MILLER: Why IndyCar's kids are alright

Our beloved, departed racing brother, Paul Newman, uttered a famous line in the classic Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid when he couldn't shake the pursuing posse: "Who are those guys?"

Which, after two races, is the battle cry in the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series. Carlos Munoz, Jack Hawksworth and Mikhail Aleshin have opened eyes, turned heads and impressed a lot of people.

Munoz had everyone talking a year ago after finishing second in the Indianapolis 500 and that conversation continued Sunday when he held off his boyhood hero Juan Montoya to take third in the 40th annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

But these other two rookies have come from nowhere and left us gob-smacked.

"Steve and I caught a lot of flak on the internet for taking Jack so that kinda makes us smile," says Bryan Herta, who along with co-owner Steve Newey signed Hawksworth (LEFT)  instead of Luca Filippi to drive the No. 98 BHA/BBM Curb-Agajanian Dallara-Honda. "But I can assure you that neither of us knew he was going to be this good, this fast."

In his debut at St. Pete he qualified eighth, ahead of sage street-racing types like Helio Castroneves, Sebastien Bourdais, Justin Wilson and Montoya. At Long Beach, he started an incredible fifth.

"Jack reminds me of Dario [Franchitti] when he joined Team Green," said veteran engineer Todd Malloy. "Even though everything is brand-new, he's not overwhelmed and he asks the right questions.

"Dario knew what he wanted and needed and so does this kid. Some of those things can be taught and some can't and he's very aware."

Unlike Hawksworth, who won a couple Indy Lights races in 2013, Moscow native Aleshin (pronounced A-lotion) was an alien to the United States, let alone Indy cars and the circuit.

"He'd never been to the States until he came over to sign with Sam (Schmidt) and the first time he saw California was the track walk on Thursday," said Townsend Bell of Aleshin (BELOW) on the NBC Sports Network telecast. "He's got no wife, no girlfriend, no family over here, just racing. He's at the shop every day where he studies data and film. Then he goes to lunch with his crew."

Team manager Rob Edwards says the 27-year-old Russian wasn't a total unknown to his team.

"We got some good feedback from Europe about him and they promised us we'd made a good choice," he remarks.

The ex-Formula Renault 3.5 Series champion has finished 12th and sixth in the Schmidt Peterson Hamilton SMP Dallara-Honda.

"He gets it," states Allen McDonald, who engineers Aleshin's car. "He's got desire, confidence, his feedback is great and he understands what it takes to go fast. He also works well with Simon [Pagenaud]."

The most common trait among the Brit, the Ruskie and the Colombian is their attitude. They're not intimidated by anyone or anything (yet) and seem unfailingly unflappable.

"I remember my first race in CART Indy cars," says Paul Tracy who began his booth work for NBCSN with a solid effort. It was Long Beach and I was scared s**tless of making a mistake or getting in the way of Mario or Michael [Andretti], Little Al [Unser], Emerson [Fittipaldi], [Danny] Sullivan or [Bobby] Rahal. These kids aren't like that. They've got an air of confidence I didn't have at their age."

Their racecraft also belies their ages. Munoz' pinch-hit role for Panther Racing last year at Toronto was even more impressive than his run at Indy and he's been up front both races in 2014 (started seventh at St. Pete, finished third in Long Beach). His boss, Michael Andretti, marvels at Carlos' collective set of skills.

"He's really good, knows when to be aggressive and is a helluva racer," says the guy who's third on the all-time Indy car winners list driver. "And he keeps improving every weekend."

Andretti believes Indy Lights deserves a lot of credit for this quick adaptation. "Say what you want about Indy Lights but it's a great training ground for these cars."

Obviously, two races don't make a career or season and it's likely neither Hawksworth nor Aleshin (LEFT) would have got the call without some sponsorship. But it's not too early to say that Schmidt and Herta made the right call (along with Michael).

"Mikhall is like a sponge and doesn't make the same mistake twice," says Schmidt. "He'd never done a rolling start before St. Pete so he started 15th and dropped back to 20th but he worked his way right back up there. And then last Sunday, he ran well again dodged some trouble and came home sixth. I'm very happy with our decision."

Herta marvels at Hawksworth's level of confidence and ability to adapt.

"The amount of things we throw at him is amazing, but he just soaks it all up and improves every time he goes out. He doesn't want a teammate because he says he thinks it's better if we all give our best effort to him.

"I know it's early but I think we may have hit the lottery."

SOME LONG BEACH AFTERTHOUGHTS

• Many of us commended Ed Carpenter for hiring Mike Conway to split the season with him for the Fuzzy's Vodka team and last year's Indy 500 pole-sitter deserved all the pats on the back he got following Conway's victory. It takes a lot to check your ego at the door and do the right thing for your team and that's exactly what Carpenter did. And he got an instant payback for his professional savvy on Sunday afternoon.
  
  
• Dan Gurney, the man responsible for Long Beach getting the green light in 1974 to go racing, celebrated his 83rd birthday on Sunday and got a visit from an old friend prior to the autograph session he did with Mario Andretti and Al Unser Jr.. A.J. Foyt, who teamed with Gurney to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1967, surprised his old Indy car rival and they shared some laughs about the good old days and how walking has become as tough as running Langhorne.
  
  
• Tracy did a nice job in his NBCSN debut, offering the best line of the day after Will Power wasn't given a penalty for spearing Pagenaud: "I wish Beaux [Barfield] would have been chief steward when I was driving," said the King of the Chrome Horn.
  
  
• My "hate-is-good" storyline will be alive and kicking in Alabama as Simon Pagenaud is furious with Will Power, Justin Wilson is ticked at Scott Dixon and half the field is mad at Ryan Hunter-Reay.