Frustrations, legal battles, and lineup questions take center stage during the fourth episode of All In: IndyCar, the documentary series focused on the wildly popular open wheel racing series.
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Specifically, this episode highlights Arrow McLaren IndyCar, the three-car team with championship dreams, as it prepares for the race weekend in Long Beach, California.
This team features Pato O'Ward, Christian Lundgaard, and Nolan Siegel behind the wheel of the Papaya Orange race cars. It has Zak Brown leading the way as he splits time between the championship-winning Formula 1 team and the championship-hopeful IndyCar team.
Siegel, the youngster in the group, plays a prominent role in the episode. This is expected, considering that he faces incredible pressure this season. He must perform in order to remain with the championship contender. The Californian only had two top-10 finishes last season compared to four DNFs and one DNS (Did Not Start).
Siegel entered this season needing to show that he could contend for 10th or better in the championship standings. He needed to show he could keep pace with his teammates.
"Ultimately, only Sunday pays out points," announcer Will Buxton says while discussing Siegel. "It's easier to be the biggest mover of the day when you start 25th than it is when you start second. He'll survive the season because he's paying for his ride.
"If you were a Penske driver, if you were (David) Malukas or (Josef) Newgarden or (Scott) McLaughlin and you were qualifying last every weekend, then there would be question marks about whether you were the right person for that seat and whether you are going to see out the year."
This episode does not solely focus on the three-driver lineup at Arrow McLaren. It also touches on the high-profile legal battle between the team and four-time IndyCar champion Alex Palou.
This prolonged battle focused on Palou signing a contract to join Arrow McLaren before ultimately staying with Chip Ganassi Racing. It took place over multiple years and caused potentially irreparable damage to Brown's and Palou's relationship.
London's High Court ruled in favor of McLaren in January and ordered Palou to pay $12 million in the breach of contract suit. Palou and Chip Ganassi Racing then reached a settlement with McLaren in late February, bringing the issue to a close.
"Definitely a lot of things I wish I'd done differently," Brown says in the All In: IndyCar episode. "Wish he'd honored his contract. You can see the immense talent that he is, 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.
"The way that landed, I felt it was important to protect our reputation. It was a difficult, expensive experience for everyone."
Episode 4 of All In: IndyCar will debut at 3 p.m. ET/noon PT. It will air on the NTT IndyCar Series on Fox YouTube channel, which also hosts the previous three episodes of the reality series.
