This is off track. Well, this week guys, it is an off track with Hinch or Rossi as Alex was busy prepping for his upcoming test at Barbara Motorsports Park. And we were so graciously joined by our good friend, Andrei Global driver, and fifth place Fi fifth place finisher from St. Pete, Kyle Kirkwood
From Chili's. That's what we're trying to do. We're trying to sell food here.
Uh, so yeah, not just merch, I'm just sitting here admiring your hat. Uh, and I'm, I'm learning that this is not a team hat. This is just like chilies just sell their own merch.
Yes. Chili sells merch and Well, they saw
A Yeah. um, bought a ton of these hats and Okay, this is what the, this is what the crew wore, um, for all of the St. Pete race weekend. Um, yeah, I, I remember seeing those hats out and about, but that's why I assumed it was like, yeah, your hats,
I mean, we're, we're not selling 'em. It's not, it's not team attire. It is literally bought from Chili's and the team brought 'em in 'cause they thought it'd be a fun idea to get some chilies merch on us.
It's a tremendous idea. I mean, I, I can't tell you how it's good the number of times I've, I've left a Chili's feeling a little bit empty because I was leaving empty handed without Chili's,
WeCh without merch. Honestly, this hat is is pretty sweet. It's fire. I actually wear like every single day. So , I think it's the,
It's appropriate. We're all wearing hats for our jobs.
Correct. You have a chili hat, a fo hat. What
Is, and Tim, no Oh, yeah. Got it. Yep. .
Yeah. So you'll have to, you'll have to get used to like really jokes on the
. That's what I do. Um, exactly.
The good news is, is he edits it and then he can just put in a laugh track . Yeah. And hope that people don't realize that we do not record this in front of a live studio audience. Um,
So, uh, so since I'm doing the interviewing here, um, what is your response to Mr. Bob something NHRA guy? Oh, absolutely. Going after Fox for fastest racing series in the world. So,
You know what this is? Let's do this little experiment, because I saw that that was a thing and somebody sent me the link in a group chat, but I was in the middle of something and so I couldn't let me, I'm gonna watch it right now. You
Haven't watched it? Forget about
. Wow.
Forget about it. Okay. Look, yeah, that was, that was a little aggressive.
So, look, I I It's very aggressive. It is a very aggress, like he is taking this very personally.
Yeah, that was, that was extremely personal. It's,
It's like it was a direct shot at him and like his credibility as a member of the Motorsports community. Look, I get it to a certain extent. I understand technically, obviously NHRA cars go faster than iddy cars do. Um, it's a very different kind of racing. I don't think it was, you know, asterisk or caveated in the commercials, but like, look man, it's a, it's a new property. They're promoting it. It's the fact that fastest circuit racing in the world.
So, I mean, that just doesn't roll off the tongue the same way. So maybe we just let it slide.
Yeah. Honestly, I forgot about NHRA. I didn't think twice about it until he's going off. I
Mean, not helping Kyle, not helping.
Well, well, when you think about racing, like I, I automatically think about nascar IndyCar Formula One sports cars, right. Or Moto gp, maybe Supercross Right. Circuit racing, you know, circuit racing. Like I forget about drag racing. So I mean, in a, in a way he's Right, right. But we all forgot about them .
It was, it was just a little too sp it was a little too fiery of a, of an interview. And then just to walk off like you make especially point, he
Was talking to Fox. Like it wasn't like he was like on CVS, like going off about thoughts. No, no.
So Yeah. Not what I would've done. I understand his frustration. I have a lot of respect for everybody in NHRA. Um, the drivers and mechanics, the teams, everybody. Uh, it's a heck of a spectacle if you've never seen NHRA race in person. It is insane. Um,
I just wanted to kick this off with some controversy. No,
I love, I love that you did that. Just stirring the pot right off the bat. I love how you just hijacked the interview now. I mean,
I'm sure Tim just over here looking at his phone hanging out. Oh yeah.
He doesn't, he never pays
Attention. I'm, I'm finding laugh tracks. Uh,
Yeah. Been
And I'm also checking if we're allowed to use that audio or not , because
I think I would assume not. We could just watch.
I figured I'd throw it at you .
Yeah, I did. I didn't mean to watch it.
Me Well's icebreaker just make you nervous with Fox in your job, you know?
Yeah, exactly. Well, it's a good run. My one race, my one race career with Fox was awesome. Uh, if you need a new guy to carry your chilies hat while you're in the car, I'm gonna be looking for a job soon. Sounds
Good. Awesome.
I mean, it's alright. We're saying it was awesome. It was awesome.
It was record setting. Come on, relax
For you. Yeah, sure.
Yeah. I don't care how you, that
Was a pretty big deal, huh?
For us to watch it. that bigger than you guys anticipated? We like us drivers. You, we don't really know, but it seemed big, right? Like that that seems like a huge number. Like 1.8. No, it was, was was the top. Yeah,
It was the peak one point. Yeah. So it's, it's, it is very good. I, I don't know, I think everybody had their own opinions going into it as to like what a, like what they'd be happy with, like what they were aiming for and mm-hmm . The, the, the Fox people didn't really share what that number was, you know, with us. But like Townsend and Will and I all kind of had our hopes and dreams. Um, and it, it beat what I was hoping it beat what Townsend was hoping.
So yeah, I think all around, uh, success and the, the big guys and girls over at Fox Sports seem to be happy with it, so can't complain. Um, but like, we're not here Talk about ratings bro. We're here to talk about you. We're here to talk about Well
Let's hear it.
Well, okay, so top five first race of the season. I mean, gotta be relatively happy with kicking off the year like that.
Yeah, I know.
Get less. You can see it in your face. You're like,
I get less and less happy about top fives as I continue to not get wins. Um, especially when it's another time that I'm sitting there racing with Paolo and next thing you know, last comes around, he over cutts everybody and now he is, I guess he didn't overcut everybody. He kind of undercut Dixon, right? Um, one lap. 'cause Dixon got caught in traffic, right? Yeah.
But long story short, pretty much watched him win from his gearbox, you know, and we put ourself in a little bit of a corner early on in the race using too much fuel in that first stint. Um, but with that being said, it was still my best finish at St. Pete. Um, we had a good race, we had a fast car, we had a solid weekend. Didn't hit any walls. Take all those as positives and, and get outta there with some points, you know, so, so
Let me, let me ask you this, man. I mean just, just kind of 'cause you brought it up and it is fascinating 'cause like you, I was talking to Alex about this. We, we didn't even mention Polo once until we saw the blend on that final stop. Like he wasn't even a factor. Like he, he snuck up on that win. No. So couldn't,
He was a, he was a hundred percent a factor. The, the entire time. It's just he sits there and it was, it was, it's appalling to me to kind of watch him drive and how he goes about the race and it's seemingly like he doesn't have pace. That's what it looks like to me. Like I would watch him run, uh, for instance, like a fast lap time was was a low 62 and he was running in the 63 just saving fuel kind of cruising. But he also looked like he was pushing really hard.
And then all of a sudden at the end of the first stint, he just turns up the wick starts going over a second faster and now I can't keep up with him. I'm running probably two or three, four-tenths off of him at the end of a stint. And like he just pulls that pace outta nowhere and he knows when to use that pace.
And I like, I want to go back and like listen to the radio if there is a way to see if they're feeding him information or if he just knows when he needs to go based on some information that he is getting on his dash or, or just general knowledge of the sport. Right. It, it doesn't really make sense to me that, that they, that he has it so planned out that he knows that the pace of, of what he's doing at that current time doesn't matter at all. He's like, forget about this pace.
I don't care where I'm running as long as I'm maintaining position saving field, it doesn't matter what I'm doing. And then all of a sudden he knows when he needs to switch it on and then it just turns into him cycling to the lead. And he just played that, he played that race masterfully to be honest.
He, he, he did. And now look, I'm, I'm just gonna play devil's advocate here I am. I am never, ever trying to take anything away from a driver who wins the race in any car series. 'cause it's so frigging hard to do it. Especially the at the rate he's done it in the last five years. For sure,
For sure.
Dixon had a radio problem and he probably, you know, he got stuck in that traffic on that lap because he didn't know to come in. Had, has radio been working, maybe that doesn't put polo in the lead. Joseph had a fueling issue. Colton had problems. So like three guys that were running ahead of him mm-hmm . Had some sort of issue. Right. Um, none of them were necessarily driver issues. So again, you have to execute as a team. Right.
And so the 10 car executed just so perfectly and he obviously plays a massive role in that. Right. But when
You, when you, their last stop was insane too. If you look at the times, yeah, they made, they made Element a ton of time in pit lane.
Right. Every element just, they just smoked it. So you, you, you, you kind of, you talk about these things like, oh, I saw this, he put at this pace. I want know what the radio is as a team, you guys on the 27 specifically or Andretti kind of in, in a bigger wider sense, how do you guys after a race like that kind of do a postmortem and look at, okay, we started here, we're running here, we finished here, he started there, was running there and finished there.
Where, where did we divert at one point we were nose to tail. Where did it diverge and how did they do it? Like what's your process after a race?
You know, we, we knew right away where it came from and it came from that first stint. We, we kind of, and it's, it's more me than it is them. Meaning them, the team, I guess us I should say it's, it's more me because I didn't recognize how much fuel they were saving in front of me. Um, I was kind of just going to the pace and then saving the fuel that I could. But they were definitely hitting a bigger number than I was. We ended up stopping two laps shorter.
And because of how powerful the overcut was, it just kept it, it was just compounding for the next two stops. 'cause it turned into a three stop race now. Right. So, so all of a sudden you're just on the back foot from that first stint where you didn't save enough fuel and now it just rolls into the next two stops and it, it was, or I guess, I guess it was only one more stop to the end because we had that early caution.
But yeah, it rolled into that next stop and it, and it really just hurt our entire race because of that. And then we were no longer on the offense. We were now on the defense, which we weren't defending against anybody, but we had no opportunity to go on the offense because of that. So, um, yeah, we, I mean we, we acknowledged that inside the race. I acknowledged it right, right away inside the race. So, um, it was, it was pretty obvious. Yeah.
It, it is interesting though 'cause you kind of, sometimes those things are obvious like that, but sometimes they are, you're such a head scratcher. Like you finish a race, you're like, how in the world did it end up like this? And you've gotta go back and really try to do the, the full analysis of it. I mean, how do you think the race could have played out for you guys had that caution knock about, because that really boned a, an opportunity at a good race, right?
Because yeah. Everybody that started on the, on the soft came in and then it became effectively a two stopper where you're just saving heaps of fuel and it wasn't really like a, a max attack race like it could have been.
Yeah. I mean we were, I think everyone was extremely surprised at the guys started
How starters there were.
Yeah. How many, how, yeah. How many people started with the hard tire, right? It was, yeah. I mean it was a good chunk in the top 10 and we were like a hundred percent, no doubt about it. Soft tires. That's what we have to start with. 'cause they're not gonna last long enough. It's suicide if you don't do anything but that. 'cause if there's a caution in the first whatever amount of laps you, you are screwed. Right. Um, which it's a high probability at that race very, very high.
And even if there wasn't, you still have a good shot with the other strategy. You needed it to stay green all the way through your first stint. Right. You had for it. It had to be. And it was a shock for all of us to see everybody start on the, on the hard tire. And um, honestly, I'm glad they did it because it helped me out. Right. Yeah. Like there was a, there was a handful of drivers that, that were in front of us and they cycled behind us because they just went with that, with that strategy.
I think the only one that actually got us back was, was, uh, McLaughlin. McLaughlin. Yeah. Yeah. And he was, and the only reason why he got us back is because he stopped later. So he, he was taking less fuel, um, essentially doing shorter stops and he was able to go longer than us. So he kind of just cycled in front of us because of that. Yeah. Um, but he was the only one that got us back, so. Yeah.
Um, so coming into the year, it's kind of the first year in your career where there wasn't sort of a big fundamental change in terms of, you know, first year with AJ Foy racing, then second year complete change going over to Andretti, but it looked a bit different than the next year they dropped a car. So this year it was same drivers, same engineers, same number of cars, all that stuff. Do you, did you kind of feel that stability through the off season?
And did you feel like you came into St. Pete maybe as a, as a group a little more prepared?
I th I think the, the whole group is very, very prepared. Um, you know, there's, and I'm sure every driver in the world will say this. Uh, there's been a lot of, a lot of work in the off season, but there, there's been more work in this, in this off season than, than I've ever seen maybe twice the amount. Um, and, and it's, it's seemingly paying off. Like we, we have a lot of new things that are coming our way that we're still getting to grips with.
But all the information that we're now able to get is just helping us immensely. And, and the preparation of the team has done for the cars and set up stuff is, um, is pretty huge. So we're hoping that'll continue to pay off. I think. Um, I don't think St. Pete was a surprise that we were gonna be good there. I mean, St. Pete Street course and Dread and Dready had a street course, you know that they're gonna be fast.
Right. Um, I think where, where I hope to see a payoff is, is the Roads road courses and, and some of the shorter ovals and hopefully in Indian Indianapolis. So, um, I guess o only time will tell with that stuff though. Right. Yeah,
I mean that's what I was gonna ask is like, is there a certain track or a certain type of track that you're kind of most looking forward to getting back to? Because you're hoping that there's been a big chunk of development there.
Yeah. You know, thermal thermals one, um, 'cause we were not good there last year. We were good two years ago there during the test, but last year in the race, um, I mean Colin and
Felix, I was so weird though because Yeah. Like
It was a different format. People Yeah.
To push Yeah. Was driving around 14 seconds off of pace saving tires and stuff.
No, I know. But at the same time, like we were not good there at at least a 27 car was not good there. And, um, I was hoping and praying that we were not gonna have a points race there, , but our, our, our test went really, really well. And, um, I I think it will be good for us. And, and there's, there's other tracks too that, that are similar in that sense. And that's Barber and, and also and DGP Portland, those are the other places that I feel like we, we,
we need a little bit of something at. Um, so,
So I mean by the 500 you'll have a good sense, right? Because you, you've done, uh, thermal, you will have done barber, you will have done Indie GP so you'll have a good handle on whether the road course package is better or not. Well,
We'll be through all of 'em by that point. .
That's what I'm saying. Like, well I, yeah, I hope that they're, well you still have middle Ohio, you still have Road America, you still have oil and afterwards. Right. So I think,
I think, uh, all the tracks that have been repaved for some reason we're a little bit better at and Oh, interesting. I couldn't, I couldn't tell you why. Right. Like Road America. Alright. Laguna, I, Laguna Road America, two races I led last year in the first int um, even even Iowa. Right? Like Iowa repaved all of a sudden we're really fast there. Interesting. I couldn't, I can't tell you why. No, no idea why. Maybe the team has a better idea, but it, it just like higher grip equals
better results for us. It seems like
Seemingly interesting. Yeah. Yeah. I hadn't really put that one together, but that's an interesting thought. Which doesn't
Make any sense. 'cause street courses are the lowest grip thing in the world. . So it's like so true. That doesn't really add up .
I, uh, I'm super just like I'm looking, you know, unfortunately I've gotta look at myself as well as the two of you when we do these things. Right. And you're so tant like I just look sick next to
You. . I live in, I I live in Florida,
Bro. I know you do. Come on. But like, duh. How's the water today, man? I bet you've already been out there.
Uh, no, I actually didn't go because it was that, I'm sure you guys got a cold front in the past few days. It's just coming through today. So it was blowing like 50 miles an hour all day today. Um, but I was out this past weekend and it was not bad at all. It was water temps, like 76 degrees. Air temp was like 87. Oh
Yeah.
Come on. Yeah. So not to make you jealous, we
Fishing, diving, what were we doing? Um, hanging out, relaxing. I went,
I went sword fishing one morning, lost one and went, went out just to sandbar and hung out. How do you,
How do you specifically fish for swordfish? Did they or do you mean you were fishing with a sword? I'm, I'm lost
Spearfish. That is a thing.
Trying catch swordfish. It's a type of billfish.
No, I, I know what a swordfish is. Okay. I just don't understand checking how you just fished specifically for one type of, like, don't you just throw the bait in and hope something bites?
You gotta know where you're going. There's a, there's a philosophy around it. You're fishing. You, you end up going out about 30 miles and you're fishing in really 1500 to 1800 feet of water about, and you're fishing on the bottom with a 10 to 12 pound lead with a bunch of lights on it. 'cause it's pitch black down there. Right.
Um, and it's a very unique style of fishing because you're fishing so deep with a bunch of lead and a giant fish looks like the smallest fish in the world on a, on a rod. Like you could have, you could have a 50 pound fish on or a 500 pound fish on when you're swordfishing. And the, the rod won't, won't bend over more, do anything different. Like it's, it's always the same and it's, and you don't know what you got until it gets to, to the surface.
And they Oh, weird. All of them, all of them fight way differently too. It's, it's a strange thing, um, to fish for swordfish, but it's very boring. You wait hours to get one bite and, but when you do, it's pretty exciting. So that's what we did on Saturday and we had one on, and I guess it might have been Friday afternoon, we lost, we lost one. We had one like near the boat. Lost it. So
Did you like near enough that you saw it?
No, it was like a 150 feet away or something, you know, you know, that's all you're really catching out there though. There's, it's either that or a shark which fights way different or a smaller fish that you know is a smaller fish.
Right, right. What's your, what's your favorite kind of fish to fish for?
Um,
Probably. Probably like when I come down to Florida next and we go on a fishing adventure. 'cause you promise me that next time I'm there I'll bring my sword. We're gonna go fishing. Yeah. What are we gonna go for? ?
Depends where you're here. It depends when you're here. It's uh, okay.
So tuna is your favorite though.
Yeah, I'd say like trying to catch the elephant. Tunas in The Bahamas are, is a ton of fun 'cause Oh, I'd
Love the sound. That's right. It's wild.
Yeah, It's really from now until like June or July. I'm on my way. Um, to be honest, they're always there, but people think that they go away because the birds go away. And you gotta find birds to find fish. And um, like through the fall and winter, there's no birds around. So, um, everyone thinks that they disappear, but they're still there. They're local.
There you go. There. you're learning a lot about fishing right now guys. I thought we were talking about racing. You came here for the racing. You stayed for the fishing tips. Yeah. This is tremendous news. Yeah. Okay, fine, fine. We'll go back racing. Um, are you doing Sebring? You're doing Sebring right? I'm
Doing Sebring, yes.
Amazing. Uh, you like that race? You've won that race, right?
Um, yes, we won last year actually. Yeah. You're doing Seabring right?
I'm doing Seabring. Okay, I'll see you down there. I hope you don't win this year. Yes. No offense.
That's probably not gonna happen. I feel like we're gonna be good this year or Yeah. Did you this time did
What? No, you won last year. So hopefully you've been bop and all your insanely ridiculous advantage got pulled
Away. Well you probably saw us, I remember. Yes, yes. Our BP
Was d different. BOP was different.
BP bro. I don't wanna hear it. Yeah, but They, for some reason they do this there. I don't understand M-A-B-O-P-I don't really wanna know about it 'cause I don't, I'm not a huge fan of BOP racing if I'm being honest. I like single make or something that, that just brings you all closer. Right. And that way the teams actually make a difference or the drivers make the difference. Right. Um, but for some reason that was the biggest difference between Daytona and Seabring that we've ever had by
Last year.
Like a giant long shot. Yeah. Like if, if you compare our BOP performance at, so for instance, last year, Daytona 40 mil restrictor is the size that we would've had, I think if he was 39 or 40. It's always back and forth between there. We had equivalent of a 33 to 34 mil restrictor for Daytona. And we have no idea why. Like we just got Unbelievable. Yeah, we got hit massively. Right. So and now we're back to like a 36 or 37. I think it is. Sim it rated the same. Right.
We got like a 7%, uh, power increase and that's what we'll have back for Seing. Which is massively different. Yeah, it's huge. I mean, we'll see how it's, we got weight too. So
Are you, did you test there? I know they did. We did a bunch of people test.
Yeah, we did. Did you test there?
No, we we were supposed to. And our car was still being repaired from Daytona, so we weren't able to make it down, which is a real
Bummer. Wait, what actually happened at Daytona? I just saw you out in the middle of the grass and the turn three area.
So, uh, I think it was Draz, I think on the restarts, spun on his own and kind of created a bit of a thing. And then a P two car got into somebody and was kind of stopped and the s is there. And um, our guy came through on the restart, restarted first or second in the gts and by the time they got there it was kind of cars everywhere.
And he was literally like checking his mirror because he was side by side with a guy threw one and kind of looked up and the, I guess he was second 'cause the BM BMW was in front of him and had smoked, like hit the brakes through the S's. So he is like flat out section looking in his mirror and then looked up and there's a car stopped and he just couldn't avoid 'em. So it did some, did some frame damage, unfortunately.
So yeah, we were supposed to be there, but the sister car, the Forte car tested, so we're hoping that there's some good information there. But
There you go. There you go. Who
Knows. Who knows?
Supposed to be 90 degrees though.
Oh, is it Rain Man? That's gonna be, that's gonna be hot for us. That's gonna be, so is your car hot? Way better than McLaren, but it's still so hot. We have like no suits or anything like that. Like
No. You need a cool suit. Life changing. Not an option.
Not an option. No. I wish. Yeah, we've got, I don't even know if there's air conditioning. There's definitely a fan, but it's not a helmet. <crosstalk>? No, we
Don't have air conditioning. We got a helmet blower hit or miss if it works. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 50 50.
It's, uh, dude, when I, I did a test in the Porsche a couple years ago. The, the air conditioning on that thing is so good. I had to turn it down 'cause I was getting cold. Like
It's unbelievable. That's ridiculous. And
You just like multi-level, you know, turn it up one, two or three or whatever. Then they've got like the power save mode. So because you know, obviously having the AC running robs a bit of power, so it would only blast when you were on the brakes or if you were off throttle. So like, oh, what? Yeah dude. So it just like, so every brake zone who says massive blow of air and it just like, keeps it cool and keeps it circulating, but it doesn't take any power away. It's so smart. So smart.
And that's actually genius. We get static air that comes in from our car, but it, the way it's ran, it like goes right around the brakes and the motor and then fills in. So it's like putting your hand up to a thousand dryer. Yeah. . It's like, it's just not good at all. Right.
Good news guys. The air circulation is great. Bad news guys. The air that's circulating is 187 degrees.
Yeah, it's uh, it's not ideal. I'm not gonna lie. Especially when it's like nine, when it's gonna be 90 out. Anything over 80 is like dying. So,
So, so my, this was my funny story from Sebring last year. So the McLaren was a pretty hot car. I didn't have a lot of good circulation. We had no fans, no vents, no aircon, no cool suit, nothing. And I had to do like basically a triple at like, like two 30 to five 30, right? Like the hottest part of the day. And in the second stint I was like starting to get a little rough. Like it was, things were bad, but like a yellow fell at a weird time and to change would've been bad.
So they were like, are you good to keep going? And I'm like, yeah, I guess it's not great, but like, just make sure we change the water bottle, whatever. So we come and do the stop. I stay in, keep going and they're like checking in on me like, how's it going? I'm like, it's not great, but as long as we're green, we can survive. Because as soon as you go to yellow, the car just heat soaks. There's not enough air. The little bit of air isn't coming through and it's so much worse.
Right? Right. So now it's getting bad. Like I'm getting, I'm getting like I'm in bad shape and they're like counting me like, all right, five laps to go. I was like, thank God. All right. Four laps to go, three laps to go, two laps to go. Caution. So not only is it like I was just about to pit, we go under caution. So now I'm absolutely dying. . I have to like save fuel. So I'm and McLaren little a foot clutch. So I'm like foot clutching and coasting and my legs starting to cramp. It's
Like cramp up. Oh, that's the worst.
It was so bad. So I finally got in the pits, did the like slowest driver change I've ever done. 'cause uh, it was still fine, but like I was just moving so delicately, got outta the car, sat on pit wall, swung my legs over, took my helmet off and just puked, just like fold the,
Oh Full heat exhaustion. Just like it was so hot in that part. It was awful. Tim, Tim liked that one. Yeah,
It was great. I don't know if I told you that story, Tim. It was, it was a good, a good time.
Yeah. of the wheel guns and I felt bad. I've, I've never had anything that bad. I've gotten out before though, in my, if you've ever had like a full body cramp. I've only had it happen once where like you can't, like your arms, like you just put your arms out and your rib cages are cramping up like, oh. And it is the worst feeling. Like you feel you, you can't sit down and you're like super tired.
And I just had this, the worst feeling in the world one time that I've got, I've got a, a kind of a gross but funny story. Mm-hmm . About, about Sebring as well. The first ever, if you do your research, you could find this out. I'm not gonna say who the driver was, but the first ever endurance race I did LMP three car, um, Sebring. And you know, like I've, like, I always thought like what, what if the driver before you
Peas in the seat? Yeah.
Yeah. Like, well like, like I would never do that. Right? Like I, I just physically can't, like some drivers can. I'm one of the guys I cannot, definitely cannot. Um,
We all know James James has.
Have you I did, I did it once. It's a long story
Andy.
Yeah. Barber 2000 and something. It was a rain delay and it was the whole thing. It
Was on sports center. Some
Guys sports do it like everyone does. Like some guys do it religiously. Like every single race. Yeah, yeah.
Like, they're like, it's life changing bro. You gotta do it. And I was like, how? I don't know how, like how Do, it was the most uncomfortable thing I've ever done in a race car and I've been stabbed in a race car. Like it was definitely Yeah. Yeah, that's true. It was worse. Like, it was so uncomfortable. I didn't like it. I didn't like it. But sorry. So I'm assuming I think
To pee wrong, if that was worse than getting shit kabob, you can't
Pee right when you're locked into a C with a six point harness. It doesn't matter, Tim. It doesn't
Matter. Yeah. So Seing, this is, uh, first endurance race, like kind of a big deal for me in my career, right. In an LP three car. It's not the, it's not weather tech, right? But it's another race and it's, it's a big deal for me. I am about to get into the car, we're in the lead of the race and I open up the seat driver comes out, I go to throw my, my insert into into the seat splash. It splashes. Oh, . Oh no. Oh no. And, and oh I am at, it's an important race for me in my career, right?
But it it, like you, you're
Not gonna not get in the car, right?
You're not gonna not get in the car. But I get in and I remember after the race, I, I asked the co-driver and I was like, did you piss in the seat before I got in there? Because it was like under caution or something. And I asked him and he was like, no dude. It was just sweat. It was just sweat. I swear. I was like, if you sweat that much, there's not gonna be like a puddle that deep in the seat. Like it wouldn't soak through my two or three inch insert.
Like it the, one of the most horrendous things I've had to go through in a race car. That
Sounds, that sounds awful. I would also though a hundred percent lie too. Like I would, I
Would never No, I think I would too would never tell you. I would, I would be too embarrassed to be like, dude, yeah, you sat in my would
Know, you know, but
Here's the, you would know that I know
Curl
But like you have to own it at that point, right? No,
No. Yeah, I would never own it. I would never admit to that. I should,
I should ask him again. I should ask him again. But I think
Think, uh, yeah, like five years later. Yeah. So what was the real story about br
Yeah, we are and call out whoever this is. Yeah, I'm not, you can I'm could have video
Footage of me doing it and I would still deny it that
I Till you die, man. .
Yeah. it was either that or I crashed the car. I like, that's like the biggest sin in racing thing to do is to be in a, in a situation where you're a co-driver and you piss in the seat and watch him get into it afterwards.
But I, I gotta think it happens like more often than you'd think in endurance racing. You
Never hear about it though.
I assumed. I know. Like I've asked it like all the guys that I've raced with over the last few years. I've been, I've asked them that question and I'm, I've gotten like zero positive responses on it. Like, I, I assumed we assumed it happened all the time and eminently it does not. So kudos to all sports car drivers for having good bladder control. .
Yeah. I thought this episode was gonna be called swordfish fishing with, with Kyle Kirkwood. But now, I don't know. I gotta , I gotta this
It's gonna be a long title. We, we a lot, we covered a lot. Anyways,
Anyways, we won, we won that race. It was big deal, which is
So who cares? At the end of the day, your suit don't only gonna smell like champagne. Don't. Nope. nope. You still, I would put up with a, I would sit in a lot of stuff to win at Sebring. A lot of stuff, lot of different things. Bodily fluids. I don
All stuff I don wanna hear. I don't wanna hear that.
I don't wanna hear it. Okay. I don't wanna say it. Uh, dude, thanks for coming on. Really appreciate it. Of course. Great start to the season. Uh, good luck. Thank you in Sebring. We'll see you down there and of course we will see you, uh, in the IndyCar next time out in Thermal Thermal and let's hope that off season hard work pays off brother. And we can keep these up. Hope
Your seats stay dry,
Hope your seats dry and uh, yeah, never no more of these top fives. Let's go get a win. Yeah.
Bingo. All right. Appreciate it guys.
Thanks pal. , this has been off track with Hinch and Rossi. Off Track is part of the SiriusXM Sports Podcast network. If you enjoyed this episode and want to hear more, please give a five star rating and leave a review. Subscribe today wherever you stream your podcasts. We are at Ask Off Track on Twitter and Instagram. And if you wanna follow us on Twitter, we're at Hinch Town and at Alexander Rossi. If you wanna follow them though, we have no idea why you would.
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