167 - Grade A Beef - Scott McLaughlin Comes to Terms with His Rough Day at Thermal

Conor Daly participated in an IndyCar hybrid test at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course this past week. He joins co-host Chase Holden to discuss the results from the test and how the added weight of the new hybrid system seems to affect the balance of the car less at this track than others. The guys also weigh in on the social media discourse regarding IndyCar’s Thermal broadcast ratings and Conor gives insight into recent conversations he had with representatives from Fox Sports.Marcus Armstrong joins the show to chat about his new team experience with Meyer Shank Racing and how it is difficult to break the must-win mentality and take solace in having strong runs towards the front. He and Conor discuss their training for the IndyCar season this year and Marcus tells listeners about his ability to plank for long periods of time. The guys look ahead to Long Beach, chat about getting into a flow state behind the wheel of a race car and methods for introducing Formula One fans to IndyCar racing.

The IndyCar Series had a great battle at Thermal Club, and Conor Daly brought home a respectable 16th place finish. He joins co-host Chase Holden to discuss the event in Southern California and how things panned out for the number-76 Juncos Hollinger team. Conor explains the difficulties around tire choices and gambles that didn’t play out as expected. They also discuss the Fox broadcast technical difficulties and the numerous hybrid issues experienced on the grid throughout the weekend.The hot topic of the race was Scott McLaughlin’s altercation with Devlin DeFrancesco, and Scott joins the show to unpack what he considers the worst weekend in his IndyCar career. He gives his take of the incident and lets listeners know how everything was resolved after the cameras went dark. The guys look at ahead to Long Beach and Scott weighs in on how he and the Penske-3 team expect to bounce back and begin to chip away at Alex Palou’s points lead.

It’s finally race week again and the Speed Street podcast is here to tell you everything you need to know for this upcoming IndyCar weekend at Thermal Club. Conor Daly and Chase Holden discuss the uncertainty of the tire package and how it will hold up to the increased weight of the hybrid system, which was not in use at last year’s $1 Million Challenge exhibition event. Conor explains that based on what we’ve seen from the track and the season opener at St. Pete, Alex Palou is still the driver to beat. The guys also chat about the recent test at Barber, this past weekend’s Formula One season opener and make some podium picks for Thermal Club.

We are in the middle of the agonizing gap between the first two races of the 2025 IndyCar season, but never fear as Conor Daly and Chase Holden are back with more Speed Street. Big news hits the motorsports world as Formula One announces that Cadillac will join the paddock in 2026, establishing itself an American-based team. The development could have serious implications for the future of IndyCar, as both Alex Palou and Colton Herta have been brought up as possible pilots for the team. The guys also chat about this week’s test at Barber and the upcoming test schedule for the rest of the IndyCar paddock.Christian Lundgaard joins the show on his way to the Barber test to chat about what he and the Arrow McLaren team hope to learn for the upcoming road course events. He touches on the season opener at St. Pete and how it helped his confidence for the year to lead some laps, as well as his first impressions of his new teammates Pato O’Ward and Nolan Siegel. The guys also chat about the connection between the McLaren IndyCar and Formula One teams, and how the information shared has helped the relatively new IndyCar outfit be competitive in a short amount of time. The conversation also covers tire strategies, 2025 season goals and off-track golf games.

Conor Daly brought home a hard fought 17th place finish in the 2025 IndyCar season opener in the streets of St. Petersburg. He joins co-host Chase Holden to unpack the weekend, including the practice sessions which were affected by the new tire allocation rules and qualifying which left a lot of competitive drivers buried in the pack. The guys compare notes on the atmosphere of the event, which saw great attendance and energy following a strong pre-season ad campaign from Fox. Speaking of which, the ratings return from the series’ debut on network Fox saw a massive increase from last year, establishing itself as one of the highest non-Indy 500 broadcasts in recent history. Race winner Alex Palou joins the show to share how his team captured the victory and held off a hard charging Josef Newgarden and Scott Dixon in the final laps. Alex explains that traffic and well executed pit stops were the key to winning the race, an event that has long eluded him in his IndyCar career. The guys discuss how this win establishes Alex as an early season championship favorite, but there is still a lot of racing to go in a IndyCar series that gets more competitive with each passing year. Alex explains that now that he has captured a win at St. Pete, his next goal is to win on an oval, which he hopes to do this coming May in Indianapolis. 

It’s finally race week, and Conor Daly is ready to be back on the IndyCar grid at St. Petersburg this coming Sunday. He joins co-host Chase Holden to give listeners a preview of what to expect at the famed street course for the 2025 IndyCar season opener. The guys also chat about the recent announcement that the popular “100 Days to Indy” docu-series will return, concentrating on both the build-up to the Indy 500 and the subsequent championship points battle. Finally, Conor and Chase offer a pre-season power ranking of the 2025 IndyCar paddock.The newly appointed President of IndyCar Series J. Douglas Boles joins the show to discuss how he will split his time between his new position and his current presidency over Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He gives listeners an idea of what his role will entail with the series and what some of his goals will be moving forward. He touches on the development of the new IndyCar chassis, connecting with the current OEMs and working with promoters to help build up the series’ events throughout the year. Finally, Doug offers listeners some insight into what they should expect from the IMS Museum reopening in April and how it will reshape the way visitors perceive the speedway for years to come.

The IndyCar season is nearly upon us, and Conor Daly is here with a first hand look at his Juncos Hollinger number 78 Dallara and the rest of the paddock. He joins co-host Chase Holden to discuss how the test sessions at Sebring went earlier this week and why race fans shouldn’t put too much stock into the results. Also, Conor gives listeners an update on his sponsorship deals for the 2025 season after a recent referendum with Polkadot was turned down. The guys chat about what this could mean for Conor’s season as well as a hilarious interaction he had with Helio Castroneves during his time at Daytona. 

What did you think of the IndyCar commercials on Superbowl Sunday? Conor Daly and co-host Chase Holden are back on Speed Street to react to the exciting effort that FoxSports is putting into promoting the IndyCar Series in 2025. Also, big news drops as the announcement is made that Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Doug Boles will also be taking over the presidential role with IndyCar. Conor explains why Doug is a great choice for the job and how he has demonstrated his dedication to growing the sport over the last few years. Up and coming racing star Connor Zilisch joins the show to chat about his meteoric rise from European kart racing to becoming a full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series racer in 2025. Connor explains that Kevin Harvick was instrumental in helping him get his footing in the NASCAR world through an opportunity in Trans Am racing. Since finding success in TA2, Connor has made a splash in sports car racing, ARCA and NASCAR before signing a developmental deal with Trackhouse Racing and Red Bull. Through it all, Connor has managed to stay realistic in his expectations and tune out the noise and pressure put on him, trying more so to enjoy the ride and learn from every race he competes in. Connor explains that while he is on track to have a successful career in NASCAR, his ultimate ambitions in motorsports exceed beyond stock car racing and he hopes to compete in the Indianapolis 500 one day.

Conor Daly and co-host Chase Holden reconvene on Speed Street to chat about the recent test at Thermal Club and all the latest rumblings in the IndyCar paddock. Andretti Global and Dale Coyne Racing made the trek out west to share the track for the first time with the newly formed Prema Racing IndyCar team, and at the end of the day Marcus Ericsson had the fastest lap times to his name. Conor explains that while it’s hard to draw conclusions from tests with limited cars, people are beginning to raise their expectations of Prema due to the amount of effort and resources they’re putting towards on-track performance. The guys also react to Tim Cindric’s announcement that he’ll be stepping back from his day-to-day duties at Team Penske and the recent unveiling of Andretti Global’s 2025 liveries.Marcus Ericsson joins the show and explains how winning the Indianapolis 500 was a life changing event for him. He recalls fondly taking the Borg Warner trophy home to Sweden and getting to celebrate with family and fans and explains that the event’s prestige is recognized all over the world. Conor asks Marcus about his time in Formula One and the growth that series has seen in light of the popularity of Drive to Survive. Marcus talks about some of his favorite moments while in F1 and how global travel was a double-edged sword. Finally, Marcus makes some Indianapolis 500 podium predictions and explains his off-season training regimen to help get prepared for the upcoming year.

The Rolex 24 at Daytona is in the books, which means the 2025 racing season is officially underway. Conor Daly joins co-host Chase Holden to talk about what unfolded in the race and how the IndyCar contingent finished. Conor touches on his past experiences in the grueling race, explains what drivers endure and expresses the desire to be back behind the wheel in the crown jewel event next year. The guys also discuss Fox Sports' new IndyCar ad featuring Alex Palou and his upcoming mediation in the McLaren contract lawsuit, what the Super Bowl might have in store for the upcoming Pato O’Ward commercial and Penske taking over the Nashville season finale.Fresh off his stint at the Rolex 24, friend of the show Felix Rosenqvist stops by to enlighten listeners on his experience behind the wheel of a Grand Touring Prototype this past weekend. He explains the differences between driving an IndyCar, which he says requires a lot of aggression to maneuver, with the  state of the art GTP, which needs a softer touch. He also gives admiration to his Meyer Shank teammate Tom Blomqvist, who excels behind the wheel of the GTP and closed in on Team Penske in the final laps to nearly bring home the victory. Conor and Tom dig into MSR’s new technical alliance with Chip Ganassi Racing and how the teams have been operating together. They also look forward to the 2025 season and Felix lays out some goals he has for the upcoming year.