Robin Miller's Mailbag for November 18, presented by Honda Racing/HPD

Questions for Robin can be sent to millersmailbag@racer.com. Due to the high volume of questions received, we can’t always guarantee that your letter will be printed, but Robin will get to as many as he can. Published questions have been edited for clarity. Views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of RACER or Honda/HPD.

Q: While watching the 12 Hours of Sebring this past weekend, I couldn’t help but notice all the familiar names from the Road to Indy system that never quite made it to IndyCar. In your opinion, if you could choose only one from the modern era, who is the one driver from the Road to Indy you felt deserved and earned a shot in an IndyCar but never got it?

Steve R.

RM: That would be a tie between David Empringham and Lee Bentham. Empringham won back-to-back Formula Atlantic titles and never got a sniff and Bentham was the 1998 Atlantic champ who tested for Player’s and posted the best lap time, but was passed over because he wasn’t French-Canadian.

Q: What are your thoughts on IndyCar giving Chico Perez a ride if he can't get an F1 ride for 2021? He is a pretty good driver with a large following. Disenfranchised fans will follow him there. IndyCar needs to embrace this theme of F1 rejects dumping ground. That's actually pretty good marketing and publicity for IndyCar.

Jon L., Chicago, IL

RM: Perez finished second last weekend at Turkey but has no ride for 2021, yet doesn’t sound like he’s finished with Formula 1. I imagine if IndyCar had a race scheduled for Mexico City it could provide him a good, one-off, opportunity, but to my knowledge he’s never said anything about IndyCar.

Q: It's been a long time since an American has won an open-wheel series in Europe – not since Scott Speed. There were three drivers who had the potential to do it this year: Logan Sargeant just came short in FIA Formula 3, losing the title by four points. That was very heartbreaking. But not as heartbreaking as when Houston's Jak Crawford (aka "JetPak") – one of Helmut Marko's boys – needed only one position to win the German Formula 4 title, only to lose out by two points.

But the best of all consolations and a great relief was Maryland native Kaylen Frederick joining legendary greats like Derek Daly, Ayrton Senna, Mauricio Gulgemin, Rubens Barrichello, Jan Magnussen, Gil De Ferran, Takuma Sato and Jack Harvey – all winners of the British Formula 3 title.

I recall other American talent such as Charlie Kimball, Richard Antinucci, Michael Lewis, Colton Herta, Josef Newgarden, Puerto Rico's Felix Serralles, Conor Daly, and Alexander Rossi who gave it all they had just to win in an open-wheel series in Europe.

After hearing that Belardi are closing their doors, will Carlin have a plan to expand back into the Indy Lights series? It will be interesting if Carlin can bring back Frederick into the US even though he will be thinking about FIA F3 and Euro Formula in 2021.

And also: After Jack Harvey, a champion in 2012, who overheard the celebration of Frederick, what is the IndyCar Paddock thinking about the historical win for an American in Europe?

JLS, Chicago, IL

RM: I haven’t seen or spoken to Trevor in a year, but it seems like he’s concentrating on getting the finances in line to run a pair of Indy cars in 2021 so Lights aren’t likely a priority.

To be honest, I doubt if 10 people in the IndyCar paddock have any idea who Kaylen Frederick is or what he accomplished but I appreciate the report.

American Kaylen Frederick excelled in British F3 driving for Trevor Carlin – unheralded in the U.S., but likely not for long... JEP/Motorsport Images

Q: I just saw an article that NASCAR has selected an official sports betting partner. I think IndyCar needs to do the same thing. I have spent years driving by the Santa Anita racetrack. A huge crowd goes there to watch little people ride horses. Horse racing is not that interesting, but being able to wager 20 bucks on something may increase one's interest. IndyCar racing is far more interesting. And the technology is interesting. Why can't IndyCar find a way to allow some betting on outcomes?

I don't gamble, but the sport I love needs to grow. Just an idea.

BTW, thanks to RACER for keeping IndyCar in the news. They need everything they can get.

John P, Glendora, CA

RM: Yep, NASCAR signed a multi-year deal with Wynn Resorts and that’s exactly what IndyCar needs and has unsuccessfully tried to put together for the past year. There are a few internet sites that take IndyCar action, but there is zero promotion so nobody knows (though I imagine that, since NASCAR stomps IndyCar in TV ratings, it was a much easier sell).

Q: I’d say it’s 60/40 that Jimmy Johnson runs the Indy 500 in 2021. What’s your take? I know his agreement with his wife is 'no ovals', but I can’t imagine that once Jimmy gets to the Speedway for practice and is immersed in the atmosphere that he won't attempt to broker a new deal with the family. He just seems so genuinely excited about his IndyCar experience so far that even his wife will have a hard time asking him the skip the 500.

Also, sending healing vibes your way.

David Cubine

RM: If I was a betting man (oh yeah, I am!), I’d say 75-25 that JJ runs the Indy 500. He’ll simply tell his wife he’s fishing with the boys that weekend and sneak away to IMS. He'd have a shot at being competitive because his success came on oval tracks.

Q: Been reading for a long time and never felt the need to write until now. The schedule for next year has upset me just a little bit. Why did IndyCar move the St. Pete race from the second weekend of March to the first weekend in March? I thought I had the perfect vacation planned to go down to watch St. Pete; spend some time in Orlando during the week; then spend the following weekend at Sebring for the WEC/12-hour doubleheader. But IndyCar spoiled my plan.

I did the 12-hour/St. Pete doubleheader in 2013 and it was a great week of racing. Guess I’ll skip St. Pete next year to see the debut of the Hypercars.

Martin H., Alabama

RM: Simple answer: National television. NBC had an opening. Season opener. No brainer.

Q: Robin, it’s great to see the large interest by all the teams for next year. Also, there appears to be great sponsor interest – RP and his team have done a great job. I’ll guess crow is on the menu, because of my prediction of 18-20 cars looks pretty embarrassing right now.

I love IndyCar, but am I alone? I tire of Penske and Ganassi winning all the time. Each week I would love to see smaller teams win. I’m for the little guy – eho doesn’t love an upset victory?

Mike, Cincinnati, Ohio

RM: With just a little more luck, Pato O’Ward and Santino Ferrucci could have won a race in 2020, and Jack Harvey was also knocking on the door. But let’s be honest, the big teams usually dominate: Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes in F1; Kevin Harvick and Stewart-Haas Racing (nine wins), Denny Hamlin and Joe Gibbs (seven), Chase Elliott and Hendrick Motorsport (five), and Team Penske (eight wins among three drivers) in NASCAR.

This year in the IndyCar series, Team Penske scored seven wins out of 14 races (Newgarden four, Power two and Pagenaud one) while Chip Ganassi’s team earned five (Dixon four and Felix one). True, RLL and Sato captured the biggest race of the season but Andretti managed only one win (Herta).

You can’t get much closer than the IndyCar fields but it’s tough to beat those six-second pit stops and experience.

Q: Robin, the Long Beach GP is the IndyCar flagship after the Indy 500. I'm seriously concerned it survives a second-year cancellation due to COVID, but I can't see how it happens right now with no fans. Any word on its survival? Any chance Roger helps out in some way?

Best road racing event in the U.S. (and Bernie's only admitted mistake – aside from multiple marriages) since 1975.

John Costello

RM: We’re still six months away so I don’t see how anyone can make any predictions or plans just yet. But obviously Long Beach needs to happen and needs fan to survive. Not sure what The Captain can do short of dropping the sanction fee.

Q: It's become one of the top Mailbag cliches to ask/whine about, 'Why isn't IndyCar going back to this circuit or that oval?' My question to you is, logistics notwithstanding, what would be some of your dream tracks to see IndyCar race?

Andrew McNaughton, Chicago, IL

RM: I'd love to go back to Cleveland, Mont Tremblant and Richmond, and maybe try Road Atlanta and CTMP (Mosport) if they make the safety changes IndyCar would require.

Even a gambling man like Robin Miller struggled to predict the winners of always-intense IndyCar races on Cleveland's Burke Lakefront Airport circuit. Sutton/Motorsport Images

Q: Thanks for the details in your article on IndyCar promoters helping save the season, the sport, and the livelihood of so many great people this year. As you pointed out, there was plenty of absolutely incredible racing this year.

In looking back over some teams and drivers that at times have seemingly inexplicable difficulties on road and street courses, I think of the many variables. I’d very much appreciate your giving us some Mailbag insight through the winter on teams and drivers and your input on various drivers that are given more say-so in car setup.

Xtrac provides the series with a killer transaxle. That leads me to thinking of the options available for diff-locker ramp angles and externally adjustable plate settings (drivers saying, “I want more bite!”); ratio choices for gears 2-6; damper settings; and perhaps even some driver input on aero changes.

Having been within a few feet of AJ, Parnelli, Penske, and Zanardi; talking with Mario, Gurney, Fangio, Kanaan, and others, I feel they share a common level of intensity and focus. Sitting with a collection of medal-winning Olympic downhill and slalom ski champions, I unsurprisingly saw that same intensity.

With our current levels of technology, do some drivers still become their own worst enemies with their well-intentioned requests?

Rick W.

RM: There are certainly drivers with more tech and chassis savvy than others, but not sure the tinkerers like Unser, Sneva, Gurney still exist.

Here’s Marshall Pruett’s take: “The best answer I can give is that nothing has changed in terms of time and ease. Whatever A.J. drove back in 19XX was the pinnacle of technology for that day; and while there might have been fewer things to fiddle with than on today's cars, the complexity of the task to hit all of the right setup decisions was by no means a breeze.”

Q: In your opinion, who do you think was the best all-time technically/mechanically savvy driver? If different, who do you think in the current crop of drivers fits this description? Also, who do you think was the best, "seat of the pants" driver? If different, what current driver fits this bill?

D. Krueger, West Allis, WI

RM: A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti and Bobby Unser from the Glory Days, and Alex Zanardi, Bob Rahal, Dixie and Dario from the modern era.

I reckon Bourdais, JoNew, Willy P., Pagenaud, Rossi and little Herta are at the front of today’s class. Eddie Sachs, Al Unser, Lloyd Ruby and Montoya were the best seat-of-the-pants shoes and probably T.K. and Helio. Maybe Pato; he seems a lot like JPM.

Q: Do you have any info or heard any rumors of Indy cars coming back to Kentucky now that NASCAR is gone?

James H.

RM: Only in letters to the Mailbag, but I think IndyCar would certainly discuss a race with them.

Q: Last week you mentioned the "Brody Knob" on Gary Bettenhausen's steering wheel. I seem to remember a champion midget driver having to use a knob on his steering wheel after receiving severe burns due to a crash. Do you remember the driver and was it the same type of knob? If I remember correctly he had a special glove with a hole that would fit over the knob.

Who was the "Brody Knob" named after?

Bill, Nashville, TN

RM: That would be Mel Kenyon, badly burned at Langhorne in 1965. He and brother Don concocted a leather glove with a hole that attached to the knob on the steering wheel on his midget. No idea where the name "Brody Knob" came from, but I’m guessing L.A. in the hot rod days.

Q: This is now the third week this same question will be referenced, but I see a big difference in Jimmie Johnson and Romain Grosjean. As someone who watches all motorsports, Romain is not anywhere near as respected as JJ. JJ is a seven-time champion and Romain has not won a Grand Prix in his F1 career.

To me, it’s very simple: Who sells tickets and merchandise out of those two guys?

Also, Jimmie running the 500 is a much bigger talking point than Romain doing it. Just my opinion based on what I’ve picked up on.

My actual question for this week is, "What do we as fans of USAC and IndyCar have to do to bridge the gap again?" The Chili Bowl car BC ran was such a good move by IndyCar, and Doug Boles and IMS creating the dirt tracks in T3 was such a hit. Definitely missed that event big time this year. I want nothing more than to see Tyler Courtney, Justin Grant, Chris Windom, or Brady Bacon (and more) get a shot at a Indy 500 campaign. We saw BC transition well, and I firmly believe any of those guys would be able to do the same thing.

Ben Nea

RM: Nothing the fans can do unless they want to spend $1 million and buy one of those USAC guys a ride for May. And it’s not a gap; it’s a huge divide separating talents, philosophies and awareness.

Q: I didn't expect my email about the 1973 California 500 to make it into the Mailbag, but it's cool that it did. Thanks for the answer; however I'm still confused.

You stated that Revson, Grant and Johncock didn't have to run the qualifying races, yet Johncock did run in the first race. Also, why did they do this? It sounds like something I've heard of at dirt track races of which I know very little.

Lastly, Jerry Grant is someone we don't hear very much about. He may not have won any Indy car races but it seems like he did have some success. He qualified well many times, had a good run at the Indy 500 one year until he got disqualified, and had some success in sports cars running with Dan Gurney. What can you tell me about him?

Doug Mayer

RM: Gordy needed the money and the qualifying races were added to try and give attendance a bump.

Grant was better in sports cars than Indy cars but still plenty capable and Gurney thought highly of him, so that’s all you need to know.

1972 Indy 500: "Jerry Grant was better in sports cars than Indy cars but still plenty capable, and Gurney thought highly of him, so that’s all you need to know." IMS

Q: I have followed you for a long, long, long time – since my days as a carrier for the Star/News. You often refer to yourself as "grumpy." I don't really see you as "grumpy"; more just "matter of fact." Why do you think you are grumpy?

Last mailbag, someone asked why NASCAR TV ratings are better than IndyCar. You immediately referred to the "Split." It is my contention that 1994 was the beginning of the shift in popularity for one reason: It was the first year for the Brickyard. The wall that separated IndyCar sponsors from NASCAR sponsors was breached, and at the time, supposedly, Cup teams were cheaper to run so the money followed.

While the split certainly did not help, open wheel had more TV coverage than EVER! What say you?

Troy Strong

RM: I say it probably didn’t help IndyCar that NASCAR was allowed to share the promised land, but in 1995 the CART crowds, ratings and sponsors were still neck-and-neck with NASCAR. In 1996, you could have shot a cannon on practice and qualifying days at IMS and that was the beginning of the TV ratings free fall that only peaked once in 2005 with Danica.

I’m only grouchy when someone refers to NASCAR drivers as the best in the world after they all crash on a straightaway.

Q: As a big F1 and IndyCar fan, I’ve recently read a story that I wanted to see if you knew had any truth to or not. I can’t remember exactly where I read this but I read that Enzo Ferrari reached out to Mario to come fill in for Berger in the Monaco Grand Prix in 1989.

Now first of all, Enzo died in 1988 so this is where I’m confused. Was it someone else at Ferrari, possibly, that reached out? I know that in 1982 Mario returned to Monza to fill in and sat on pole and finished third. But in 1989, Mario was 49 and well past his prime. Not to mention Monaco was not a track he ever really had success even in his Lotus days when he had the best equipment.

I’m wondering if there’s any truth to this story and if you could shed any light on it?

Rick Scotia, NY

RM: Never heard of it before your letter and nobody I know with any racing history knowledge has either, so I’d say it’s somebody’s poor memory.

Mario’s F1 swansong came in 1982 at Las Vegas in a Ferrari where he finished seventh subbing for Didier Pironi.

Q: Thanks for the dissertation on veterans that raced in the Indy 500 in last week's Mailbag. In the baseball world, Ted Williams was another shining example. As the son of a proud WWII Pacific vet, I got my love of the Indianapolis 500 and IndyCar from my late dad. I always honor him every November 11th, and remember him each Memorial Day at 16th and Georgetown. I miss him a lot.

We will never see the likes of them again. As warriors, as racers, or as men, they are truly the Greatest Generation. For years I subscribed to National Speed Sport News, and when it arrived each week, the first order of business was Chris Economaki's Editor's Notebook. It was required reading. Chris and NSSN are both gone now but The Mailbag is, in my opinion, a worthy successor in the world of motorsports and I eagerly await it each Wednesday.

Thanks for keeping us informed with your pithy commentary.

Jim Mulcare, Westbury, NY

RM: Thanks for your note Jim. The Mailbag is RACER.com’s most popular stopover each week. Thanks to Honda for sponsoring it and to you fans for religiously reading it.

(You didn’t ask a question but I ran your e-mail because occasional pandering is allowed.)