IndyCar Drivers Tiptoe Around Alex Palou-Ganassi-McLaren Controversy

IndyCar drivers typically have no problem giving their opinion on just about anything, be it about the series as a whole, conflicts with other drivers (usually heated, particularly after a race) or even playing the drums (like Will Power does).

But when asked about the current Alex Palou vs. Chip Ganassi vs. Zak Brown and McLaren drama, three of the five fastest drivers in Friday’s practice in Toronto all politely declined.

To appreciate what Graham Rahal, Alexander Rossi and Josef Newgarden all had to say, perhaps it’s best to give you a transcript of their answers:

Rahal (after a five-second pause): “Rossi, you want to comment on this?”

Rossi: “I don’t think we should probably comment on that.”

Finally, Newgarden had something meaningful to say—while with a near full mouth of potato chips: “So much fun. It was so entertaining. It was a great Tuesday night. It was good for television.”

To which Rossi replied, “Yeah, that would be nice. We should have a show. That’d be cool.”

Newgarden then had an extremely poignant and interesting reply about the state of the IndyCar marketplace when it comes to drivers and their salaries and how those salaries are on an upward trajectory.

“Look, I don't I don't want to comment specifically on Zak (Brown) or McLaren,” Newgarden said. “But I can comment on the IndyCar marketplace. When I look at this series right now, I think there's a lot of strength and the marketplace is increasing.

“And that's only positive obviously, for us. We love to see that. But I think it's across the board. You look at personnel, as far as engineers and mechanics. I mean, everyone's at a premium right now.

“The car counts going up. I mean, they're talking about how we're going to fit everybody next year, because there's so much interest as far as teams and cars that want to commit. So I think the overall health of the series and marketplace is in a good spot and some of what you're seeing is a result of that.

“So I have no problems with that whatsoever. I think it's very healthy for us to do in our sport. I think some of its entertaining—obviously, I don't want to comment directly on the current events. But from a spectator standpoint or a fan standpoint, I think it's fun to watch. It's fascinating. To me, it gets me more involved and invested in what people are doing, what teams are doing. I love to see the motion of this.”

While Rossi continued to remain silent, Rahal then added his thoughts:

“I think the marketplace is definitely getting better. Driver salaries are increasing. As Josef said, pretty much everybody's salaries are increasing. What we speculate most about is the driver.

“I also think five, six, seven, eight years ago it (salaries) was way too low. There were a bunch of guys in the series that weren't even getting paid. Basically, their expenses to live and that's it.

“I think that it was just kind of out of line. I think still as a series generally, clearly we don't play as many games as baseball or whatever. When you see some of the salaries that are announced in those major sports, you could literally fund multiple race cars for years off what some of these guys are making.

“I still think in general maybe racing in this country, at least IndyCar racing, is well below what it should be. But I do think it's moving north, which is good for a lot of the younger fellas that are coming along, for sure.”

Follow Autoweek contributor Jerry Bonkowski on Twitter @JerryBonkowski