Take a long flight with: Marcus Armstrong

You’ve just boarded a plane. Ahead of you is a non-stop flight from Los Angeles, to… let’s say Auckland. A flight long enough that you really hope you end up with someone interesting sitting next to you.

When you arrive at your row, your companion for the next 12 or 13 hours is already seated. He glances up and… wow, it’s Meyer Shank Racing IndyCar driver Marcus Armstrong! As a racing fan, you’re very excited about the hours of motorsports conversation that awaits as you cruise 30,000 feet above the Pacific eating tiny pretzels. But given that it’s such a long flight, you’ll probably also learn some other stuff about him.

This interview is the second installment in an occasional series about that other stuff. If you missed the previous one with Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard, you’ll find it here.

AISLE OR WINDOW?

“I'm very well hydrated. If I'm flying from Indy to LA, I'll take four pisses, normally. That's, like, one piss an hour. That's going to piss off the person next to me, so I usually take the aisle.

BEING SEATMATES WITH SOMEONE FAMOUS IS NEW TO YOU. BUT NOT TO HIM

“I was sitting next to (actor) Rainn Wilson on the plane (to Long Beach) from Indianapolis. He was in the window seat. When I took a piss, he came with me. We were in synch, him and I.

“I didn’t talk to him. He was busy. I swear he was writing a WhatsApp message for, like, three hours. And then he would have thought that I was insane because I spent three hours watching onboards and looking at little squiggly lines on a piece of paper. So he probably thought I was curing cancer or something. But we didn't converse. He also ate the whole way. He was definitely keeping his energy up.

“I hope he doesn't... you know what, he probably will read this, because he was surfing the internet. It's hard not to see what someone's doing on their laptop next to you, right? Even if you're doing something. And he was covering a lot of topics real quick.”

YOUR IN-FLIGHT CONVERSATION IS DISTRACTING HIM FROM HIS BOOK. OR BOOKS.

“At the moment, I'm reading three books that I sort of go between, depending on the mood. I'm reading a smut book. That's kind of like my real chill, afternoon, tired, sort of go-to, and I enjoy it an embarrassing amount. It's kind of weird how much I enjoy that book, but I can see why it's such a popular thing at the moment.

“Then I have some other books that are kind of more philosophical. I believe that you're not reading a book unless you're reading with a pen as well. Apart from the smut book – I'm not taking notes on the smut book. Although maybe I should.

“Otherwise, I highlight stuff, and I do put some notes in the margin. But I read these books more than once, and every so often, I'll pick up a book that I was reading in, like, 2017 when I was a kid, and there will be like stupid notes from when I was a child, almost. I've kind of always been like that. It's strange, because I left school at the age of 12. I had to, for racing – had to leave New Zealand at a very young age. So, it's odd that I enjoy reading.

“At the moment I've got ‘Meditations’ on my bedside table, the Marcus Aurelius book, and one by a Japanese writer [ED: Two Japanese writers – Fumitake Koga and Ichiro Kishimi] and that's called 'The courage to be disliked'. That's a good one, because it's like a dialog between like a philosopher and like a student. So it's a very easy read. I picked that one up last year when I was in Italy, and I dusted it off in two weeks. I'm reading that for, like, the third time now. Those sorts of books, I think, you need to read more than once, because reading it the second time, you pick things up that you never even saw (the first time). So, call me an old fuddy duddy, but I enjoy that

“My (travel) bag's jam-packed full because I've got my engineering books as well. I think I have... one, two, three, four... I have six books in my bag that I lug around at the moment, so there's not a lot of room. Somehow, I use all six of them every day, so it's kind of worth it. Having a Kindle would drive me nuts. Unless they're going to sponsor us, in which case...

“There's something quite I like about beating up your books as well; not keeping them all clean and tidy. It's therapeutic.”

HIS ENGINEERS BURN THROUGH A LOT OF PRINTER TONER

“I hate computers. I've asked my engineers for all my data to be printed out so I can write on it, because I just don't like the whole laptop thing. I don't know. I guess I'm an analog guy in a digital world.”

Armstrong's a big believer in carving out his own path. Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment

HE’S OPEN-MINDED ABOUT FORMAL EDUCATION

“I guess what we did (leaving school at 12) was probably not 'right'. But luckily, my dad doesn't really care about that sort of stuff. He left school at a young age too, and by his own admission, he's not book smart, but he started his own business and became quite successful because he learned other things in life – the school of life, I suppose. So he believed that it was OK. My mom, she's a bit the same, really. She's more of a creative, an artist. So she didn't push me to do that. But I am intellectual: I can understand things, even if I haven't gone through that formal education process.

“My schoolmates in New Zealand, who are very smart – they're lawyers, they did university, the whole thing – we have very different opinions on it, because obviously, they believe that the whole education process is essential. I do agree there's a lot to be learned with all that stuff, but it's probably not functional for a lot of life anyways.

“And if I wanted to go back to university, I could, so it's not a lost cause. I've thought about it a lot, and if I went back I would like to study English Lit. Probably psychology of some sort. I wouldn't do the whole business thing, the management, the economic stuff. Even though my dad would kill me for saying it, it just bores me to tears. I'd rather do something a bit more creative. Even though it's kind of annoying now, like, you can use AI to write something for you, which I firmly disagree with. I hate that. I hate the idea of people doing that.”

HE’S A CREATURE OF DISCIPLINE AND ROUTINE

“My days are very structured. I enjoy having a structure and a routine. And ever since I've been single, I can really be very regimented and be productive. I like the idea of getting 1% better every day. Whether that be intellectually or physically, it's important that I do that.

“Also it's a form of meditation, training super-hard. On a normal day that I don't have any engineering commitments or something, I'll spend four hours at the gym. Cardio is my passion. I could just spend all day long doing cardio. My stepfather, when I was young, was a cyclist – a Tour de France rider, and a medalist at the Olympics. I grew up watching the cyclists, and when I lived in Italy I used to do so much cycling... like five, six, seven hours a day on the bike. I've always enjoyed that, just having a big engine, never getting tired – that was my thing.

“Now, I need to be a bit stronger for IndyCar, because it's just a more physically demanding car. So I'll spend, like, an hour of cardio minimum a day, probably half-hour to an hour of core, and then I'll do anything under a bar, weightlifting.  Every day, I kind of do what I feel I need. I don't have a coach. I completely listen to my body; what I feel like I need on the day. But I'm also very disciplined, too. So it's not as if I'm like, 'Oh, today I'm tired, so I'm not gonna do my usual amount of cardio.' I'm going to push myself. That's probably my weakness, actually – pushing myself 10% more than I should.

“Then sometimes I'll do random yoga classes with all the girls at my gym. So if I do three hours of training, I might top it off with a heat core circuit class for 45 minutes or whatever, and just do something random like that socially. That's always fun. And then I'll sauna every day as well, and ice bath.”

HE WAS CHASING THE WORLD RECORD FOR PLANKING

“I don't want to overdo planking, because I could just go forever if I wanted to. It's good just to do volume. So if I'm doing a seven-day training block, I probably won't do more than a half hour a day.

“Last year, I was trying to break the world record, and I was just overdoing my training. I was just doing hours at a time. And then I was also loading up with weight – I was putting, like, 45 pounds on my back and really pushing it. And that just that just fatigues the body way too much. So I think it's important to do just volume over the course of time, and that builds such a big strength platform. And then once you're fully rested, then you can really go for a world record attempt.

“The world record is nine and a half hours. My best is about four hours. Honestly, I'm a bit of a psycho. I just I love the pain of just working out. It's great. If I think about it, doing a four-hour plank is easier than lying on this couch for four hours. If I was motionless for four hours, I'd drive myself so crazy.”