The RACER Mailbag, December 22

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.

Jon Litorja

MARSHALL PRUETT: I think it would have been an amazing solution when the old, low-buck and renegade American IndyCar Series was alive. It sure as heck wouldn’t work or fit in a modern Dallara DW12 or whatever the next chassis will be called. Beyond the issues with the size of the engine being too big for the small footprint the current V6 turbos fill, you have the OH-MY-LORD weight of 688 pounds to deal with.

Knowing how the DW12 is already too heavy and will be gaining more than 100 pounds with the new hybrid powerplant in 2023, this monstrous lump is 2.5 times the weight of the current 2.2-liter TTV6 motors and would shift the front/rear weight distribution to 1/99-percent.

Bill Tempero was a fixture in the AIS where stock-block V8 engines were used in place of CART's turbo V8s. Tempero also made some CART appearances, but was a minnow among great white sharks. Image via MP Archives

Q: I am Frank Lehmann from Germany -- a huge IndyCar fan. I have a question: Why don't IndyCar use the GT3 engines? You would have a similar number of horsepower which are reliable and you have a damn lot of manufacturers...

Best regards,

Frank

MP: Same issue as mentioned above, with size and weight being the issue. We’re talking high-performance road car engines here. What makes an IndyCar perform at a high level is the lack of relative weight to prototypes and GT cars, so saddling an IndyCar with a brick of a GT3 motor would kill its ability to impress.

Q: What are some of the holiday traditions for race teams? Typically this is their off-season, so do they do anything special for the holidays?

Ryan in West Michigan

MP: It’s not uncommon for the owners of the bigger teams to host a dinner for everyone, and for the closer pit crews in the series, you’ll see some cool photos appear on Instagram of the crew chief from the No. X car having the rest of the men and women from the crew over for a feast and libations. You can get a feel for which crews are truly bonded and which ones are more distant based on whether they come together on the holidays.

My favorite memory in this area was from 1995 when I was invited for Thanksgiving by Michael and Jill Cannon. Our Genoa Racing Indy Lights team (former CART team and future IRL team, as well) was based in Novato, California, about 10 minutes away from Sonoma Raceway, and the Cannons had a little house not far from the shop. We always had a number of international crew members who didn’t have family to visit during the holidays, so Mike and Jill would invite someone like Pierre St. Gelais (from Quebec) or Lou Schollum (from New Zealand) to their home and make sure they weren’t sitting in their apartments alone and forgotten.

I’d lost my father about a month before Thanksgiving, who was the last of my family, and that day with the Cannons and Lou and whomever else was among the favorite holiday memories I have. The food was amazing, it was nice and warm, the smells were incredible, and I think we spent a good while playing Grand Prix I or II between drinks and inappropriate jokes. When we talk about sports teams being like families, I think back to that Thanksgiving with the Cannons as the prime example of how true it is.

Modern-day team Christmas parties are fun, but you should have gone to the ones back when Santa raced an F3 car in the early '60s. Motorsport Images

Q: Before I get to my question, I’d like to correct some misinformation that appeared in recent Mailbag editions.

A few weeks ago someone complained about F1 only having two race winners. The reality is that for 2021 there were six; 2020, five; 2019, five; 2018, five; 2017, five; 2016, four; 2015, three; 2014, three;, 2013, five; 2012, eight; 2011, five.

There was also a complaint about no migration of racing technology from F1 to IndyCar. I guess they forgot about the Lotus development of ground effects.

As we know, the season-ending race at Abu Dhabi generated a massive amount of controversy. The only thing comparable here in the U.S. that I remember was the Unser/Andretti battle over who won the 1981 Indianapolis 500. Do any other events come to mind?

Thanks,

Don Hopings Cathedral City, CA

MP: Well it’s good to know the Mailbag has its own steward monitoring each week’s submissions and isn’t afraid to throw the black flag when necessary! Plenty of other migrations to add, with John Barnard’s semi-automatic Ferrari 649 gearbox from 1989 as a major innovation, albeit one that took a long time to be adopted here.

In 1981, it was indeed that year’s Indy 500. In the new millennium, it’s the 2002 Indy 500 where, nearly 20 years later, there are diehard fans who refuse to accept Helio Castroneves’ win as being legitimate and, as well, continue to hail Paul Tracy as the winner of the 2002 race. Time and distance has taken some of the sting away. More recently, it was the let’s-go-racing-in-the-rain decision by IndyCar in 2011 on the Loudon oval, which gifted the world Will Power’s double-bird meme.

If it’s possible to get three black eyes, that’s what IndyCar gave itself in 1981, 2002, and 2011.

Q: Hi Marshall. Thanks for giving such a detailed, long reply to my question on the F1 title decider-- I really appreciate it and I want to apologize in case my question came across as negative about IndyCars (sorry, THE NTT INDYCAR SERIES!)

After sending my email straight after the F1 race on Sunday, when I said F1's actions felt like "an IndyCar decision,"I later realized I should maybe have said "it felt like F1 trying to do what IndyCar would do." I feel like they were trying to be entertaining – like IndyCar – but with the sole aim of getting any lap of racing in. But like you and Chris Medland, I think they made a complete mess of it, with too much indecision.

I'm a massive IndyCar fan and I think (or hope) you're right, IndyCar would have anticipated that kind of scenario in advance and quickly made it a red. I also think that anyone put in Masi's position, without Charlie Whiting's hard-earned experience and respect, is likely to struggle.

Anyway, to end on a lighter note, I'll ask a fun question which you can choose to ignore if you like:

HI MARSHALL, WHY DOES THE NTT INDYCAR SERIES INSIST WE HAVE TO SHOUT WHENEVER WE TALK ABOUT INDYCARS AND ITS TITLE SPONSOR?

Why can't we just talk about it like normal people, and only shout the name of the title sponsor in the NTT Indycar Series?

I hope you and your loved ones have a great Christmas & festive season,

Paul

MP: THANKS, PAUL. Sorry, thanks, Paul. Yeah, it’s weird. So, NASCAR isn’t just an all-caps thing. It’s an acronym, stands for the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. IMSA? International Motorsports Association. SCCA? Sports Car Club of America. What the heck does INDYCAR stand for, asks the person who works for RACER? What I want to know is what INDYCAR stand for?

My suggestion: Indianapolis Needs Dixon, Yo, Cars Are Racing!

We await your submissions for the next Mailbag edition.

Q: I was very fortunate to meet Mr. Al Unser back at the pit paddock during an IRL event at both Dover, Delaware and Fountain, Colorado. We had a great time talking about racing, but he mentioned some the past Black racing drivers that I never knew, such as Rajo Jack, whom he met, and Tommy Thompson. Despite his accomplishments in other racing endeavors such as IMSA, Can-Am Formula 5000 and Trans-Am Series, which won, he never got the chance to race in Formula 1. Why?

Alistair, Springfield, MO

MP: Interesting question. I don’t know if he was never asked, but I can say that Big Al always came across as a proud homegrown driver whose interests were rooted at home. Along with the absence of F1, Big Al’s name is also missing from the legion of his contemporaries who raced at Le Mans.

Q: Any word on Ben Bretzman? Is he staying at Penske's Palace, moving with Pagenaud to Shank or doing something else entirely?

Steve-o in Ontario

MP: Hello, Steve-o, the word-o on Ben-o is he’s staying-o at Penske-o doing sports cars-o with-o the new-o Porsche LMDh-o.

Q: Now we know how the top F1 teams are spending their budget cap surplus: going yacht racing. Both Mercedes and Red Bull have announced they’re competing in the 2024 America’s Cup as design partners with existing syndicates INEOS and Alinghi, respectively. And Ferrari, having spurned IndyCar, is rumored to be linked to Luna Rossa. Obviously, there’s long been crossover between these high-tech foiling boats and F1 aero engineers, but now the F1 circus is directly involved at the team level. As a fan of both motorsports and sailing, this is going to be epic.

So what about The Captain? Roger Penske is already a team principal and financier of the American Magic team, which competed in this year’s Cup. Do you think he’s thinking about finding synergies between his America’s Cup team and IndyCar or Team Penske? Maybe get Chevy’s aero team involved? We’ll never have another Race of Two Worlds, but here’s a chance to see an American Magic Team Penske take on Mercedes and Red Bull on equal terms. (And if Ferrari joins, he can try to exact revenge on them for not becoming the third engine manufacturer.)

Mark Zastrow

MP: The obscure things I learn each week from letters like yours are a real gift. Sadly, the extent of my yachting knowledge was gained while watching Caddyshack and seeing what happened to Judge Smales’ new boat.

Q: The fiasco at the end of the F1 race in Abu Dhabi is a huge embarrassment for the series. The race stewards, apparently former USAC, IRL, and NASCAR officials, did what they have done all year. Find an article in the rules that lets them do whatever they want, then manipulate the results of the race. I stopped watching F1 many years ago because of the lack of passing and racing. And now the series is like watching an episode of The People’s Court, with every race ending in protests from any and every team. Finally, I just read a protest has been filed by Team Green of IndyCar, and Paul Tracy has been awarded the win and the world drivers’ championship.

RL Schneider

MP: In my warped mind, Abu Dhabi was more like an episode of The Jerry Springer Show with surprise guests and confrontations with race director Michael Masi coming out swinging a bouquet of flowers and clobbering Mercedes’ Toto Wolff and Lewis Hamilton in the head while Red Bull’s Christian Horner gets the audience revved up with a chant of “YOU SUCK!”

Q: Did any of you guys race in your career? If so what racing series did you race in? Is Marshall Pruett related to Scott Pruett who raced in the NASCAR Cup Series?

Chris Fiegler, Latham NY

MP: No relation to Scott, but we grew up within two hours of each other and have become close friends.

RACER founder/owner/occasional columnist Paul Pfanner raced Formula Fords, and learned how to do so with an SCCA driver coach by the name of Mike Hull. Our late man Robin Miller raced Midgets, Formula Fords, and various odds and ends. I raced a Formula Ford and a SCCA GT4 Datsun B210. Last competition car I drove was an Aston Martin Vantage GT4. Good fun.

Also got to drive our Genoa Racing Indy Lights car for a few laps at Buttonwillow the day after the 1996 season finale at Laguna Seca. There’s video of it, and it’s brilliantly embarrassing. Looked like a grizzly bear riding a tricycle.

Chris Medland did some karting and won an Alpine media karting event in Abu Dhabi, only to fall over and break the champagne bottle while trying to spray Fernando Alonso, while Mark Glendenning has driven a few different open-wheelers including Formula Ford, Formula BMW and Formula Holden, but never raced seriously.

The grizzly bear mounts its tricycle. Image via Marshall Pruett

Q: Pato O'Ward recently Tweeted about how fast the F1 car was in his test. Bobby Rahal replied, "Just wait ‘til the new IndyCar engine shows up!" Is there truth to this? Can we expect to see more F1-type quickness, speed, acceleration, deceleration, etc. from the new car? If so, will this necessitate a need for power steering? Just curious how radical of a change we should expect this to be in terms of how the cars handle.

Scott Segrin, Germantown, WI

MP: The next IndyCar with the new hybrid engine package won’t be anywhere near a current F1 car, and it’s not because our motor and energy recovery system will lack power. It’s all due to the serious weight differences at play. We’ll see where the final numbers end up, but the 2023 hybrid IndyCar could be nearly 250 pounds heavier than the new and heavier F1 cars coming next year. Power should be similar between the formulas, so our cars will lose in the acceleration, braking, and cornering game as a result.

Q: Will IndyCar be holding a spring training testing session in 2022? I really missed it last year, as previously it's been a great way to break up the off-season blues!

Matt Philpott

MP: According to what IndyCar president Jay Frye told me a few months ago, doing away with Spring Training due to COVID in 2020 has led the series the rethink whether it’s worth bringing back, and with it scrubbed from the 2021 calendar, he said there’s no plans for its return in 2022. I do wonder if there might be a change in 2023 with the new motor packages. Teams will want all the test days they can get ahead of the first race, and for the sake of promotions, a Spring Training showcase at Laguna Seca or Road America might be a fan- and media-friendly event to consider.

Q: Why didn’t IndyCar or the Speedway have a booth/display at PRI this year? Or at least at Charlie Brown’s ?

Big Possum, Michigan

MP: It was all lined up to happen, but when Gene Simmons had to cancel singing the debut of his new single “I am Mindy,” IndyCar, sorry, INDYCAR canceled.

Q: I’ll attempt to keep this short, but there’s a lot of ground to cover. I’ve been a fan so long that I saw Jimmy Clark at Milwaukee. I’ve been to Indy as part of a news crew, and a spectator, Can-Ams at RA, Daytona 500s and the first NASCAR race at Michigan as well as the Long Beach GP when Mario won. I raced motorcycles on road courses and cross-country, as well as dirt track cars.

I loved CART. I want to love the current series, but with spec cars, it is very difficult to distinguish them. It’s great spec engines have been avoided so there is some differentiation. The problem is that you could put all these drivers in Formula Vees or Fords, and get the same close racing. Yes, I know, different chassis raise costs, and are more difficult for series officials to police, but racers always find a way.

Bring back March, Lola and Penske chassis. Also whatever some offspring of Smokey Yunick might imagine! That is real diversity, and what is needed to broaden appeal.

John Ehrhart, Wyoming

MP: There’s nothing like a good ‘bring back ______’ letter heading into the holidays. I can tell an Ed Carpenter Racing Dallara from a Dale Coyne Racing Dallara just as easily as I could with a Shierson Racing March or a Truesports Lola, so I think it might be more the wishing for the old days to come back than your eyes being unable to tell the differences between today’s liveries.

If someone’s willing to bring March, Lola, Penske Cars, Reynard, Panoz and Swift from extinction, I’d love to go back to the era of chassis choices. But since they no longer exist as open-wheel constructors, we’ll also need someone to build us a time machine before we can make it happen. A descendant of Smokey just might be the perfect person to do so!

Q: While I assume Laguna will never get up to MotoGP standards again, any chance these updates lead to targeting a World Superbike round?

Brian Smith

MP: Not sure if it’s the safety side being the issue, but more about the lack of budget given to the track to pay for a big international motorcycle racing series. There’s a lot of bad memories from the previous track management’s screw ups with DORNA that led to a huge debt to be paid and MotoGP departing.

Q: Don't know if anyone is keeping in touch with Marco Andretti. I think he did a good thing is stepping back last year. I watched him racing in SRX and doing the different series without the IndyCar stress of being an Andretti. He seemed happier and gained back a love of racing for the pure sport of it. Any word on how he is doing?

John

MP: His dad recently said he’s working on doing another Indy 500. I’m with you. His IG feed suggests he’s happier than ever. That’s a beautiful thing.

Marco Andretti is enjoying life away from the full-time IndyCar grind, but the Brickyard still beckons. Barry Cantrell/Motorsport Images

Q: All the comparisons of F1 v IndyCars reminds me of how in the late '60s and early '70s, the old Group 7 cars could give F1 cars a run for their money. It makes me wonder (warning, three questions here): What would it take for an LMH or LMDh to turn comparable lap times to a current F1 car? How did the previous generation of LMP1 machines (e.g., Porsche 919) compare to the F1 cars of their day?

Or to turn Stateside, DPi and IndyCars run on many of the same tracks, but the DPi are consistently slower. What would it take to see them vying for fastest in North America? (OK, so there were four questions).

Paul Lewis, Macon, GA

MP: If we think of them in IndyCar terms, the new LMH and coming-soon LMDh prototypes are like Indy Lights cars compared to the LMP1 Hybrid models they replace. Miles away from F1, and it would take a total rewrite of the LMH/LMDh formulas to avoid being murdered on the same track.

The LMP1 Hybrids, at their peak, were the most powerful road racing cars on the planet, easily eclipsing F1 and IndyCar with 1200hp or more to deploy with 500-600hp from their combustion engines and 600-700 from their monster energy recovery systems. Even with that big overall power number, a P1 Hybrid and an F1 car made their speed in very different ways, with the prototypes using the ERS power to explode off the corners, but running out of electric steam well before they’d reach the end of a long straight. The F1 cars also charged off the corners, but had the benefit of DRS to hit those impressive top speeds. Qualifying for the 2015 WEC race at Silverstone had a Porsche 919 Hybrid on pole at 1m39.721s. F1 pole was a 1m32.248.

As IMSA’s technical director told us in the new issue of RACER Magazine, based on current simulations, the added weight of the 40hp ERS systems in the LMDh cars will make the cars slightly slower than today’s DPis. The new IndyCar formula is meant to take the horsepower up by about 150-200, but we have a big weight gain coming as well, so I doubt the lap time gaps will grow or shrink by a significant amount.

Q: Looking back at 2021, I’ve got five questions

1: Who was the top driver of the year (Kyle Larson or Max Verstappen)?

2: What was the best race of the year. Nashville. (Kidding.) Indy 500. Castroneves. Fairytale ending?

3: What was the upset of the year?

4: What was the team of the year?

5: What was the worst race of the year?

Via email

MP: 1. Easy, neither: Alex Palou. Larson did what everyone feared he’d do if and when he had a top Cup ride. Max did what he’s been capable of doing once Red Bull gave him a car that was as good as the Mercedes. Both drivers, amazing jobs, but no surprises in what they achieved. Palou? Other than his mom, dad, and girlfriend, but no, not even his team predicted he’d win the championship. Zero expectations. Biggest title upset of the year, therefore top driver of the year.

2. Nashville. (Kidding.) Indy 500. Castroneves. Fairytale ending.

3. See question No. 1 and No. 2.

4. Ganassi had drivers finish P1, P4, and P6 in the standings. No team came close to matching them.

5. Nashville. (Not kidding.)

Q: I realize Nyck de Vries is the Formula E champ and could be in F1 with a few breaks, still, damn is he quick. He shows up at the Young Driver Test in Abu Dhabi and dusts the nearest driver by 1.5 seconds. Similarly, he blows everyone away in his IndyCar test at Sebring. Is he seriously on anyone in IndyCar’s radar, if not, why not?

Will miss P.T., but you said he’s interested in doing some driving. Good luck to him.

Brian Henris, Fort Mill, SC

MP: You’ve got me scratching my balding head a bit here, because Mike Shank reached out to Nyck due to being on his radar, so I’d say having an IndyCar team owner do that would suggest he’s on someone’s radar in IndyCar?

I’d think that after his performance at Sebring and again in Abu Dhabi, Shank might have competition for his services in 2023, provided the Dutchman wants to reroute himself to 'Murrica and become an IndyCar driver.

Q: I just read about the rumor of a potential McLaren/Ford partnership in LMDh. Your story reported it would be a McLaren chassis with a Ford twin-turbo V6. I dare say that sounds like a very similar power plant to what the new IndyCar engines will be. With McLaren obviously possessing big dreams in IndyCar, is there any merit to the tantalizing thought of McLaren making a tie-up with Ford for an IndyCar engine? Especially with Ford’s major electrification announcements and the newly announced battery plants just down I-65 from Indy?

One can dream…

Justin

MP: It’s a great question, and Ford CEO Jim Farley is a racer and big racing fan. As much as we dream about the Blue Oval getting back into IndyCar, in this situation, I think we’re facing an issue of options and fit. If, by chance, IMSA was not going to a hybrid-electric engine formula in 2023, I’d bet Ford would take a hard look at IndyCar’s hybrid-electric formula coming in 2023.

But since LMDh does tick that same electric box as IndyCar, staying closer to its modern sports car/road car DNA is where I’d expect Ford to commit its funds for racing. Plus, with LMDh, a decision by Ford to partner with a company like McLaren would open up opportunities to pursue more overall wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. And we know how much Le Mans means to the Ford family.

Q: After watching the last laps of the Abu Dhabi race result in Lewis Hamilton not getting his eighth championship, I realized there might be something very difficult about breaking into the eights. Michael Schumacher – seven F1 championships, A.J. Foyt – seven Indy-style championships, Richard Petty, Dale Earnhart, and Jimmy Johnson – all with seven NASCAR championships. All great at their specialty but never able to get to eight. I hope Lewis keeps trying, but the numbers seem against him.

Bob from Tennessee

MP: Man, this is a good one. We do have Tom Kristensen, who won the 24 Hours of Le Mans nine times, and Sebastien Loeb, who won nine consecutive WRC titles. But yeah, eight does seem to be an issue.

INDYCAR UNIVERSITY

ED’s note: A few weeks back, reader Jack Cook sent the Mailbag a letter explaining that he is new to IndyCar and trying to learn about the series. Marshall invited him to send further questions, and Jack responded this week with no fewer than 10 in one email. Rather than taking over the entire Mailbag by hitting them all at once, we’re going to answer one per week. By the time the 2022 field assembles in St. Pete, Jack, and any other new fans, will be primed and ready. (We’ll know we’ve really done our jobs if they’ve also taken sides in The Split, and staked out a position with regard to the 2002 Indy 500).

Q: Why are ovals special? I still fall into the "it is just a circle" camp. And why is the Indy 500 really special?

Cook Family, MI

MP: I asked lifelong road racer-turned-oval expert JR Hildebrand to assist with the first question:

"Oof. 'It’s just a circle'. Where to even begin with that.

"For a driver, like competition at the highest level doing anything, what makes it interesting is how hard it is to operate at the very limit, and what makes ovals special in this regard is how dramatic the risk/reward equation shifts when you reach that limit. Today’s IndyCar formula is such that there’s very little margin for error – the cars don’t handle excessive tire slip or vehicle yaw before they let go. So, in the cockpit at least, those trimmed out qualifying laps and the many laps during a race where things are less-than-comfortable definitely make you feel like you’re earning your money. There’s also a distinctive kind of creativity that comes into play driving an oval – you’re always exploring where on the track, and with which input strategy, your car is going to work the best, particularly when in traffic.

The 'ovals are just driving around in circles' thing doesn't hold water with 11-time Indy 500 starter JR Hildebrand. Phillip Abbott/Motorsport Images

"It’s a totally different dynamic than on a road or street circuit, because how you manage the airflow over (and even behind) your car is much more within your control, and this has a much greater effect on your performance relative to other cars around you. I’ve sometimes felt that driving in traffic on an oval is more like driving in the wet on a road or street course – just a high degree of overall variability corner to corner, lap to lap. Doing this at the upper limits of how fast the car can physically go is altogether a different kind of challenge, and one that still garners a lot of respect within the paddock.

"And I get it. A lot of this, because of how fine a line “the edge” is in these cars, is hard to see from the outside. But hopefully having a little insight into what the drivers are doing and what they’re dealing with will give you something to look for the next time you’re watching."

As for the second question, I’m a writer, so I could wax on for days with a response, but honestly, nobody can tell you why the Indy 500 is really special. That’s a personal journey of discovery. It’s our biggest race, our oldest race, has a ton of neato stats, pays the winner a lot of money, etc. But none of those things matter.

The special part is finding what resonates with you about the race. It’s an experiential thing that’s no different than going through the process of defining your favorite song, favorite car, or favorite person. Ask a thousand of the Indy 500’s biggest fans what makes the event extra special, and I bet you’d get 5000 answers. I look forward to a future Mailbag letter containing yours.

Happy holidays, Merry Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanza, and everything else you might celebrate. Call someone who might be alone and let them know they aren’t.

Q: What does the 2021 F1 season portend for 2022? The new cars allegedly will allow for more wheel-to-wheel racing. I do not see FIA and F1 management (including Masi) as having the competence to manage closer racing.

Ironically, won’t all the controversy be a boon to F1 in the USA? Abu Dhabi hit the triple crown of U.S. media: New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal. The next season of “Drive to Survive” is sure to be a ratings hit.

Al Gordon

CHRIS MEDLAND: Ha, it's an interesting first point! To be fair to F1 management, they're nothing to do with the rules regarding racing – that comes down to the FIA and Masi. It's going to be interesting to see how they handle it, but if it is easier to follow and overtake, it might actually make life easier for the stewards. Drivers currently need to put a really strong attempt in to get a move done, or equally robust defense knowing it will be hard for someone to have another go. If it's easier to fight wheel-to-wheel, we might see more stuff able to be settled on track. But either way, the rules need to be made clearer than they were this year -- that's got to be a major focus over the off-season.