100 Days to Indy

Alright. Why don't you start by introducing yourself

and telling us what you do for a living?

Yeah. I'm Romain Grosjean.

I'm a French-Swiss racing car driver.

There's Grosjean.

- Turn one. - Look at the yellow car.

There's McLaughlin on the right, and they come together!

- Oh! - Oh!

McLaughlin holds the lead!

Grosjean goes to the outside.

There's no way he'll be able to hold him off.

- Is it possible? - Turn right now.

Grosjean!

And they're both in a crash!

Man, what are you doing?

My last race in Florida was a bit of a shock.

So...yes.

I thought that, today, I was going to talk to you

as an IndyCar race winner.

Marcus Ericsson in the Huski Chocolate Honda

is a winner again, but this time on the streets

of St. Petersburg.

My sport is beautiful and very painful at the same time.

We just got really unlucky, and we move on.

Looking back on St. Pete, man,

that was one of the all-time classic IndyCar races.

- It's total chaos. - Wow!

We had a lead change with two laps to go.

Aw. We gave that one away.

Massive accidents, a red flag, two cars in the air.

- Big fire. - Huge fire for Josef Newgarden.

Just a bad day. One bad day.

I don't know what that race didn't have.

Now we head to Texas.

McLaren and Andretti Autosport are definitely both confident

that they've taken a big step forward.

Texas Motor Speedway.

This is the first oval of the season,

and they don't race another oval before the Indianapolis 500.

The speeds are just tremendous.

And if you're on an oval,

it can be much, much more dangerous.

- There now. - There's a big crash!

Texas Motor Speedway...

It's fast.

So fast.

It's just about flat-out

all the way down on the throttle all the way around.

Side with the 26.

I'm gonna be honest. It's not my favorite race of the year.

Anything can happen anytime.

- This is tight! - This is where you get nervous,

really nervous.

- What do I do? - Be smart, bud. Be smart.

A lot of drivers had a bad first race in St. Pete,

and they're going to be looking to kickstart their season

- in Texas. - Unbelievable!

My name is Patricio O'Ward.

Everybody calls me Pato 'cause it's easier.

I am 23 years old and I get to drive race cars for a living,

which I think, it's every man's dream, bro.

I love coming to Monterrey.

This has been my home ever since I was born.

It's where I get to spend time with my family.

There's endless options of toys.

Anything you want to do.

You really need to find a balance of, you know,

dedicating time and energy into your job,

but you also need time to recharge

and just get your mind off of work.

Whoo!

Come to Daddy.

Mmm.

I'm in my fourth season with Arrow McLaren,

my fourth season in IndyCar.

Sí.

There's always been this talk

of the Big Three,

which has always been Ganassi, Penske, Andretti.

And we're not far, man.

We're right there. We're right there.

But there's so many factors outside of your control

that will challenge you.

You have the field, my friend.

Pato O'Ward's going to try to hang on for this win.

It's not going to be easy.

St. Petersburg was a roller coaster of emotions

because I got screwed big time.

Hey, guys, problem.

There's something wrong with him.

And the lead now has gone to Marcus Ericsson.

We had a bit of an issue with the engine,

which makes you lose power for a couple seconds.

O'Ward furious.

The engine's at a stall.

But those couple seconds are very valuable

when you're defending your lead.

The sneaky Swede did it again.

- - Yes!

So we had to settle for second.

Pato O'Ward should have won the season-opening race

in St. Petersburg, but had a fluke in his engine.

Chevrolet took ownership of it.

But it doesn't change the frustration

that Pato felt that day.

He should've won the race.

He absolutely should've won the race.

But Scott McLaughlin and Romain Grosjean

will tell you they should've won the race.

And that's just how racing is.

I'm confident in the team that's behind me.

I'm confident in the team that I get to work with in order

to take it to the big guys like the Penskes and the Ganassis...

...and challenge them every single weekend.

And that's what ultimately is going to take us

to that first 500 win.

Pato O'Ward from Arrow McLaren

and Colton Herta from Andretti Autosport --

Think those two drivers, outside the Penske and Ganassi camps,

certainly in 2023, have the best shots

at playing into the championship picture.

My name's Colton Herta,

and I am a professional IndyCar driver.

What do we have here?

We're at my new house.

Just moved from Los Angeles.

Another eagle.

Still don't have Internet.

I haven't had Internet for a while.

My cellphone doesn't work here, which has been great.

I've been driving to Walmart to do e-mails.

This is me right now.

It's sketchy for sure.

It doesn't look good.

Me and my parents when I was a baby.

Colton Herta is such a unique guy.

He's a very different personality

than a lot of the other drivers in the IndyCar paddock.

He's just sort of loose, free,

and just bad fast behind the wheel of a race car.

Colton Herta is an IndyCar winner

a week before he turns 19.

He's the youngest to ever win in IndyCar.

- Colton Herta has done it. - Great job, buddy. Way to go.

It's a day I'll never forget.

I had Josef Newgarden behind me.

I was 18 years old at the time.

Holy crap, man. I am worn out.

That self doubt of "Should I be here?" --

everything was cleared in that moment, right?

I knew that I belonged in IndyCar.

I knew that I had the speed to win races.

Last year wasn't really the season that he was hoping for.

So I think the expectation on Colton is really high.

2022 for sure was a letdown as far as all of our standards.

Colton finished 10th in the standings last year

and got a huge contract extension in the off-season.

Many people think that Colton's the highest-paid driver

in IndyCar right now, and that's a little bit like,

"Hmm, the 10th-place guy in the standings

is the highest-paid guy?"

So I think that people

are waiting to see Colton be consistent.

Doesn't make a difference to hear

what people think about me, good and bad.

It doesn't change my drive or my focus

or what I want to accomplish in my career.

I will win the 500 this year.

Started racing in 1959 at age 19.

The objective was always to get to the top.

And what was the top was IndyCar racing.

I love everything about IndyCar.

I don't think there's another series, truly,

that can give you as much satisfaction as IndyCar.

My name is Mario Andretti. I'm a retired racing car driver.

The Andretti name means everything to IndyCar,

but I think it goes beyond IndyCar.

Andretti went around him like he was standing still.

I'm not sure there's anyone with a pulse that

doesn't know the Andretti name, and that starts with Mario,

who is on the short list of all-time legends.

Victory number 52.

Second on the all-time list.

The Indy 500 is special, so special,

because how many sporting events are over 100 years old?

And here's the checkered flag for Mario Andretti,

winner of the 1969 500-mile race!

To win Indy 500,

the best way I can describe it is

a huge weight is lifted off your shoulder.