The RACER Mailbag, November 17

Welcome to the RACER Mailbag. Questions for Marshall Pruett or any of RACER’s other writers can be sent to mailbag@racer.com. Due to the high volume of questions received, we can’t guarantee that every letter will be published, but we’ll answer as many as we can. Published questions may be edited for style or clarity.

Q: With the hype of having a U.S. hopeful in the Formula 1 grid, everyone is still talking about Michael Andretti's failed attempt to have a team that he can call his own. It was very sad that Michael and Sauber could not come to terms. But on the brighter side, the legendary Williams name obtained Logan Sargeant for its development program. I consider Logan as one of the lucky ones in that he was that close to competing in sports cars and IndyCar. But with the presence of a US GP, U.S. fans wanted a U.S. representative to compete in Formula 1. Sargeant managed to have a Formula 3 ride with a perennial backmarker like Charouz Racing, which scored only 20 points in its existence in the series before Sargeant amassed 102 while leading the team to a top five finish.

I still recall a driver who almost had a chance to drive with Sir Frank back in the day. What would Al Unser Jr. would say about this signing of Logan to the Williams Driver Academy?

JLS, Chicago, Ill

MARSHALL PRUETT: Well, if Little Al used his testing experience with Williams in the early 1990s as a guide, he’d tell Logan to run like hell and get as far away from the team as possible. The legends who made the team what it is – Sir Frank, Patrick Head, etc – are no longer in charge, and therefore, unable to make Logan as miserable as they made Little Al.

Outside of that old yarn, I do like the opportunity that’s come along for the Floridian, but sweet baby Jesus, he’s a loooooong way from being ready for F1. It’s like Penske signing a kid out of Indy Pro 2000 who’s shown strong potential, but not title-winning potential of a Kyle Kirkwood or Christian Rasmussen, in the hope they grow into something fierce. There’s a ton to learn and lots to show in the coming years for Logan before a Williams F1 race seat seems remotely possible. Count me among those who are rooting for him to beat the odds and make it to the top.

Q: In a recent radio interview, Ron Fellows, co-owner of CTMP (Mosport), said his track could not host a NASCAR Truck Series race in 2022 because there was no guarantee that all of the people involved would be able to meet the requirement of proving full vaccination status, which is currently needed to cross the border. The SRO GT World Challenge will also not visit CTMP, but IMSA, IndyCar, F1, and Formula E all presently have events scheduled in Canada for 2022. Have IMSA and IndyCar already determined that this will not be a problem for them, or have they just not looked into the situation yet?

Keith Baxter, Toronto

MP: I’d assume the extremely pragmatic Mr. Fellows was simply reviewing all the problems he’s experienced at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park with COVID-related border crossing issues and event cancellations and shifts, and projecting forward. Overstating the obvious, but it’s not like they can predict the future, much less know how presidents or prime ministers will direct immigration services to open or close travel based on where the virus is at months from now. Those are all decisions to come in due time.

After two seasons away, the IndyCar paddock needs its poutine fix. Scott LePage / Motorsport Images

Q: I loved when Robin would tell stories about our heroes like the Unsers, Foyt, Rutherford, Andretti, Johncock, etc. I know Marshall doesn’t go that far back, but how about a behind-the-scenes tale from one of the modern day gunslinging badasses like Dixon or Kanaan?

Dave E. in Speedway Indiana

MP: Why don’t we go back to 1996 CART IndyCar Series champ Jimmy Vasser, who made his first big waves by winning the 1986 SCCA Runoffs in the Formula Ford class, which was a big deal back then for a young open-wheeler. Put them on the map. He won the Runoffs driving for a team based out of Sears Point (known today at Sonoma Raceway) named Pfeiffer Ridge Racing. I started working there as a young race car mechanic in 1989 – it was my first major team after a few years working for smaller teams and shops – and while Vasser had moved on and was climbing up that era’s Road To Indy, he was still based in San Francisco and would stop by Pfeiffer Ridge on occasion.

I thought the world of JV, and it was early in 1990 when he paid a visit to the shop as I was prepping to go through SCCA Driver’s School with the old 1980 Tiga Formula Ford my father and I put together for pennies. He was the shop’s big success story and clearly headed for bigger things, but maintained his permanent state of California cool. I got a feel for that when, while outside setting up my Tiga (I think our hard-nosed boss Bob Lesnett took the day off, which is when we goofed off or got into a lot of trouble) Vasser strolled over, took note that it was my car, asked a few questions about it, then about going through school, and offered me a ton of encouragement.

It was one of those deals where Vasser probably didn’t think anything of it, but it meant so much to me to have one of our great young open-wheel stars take a few minutes to boost my confidence the day before I’d turn my first laps in the Tiga. Small gesture; big impact. Sadly, all the encouragement in the world from Vasser wasn’t going to give me half the talent I needed to be excellent in Formula Ford. Lots more stories to tell in future Mailbags – thanks for asking.

Pruett gives a new meaning to tighty whities while testing the Tiga at what was then Sears Point. Image via Marshall Pruett

Q: Could you ask Mark Miles why IndyCar still has no presence on daily fantasy sites like FanDuel? Daily fantasy sites generate almost $3 billion a year with millions of players. It doesn't make any since for IndyCar to sit on the sidelines in such a huge market.

D, Medford, OR

Here's the response from Penske Entertainment President and CEO Mark Miles:

As you can imagine, we have received a lot of interest from multiple sports betting platforms as it pertains to Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Indianapolis 500 and the NTT IndyCar Series. The engagement that these platforms provide are so important and we’ve been working to define the right strategy for our properties. We look forward to sharing these opportunities with our fans in 2022.

MP: Miller was our resident degenerate gambler who knew about all this stuff. I bought a couple of lottery tickets and a few scratchers in my early 20s, won nothing, and gave up.

Q: I’m looking to pick up a few racing books this holiday season and am looking for suggestions. Is there anything you’d recommend highly, whether a new release or essential classic? Jade Gurss’s book about Al Jr. looks like a good read; already have it ordered.

Daniel Pratt, Everywhere, Texas

MP: I’ve only just started on the Little Al book, and it’s awesome. Similar to John Oreovicz’s new book on The Split, which I’ve cracked open and have on my to-finish list once we get into the holidays. Also, don’t miss Sam’s Scrapbook, an amazing book from open-wheel and sports car all-rounder Sam Posey. And if you don’t mind, I’d ask anyone looking to buy racing books/models/gear over the holidays to support your local or favorite motorsports memorabilia shop owners, or go direct to the publishers’ websites, before going to Amazon.com. Amazon won’t miss your sale, but the few remaining racing memorabilia store owners and publishers will. If anyone wants a starter list of shops/publishers, let me know and I’ll cobble something together for the next Mailbag.

Q: During the IRL era there were two IndyCar chassis: the Panoz (G Force) and the Dallara. I always thought the Panoz design was much easier on the eyes, but it seemed to quickly disappear and Dallara became the sole supplier to IRL. I often wondered why. Was Panoz unable to compete with the much larger Dallara? Open-wheel racing was hanging on by thread during that time – was it a cost-cutting measure to help ensure the IRL's survival? Was Panoz spread too thin while it was designing the next Champ Car? The DP01 was uber cool-looking – too bad it wasn't adopted for the merged series going forward. Then again, IRL won the merger...

Jonathan and Cleide Morris, Ventura, CA

MP: It was a case of consistency with Dallara and the opposite with G Force. When it was in its original form coming out of the U.K., G Force was really strong, with big, wealthy teams ("IRL-wealthy," it should be noted) that performed. One of the earliest votes of confidence came from the A.J. Foyt team when they bought a few Dallaras, didn’t like them, sold them, and went to G Force. (The little Thomas Knapp/Genoa Racing team I worked for bought one of those ex-Super Tex Dallaras and raced it in 1997 and 1998 with Greg Ray before Tom and Greg went to Menards and won the 1999 IRL championship.)

The original Dallara was really good, and the engineering support that came from Andrea Toso’s team was excellent. Arie won the 1997 Indy 500 with a G Force; Eddie Cheever did it in 1998 with a Dallara, and I think a lot of folks saw the smaller teams like ours with a Dallara could punch way above our weight. I don’t recall that happening as often with smaller G Force teams, and from there, I think the tide of perception turned.

Dallara never faded after that point, but G Force dipped as it changed hands and was bought by Don Panoz. I forget what it was, but I recall hearing a tale from a senior Panoz/G Force executive who told me about an early 2000s design update they asked the IRL to approve. For reasons that exec felt were unfair and pro-Dallara, the "game-changing" aero update was disallowed. And, according to that exec, a nearly identical update was soon seen on the Dallara. Hard to say if all that went down as described, but most of the field migrated away from the Panoz/G Force in favor of the Dallara.

The Panoz DP01… How do we get IndyCar to approve a "vintage" racing series that tours with the series using those glorious 2007 Champ Car models and their 750hp Cosworth turbo V8s? My guess is all of today’s drivers who raced them – Bourdais, Power, Pagenaud, etc. – would be the first to sign up. They all say it was their favorite IndyCar, ever.

In the hands of Scott Dixon, the G Force chassis was narrowly winning this battle against the Dallara-equipped Helio Castroneves at Michigan in 2004, but the Italian manufacturer ultimately won the war. Motorsport Images

Q: I know the Andretti camp is saying DeFrancesco was always going to get the ride and it was years in the making. But looking at his record versus Kirkwood (the Lights champ versus sixth place), it seems obvious that money ruled the decision.

My question is, looking at the history of drivers who got rides primarily because they brought sponsors, are there many success stories in terms of wins or championships? One that comes to mind for me is Takuma Sato, who did not seem consistently competitive enough in his early IndyCar years to stay in the series on talent alone but, thanks to self-generated sponsorship, endured to eventually win two Indy 500s and several other races. Are there others like him?

Also, what are the odds that a driver who could only manage sixth in Lights can win races in IndyCar?

LA IndyCar Fan

MP: This is a fun one to dive into. It’s such a weird thing, isn’t it, that our favorite sport so often has a "did they pay to play?" component, and in most cases, the answer is yes. It just depends on when and where the payments were involved. Bobby Rahal had Jim Trueman who was instrumental in propelling his career. Danny Sullivan had Garvin Brown. Jimmy Vasser had Angelo Ferro, Rick Cole, and Jim Hayhoe. We only know Helio Castroneves and Tony Kanaan because Marlboro brought them to try a new American adventure in Indy Lights. Had that person at Marlboro chosen Japanese F3000 as their destination, how different would IndyCar’s landscape have become over the last 25 years?

Charlie Kimball has a 10-plus year career because of Novo Nordisk. Jimmie Johnson’s here because of Carvana and the American Legion. Go to the beginning of a driver’s career, and it’s almost always mom or dad forking over the money for karting. We could do this with just about every driver at some point.

Heck, if it weren’t for the wealth of Ayrton Senna’s family who paid for everything leading up to Formula 1, we’d never know the guy. So, it’s a tricky thing where "pay drivers" get a bad rap for bringing money... in a sport that’s rarely free. Looking at the 2021 field, I count 15 drivers who either paid, brought sponsors, or were responsible for their team signing or keeping a sponsor. In every instance, there’s some degree of transaction or extra work required to be in their seats. What I’m saying is there’s a stage in every driver’s career where they drove – or continue to drive – due to money being spent, so I don’t demonize those who pay to play.

So, all that stuff aside, DeFrancesco is hitting IndyCar at the exact time he and his father want to be here. If I was their advisor, Devlin would be in Lights for a second season. But IndyCar in 2022 is what they want, and they can afford to do it. I think of Devlin like a lottery pick coming out of college after one year. There’s talent, without a doubt, but it’s going to take a while to determine the extents of that talent since he’s chosen to continue his education in the big league instead of staying in college for another year or two and showing up as a fully-developed rookie. Odds of winning multiple races? Right now, they’re long. Very long. It’s going to be a hard year, but like that lottery pick, we need to see if he rises to the challenge or arms his doubters with "I told you so’s."

Q: Who decides what support races happen during an IndyCar weekend? Is it the track or IndyCar? What goes into the process? I have attended Road America since 1988. I’ve also gone to a couple other tracks, but the weekends at RA used to be action-packed, with sports cars, lower level open-wheel, and a mixture of series over the years. Trans Am was my favorite, and I’d love to see them paired up again. I know it’s not ideal for every track and every weekend, but some diversity again would be nice.

Don’t get me wrong, l enjoy the feeder series with future IndyCar hopefuls. I could do without vintage Indy though. But is there any chance of seeing other series on the same weekend? I know a super weekend with IMSA or NASCAR is out of the picture, but let’s get something else mixed in there when possible!

Erik, Oswego, IL

MP: It mostly depends on who’s promoting the event. If it’s a track Penske Entertainment owns or runs, it’s their call. If it’s run by an independent promoter, or a track owner, it’s not uncommon for some communication to take place on which support series join in. Some of the smaller/regional series pay to be on the bill for major events, so that’s another angle.

Main thing I’d say on the note about missing the awesome days of open-wheelers, sports cars, and all kinds of cool series being on the same schedule is how many of those series have chosen to avoid being part of those events. They want to be the big deal at the track—even if there’s a super sparse turnout by fans—and bill themselves, and sell to their drivers and team owners, that they’re the ones in charge. And there’s some merit to it, Erik. If you’re the second, third, or fourth support series, when are you on track? Tends to be at the crack of dawn and as the sun is going down, with a lot of boredom in the middle, and while paying a premium to be part of a show where you’re an afterthought. I get it.

Q: IndyCar is calling drivers "athletes" again. Robin said it made him puke – and I agree. Racing drivers are not mere athletes – they are racers! A much higher level than a mere athlete. Please respect Robin’s wishes, and ask the powers-that-be at IndyCar to not call drivers "athletes."

Tom Varner

MP: Considering the time when Miller grew up in the sport was an era when wolfing down a pack of cigarettes, pounding shots of whisky, and digesting a four-pound steak was considered "working out" before a race, I think his aversion to drivers being referred to as "athletes’"was tied to the woebegone days of bar fights and venereal diseases being the norm for our heroes.

But, just as I won’t be pleading Roger Penske to name the Indy 500 pole award after Robin, I also won’t be begging RP to send a company-wide email threatening to fire those who use the term "athlete."

I will, however (and this one gets hate mail every time I say it) ask him to ban the ridiculous use of "champion" being associated with winning the Indy 500. The person who wins the Indy 500 is the winner, not the champion. The person who wins the championship, is the champion. Continued reference of the "Indy 500 champion" is the just dumbest thing. There’s no need to overstate the 500’s importance by calling its annual winner a champion when it simply isn’t the case. "Winner" is perfectly sufficient.

Granted, this is only very loosely related to the "are IndyCar drivers athletes" thing, but it's also the only chance we'll ever get to use a photo of Alan Jones going for a run. It might also be the only photo ever taken of Alan Jones going for a run. Frank Williams looks like he's enjoying it, though. Motorsport Images

Q: Any possibility of a developer putting together an IndyCar game similar to Codemaster’s F1 game for the PlayStation/Xbox/PC/etc? Something like that could entice the younger generation to become fans.

Steve, Indianapolis

MP: An IndyCar game was announced by the series earlier in the year.

Q: With all of his success in Champ Car, why do you think Sebastien Bourdais was never able to secure a truly top-flight IndyCar ride after he came back from F1? Was it just back luck, or was there something else holding back his ascent back up to the top? I've always been a fan of his and admired his approach, so it was disappointing to never see him get the opportunity that his skills and experience seemed to warrant. And with Kirkwood now signed to the No. 14, it looks like we'll miss the Hamburger and French Fry show in the IndyCar paddock. Still, glad that Kirkwood got a very well-deserved full-time ride – can't wait to see what he can do, even if it isn't for one of the Big 4. Looking forward to 2022!

Peter in NJ

MP: Seb had one or more opportunities to sign with Ganassi while at Coyne, but Dale refused to let him go by taking up his option for the next season. Even when he was asked, repeatedly, to let him move on by not taking up the option, the option was taken and he was back with DCR. The Ganassi team got to know Seb when he was signed in 2016 to drive for the Ford CGR IMSA team and they loved what they saw. Imagine Dixon and Bourdais as IndyCar teammates and all the winning that could have come from the Nos. 9 and 10 in recent years. The No. 10 seat was open in 2019 and was ultimately filled by Felix Rosenqvist because Coyne wouldn’t let Seb move on. Coyne then cut Seb at the end of 2019 with no quality seats – at CGR or elsewhere – to take. There have been no Christmas cards sent from the Bourdais family to the Coyne family since then.

(For those who say there’s not enough drama in the IndyCar paddock to do our version of Netflix’s "Drive To Survive," trust me, there’s plenty of dirt and grime to document.)

On Kirkwood, here’s the part to keep an eye on: I don’t expect the Indy Lights champ to be more than a one-and-done with Foyt. If he isn’t back at the Andretti mothership in 2023 in a full-time seat, I’ll be shocked.

Q: I corresponded with Robin many times, and always enjoyed his columns, and TV appearances. I totally understand his desire to get Kyle Larson into the Indy 500. Two questions. What exactly do you believe makes Larson such a special driver, and won’t the expectations for Indy put an extreme pressure on him? I worry, with his lack of experience, he might push too hard, too fast.

Tim B.

MP: I’ve watched Larson drive a few times and was blown away by his lightning-fast ability to react and adapt to whatever’s happening in the moment. Watching him learn to drive a Daytona Prototype ahead of the Rolex 24 was mesmerizing. I asked him how he prepared for the task, and he said he’d watched some in-car footage, and that’s about it. I asked about finding the limit in the corners and under braking, and he shrugged, said he did what the car felt like it could handle. And he did. I’m not saying he was the best or fastest driver in the car, but he was totally committed to going out and figuring it out by feel, rather than digesting gigabytes of onboard data, etc. A natural talent, of the highest order.

The best drivers are able to be way ahead of their cars, meaning that they aren’t caught by surprise if it’s got big understeer or oversteer, or some other handling trait that could be problematic once they get to the corner at 200mph. He’s so far ahead of the car, dealing with all of the tiny inputs his body is receiving, and reacting before that slide happens, that he’s erasing all the little losses of time that lead to a slower lap speed. Even in Ganassi’s often underwhelming Cup cars, he was making the most out of what he was given. Placed in a front-running car for once, the guy made everyone else in Cup look silly.

There are a lot of folks who want to see Kyle at the Indy 500, but the only person I haven’t heard pushing for it is Kyle. He’s always been polite, said it would be cool, etc., but this has always struck me as a fan-based topic than one that really interests the champ.

Q: Just tell Bill from last week’s Mailbag that there is no Foyt team without Kellett, and if he’s a fan of the Foyt team, you want to see him get some Kellett merchandise to support him next year since Kellett is supporting the team.

How’s this for an idea for LED panels. How about they display the driver’s current heart rate? I shouldn’t have to wait until hours after the race for McLaughlin’s whoop data. Let’s get that stuff live streamed on the LED panel. Most calories burned during the race gets a bonus point.

Ryan in West Michigan

MP: I love this idea, but how scary would it be when Scott Dixon flies by each lap with a big 0 displayed for his heart rate?

LED panels = Mailbag gold. Michael Levitt/Motorsport Images

Q: I've been getting into racing (mostly thanks to "Drive to Survive") and tried to follow IndyCar this past season, especially with McLaren and Grosjean joining. However I wasn't able to watch many races.

What's the best way to learn about the series? This includes the teams, car history, drivers, tracks, strategies, etc. Ovals are especially mysterious to me. I really do not understand the strategy (and somewhat the appeal) of ovals, but I know they are very important to the series. I know the answer is probably "Just watch!" but it's hard to get invested if I don't know who to really cheer for.

I am also asking this for my wife's sake, as she will be "forced" (she loves F1) to watch with me and she will have many questions.

Thanks! Looking forward to the new season!

Jack Cook

MP: Great to hear the Cook household is joining this crazy little IndyCar world of ours. I can’t think of a one-stop solution for the two of you, so how’s this: Why don’t you and your wife send in those "IndyCar 101" questions, and I’ll answer all I can, and sprinkle in some friends from teams or the series to add some variety to the responses. We have more than a dozen weeks until the first race of 2022 -- should be able to build a good list of Cook Family Q&A before we get to St. Petersburg at the end of February!

Q: The Kirkwood-to-Foyt situation is interesting. The young man obviously has talent but I'm afraid that talent will never be properly displayed with Foyt. This team is like a black hole where careers go to die. Can Kirkwood's talent overcome the lack of support he'll receive, and allow him to get an opportunity with a team capable of winning?

John, Seville, Ohio

MP: Here’s what came to mind first. At Dale Coyne Racing, which had an annual budget of $17 dollars and all the free sides of coleslaw you could eat at Sonny’s BBQ, Bourdais won two races in three seasons and grabbed five podiums. He had great engineers to work with at DCR. At Foyt, where he also had a great engineer, prospects for podiums and wins were nothing more than fantasies.

As he could stand on the top step and spray champagne with DCR, but never had a chance at Foyt, it tells me the driver isn’t the issue. Kirkwood is a young phenom, and if he’s paired with great engineering talent, there’s a chance they could get near the podium a few times – Seb had two P5s as their best – but Kyle isn’t capable of turning a team that placed P16 in the championship into a title contender as a rookie. Kirkwood isn’t a miracle worker.

Even so, the Foyt team, in yet another rebuild, has a 21-year-old monster to utilize. But if they don’t surround him with a lot of the missing performance-related items that stifled the No. 14 Chevy’s full potential last season, it could be another rough year for all involved. Kirkwood will go as well as his team allows, based on its hiring choices and engineering R&D investments this offseason. It’s a luxury, actually. Kyle will make some rookie mistakes, but overall, wherever they end up in the championship will be a reflection of how the organization did or didn’t improve itself for 2022.

Q: Why is IndyCar’s off-season media so weak? Let’s take its YouTube for example. IndyCar has so much potential content from a full season of racing, but it doesn’t really do anything with it. The assets are all there and ready to go, but just sit and collect (digital) dust. Take Formula 1’s YouTube as a comparison – they post top 10 videos and other highlight compilations about historical events in F1 all the time in the off-season to retain/boost interest in the series.

I see this as something IndyCar desperately needs to consider. There are so many fans, especially young fans, that are yearning for IndyCar content during the off-season but are stuck with the highlights of entire races, myself included. The content ideas are endless – first off, I would love to see every driver’s top five passes from the past season. There’s at least a month worth of content right there (assuming a video is posted every day). I mean, Penske invested all this money in new camera equipment, but what does that get you unless you utilize the product?

Secondly, if IndyCar doesn’t plan on creating the content themselves, I think RACER should work out a deal where they get full access to race footage so that it can make exclusive videos itself. It wouldn’t cost much as you would only need one, maybe two video editors to crank out the vids, and regardless of the cost, the ROI of attracting new fans and building interest is well worth it. Personally, I don’t see the negatives of this proposal, but I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Ian Craddock

MP: Of the many dreams I have, one of them is to have the time, permission, and skills to turn the IMS Productions video archives into an endless series of videos like those you’ve mentioned. For a few years in the early 2010s, IndyCar did let me do "In-Car Theater" edits, using all the in-car footage from the races. That was fun, but most of the folks who said yes to granting access are long gone from the organization.

Q: Could you tell me if there has been an article written on IMSA and Europe lining up race classes? I have started to follow some of IMSA and find it kind of confusing. Could same cars used at Le Mans be running, at, say, Daytona in the upcoming seasons?

Todd Blincoe

MP: Once we get to 2023, those doors open with the top prototypes. IMSA’s LMDhs can go race in the WEC, the WEC’s LMHs can come here and race, and LMP2 has always been open in both directions. But with IMSA’s GTLM class now gone (known as GTE in the WEC), that door’s closed. We’re going to full GT3 rules for 2022 and beyond while the WEC does not, at present, allow GT3-based cars in its series.

Finally, IMSA added LMP3 into its main WeatherTech Championship in 2021. LMP3 isn’t allowed in the WEC. So, in 2022, IMSA only has LMP2 cars that can play abroad with the WEC. In 2023, LMDh and LMP2 will be the two options, and when the WEC finally kills GTE somewhere around 2024, we expect GT3 cars to be their choice to replace GTE a few years after IMSA made the call domestically. If and when that goes down, it’ll be LMDh, LMP2, and GT3 machinery in action across the two series.

For 2022, most sports car classes are series-specific. But if you can get your hands on an ORECA 07 LMP2 like this one, you have options on both sides of the pond. Richard Dole/Motorsport Images

Q: I read last week’s Mailbag and was thinking of Robin and the Christmas book list. Is there any word from Mrs. Gurney about the books she is producing about her husband's career?

Rodger Baker

MP: I’m told Aaron Justus is working on the layout, my old friend Ed Justice is handling the publishing, and progress continues to be made on the production side. Dan signed off on the text before he passed and was working with his son Alex on selecting photos for the books, so the assembly of it all is the last big task before printing takes place. More to follow on when that might happen.

Q: I recall a while back some discussions that anti-roll bars (ARBs) would become open for teams to make themselves and develop, within certain rules. Did that come to pass? Are they still open? Is anyone actually innovating here, or has it been optimized to the point where there is little room for improvement?

Thanks to the whole RACER team for the great coverage and hard work!

Eric

MP: Here's my pal Michael Cannon, who makes the No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda go fast:

“The leeway we’re allowed here is in the stiffness of the anti-roll bar. The rules say the dimensions of the (ARB) must match what Dallara supplies, but we’re allowed to manipulate the thickness of the bar’s diameter, so that lets us make our own that resist twisting more or less, depending upon what we need the car to do. I would say most quality teams probably have three or four (ARBs) of differing twisting resistance—different wall thicknesses—that they cycle through.”

Q: Are brighter color driver gloves something IndyCar might encourage to improve the show? I think the casual IndyCar race attendee would enjoy it more if it were easier to see the drivers’ hand movements. The aeroscreen is a literal life-saver, but it has made it harder to see the IndyCar drivers at work. As a kid, I got hooked on racing by seeing Stirling Moss win a couple Pacific GPs at Laguna Seca… I could easily see how calm he was in his open-face helmet and open cockpit. That taught me you’ve got to be smooth to go fast.

At Long Beach this year (and last) it was enjoyable to see the drivers’ corrections to keep the car as smooth as possible to get the power down over the bumps. Newgarden wore white gloves, so his hand movements were easier to see behind the aeroscreen than many other drivers.

P.S. As long as I’m commenting about the fan experience, I have a lasting memory of a yellow 427 Cobra driver’s eyes grow big like saucers behind his goggles as he led the roaring AP pack up the rise into Riverside’s Turn 6. I’m guessing it was at a SCCA National Runoffs. Today’s full-face helmets are necessary life-savers, but they make it harder to have that experience.

Tim Crawford, Redmond, WA

MP: That’s a truly excellent suggestion, and you’re right, before the aeroscreen, it was much easier to see each driver’s hands at work.

Helio did his bit for the glove-visibility cause at Indy this year. Jake Galstad/Motorsport Images

Q: 1. Who is the championship contender driver that is useless at driver feedback?

2. We need more stooge content. Who has stooged for whom? Do stooges still exist in racing? If there was a three stooges of racing, it would be Robin Miller and…?

Isaac Stephenson, Fruitport MI

MP: Q1: Joe Tanto. Q2: "Stooging’"was the old-timey description for a "gofer," and yes, in a few places, you’ll find a "general helper," which is the kind way of describing a son or daughter of a senior crew member or team leader who does menial tasks at the shop or races, or a local kid who refuses to go away, and finally gets the nod to lend a hand. That’s how I got my start with a local open-wheel racer whose house was a 15-minute walk from ours, and happened to sell my father Justice Brothers products at Pruett’s Olde English Garage. Small world.

Miller always said he was the worst crew member of all time, but I worked with one or two jokers who were just tragic. Miller was damn smart, but didn’t have a grasp for the cars. I worked with one guy at two different teams who couldn’t be trusted with touching the cars, much less anything that was fragile, valuable, or technical. And while there are other jobs on a team he could do that steered clear of all those things, the problem here is he was super curious and couldn’t help himself from touching all the things he was told to avoid.

On top of replacing a lot of broken things (my new laptop was among the wounded), we were always on the lookout for the guy as he kept veering towards the thing he should stay away from. And if it wasn’t breaking things, it was doing things nobody asked to be done – moving things around on pit lane, etc. The kind of thing where you walk out for the session and scratch your head after seeing the refueling tank has been turned in a strange direction, or the drink coolers were jammed up against the pit wall where the mechanics would normally stand. It was just weird to have an IndyCar teammate who was like a secret saboteur in our presence. Miller was many things, but never as nuts as this guy. It was also scary sharing a room with him on the road, but that’s a tale for another time.

Q: OK Marshall. Spill the beans on the one silly season signing that makes any difference to the real IndyCar TV viewer: who is going to replace Robin Miller on his famous grid run on the IndyCar telecast?

I thought maybe it would be Hinch, but you say he has a bum leg. French Fry is going somewhere else, PT may be a bit too abrasive for many drivers and team owners, and Townsend is just too nice. Leigh has to be near an air conditioner, and Danica is just too expensive.

So I nominate you. You have two-and-a-half months to get in better shape and buy some fancy footwear. Good Luck

Bring on 2022.

Paul Sturmey

MP: How does a "Grid Stroll" sound, Paul? He’s too busy with 29 kids, racing in Brazil, SRX, and IndyCar, but if and when he slows down, our guy Tony Kanaan would be perfect. Knowing our little triathlete, he’d do a grid interview, keep running, complete a lap, pit, do another interview, keep running, do a lap…

Q: Rumors are that NBC will not be staying as the Premier League broadcast partner when that deal is up. (End of the '21/'22 season, I think?) Think there's any chance they'd put some of the money they would have spent on those broadcast rights into the production associated with their other sports properties (i.e. IndyCar)?

Matt Philpott

MP: I sure would hope so, but the way these things usually work is that money gets used to acquire the broadcasting rights of another major series, or doesn’t get spent.

Q: Want to start off by sharing a story in appreciation of one disparaged Foyt driver before asking about another. I was a corner worker for the Long Beach race, and during the pre-race driver parade there was quite a variety of responses from the drivers to our cheers from the turn station. Some waved politely or said hi, some ignored us (nothing new, drivers not seeing flaggers), but two stood out to thank us. One was Scott McLaughlin who everyone seems to enjoy both on and off track since he has come over. The other was Dalton Kellett, who was very gracious in thanking us for volunteering and looking out for him in the 30 seconds it took for the truck to go by. He's not the fastest, but it means a lot for the volunteers that any driver, professional or not, is that appreciative of us.

My question: Kirkwood signing with the team has given Foyt its best chance of moving up the standings in a long time. What are the chances it brings in a veteran who is out of a ride as a driver coach – perhaps Bourdais, for instance? It seems prudent to surround him with as much support as possible to speed up his development.

Thanks, Kurt

MP: Dalton’s an excellent kid, appreciative of what he has and what he’s able to do in life, and gives 100-percent effort behind the wheel. And, even if I was my old skinny self and his age, he’d drive circles around me and 99-percent of the population in an IndyCar. So, there’s that, too.

I think Kirkwood will be super solid, but since the Foyt team is also starting over on the engineering side, there’s a lot of unknowns to consider before placing expectations on how he’ll fare compared to Seb. I’m not sure we’ll see a veteran to bring that "Remember three years ago when we made that camber change that transformed the car at Road America?" type of knowledge to the program.

Anyone who has earned the respect of the flaggers is OK by us. Barry Cantrell/Motorsport News

Q: Have you heard anything about Oliver Askew's prospects? At times he seemed decent in RLLR ride, but at the end of the day didn't really shine either. Is he somewhere around any 2022 IndyCar possibilities?

Also, the topic of Devlin DeFrancesco seems to be pretty hot, so I'll add my thoughts and questions here. I understand the "let's see and give him time" talk. Alright. But the guy couldn't really fight for podiums in Indy Lights with, like, 11 drivers every weekend. Did he have significantly worse car than that of Kirkwood, for example? Does it make sense (other than $$$) to throw him in that 29 car? If he couldn't make it in Indy Lights, I can see no chance he can make anything in IndyCar, but maybe my judgement is wrong here.

Thanks,

Simon

MP: Heard rumblings of something quite interesting being on the horizon for Mr. Askew, but it isn’t in IndyCar, and isn’t a done deal. Stay tuned. I touched on Devlin above, but I’ll reiterate what I’ve said a few times since he was announced in the No. 29: He’ll tell us, through his performances, whether he’s destined for a long or short career in IndyCar. Yes, having wealth certainly helps, but most drivers don’t spend 20 years in IndyCar or F1 if they’re holding down P20 in every race. They get bored, dispirited, or the funding gets cut off. And if they rise to the challenge, then yes, they might have a long and fulfilling career.

We aren’t going to see the best version of Devlin in 2022 as a rookie, just as we knew from the outset that Jimmie Johnson’s best was never going to be shown last season in Year 1. By mid-2023, we’ll have a proper feel for where DeFrancesco fits in the IndyCar universe.

Q: Am I in the minority in thinking the NBC/Peacock graphics during qualifying are a mess? Every car on track quickly changing from time behind the cut line, to time behind the leader, with no indication of how much of the lap has been completed. It seems even for the announcers like it's just a matter of waiting for the session to be over and seeing who's in. F1 is much easier to watch in this regard, only showing a few cars at a time, and how they are performing on each section of the track. Better, simpler and clearer than trying to show everything at once, no?

Gregg Fielding

MP: Preach, Brother Gregg. Racing is very much a copycat sport, so I can only hope our friends at NBC Sports and IndyCar have paid close attention to all the informational innovations F1 delivers during its broadcasts and copies the heck out of it. F1 almost oversaturates the viewer with on-screen data, which I like, because you can choose to ignore it and just watch the pretty cars zoom around, if desired, and then go back to diving in with all the minutia on gaps, positions gained or lost, tire age, fastest laps, sector times, top speeds, etc.

In IndyCar, it’s the total opposite, with undersaturation, which leaves the average viewer in the dark about all of the data that is shaping the session, qualifying, or the race. That’s why some of us have a tablet, phone, and maybe even a laptop open to get the basic timing and scoring feed to fill in the huge void in the broadcasts.

If IndyCar wants to capture some of the growing F1 fan base in America, it might start by working with its TV partner to raise its graphics and info game so the new viewers don’t think we’re dumb. And for the rest of us who’ve been here the whole time, trust us, we can handle the F1-level of data on the screen.

Q: I have been enjoying the return of Mailbag; it's been excellent! Silly season has wrapped up early this off-season. The only remaining mystery seems to be how many entries will there be for the Indy 500, and who will get those rides. Most of the signings are not too surprising and have been covered pretty well on RACER.com, but the one signing that remains a big mystery to me is Jack Harvey with Rahal Letterman Lanigan, and how he wound up in the No. 45 HyVee car.

I see some logic to Harvey replacing Sato in the No. 30 car, assuming he brought sponsorship to a level at or above Sato's, just because he's younger (though Harvey's results are far from convincing over his five years in IndyCar). But if he did bring sponsorship, how did he wind up in the fully-sponsored No. 45 car? And if he didn't bring major sponsorship, why sign Harvey at all, and why so early, while RLL was still auditioning other drivers for the No. 45 car? It's a real head-scratcher. Was Harvey's sponsorship perhaps less than initially represented when he announced his departure from Meyer Shank Racing? Seems like there must be an interesting story on how that all played out, and I would sure love to hear your thoughts on it. And full disclosure, I was rooting for Santino Ferrucci to get the No. 45 car, and hope he gets one of those Indy 500 seats!

Thanks, and hope you have a great day.

Andy Sokol

MP: Like you, I assumed Jack was destined for Taku’s No. 30 since he was signed to be Graham’s new teammate, not the third car expansion driver. Turns out it’s just a number and branding change. Jack’s driving the No. 30 car, with the No. 30 crew, but with the No. 45 on the car. And since HyVee was attached to the No. 45 last season, I’m told the company and team wanted continuity moving forward, and no, Jack’s not bringing money to the deal. Lundgaard does bring sponsors, and those will be seen on the No. 30, which is really the No. 45 entry from last year. This stuff’s never simple, is it?

Q: Is there a reason why IndyCar have not gone down the path of having spec dampers? It seems like the logical progression in the quest for cost containment. I like the battle between smart people/ development/ideas/engineering as much as anybody else, but having walked so far down the spec path, why the holdout in this one specific area? Does it get even one more person through the gate?

Dominic Massarotti, Melbourne, Australia

MP: I’d liken going to spec dampers to telling MLB players they all must use bats of the same size and weight, or NBA players to wear the same brand and model of shoe instead of the custom versions that best fit their feet. Dampers have nothing to do with the fans and everything with tailoring the ride characteristics to each driver’s needs. This is the one area on the car where teams can express themselves with significant creative freedom. We’ve lost so much to "cost control" over the years, so why would we want to drive the final nail into the series by taking away one of the last ways a damper guru like Olivier Boisson – while at Dale Coyne Racing – could embarrass the Big 3 with his ingenuity? It’s anything but the logical progression. It’s a mindset that needs to be fought at every opportunity.

"So basically I'll be driving the No. 30. Except it will be the No. 45. OK, got it." Barry Cantrell/Motorsport Images

Q: I understand IndyCar’s hesitancy to go back to Pocono. I have one point to add and a one suggestion.

1. With respect to Justin Wilson’s accident, the adoption of the windscreen and the Universal Aero Kit (UAK), the likelihood of such a thing occurring has been significantly reduced – but this is racing and it is still dangerous.

2. My suggestion to IndyCar and to Pocono (I don’t know the feasibility of this ,but I understand it would cost money): Why not add a second layer of SAFER Barrier on top of the existing one to prevent cars climbing up, and on top of, the wall and getting into the fence? I realize rare Scott Dixon-like acrobatic crashes can happen and nothing can be done in those rare instances – did I mention that this is racing and it is still dangerous?

Rob Peterson, Rochester, NY

MP: I hear you, but there’s just no energy in the paddock to go back to a place that ended its IndyCar run on such bad memories. On the double-stacked SAFER suggestion, that goes back to my comments in the last Mailbag on big upgrade costs. I’m told the price to do such a thing with that much SAFER barrier installation would be a giant dollar figure. If and when the "Tricky Triangle" makes a big oval-wide safety update that would be welcoming to IndyCar, we might have a chance of going back.

Q: Paint or wraps: what do teams use now, and why? I recall that a team changed livery (sponsor) from one to another overnight at a two-day race. That had to be a wrap, right? Any issues at 220mph?

Craig Vaught, Arkadelphia, AR

MP: Weight reduction, aero-friendly smoothness without stickers being applied on top of paint, ease of installation and repair, and time savings. It’s cut down on the intensive process of firing everything through the paint shop, and given teams previously unimaginable flexibility to sell different sponsorships for doubleheaders. If there were issues at 220mph, I’m guessing we would have already seen the Speedway lined with wraps?

Q: Thanks to the RACER staff for continuing the Mailbag in Robin's honor. I was fortunate enough to follow him since his early days at the Indianapolis Star. While his writings and TV appearances were always entertaining and insightful, I didn't realize how much positive influence (perhaps through "constructive friction"?!) he had in the paddock, and I am forever grateful that his love of our sport has helped heal past wounds and provided us a bright future. We love you, Robin!

Question: Upon The Captain's purchase of all things IndyCar and IMS (thank you Roger!) there was some conversation regarding some level of upgrade to the IMS Museum, if not a new facility altogether? Are there any updates to provide?

John in Lee’s Summit, MO

MP: RP has been consistent in saying the museum wasn’t part of the purchase, and from what I was just told by an insider, yes, renovations are coming, starting in the basement and moving up through the building. Lots of planning going on right now, and more cars are going to be acquired. Great news all around, John.

Q: What is the reason that a driver like Colton Herta does not qualify for a Super License? I don’t watch the F1 parades that people call auto racing. Totally boring as far as I’m concerned.

I’m so sick of listening to F1 snobs looking down their noses at IndyCar. I contend that given equal machinery, our drivers like Dixon, Power, Newgarden and others are every bit as good as the F1 elite.

There are many examples over the last couple of decades that prove that IndyCar drivers can compete on an equal footing with F1 drivers. Mario, Villeneuve and Montoya proved that our drivers could compete and indeed win championships and contend for race wins with good equipment. Likewise, Mansell, Johansson, Barrichello, Alonso, and Sato did not dominate in IndyCar. They were certainly competitive and in Mansell’s case successful, but they did not dominate.

Had Michael, Bourdais and da Matta been given decent machinery and support, I contend that they would have also been successful.

Doug Mayer, Revelstoke, BC, Canada

CHRIS MEDLAND: Unfortunately for Colton, it's partly down to the fact that when he was the runner-up in his 2018 Indy Lights campaign, that season wasn't eligible for Super License points. It usually would have earned him 12 points and put him comfortably in range of the required 40 when he started scoring good IndyCar results, but as there were only seven drivers who were full-time entrants that season, it didn't meet the threshold for a minimum amount of cars so he missed out on those. As it turns out, the COVID-19 pandemic would have then meant he could add up enough seasons to get one, if 2018 had counted.

But that doesn't overlook the fact that in "normal" times he'd still have been just short at the end of 2020 (36 points). And that's all down to the IndyCar Series not being an FIA championship. The FIA knows its own series' inside out and so wants young drivers to follow a certain ladder to be prepared for F1, so IndyCar's points don't reflect that enough. It is the only championship other than Formula 2 that awards the champion the full 40 required points (in F2 the top three all get 40) but below that it's much less heavily weighted and matches with Formula E or Formula 3 from third place down. That needs addressing to make it easier for drivers to cross over.

Q: Why can't Formula 1 race at Watkins Glen, Road America or Sonoma since they are road courses?

Chris Fiegler, Latham, NY

CM: It simply comes down to the way the FIA grades racetracks. The grading depends on the facilities, the length, track width, pit and paddock space, safety features, proximity to medical buildings -- there's a long list. And Formula 1 races can only take place on tracks that have received the FIA's Grade 1 designation. Watkins Glen, Road America and Sonoma are all Grade 2, which means they are close and able to run high-performance cars but there are certain factors that would need addressing to host an F1 race. Quite often it's the pit and paddock area, which is an expensive and disruptive rebuild, but it can also relate to the run-off areas based on car performance. If any of those circuits want to host an F1 race, they'd need to invest in some upgrades, which often reduces their ability to generate income while the work is being carried out, and then they have the F1 race-hosting fee on top. So it's not cheap.

In case you're interested, the U.S. circuits that have Grade 1 certification are Circuit of The Americas, the under-construction Miami International Autodrome, and Indy's GP circuit.

Clay Regazzoni leads Jean-Pierre Jabouille at Watkins Glen in 1979. Pretty sure the FIA wouldn't allow those fence posts to slide nowadays, although they'd be very effective at enforcing track limits. David Phipps/Motorsport Images

Q: I am curious as to why the Haas F1 team does not try to secure iconic American sponsors such as Levi, Budweiser, Coke etc? I feel like that may help easily build fans in the U.S. as well as provide sponsorship value at the U.S. F1 races. My second question is, why do the teams that are running another manufacturer's power plant not have an engine logos on the cars? Haas is powered by Ferrari and I don't see a Prancing Horse on the chassis.

Andy, Indianapolis

CM: The main point of Haas being in F1 is not for U.S. growth, it's for international exposure. Gene Haas felt his company was well-enough established in the U.S. (NASCAR obviously helping) but it has clients all over the world and wanted to be a bigger name globally. In order to do that, you also need to have control over the car and placement of sponsors, and two of those sponsors (Budweiser and Coke) already have international sporting deals and don't exactly need to increase brand awareness globally in the way Haas does. The most lucrative deals are done with companies that actually aren't that well known and want to be.

In terms of the engine logos, that's actually a really interesting question. Williams used to carry the Mercedes logo clearly, and both Red Bull and AlphaTauri carry Honda, but that's almost like a sponsorship deal. Essentially, I think it boils down to the teams that are customers are paying enough for the engine as it is, so they want that space to sell to sponsors to recoup that money, rather than also give further advertising to the PU manufacturer that is already getting tens of millions of dollars from them.

Aside from Honda – as a supplier but not a constructor – the other PU manufacturers are also likely to only want their badge on their own car, rather than one built by someone else that they don't have performance control over.

Q: I wake up the day after Kyle Larson wins the Cup championship and read that he is the "best racer in the world.” That is a rather bold statement to make. Do you or others at RACER feel that he is the best in the world?

Dan, California

KELLY CRANDALL: I don’t like to play the best racer in the world or the best driver in “insert series here.” To me, it’s a stretch to compare drivers across generations or, in this case, from all over the world, and decide who gets the nod as the best racer. But what I do agree with is that Kyle Larson had a 2021 for the ages, and there could be an argument that he had the best season ever. Larson pointed it out: while he didn’t win as many races on dirt, he won big races and won a marquee event in every car he sat in this year from dirt to NASCAR. It is an incredible feat for a driver to not only be dominant every week, but do so on the big stage. Best racer in the world? Not for me to decide, nor do I want to. But Kyle Larson is undoubtedly one of the best at what he does, and has that rare talent of going fast in anything he drives.

CM: No, but I wish we could find out! I was a fan of Larson from a few years ago with my one and only NASCAR race at Texas Motor Speedway, seeing him running the high line and making moves (before he retired), and it's been a hell of a season from him. But we just don't get enough of a chance to compare drivers across disciplines, mainly because the best in each series rarely venture outside it. Lewis Hamilton hasn't had a go at the Indy 500, for example, and nor will we see Alex Palou running a NASCAR race anytime soon. Fernando Alonso said he wanted to prove himself as the best driver by racing different things, but again, that stopped as soon as he came back to F1, and it's a real shame. It only needs a few to give it a shot to make it easier to judge drivers against each other, and I really wish we could find a way of making that happen more often. Until then, Larson is just the best NASCAR driver at this very moment.

Q: Will RACER have another story on the electrification of racing and the future? It seems a foregone conclusion we are marching in that direction for regular cars. The question only seems to be at what pace and how long will it be before racing bodies have no choice but to go 100% electric.

There seems to be a limited amount of time that the manufacturers will continue to develop and produce ICE engines. Sure, it's not next year but it sure feels the writing is on the wall long-term.

The last thing I want is for IndyCar, IMSA, NASCAR, etc. to end up having to go to some no-name niche engine manufacturer because the big boy auto makers are no longer interested in ICE engines.

Doug, Stafford, VA

MARK GLENDENNING: We did a story very much along those lines in the magazine a few years back, and it's safe to assume that it's a topic we'll continue to revisit.

THE FINAL WORD

From Robin Miller’s Mailbag, November 19, 2014

Q: Today I went on YouTube to watch the greatest race of all time, the 1982 Indy 500, and something about this race always bothered me and nobody seemed to talk about it. No it has nothing to do with the Coogin crash, or ABC’s obsession with showing Rick Mears’ wife, but it has to do with Bobby Unser. I’m wondering how in the heck did Uncle Bobby go from defending winner to managing a small team like Garza Racing? Seemed like a very odd pairing to me, can you give us the story behind that?

Derrick, Lancaster, PA

ROBIN MILLER: A quick phone call to Robert Unser for his story. “It was all because of my youngest son, Robby, and trying to help get his racing career going. I’d neglected my other boy, Bobby Jr., for the most part and he was a stranger to me so I wanted to make it right with Robby. And, believe me, it was tough to walk away from that PC10 of Roger’s [Penske] because I developed it and I knew how fast it was. It ranked right there with Dan Gurney’s 1972 Eagle. I’d broken every track record testing it and I promised Roger I would run five races for him in 1982 but I just couldn’t get along with Derrick Walker [team manager] so I quit. Flew home to Albuquerque and called Roger and told him I wasn’t going to drive anymore. That was a tough day.”

Unser then agreed to help develop Pat Patrick’s Wildcat in the spring of 1982 but the bodywork flew off during a test at Phoenix and damn near decapitated the three-time Indy winner.

“That was it,” says Unser. “Damn near put out my eye, and I drove myself to the hospital and decided, ‘No more.’ I wasn’t broke and I was healthy so I put away my helmet – at least, for Indy cars.”

Uncle Bobby got paid a pretty penny to help Garza, who reportedly needed a shrink after two years. ;-)