zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Racing
/
IndyCar Doesn't Need a 'Drive to Survive' Knockoff When 'Bus Bros' Is so Much Better
IndyCar Doesn't Need a 'Drive to Survive' Knockoff When 'Bus Bros' Is so Much Better-December 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:10:50

If you have even the most basic motorsport awareness, you’ve probably heard of the — the sudden growth of interest in Formula One as a result of the Netflix series. Now, every series from to to IndyCar wants a similar show — but honestly, is already doing it better than anybody with

To put it pretty simply, Bus Bros follows the adventures of Team Penske teammates Scott McLaughlin and Josef Newgarden as the two prepare for . Each year, drivers take up residence in an RV lot inside the track to avoid local traffic. As you can imagine, that lot turns into a ridiculous mess of pranks and camaraderie. This year, McLaughlin and Newgarden decided to team up and make a weekly show about their shenanigans, and it’s so much better than any self-serious Drive to Survive knockoff that IndyCar could have developed.

During a pre-race interview with Jalopnik, Newgarden said that the Bus Bros series happened “organically,” admitting, “we didn’t know what the idea was going to be, but I think it seemed evident we should do something.”

Newgarden has a of that include everything from with French drivers to . “I became a fan of his watching videos of him back when I was in Australia,” McLaughlin told Jalopnik, adding that Bus Bros basically became a more polished version of those old Newgarden hijinks.

According to McLaughlin, the series has also been a great way to break down some of the stereotypes about racing with Team Penske.

“This is an opportunity for people to learn our personalities and not just think that we’re ‘Penske Perfect,’” he said. “At the end of the day, we’ve toned it down, because we got older and more mature, but we’re still the same guys.”

And those guys, despite their obligations to sponsors, are still throwing on and introducing a New Zealander to the .

With the growing push to highlight the human drama inherent in any racing series, it’s important to remember that not every series needs the manufactured tension of Drive to Survive. As Newgarden puts it, “Everyone is here to win the race, but there’s a mutual respect amongst everybody.”

F1 drivers, by comparison, “are so used to ripping each other’s heads off. It’s genuinely dog-eat-dog,” McLaughlin added. “Here, we all want to win the race, but there’s an off switch.”

That off switch gives us things like Bus Bros, which is so perfectly reflective of the competitive-but-friendly IndyCar atmosphere. With the for the series to introduce a DTS-style show, it’s important to remember that there’s value in highlighting what makes IndyCar special, rather than trying to force America’s open-wheel series into an F1-shaped mold.

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Racing
Watch Ken Block Smack The Wall In The First Turn Of Rally Spain
Watch Ken Block Smack The Wall In The First Turn Of Rally Spain
Ken Block, once again the only American in this round of the World Rally Championship, quickly proves how tough the Fiesta is by whacking into the very first turn of the rally. The 8-Bit Fiesta keeps going anyway. . "Built Ford Tough" is the truth, yo. All forcible adjustments to...
Dec 13, 2025
Bringing 'Ghost Cars' Out Of Video Games And Into Actual Driving
Bringing 'Ghost Cars' Out Of Video Games And Into Actual Driving
Anyone who's ever played a sim racer, or even Mario Kart, has encountered a "ghost" car: a vehicle that shows your fastest lap in real-time on track with you. You can see immediately where you're losing time whenever the ghost car passes you. wants to adapt this tech for your...
Dec 13, 2025
The Texas Mile Is A Magical Wonderland Of Insane Land Speed Builds
The Texas Mile Is A Magical Wonderland Of Insane Land Speed Builds
For any enthusiast who just appreciates a good build for speed—raw speed über alles—the Texas Mile is like a marvelous gallery dedicated to the art of being awesome. It's also , so if you're neat Beeville, Texas, you should go. Everywhere you turn at the Texas Mile, there are cars...
Dec 13, 2025
Ask Endurance Drivers Ryan Dalziel And Johannes van Overbeek Anything
Ask Endurance Drivers Ryan Dalziel And Johannes van Overbeek Anything
Extreme Speed Motorsports is the lone American team heading to the FIA World Endurance Championship's 6 Hours of Shanghai next week, and we've got drivers Ryan Dalziel and Johannes van Overbeek here to answer your questions! Although Extreme Speed started racing in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship this year, they've...
Dec 13, 2025
Caterham F1 Team Staff Locked Out Of Own Office
Caterham F1 Team Staff Locked Out Of Own Office
Another wrench was thrown into Caterham's plans to make the United States Grand Prix next week: Caterham's staff has been of the team's headquarters in Leafield, England. That Caterham is in deep financial caca is no surprise. They've had certain assets , inexplicably during the middle of a race, and...
Dec 13, 2025
He Lived.
He Lived.
It's unclear exactly how many times Jerry Yeoman's car rolled after punching through the barrier at this drag strip. A conservative estimate puts it at a dozen. The real shock is not the crash, it's that Yoeman lived. As explains, the video was only posted with permission from Yoeman, who...
Dec 13, 2025
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved