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How would you react if your bosses told you to finish the year among the top 10 in your industry or look for a new job? Many might buckle under the pressure, but that’s the kind of expectation that racing legends Tony Kanaan, Zak Brown and Arrow McLaren outlined for INDYCAR newcomer Nolan Siegel.
And make no mistake: the pressure to win in INDYCAR – and to win for one of the most successful and recognizable teams in motorsport – is immense. But Siegel doesn’t have to pursue this goal alone.
A deep dive into Arrow McLaren’s INDYCAR team, the latest episode of “All In” – a real-time documentary series from FOX Sports, INDYCAR and Shadow Lion – explores the team’s high expectations for drivers Pato O’Ward, Christian Lundgaard and Siegel in the World’s Fastest Series.
“When you put together a three-car crew, you really want to be P1, P2, P3,” McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown said in the latest “All In” episode. “So anything outside of that is frustrating.”
In the fourth episode titled “The Third Seat,” the series examines Arrow McLaren’s three-car team, how Kanaan and Brown led the execution and how the organization found Siegel, after years of messy contract disputes over Alex Palou’s potential arrival to the team.
Currently the undisputed INDYCAR driver to beat, Palou almost moved from Chip Ganassi Racing to Arrow McLaren after the 2022 season. Well, that depends on who you ask.
“You can see his immense talent, so you can see why his team fought so hard to keep him, and you can see why we fought so hard to get him,” Brown says on “All In.”
“The way this happened, I felt it was very important to protect our reputation. It was a difficult and costly experience for everyone. We are moving on.”
After appearing in court, Palou was ultimately ordered in January to pay $12 million to McLaren for breach of contract after walking away from a deal to switch teams. Instead of Palou, McLaren’s third INDYCAR seat went to Siegel, who is now in his second full season in the series.
“For Zak, after losing the best in the sport, he’s now looking for the guy who can be the next Palou,” FOX INDYCAR broadcaster Will Buxton says on “All In.”
“Does he already have this at Pato’s? Does he think he found it at Christian’s?”
Or maybe it’s Siegel. And Kanaan – the 2004 INDYCAR champion and 2013 Indianapolis 500 winner – is pushing hard.
“Last year, Nolan had some good races, but also some bad ones,” INDYCAR on FOX analyst James Hinchcliffe said in the latest episode. “But McLaren shows up to win. And when Tony Kanaan says, ‘Top 10, or you’re out,’ you either rise to the occasion and perform or you don’t.”
The latest episode “All In” is set against the backdrop of the INDYCAR race weekend in Long Beach earlier this month, and focuses on the three McLaren drivers.
[INDYCAR: ‘All In’ Episode Dives Into Team Penske’s 2026 Rebound]
“I didn’t expect to become a team leader,” Kanaan says on “All In.”
“That wasn’t my intention. I was an INDYCAR driver for 26 years. … Zak challenged me to come in as a consultant just to help the drivers during race weekends, and that grew into full-time.”
Christian Lundgaard during the 2026 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. (Photo by Brandon Badraoui/Lumen via Getty Images)
Long Beach is a particularly difficult track – technically, it’s a street course – as Hinchcliffe recently explained. And unfortunately for McLaren, Palou finished on the top step of the podium.
Now, INDYCAR turns its attention to the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, followed by the iconic Indy 500, a race victory that many in the sport would say O’Ward is long overdue for.
“He’s going to win the Indy 500 and take a championship – or two,” Brown says on “All In.”
Featuring INDYCAR drivers and insiders – as well as INDYCAR on FOX’s Hinchcliffe, Buxton and Townsend Bell – “All In” examines the biggest challenges, pressure points and high-speed competition of racing in the series. But each episode features its own focus on the storyline of a pilot, team, or series.
Watch “All In” on the INDYCAR On FOX YouTube page, FOXSports.com and the FOX Sports app, FOX One, as well as INDYCAR and INDYCAR on FOX social media.
