The Race IndyCar Podcast

Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden joins The Race IndyCar Podcast to discuss his perfect start to the year with a pole and a win in the IndyCar season opener, and victory in the 24 Hours of Daytona with Porsche. Speaking to hosts Jack Benyon and JR Hildebrand, Newgarden goes into more detail than he has before on the mental struggles he went through last year, even admitting there were times that he di...

The Race IndyCar Podcast is back to what it does best - analysing races - after the 2024 IndyCar season got underway in St Petersburg last weekend. Indy 500 regular and Indy Lights champion JR Hildebrand joins The Race’s Jack Benyon to provide some fascinating insight into Josef Newgarden's victory, and the American driver's comments about how he's struggled to enjoy his racing and the steps he ha...

James Hinchcliffe and Jamie Chadwick are the star guests on this episode of The Race IndyCar Podcast, which previews the 2024 IndyCar season-opener at St Petersburg. After a long off-season, the series is back and as a former race winner at St Pete and one of the series' TV commentators, 'Hinch' is the perfect person to help preview the race alongside hosts Jack Benyon and JR Hildebrand. Hinch ana...

We're delighted to welcome a special guest to The Race IndyCar Podcast this week, as Indianapolis 500-winning engineer Angela Ashmore of Chip Ganassi Racing joins the show. From watching short-track racing as a child to engineering in NASCAR, Ashmore has a diverse resume that most recently led her to winning the 500 with Marcus Ericsson as his assistant engineer, before being promoted to lead engi...

With the start of the 2024 IndyCar season a little over a month away, it's time for us to pick out five things to watch this year. Indy Lights champion and Indy 500 regular (and hopeful for 2024) JR Hildebrand is back alongside The Race’s Jack Benyon to break down some of this year’s most interesting storylines, including whether anyone can stop reigning champion Alex Palou. They also get into And...

The Race IndyCar Podcast is back for 2024 with an interview with one of the surprises of the silly season and more listeners’ tech questions answered. At one stage Alex Palou looked nailed on to drive for Arrow McLaren in IndyCar this year, but a change of heart meant McLaren had to move quickly to snap up a replacement. They turned to young prospect David Malukas, who joins the show for the first...

The Race IndyCar Podcast brings you a mega episode full of your questions relating to tech, and no stone is left unturned in the present or hypothetical future of the series. Of course, questions about IndyCar’s recently delayed hybrid unit dominate, but JR Hildebrand and our very special guest, engineer Charlie Ping, also take questions on a range of other topics including the 12-year-old chassis...

From sitting on the sidelines with less prize money than previous Indy Lights champions to scoring a “unicorn” IndyCar seat, Linus Lundqvist’s epic tale is the basis of this week’s episode of The Race IndyCar Podcast. After being “petrified” he'd miss his chance, Lundqvist put what little money he had into an audition which fired him to stardom and a seat at the Chip Ganassi Racing team that won t...

It’s a mammoth episode of The Race IndyCar Podcast this week as Romain Grosjean’s IndyCar reprieve at Juncos after being dropped by Andretti is analysed in detail. Indy Lights champion JR Hildebrand is back alongside The Race’s Jack Benyon, as they assess Grosjean’s time in IndyCar and if he did enough to earn this second-chance opportunity. Could it be that he’s found the perfect level here? How...

We've got an interview double header on this episode of The Race IndyCar Podcast, as host Jack Benyon (without regular co-host JR Hildebrand!) chats to both former Indy 500 champion Marcus Ericsson and IndyCar newcomer Juri Vips. First up, Ericsson discusses his big off-season switch from Ganassi to Andretti, explaining why he's so excited about the move, how his strengths could help Andretti’s pe...

This week's episode of The Race IndyCar Podcast features a double-header: A rundown of the top 10 drivers of the season and an interview with the new Indy NXT champion, Christian Rasmussen. Indy Lights champion and Indy 500 regular JR Hildebrand co-hosts as usual alongside The Race’s Jack Benyon as they create a combined top 10 driver ranking. They highlight the key stats that support their decisi...

This week’s episode of The Race IndyCar Podcast wraps up all the awards, battles and fights from the IndyCar season finale at Laguna Seca, with plenty to discuss on and off the track. With JR Hildebrand alongside host Jack Benyon, the pair discuss the contentious penalties and how they perhaps reflect a wider problem with officiating this year, with eventual winner Scott Dixon’s shunt with Rinus V...

Freshly-crowned 2023 IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou joins this episode of The Race IndyCar Podcast within hours of sealing his second title. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver discusses his evolution as a driver and how he didn't want to win this title through consistency alone - something he's certainly managed, with his fifth win of the season in Portland sealing the title. Palou also addresses...

A stunning Gateway drive gave Scott Dixon a second win in a row and left his rivals marvelling at his untouchable skills, making sure The Race IndyCar Podcast has plenty to talk about on this week's episode. Why more people didn't go for Dixon's three-stop strategy, and what it means for his title charge are discussed by co-hosts, The Race's Jack Benyon and Indy 500 regular JR Hildebrand. Whether...

Ahead of the race where he earned his best IndyCar result last year, and amid rumours over his future, David Malukas joins The Race IndyCar Podcast for a wide-ranging conversation. The 21-year-old discusses his decision to leave Dale Coyne Racing and the reasons behind it, why this year has been a struggle for the team, and his belief that his talent could secure a better seat for 2024. He also ta...

How Scott Dixon pulled off a win from crashing on the first lap and the restart of the Alex Palou/Ganassi/McLaren fight headline this The Race IndyCar Podcast episode. There's only so many ways drivers can save fuel and yet Dixon is the absolute master, combining that with brilliant tyre management to shock everyone and deny Graham Rahal victory on the Indianapolis road course. JR Hildebrand gives...

This week's episode of The Race IndyCar Podcast looks back on Kyle Kirkwood’s second win of the year in Nashville and features an in-depth interview with debut star Linus Lundqvist. Hosts Jack Benyon and JR Hildebrand debate Kirkwood’s progression in the series after his second win, discussing his sometimes questionable racecraft but also his outstanding pace that has put him above ace team-mates...

The winners of the last three IndyCar races are guests on this episode of The Race IndyCar Podcast , which sees hosts Jack Benyon and JR Hildebrand in conversation with Josef Newgarden and Christian Lundgaard. Newgarden completed a sweep of the Iowa double-header the weekend before last, and joins to talk about that weekend, his winning of eight of the last 10 oval races, and joining an amazing cl...

This week's episode of The Race IndyCar Podcast reflects on Josef Newgarden's Iowa double and how it impacts his title fight with Alex Palou. Ace oval racer JR Hildebrand breaks down the skills that have taken Newgarden to six career victories at the circuit, and gives his take on Newgarden’s post-race outburst about traffic. JR and co-host Jack Benyon also discuss Palou’s podium recovery and how...

A wet qualifying made for a jumbled order, but even in the dry the Toronto IndyCar street race provided plenty of talking points for this week’s episode of The Race IndyCar Podcast, including a maiden win for Christian Lundgaard. Can Lundgaard now be considered one of IndyCar's elite drivers? And how much will the momentum from this win impact his peaky Rahal Letterman Lanigan team? Those are two...

The Race IndyCar Podcast delivers its annual top 10 drivers of the season at the championship’s mid-way point, with one enormous twist. This year co-hosts Jack Benyon of The Race and Indy 500 regular JR Hildebrand have gone for a top 11 to reflect the foregone conclusion of runaway championship leader Alex Palou being the most obvious number one in racing ranking history. The co-hosts pick their t...

Another The Race IndyCar Podcast, another Alex Palou win, but still plenty to dissect from the Mid-Ohio race, including the key trick underpinning the Spaniard's recent success. Away from Palou, hosts Jack Benyon and JR Hildebrand also discuss the other big story of the race: Backmarkers and blue flags, with Benjamin Pedersen copping a torrent of abuse for holding up multiple drivers during the ra...

Arrow McLaren IndyCar driver and ex-Formula 1 racer Alexander Rossi joins this week’s episode of The Race IndyCar Podcast to talk about his strong maiden year with his new team. Rossi has been one of the under-the-radar stars of the year and could be as high as fourth in the championship had two other results not gone against him, netting four straight top 10s heading into this weekend's race in M...

A third Alex Palou win in four races, a win slipping away for Colton Herta, and shenanigans with a sewage truck - they're just three of the topics discussed by hosts Jack Benyon and JR Hildebrand in our Road America review episode of The Race IndyCar Podcast. The hosting duo assess Palou’s rivals' claims that not much has gone wrong for the Spaniard this season, and that he’s still catchable in th...

A thrilling new street course venue in Detroit and a dominant win by runaway points leader Alex Palou gave hosts Jack Benyon and Indianapolis 500 regular and Indy Lights champion JR Hildebrand plenty to discuss on this week’s The Race IndyCar Podcast. JR gives his suggestions for how he would alter the new track, which produced a good race but is extremely short, narrow and features plenty of surf...