Latest news with #MarcusArmstrong
Fox Sports
6 days ago
- Sport
- Fox Sports
Who Is Marcus Armstrong? The Kiwi's Love For NFL, 'Talladega Nights' & Podcasting
"I knew that it would work out, and I was just trying to convince my parents just to let me go and give me that chance to leave school." Marcus Armstrong moved away from his native New Zealand as a teen to pursue his dream of racing. That dream eventually became a reality. The soon-to-be 25-year-old was on a Formula 1 path, having spent three seasons in Formula 2 before making the move to INDYCAR in 2023. Now in his third season of INDYCAR racing, the Meyer Shank Racing driver — who currently sits seventh in the standings — talked to FOX Sports about living abroad as a teenager, being a Kiwi here in the United States, his love of sports views on American football, why he no longer has a podcast and the quintessential NASCAR movie. Who is Marcus Armstrong? Who is Marcus Armstrong? It's a good question. Are we talking philosophically or ... How would your friends describe you? I would say that I'm a Kiwi. And Kiwis are generally very chilled out. And just like to hang out, especially when I'm not working. So I guess I am a Kiwi in that sense. I love sports — a big, big sports guy. I'm usually two, three, four hours a day in the gym and then just following sport in general. I love it. Tour de France is on at the moment, so I'm following that very closely. If I wasn't a racing driver, I'd probably be doing another sport. So that pretty much explains it all. Are the Tour de France competitors crazier than you guys? Yes, 100 percent. Tour de France guys are mental riding in that peloton together. They're all fighting for every inch, for every corner, and it's like 25-wide. Plus the extreme measures they have to take to be prepared for the race and to be fit enough to do it. I think it's the coolest, coolest thing ever. When we talked earlier, you mentioned the NFL and NBA. Did you always follow those in New Zealand? Or are you now immersed in American sports because you're here? I actually got into the NFL because I started listening to Colin Cowherd, like years ago. I love the NFL, especially. The NBA, I'm getting more into. I didn't know it quite as much. But there's just something about [the NFL], very glamorous. In New Zealand, we have rugby and it's not too dissimilar in many ways, but you have to admit that the NFL has nailed its marketing scheme and the glamor behind it is second to nobody. So it's kind of cool to follow. And whenever there's no NFL on, I kind of get a little bit sad. You also gave me a "Talladega Nights" Ricky Bobby reference before. It seems like you have a lot of American culture. Has it seeped its way into your Kiwi person? Yes. That movie is world-famous, so you can't just say it's because I'm into American stuff. However, it was on TV the other night, and it gave me some good ideas for some TV interviews later this week. How accurate do you think "Talladega Nights" is to actual NASCAR? It's 100 percent accurate. It's a documentary, is it not? You used to have a podcast. Why did you get rid of it? I didn't get rid of it. It's just one of those things where I did it for fun with my friends, a couple of other Formula 2 drivers and whoever wanted to come on, basically. And it was a little bit, how would you say, it's out there? We used to do like wine tasting and stuff like this on the podcast, which is probably frowned upon over here. But the main reason is logistically, we can't do it. I'm living in the States. My mates live in the UK. We did it because it was fun and we wanted to maintain a really high quality, so we wanted to do it in-person. We didn't want to do it over Zoom or anything like that. We always got overly dressed up. And it was also produced by my guy … who's with me full time now, but it was almost too good for the quality of the podcast. Because we were not good podcasters. I would love to do it again. But just logistically, it's tough and to maintain that quality, you kind of have got to be there in person. And did you like kind of the showman aspect of it? It was a fun little distraction when I was in F2. It was just to sort of bro-down with everybody. Americans are very outgoing and social. Let's say over there, it's a bit less so like that. And to get to know people, you actually need to spend three, four times as much time with them, as opposed to Americans. So I don't know if that answers your question. But, yeah, it was good fun. You're a Kiwi, but when was the last time you lived in New Zealand? I haven't lived in New Zealand since probably 2013 when I was like, 12 or 13. As a Kiwi or an Aussie or even an American nowadays, you kind of need to go over to Europe really early if you want to fulfill that Formula 1 dream. I did karting over there for maybe three years, and then I moved to Formula 4 and F3 and F2 and all of that. I had to leave at a very young age, and I actually lived alone from when I was 13. So that was kind of interesting as well. I got to do all the stuff that 13-year-olds don't really think about. So did you like that? Or did that stress you out? Or did you embrace it? Definitely didn't stress out. I was there for a reason. My parents actually didn't want me to do it at all. They were very against it at the time. I got my way into a team because I did compete over there before I went over to live there. And basically I said I'll go over there for six months, and if it's not working out, and blah, blah, blah, then I'll come home. But I knew that it would work out, and I was just trying to convince my parents just to let me go and give me that chance to leave school. So it actually was a pretty crazy, crazy thing looking back at it, but I think it's worked out. So people say, well, Marcus left school at age 13 and moved, I can do that too, right? Would you recommend it? My little brother is 15 at the moment, and I wouldn't let him go to the shops on his own at the moment. It's one of those things where you really need to want it, and you need to have a passion. And my passion was racing karts at the time and being the best in the world at that. And that was my goal. So what do you miss most about not being home? I think the weather is really good in New Zealand. I always like it when I go back there for the summer. The food, as well, is good. I know everybody — that's a good thing and a bad thing, I suppose. It's almost like being a celebrity because you just know everybody, but not really a celebrity, if that makes sense. I don't enjoy going to a coffee shop or something and knowing like five or six people there. That's maybe the one con of going to New Zealand. You want to go to a coffee shop and sit by yourself? No. I just like to be incognito, like wear a cap around. I don't want people to recognize me at the best of times. But New Zealand is a very calm place. It's a great place to train, to recenter after a busy season. I think it's the perfect place. Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass. Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily! recommended Item 1 of 1 Get more from the NTT INDYCAR SERIES Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more in this topic
Fox Sports
06-07-2025
- Automotive
- Fox Sports
Meyer Shank Duo Finds Home Cooking in Warmup; Race at 1 P.M. ET
INDYCAR Felix Rosenqvist and Marcus Armstrong produced a 1-2 result atop the time sheets for Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian in the final warmup Sunday morning for The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the All-New 2026 Passport at the team's home track. MSR is based in Pataskala, Ohio, 55 miles south of the 13-turn, 2.258 circuit at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, where today's race will start at 1 p.m. ET (FOX, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network). SEE: Warmup Results Rosenqvist, who qualified 16th, led the 25-minute session with a best lap of 1 minute, 6.2285 seconds in the No. 60 SiriusXM Honda featuring a special livery this weekend honoring iconic hard rock singer Ozzy Osbourne and his band Black Sabbath. Armstrong, who qualified eighth, was second in the warmup at 1:06.5411 in the No. 66 SiriusXM/Root Insurance Honda. NTT P1 Award winner and runaway NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship leader Alex Palou was third at 1:06.5662 in the No. 10 Open AI Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. David Malukas, who qualified 14th, jumped to fourth in the warmup at 1:06.5723 in the No. 4 Clarience Technologies Chevrolet of A.J. Foyt Enterprises. Six-time series champion Scott Dixon, who qualified ninth, rounded out the top five at 1:06.6323 in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Tire management will play a big role in the 90-lap race, as sunny skies and air temperatures expected to climb to 90 will test the durability of the Firestone Firehawk tires and the stamina of crews and drivers. recommended
Fox Sports
22-06-2025
- Automotive
- Fox Sports
Alex Palou Breaks Mini Drought and Races to Victory in XPEL Grand Prix at Road America
Alex Palou's dominance in the 2025 INDYCAR season took a brief pause after he won the Indianapolis 500. He was knocked out of the race at the Detroit Grand Prix early and finished eighth at the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 last week. That ended up being the end of Palou's drought. He raced to victory again on Sunday, finishing first in the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America. Felix Rosenqvist finished second and Santino Ferrucci finished third. Kyle Kirkwood and Marcus Armstrong rounded out the top five, finishing fourth and fifth, respectively. Scott Dixon held the lead late in Sunday's race. But he had to go to pit road with two laps remaining, allowing Palou to regain the lead. Palou led for six of the 55 laps on Sunday, while Dixon finished ninth after leading for 27 laps. Sunday's win marked Palou's sixth victory in nine INDYCAR races this season. He sang "Red Solo Cup" right after the victory, too. There were also plenty of cautions in Sunday's race. Spin-outs and crashes forced Josef Newgarden, Sting Ray Robb and Robert Shwartzman to not finish the race. Christian Lundgaard, meanwhile, spun out late in Sunday's race, causing a caution as he fell out of the leader's pack to finish 24th. Here's a full look at Sunday's leaderboard: 1. Alex Palou2. Felix Rosenqvist3. Santino Ferrucci4. Kyle Kirkwood5. Marcus Armstrong 6. Kyffin Simpson 7. David Malukas 8. Nolan Siegel 9. Scott Dixon 10. Rinus Veekay 11. Louis Foster 12. Scott McLaughlin 13. Alexander Rossi14. Will Power 15. Callum Ilott 16. Colton Herta17. Pato O'Ward18. Christian Rasmussen 19. Devlin DeFrancesco 20. Graham Rahal 21. Marcus Ericsson 22. Conor Daly 23. Jacob Abel24. Christian Lundgaard 25. Josef Newgarden (DNF) 26. Sting Ray Robb (DNF) 27. Robert Shwartzman (DNF) Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account , and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily! recommended Get more from NTT INDYCAR SERIES Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
NZ Autocar
26-05-2025
- Automotive
- NZ Autocar
Kiwi admits rookie error in Indy 500 warm-up crash
Scott McLaughlin didn't even make it to the start line for the Indianapolis 500 race after what he admitted was a rookie error during warm-up. While trying to generate tyre temperature by weaving left and right on the approach to Turn 1, McLaughlin lost control, and spun the car into the inside wall. Major damage to left suspension meant he was out without turning a wheel in anger. Visibly furious with himself, the Kiwi pounded the steering wheel in frustration before climbing out. Overcome with anger and disappointment, he dropped to his knees and buried his head in his hands. 'I'm just really upset for my team. They built me a fantastic car again. I'm really sorry to my sponsors, my fans, and my family. 'I still….can't believe we're out of the race. I just had so much hope today. Yeah, it's by far the worst moment of my life. 'I know it's probably dramatic and whatever, but I put so much into this race, everyone does, and I didn't even get to see the green flag.' Fellow Kiwi Scott Dixon had problems early too. His car began to blow smoke from a rear brake fire. Fortunately, he was able to continue but a pit stop on lap 31 put him behind and he ended up 24th, two behind Marcus Armstrong. When the race finally started, it was immediately halted after Marco Andretti was hit from behind by Jack Harvey heading into Turn 1. Kiwi rookie Marcus Armstrong narrowly avoided being caught up in the incident. In the end, three-time IndyCar champion, Alex Palou, earned the first oval-race victory of his career, taking the 109th Indianapolis 500. For the Spaniard it was his fifth win in six series races this season. But it was for this win that he gained global fame and a spot on the Borg-Warner Trophy. Palou drove his No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda to victory under caution when Nolan Siegel crashed on the final lap. Marcus Ericsson finished second in the Allegra Honda of Andretti Global. David Malukas took the third podium position in the No. 4 Clarience Technologies Chevrolet.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Race car driver Marcus Armstrong is a vegan who loves planking for hours. So will he drink milk if he wins the Indy 500?
If you were trying to get hold of racer Marcus Armstrong to check in after Saturday's crash, there's a good chance he hasn't gotten back to you. For the record, he is, fortunately, fine. But he's also "really bad on my phone" — which is something that helps him stay mentally prepared for the 2025 Indianapolis 500. The 24-year-old from New Zealand was involved in a brutal-looking crash during his final practice before the first of two days of qualifying rounds this past weekend. Armstrong was taken away on a stretcher but was back on the track on Sunday. He ended up earning the 32nd of 33 spots for the big race on May 25. Speaking to Yahoo Life's OT Diaries a few days before all this went down, Armstrong told me he was prepping for all scenarios. "You really need to be on top of your own thoughts and emotions," he shared. "So over the next week, we're just going to be cycling through every single possible scenario before race days, because it throws so many challenges at us." After a weekend full of adrenaline, Armstrong typically takes 24 hours to disconnect from technology. "I usually switch my phone off," he told me of his postrace ritual. "People close to me know that I don't often answer my phone, but on the Monday after a race, it will almost certainly be on 'do not disturb.' If you can get ahold of me, I'd be massively impressed." Physically, Armstrong is in top shape; the exercise junkie planks for several hours a day just to relax. But what's become instrumental to maintaining his cool on the track is meditation practices he's adopted over the past several years. "It's something that's not so popular here in the motorsport paddock, you know, it's quite a toxic masculinity vibe," he laughed. "But we're slowly moving towards the meditation route. I feel like it helped me to make better decisions, especially in the heat of the moment when you're driving a race car at 240 miles an hour." Here, Armstrong talks about how he plans to avoid distraction as the "emotional roller coaster" to the Indy 500 rolls on. Watching from home and watching from the track are two very different things. Nothing compares to the atmosphere with the hundreds of thousands of people that walk through the gates on race day. Everyone's there for a party. It's almost like a festival. That was my first impression. It's a family-oriented place, but there's also a lot of young people partying and just having fun. It's got everything you could ask for, this race. And then obviously to compete here, there's a lot of distraction, but it's part of the fun, isn't it? I mean, without the distraction, there is no fun. It's obviously a long couple of weeks and it's an emotional roller coaster. These cars are so finely tuned that if your car feels amazing at 10 a.m., it might feel really not good at 3 p.m. So staying calm and making the best of every situation you have is a true challenge here at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I use a lot of meditation practices, actually. I do use the app Calm occasionally. I also use Brainwaves, which is kind of similar. I actually have a meditation coach here in Indianapolis. I think I might be the only one on the grid that has a meditation coach. I am training to break the world planking record. Funnily enough, that's my rest day exercise. I'll come back from a race, and typically on Monday, I will do a long planking session for an hour or two because, frankly, it's relaxing to me. I don't really need to engage my mind. I can just sort of switch my mind off, listen to a podcast, listen to music and just stay in that position. Some people would say that I'm absolutely crazy... A plank is typically not so comfortable, but if you just lock in and you get used to it, it's very relaxing. When I'm in New Zealand, occasionally I'll eat some salmon or cheese of some sort. But here in the States, I'm pretty much 100% vegan. That's honestly not intentional. I do what feels right for my body and that's just the sort of diet I've gravitated towards. So, the milk scenario, I don't know. I think I'm contractually obliged to say that I love drinking milk. So I love drinking milk! They didn't allow me to choose almond milk, I think that was a joke that was quite frowned upon when I made it earlier this month. If I win, I'll be more than happy to pour milk over me. I like to be MIA for a day and not to think about anything motorsport for 24 hours. It's not exactly a conscious decision to do that. It's just something that I've become accustomed to doing. And I'm addicted to doing exercise. So that clears my mind and I'm able to focus on the next weekend. I'm going to say partying. I'm not going to get fired, right? Nobody — I never call anyone. And I typically don't answer the phone. So I bustle it up inside like an unhealthy teenager. Californication is my favorite show of all time. Besides the usual spiders, snakes, I would say getting eliminated in the first round of the qualifying at IndyCar weekend. Peanut butter. I love an acai bowl. It's like a massive calorie bomb. And Whittaker's chocolate. UFOs, or just questioning our existence. Are we in a simulation or not? That's a big one. I'm horrendous at cooking. I'm horrendous at cleaning. Even though I've been living alone for the better part of 13 years, I've never managed to successfully do my washing. I'm horrendous at rugby, which is why I started motorsport. Loads of things. I'm bad at a lot more things than I'm good at. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
