The RACER Mailbag, May 4

Welcome to the RACER Mailbag. Questions for any of RACER’s 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 length and clarity. Questions received after 3pm ET each Monday will appear the following week.

Q: Mailbag readers: “We need a new car! The DW12 is ancient!”

Also Mailbag readers: “They should bring back dirt races.”

Greatest race fans in the world. Let’s just meet halfway and put them in Silver Crown cars at Burke Lakefront the week after Laguna Seca.

Ryan, Point Pleasant, NJ

MARSHALL PRUETT: You’re my new Director of Competition, Ryan.

Q: I am unclear concerning your comment about DRS being “automated.” As long as you are close enough to the car ahead, the driver chooses to open the wing (or not) and when to close it. Some years ago I remember Hamilton closing it late and had to do some sideways motoring at the next corner after the DRS zone. More recently, Gasly chose not to open the wing so that Verstappen could lap him and minimize the time lost to the next following car.

Don Hopings, Cathedral City, CA

MP: The easiest assumption to make when reading my replies is if it doesn’t make sense, just know I’m an idiot and anything that does actually make sense is a triumph.

Q: I wonder if the current economic challenges facing Hy-Vee will affect RLL sponsorship? Have you heard anything?

Pat Rizk, The Woodlands, TX

MP: I haven’t, and unless we’re talking about a small mom and pop company that’s somehow sponsoring a team, the annual expenditures on racing by a large company like Hy-Vee tend to be a tiny blip on their financial radar. Folks are also asking the same thing about Carvana with its losses making headlines this year. Simply put, if the five or six million a company spends each year on sponsoring an IndyCar is enough to sink its ship, there’s something seriously wrong with its structure.

That being said, yes, we have seen plenty of companies go from financial strength to weakness during a multi-year sponsorship deal and exit once the contract is completed. And in rare situations, we’ve seen the funding disappear during the contract and the logos come off the car, transporter, website, uniforms, etc., when something explodes inside the company. I can’t imagine anything like that is in play here.

Q: I was watching the Barber race on Peacock and like Long Beach, there were no side-by-side commercials. Out of curiosity, I switched to the cable broadcast and sure enough, side-by-side commercials! Why isn’t it the same on both?

Vincent Martinez, South Pasadena, CA

MP: That’s a great question, and like we once had with "Why aren’t we still racing in Milwaukee/Cleveland/Trenton/etc.," I think, "Why isn’t Peacock ___________" has become its modern day replacement in the Mailbag. The simple answer is that I don’t know, and I fear I’ve reached my limit with the folks at NBC wanting to answer the weekly influx of Peacock-related questions. The last few have gotten no reply…

Despite the foreboding livery, HyVee's IndyCar program is safe. For now. Probably. Gavin Baker/Motorsport Images

Q: I'm writing from the backstretch hillside at Barber Motorsports Park. The Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama just wrapped up, and watching Colton Herta slice and dice his way through the field today was more than worth the price of admission.

If I were an F1 fan tuning into the race today wondering who this Herta guy I keep hearing about is, I would've come away impressed. Sure he made a mistake at the end, but I think his raw speed makes him a threat regardless of which series he races in. If he ever gets a shot in F1, our brethren on the other side of the pond should watch out.

Also, if any IndyCar fan is reading this who has never been to Barber Motorsports Park, it's more than worth your time to make the trip. There's a reason they call this place the "Augusta of Motorsports." I've been here about half a dozen times, and it never disappoints. Check it out! 

Garrick, Alabama

MP:  Completely agree on Herta, whom I’m told I "love" according to RACER’s amazing article commenters, and on Barber, which is manicured and cared for like no other track in the country. I’d also add Road America to the list of "must attend" tracks, but for a different reason. I’ve been to one golf/country club in my life and see how the Augusta parallel is perfect for Barber. But I’m also not a golf or country club type of guy. Road America is just as gorgeous, but minus the stuffiness. It’s beautifully maintained, but you aren’t afraid to run afoul of the endless array of folks who oversee the tightly-controlled facility. One feels like an outdoor museum to me, and the other is a delightful park where speed and food and fun happen naturally. Bottom line, both are great, and I’m always fond of being in Alabama which is where my wife was raised, but Road America feels like home to me in ways I’ve yet to find at Barber.

Q:  From my armchair it looked like Grosjean's second hit on Rahal was emotional and deliberate. What would the fan base repercussion be if a Yank tried something like that in Europe? Indy having a field of 33 is like a correction – thank goodness for teams like DRR and the opportunities of one-offs. I miss Santino Ferrucci and think that it absolutely stinks that he still does not have a full-time ride.

Now that that's off my chest, I really enjoyed the Indy Lights race at Barber, especially the last lap duel. Very happy for Linus Lundquist's win – I met him at St. Pete (he took time to talk and sign my hat, which was really cool!) and have been since looking forward to Barber and seeing how he would do. Is there going to be an Indy 500 parade this year? I signed up to be notified when tickets go on sale, but nothing and the website seems to never get updated.

Norm Bob, New Bloomfield, PA

MP: I sure hope Linus makes his way to IndyCar next year because the kid is something special, but doesn’t come from wealth and will need to win the title and use the advancement prize unless a team wants to step in and hire him directly.

Q: I know it’s early, but are we potentially seeing Palou emerge as the new top driver at CGR? Dixon is a legend and sitting sixth in points, but he just seems to be consistently behind Palou now. 

Matt, Dallas, TX

MP: In the 16 races they contested as teammates when Palou joined CGR in 2021, it was an even split in race results with Palou finishing ahead of Dixie at eight rounds and Dixie on top at the other eight, and that doesn’t take engine failures, crashes, or anything else into account.

So far in 2022 with no crashes, explosions, or big items to derail either driver, Palou’s been ahead of Dixie in three of the four. Does that mean the six-time champ has lost top gear? Not by any means. Dixie could easily win the next race on the Indy road course and take his second Indy 500 a few weeks from now. But your question certainly warrants being tracked over the rest of the season, because Palou obviously held the edge over Dixie and the rest of his teammates last year. One season doesn’t make for a trend, but if it’s the same story by the time we close this season, it will be hard to argue against a major power shift having occurred.

Q: I have a comment, challenge, and a question for you. First, what a fantastic race in Alabama on Sunday! The top 10 were all over each other all afternoon, the pit strategy was fascinating (how are some of these drivers able to make the overcut work on such worn tires!?), and the technical prowess of the drivers was on display at one of the hardest tracks on the circuit. To top it all off, NBC did a great job on the coverage, always making sure to come back from commercial just in time to focus on a pit window or on-track battle. Well done!

That brings me to my challenge. Us IndyCar fans have got to do a better job of not constantly whining about every little detail of production, social media, or decision made by series leadership. In that vein, I want to challenge you and readers in the comments to name three things you think the series is doing really well at right now. I would say my three are their television deal, the stability of their chassis and engine suppliers, and the way they weathered the pandemic.

Finally, my question. I have never been to the 500, but would like to start making it a family tradition with my children. My oldest is 10 months old; what is a good age to expose kids to IndyCar so that they are engaged and not overwhelmed?

Tyler P.

MP: Easy, Tyler…end the complaining and we kill the Mailbag… IndyCar is doing an amazing job in almost every capacity. They’ve taken some good strides in improving the creativity and volume of their social media offerings by adding more talent to that side of the communications team. The quality of the schedule is remarkable; yes, there are some big gaps between a few rounds, but altogether, the calendar and its diverse challenges are incredible. And I’ll close by praising the overall feeling of security that Penske Entertainment has brought to the paddock which has led to a growth in entries from existing teams and a rising number of new or returning entrants who want to be part of the show.

Hard to say on the right age since every child is different.

Start 'em young. (And Tyler – if it helps, my daughter attended an IndyCar practice day when she was three and did great). Image by Penske Entertainment

Q: The Mailbag's influence knows no bounds. Maybe you could let NBC know of one small way it could improve life for IndyCar fans? My Sunday was a day of planes, trains, and automobiles after a flight cancellation the day before. No live IndyCar for me, but Peacock to the rescue, right? After a long day carefully avoiding any news about the race, I got home, poured a beverage, and navigated to the Peacock sports page to watch the replay. What is the very first thing on the page but "Highlights: O'Ward wins Grand Prix of Alabama."

Giving away the result does not seem the best way to attract viewers either to the full replay or to the highlights package. It is not the biggest problem in the world, but maybe Peacock could list its IndyCar content without giving away the outcome therein?

Bob, formerly of Gate 25

MP: I hear you, but I don’t think of NBC/Peacock as a specialist news organization that might lean towards hiding the results of a sporting contest it aired as to avoid spoilers for those who come to watch replays or highlights. Heck, the "spoiler alert" approach RACER.com and other outlets once used has also gone away since most of the world spends its days living on social media where nothing remains a secret. No doubt what you experienced was frustrating, but I can’t imagine NBC will change its approach to all of its post-event video content -- football, elections, golf, etc. -- just to cater to those who are actively avoiding to learn the outcomes.

Q: All the current discussions about the weight of the DW12 has me curious about what we might expect as a target weight for the new car/chassis with the extra hybrid weight compared to the current package. Also, besides "a little bit everywhere," what are the key contributing components that make an IndyCar significantly heavier than an F1 car despite F1 running -- by its standards -- pretty heavy cars at the moment? 

Be it the aeroscreen or Halo on the new car, I hope there is an effort to make these look more integral to the design. I was surprised that the Halo continues to look like an add-on on the current F1 car despite having a clean slate to work from, and hope IndyCar can do better. 

Second, I'm generally very happy with, and thankful for, Peacock and my IndyCar subscription but the spoilers on the home screen this far into its service is pretty damn frustrating and sure seems like a simple fix. 

I avoided results for the race and qualifying over the weekend and looked forward to watching Barber when I got back in town Sunday evening, only to have Peacock spoil it for me with "Highlights: O'Ward wins Grand Prix of Alabama" displayed on the screen. Mighty frustrating. For crying out loud Peacock, just leave the winner's name out of the titles. Please already.

George, Albuquerque

MP: I sat down with IndyCar last weekend for a feature on weight and ideas for the next chassis design, so keep an eye out for that in the coming days. Maybe the answer on avoiding spoilers is to have a friend or loved one fire up the TV, tablet, or phone and hit play before you enter the room so the title isn’t seen?

Q: I really enjoy the race at Alabama and it seems that for a track that only hosts one major racing series, it puts on a good show. That being said is New Jersey Motorsports Park able to host an IndyCar race in the future and what changes needs to be made for that race to happen.

Alistair, Branson, MO

MP: It’s listed as a Grade 2 facility by the FIA which aligns with the other road course gradings on the IndyCar calendar, so there’s no issue there in terms of being able to host an IndyCar event. I’m sure the series would want various additions and changes made to suit its specific safety needs, so if NJMP wants to fork out the money for a multi-year sanction fee -- a few million bucks, at least -- I bet IndyCar would be willing to listen

Q: Setting aside who was right and wrong in the Grosjean/Rahal tussle, I'm curious about Rahal's comment that he's not the only driver who has issues with Grosjean. Is this something you've heard from other drivers? 

KJ from Philadelphia, PA

MP: Yes, I have, but in limited numbers. I’ll be writing about this in my post-race Cooldown column if you want more on the topic, so look for that on RACER.com.

Q: We know there are drivers that excel on ovals versus road races, and vice versa, but is the same true for engineers or crew chiefs? For example, would ECR use the same people to run point for Ed Carpenter as it would for Simona De Silvestro when the time comes? Curious to know if that's a part of why some teams show such disparity between the two, or if the biggest difference is solely driver strengths.

Glenn in Houston

MP: Great question and well spotted, Glenn. There are engineers who have a special feel for ovals or road racing, but I’m struggling to think of any who work in IndyCar today where you’d say they are stronger in one and weaker in the other. It’s more a case of being good at all the engineering disciplines, but having some added wisdom -- could be from many years of experience, or maybe from being a former driver -- to apply is fairly normal. Keep in mind that some teams place a higher priority on ovals than others, or simply have more money to spend than most, and as a result, they dedicate more money on developing and perfecting their oval engineering efforts and the build quality of their speedway cars.

Q: What the hell happened with Rosenqvist? He was running fine in the top six during the first part of the race, and then after his first stop dropped like a stone. Same with Rossi in the final stint.

Jordan, Warwickshire, UK

MP: Felix was asked by his team to go on a massive fuel-saving adventure that confused him quite a bit since he and Pato O'Ward were running within a few seconds of each other inside the top six. He eventually came home 16th, which didn’t make a lot of sense since both cars were fast and capable of finishing towards the front.

Alexander Rossi also had to go into fuel-saving mode on the last stint and found himself surrounded by drivers on better tires, and from there, his top-four pace before pitting turned into a painful rearward march that left him in ninth.

If you could see Rosenqvist's face in this shot, it wouldn't look happy. Gavin Baker/Motorsport Images

Q: According to the IndyCar website, the Barber Motorsports Park track officially has 17 corners. However, when comparing my approach against this picture, I got slightly confused at how the corner numbering was made. First, Turn 2 and 3. To me, this is a single radius corner with no straight portion in the middle. So why the double score? Second, why wasn't the left-hander between Turns 8 & 9 given a number? And third, Turn 9. It has at least two, possibly three different radii, yet it was counted as one single corner. This is even more confusing to me since Turn 14, 15 and 16 all have a unique and distinctive radius and are considered as separate corners. Is there an explanation for all the above? Am I missing something?  

Even though last weekend's Alabama Grand Prix featured a decent amount of action, I though some passes could have been made earlier, had the track been designed slightly differently. Therefore, I'd like to suggest two (relatively) simple track modifications to improve the show.

First, the pit stretch is by far the longest on the track (1/3 of a mile, or 500-ish meters for my European eyes) and as far as I can remember, the braking zone going into Turn 1 has rarely really been an ideal overtaking spot. So, couldn’t we give Turn 1 a tighter radius? It doesn't have to become a super sharp corner, but we could reduce its radius just enough to make it a possible out-braking opportunity.

Second, I've always had mixed feelings about the Turns 10 & 11 chicane. From a driver’s perspective, going 150mph through an S-corner is definitely exciting. But in the context of the Barber Motorsports Park track, it feels to me like additional fanciness to an already super-twisty circuit. I’m all for shortcutting it, which was suggested to Robin Miller back in 2014 (in The Final Word from last week’s Mailbag). However, instead of a Road America-esque kink, I’d make a flat-out sweep out of it (just like Turn 7). Not only would this make the track faster and simpler, but it could also create an additional drafting and overtaking opportunity right before Turn 12 (such as Lil’ Herta’s 'round the outside moves we saw on Sunday). What say you?

Xavier from France 

MP:  I’ll be honest, brother -- I started getting confused before I finished the first paragraph. I couldn’t tell you how or why they came up with the corner numbering system 20 years ago, and doing a deep dive on the how/why sounds like an awesome personal project for you to tackle.

Knowing how Mr. Barber loves his track and has rejected all calls to make modifications, I doubt we’ll see any changes taking place. I did love the idea of the shortcut because it would create one of the greatest tests of bravery on the calendar. My main takeaway is how important it is for Firestone to create a significant difference between grip and longevity of its alternate tires for Barber.

With the Turn 5 hairpin as the exception, the track has so many chokepoints on entry to the faster corners that lead to a big reduction in speed, it ends up negating most of the passes drivers want to make because of the risks involved. If most of the corners discourage passing, a decent disparity in primary/alternate tire performance and life would fix a lot of the issue.

If it weren’t for Pato’s ballsy pass around the outside of Rinu VeeKay on Sunday, the race for the win would have been a snoozer.

Q: Bold prediction: Jimmie Johnson will persevere with his IndyCar experiment through the Month of May and then graciously step aside.

John Koniak, Staunton, IL

MP: You willing to put some money for charity on that prediction, John? I’ve got $20 for St. Jude’s Childrens’ Research Hospital in Indy that says Jimmie will be back the following weekend for Detroit and the rest of the events to close the season. Are you willing to match that if I’m right?

Q: Gearing up for the Month of May I went down a rabbit hole about engines, and the Buick program of the 1980s and '90s really fascinated me. I know this is treading closely to the dangerous “stock block” territory of the Mailbag (sorry!), but could someone give me a brief synopsis of the program? Did the engine ever really have a shot to win the 500, or was it a Pole Day special? I noticed King Racing and Leader Card ran it outside Indy on occasion -- was it ever considered as a season-long option, or was the loophole at Indy the only viable usage case for it?  

Drew, Montgomery, AL

MP: Tech is always an open topic in the Mailbag, Drew, so keep 'em coming in. The program was a true production-based endeavor, and boy did they spend a lot of money trying to make a road car motor stay in one piece. Two significant problems plagued the single-turbo Buick V6s in the early years, with the first coming from flexing and twisting of the motor in whatever chassis that carried the big and heavy lump. As a "stressed member" linking the transmission and rear suspension to the tub, the Buick’s production car origins, where it was dropped on top of each chassis and cradled, were of no help. It was never designed to be a strong link in the IndyCar chassis chain, and as a result, all the twisting forces while firing through high-speed corners caused the engines to twist between the chassis firewall and the bellhousing. I recall reading about the heads slightly lifting off of the block in those situations, and when that happens, you get kerblammos.

The Buicks also had a ton of turbo boost send through the motors, and that was the second area where it took a long while to keep the boost, and the oil, and the water, and the pistons, and the valves, and the crankshaft on the inside of the engines.

The Buicks were indeed more than Indy 500 specials; they were deployed on road and street courses as well during their lifetime, and often with mid-field teams who were given friendly terms to run them. Credit Jim Wright and the Brayton Engineering folks and the Menards Racing engine shop for turning the volcanic Buicks into largely reliable solution that made wicked power.

I remember being at a lot of tests back in the day with whatever Formula Atlantic or Indy Lights team I was working for where a Buick-powered CART or IRL team was sharing the track. Separate from the races where you have lots of cars on track and it’s hard to experience a single car in isolation, being at a test with just a few cars where one had a Buick turbo in the back was awesome. You’d hear the other Indy cars go by, but you felt the Buick blast past you. Just awesome.

This was probably right before a kerblammo. Image via Marshall Pruett Archive

Q: "Mike in s****y Tampa." MP: How could Tampa be s****y, Mike? My French Fry, Sebastien Bourdais, lives there! For the record, Sebastien Bourdais lives in St. Petersburg, not Tampa. Mike is correct, Tampa is s****y, and everything is better on the west side of the bay.

Jeremy in awesome St. Petersburg

MP: I stand corrected (more accurately, I sit corrected). But he’s building a new house and I believe it’s in Tampa (and I’m fairly certain I’m also wrong about that location so I look forward to a second correction ;)).

Q: Not sure if Townsend Bell was speaking in jest or being a bit snarky this weekend during practice at Barber Park, but, he said something like "has the statute of limitations expired yet on comments about critiques of such-and-such era of Indy race cars/chassis?” (I think he was referring to 2017-era IndyCars) 

Yes, it's a vague question on my part, but I have a pretty good sense that you could explain any restrictions that TV announcers might have written into their contracts regarding their commentary onscreen

Tom Fitzgerald

MP: Other than an anti-disparagement clause regarding NBC, I can’t think of any limitations on topics that would be written into a racing commentator’s contract. Towny is a smart and playful guy, so what you heard was his personality on display, not the revealing of topics they can’t discuss by decree from NBC.

Q: I'd like to add some further information to the question posed by Terry J in last week's Mailbag (April 27).

Terry states that he doesn't recall the Lotus 79 or the Chaparral suffering from porpoising -- and the simple answer to that is they didn't! 

The term "porpoising" was invented by Mario Andretti to describe the behavior of the Lotus 80 in 1979, when it was a huge problem for the car; as well as for the contemporary original-spec Brabham BT48 that Niki Lauda couldn't get to work either.

The reason the Lotus 80 suffered from porpoising and the 78 and 79 didn't was basically because both Lotus's Colin Chapman and Brabham's Gordon Murray attempted to create a "second generation" ground-effect car, where instead of the ground-effect tunnels being restricted to the sidepod area as with the 78 and 79, the active area was basically the entire underside of the car. In theory, that would massively increase the available downforce, with long side skirts from one end to the other to seal the area off and prevent air just coming in from the sides, and would mean that conventional wings were unnecessary, reducing drag.

What happened then was very similar to today -- as the car loaded up, the airflow stalled, re-attached, stalled again and so on; and the center of pressure under the car shifted all over the place, making the car bounce.

How did they fix it back then? Well, they tried ever-stiffer springs to try to control the bouncing, but that ended up making the car utterly undriveable. Brabham identified the problem as being difficult to solve quickly and basically ripped off all the additional skirts, etc., and converted the BT48 back to a "first generation" car. There are a few photos on the internet of the original specification BT48 – it's most easily identified by the lack of obvious rear wing.

As for Lotus, after a decent start (as Mario took a podium in the Spanish GP) it became more and more obvious that the Lotus 80's porpoising was just not a problem the team could resolve in-season, so instead they reverted to the previous Lotus 79 for the rest of the year. If I recall correctly, the porpoising was so bad that Carlos Reutemann, Mario's teammate of the time, refused to drive it again after his first test.

No one ever got a true "second generation" ground effect car to work in either F1 or IndyCar -- all successful cars in both series are developments of the original "first generation" cars, though skirts have been banned for many, many years now in both series, which lowers the effectiveness of the ground effects and prevents most porpoising issues. When the Ligier JS19 tried again for a "second generation" car three years later in 1982, it was just as much of a dog as the earlier attempts.

Of course, skirts are still banned in modern F1, but they now use aerodymanic vortices to try to seal the sides to give the same effect, and then you're back to the problems of the "second generation" ground effect cars where the ground effects are too powerful for the setups to handle. It's also an incredibly complex area to try to simulate, so the only true option is to keep trying things on the track, which is only available in the very limited free practice times at GPs themselves. The simplistic answer to the problem is to raise the ride height, or to use less powerful vortices, but then you're losing lap time, and no good racing team wants to do that.

I hope this additional information might be of interest to fellow readers.

Steven Jukes, Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, UK

MP: Thanks for the read-through, Steven. We also saw some attempts in CART in the 1990s to sculpt the bottom of the sidepods to spin nice little vortices in an attempt to create some sealing, but those efforts didn’t appear to offer the advantage that was sought and quickly disappeared.

Mario in a Lotus 79 at Watkins Glen. Not a porpoise to be seen. David Phipps/Motorsport Images

Q: I write in reference to Earl from Edmonton's letter about blind spot warnings and cameras. I wrote Robin several years ago suggesting the same thing and he wrote that the drivers he asked about it didn't want it. I don't see why not, given it is cheap and effective and would seem to allow the driver to pay a bit more attention to what is in front.

Tom in Waco

MP: This technology -- in racing, at least -- has come a long way in recent years, so I’d imagine there’s a lot of cool options IndyCar might consider since Robin was posed the question.

Q: Why can all of the other teams see exactly how much push-to-pass a driver has left? I think it would add a little bit of mystery, fun and excitement if teams were guessing how much P2P another driver had left at the end of a race. As long as every team started with the same amount, no one could claim an unfair advantage. It would definitely add more tension to the end of a race if a driver had already burned all of theirs to get to the front, I can see the nervous sweat pouring off of the race engineer already. 

Ryan Moore, Youngstown, OH

MP: IndyCar has played with making it available for all to see and removing it to keep it hidden. I’d like to see a throwback weekend where no live timing and scoring was available and everybody at the track had to look at the pylon to know who was in each position.

Q: Just my two cents about P2P vs. DRS: I would like driver-activated P2P that only works when you are within a second of a car in front of you. This would make Will Power happier when he is trying to lap someone.

Also, I have seen comments about whether or not the engines will have enough time to cool down between the Fast 12 and the Fast 6 at Indy. In years past, I have cars come in, make a small adjustment, bolt on a new set of tires and go right back out. How important is it?

Wayne Smitreski, Allentown, PA

MP: The motors tend to be run at rather high temperatures in qualifying, so unlike the normal practice sessions where heavily restricting airflow through the radiators is not done to improve streamline aerodynamics, the engines tend to get super toasty, hence the need to cool them down to a place where a loss of power isn’t happening. It’s important!

Q:  I could use your help with getting better pics at the track. I recently inherited an Olympus digital SLR camera. I know absolutely nothing about cameras like this. I have searched online for how to shoot race cars, or anything moving fast, and can’t seem to get the answers I am looking for. I try to experiment with the limited information I have but I know there are so many factors that have to be considered. I don’t expect you to give a complete breakdown, but can you help an idiot find the best way to start? Any general advice? A Marshall Pruett Masterclass? I’ll be at RA this year and I want to get some good shots. 

Erik S., Oswego, IL

MP: Happy to help, Erik. Hard to do so without knowing what all you have in your camera bag, so send another email through and we can connect and come up with some first steps. And if I’m at Elkhart Lake, you’re welcome to come shoot with me. There’s lots of places where I fire away from areas that are fully accessible for and open to fans, so you won’t need a special media credential to join in.

Q: This year, to get pole at the Indy 500, a driver has to risk it all three separate times; Regular qualifying, Fast 12, then Fast 6. Genius! Maybe the good folks at the NFL will see the upped-entertainment light and institute a multiple-round Super Bowl; a 12-quarter extravaganza, played over two days, with the teams contesting the final hour naked. Think of the drama, the ratings! Oh, you want a question... It wasn't broke. Why fix Indy qualifying?

A. Jenkins, Ontario, Canada

MP: I’m concerned that out of spite for your letter, they’re going to implement the Fast 12, Fast 6, Fast 3 and Fast 1 next year. Kidding aside, I like surprises in qualifying, and it seems like the surprises are spent by the end of Saturday with whomever makes it into the Fast 9 (now 12). It takes most of the anticipation out of it for me, so adding another layer to the anti-climactic outcome by limiting the run to pole to six drivers is a snoozer. I’m hoping to be proven 100-percent wrong in a few weeks.

Q: Have a couple of questions, probably mostly related to next year now. With the troubles teams have in finding chassis to rent or lease for the Indy 500, do you see any of the current wishful 500 entries like Vasser-Sullivan, Paretta, Cusick Motorsport, etc., buying their own chassis since they will be around for a couple more years?

Also, since Carlin is allowing Juncos to utilize its engineers and crew, do you see Carlin coming back into IndyCar? I was sad to see a new owner have so much difficulty and fade away. Hoping they will be back.

Rod, Fresno, CA

MP: Great question, and yes, that is the absolute plan for Cusick and Paretta. I know the DragonSpeed team is also keen to buy a chassis after selling theirs to Shank ahead of the 2021 season. Vasser-Sullivan have owned a Speedway-tuned DW12 for a few years; I’m told it’s still at the Coyne shop and yes, more than a few people inquired about leasing it, but all were politely turned down.

It’s hard to complain about not being in the Indy 500 when you lack the main thing needed to be in the Indy 500. Carlin is done with IndyCar as a team; I’m not sure on the employee usage part and who pays for what, but Ricardo Juncos and Brad Hollinger own all of Carlin’s former IndyCar assets -- cars, pit equipment, etc.

For old time's sake. Jake Galstad/Motorsport Images

Q: Starting out positive: It’s May! Now, reality: I really dislike the Fast 12 and Fast 6. Seems like a NASCAR-style gimmick that introduces unnecessary risk for three more drivers plus the six who will do two runs. Heck, let’s go outside the box and have two sprint races on that weekend. No one does that, right?

Mike DeQuardo, Land of Road America

MP: If we’re going to mess with things, let’s go nuts and have the grid for the Indy 500 set by a bunch of heat races at IRP using the old Fast Masters Jaguar XJR220s.

Q: Can we put an end to the Pole Day gimmicks? Let's just make it easy for anyone to explain and understand -- on Sunday the track opens for qualifying at 11 a.m. and closes at 5:45 p.m.  -- the fastest car is on the pole at the end of the day. There is no need for a fast lane or a slow lane and in order to get in the line, you must withdraw your previous time. This would give us more drama than any manufactured "shootout."

 John P., Brownsburg, IN

MP: I miss Robin Miller all the time, and more so when news like this lands in our inboxes and I know I won’t be receiving a call 30 seconds later with him starting off with a "JESUS CHRIST WHAT THE *$%^&#@! ARE THEY THINKING?" followed by an epic rant lasting a good five or 10 minutes.

Best I can say is IndyCar has known for a little while now that it wouldn’t have a 34th entry for the 500, so as I see it, the tweaks to Pole Day are a reaction to the lack of drama that bumping might have brought. And since Penske Entertainment does look to entertain, I get it. But yeah, if anybody lacked motivation to make sure we have at least 35 entries every year from here on out, let the amazing struggles to get to 33 from 2022 serve as the inspiration.

Q: Almost afraid to ask, but have you gotten any updates on Alex Zanardi’s status and recovery?

David Spear

MP: The Zanardis are keeping a tight lid on Alex’s progress. I could press a few friends who might share some updates, but I’d rather not. Please don’t mistake a lack of regular updates for an indicator of something negative. It’s just the family’s preferred way of dealing with the situation.

Q: Do you know what Greg Ray is up to nowadays? He was always fast in an Indy car, with lots of poles, more than a few wins and the 1999 championship. He is one of the many who came in, ran well and then just disappeared.

Jim in Kalamazoo

MP: Other than occasional interactions on Facebook, I haven’t seen my old Atlantic and IRL driver in many years. My old pal Michael Cannon who was a big part of the Genoa Racing team where I grew up and where Greg came to prominence on the CART ladder, mentioned being at the Texas IndyCar race a few years ago, popping into a gas station next to the track to grab something, and bumping into a thin, tanned guy with a big goatee who looked to him a bit like a Harley-Davidson enthusiast, and when the guy said, "Michael!", it took him a few beats to recognize G. Ray. Cannon said they caught up a bit, but he was just taken aback by how the always-crisply-dressed Texan looked like an extra from Sons of Anarchy. I believe he’s still selling boats at the family’s business in Plano.

I’ve worked with a lot of drivers. Few were braver than G. Ray, and especially in qualifying at Indy. Breathtaking stuff. Won a championship, but as you mention, it’s often forgotten.

Q: I remember when Robert Wickens had his horrible crash at Pocono, the team said it will "retire" No. 6 so that it will be waiting for Robert's return. Unfortunately we all know that this will never happen, but I found it nice that the team respected its promise and never raced No. 6 again (even after the buyout by McLaren). Until now. I've noticed that Montoya will race the No. 6 car at the 2022 Indy 500, and while I understand the team has simply moved on, it still kind of hurts to see.

Also, do you know if Wickens still has some ties to AMSP? I know he certainly did in 2019, maybe 2020 but now?

Szymon K

MP: The team was under a different ownership structure back in 2018, so that might be why the McLaren-controlled outfit has moved on in terms of saving the car number. Yes, Robby is at every IndyCar race with AMSP, barring the ones like last weekend where he was driving his Bryan Herta Autosport Hyundai at Laguna Seca in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge series. He provided coaching and performance insights to AMSP’s drivers while positioned next to the timing stands in his wheelchair.

The irony is that if Greg Ray had walked into the gas station wearing a balaclava and a helmet, Michael Cannon probably would have recognized him in two seconds. Michael Levitt/Motorsport Images

Q: A quick question on Legends Day: Will it be as in the past, with some vintage Indy cars circling the track during the driver autograph session? I love seeing the old cars run and am bringing my grandson this year, so would love him to see the cool vintage cars run. If the vintage racers return, what is the schedule? How long do we have to see them run before hitting the Museum for a bit more nostalgia, and then a trip through the memorabilia swap meet?

Mark in Menomonee Falls

MP: My friend Mike Lashmett, who owns and runs the Vintage Indy Registry series that you’ve likely seen run during Legends Day in the past, had this to offer when I asked:

“Sadly, the answer is no. There is no vintage Indy car activity at all at IMS in May! In lieu of this, fans are most welcome to visit our offices and shop (DT4R/Vintage Indy) in Brownsburg. We have over 34 vintage Indy cars on hand and much memorabilia and art to view. Vintage Indy has partnered with SVRA at IMS June 16-19 and will be on the road course for two sessions on that Friday as well as dual sessions each day on Saturday and Sunday on the oval. Vintage Indy is located at 489 Southpoint Circle Suite 500 Brownsburg, IN 46112, ph 424-230-9155.”

THE FINAL WORD

From Robin Miller's Mailbag, May 7, 2014

Q: Since it’s May, I think we should look back and think of some things that used to be a tradition but fell by the wayside, such as: Gypsy Mitch's annual corn on the cob fest in May and the ice cold watermelon at the Hoosier Hundred. Mom Unser’s chili. The Last Row Party. Bars inside Gasoline Alley (aka: Jim Hurtubise’s garage). Uncle Bobby’s Valet Service (aka destroying rental cars and parking Roger Penske’s rental car in the swimming pool!) Foyt and his niblings making life hell for the English guys (aka: Furinners), usually the Team Lotus, Lola, McLaren, Brabham and Firestone crews, until he had them. "Training film” shown nightly inside the garages. Slamming a "knock-off hub" hammer against the side of a 200-gallon fuel tank while the newbies scraped the rust/grunge off of the insides. Scam phone calls to the pay phones (i.e.: in 1995, "Roger Penske, there’s a phone call for you from Dr. Jack Kevorkian holding in booth number three!").

David Sutton

ROBIN MILLER: Well, it sounds like you were around for most of them and sadly, that kind of fun doesn’t seem to exist anymore. (How about Mario duct-taping Bobby Unser inside a phone booth?) There was talk of bringing the original Last Row Party out of mothballs but it never happened. And that classic page, compliments of the late Scott Roembke and Tim Cindric, said: “Dr. Jack Kevorkian please to go the Penske garage immediately,” after The Captain’s cars missed the show.