Indy

Laurin Heinrich’s side quest in Car 6!  As sad as I was to not have a full season of Esthoor, seeing my two favorite drivers share a car and get a podium finish was awesome.

I brought Travis to this race because he had an interest in seeing the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and going to the Museum and with the new sprint round, I didn’t think the race would be too long for him. He definitely enjoyed it and even got selfies with Kévin and Laurin after the race.

One of the traditions around the Indy 500 is rookies milking a cow, so I asked drivers if they had ever milked a cow. Harry King called this the most bizarre question he had ever been asked. Mission accomplished with questions they’ve never heard before.

This was Kévin’s  first race on probation, and to say I was terrified every lap is putting it mildly. IMSA hadn’t given clear guidelines on what would constitute an action that invoked the terms of his probation, so it was all unclear. Would a pit lane speeding penalty have him benched? What about contact that could be considered incidental otherwise, would all leniency be thrown out? Nobody knew.

So when the 25 BMW pushed Kévin into Julien and caused Julien to spin out and get hit with other cars, I thought for sure it was over. Whether he got pushed into another car was going to be irrelevant, he ruined another car’s race by hitting them. I still think his only saving grace is that it was the other PPM car, any other car and they would have called on his probation and back flagged him right then.

Meanwhile the 25 later spun another car off track and magically did not get any sort of probation for it. It’s not making an example if the same standards aren’t enforced for everyone else. If your name isn’t Kévin Estre you can get away with it, if not, you’re put on probation.

I did a pretty simple white nail with red tips for this race, to match the standard livery.

Kévin and Laurin both drove great stints, consistently gaining positions before the pit stops, and then fighting back through after the longer fueling at the stops. It wasn’t the win I so desperately wanted, and that stung. Especially since without a poorly timed FCY the strategy might have put them out front, and it seemed like they might have had the pace for a win.

In the back of my mind I kept thinking “surely if Laurin can drag that JDC car to a win, he can team up with Kévin and get one.” But fate just decided this was not going to be Kévin’s season, any bad bit of luck he could get, he did get, and I needed to accept that and be happy with the team’s first podium since Long Beach.

At COTA in 2025 I had to ask Kévin if I could hold his winning trophy for a picture, at Indy in 2026 he asked me if I wanted to hold his third place trophy for a picture. Oh, what a difference a year makes.

Podium #8 for Cadillac. Podium #4 for PPM.

Petit Le Mans

I almost didn’t go to this race. Seriously. I was worn out from the season, and it just didn’t feel worth it. About 10 minutes into my drive, I realized I forgot a lot of stuff at home and really considered if it was just a sign, and that maybe I should just unpack everything and stay home. Ultimately, I went to the race, and I suppose I am glad that I did.

That was the understatement of the century.

Petit Le Mans, like the whole season, was a roller coaster of emotion. There were about 12 hours where I was certain that Kévin’s probation was getting invoked and he would be suspended mid-weekend like IMSA had threatened. And even Kévin himself telling me that he didn’t think that would happen didn’t ease those fears. I spent every second he was in the car nearly frozen in fear that he would crash or get into some incident that he would be deemed responsible for.

The fear was realized in night practice where he punted an LMP2 off the road in turn 10. He got a penalty in the session, so it only seemed logical they would invoke the terms of his probation, but they didn’t and he was able to race.

The car had the standard livery and because of how close in time Indy and Petit were, I didn’t get my nails re-done. Still white with red tips. My question for drivers was about any skills or talents they have. Kévin, I really want to hear you sing at some point, since you think you’re good at it!

I waited almost all season for Earl Bamber to get me this Whelen flag he kept threatening me with, and he finally delivered after night practice! We also made a deal that if Kévin’s probation terms weren’t invoked and he was able to race, that I would do the next show with the Whelen flag hanging up. And a deal is a deal.

I also got surprised with a tour of the Whelen Cadillac garage and trailers. I truly can’t thank the team enough for that. But when I was there I sure got a lot of ribbing for having an Esthoor shirt on and people wondered how a Porsche mega-fan got a Caddy tour. I made a bunch of jokes about stealing data and messing with the car, and after the results of my car and their car I need to be clear, I did not steal anything or mess with anything! We just beat you!

During the weekend, I rounded out my pictures taken by drivers where I am holding their helmet series by getting Laurens Vanthoor and Renger van der Zande. Now I have pictures holding all 5 of my favorite GTP drivers helmets.

I hated that I thought this way, but it really showed how low my confidence was in the team- my first thought after Felipe was safely out of his car following his massive crash was “we can actually win this thing now.” I’m not sure I’ll ever really be over Sebring.

After the race was over, I got what is easily the coolest picture I’ve ever taken at a race track. And it wasn’t of me holding a trophy. It was of me and Kévin standing in front of the still-dirty race winning car. That’s a memory that will last a lifetime.

I liked to pretend all season that my enjoyment of this epic adventure was not tied to Kévin’s results, but I don’t know if that is true. It definitely got tough at times, seeing the BOP, knowing the car wouldn’t be competitive, seeing him crash, having him put on probation. But ultimately I will always be able to say two things, I saw Kévin’s entire 2026 IMSA season and I saw him win his first IMSA race. And in the end, that was worth it.

Podium #9 for Cadillac. Podium #5 for PPM. Win #1 for Kévin Estre.