The Mailbag for November 21, presented by Honda Racing / HPD

Your questions for Robin should be sent to millersmailbag@racer.com. Robin is currently taking a short break while he undergoes medical treatment, however Marshall Pruett will be available to answer your questions until Robin's return.

Q: Robin – I just finished my ritual of checking for The Mailbag, and read your update and comments about how people want to stay connected. We have met several times and I have always wanted to share with you my connection story.

First of all, I grew up in Indy, and started going to the track when I was in my teens. I had friends who raced at the Speedrome and the 5/8 oval at IRP. I started working at the track as a paramedic in 1982, started on the IMS Safety Team in 1991, and started traveling when the split occurred with the IRL Safety Team. Lom Bromley and Davey Hollander were good friends, and we always stayed in contact including working together at the first F1 race at Austin. It was the first time we had a joint venture between the two teams. In January of this year I was named the Manager of the AMR IndyCar Safety Team.

In the 70’s we were both employed by the Indianapolis Star and Indianapolis News. I was a paper carrier with a large route on the southeast side of Indy. If you remember the routine back then, the carriers would get the Sunday inserts on Saturday, and then after midnight we would get the front sections with a second delivery, including the sports section. We would then spend hours stuffing the inserts prior to starting our delivery routes. In the early hours of each Sunday morning, prior to stuffing the inserts, I would grab one of the freshly printed sports sections and look for the image of the racing helmet and your column. It was the only source of racing news an inner-city boy had at the time. I looked forward to those early Sunday morning nuggets of racing.

A few weeks ago I was checking into  RACER.com and didn’t find the Mailbag. The message about your illness and the expected break caught me off guard.  It was good getting the update today, and to hear that your treatments will be few. I have always enjoyed your columns, even when you have been critical of our team. It is good to hear the good and the bad, and we do respect your opinion.

Please focus on kicking your cancer’s ass. If need anything please do not hesitate in asking.  You have been, and are, a part of this big racing family.

Take care, and God bless.

Tim Baughman

MP: Figured we should open this week’s Mailbag with a couple of heartfelt emails that were received. I mentioned this on social media last week, and it bears repeating: love it or hate it (funny how some who claim to hate it also read it with alarming frequency), Robin and his Mailbag are absolute institutions in IndyCar. I often think of all the series, CEOs, teams, manufacturers, and drivers who’ve come and gone while our man Miller has been on the scene, and the same is true for the weekly platform he’s given to open-wheel fans. In fighting cancer for more than a year, he – and we – have come to appreciate how much of a connection exists in both directions.

Q: Get well soon, Robin!  Your Mailbag has been a big part of my weekly routine for many years, and your appearances with Dave Despain on Wind Tunnel were the highlight of the show (next to the Nicky Hayden and Travis Pastrana appearances ... because those guys were/are much cooler than you!). I really do believe that this forum has kept the IndyCar community tied together through some bumpy times in the sport, and I’m glad to see we’re in better times again. You’re always great with my sons at Mid-Ohio as well. Wishing you a speedy recovery, you old curmudgeon!

Eric Stoller

Columbus, Ohio

MP: That seems ripe for a t-shirt, Eric. “Miller! You old curmudgeon!” Would be a best-seller, I reckon. All proceeds would go towards securing lifetime supplies of his two dietary staples: Pepsi and candy.

That's NOT Dale Coyne on the right. Image by Hone/LAT

Q: Robin / Marshall: You guys have regularly talked up young Pietro Fittipaldi this year and I recently saw that he has been signed to a deal with Haas F1. Steiner stated that Fittipaldi will play a key role in its testing plans and upgraded simulator program in 2019. My understanding is that the role of the simulator pilot is pretty intensive. Does that mean that we won't see Pietro back in an IndyCar? What have you heard?

Royal M. Richardson

MP: I briefly chatted with Pietro after the announcement, and it’s safe to say he wants to continue racing in IndyCar. Things get a bit tricky with the Haas angle, though – he needs to be careful and avoid giving the impression that IndyCar is a priority or distraction.

My guess at this point is we’ll see him searching for a good Indy 500 ride, although few are left that don’t come with ridiculous price tags. He missed the 500 in May due to injury, so it’s an unresolved matter. And where there are gaps in the F1 calendar that would allow a few odd races in IndyCar, we could also see him pop up. F1’s been his dream all along, so now that he has the door cracked open with Haas, I think IndyCar will take a backseat, as it should.

Q: Last week, President Trump released the names of those who will be awarded with The Presidential Medal Of Freedom. The list did not include the following: A.J.Foyt, Richard Petty, Mario Andretti, Parnelli Jones, Dan Gurney, and Bobby Unser. This country doesn't do justice to racing drivers. These men are icons in the sport of auto racing, and need to be given their props.

Next year is the 50th anniversary of a year of upsets and surprises in auto racing. In a year that saw Woodstock, the moon landings, and the N.Y. Jets and Mets become kings in their sport, 1969 was a good year for our sport: LeeRoy Yarbrough won the Daytona 500; Mark Donahue and Chuck Parsons won the 24 Hours of Daytona driving a Lola; Jacky Ickx and Jackie Oliver won at Sebring and LeMans, in a Ford GT40 that had seen better days; Mario Andretti, having crashed his Lotus practicing for the Indy 500, won it in a car that was written off. Lastly, Sir Jackie Stewart, won the first of his three F1 titles. I hope you have a nice Thanksgiving and get a chance to see some good racing. Thank you for your time.

Jeff Gray

MP: Can’t argue with the notion that our racing heroes and legends are often forgotten behind legions of their stick-and-ball counterparts. President Trump, and his predecessors, have not looked to racing, barring George H. W. Bush bestowing the award to Richard Petty in 1992, as a worthy sector of sports for consideration. My guess is that with many of the names you’ve listed, it would take a president with an affinity for IndyCar to look beyond NASCAR for options. Given Mr. Trump’s rocky encounter with the Speedway after his Indy 500 pace car driving duties went sideways earlier in the decade, and his fondness for stock car racing, future awards might not include Gurneys and Unsers and so on.

Q: With McLaren jumping into the deep end of the Indy 500 as a solo act, is there a chance that they might also run in the Indy Grand Prix to sharpen their skills and get used to the IndyCar race environment , such as pit stops, race day, etc.?

I’d like to see how Fernando would measure up to the likes of Willy P, Dixie, JoNew, etc. on a road course. Maybe he might even consider doing some other road courses on the schedule if he enjoyed himself the way he enjoyed all the excitement and festivities of the 500 last year. He claimed to have had a blast testing at Birmingham. I think if he tried his hand at Road America, he’d swallow it hook, line and sinker, and we could reel him into the IndyCar boat for awhile. Think there’s a chance?

P.S., I always enjoy yours and Robin’s race summaries on Facebook. Very entertaining.

Doug Wright

Murrieta, CA.

MP: Thanks, Doug. We have a simple formula: put two idiots in front of a camera and you’ll always have two people to make you feel better about yourself.

On the GP of Indy, that’s my recommendation. Fernando is a fickle cat; he has a lifetime of money in the bank, wants to have fun once his F1gig is up, but doesn’t appear to want to make a heavy commitment that would alter his comfortable world. He does what he wants, when he wants it, and appears impervious to outside influences. It makes any wishes we might have to hold onto the guy wishful thinking.

I like your idea about Elkhart; if there’s one event that would hook Fernando, it’s Road America. And if, by chance, he didn’t want to cruise the campgrounds and chill, or hit the various food options, we’d know he isn’t one of us.

Q: Cancer has touched us all, some in more direct ways than others. I’m praying for a full and speedy recovery for both Mrs. Pruett and Robin.

My question pertains to the format for qualifying for the Indy 500 in 2019.  2018 was a bit of a disaster. If we have 37 or 38 real entries, I think they should revisit setting the front row on Saturday and making Sunday bump day. Yes, pole position is exciting. It is not nearly as exciting as the potential for one of the stars to miss the show, or a scrappy small team trying to claw their way in. Knowing that NBC will undoubtedly give qualifying the coverage it deserves, I hope IndyCar is considering its options and able to build on the positives represented by a larger car count than we have seen in years.

Ryan in West Michigan

MP: Preaching to the choir here, Ryan. Robin and I have bent many ears at IndyCar in person, and in print, calling for a return to Pole-on-Saturday and Rest-of-the-field-on-Sunday. And we’ve both been told the series likes the current format and plans to keep it. That’s all you can do. Offer input, state your case, and respect the response that is given. Now, does that mean we won’t take a few more runs at it? Not at all...

"Lemme tell you how they treat bee stings..." Image by Levitt/LAT

Q: Well, the racers decided to see Robin at the local hospital to check on his recovery...

BIG AL: I'm just so tickled to be here.

A.J.: Well that’s quite true. What’s that buzzing sound? Are those bees? Sneva, are you making noises behind my ear?

SNEVA: A.J., I was always in front of you, not behind you.

A.J.: Not in ’77. And besides, you couldn't beat a herd of turtles

GORDY: How you feelin’ Robin? Do you need that cord plugged in the wall behind your bed? I gotta charge my earplug.

ROBIN: Feel free, that's clear stuff anyway.

BOBBY: Do we get a free meal here? I've got be in bed by 8. Robin, you going to drink that milk?

EMMO: I've got orange juice

BIG AL: I wonder if those wheelchairs are fast…

BOBBY: Well I'll tell ya... wait, my straw doesn’t bend. How can you have a straw that doesn’t bend?

MARIO: I've never needed a straw that bends in my life. Wait, who’s that tall blonde nurse? Is that Linda? I'll be right back. ‘Hey Linda, can I have a slow dance?’

LINDA: Hi ya all, who needs a shifter?

ALL: ME,ME,ME,ME,ME,ME.

BIG AL: Those wheelchairs in the hallway look fast.

PARNELLI: They're fast and quiet like I was in ‘67

SNEVA: Watch out for Parnelli, he'll probably drop some oil.

PARNELLI: Who said that? I'll give him a "Hurts Donut"

BIG AL: I'll take a donut

PARNELLI: **POW** Hurts, don't it?

GORDY: I'm turning around in circles in this thing.

SNEVA: Take your foot off the wheelbrake.

GORDY: Nice shiner, Sneva.

MARIO: Give me the new one. I could beat you all.

BOBBY: Now I've tested these things, and they need teeny tiny adjustments.

A.J.: These things are easy to drive long as Coogan's out of my way.

SNEVA: Just like a bulldozer, right A.J.?

AJ: Eat my dust, Sneva.

SNEVA: We're on carpet here, Tex

NURSE RACHET: Who are all of you?

BOBBY: We're just checkin’ on Robin.

NURSE RACHET: Shut up! All of you get out.

BOBBY: Can I take that bowl of soup, Robin?

ROBIN: Sure, I can't read those letters in the bowl anyway.

MARIO: Did we ever meet in Trenton?

NURSE RACHET: Get out, all of you, and leave those wheelchairs alone.

BIG AL: Golly jeez, those are fun to drive.

AJ: My bulldozer is prettier than you.

NURSE RACHET: Mr. Miller, who unplugged your morphine machine?

GORDY: See ya. Where’s my helmet?

SNEVA: Parnelli's polishing it for you.

PARNELLI: How about another donut, Sneva?

BOBBY: Will somebody stamp my parking pass?

Get well, Robin.

Michael Polver

MP: The scariest part is how you know the exact voices in Robin’s head, and how they spend most of the day talking to each other.