Overall, it’s great to have 100 Days to Indy back on The CW. The docuseries provides a media platform for the NTT IndyCar Series, which produces the best motor racing on the planet. Anything that gets IndyCar and its drivers more attention is welcome, and for the most part, the show does a good job. However, 100 Days to Indy Season 2 leans into the frustrating aspect of Season 1.
The strengths of the 100 Days to Indy Season 2 premiere are that audiences once again get an up close look at IndyCar drivers and the elements that surround each race. The drivers are an interesting bunch of people, and the best segments in the episode are when the cameras pull back and just record them interacting with each other or trying to focus on themselves. Moments like Scott McLaughlin’s frustration over his qualifying attempt or Marcus Ericsson burning pancakes are genuine and help the audience connect with these people beyond their success as athletes.
The inclusion of drivers’ wives, which was criticized last year, feels more natural than it did in Season 1. It’s still not always necessary, but including them has value if the viewers are supposed to get a full picture of the drivers’ lives. Their families are part of who they are and are affected by their career ups and downs, too. The latter is the key point of the premiere, and for the most part it works, because the fans see both highs and lows, and understand the emotional component that comes with being an IndyCar driver.
But while 100 Days to Indy wants to present a good story, its first episode is summed up when Ericsson talks about the line between sports and entertainment, and going over it. He’s referencing the 2023 Indy 500, yet he may as well be talking about 100 Days to Indy.
The Season 2 premiere is entitled “Show Me the Money,” and that says everything viewers need to know about it. The episode spends its whole first act telling everyone how controversial the 2023 Indy 500 was, before it eventually focuses on Ericsson’s move from Chip Ganassi Racing to Andretti Global (formerly Andretti Autosport). To an extent, this makes sense because it’s telling a story of how Ericsson and the man who beat him, Josef Newgarden, are moving forward in two very different directions. But it’s well into the episode before much gets said about the current IndyCar season.
When 100 Days to Indy finally gets there, it brings up the fact that Newgarden’s contract with Team Penske expires in 2024. While Newgarden says clearly on camera that he won’t talk about his contract situation, that doesn’t stop everyone else from talking about it… which is where the episode turns from an interesting exploration of how Ericsson and Newgarden respond differently to the same event into something more sensationalized.
The “talking head” segments with reporters were the worst part of 100 Days to Indy Season 1, as they were either expository or sometimes gossipy. In Season 2, they are back with a vengeance (although IndyStar’s Nathan Brown appears to have been replaced by The Race’s Jack Benyon). Now not only are the talking heads distracting, they’re pushing a narrative—in this case not just contrasting Newgarden vs. Ericsson, but pitting them against each other in a “haves and have nots” story. Viewers hear about how Ericsson wasn’t paid enough by Ganassi and how much money Newgarden should command in free agency… and hear about it over and over again. All of this feels like an attempt to stir up some Drive to Survive-style drama.
It’s especially concerning because, as IndyCar fans now know, there is some actual drama that will come up in future episodes. Two Team Penske cars were disqualified from the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg over illegal push-to-pass use, and the Internet is busy calling them cheaters and liars. If the commentators in 100 Days to Indy are emphasizing drama when it’s not necessary, what are they going to do when the show gets to a legitimate scandal?
It would be much better to let the drivers be the narrators, as their on-camera interview segments are more interesting and they’re the ones in the middle of the action. But slight sensationalism aside, 100 Days to Indy Season 2 is worth the watch just to see some of the most dedicated competitors in the world and learn what makes them tick. The CW series captures the excitement of IndyCar very well, which is why it doesn’t need to manufacture its own.
100 Days to Indy airs Fridays at 9:00 p.m. on The CW.
