Oilpressure

There is a new hazard that goes along with being a driver in the NTT IndyCar Series that drivers just a generation ago would have never dreamed of – social media campaigns. I’m not talking about managing a Twitter account, which drivers can do at their leisure or even pay others to do it for them.

I’m talking about the sometimes clever, sometimes stupid, videos that digital content creators dream up to promote a team’s driver lineup.

Some that know me may find it hard to believe, but I am an introvert by definition. That doesn’t mean that I want to crawl under a table when thrown into a social situation, but it does mean that it’s not my comfort zone. Over the years, I’ve grown more comfortable at cocktail parties and giving major presentations during meetings at work. But don’t ever think for one minute that I enjoy it. I’ve just learned to fake it better with experience and age.

I have had friends and co-workers who thrive in those scenarios. My One Take Only cohort, John McLallen, is one of those. He never passed up an opportunity to go to a party or any type of gathering so that he could grab the spotlight. Not me. I’m more comfortable working behind the scenes.

By definition, an introvert is one who regains their energy (recharges his or her batteries) by having some down time or alone time. That doesn’t mean I run and hide from Susan in a dark room for a couple of hours when I get home from work. It just means I find it draining to be around people all day that I don’t know that well. I find solace by being at home. I am a mild introvert and Susan is a mild extrovert, we can sometimes be in moods where we seem to swap personality types, but those are our core traits. Being opposites is probably one reason we are such a good fit for each other.

Conversely, an extrovert is not always the boisterous person at a party that always has to be the center of attention. I’m not pinning that label on my friend John, but John has to be around people to recharge his batteries. An extrovert finds it exhausting to not be around people for an extended period of time. If John and I were both in prison, the worst punishment he could face would be solitary confinement. I would welcome it.

This post is not about the Myers-Briggs personality types, but it helps to illustrate why every driver is not suited for today’s over-the-top social media campaigns.

I will pick on two drivers who spent a brief time on the same team that seems to excel in these “made for TikTok” moments – Alexander Rossi and David Malukas, when they were brief teammates at Arrow McLaren.

The digital content creators at Arrow McLaren are very good at what they do; whether they are creating a video to announce a special livery or a funny video that might find drivers in embarrassing situations. Arrow McLaren is not the only team that does this. Team Penske and Andretti Global are two other examples of teams that thrive on this sort of thing. But Arrow McLaren comes to mind because they are very good at it, and for two years – they featured Alexander Rossi, who clearly did not enjoy them.

That’s not to say that Rossi is not comfortable with social media. I have followed him for years on Twitter, and he certainly doesn’t mind sharing his opinion on different matters. Have you ever listed to his Off Track podcast with James Hinchcliffe? Rossi is hilarious on there, if you appreciate a very dry and sarcastic sense of humor (like I do).

They veer off of racing topics a lot on that show. I have come to learn that Rossi and I share a lot of the same views of the world – not regarding politics or anything of that nature, but little things like not wanting to be touched by overly friendly strangers. In one episode immediately following a Road America weekend, Rossi spent over five minutes describing how they were being seated in a Wisconsin restaurant, and the hostess kept putting her arm around him. That led into a rant about how he doesn’t like strangers touching him. I concur.

I think most of us would agree that Alexander Rossi is probably an introvert. In the two seasons he was at Arrow McLaren, Rossi was “asked” to participate in supposedly humorous videos with his teammates. In the past offseason, it was Rossi along with Pato O’Ward and David Malukas. There are countless examples of these videos out there. There were two common themes of these little video shorts – O’Ward and Malukas seemed to love doing them, and Rossi clearly did not.

Rossi generally had the demeanor of someone who would prefer to have a fork stuck in his eye, rather than have to be a part of these videos. I didn’t get the feeling he thought he was above it all, but it was painful to watch him act like he was enjoying them.

On the other hand, videos like these were made for outgoing personalities like Pato O’Ward. I don’t think O’Ward ever met a camera he didn’t like, and he recognizes these videos as the perfect way to bolster his brand.

Malukas was the surprise. Like Rossi, he can have a dry wit about him He comes across as a little shy in interviews, but a previously unknown side of his personality seemed to emerge in the Arrow McLaren short promotional videos that he was a part of with Rossi and O’Ward – even though he never actually raced for the team.

The two drivers have moved on to different teams for next season. Rossi will drive for Ed Carpenter Racing (ECR), while Malukas will drive for AJ Foyt Racing. Both teams have a minor presence on social media compared with Arrow McLaren. Both team’s social media platforms tend to focus on announcements and liveries, more than clever TikTok skits that depend on driver participation and interaction.

While this was most likely a welcomed relief when Rossi signed with ECR, I’m wondering how Malukas views this approach at Foyt. While Rossi is pretty easy to read, I’m not quite sure what I know about David Malukas outside of the cockpit. Is his soft-spoken demeanor an act? Did those McLaren videos scratch an itch for Malukas, that won’t be helped at Foyt? He seemed to come out of his shell in the McLaren videos. Was that an act?

It’s hard to imagine AJ Foyt having a high opinion of drivers in TikTok videos, if he has even been shown one. If Malukas tries to bring this new way of marketing to Foyt, will it be embraced or shut down? AJ doesn’t make many calls with the team these days. Larry Foyt comes across as a little more laid back, but I’m not sure he will go for his drivers spending time with humorous TikTok skits.

Part of what made those Arrow McLaren videos so funny was watching the expression on Rossi’s face. Their future videos for 2025 will have to feature the effervescent O’Ward along with Nolan Siegel and Christian Lundgaard. No offense, but that doesn’t sound too funny to me.

I don’t have a TikTok account, but I have friends older than me who do. They tell me how addicting it is, so I figured I didn’t need another social media distraction. Susan has gotten on TikTok recently and loves it. She will stick her iPad in my face to show me something on there that she finds hilarious, which generates only a polite chuckle from me. Years ago, some of my IndyCar friends convinced me I needed an Instagram account. I reluctantly got one and made a few posts, but I’ll bet I haven’t posted anything there in at least five years…or more. I’m fine with Twitter and Facebook. Change id Bad!

These are the things I think about in the offseason. I’ll be curious to see how those two drivers do at their new teams with different approaches to social media. I’m sure Rossi will be loving it. That will leave him with his own social media and his podcast – both of which he can control. But what about Malukas? Will he adapt to a more minimal approach to social media, or will he try to drag AJ Foyt into 2025? Stay tuned.

George Phillips

Please Note: In case you haven’t heard, Tuesday is Election Day in the US. I try not to discuss politics here on this site, but that doesn’t mean I’m not interested in how the election will turn out. I just hope that whoever wins, that there will be no civil unrest in the following days. Regardless, it will be a late night before we even have an indication how it will play out – and I don’t want to be spending Election Night pounding out a post. Therefore, there will be no post here on Wednesday Nov 6. I will return on Friday Nov 8.

This entry was posted on November 4, 2024 at 4:02 am and is filed under IndyCar. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.