Robin Miller's Mailbag for November 16, presented by Honda Racing / HPD

Your questions for Robin should continue to be sent to millersmailbag@racer.com We cannot guarantee we’ll publish all your questions and answers, but Robin will reply to you. And if you have a question about the technology side of racing, Robin will pass these on to Marshall Pruett and he will also answer here.

Q: I am a huge fan of IndyCar racing and it seems to me that the sport is in pretty good shape right now compared to years past. And there are so many good drivers looking at IndyCar who have talent, money, or both. Why can't we get more cars on the grid? It seems like a missed opportunity for IndyCar. Why can't Chevy and Honda step up and provide more engines? Why do one-car teams even exist, with so many opportunities to expand and improve their programs? It seems like we could have 28 solid cars on the grid if the owners, engine manufacturers, and IndyCar got together in a room to sort this out. Just frustrating.

Fernando, Torrance, CA

RM: A couple schools of thought on this one. NASCAR, with its billions, would likely make sure its Xfinity champ had a Cup ride for at least a couple seasons, and it has also helped prop up teams in trouble. IndyCar got rid of its purses, per se, to put that money into the Leader's Circle, which obviously is a way to help keep teams on the grid. However, there is no incentive for a new owner in IndyCar, because he can't get a Leader's Circle membership and he certainly can't sustain himself on the purses.

The Indy Lights' champ is only guaranteed three races and Sage Karam, Gabby Chaves and Spencer Pigot are currently talented, unemployed [ED: in IndyCar], ex-Lights champs who are scrambling to try and find money to keep going. IndyCar needs to have some kind of $2 million carrot to entice a sports car team to jump but, of course, we have the historical blunder of encouraging Mike Shank to buy a car (which he did) but then not being able to get him an engine. Honda and Chevy would supply more (I think Honda will have at least 13 in 2017) if the demand was there, but the economics of IndyCar aren't very appealing. And you don't need 28 cars to put on a good show, IndyCar has had some dandies lately with only 22, but you damn sure need more than nine car owners.

Q: With next season the last for the current chassis, we won't see any new ownership in 2017. So are there any efforts underway by IndyCar to recruit new owners for 2018? I understand money is tight everywhere. Just really sad to see all of these talented young drivers on the sidelines because of no seats being available. So have you heard any rumors, outside of those previously reported, who might want to get involved in the future, or any who might be in the "kicking the tires" stage? What about previous owners, like Bachelart or Walker or any others? Whatever happened to Grace Motorsport?

Indy Jim

RM: Trevor Carlin could replace Kevin Kalkhoven in 2017 but he's the only potential candidate I know of for next season. Derrick Walker recently sold his shop and would be keen to help manage a team, but his car owner days are probably over. I'd like to see IndyCar hire him to recruit new owners. Grace has vanished.

Q: Is there any update on KVSH or KV Racing? I read a while ago that Kevin Kalkoven indicated that he was moving to Florida. Is he merging with Carlin? What of Jimmy Vasser if so? Finally, with Max Chilton not yet confirmed at CGR, is there a possibility Max takes his sponsor to KV/Carlin since Max's father reportedly has a stake at Carlin, makes sense. Glad to see Conor Daly in fold at Foyt, here is hoping that Pigot and Karam get a ride.

John Begovic

RM: Marshall Pruett has been working on the KV story so stay tuned on RACER.com. Originally, we thought the Chilton/Carlin connection was perfect for a new team and it still could be, but maybe not until 2018. Can't speak for Vasser's plans but I'm pretty sure he's not moving to Florida (smile).

 

Q: I know there is a huge fan base that loves racing in Mexico. While the series does not have an Adrian Fernandez in the bigs at the moment, it does have young Pato O'Ward and Jorge Cevallos in the Mazda Road to Indy. Both could end up in Indy Lights in 2017. Additionally, there are a number of good Mexicans in IMSA, like Jose Gutierrez – another former MRTI driver and the recent winner at Petit Le Mans, driving with Robert Alon and Tom Kimber-Smith for PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports in the PC class.

IMSA and IndyCar would do themselves a great favor by cobbling together a joint IndyCar/sports car weekend in Mexico. It's long overdue for all of North America to enjoy these great series. Make it a complete race weekend, with the big cars and all the support series from both the MRTI and the Mazda Road to 24. With the recent tie-in of MX-5 Cup to IndyCar race weekends, this seem to me to be a great idea.

Mark, Austin Texas

RM: The F1 crowd in Mexico City was impressive because of Sergio Perez and Esteban Gutierrez (much like the CART turnout in 2002 and 2003 for Fernandez, Michel Jourdain and Mario Dominguez), so the only way I would take IndyCar back is to make sure Gutierrez (ABOVE) had a ride. (He's out at Haas). The kids in the support races are nice but you've got to have a big name to make it work, and those two F1 drivers are all Mexico cares about at the moment. But I like your idea.

Q: For a while I have been concerned about the lack of new teams in IndyCar, and subsequently the car count at races. Each year we watch the Silly Season reviews to see what will be on the grid next year. The three main teams put their usual four cars up and the little teams fill the rest.

In the last year or two, however, there has been a difference. Due, I'm sure, to economic considerations, the smaller teams are consolidating. Instead of two or three cars, there are now one or two. Last year, instead of four Andretti cars and one Herta, they joined forces and now field a total of four cars. This year there has been talk of Carlin forming an IndyCar team, but now the talk is that he may join with KV. Again the new team merges with an older one, and the result is no gain in cars on the grid. I understand that without this consolidation, the car count may go down anyway, but I am concerned that IndyCar is doing nothing to boost start-up or struggling teams upon whom they depend.

The Leader's Circle funding model is fine for the existing teams, but does not address new teams and their source of funding. It seems that very few billionaires are interested in IndyCar racing, and the multi-millionaires out there who are need help. IndyCar must have made a bundle from the sold-out crowd at the 500 this year. Isn't it time to re-invest some of that into some new teams?

Keith, Maple Ridge, BC, Canada

RM: I addressed this in an earlier question but, yes, IndyCar must take an active part in finding new car owners and giving them a financial incentive. The scary part is that currently there are nine owners and Kevin Kalkhoven potentially wants out, so maybe Trevor Carlin takes his place. But you have three men (Roger Penske, Chip Ganassi and Michael Andretti) that own half of the field, and that's not healthy. As I stated, IndyCar has put on some great racing with 22 cars so it doesn't need 28 or 30, but a couple of new, younger owners are imperative down the road. Mark Miles' job is to make as much money as possible for Hulman & Company and that probably doesn't include spending any on new teams, but it's a necessary investment.

 

Q: The wife and I usually go to Phoenix every year around March-April, so we were excited to attend last year's IndyCar race. Some comments and questions:

Positive:

1) The racing was far better in person than on TV. For instance, RHR's start and restarts were something to behold. Most fans I overheard stated how blown away they were by the overall racing, even if there weren't a lot of lead changes up front.

2) The promotion team really went out of its way to please the fans who purchased Allison Suite tickets. They brought in the likes Billy Boat, Lynn St. James, Dick Simon, Max Papis, and Arie Luyendyk for question and answer sessions for fans sitting in those areas. Although it must be sadly pointed out that not all the so-called "fans" in the suites realized the legends with whom they were interacting, I at least got to ask Arie if he really considered taking off the back wing the day he set the speed record at Indy.

Negatives:

Only one – The parking was atrocious. Not only were those with the suite tickets not ushered to the preferred parking they had paid for, but there was absolutely no parking space marking or lighting (this for a race ending well after dark). Worse still, there was virtually no traffic direction to exit the facility. It took us upwards of 90+ minutes to finally get out. I've attended plenty of races and stick and ball events, and this was the worst egress I've ever witnessed for any event. Do you know if the promoter(s) are planning to address the parking situation? It will affect my decision to renew my tickets.

Matt, California

RM: Here's a direct response from PIR president Bryan Sperber:

"It sounds like Matt had a terrible experience with parking and egress. With respect to the parking situation, this is literally the first any of us have heard of that situation. We are following up with our parking company to get to the bottom of that. With post-race lighting, we are adding light towers for next year's event. That should greatly enhance the night-time visibility exiting the parking lots.

"Egress in general. That evening, we experienced an issue at one particular intersection (I-10/Avondale Blvd). We develop a traffic plan with law enforcement and others well before any race at Phoenix Raceway. Unfortunately, the LE officers at that location chose to abandon their post well before the time in which they were scheduled to be there to manage traffic. This caused a significant back up that had a negative impact on our egress. We have been assured that this will not happen again. To their credit, things went very smoothly there this past weekend during our egress from the NASCAR Can Am 500. So, we believe that this issue has been permanently resolved. We hope Matt will return for next year's race, and if he has any questions, please give us a call."

Q: I know first hand how hot it can get while sitting in bleachers at oval races. Certainly enough to make casual fans lose interest in attending races. IMS has some shaded seats along the front straight, but the support posts for the roof make seeing any distance down the straight impossible. As you look to either side, the posts form a 'wall' that you cannot see through.

This year I noticed that several F1 tracks have similar shade producing structures/roofs, but these have no support posts that ruin the view from seats. Has IMS, or other tracks, considered building more of these type of structures (without support posts)? I would gladly pay more for my seat if I knew it would be in the shade without sacrificing a good view of the race.

Kyle in Raleigh

RM: A response from IMS president Doug Boles:

"One thing we know sells seats in all sporting events is shade. And, we have looked at (and computer modeled) many ways to add shade to IMS. We have several challenges at IMS. We had looked at shading Turn 4, for example, but the way IMS is laid out in order to not block views from other seats (even without posts), sections the roof had to be built so high that it effectively would not provide shade.

"Best real life example is, Turn 1 currently has E Penthouse that stops short of all the way through Turn 1, and there is a section of E Paddock that is uncovered. This was done because if you carry the roof and E Penthouse all the way to SW Vista, the top third of SW vista would have an obstructed view of Turn 1. It is this way all the way around the track if we wanted shade.

"As for the roofing structures with no posts, it is extremely cost-prohibitive to construct the roof structure because we have to account for snow and wind loads. Even tho we don't run in the winter, we still must meet these construction code requirements. Warm climates (like Abu Dhabi) also have used the mesh like materials instead of steel roofing like we have here at IMS."

 

Q: I was thrilled to see IndyCar moving to the Champ Car-style bodywork and aero! I and pretty much all of your readers, despise the rear wheel bumpers and excessive aero that makes the IndyCars look like WEC prototypes. This is a fantastic move, and I wish it was happening this year. Any ideas on the cost savings to the teams with these packages, and where will development sit with the "new"cars? Will IndyCar open up to different engine types so more manufacturers will be able to consider the series?

As it's forced induction now, you could allow any engine displacement with forced induction and do a BoP of crank HP. Develop on engine efficiency, fuel, limited aero. This should really open up the gates rather than locking manufacturer's into a locked-down engine spec that would be totally counter to their road cars, or engines in other racing series that could cross over. Your thoughts?

Brent Logero, Denver, CO

RM: IndyCar hasn't announced which company will build the new aero kit and I have no idea of the price tag. The current engine specs are being used to entice a third manufacturer ,so I don't see it changing any time soon but my thoughts are that of the 2018 Indy car can look more like the 2007 Champ Car (ABOVE), that's a good thing.

Q: OK, this may be a dumb question, but here goes: have you ever seen a square oval race track? We have ovals, rectangular ovals, D-ovals and even a famous tri-oval, but what about a two to two-and-a-half mile-long square?

Gary Nelson, Flagstaff, AZ

RM: Not to my knowledge. The Caesar's Palace layout for the CART race in 1984 (won by Tom Sneva) was a modified oval from the old road course in the parking lot and it might be the closest.

Q: How do you think the election of Donald Trump will affect IndyCar?

Brad E., San Francisco

RM: Mario Andretti gave him a ride in the two-seater in Manhattan, and I think Trump once considered building a racetrack so at least he knows IndyCar exists. But I don't see any real effect.