INDYCAR MEDIA CONFERENCE

May 26, 2023

Paul "Ziggy" Harcus

Jay Frye

Mark Miles

Diane Zachary

Robin Miller Award Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Good morning, everyone. Very special occasion, the 2023 Robin Miller Award today. Joining us today, in the middle, Ziggy Harcus, longtime and retiring chief mechanic and team manager. To his left, Jay Frye, president of INDYCAR. We'll begin with Mark Miles, president and CEO of Penske Entertainment Corporation.

MARK MILES: I'm beginning to think this crowd has been out there celebrating Carb Day already. There are a lot of people in the same mood as you all seem to be.

Thanks, everybody, for being here. This is a day that in fourth year now has really come to mean a lot to all of us, for a couple reasons. One is it gives us yet another reason, another day to think about Robin, who we miss every day, and what he meant to the sport and what he instilled in the sport in the most positive sense imaginable.

But also to think about people like Robin who aren't necessarily in front of the camera but have given their professional life to the sport, not gotten a lot of recognition, but absolutely deserve it for their impact in the sport.

For those reasons, this is a very special day. This award was founded, as most of you know, in 2019. I'm not sure, but I think it might have been Marshall who called or waylaid me and said, we need to do something. It seemed like a brilliant idea, and was.

He and Jay put this together, and I'm really glad that they did. It's important to the sport.

The guideline for the honoree is that the award honors an unheralded individual who's devoted a significant portion of their life to INDYCAR racing while bringing unbridled passion and unrelenting work ethic to enrich the sport. It's a pretty high bar.

To date, after Robin, Bob Jenkins received it. Last year Judy Dominick and T.E. McHale received it.

This year, this guy to my left is going to receive it. I'm told it was a surprise, and I really hope it was because that'll make it even more --

PAUL "ZIGGY" HARCUS: This is a surprise. There's going to be some retribution. (Laughter.)

MARK MILES: Let's talk about who to aim that at. This is a phenomenal guy. It's like, how many people are known by only one name? I have no idea what your first name is really.

PAUL "ZIGGY" HARCUS: It's actually Paul.

MARK MILES: Well, I was lying because they wrote it down, but it didn't say Paul so it was wrong. I mean, it's Madonna and it's Pele and it's Mario and it's Ziggy.

PAUL "ZIGGY" HARCUS: Different groups right there.

MARK MILES: You're going to have your chance, mate. Anyway, I've got a bio here that I suspect all of you are familiar with, but starting out in Auckland, it said you spent a number of your early years on ships but that you had a problem with seasickness so you had to quit. I might have made that up.

Moved somehow from New Zealand to England, began working as a mechanic in motorsport, and somehow found your way from there to Albuquerque. That's a whole 'nother thing I'd like to hear about, working with Al Unser and Danny Sullivan. Got to Indianapolis in the mid '90s. I'll skip some of the steps, but became a fixture in the paddock, and it's cool to see all the Andretti folks here to appreciate you in this moment.

On behalf of everyone at INDYCAR and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, we're honored to present the 2023 Robin Miller Award.

With all due respect to the media that are here today, this is the first time it hasn't gone to a member of the media, so that's probably a nice balance to begin to make part of this award. I do know, Ziggy, that you are an institution, that you've mentored so many people in our sport for so many years. You've been so successful with the teams.

I can't imagine anybody better as a recipient of the Robin Miller Award, so congratulations.

PAUL "ZIGGY" HARCUS: Thank you very much.

JAY FRYE: Well, we wanted to certainly thank you, Ziggy. Certainly everybody in the paddock knows Ziggy. No one knows his first name, but they all know him. He's been a mentor and friend to all of us in INDYCAR, especially this group obviously. We can't thank you enough for being you and all that you've done for us.

You're going to have a hard card for life. You're always going to be part of the family. How's that?

MARK MILES: We might start charging him for it.

JAY FRYE: Some kind of special Ziggy card. But it's really cool you being the first non-media member to win this. It's quite an honor, quite deserving, we're proud of you and we're very appreciative, so thank you.

PAUL "ZIGGY" HARCUS: It is an honor, thank you.

(Video shown.)

THE MODERATOR: Here with the award itself and to say a few words, Robin Miller's sister Diane. Come on up.

DIANE ZACHARY: Well, I know you're a character, and my brother was a character, so there's two things you have in common -- one thing you have in common, two characters.

I know that Robin is up in heaven hopefully jumping up and down that you're receiving this award today.

I just wanted to say a couple things about the Robin Miller Award. This means so much to my family and I that I get to come each year and have a moment and say something to the recipient and be here with all of you, and I can't thank you enough.

Robin was very fortunate. He received quite a few accolades and awards during his career, but they all paled in comparison to this. He was so humbled by this award because this came from his home, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and his family, INDYCAR. They were everything to him.

He had the same kind of passion that you do, and he had the same kind of stories that we can't all share. But you loved what you did, and you started from the bottom and you worked your way up.

Robin started out here at age 19. He worked for the Indianapolis Star, starting in high school answering Star Sports and giving sports results. When I was a teenager and at a slumber party, we would call and prank him and ask him the dimension of a baseball, and he would have to look it up.

He was out here when he was 19, jumped the pit fence, got an interview, stole a press pass from the Star and submitted an article. They were mad as could be that he did it, but they said, you know, it's not half bad, we're going to run it. And that was the beginning of Robin Miller's career.

I just can't say enough that the night that Robin received the award the very first time. I was at his condo, and I caught him holding it and just shaking his head, and he said, "I just can't believe they thought of me and they thought of me this way, and I'm holding an award with my name on it." He said, from my people, my friends, my family. He said, it's the best day of my life.

Thank you so much. I love being here. Ziggy, I couldn't think of a better recipient than you. Robin loved you dearly.

The stories he told about you, I know they're true.

PAUL "ZIGGY" HARCUS: All lies.

DIANE ZACHARY: Yeah, and I know because I know the stories about Robin, and they're all true, too.

But thank you for doing everything you've done. Your passion, your dedication has elevated this sport to a whole new level, and you can't retire. We need you.

Thank you so much. We have a wonderful award for you now.

THE MODERATOR: There's an inscription, I'll read it. Our pal Marshall Pruett penned it. A friend, a mentor, a leader, an inspiration, numerous INDYCAR Series championships bear his name. His imprint is also etched in Indianapolis 500 history as multiple victories were made possible through his mechanical and managerial talents, but his greatest INDYCAR achievement isn't contained within trophies and rings, it's the legacy found on pit lane, where hundreds of crew members raised by the sport's ultimate role model thrive today. There is and always will be only one Paul "Ziggy" Harcus.

On behalf of everyone, Penske Entertainment, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, certainly INDYCAR and the NTT INDYCAR Series, so well deserved. How about one more round of applause for Ziggy, the 2023 Robin Miller Award recipient. Congratulations.

We're going to have a couple of photo ops. Come on up, family members, we want to rush through this because there's something coming up at 11:00 I know Ziggy is probably going to be a part of.