To promote Fox's first ever Indy 500 broadcast this past weekend, Fox Sports 1's daily sports talk show, hosted by Nick Wright, Chris Broussard, and Kevin Wildes, was held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on both Thursday and Friday, the latter being known as "Carb Day" in the build-up to the world's most-attended single-day sporting event.
Wright, a well-known Baltimore Ravens and Lamar Jackson adversary, managed to find a way to incorporate his Kansas City Chiefs fandom and Patrick Mahomes into the Indy 500 discussion when talking to racing legend Mario Andretti about "GOATs", and we can't say that that was necessarily unexpected.
But he then went a step further, and while Ravens fans may not have been sure what to think at first, Wright's boldest take of the weekend should have Ravens Flock, and specifically No. 8, feeling pretty excited about the season to come.
Nick Wright's bold take could be amazing news for Lamar Jackson
Wright stated, on multiple occasions, that he is a massive Alex Palou fan. The three-time IndyCar champion entered the 109th running of the Indy 500 as one of the favorites, but he also entered as the winningest active non-winner of the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing", despite having been one of the main contenders every year from 2021 to 2024.
Wright compared Palou to Jackson, a two-time NFL MVP. He likened Palou's IndyCar championships to Jackson's regular season success, but he feared that it was ironically that same outstanding success which has led not only to added criticism of Palou not being able to win the Indy 500, but to added pressure when it comes to winning the crown jewel event.
He compared that lack of an Indy 500 win, which is viewed as bigger than a championship in most IndyCar circles, to the fact that Jackson has never led the Ravens to the Super Bowl in seven seasons as the starting quarterback. In fact, despite regular season numbers never before seen at the QB position, he still hasn't won more than one playoff game in any single postseason.
Just over 48 hours after Wright made the comparison, Palou was drinking the milk and kissing the bricks. His winning move came with 14 laps remaining, when he took the inside into turn one of the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Speedway, Indiana oval to get around former teammate Marcus Ericsson.
Ravens fans sure hope that's a sign of things to come for Lamar Jackson. And perhaps if it is, Wright may regret the comparison, especially if a Ravens postseason run happens to involve a win over his beloved Chiefs. But hey, at least his driver just won the biggest race in the world.