Robin Miller's Mailbag for December 19, presented by Honda Racing / HPD

Your questions for Robin should 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: All we have now is Formula E and it's horrible, it makes the taxi races look exciting. IndyCar has to start sooner. Give us some kind of exciting news to look forward to, please. Can't wait for St. Pete.

CAM in LA

RM: Well, you can catch the Chili Bowl on MavTV on Jan. 19 (and watch all the preliminary nights on RacinBoys.com for a nominal fee), and then a week later catch the Rolex 24 on NBC and NBCSN. The COTA spring training test follows in February, and we’ll have videos on RACER.com. I know it’s a long off-season, too long for sure, but we should be opening earlier by 2020.

Q: So after listening to Mark Miles on The Marshall Pruett Podcast, I have to say I don't really understand his thinking behind not pushing to go back to Cleveland. I'm sure you could find a sponsor – any IndyCar event in this region always succeeds. Show them Gateway, Mid-Ohio, Detroit, and of course IMS. People have told me there's no reason for another event in this area and that we already have enough, but in my opinion it doesn't hurt a bit to add another successful event to the calendar, no matter where. Also, with a schedule with only 17 races, I was very surprised to hear they would look into it if a race needed to be replaced. We should be pushing to get a race at Richmond, Cleveland, and Watkins Glen, then we can add Surfers Paradise, Brazil, and another Canada race. There are some gaps in the schedule and it ends too soon, so I don't understand his logic.

Kyle Cuthbertson

RM: I’ve preached Burke Lakefront Airport a couple times to Miles, but unless you saw that race in its heyday, you probably can’t understand what a gem it was, from sightlines, to enthusiastic crowds, to great racing. I imagine if Honda decided to switch its title sponsorship from Mid-Ohio to Cleveland then it could happen in a heartbeat, but you would still need a promoter, and I imagine Savoree-Green would be interested. A few years ago, a longtime racer and friend of mine (Gene Haskett) pitched Sherman-Williams on bringing back Cleveland, but the paint company opted to go with the 100th Indy 500 instead of Cleveland to celebrate its 150th birthday. Mike Lanigan has said repeatedly he’d be interested in promoting Cleveland again with a good title sponsor but he’s not actively seeking one, so somebody would have to bring it to him. There is a school of thought that IndyCar already has too many races in the Midwest, to which my response is: when CART was on top of the world it ran Michigan, Milwaukee, Road America, Detroit, Mid-Ohio, Cleveland and St. Louis, and packed ‘em in because that’s our fan base – the Heartland. But I do think we’ll have 20 races by 2020, and that’s perfect.

How visible is IndyCar in the karting world? More or less so than MLB in little league? NFL and Pee Wee?  It also seems there are already in place a ladder system from karts to open-wheel cars, including F4, which Eduardo Barrichello has moved up to. Are they all F1 dreamers? How about Hunter McElrea winning the MRTI Shootout and participating in USF2000 next year? I know there isn’t a huge following, but each of these drivers have family and friends and appear to be using social media in a positive way.

Mike in Avon

RM: The Road to Indy doesn’t get a lot of national publicity but much more than karting, and I’m not sure if IndyCar even resonates in karting’s world. I went to Vegas for the SKUZA Nationals a decade ago and watched Michael Schumacher, Dan Wheldon and Buddy Rice compete, but other than SPEED and a story in the local Vegas paper, there wasn’t much coverage outside the karting magazines. Between midgets, sprints, super-modifieds, karting and all the formula series there are thousands and thousands of spectators, but how many of them are IndyCar fans? And how do you get an F2000 champion to keep advancing to IndyCar and earn a following? Or how does a karting star make it to cars without a big backer? It was easy in the ‘50s and ‘60s – drivers ran USAC and advanced if they had the talent (and sometimes even if they didn’t), and we followed them all the way. I have no idea how to grow IndyCar fans through grassroots because there are so many options. I do think Colton Herta and Pato O’Ward have generated some interest due to their age and abilities, but maybe IndyCar needs a scholarship tied to karting to reward a kid and move he or she up.

Q: I am hoping you can help me get my son on the right path. He just recently got into IndyCar. I’ve been a lifelong fan and I brought him to the track (Road America) for the first time two years ago, and he’s absolutely hooked. He surprised me recently by saying he’d love to be an engineer in IndyCar. He wants to be a pit wall mechanic and work on the cars (most especially a tire changer during race pit stops!), but he loves the idea of building and designing them. I thought for sure he’d want to be a racer, but no matter the route he wants to go, I’d love to see him on the path to IndyCar. He starts high school next year and I want to set him on the right path in both high school and eventually college. Did you know what courses he should look for and what colleges are best suited to take him towards his dream of working for an IndyCar team as an engineer or mechanic?

Erik S, Oswego, IL

RM: I defer to Marshall, who was a mechanic/engineer before embarking on reporting, shooting pictures, making videos and doing podcasts:

“Your son will want to focus on math and physics if engineering is the goal, and the more computer science knowledge he can gain, the better. And provided there's some form of auto shop class (or similar) at his school, or anything that involves assembly, disassembly, and problem solving, he'd be on the fast track to his desired role. Another important thing to pursue: Formula SAE teams in the region. It's mostly a college-level endeavor, but if he wants to add practical knowledge to the theoretic he's receiving in school, spending time with a school-age race car design and competition program would be a huge advantage. A final recommendation that could be school-based or extracurricular for him is a journalism class or theater, or whatever else what will help him to learn the nuances of interpersonal communication. Being able to form fast bonds with drivers and listen to their needs on chassis setup, and how to ask the right questions – to interview their drivers, basically – to get the most useful feedback is often overlooked as a race engineering skill. Without the ability to connect with others, including crew chiefs and mechanics, a race engineer is fairly useless. Race car engineering, as every engineer will tell you, is less about the parts and pieces and software, and more about knowing how they all work together so you can solve the problem faster than your rivals. Race engineering is problems solving, using the car, data systems, and driver input.”

Might a new sponsor for Long Beach be on the horizon? Image by Nelson/LAT

Q: Has there been any progress in the search for a title sponsor for Long Beach? Also, with rumors of A.J. Foyt joining Andretti Autosport and looking to branch into Indy Lights, are there any other major teams that at least have a plausible chance of doing the same?

Garrett from Reno

RM: Jim Michaelian says he’s talking with people, and I would imagine something breaks by January because Long Beach is a valuable commodity. Haven’t heard anyone else talk about doing Lights; be nice to get Sam Schmidt back and hopefully keep Pelfrey up and running.

Q: Suffering through winter with only good memories of the 2018 series, I recently reread the stories of the Whittington brothers and Randy Lanier. So with money so tight for drivers wanting to get on a good team – or any team – what safeguards does IndyCar have to keep drug money out?

Doug Parker

RM: There’s no system of checks and balances to keep drug money out of IndyCar racing to my knowledge. When the Whittington brothers would pay $45,000 in cash for a Cosworth, obviously we all figured something was going on besides “good business.” I played golf with Don Whittington once and asked him how they made all their money. “We sell drugs,” he said with a straight face and then started laughing. “That’s what everybody thinks, isn’t it?” I said well, yes, and then he talked about trailer parks and other investments. There was a team called Pacific Coast Racing that paid in cash out of paper bags, and everybody snickered, but they all took the money. And there was a team owned by a former narc that supposedly used confiscated drug money to run Indianapolis, but how could you prove it?

Q: I purchased four reserved tickets for three days at COTA plus a parking pass and everything was $540, so to me that is a steal, and yet I hear people complaining about the ticket prices. I think it is a great deal considering I went to the F1 race for one day, sat in the rain half the day, walked on mud and straw to visit the port-o-potties. On the plus side, Elton John was worth it, and I was wearing my Indy 500 lanyard and sat in the VIP section just to prove I'm still Hoosier enough. I'm glad you’re feeling better; I really enjoy reading your column. I always tell people when you come from a State shaped like a boot, the one place you will fit in is Texas.

Eric Merrill

RM: Thanks for the update and kind words. Those prices sound pretty reasonable to me.

Q: I am so glad to see you back on the Mailbag, and the video with Will Power was great, and the Christmas book list was excellent. I liked it when you took your hat off; there is nothing like a shaved head – I have had that for years and it gives you character. I just talked to Laguna Seca for a Sept. 22 general admission ticket: it's $100.00 plus $10.00 handling fee. That is way too much, and totally out of line. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Barney Colburn

RM: Now that seems way too steep for one day, but I just went on the Weather Tech Raceway website and they’re selling a three-day GA/paddock pass for $160 and that’s pretty reasonable. Friday is $25 and Saturday $60, and for the IndyCar test on Feb. 8 you can go for $20, so that’s all good. Thanks Barney.

Q: I’ve decided to bite the bullet this year and make the trip from Indy to Birmingham for the Grand Prix. Any advice on good seats?

Danny Wampler

RM: My advice would be buy the GA/paddock ticket and just roam around the hillsides, because there are so many cool views.

Q: In 2014, I was on my way back from a job interview with American Honda in Torrance when I saw you walking out of the jet bridge at LAX. I stopped you and just wanted to shake your hand at-the-time, because I’ve always followed you regardless of the form of media. I ended up getting the job, and have been with American Honda since. Sure I’d like to be at HPD *nudge-nudge, wink-wink, Art* but I must be content rallying my Element and running the Honda Power Equipment Karting Team from here in the Atlanta area in the meantime. That being said, with Michelin’s new reworking/overhaul of Road Atlanta, will someone please make a push for IndyCar to run here? Please? Wouldn’t it be grand to have a Firestone-sponsored event at a Michelin-branded facility?

Andy Loscavio, Alpharetta, GA

RM: I think if they widened certain parts of the track and improved a couple run-off areas then IndyCar would certainly take a good, hard look at Road Atlanta. It’s a fabulous layout, and I think it would draw. I’ll tell Art you want to be transferred.

Best of the best at the Brickyard? Image by IMS

Q: So glad to see you're feeling better! In last week's Mailbag there was a question about Dixon and great Indy drivers. You listed the top all-time drivers at Indy as A.J, Vuky, Parnelli, and a few others.  I had no issue with your list – for one, I'm glad you didn't just list recent drivers like you see so often. I admire A.J like there's no tomorrow, but does he really deserve to be above Vuky at Indy? Vukovich led 150 laps in just his second 500, only to have a mechanical failure with eight laps to go, won in dominant fashion in his third and fourth race, and was en route to winning three in a row when he got tragically caught up in the wreck that killed him. He led something like 71% of laps that he drove in competition in the 500; I don't think anyone has ever come close to that. He could have very easily won four in a row, and all of this in a time when the driver was a big part of the equation. A.J. raced and won at Indy in roadsters with cast-iron tires like Vuky did, but also in rear-engine cars and cars with big wings. But as dominant as A.J. was in the ‘60s, he didn't approach Vuky's dominance. Do you think A.J should be above Vuky due to Vuky's relatively short career at Indy? Want to rethink your list?

Mike Bray, Flower Mound, TX

RM: I didn’t rank anybody, I just listed the best guys from what I’ve watched or read about. I think it’s hard not to rate Vuky as the best ever at Indy, and A.J. Watson once said: “Vuky, Parnelli and Troy Ruttman are the three best I’ve ever seen at Indianapolis, but I’m not going to rank them.” Are Mears, Al Unser and Super Tex just as good? Stats make a pretty good argument, but Michael Andretti led 431 laps and never won, so should he be in the conversation? Mario led one more lap than Foyt; is he one of the best? Ted Horn never won but never ran worse than fourth in his final nine starts, what about his pedigree? Wilbur Shaw and Louie Meyer are both worthy of being mentioned with the best, and Bobby Unser won in three different decades. It’s always a good debate and there is no right or wrong answer, but Vuky’s record is in a league of its own.

Q: Totally awesome to see you back! Love reading and watching all your stuff. Just finished "The Perfect Car" by John Barnard, and the section dealing with Jim Hall and the Chaparral 2K. Some of it jives with "Chevrolet = Racing?" by Paul van Valkenburgh on some of the engineering done by other people at Chaparral other than Jim Hall. Got any insights into the Chaparral 2K team that ran Indy and the USAC races?

Greg Williams, Apache Junction, Arizona

RM: After Johnny Rutherford won the 1980 Indy 500 in Jim Hall’s Pennzoil Chaparral, I wrote in the Indy Star that the car was designed by John Barnard and built in England by B.S. Fabrications. That next morning in Gasoline Alley, Hall confronted me with a copy of my story and angrily wondered where I got my information. I said something like, c’mon Jim, you know the truth, and he countered by saying that car was designed and built by Chaparral Racing. So we didn’t speak for five years, but the next week at Milwaukee, Al Unser thanked me for writing that story. I asked why, and he said that he quit the best ride in IndyCar after 1979 because he was mortified that Barnard wasn’t given one mention or any credit. That really elevated Big Al with me. As for Hall, he was a good driver with an engineering mind who was always thinking outside the box and created some of the most memorable sports cars of all time, but for some reason had trouble giving others credit.

Q: I am a huge IndyCar fan, always have been. My favorite race was Nigel pushing the car to the finish line. I live near Barber, so getting to see the product live every year has been a blessing. Heard recently that you've had a health scare. I’m 15 years out from a cancer that recurred, but hasn’t reared its ugly head for a while. It will change you, but not in every way that’s bad. I find that I’m kinder to everyone, and have more patience for little things that irritate. The main reason I write is to express gratitude to you for being very good at what you do. Enthusiasm helps, but as they say around here, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Watching and reading your stuff is like having a buddy who is really into sharing.

William Tate

RM: Thanks for the backstory and kind words William, but I have to confess that cancer hasn’t made me any nicer or more patient. I’m still an SOB behind the wheel with zero tolerance for the morons that dot our highways, and I’m only kind to the about-two-dozen people I like. But I do have an appreciation for how lucky I’ve been to get to stooge on Indy cars, race midgets, write about the sport I love for the past 50 years, and become friends with my heroes like A.J., Mario, Parnelli, Uncle Bobby and Daniel Sexton Gurney. Nobody has had a better life than me, and my cancer is treatable, so I probably have another good 10 years thanks to stem cell, so I’ve also been lucky in health. Now, if could only pick an NFL game.

Q: Time to lean on some people for PR. The New Yorker, yes – that midtown, upper-nose magazine read by people who don’t drive – had a short article in the snob column about Steinbrenner IV going racing. Full throttle, area human interest. Nothing technical for people who have drivers and roomy backseats, Uber, ride things with really small wheels, or daily ride underground wagons. OMG, don’t let your heart skip a beat. No one at an unnamed corner in Indiana had their hand in it. Here's the link.

It's time Roger Penske leaned on his son, Jay Penske owner of Penske Media and one-time IndyCar team owner now traveling with a criminal gang known as Formula E.

Hope this news didn’t set your health back.

Redding Finney, who sometimes rides underground wagons

RM: I saw that, and all the great press George Michael IV got from the New York papers on his media blitz through Manhattan. I just hope it generated enough interest to get him some sponsors.

Q: Enjoyed your video on books to put on my Christmas list. Thought I would share my grandfather’s website with you. Landy Scott was the 1947 Badget Midget Champion. My uncle put together a cool site that is full of great old pics of 40s and 50s midget racing. I hope you enjoy it. Look forward to seeing you at Road America again.

Jason Scott, Green Bay, WI

RM: Very cool, thanks for sharing. Badger midgets were competitive as hell, and there’s no finer midget track than Angel Park.