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Colin Braun has raced multiple classes of cars over his career and, for the most part, has been successful in everything he's driven. We caught up with Colin at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach Media Day where he was giving pace car rides and also evaluating an new Acura track day road car (we'll have a walkaround podcast on this one in the future). He started off the year with a second place podium finish at the Rolex 24 Hour race at Daytona in his Meyer Shank Racing Acura GTP car and followed that up with three top ten finishes in the next four races. In this interview, he fills us in on what it was like to race the MSR Indy car, how that compares to his GTP car, and the intensity of racing at Long Beach. He also tells us how challenging it is to share the track with different classes of cars and gives us his thoughts on how he manages that challenge. He's a humble guy but an incredible racer. Enjoy!NOTE: Colin Braun will be racing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans this weekend in an LMP2 car.

Santino Ferrucci has been on a roll lately. Another great finish at the Indianapolis 500 (5th), and his first real podium* at Detroit (2nd) have kept him in the championship points hunt again this year. Ferrucci is a fun-loving guy and really enjoys his racing with AJ Foyt. This year he has a new teammate in the highly-touted David Malukas. We caught up with Santino at The Thermal Club where he showed us another one of his helmet designs. Compared to last year's Tom and Jerry cartoon themed lid, this one is much more serious and business-like. He goes into the details of what he likes best about this new design. But don't worry, there will be more to come. Enjoy!NOTE: After the Detroit race, Ferrucci's car was found to be out of compliance in regards to driver's weight ballast. According to the series, “During post-race inspection of car No. 14, INDYCAR discovered the driver ballast needed to bring the combined weight of the driver and driver ballast to 185 pounds was underweight and not within the driver ballast weight tolerance of 0.00 to + 1.00 pounds.However, also during inspection, the series found the weight of car No. 14, itself, was 10 pounds over the minimum weight for road and street circuits of 1,785 pounds and competed over the minimum weight requirement on-track.”* I say “real podium” because even though he finished third at Indy in 2023, there is no podium there, only the winner's circle.

Marcus Ericsson is the 2022 Indianapolis 500 winner. He came to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES from Formula One. Spending most of his career stateside at Chip Ganassi Racing, Ericsson scored multiple wins for the team, of course, none bigger than Indy. He joined the Andretti Global team in 2024 and in the first race at St. Pete he qualified in the Firestone Fast Six. We caught up with Ericsson at the following Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach media luncheon where he would earn a fifth place finish. He talks about what happened at St. Pete, hybrid testing, and getting back to the Speedway. A humble and friendly guy, this driver is really good on street circuits and at the Brickyard. He'll be aiming for his second win at Indy in just over a week. Enjoy!

Jack Harvey had a stellar run in the junior categories of open-wheel racing on his way up to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. He's a former British F3 champ and is a winner on both the oval and road course at Indianapolis in the INDY NXT by Firestone series. In the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, he spent the majority of his time at Meyer Shank Racing before he moved to the Rahal Letterman Lannigan team. Unfortunately, the promise showed at MSR was never realized at RLL. In 2024, Dale Coyne rang up Harvey to offer him a ride which he happily took alongside a revolving line-up of co-drivers. We caught up with him at the 2024 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach where he was celebrating his birthday and his new ride. In this interview, he talks about the importance of how to develop relationships within a team. He also recalls the incredible run to be the final Indy 500 qualifier the year prior. Fast forward to 2025, and he's now a pit reporter on the Fox TV race broadcasts, however, he'll also be back behind the wheel for this year's Indianapolis 500 with Dreyer and Reinbold Racing with Cusick Motorsports. A talented driver, a true gentleman of the sport, and also quite talented behind the microphone, Jack Harvey is one to watch both on the track and off. Enjoy!

In our last podcast we learned how Roberto Guerrero climbed the European racing ladder to Formula One and then hopped the pond to race Indy cars. This week he talks about the transition from a road racing background to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In 1992 he earned pole position there in a Buick-powered Lola but never took the green flag! In 1987 he had a terrible crash during a tire test at the Speedway. He explains what happened and how he got back behind the wheel again! What's he up to these days? He fills us in on that too. Enjoy!

Roberto Gurrero had an incredible motorsports career climbing the European open-wheel ladder to make it to the pinnacle of worldwide motorsports – Formula One. From there, he came stateside to race Indy cars for some of the biggest names in the sport from the team ownership side as well as design and engineering. We sat down with him at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach media day where we found him to be friendly, engaging, and humble. In this Part One of a two-part interview, we'll get the stories that brought him through an incredible career including a special day in Monaco on a yacht! A true family man, he's been married for over forty years; he also gives us his secrets to marriage success! Enjoy!

Chris Pook is the former travel agent who had the wild idea of staging a Formula One race through the city streets of Long Beach. Between himself, Dan Gurney, Jim Michaelian and a number of others who were critical in getting this event started, they all overcame numerous obstacles in trying to make his dream a reality. This iconic event will celebrate its 50th Anniversary on April 11-13, 2025. At the 2024 Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame ceremony (where he has also been inducted), he was gracious enough to spend some time with us and tell us about the challenges the event faced getting off the ground, some of the key moments that made it a success (including key people), and how it's endured all these years. In looking forward to this incredible 50-year milestone, there's nobody more qualified to talk about it than he is. Enjoy!

Felix Rosenqvist has been fast in every race car and series he's ever been in. Joining up with the Meyer Shank Indy car team in 2024, he started nicely with a heat-race win in the non-points Thermal Grand Prix race and he followed that up with a pole position at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. We caught up with him at the press luncheon just a couple of days before he earned that pole. In this interview he tells us about starting the new season strongly, how he's gelled with the team and also gave us a little insight about testing at Indianapolis and his experience racing Formula E and how that translates into the hybrid Indy car (which made its racing debut later in the season). Enjoy!

Tim de Silva is a race car driver who races not only in Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) club racing, but also in the Historic Motor Sports Association (HMSA) where he races vintage Indy cars and Formula One cars. He's raced around the world in some of the most iconic and wonderful cars like these and more in vintage racing. We caught up with him at the 2024 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach where he was competing (and winning!) in his and his dad's incredible Firestone Lola Indy car that Scott Pruett made famous by winning the Michigan 500 in the return of Firestone to the Indy car championship. De Silva talks about his racing background and how cool it is to race these fantastic machines. Enjoy!

Dave Looper is the chief mechanic for John Sweeney's Pennzoil, John Andretti/Jim Hall Indy car. His day job though is as an employee of Doran Racing who's work in professional motorsports is known worldwide. In last week's podcast, we spoke with Sweeney about what happened to his car at Long Beach and how Looper was instrumental in getting the car ready to get on track again. This week, Looper gives us the inside story on how everything unfolded and then came together to make a successful repair on the race car. He also tells us a bit about how people in motorsports work together to achieve success. Enjoy!

John Sweeney is a race car driver who competes in the Historic Motor Sports Association which requires the cars to be historically correct based on the period of time the cars raced in. That means that the memories of the fans who watched these cars raced back in the day, get to see them in the glorious liveries that they remember. We caught up with Sweeney at the 2024 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach where he was scheduled to compete in the Pennzoil Indy car that John Andretti originally raced for Jim Hall. His story at Long Beach is quite convoluted on many fronts and includes yours truly getting some fantastic pit work from him and his crew! John explains everything well and is one of the friendliest people you will ever meet. The respect he has for his crew and the sport is impressive. Enjoy!

In last week's podcast, we had the opportunity to interview Santino Ferrucci in the driver's lounge of the AJ Foyt Racing transporter. While we were there, I noticed that he had a very unique design on his helmet. He was nice enough to spend more time and talk about his colorful and fun design and hint of some other designs to come. Unlike some drivers who keep the same design through their entire career, Ferrucci loves to change it up! This is certainly something extra for fans to pay attention to during the racing season. Enjoy!

Santino Ferrucci drives the famed, number 14 Indy car, for AJ Foyt Racing in the NTT IndyCar Series. At the 2024 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, we were fortunate to be invited into his race weekend inner sanctum – the transporter driver's lounge, for an interesting interview where he fills us in on the Team Penske technical alliance, driving the new hybrid system, and a deep-dive into the Indianapolis 500 where he led the race and finished third in 2023. Enjoy!NOTE: Ferrucci qualified sixth at the 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500 and go on to finish eighth. He would earn his first pole position later in the year with a run to the top spot in Portland. He's re-signed with Foyt for 2025 and is certainly one to watch.

Dennis Firestone went from humble beginnings racing in Formula Fords in the California Sports Car Club (Cal Club) region of the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) to climb the racing ladder and reach the pinnacle of American road racing making numerous starts at the Indianapolis 500. His first trip there had Roger Penske helping him. From the highs of highs of winning racing and championships, to essentially a career ending crash. This interview takes us through a time capsule when innovation and passion were key elements of motorsports in America. Firestone was nice enough to tell us his story during the press day for the 2024 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. Enjoy!NOTE: Dennis Firestone said he will be back with his Eagle Indy car for the 50th Anniversary of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach April 11-13, 2025.

Rodney Klausmeyer drives the number 14 transporter for AJ Foyt Racing in the NTT IndyCar Series. He also has many other duties with the team throughout a race weekend. At the 2024 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, he was kind enough to take us on a tour of not only his rig, but also the two others connected to it in the paddock area. It's one thing to see these gleaming rolling billboards in the paddock area or cruising down the highways of America, but they're much more than that. They are a serious place for spare parts, tear down/rebuilds as well as engineering, VIP hospitality, and driver's lounge. Follow along with the photos below and get an insider's tour of this rolling work of art. Enjoy!NOTE: Just before this podcast with photos was uploaded, the AJ Foyt Racing Team updated all of their transporters. We're scheduled to get another visit and tour and see what's changed for 2025. We'll have more photos and a new podcast scheduled for spring. Stay tuned! For more information an A.J. Foyt Racing, please visit: www.ajfoytracing.com

Chuck Lessick is a chaplain with INDYCAR Ministry and travels with the NTT INDYCAR SERIES (and their support series) throughout the year to help support those in the paddock. He works with his wife Jacqui and chaplain Jason Holt in this endeavor. We caught up with him at the 2024 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach after the Sunday morning 5-Minute “Pit Stop Devotional” service where he fills us in on how the attendees' group has grown quite substantially from the year before. He also fills us in on how they help provide support to this community. Finally, with Easter right around the corner, he gives us an uplifting Easter message.  Enjoy!Copyright © 2025 Larry Mason

Tom Blomqvist has been one of the quickest drivers in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competing in the top level GTP category. We caught up with him just prior to the 2024 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach where he filled us in on his transition from IMSA GTP to the NTT IndyCar Series with Meyer Shank Racing (MSR). It's a fascinating conversation as he candidly talks about the challenges of switching categories and the key differences between the two types of race cars. It's a real insiders look at the technical side of racing in layman's terms. Enjoy! NOTE: At Long Beach, he qualified 15th while his teammate was on pole. Blomqvist finished in 22nd while Rosenqvist finished 9th. Unfortunately for Tom, the opening lap of the Indy 500 saw him spin and crash with other cars involved. After that, he was replaced as a driver on the team. However, the team owners still believed in his immense talent and retained him for the year. Starting this weekend at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, he'll be back behind the wheel of an MSR GTP car looking to score another Rolex 24 win.

Roman De Angelis is one of the top drivers in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competing in the GTD and GTD Pro categories. We caught up with him just prior to the 2024 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach where his teammate started from pole position the previous year. It was a good year for the “Heart of Racing” team as De Angelis and Marco Sorenson won three races. In this interview, he talks about what happened at Long Beach the previous year, some of the iconic races he won, how he got started in racing, and his expectations for Long Beach and beyond. He also does a nice job of breaking down the difference between GTD and GTD Pro and the whole driver ranking system. Enjoy! NOTE: At Long Beach, he qualified fourth and got into third during the race. Unfortunately, another competitor hit his teammate in the second half of the race which led to a DNF (Did Not Finish). Coming up is the IMSA Roar Before the 24 test, and the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona on January 17-19 and January 22-26, 2025.

Parker Thompson and Ben Barnicoat race a Lexus RC F GT3/GTD car for Vasser/Sullivan in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. We caught up with Thompson twice during the 2024 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. We first talked to him immediately after his pole position press conference and then with him and his teammate right after their post-race victory press conference. The two were certainly happy and proud of their accomplishments winning on the biggest stage of the sprint races during the year. It's interesting to hear about how they describe the team dynamic and the key to victory. Enjoy! NOTE: The IMSA Roar Before the 24 test, and the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona are coming up on January 17-19 and January 22-26, 2025.

Andy Lee is a professional race car driver and coach and competes in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship as well as the SRO Americas GT Championship with his teammate Elias Sabo. During the 2024 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, Andy took the time to give us a walkaround on the IMSA GT3/GTD Aston Martin Vantage race car and then gave us another walkaround on the SRO GT4 AM Vantage. During the walkarounds he talks about the differences and key features of each race car. The photos below are put in order so you can follow along and see some of the key features of each race car. Enjoy! NOTE: Please see previous podcast for overall photos of the two different cars on track. The IMSA Roar Before the 24 test, and the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona are coming up on January 17-19 and January 22-26, 2025. 

Elias Sabo and Andy Lee are teammates in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in an Aston Martin GTD (GT3) car. Sabo also drives an Aston Martin GT4 car in the SRO Americas championship. At the press day luncheon for the 2024 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach we caught up with them to ask about their gorgeous race car and how they became teammates among other things. Sabo was pulling triple duty during race weekend with a single race in the GTD car (sharing with Lee) and two races in the GT4 car. Enjoy! NOTE: Next week, we'll have Andy give us a walkaround on each of the two different Aston Martin race cars. The Roar Before the 24 test, and the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona are coming up on January 17-19 and January 22-26, 2025. Also of note, after a challenging start to the season, the team switched manufacturers in August to the BMW M4 GT3/GTD platform looking for  their results to improve for 2025. Photo credit: Bob Chapman Autosport Image

Jason Holt is the director and a chaplain with IndyCar Ministry. We caught up with him right after his 5-Minute Pit Stop Devotional at the 2024 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. In this interview he tells us about the message he gave race morning and also talks about how the number of attendees has grown to take part in these early Sunday morning meetings during race weekends. He gives us insight into the realities of what the attendees are going through and how this message is important. Knowing that this interview wouldn't air until right before Christmas, he also gives us a special message for this time of year. Enjoy! NOTE: For more information on IndyCar Ministry, or to donate, please visit: www.indycarministry.org.

Romain Grosjean has raced in Formula One, Indy cars and much more. Coming to the NTT Indy Car Series after his horrific crash in the F1 Bahrain Grand Prix, he hasn't slowed down at all. After enjoying a podium finish at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach for Andretti Autosport in 2023, we caught up with him just prior to the 2024 event where he talks about switching to the small Juncos Hollinger Racing Team, his testing experience with the new hybrid, and how that compares to F1. I also asked him about a comment he made last year at this event about hisconfidence as a driver and he gives a very real and raw answer. By the way, if you speak French, he has a special message for you at the end. Enjoy! Breaking News: Juncos Hollinger announced their driver lineup for 2025 with Conor Daly and Sting Ray Robb behind the wheel. That currently leaves Romain Grosjean on the sidelines. Willhe return to Dale Coyne Racing where he began his NTT IndyCar Series career? Only time will tell. He is still contracted to race for Lamborghini in their IMSA hybrid GTP car and had the quickest lap during one of the sessions at a recent Daytona test. Stay tuned.

Karmel Humphrey is the partnerships manager of Cooler Master. At this year's Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, he had space in the Expo for multiple simulator rigs. During the weekend, there would be a contest to see who would be the top-three fastest drivers on the simulated Long Beach street course. Cooler Master provides a variety of sim components and Humphrey talks about how they compare price-wise. Christmas will be here before you know it so if you want one for yourself or want to buy one for someone else, now's the time. Enjoy! NOTE: For more information on Cooler Master, please visit: www.coolermaster.com

In this interview, JC talks about family, Pikes Peak, the Unsers and Andrettis, and how their paths have been intertwined for decades in motorsports. He also gives us some background into his dad “Aggie” and how he became a car owner. He talks about the Turkey Night Grand Prix (an Agajanian Production) which is coming up this Thanksgiving weekend at Ventura Raceway. If you haven't bought tickets yet for this fantastic event, don't wait as it was a sellout last year. JC's wife Franci has a brief cameo in this where she describes a fantastic Armenian dish that is simply delicious. Enjoy! NOTE: For more information and tickets for the upcoming Turkey Night Midget Grand Prix (Nov. 29, 30, 2024), please visit www.VenturaRaceway.com. Also, if you're interested in trying the Lahmajune Armenian dish Franci talked about, here are three bakeries around the greater Los Angeles area recommended by Chris Agajanian where you can buy them: Koko's Bakery, Pasadena – Dream Bakery, Valley Glen – Taron Bakery, Los Angeles.

In this interview, JC tells the story of how Evel Knievel and JC Agajanian (Sr.) came together to enjoy a long-lasting, positive, business and personal relationship. Some of Knievel's jumps are remembered including the infamous Snake River Canyon jump. What was Knievel like in person? Listen in and let JC take you for a trip down Memory Lane. Enjoy! NOTE: For more information on Evel Knievel, please visit: https://EvelKnievel.com.

In our last podcast, we met professional race car driver Paul Gerrard. He was preparing to take JC Agajanian Jr. and his wife Franci for a hot lap around the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach street circuit. JC Agajanian Jr. has been involved in motorsports for decades as a promoter including the legendary Turkey Night Grand Prix (now held at Ventura Raceway). In this installment, we get to hear from both JC and Franci right after they got out of the 630 horsepower AMG Mercedes and they describe what it was like. To me, seeing the looks on their faces and hearing the joy in their descriptions was priceless! Enjoy!

Paul Gerrard is the chief instructor for the AMG Experience which is a traveling road show both domestically and internationally. His racing career started when he won a Winfield scholarship in Europe where he went on to race formula cars. He parlayed that success and did the same here in America. He transitioned to sports cars and has raced at tracks all around the world. He's earned national championships and besides his instructor duties, he's also a presenter, vehicle evaluator and has worked on a number of different TV car shows such as Top Gear (US and UK), MythBusters, Ultimate Factories and more. We caught up with him at the 2024 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach where he was giving hot laps to VIPs in a 630 horsepower Mercedes GT63. He fills us in on his background, some of his favorite race tracks around the world and more. Enjoy! NOTE: JC Agajanian Jr. makes a cameo appearance in this podcast as he and his wife Franci would be riding with Paul just a short time after this interview was completed.

Tony Kanaan has enjoyed a long and successful career in motorsports. Indy 500 winner, and series champion, are just a couple of the titles to go along with his long career. Known for always being in great physical condition to race cars, he's also parlayed that into multiple Ironman World Championship Triathlon finishes too! We caught up with TK at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach press day where he filled us in on how excited he is to be driving “Lone Star JR's” (Johnny Rutherford's) Indy-winning McLaren, his preparation going into the weekend with the team's newest replacement driver Theo Pourchaire, and his official role with the team now that he's technically retired from racing. He also gives us a behind-the-scenes story about one of his favorite moments here in Long Beach. Enjoy!

Pipo Derani has made a name for himself in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship by being a tremendously fast racer and especially so in qualifying. In fact, he earned pole position for the first three races of the year (Daytona, Sebring, and Long Beach). He's a four-time winner of the 12 Hours of Sebring and he's also won the 24 Hours of Daytona. We caught up with Derani at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach right after his post-race qualifying pole position press conference and conducted this interview leaving the media room and walking with him on the way back to his transporter. There's a slight interruption in the interview as a fan stops him to take a selfie as we navigated our way through the crowd. It's a short interview but he fills us in on his mindset in qualifying and racing and how things change between sprint and endurance racing. Enjoy! NOTE: It was announced during the 2024 season that Derani would not be back with his Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R GTP team for 2025. Where will he end up? Stay tuned. . .

James Nazarian Jr. is the Large Project Leader Commercial Motorsports for Honda Racing Corporation located in Santa Clarita, California. At last year's 2023 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, he gave us a walkaround on “the Beast” Honda CR-V race car. This year, he did the same for their all-new Acura Integra Type S DE5 race car designed to be raced in the SRO TC America Championship in the TCX class. This event was only a few days after the Integra made its racing debut at Sonoma Raceway where it earned a couple of podium finishes! Nazarian talks about that and also some of the details that make this car special. You can follow along with the photos below. Enjoy! NOTE: For more information on Acura Racing programs (including this Integra), please visit: https://www.acura.com/motorsports

Ricky Taylor has amassed championships and race wins in the top level of sports car racing. Currently driving for Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti in the Acura ARX-06 GTP car, he scored a victory at the 2024 Detroit Grand Prix and a podium with his co-driver Felipe Albuquerque at Road America. We met up with Ricky at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach Media Day where he was kind enough to give me a few hot laps in the Acura Integra Type S DE5 race car. Being a Fast Lane instructor, I'm always learning something whenever I get on the racetrack either as a driver or sitting right seat. In this instance, I learned that this top level professional driver is human after all and can make a mistake. I asked him about it, and he admitted it and gave the reason why and what happened. He is a true professional, humble, polite and extremely talented. His “debrief” of this session is fascinating and he explains how he's learning a new race car on a race track that's only used once a year. A real insider's look into a track session debrief. Enjoy! NOTE: Ricky Taylor and his teammate will be going for victory in the Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta on October 12, 2024.

Felipe Albuquerque is a multi-time championship winning driver and races the Acura ARX-06 GTP car in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti (with teammate Ricky Taylor). We caught up with Albuquerque at the media luncheon just prior to the race at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. In this podcast interview, he gives us a fascinating insight into simulator prep work and specifically for this event. He goes into some detail between the Honda Driver in the Loop (DIL) sim versus iRacing. This is also a good interview for kids to listen to as he talks about how valuable his education was and how it has impacted his racing career. Enjoy! NOTE: Albuquerque and Taylor would go on to win the Detroit Grand Prix this season and score a podium (third) at Mid-Ohio in August. Going into the final race of the season, the Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta on October 9-12, 2024, he currently sits sixth in the championship standings.

Samantha Tan is a Canadian race car driver in the GT America Powered by AWS professional sports car racing series. We caught up with her at the media luncheon for the 2024 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach where she was getting ready to race a BMW GT4 car and has a cool story to tell about how she got to where she is today. She came home from that event with two good results – a fifth in Race 1 and a podium second place in Race 2 in the GT4 class. She's won numerous championships over her career and she also fills us in on the preparation she goes through to get ready for an event. She's had a competitive season and has multiple wins and podium finishes in the Pro-Am class with her co-driver (Neil Verhagen) in a BMW GT3 car. Her next race is fast approaching – the Indianapolis 8-hour scheduled for October 3-6, 2024. Enjoy! P.S. For more information on Samantha Tan, please visit her website at: https://www.st-racing.org/ NOTE: This is the fifth and final in a series of interviews of women for www.raceshool.com and our “Women in Motorsports” month of September. This has now become an annual tradition. We've heard from women with various roles in the motorsports industry from team owners, drivers and more. Thanks for checking in!

Tina Patel is a TV reporter for KCAL 9 and CBS 2 here in Los Angeles. In the news business there is no typical day when you're on assignment in different locations every day. At this year's Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach media day, we got an opportunity to chat with Tina after she had ridden in the IndyCar 2-Seater and the Acura NSX pace car. She tells us what it was like, what impressed her the most, and how fun it was. She also takes us back to how she got started in the news industry and what the best part of her job is. Did this experience make her want to become a race car driver? Listen in and find out. Enjoy! NOTE: This is the fourth in a series of interviews of women for www.raceshool.com and our “Women in Motorsports” month of September. This has now become an annual tradition. We'll hear from women with various roles in the motorsports industry from team owners, drivers and more. Check back weekly to find out who's next!

Beth Paretta is the CEO and team principal of Paretta Autosport. She's also a co-founder (along with Lyn St. James) of Women in Motorsports North America. She has an interesting background on how she got involved in auto racing and her story about how she met Roger Penske is a classic. She's experienced success with SRT Motorsports and she talks about how she got there and the programs that she ran. I first met her back when she was doing that with the factory Viper program. She's elevated herself in the motorsports world and continues to be a very successful business woman and team owner. During this interview, she also clues us in with what's happening with her driver, Simona de Silvestro. As a side note, the fourth annual Women With Drive Summit will be held in Indianapolis on December 9-11, 2024. For more information on the summit, please visit: www.womeninmotorsportsna.com.  Enjoy! NOTE: This is the third in a series of interviews of women for www.raceshool.com and our “Women in Motorsports” month of September. This has now become an annual tradition. We'll hear from women with various roles in the motorsports industry from team owners, drivers and more. Check back weekly to find out who's next!

Jacqui Lessick is one of the nicest people you'll meet in the NTT IndyCar Series paddock. She can also be found in the paddock of all of the support series to IndyCar. Typically, she's there as a support to her husband, Chuck (who is a chaplain with IndyCar Ministry), however lately she's been reaching out to the women in racing who vary from drivers, engineers, wives, and more. Sometimes it takes a woman to really understand what other women are experiencing in their lives away from home in this traveling circus known as professional auto racing. Jacqui has just the right demeanor, knowledge base, and more to assist in helping to support these women. In this interview, she breaks down how this all came about, what her role is, and looks into where it's going.  Enjoy! NOTE: This is the second in a series of interviews of women for www.raceshool.com and our “Women in Motorsports” month of September. This has now become an annual tradition. We'll hear from women with various roles in the motorsports industry from team owners, drivers and more. Check back weekly to find out who's next!

Clara Harter is an award-winning reporter for the Southern California News Group. We caught up with her at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach where she had just finished riding with Davey Hamilton in the INDYCAR Experience Two-Seater. Her smile and enthusiasm for what she just experienced were off the charts. She gave us her take on what it was like and also what she normally covers for her employer. A fun interview with a talented woman in the news industry. Enjoy! NOTE: This is the first in a series of interviews of women for www.raceshool.com and our “Women in Motorsports” month of September. This has now become an annual tradition. We'll hear from women with various roles in the motorsports industry from team owners, drivers and more. Check back weekly to find out who's next! For more information on Clara Harter, please visit: www.claraharter.com

Davey Hamilton has had a long career in motorsports racing sprint cars, midgets and silver crown cars on dirt tracks across the country. He's also been a fixture in the NTT IndyCar Series and has 11 Indy 500 starts under his belt with a best finish of fourth. These days, Hamilton is still driving Indy cars – specifically the INDYCAR Experience Two-Seater giving fans and VIPs a thrill ride before the start of series races. With all his experience behind the wheel, he's parlayed that into a career behind the microphone as well being a color commentator on the IndyCar Radio Network. In addition to being on the ownership side of things in racing, Hamilton, as you can imagine, is a very busy guy. We caught up with him at the 2024 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach Press Day where he fills us in on his association with Kingdom Racing and how that organization is helping those who have experienced hard times and loss. He also talks a bit about last week's guest, Sting Ray Robb. Enjoy! NOTE: For more information on Kingdom Racing, please visit: www.kingdomracing.net

Sting Ray Robb has the coolest name in motorsports. As an up and coming driver in the NTT IndyCar Series racing for AJ Foyt, he's looking to build on his junior level career experience and work towards getting to Victory Lane. At the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach this year, we had the opportunity to chat with Robb in the driver's lounge of the team's transporter. He tells us how he got his name, his background in racing as well as highlighting his new sponsor for this year. He tells us how important his faith is to him as well as the rest of the paddock.  Enjoy! Sting Ray Robb will be driving the pray.com car for AJ Foyt Racing in 2024

Takuma Sato is a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner and also won the 2013 Grand Prix of Long Beach for AJ Foyt Racing. At the 2024 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame Induction ceremony he (along with Katherine Legge) became the latest inductee. Sato has won races all over the world when he competed in F3 including a British F3 championship and a win at the prestigious Macau Grand Prix. His Formula One career was mainly with underfunded teams however he managed a podium finish at the USGP at Indianapolis. Sato has always been a popular guy at Long Beach. We caught up with him soon after the LBMWoF ceremony and he filled us in on his preparation for the Indy 500 with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, stories from the past, and his preparation for this year's ‘Greatest Spectacle of Racing.' He also gave us an update on ‘With You Japan' which started as a relief effort due to the effects of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan back in 2011. He's humble, respectful and nice off the track, yet his “No attack, no chance” attitude on the track makes him a fierce competitor. Enjoy!

Chris Forsberg is a three-time Formula Drift champion and has amassed the most head-to-head victories and podium finishes in Formula Drift history. Along with his friendly demeanor off-track, this driver has a knack for acquiring and retaining sponsors. Read More...

Theo Pourchaire is a French Formula 2 champion that was drafted into the Arrow McLaren NTT IndyCar Series team on short notice. He made his debut at the 2024 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach (subbing for the injured David Malukas) where he qualified 22nd and finished 11th. We caught up with him at his first race in Long Beach and spoke with him immediately following the Sunday warm-up. He's a really enthusiastic and friendly guy that exudes happiness that few drivers do. A multi-time racing champion, Theo Pourchaire is the real deal. Enjoy! Read More...

Mario Andretti is one of the greatest race car drivers of all time. His son Michael has not only had a successful driving career, but has also been extremely successful on the business side of racing. Andretti Global is working hard to get on the Formula One grid with their own team having Cadillac as their manufacturing partner. Although the FIA has approved their application, Formula One Management (FOM) has rejected their application. Starting an F1 team from scratch and trying to put everything in place is extremely complicated, time consuming and expensive. At the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, Andretti was in the media center along with George Levy - president of the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (MSHFA), reminiscing about his success as a driver here, especially with the Newman/Haas team. Read More...

Ed Ross has been a fixture in pit lane at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach for many years working as a fire marshal. His vast experience over the years has kept him working for the top teams to assist when emergencies happen. We caught up with him this year just off of pit lane during some down time to get his story on how he got started, hear about frantic moments, and also some of his favorite memories over the years. He's always there to greet you with a warm smile and friendly “Hello” and he encourages other fans to get closer to the action by joining him or others in different worker specialties at the track. Cool stories from a cool dude - Enjoy! Copyright © by Larry Mason

American driver Alexander Rossi left Formula One and made his mark in the NTT IndyCar Series by winning the Indianapolis 500 as a rookie in 2016. He's also dominated other races like the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach where he won back-to-back in 2018 and 2019. We caught up with him there this year and he filled us in on the differences and what it's like to transition from Formula One to Indy car and his thoughts on the new Indy car hybrid technology. He then goes in-depth about qualifying for the Indy 500 with the tools he has available to maximize performance. At Long Beach he qualified 13th and finished 10th. That's a very respectable result as he was punted really hard from behind by his teammate (Pato O'Ward) going into the fountain on lap three. That resulted in an unscheduled pit stop to change a flat tire. The next race will be at Mid-Ohio on July 7th and will feature the series debut of hybrid technology. Enjoy! Read More... By Larry Mason Copyright © 2024 Larry Mason

In what has become an annual RaceSchool.com tradition, we like to kick off the summer vacation driving season with safety tips from the CHP. This year at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach we met up with officers Alec Pereyda and Bobby Eurine. Between the two of them they give us their insights on safe driving tips, things that they are looking for on patrol, and specific information regarding teen drivers. Additionally, they inform us about what to do in case of a flat tire or other mechanical car issues. This timely information is great not only for holidays but year ‘round as well. Enjoy! See More...

Nolan Siegel is a rising star in the NTT IndyCar Series. He's raced and won in a variety of cars coming into the 2024 season and made his racing debut in the Indy car at the Thermal Club event in March where he put on a very competitive drive just missing out on a transfer spot to the final shootout. A California native only19 years of age, we caught up with him at the 2024 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach where he was making his first points-paying start in the series. In this interview he tells us about his racing background, preparing for this event and also how his first trip to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway went where he completed his rookie test. He went on from here to try to qualify for the 500 but unfortunately crashed out trying to go ‘flat-out' during his qualifying run. At Long Beach, he went quicker in every practice and qualifying session and ultimately finished 20th after starting 27th. He got a late call-up to fill in for Augustin Canapino at Road America where he jumped out of his Indy NXT car and completed the weekend in the Indy car finishing 23rd. This driver is certainly one to watch in the future and has received positive reviews from his peers in the series which is always satisfying.  Enjoy! Interview Copyright © by Larry Mason Cover Photo credit: © INDYCAR PHOTO Joe Skibinski

Will Power has won just about everything there is to win in the NTT IndyCar Series such as the most pole positions in Indy car racing history (70), the Indianapolis 500, the series championship (twice) and multiple races along the way. However, his last race win came in June of 2022 at the Detroit Grand Prix on Belle Isle until this year's race in June at Road America. We had a chance to chat with Power in the media bullpen for the 2024 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach in April, where in this wide-ranging chat, he talks about his wife's life-threatening illness, his off-season prep, favorite and most challenging parts of the Long Beach circuit (where he's won twice before), karting, and Indianapolis hybrid testing. Power is thoughtful and forthright with his answers. Enjoy! Read More... Interview and photos Copyright © by Larry Mason

Josef Newgarden has been on an emotional roller coaster this year. It started with the high of winning the 24hrs of Daytona, followed by another win in the NTT IndyCar Series season opener at St. Pete. However, during the 2024 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach weekend it was found that he and his team had used the “Push to Pass” (P2P) system in St. Pete when they weren't supposed to have had it available. The series disqualified and fined him and he lost all his points. After an emotional press conference at the Barber Motorsports Park event, Newgarden went about re-focusing on what he knows best which is driving fast and winningraces. This all culminated with a win at the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500. We caught up with him at Long Beach before any of the drama had ensued to get his take on his season so far, a preview of the Indy 500 and he also answers a RaceSchool.com Podcast listener's question as well! Read More...

Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner and six-time Grand Prix of Long Beach winner, Al Unser Jr.  is no stranger to racing fans. We had the opportunity to chat with him following the media luncheon for the 2024 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. He tells us about how Long Beach was so good to him, and also the family struggles and triumphs at Indianapolis. Specifically, he recalls his two victories and how different the circumstances were. His humble demeanor belies the fact that he's won so many iconic races and championships over the years. It's no secret that he also had addiction struggles and he talks about how he's doing now and what he's up to in “retirement.” A fabulous chat with a legend in the sport. Enjoy! Note: The book, Al Unser Jr. A Checkered Past, is available wherever good books are sold. For more information on the Unser museum collection, please visit: www.museumofamericanspeed.org.  By Larry Mason Copyright © 2024 Larry Mason