Arrow McLaren SP’s Ryne Fager figuratively wears a lot of hats. And by a lot, we mean a lot… Ryne joined the team in 2018 and is currently a Transportation Specialist, a Tire Specialist and a rear-tire changer on the No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet.

Whew, where do we start with all that?

Let’s allow him to tell his story, as he did on the McLaren Racing Discord channel earlier this week. Read a synopsis or listen to the full audio conversation with McLaren Racing’s NFT Community Specialist Daniel Kingston.

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Daniel Kingston: Before we dive into the questions from our audience, Ryne, please tell us what roles you hold within the Arrow McLaren SP Team?

Ryne Fager: My position is what we are calling a transportation specialist. Some people will call it the truck driver and transporter driver. But, I drive one of the trucks that contains one of the race cars. And then it's all tools in there and it's all dragged out from the shop to the racetracks and to the tests we will do.

I'm also a tire and wheel guy, so I prep wheels and tire sensors when we are at the shop. I make sure everything's ready for when we get to the track, so Firestone can make sure everything is mounted properly for us. And finally, I am also on the No. 5 car for Pato O’Ward’s pit crew as a tire changer for inside rear tire, which we call that the inside rear in Indy because it can be the left rear or right rear depending on the direction of the track configuration.

Daniel: It sounds like a lot of different jobs to juggle. I feel like transportation specialist is rather underselling everything you do. I must admit, I'm quite a new IndyCar fan. I'm only just getting into it. One of the things I really like about the series is the variety of circuits. So I have to ask, do you prefer racing on ovals, roads, or street circuits?

Ryne: Well, I would say maybe a year or so ago I may have a different answer, but now that we've won on all three disciplines, I'm a big fan of all of them. And there are definitely positives, for someone that works on a team, to all of them. At street courses, you're in city that you're racing in, and it's a different kind of fan environment and it's less of a destination race for people and they can kind of leave their homes and get off work and show up. So there's an energy level for street circuits bring that's very fun.

The road courses offer, at least here in the U.S., in the (NTT) INDYCAR SERIES for a more scenic approach to being at the racetrack that weekend. So it's almost relaxing. A lot of our road courses are in states that are in wooded areas or on lakes and things like that. So that's definitely a positive and kind of a good change of pace.

But overall, I would say that ovals are my favorite ones. Obviously the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and our crown jewel is the Indianapolis 500. We've always traditionally been a very strong oval team with our packages that we’ve figured out through different setups.

So, I really do probably have to say I enjoy ovals because we always roll off the truck strong and Pato, Felix and Alex are drivers that are three very, very strong on ovals.

Daniel: OK that's really interesting. As a Formula 1 fan, I think I prefer the road circuits just because it's something I understand more and definitely I need to watch more oval races. I think I just don't quite get the intricacies of oval racing yet.

Ryne: Yeah, it's more. Yeah, definitely. It's easy to watch and say, ‘Oh, you do it and turn left.’ But once you start to understand the inner workings of ovals, you’ll know the difference in the aero packages, and understand what goes into the rear wings that actually have different sizes going at once between teams. We'll get you up to speed on all that.

Daniel: Good. Now, the (NTT) INDYCAR SERIES takes you all across North America. What is it like to be on the road with the crew and what things do you do when working 17 race weekends a year?

Ryne: It's 17 race weekends and a lot of extracurricular activities. One like, I'm lucky to be doing now and go to supporting the Formula 1 team. But we have a lot of fun on our team, I’ll just tell you that. So being on the road is going to sound like a lot, and can be a lot sometimes, but in INDYCAR and at the Arrow McLaren SP team, we are absolutely family. Your teammates are brothers and sisters, and even sometimes you see them more than you see your own brothers and sisters and parents or significant others because we are gone a lot. But it's very fun.

We try to keep a good, fun work balance, even when we're on the road. You know, long days of typical race weekends, Thursday through Sunday, about 12 hours a day, typically at the track. But we keep trying to make sure we're researching the best restaurants for wherever we are. And so we're very good oftentimes looking to find the best sushi place and taking places the town has to offer.

Daniel: Our first use of submitted questions comes from Skippy, who asks, ‘How did you get the job and how did you become interested in INDYCAR and would you be willing to switch to F1 if the opportunity arose?’

Ryne: A tripleheader over here. I'll handle the first part on how I got the job. I come from the central Indiana area of Indianapolis, so I've been around and I've made friends throughout my life that worked in INDYCAR before I did. I actually finished the schooling that I went through and started a professional career in sales of different sorts.

So it's funny to say that’s my background before I joined INDYCAR, but I made friends and at that point, I started traveling to some races just to support friends and the race teams. I kind of started to understand what the job looked like. I think that brought me in closer and for a few years were like ‘OK you should try this guy that's already interested in doing this.’

Honestly, there are a lot of people’s stories in INDYCAR that they say ‘I just hung around at the track, and I realized it was something I wanted to do.' People realized that if you were willing to do these few things, they could get you to be a part of a team soon.

I grew up in a town about an hour from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, so maybe the 500 was something that if you're from Indiana, you know it. It's just what happens. And as a young kid, I would watch it on TV. And I always thought it was so great. And then one day, once I was old enough for my grandfather to say, ‘OK, you're old enough and you’re not going to bother me if I bring you, right?’ So I waited for that and I was there for my first Indy 500 at 13-years-old, and I don't think I've missed one since as a fan or as a crew member.

Daniel: That's certainly an unorthodox way of getting into the industry, right?

Ryne: It absolutely was. That's kind of the story of my life, do things out of your comfort zone and in other words, do something that makes you better. It seems to be working so far.

But for the last question, would I make the change to F1 if the opportunity arose? My answer to that is: I love racing, and that’s not just INDYCAR. But my commitment to this program and definitely my teammates is pretty important.

And we have two major goals: One is to win the Indianapolis 500, and two is to win the overall championship. I don't think I'm done in INDYCAR until those two things are checked off the list. Then, I would be open, absolutely, to expanding and learning more about more racing series.

Daniel: Our next question comes from Rachel who asks, ‘What has changed most about your job in the last five years, good or bad? And what is the most fun thing you do as part of your job?’

Ryne: Oh, that changes over the last handful of years. Honestly, we can call it changes, or we can call it growth as I just kind of described as an outsider coming into racing. One thing that we say in racing, no matter what you're doing, no matter what it is, it's all about repetition, getting more reps, whether it be changing a tire, building a car, driving the transporter to the track.

The biggest change in my system, when it comes to my ability levels and just getting knowledge from doing things over and over again and staying observant. So a change probably for me would be I went from this first year guy and not wanting to mess something up to growing confidence of being more assertive and taking the lead when I can.

And as long as you have good teammates around you and trust kind of trust the process of learning, you kind of fall into that role quicker than you think you would. Every day at the racetrack, there is something new to learn.

Daniel: How nervous were you in your first race when you had to change a tire?

Ryne: I would say it was pretty high. I don't really remember doing it.

And it's funny, the first time I actually went over the wall as part of the pit crew in my very first year, like my fourth race. And I actually was the fueler, because we still refuel the car during the race. The first time I completely just blacked out.

I got it done and was told I did a pretty good job, but I don’t remember my first time doing it. I don't take any of this for granted and I love this job and every aspect of it.

Daniel: That leads on to my next question, which comes from 246 Sim Racing who asks, ‘You have a lot of hats to wear.’ I presume he means metaphorically. And he asks, ‘Which hat is your favorite?’

Ryne: Yeah, I do like hats. My favorite is the one that they give you in Victory Lane. That's my favorite literal hat.

But honestly, my favorite hat to wear is cheesy, but it is my Arrow McLaren SP hat. I know that it's still a job, you know, showing up, clocking in to work to get a paycheck, but I have not taken that for granted. And there's not a day of work that doesn't feel like fun at some point, even if it's not the best day.

So I love all of the figurative hats that I wear within our team, but just wearing that actual team hat and being a part of this brand is by far the most fulfilling work I've ever done.

Daniel: We have time for one last question. What is your favorite, ever, McLaren race? I'll accept your Top 100.

Ryne: Well, I’m working for a team with as much history and success, right? This is definitely not a bad problem to have, and we’ve talked about it today - we're here at COTA, and I believe in 2012 was the first race here and Lewis Hamilton’s last win with McLaren here.

But now I like to go back and watch highlights and documentaries with Senna, Prost, Lauda, you know? Gosh, where do you start? Daniel getting the win at Monza, and then, you know, Lando finishing right behind him 1-2. That was awesome.

And then I guess now, I mean, we are McLaren and IndyCar so I could count, I guess, we got some of our own. My first win in racing was in 2021 at Texas with Pato O’Ward. It was our first win as a team and our first win with Pato as the driver. Now, we have four, and probably many more to come next season. But personally, that's my favorite McLaren race.

I was a part of that moment, and I got to finally feel what it's like to win in a major championship series. It's definitely something I'll never forget.

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