If you see Pato or Takuma, they have a lot of people that follow them, support them. They’ve raced here. It was also for me to become at their level, but also to represent my country, battle with them and have a lot of funs here in the U.S.

Q. Robert, after winning the pole, you didn’t get out of here till very late at night. Were you surprised at how much you had to do after all of that, the last couple days?

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: Yeah, initially before qualifying I thought we’ll finish it on Sunday, then we’re going to have a couple of days of chilling, relaxing, then focusing on the race. All of a sudden I take pole position. The moment I jump out of the car, they stick the camera right in front of my face and say, Let’s go. I couldn’t even see my team. It was just so fast. They brought me in here. There was interview after interview. It was just crazy.

I finish at 11:00, arrive at home at 12:00. The next morning I had to wake up at 6:00 because at 7:00 I had already another interview. And from then on it just started again.

So this amount, a lot of, let’s say, talking and interviews and podcasts and videos and stuff, I’ve never experienced in my life, in my career, that amount. In F1 they hit quite a bit, but it was way shorter. It was not as big as you guys have it here.

Q. Going into your first 500, you have a lot of veterans that are around the paddock that you can talk to. What has been the best piece of advice you’ve been given and who gave you that advice?

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: There is quite a few drivers that have talked to me, just generally tried to sort of give an advice.

I wasn’t there in the garage, but at some point Will Power showed up to the garage and spoke with my engineer because my engineer worked in Penske before. He sort of give him probably more of an advice that it’s getting quite cool in the qualifying top six, so get ready to have a different car balance. It’s going to be more grip. It was a good thing for us to also have a bit of info from his side.

There was Scott McLaughlin, who was also giving some tips and tricks what he have done in the past. There was a lot of drivers that give their support. It’s another thing that is quite impressive here.

When I was in Europe, it seemed that all of the drivers were just against each other. There was nobody talking, nobody helping. There was so much tension between drivers. I understand why. When you’re going to Formula 3, Formula 2, you want to stand out to get the chance in Formula 1. You need to show yourself as something special. Therefore the mentality of drivers were different.

Here it seems that everybody is way more supportive. It’s may more enjoyable. It’s a competition, but at the same time it’s way more respectful, let’s say. I really like it.

Q. How was it milking that cow?

PATO O’WARD: I’m jealous. I wanted to do that. I’ve never milked a cow.

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: That’s maybe what you need to have a proper good luck for winning the Indy 500. The woman, she came to me and said, The people who didn’t milk the cow, they never won Indy 500, and they were like DNF. It’s a bad luck. Whoever milk the cow. Alexander Rossi did it. He won the 500. You have to milk the cow.

PATO O’WARD: I’m going find a cow, and I’m going to milk it tonight.

TAKUMA SATO: I didn’t do that. There are some other ways you can get away with that (smiling).

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: You can always ask for milking a cow. Maybe next year ask for it.

PATO O’WARD: Get my own cow.

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: The cow name was Indy. I got to meet her. She was very calm and cute. First you need to pet her a bit, get comfy with her.

As I said, try next year. Whenever I came to her, she was ready. She explain to me the technique. It was working well.

Again, I don’t know. I don’t know how it works there. But it was a lot of fun. It was good. It was good.

PATO O’WARD: Did you try it?

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: The milk? No, I didn’t try it, man.

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.

NTT INDYCAR SERIES News Conference
Thursday May 22, 2025
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Pato O’Ward – Arrow McLaren
Starts 3rd

THE MODERATOR: Pato, I’m sure you’re champing at the bit, ready to get going tomorrow. What do you hope to learn?

PATO O’WARD: Yeah, obviously two more hours to get the car into a nice window, best window that you can going into the race.

Yeah, just looking forward to seeing everybody back at the Speedway. It’s going to be a sold-out event, nuts. The vibes are going to be cool. Yeah, just really ready to just be done and dusted with this. It’s been a long month (smiling).

It’s been a smooth one so far.

Q. Pato, we know how bad you want to win the Indianapolis 500. This year you’ve displayed a lot of inner peace and confidence. Do you feel a lot more confident here than in the past?

PATO O’WARD: I mean, I’m just calm. It’s such a long race, man. It’s like three hours long or something. You got to be there in the end just to even have a shot.

That’s pretty much how I approach it all the time. You have to be there in the last stint. When you get to the last stint, you got to be there five laps to go, four laps to go. It can end in a split of a second. But it also can turn around quite quickly and you can have a shot.

Every 500 is different. Taku has done more than me, but I think he can agree none of them are the same. Knowledge is priceless. If you’re obviously in a similar situation to the past, you can pick and choose what you’re going to do.

They’re all different, man. This year with the hybrid, the cars have been so on the edge. Some guys are driving insane in practice. I mean, last year in the race I was shocked with how some guys were driving in lap 15.

Yeah, I think it’s safe to say you never know what to expect. Just be ready for anything.

Q. Pato, with what’s come out over the last 48 hours about Newgarden’s car from a year ago, do you wonder whether he could have passed you, whether it made a difference in passing you on the last lap?

PATO O’WARD: You know what, whatever it was, I would have never wanted to win an Indy 500 a year later just because one car got caught being illegal, whatever. I truly believe Josef won that race. He timed it better than I did. I want to be able to experience what any Indy 500 winner gets to experience, the whole schnaz, the energy. That’s ultimately what makes the experience to the next level, just being an Indy 500 winner.

I know how to position myself to be in a chance to win. I believe I have the team behind me able to do that.

Starting on the front row, best starting position I’ve ever had, we’ll see what we can do on Sunday.

Q. How was it milking that cow?

PATO O’WARD: I’m jealous. I wanted to do that. I’ve never milked a cow.

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: That’s maybe what you need to have a proper good luck for winning the Indy 500. The woman, she came to me and said, The people who didn’t milk the cow, they never won Indy 500, and they were like DNF. It’s a bad luck. Whoever milk the cow. Alexander Rossi did it. He won the 500. You have to milk the cow.

PATO O’WARD: I’m going find a cow, and I’m going to milk it tonight.

TAKUMA SATO: I didn’t do that. There are some other ways you can get away with that (smiling).

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: You can always ask for milking a cow. Maybe next year ask for it.

PATO O’WARD: Get my own cow.

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: The cow name was Indy. I got to meet her. She was very calm and cute. First you need to pet her a bit, get comfy with her.

As I said, try next year. Whenever I came to her, she was ready. She explain to me the technique. It was working well.

Again, I don’t know. I don’t know how it works there. But it was a lot of fun. It was good. It was good.

PATO O’WARD: Did you try it?

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: The milk? No, I didn’t try it, man.

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.

NTT INDYCAR SERIES News Conference
Thursday May 22, 2025
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
David Malukas – A.J. Foyt Racingf
Starts 7th

THE MODERATOR: David, how much are you looking forward getting back in the car for Sunday?

DAVID MALUKAS: Yeah, it feels really good. We’ve had a lot of really hot days to start off this month. I think the car is going to have a big transition coming for Friday. Very excited to get back into it and learn more on the setup heading for the race since it’s going to be cooler temperatures. Got one more, but it’s going to be a very important session for us.

Q. Do you guys go through and talk about family that’s here this weekend, having your support system here?

DAVID MALUKAS: Yeah, I guess I’ll start.

I have actually a lot of my friends, ’cause in my growing-up years, going through puberty, I actually grew up in England. I spent a few years there. That’s kind of where I had the interest in soccer, football, what it’s called internationally. A lot of my friends from England are going to be coming over. It’s actually their first time coming to the States.

Obviously my girlfriend is going to be coming, my family, my sister. It’s kind of going to be a good family reunion at the same time.

Q. David, I’ve lived in Chicago the past couple years, so I have to ask, with you being from Chicago, fans are always looking for new Chicago-born athletes to embrace. Does the notoriety that would come with being an Indy 500 champion provide you with any additional motivation?

DAVID MALUKAS: Yeah, of course. I mean, we also have a few Chicagoans on the car. My mechanic Nick, as well. We always are having that cheer of the Chicagoan home.

A fan also gave me a Chicago flag, so we’re going to have that hung up leading up to the 500 in the garage, too. There’s definitely that city strength that we have.

It would be very cool to bring that home, to go back to Chicago. I would love to do that.

Q. David, there’s very little history anymore of the old Indy 500 and the new Indy 500 in the sense of historical figures like AJ Foyt. When you were a kid, with all due respect, what did you know about AJ Foyt? How is it different racing for somebody like him as opposed to some of the other leadership you’ve had?

DAVID MALUKAS: I think growing up, I always had that period that I wanted to be a part of history in some way. Those deep thoughts, what is the point of life. For me it was in that perspective. Growing up I always used to watch racing from INDYCAR, F1, NASCAR. I got heavily involved in it at a young age. Me and my dad would always go on the weekends.

To be here at the Indy 500, this is already a dream of mine, of course. To do it with my name side by side with AJ Foyt Racing, probably one of the most historical drivers when it comes to a big name. You say that name anywhere, people will know of it. To have my name side by side, I don’t think there’s any way better to be a part of history and achieve what my dreams are.

THE MODERATOR: Ice cream is not bad in the garage, too?

DAVID MALUKAS: Very good ice cream. I think the Drumsticks are the favorite. I see a lot of those.

Q. Starting seventh and eighth, how much encouragement does it give for both of you leading up to Sunday’s main event?

DAVID MALUKAS: Yeah, I mean, I’m really excited. Like Marcus said earlier, this is a really good starting row, row 3. It’s where we want to be.

I was talking to A.J. as well previously. He said he won a race from the seventh position at some point. I feel like it’s a very good spot, especially coming from the previous years. The team is very strong. It’s a very good car. Our traffic running has been impressive. I’m very excited heading into Sunday.

Q. David, I’m fascinated about your background in England, where you grew up, why you were there.

DAVID MALUKAS: Yeah, for my karting years I lived there. If you’re familiar with the area, you’re going to be surprised. I actually lived most of my time in Grimsby, and then partly in Leeds, Manchester, and London. So I’ve been a little bit from middle to south, but kind of all over through there.

Q. David, has A.J. given you any advice?

DAVID MALUKAS: He’s given me a lot of good stories from his past races and events that have happened to him.

When it comes to advice, I mean, it’s so hard to give advice for the 500. Things kind of just happen as it is. I think it’s just as anybody always says, it’s a long race, so just keep the head down and don’t do anything too silly to start and save it for the end.

THE MODERATOR: What’s your favorite Foyt story?

DAVID MALUKAS: I can’t say any stories.

THE MODERATOR: None at all?

DAVID MALUKAS: Absolutely not, no.

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.

NTT INDYCAR SERIES News Conference
Thursday May 22, 2025
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Christian Lundgaard – Arrow McLaren
Starts 8th

THE MODERATOR: Christian, what about you guys, what do you expect the conditions to do to your car?

CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: Yeah, I feel like we’ve been very conscious about this kind of the entire month, what does the car need for certain conditions. If it’s colder, if it’s warmer… I feel like we have a pretty good idea, pretty good baseline for any condition possible.

Obviously we haven’t really prepared for the rain. I don’t think any of us have. But no, I think we’ll be good. I think we’ve been good so far this month. We get another go at it tomorrow, then we’ll be ready for race day.

Q. Do you guys go through and talk about family that’s here this weekend, having your support system here?

CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: I think Marcus and I were just talking about it prior to the press conference here, who is filling up the house at home while we’re staying at the track.

My entire family will be here. It will be the first time my brother will be here for the 500. Pretty excited for him. I got some friends here, as well. The girlfriend’s family is from around here, so they’ve been here before. I think they’ll get a little different view, more from the inside.

So yeah…

Q. How was your day yesterday with Bubba Watson?

CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: It was pretty cool. We ended up chipping marshmallows in each other’s mouths. I only stayed on the side with the club. Kyle got to try to catch one of Bubba’s chips. It was a cool experience.

As we all know, he’s a lefty. He took Scotty Mac’s driver and hit it over the snake pit as a left-hander. Obviously we know Scott is a right-hander. It was pretty cool to see what he’s capable of doing.

It was a cool experience just to kind of get to pick his brain a little bit. I brought my girlfriend around. Obviously she’s a golfer. I know she tried to pick his brain a little bit on what his best shot he ever hit. I was expecting it to be the one out of the woods at Augusta. Interestingly enough he said it was a tee shot at Augusta on the same final round. Didn’t stand up to his eye, hit the shot he wanted to, it worked out. I thought that was an interesting question.

Q. How does it help to talk with another professional athlete helping you with your approach to racing?

CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: I mean, first of all, he’s a lot better at golf than I am. That’s for sure. Again, I know he’s self-taught. He’s never taken a golf lesson in his entire life. At the end of the day I feel like it’s the same way I grew up. Even though I had a dad that used to race, but you have to go out there and learn by doing.

I saw a little familiarity in that. It’s just kind of learning. It’s always fun to pick athletes’ brains on how they approach things. Obviously when you reach a certain level, do you feel the same kind of pressure in this situation that I do. How do you approach it, and what is your thought process, how do you get away from it.

I know when you’re over the ball in golf, the lie is never going to be the same shot by shot, where for us the corners don’t change. Yes, the wind changes, but the corner doesn’t. Obviously the car doesn’t change from corner to corner.

I always find it kind of interesting to ask those questions.

Q. Starting seventh and eighth, how much encouragement does it give for both of you leading up to Sunday’s main event?

CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: Yeah, I mean, I think ultimately you want to start the race as far forward as you can from the get-go. It’s a little bit of a different situation from what I’ve previously been in. Quite excited for that.

I know the Arrow McLaren cars were around this area last year. At least I have a lot of good video and information to look at. At the end of the day, as Marcus said, it’s a good place to start. Again, we’re around the cars. We want to fight. Let the fight kind of start early on and make sure we all get to the end.

Q. Christian, you have T.K. with you, you have the videos, good teammates to lean on. What kind of adjustments have you made, if any, to your driving style on the oval?

CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: I don’t think the driving style is particularly different. I think there is a lot of the same things going on. I mean, in my opinion, I knew going into this year that I was going to be in a car that was naturally faster. I think I have a lot to learn just from understanding and racing different people than what I’m used to.

I’m starting 20 positions further up this year than I was last year, which is obviously a massive gain. But at the end of the day, it’s the same for road courses and street courses. You can have a bad qualifying but still race your way to the front, depending on how the race goes.

I know I’m in a car that’s fast enough to win the race. I just have to put myself in the right situation at the right time and learn from the other drivers. I have that. I mean, Pato has been fighting for the race win the past few years going into the leading laps. I have all the information I need. I just need to take advantage of it.

Q. What is the best advice T.K. has given you?

CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: Take it as it comes.

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.

NTT INDYCAR SERIES News Conference
Thursday May 22, 2025
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Scott McLaughlin – Team Penske
Starts 10th

Q. Scott, we haven’t heard much from you since your crash on Sunday, whole bunch of stuff happened with your team, you lost your strategist. How are you feeling? Where are you at in all of this?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Ultimately, those three guys are friends of mine and have done a tremendous amount in my career to get me to this point. I guess you could say there’s a sadness from my perspective.

At the end of the day I drive for Roger Penske. I respect the decision. I understand the decision. We move forward. I think I’m disappointed in some of my peers and people in this room, just how it was taken out of proportion in some ways.

At the same time, I think people forget just what Roger’s done for this sport in general, and that definitely gets thrown to the side a little bit, which I find a hard time not being passionate about that.

But ultimately what’s done is done. This happened. We have to move forward. The penalties are accepted. Personally I think I had the fastest car, I put it in the fence. I didn’t have what was said. Smart people in this paddock know there was no gain with that, you know?

It’s frustrating that this is blown up like it has and it’s cost three people that I’m very close with their jobs. But overall, my view on it right now is just to focus forward and win Roger his 21st.

I tell you what, there’s that much motivation in our garage, within the team, within my stand. I’m excited to work with Ben even closer than I have before. I think we’ve got amazing people coming in from a substitute perspective helping us out, Jonathan Diuguid, Raul Prados, people that have won this race before.

Yeah, you haven’t heard from me because I wanted the chance to just say that. I’m not really going to speak too much more on that.

Q. Scott, you were talking about your peers.

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: I’m not calling anyone out, Bob. I’m not.

Q. There are people out there who are pointing things out.

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: There are. There are.

Q. We heard that people told INDYCAR to look at it. Does that make you angry? If you saw something on somebody else’s car…

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: That’s part of the game, I get it. It’s not the that part. That’s racing. That’s how it is.

It’s just I guess I’m disappointed with how Roger’s name has been thrown through the mud, his integrity, our team, the people on the floor, the people that spend hours away from their families trying to build these cars. Basically they’re being thrown to the mud. I take that personally.

Yeah, yeah…

Q. Scott, you and Ed just made a wager for the Knicks/Pacers series.

ALEXANDER ROSSI: How did that go last night?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Real bad. We lost the unloseable.

We had a good wager. I don’t know how Ed is behind Rossi and Rasmussen, but — Edsters, are they called? I have to buy the equivalent — if the Pacers win in six games — if they win in seven, the bet is off, or I win — I have to buy the equivalent up to 2500 bucks of his milk. What is it?

ALEXANDER ROSSI: Coffee. Java.

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: But, yeah, I’m going to do that.

ALEXANDER ROSSI: What’s funny, I don’t think 2500 will get him there.

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: That’s why I capped it. Then the other way, if the Pacers win in seven, or Knicks, which I think will happen, we have to figure it out, but buy some steaks from Good Ranchers maybe, donate to charity, I don’t know. No one gets much out of this, apart from maybe Ed’s reputation.

Q: About someone moving a port-a-potty in front of his bus door

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: The port-a-potty — I was actually out for dinner. I’m not happy about that, by the way. Whoever did that pissed me off again. It’s been a wild couple days. I’m ready to go. Ready to swing.

The porta-potty blocked the door to get in my bus. I was worried for Karly and my daughter. I respect the prank game, but they got to think a little bit. Whoever it is, they’re going to go down hard (smiling).

Q. (No microphone.)

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: I moved it myself. You should have seen me out there just pushing this sloshy little porta-potty around. And moving my golf cart. I thought it was someone else. I parked the golf cart next to their bus, said person, and left the reverse light on. It was, like, 11:30 at night. They had to come out and turn it off. Which they did. It was funny. I saw them do it at the time.

Q. (No microphone.)

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yes, yes. It’s a guy that said goodnight to everyone. I thought straightaway it was him. I don’t think it was. Seems too lame for Colton. He was hanging out with us on Monday night.

CONOR DALY: Colton said earlier he was waiting for someone to play a prank on him.

Q. I’m curious, the verbiage, with somebody else new on a timing stand, is that something you want to get down in tomorrow’s practice, or is that something where it’s already down and you’re on the same page?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: No, we’re good. Me and Benny have known each other for a long, long time now. He’s one of my best friends. It sounds crazy, but we play a lot of video games together, we talk together all the time, we hang out. I’m excited to work with Ben. Even on test days he takes over that part of the role. It’s not an unknown voice that I’m hearing.

Q. Scott, you’re in the team backup car, if memory serves. The team spends months building these cars. In theory the backup car shouldn’t be as primed as the prime cars. Do you feel like it’s going to be close to what you originally had or too far off?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: No, it’s right there. It’s a brand-new car, brand-new chassis, brand-new speedway car. It’s a purpose-built speedway car.

Unfortunately in the circumstance we have a crash like this, we had a car like that ready to go. Just bolted my race motor, all the race uprights, everything that I had one earlier in practice.

Honestly Monday felt very close. We just had a couple things not quite at upright that affected some setup and stuff. Ironed that out, had a good week to prepare, and things should be just as fast.

Q. Scott, you said you’re determined, you’re motivated if you got the fastest car that should have won the pole, probably would have happened. You’re going to race your way up to the front. How long do you think it will be before the 2 and 12 will be able to get up there with you?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: I’m not taking for granted. It’s going to be a tough race regardless. I know we have fast cars. Everyone feels that way, as well.

I don’t know. For me, I’m not worried about their race. I’m focused on my own.

But we know what we need to do to sort of keep ourselves in the game. I’ve said it all month. It’s been so nice to be able to come into a month where I was up the front a little further than I had been in my career. I understand the cadence a little bit more, you could say.

But yeah, not really focused on what they’re doing. I’m just focused on myself.

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.

NTT INDYCAR SERIES News Conference
Thursday May 22, 2025
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Alexander Rossi
Starts 12th

THE MODERATOR: We will start with row 4. Starting 12th, the 2016 winner the Indianapolis 500, Alexander Rossi. Starting 10th, seven-time winner in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, Scott McLaughlin. We’re waiting on Conor Daly.

Rossi, I was here for your first win as a rookie, with a new team this year, rookie on the pole. Number two this year.

ALEXANDER ROSSI: I hope so. What I’ve explained to quite a few people throughout this month is when you feel all of the emotions of this place, the heartbreak and the close calls, as well as the good moments, it really just continues to increase your desire to be successful here.

You think each year that, like, Okay, I’ve reached the most that I could want to win this race. Then you come back and you go through the whole process again and you get a glimpse of you have a good team a good package, a good opportunity, and you can’t help but imagine what it would be like to do it again.

Yeah, I mean, I think it was a long time ago at this point. We’ve come very close multiple times since then. I think we have as good a shot as any this year to try to get number two.

Q. Because you won it so soon, do you look back at it now and kind of relish and cherish and appreciate it even more?

ALEXANDER ROSSI: I think it’s hard for any athlete to in the moment, right, because you’re so focused on trying to get better, trying to improve yourself, it’s very hard to look back and, for lack of a better term, relax and reminisce about the good moments.

You so often think about the ones that got away more than you think about the one where it all actually worked out.

Yes, you see clips that bring you back. There’s memorabilia that I have in my house that you take a moment. Ultimately you’re always focused ahead and trying to figure out how you can get back to that point for a second time.

Q. You’ve been doing this for a while. First sellout in decades. There’s a lot of energy in Indy right now. How does it compare to years past? How excited are you for Sunday?

CONOR DALY: He won that one last time it was sold out, so he can start.

ALEXANDER ROSSI: Yeah, just waiting for it to sell out again so I could drink more milk.

It’s amazing. I think INDYCAR as a whole has been on a pretty amazing trajectory since I joined in 2016. This race in particular. Every year, Doug would talk about, when we started in ’17, it’s been the most amount of tickets we’ve sold other than the 100th running. Finally we’re at as many tickets as the 100th running. It’s not an anniversary event.

I think a lot of people that came in ’16 were there because they wanted to be there for the 100ths. I think it just shows the appetite that everyone has for INDYCAR, for the Indy 500.

As Scott said, it’s a representation of what’s been done by the leadership to get to this point.

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.

NTT INDYCAR SERIES News Conference
Thursday May 22, 2025
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Conor Daly – Juncos Hollinger Racing
Starts 11th

Q. Scott and Conor, where did y’all watch the game from last night? How much fun was that?

CONOR DALY: I sent Scott a text and he lied to me. He said he wasn’t watching the game. What were you watching?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: “Summer House.”

CONOR DALY: You’re a liar.

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: I was watching it.

CONOR DALY: I was in the bus lot. Felt really good, honestly.

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: 20 minutes of that game I paced around my bus.

CONOR DALY: I shouted a lot, yeah.

Q. Conor, you’ve had some really good race cars here, led laps. Compare this to your previous cars going into a Carb Day and your confidence level for Sunday.

CONOR DALY: You know what, thanks for asking the question. I’m excited.

This has been a fun one so far. This is going to be a crazy one. I feel really lucky. I think I’ve been in multiple different situations at this race before, obviously with some fantastic cars and some cars that have struggled to make the race.

This one all month — actually, the first day, I would say, Tuesday I was a little nervous, didn’t have the best day, found our issue. Every day since then, the car has been a joy to drive. That doesn’t happen often here. Qualifying trim stuff was hard. That was challenging for sure at times.

This car in race trim, it’s very good. I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t be fighting for the win. We have a decent starting position as well, obviously. This team has just done a great job. For ampm to be here with ARCO as well for their first Indy 500, they love it. The car looks awesome, everybody is pumped.

A lot of wild number stats people have thrown at me about cold days, pit box numbers, moon signs, but I’m just going to stay focused on one day at a time and do my job every lap and see what happens.

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: When Rossi won, I was in the middle of the one and two on the silver bullets.

CONOR DALY: When he won, I was sitting on the couch in my bus because I already crashed.

ALEXANDER ROSSI: Good job.

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: The winner is coming from this row.

CONOR DALY: Does feel right.

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Could be a party.

Q. How was it at the card shop? Did you get anything fun?

CONOR DALY: Shout-out Parkside. We got new INDYCAR trading cars. Go get ’em. I got some Alexander Rossi autographs. That was cool. A lot of great stuff out there.

Again, INDYCAR, a lot of good things going for INDYCAR. I think that’s one of them. Our fans have been super pumped about that, which has been awesome.

Q. It feels like this year it’s really a little bit more wide open. No one has come in and said this person is absolutely the favorite. Nor has anyone completely dominated every session. Is that fair? Do you feel this is perhaps a little bit more wide open? Can you think of someone or some team that you think is the absolute favorite going into the race?

CONOR DALY: I mean, I guess, yeah. You see the grid. I would say there’s cars scattered all over the place that you’re like, We didn’t expect that.

After the open test, I would have honestly predicted these fellas over to my left to kind of sweep the front row. Penske front row sweep. I was very wrong.

What PREMA did, what a cool story. Takuma Sato on the front row. Cool story. Pato. All of it’s just, like, cool. The Fast 12, that was I thought pretty exciting. You have Felix Rosenqvist in the Creed car, that was cool. There’s people all scattered throughout this field you wouldn’t really expect.

Qualifying was really difficult I think for a lot of people. ECR, those guys, again, solid, but normally they’re always in the front row. That kind of throws in a little bit of a new, Hey, seems like a different year. Something about the car that’s definitely challenging.

I think that again makes it must-see television on Sunday. I completely think there’s going to be more overtaking. After Monday, it was cool to see that. Cool temperatures. That helps racing, as well.

All of it leads to hopefully just a great event.

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.

NTT INDYCAR SERIES News Conference
Thursday May 22, 2025
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Ed Carpenter – Ed Carpenter Racing
Starts 14th

THE MODERATOR: Ed, your thoughts about tomorrow? Two-hour practice, then Sunday.

ED CARPENTER: Yeah, really excited. I thought our last regular day on track Monday went really, really well. It’s always a nice, nice way to finish off that week feeling prepared, kind of take some of the pressure off of Carb Day. It can be such a weird practice session.

Yeah, so not super stressed about tomorrow. Just go make sure everything is back where we want it and everything’s working, get some pit stop practice in, be prepared for Sunday.

Q. Ed, I just heard a lot of drivers say that the hybrid is not that much different to the car of last year. Also, it’s always said that we need to focus on all the details. Can you describe for you with your experience, with the speed that you had in past years, how do you explain what can be these little details and difference that you have to focus on?

ED CARPENTER: Yeah, I mean, I think in a lot of ways the cars can feel very, very similar to the past without the hybrid. For me, I feel like it made the window, the operating window, maybe a little smaller just with the extra weight.

As far as the details go, it’s just a whole ‘nother system to manage and use. It’s much more useful in a race setting than what it was in qualifying. Just being consistent with the usage and maximizing it, whether you’re on the move or defending.

It does play a pretty big role in helping manage keeping people behind you or getting past cars. It’s just another layer of detail that didn’t exist prior. So just a little more to think about and manage in the midst of the race.

Q. Obviously as a team owner, INDYCAR has talked about having more independence in the wake of everything that’s happened this week with Penske. Is that something you called for in the past? What was your reaction to that whole thing?

ED CARPENTER: All that I’ll really say about that, just because there’s a lot to really be discussed still, I think the start of the conversations that have happened this week have been positive and productive. Look forward to hopefully being part of that as it develops.

I think this week kind of set the stage for what should be some productive work into the future.

Q. Were you good with the way the Penske situation was handled overall this week?

ED CARPENTER: I think so, yeah. I mean, it’s obviously a tough situation for everyone, whether you’re talking the Penske drivers, especially the personnel that’s no longer with the team, but also the rest of the teams and drivers, our partners. That’s probably the most disappointing thing to me, is that we’re at a point in our sport where we have so many good things going on, so much momentum around this month, that it’s changed the storylines a little bit.

I think the Indy 500 is going to deliver a great show, and hopefully we’ll be talking about that come Sunday and not what happened last weekend.

Q. Ed, Rossi has brought quite a bit to the program for all the different races so far this season. Speaking to Indianapolis, what’s maybe he added to the program that maybe you didn’t have last year?

ED CARPENTER: I mean, first and foremost, he’s won the race. That’s always a big plus, to have a past champion on your team.

But beyond that, Alex is really a professional, detail-oriented guy. The driver he replaced in Rinus was fantastic here, very quick. But in general, we hadn’t had a driver come into our team that had been at other high-level teams before they got to us, with the exception of Ryan Hunter-Reay doing a couple races for us a couple years ago.

To have a driver like that join us full-time, we’re in a really exciting time at ECR where we have a new ownership partner and new partners, new sponsorship. We’re really trying to raise our standards and aim higher than where we had the past couple years. He’s a big part of that.

Q. Ed, obviously during the off-season, the team made all those changes. How would you assess how the team has progressed so far into this year?

ED CARPENTER: I think we’re heading in a good direction. We probably haven’t had all the results that we would have hoped on the 21 car. Alex has been quite consistent. We’ve been qualifying better with that car on average than we had been a year ago, and having some solid races.

It feels like we’re on an upward trajectory and really want to capitalize on that on Sunday.

Q. Ed, I talked to Christian Rasmussen earlier, talking about his second start, said there’s always nerves at the Indy 500. Do you still get the nerves, those butterflies? Do you feel your mindset is that much different compared to when you were here for your earlier starts?

ED CARPENTER: Yeah, I mean, you still deal with nerves and anxiety. There’s always a lot to worry about here, whether it’s the pace of the car or making the right decisions or all the number of things that are outside of our control that you hope and pray will fall your way on race day.

At the same time really enjoy the process and look forward to all the emotions that come with race day, try to go out and do the job to the best of my abilities and put together a solid 500 miles and see where it lands us.

THE MODERATOR: Ed, obviously not your first 500, but aside from the racing, what do you look most forward to on race day?

ED CARPENTER: I think my favorite part about race morning is probably walking out to the pits with my family, is always a memorable thing. Photos that I appreciate having afterwards. Also driver intros before we get serious and get in the car is a really special moment to appreciate how lucky we are as the 33 drivers that get to go out and race in the greatest race in the world.

THE MODERATOR: Family photos changed over the years?

ED CARPENTER: They’re getting quite large. They still come up with me for driver intros. Two of the three are full-grown now. It’s getting tight.

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.