The RACER Mailbag, June 1

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: Put your Robin hat on for a minute. What would Robin’s top positive stories have been for the 2022 Indy 500, and what would his top criticism of the month be?

Allen C., Brownsburg, IN

MARSHALL PRUETT: Thanks for the note, Allen. Asking me to pretend to be my late friend and colleague and respond like him isn’t something I’m comfortable with. I’m my own man, here doing the work, so respect that. If you’d like to know my top positive stories and top criticism, you’re welcome to ask.

Q: Remind me again why IndyCar closes the pits when there is a yellow. Palou never had a chance. Not enough time to safely react to pit closed light.

John B., Indianapolis, IN

MP: It’s a weird one, isn’t it? At some events, it feels like there’s an extra couple of beats given when a crash happens in order to let those who would be screwed get in before the pits are closed, and at other times, it seems like no mind is given to waiting one extra second to prevent a driver like Palou from being screwed. The inconsistency is where my frustration lies. Either everybody gets screwed, or nobody gets screwed.

Q: Once again IndyCar’s absurd and arbitrary full-course caution/close the pit rule destroys a driver’s race. Palou had committed to pit before the accident and was literally 50 yards from the pit entrance when they closed the pit. It’s just ridiculous. These are allegedly some of the best drivers in the world, but they can’t be trusted to clear an incident safely and get to pit lane? On road courses if the incident is in Turn 3 and the leaders are at Turn 6, why shouldn’t they be able to pit?

I know in a previous Mailbag you stated that it somehow evens out over the course of a season, but I have to disagree. I’ve watched just about every IndyCar race since 1994 and have seen too many times where the race leader, who is destroying the field, gets caught out by a full-course caution and fail to even make the top 10. This is just one of the rules that make IndyCar seem amateur compared to other series.

Dave

MP: I imagine a perfect solution exists, but I’ve yet to see it.

Palou's got the next 12 months to contemplate what might have been. Phillip Abbott/Motorsport Images

Q: Are you living inside my head? Your article about Indy is spot-on and right in line with everything I am thinking. Kudos to Doug Boles and his staff for bringing the people in. This entire month has felt special. The excitement was there. Now, if I’m IndyCar, I am flat embarrassed at what I brought to the Speedway. Yes, I’m sure there were over 100 passes for position, but it was the same two or three cars. I pass you at the beginning of the stint, you pass me towards the end. At this point you are right, it’s time to swing for the fences. Let’s get something done before Gateway – another track where the promotion group is top notch.

Has Conor Daly taken over the role of local hero? Turn 3 was going crazy when he took the lead. Glad to see him find his way to the front. They lost something on the last couple of stops, but the hope was there. So what was the bigger story of the month? CGR dominance, or Penske forgetting to show up?

Cloyd Rouse

MP: Ed gets a bigger cheer from the crowd than Conor, but there’s no reason for that since Daly has been the one with better race day performances in recent years. Ganassi hasn’t won in 10 years; Penske last won in 2019. Chip’s win was the much bigger deal. When I saw him after the race, he looked like a decade of stress and anger had been released from his pores.

Q: Can you find out why there was no balloon release? What happened to that tradition? BTW, great race, plenty of drama, passing and excitement. Loved all 200 laps.

Eric Rife, London, OH

MP: Yes, IMS announced a few weeks before the race that they would stop releasing the balloons.

Q: While I was lucky enough to see a wind-aided Conor Daly touch 244, Fast Friday was quite calm this year. I know that the wind spooked a paddock that is already risk-averse on the day before qualifying. Do you see the series making any adjustments to the agenda (adding boost earlier)? Or perhaps a vintage/other race if the paddock wants to keep their cars ready for quals?

Dave, Cranford, NJ

MP: Not sure on how "calm" is being applied here, Dave. The veterans said it was the worst and scariest day they’d ever had in a car at Indy, so whatever the extreme opposite of calm might be, that’s what Fast Friday was for them. We’ve never had that happen before on Fast Friday, so no, I’d hope the series wouldn’t change its processes in reaction to something taking place on one occasion.

Q: I just read that some F1 drivers say they wouldn’t consider driving at Indianapolis because it is too dangerous. They would consider driving at Le Mans traveling down Mulsanne at over 200mph sometimes in the rain at night with trees and Armco on both sides and passing cars traveling 50 to 60mph slower. Safety team responses are measured in minutes rather than seconds. Am I missing something?

Dan Edwards

MP: It’s an easy, lazy excuse, based on tired stereotypes that the Indy 500 is super-deadly. Any F1 driver that watched Colton Herta’s big crash where he walked away unharmed, and says it’s too dangerous, is a moron or someone with an anti-IndyCar agenda. Le Mans, in a GT or prototype, will be safer than anything a driver will experience in an F1 or IndyCar, so that part can’t be argued.

Q: Is any other team seriously interested in Graham Rahal, or is he just hereditarily connected like Marco?

Tim B.

MP: All of Graham’s deep business ties are connected to the family team, so at 33 years old, I don’t think the same fire to drive for Penske (or similar) still exists like it did when he was in his 20s. He’s the best driver at RLL and a magnet for sponsors, so I can’t think of any reason for him to look elsewhere. The team is off to a much rougher start than I anticipated this year, but they’ll either get it figured out with the people they’ve got, or find those who will.

Q: It was great to see the Indy 500 looking like the 500 of the past. The crowd was huge, there was a record-breaking pole speed, and 15 or more guys had a genuine shot at winning the race. But I was hugely disappointed when I saw the 500 become the 485 plus 15. So Being in the don’t throw the red flag camp, here are my thoughts.

Someone said the fans “deserve” a green-flag finish. Well, what about what Ericsson deserved? Through masterful driving and great strategy, he drove to the lead and was clearly headed for his first Indy 500 win. But if he had lost the race or crashed after the restart, would he and his crew have said, “Too bad about that red flag, but the fans deserved a green-flag finish?”

Finally, how about this week asking 500 winners Rick Mears (1988), Dario Franchitti (2012), Tony Kanaan (2013) and Takuma Sato (there were no fans in 2020) about their caution flag wins. Ask them if they wished race control had thrown the red flag for the fans. If IndyCar is going to head down this path then do it the NASCAR way. Make the announcement that they are going to the green-white-checker finish for all races. And if that works, go to segment racing. And if that works, cover Texas in dirt. And…

Rick Schneider, Charlotte

MP: Man, you killed the mood there, Rick … 😉 Not sure "deserves" is the word I’d insert here. If IndyCar has enough laps to get the race going again and give us a few laps under green, why wouldn’t they? I hate big NBA games that turn the last 60 seconds into a five-minute fouling spree where the game flow is killed just so each team can try and get someone to miss at the free throw line. It’s painful to watch and completely anti-climactic. I’d rather see the game play to the end on merit instead of parked in slow drudgery. My mindset there applies to what we had on Sunday. We could have closed out the race under yellow after Jimmie Johnson’s crash, but there was no need to drudge through slow pace laps until the checkered flag was waved. I want to see the game end with players playing.

At this point, covering Texas in dirt might actually be an improvement. Michael Levitt/Motorsport Images

Q: What’s the story about the significant weaving/blocking that seems to occur in the last few laps? Is it discussed at the driver’s meeting? It certainly would not be allowed routinely in the race.

Mike DeQuardo, Elkhart Lake, WI

MP: It’s become something to wrangle and tighten up moving forward. Marcus didn’t appear to move in reaction to Pato, so I’m guessing it was legal from a technical standpoint, but it looks silly and isn’t how I want every Indy 500 in the future to be decided.

Q: Was that a great race or was that a great race? We had passing, we had different strategies, we had nature throwing monkey wrenches with the gusting winds and the heat, and we had the drivers. We had drama. It looked like a Ganassi victory, but then Palou got the cartoon anvil and then Dixon locked the brakes up entering the pits. [ED: You still got a Ganassi victory, though]. O'Ward making a gutsy last-ditch attempt, and what had to feel like driving on an ice rink.

But did you get a chance to talk to Rossi after the race? He drove to a fifth-place finish. No cartoon anvils, no race-destroying pit stops. Just a good, old-fashioned hard drive towards the front to grab a top five finish in a double-points race. We all know he's moving to that team that sounds like canned ham, but this result, while not a win, had to feel good for Rossi. Your thoughts?

John in Milwaukee (no, I won't ask about bringing back Milwaukee as I've heard too many stories about the fair board).

MP: I didn’t get to see Alex before he and most drivers cleared pit lane, but it was a classic performance by one of IndyCar’s best drivers. I feel like a broken record, but yes, he had two forgettable years where nothing went his way, but before those two, he had three great years. And he’s also turned a rough start to 2022 around to go from P20 in the championship after Round 1 to P11 after the sixth race. We know how AMSP doesn’t wait around on talent to deliver, and they wouldn’t have signed Rossi if they lacked faith in his ability to produce more wins and content for championships.

Q: It was a highly compelling and enjoyable Indy 500. However, the ROY award was given out wrongly. I am a fan of what Jimmie Johnson is attempting to do in IndyCar, and even told him directly earlier this year in St. Pete. However, his performance at the Brickyard was, shall we say, less than desired. He made more mistakes than most, and walled it. Yet, the kids like Malukas (recovered from a Carb Day wreck) or Kirkwood get zero recognition for outperforming Johnson. Doug Boles listed out a shameful criteria that basically said Jimmie is the biggest name to the media so we gave it to him. He had fast race laps? Huh? These are criteria? Since when, Doug? Was the vote rigged? Is this what we're to expect from Penske Entertainment going forward – NASCAR-level incredulity? I can only imagine what the long-time voice of the IndyCar faithful R. Miller would have reacted to this.

Sincerely, Ughhhhh in New Jersey

MP: I voted for Malukas, FWIW. When I got the ballot email, I did ask myself when the ROY voting turned into the Miss America show. Why don’t we keep going with the inane criteria and ask the rookies to model swimwear for us, put on tiaras and nightgowns, too, and then tell us how they’d change the world if they’re named ROY? It’s about the damn race, and who did the best in all of it. If anyone paid attention, they’d also know that Malukas worked his ass off to engage with fans and media all month and set a high standard for veterans and rookies to match in that regard. What an embarrassment. Since we can’t be trusted with this vote, give it to the drivers to pick the best rookie. At least the winner will be one of their own.

Q: OK, so we have a "record purse" for Indy in 2022. But reality is that Indy-only entries saw their payouts drop from last year. Dreyer & Reinbold Racing "won" $234K total for both of their cars. So how are we supposed to draw more teams to compete in this series and specifically for the Indy 500, with such a puny payout? $100K in winnings for DragonSpeed won't even pay for 25% of a new chassis that any new team will need to compete.

So the reality is that we are giving more money to the full-time teams and less to the one-offs, which will continue to make it harder and harder for any one-off teams to be able to form and compete. The grand plan seems to be to further eliminate competition to make the race at Indianapolis and make the exclusive club of car owners, even more exclusive. How convenient, and it sucks.

Drew, Indianapolis

MP: You raise great points, Drew. I remember coming in with our little team at Indy in 1997, and since we weren’t part of the 25 guaranteed entries, our prize money take was a joke. But if an Indy-only team wants to expand its calendar, banking on 500 prize money isn’t exactly a business plan. It’s a great help if you finish well, but what if you don’t? Raise the minimum from $100K to $300K, and it will be greatly appreciated, but the extra $200K won’t move the needle much. I do agree, and would hope that IndyCar and IMS rethink the comparatively tiny sums available to the non-Leaders Circle teams, but this isn’t the area for a small team to instantly become bigger unless they win the race and pocket a seven-figure payout.

Q: IndyCar racing is my favorite sport and the Indy 500 is my favorite sporting event. However, around my house it’s challenging to be sitting in front of a TV during a beautiful day. Don’t get me wrong, I watch! But, I’m a die-hard fan. I can see where the casual fan would spend the day the holiday at a family gathering.

I appreciate the tradition of the race being on Memorial Day, but clear your mind… What if IndyCar changed its biggest event – the double points-paying event – to the last race of the year? Maybe even a prime-time night race. The Super Bowl of racing? And, since we’re messing with tradition, how about a 700-mile race? Or a 1000k race?

Ken, Lockport, NY

MP: I think of the NFL’s Pro Bowl with this line of thinking, Ken. The Pro Bowl has been on a steady decline for a long time, and so, the NFL has tinkered with it to the point of it being unrecognizable, and now, it might be dead altogether. Big moves away from what works is the first sign of a major problem, so if IndyCar wants to signal that its marquee race is no longer a marquee race, start moving dates around, turn it into a Saturday night special, etc., and watch as the desperation moves kill it. Indy 500. Memorial Day weekend. Just like it’s been forever.

The fattened prize purse benefited some teams more than others. Count Dreyer & Reinbold among the "others". Jake Galstad/Motorsport Images

Q: Like most, I will disagree with Jimmie Johnson's selection for Indy 500 Rookie of the Year. While Jimmie had no individual input into the selection, I think behind the scenes maneuvering probably did. His performance was mediocre all day in a car and team that was one of the best-prepared. Maybe they need to a Sponsor of the Year award, too. Too much coverage for what is a consistent backmarker.

I am sure DCR will agree. Low budget, low profile, and high deliverance in finishing needs to be rewarded. Just hope the fans don't take it out on Jimmie, he didn't get to cast a vote, but I bet he would have voted for David Malukas like I would have

Frank Gizzo, Kissimmee, FL

MP: Blame us, the IndyCar racing media, for this idiotic decision. Giving it to Jimmie was the easy choice which spoke more to not paying attention to the other rookies than to a nuanced decision that arrived at Johnson as the top ROY pick. It’s embarrassing.

Q: I didn't mind the red flag, but I think it would be better to do a green-white-checker or even just a green/checker, but only one. With the red, I worry about cars not restarting like what happened to Will Power in Detroit last year. What say you?

Wayne Smitreski, Allentown, PA

MP: Brother Wayne, let’s keep that NASCAR b******* out of IndyCar. If the car starts, it starts. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t. Changing the rules to GWC out of fear is everything we don’t need.

Q: I'm sure you're going to get a lot of mail regarding the late red flag at Indy. You made your position clear in your "Indy's back" column the day after the race, which praised the decision. I totally disagree. The accident that generated the red flag would not have done so if it had happened 20 laps earlier. If it's not a red flag situation at lap 176, why is it a red flag at lap 196? The answer is "the show".

I stopped following NASCAR years ago when it became clear that "the show" was more important than the sport, best exemplified today by the almost weekly green-white-checker, now called overtime, finishes. IndyCar is a sport the fans like to watch, not a reality show. Either accept that and the fact that sometimes races finish under caution, or admit that we're selling out to the TV networks and announce that there will be automatic red flags for incidents that happen in the last 10 laps to ensure a green flag finish.

Maybe someday we can have the Indy 519.5 with several attempts at a green-flag finish, kind of like the debacle they had at Charlotte on Sunday night. A friend told me, or I wouldn't have known. Yes, the fans want green flag finishes. To quote the Rolling Stones, you can't always get what you want. Deal with it.

Bill Carsey, North Olmsted, OH

MP: No. I have no issue with making the occasional exception for our biggest race. Trade "the show" for "the fans" and that would be the correct lens to view this through. The leader before the red was the leader after the red, so the red changed nothing other than giving the audience another reason to get excited.

Q: Would it be possible to suggest a small change in the IndyCar rule book? It would read something like this:

“When the race is ready to resume after a red-flag stoppage, warmup laps prior to the green flag will not count towards the race distance.”

This would eliminate the current inconsistency that warmup laps prior to the green flag do not count towards the race distance prior to start of race, but they do count prior to restart. It would maximize the race laps for the fans and drivers. There were four laps left at the 500 red flag, yet only two laps of racing after the obligatory two warmup laps. It would have been better to have four laps of racing.

Joe Cointreau, Arizona

MP: Always possible to suggest, Joe, but if there’s a change of state in the race from red to yellow, I can’t see why the pace laps under yellow would not be counted.

Q: I have only one item on my bucket list and that is for Roger Penske to watch the Indianapolis 500 live on Peacock. I want him to suffer the way many of us did.

Janis in Fishers

MP: Like death and taxes, letters of dissatisfaction with NBC Sports’ IndyCar product on Peacock is a guarantee in the Mailbag. I was hoping to watch the race replay on the local Indy NBC affiliate Sunday night, but my hotel doesn’t get NBC or most of the other channels, so that was a bummer. I hope to find time to watch the Peacock replay and share in your misery.

Q: Well, the half of the 500 that was on TV looked good. Wonder what the rest was like… I’m having trouble wrapping my head around the idea that I can watch every lap of every F1 race, but I can’t get 10 consecutive laps of the Indy 500, even on Peacock, until the very end. Just horrible coverage. At least I now have a list of products and companies that I will strive to never use.

Jonathan von Linden, Hill Country, TX

MP: F1’s no-cost deal with ESPN has really cast a hard light on the difference between the two open-wheel series’ approach to broadcasting. But what happens when F1’s next American TV deal isn’t free and commercials start appearing as they did for decades prior to the latest ESPN contract? Do you never use those companies’ products?

Q: Has anyone ever compared the amount of commercial time NBC uses for their Indy 500 broadcast versus commercials on FOX for NASCAR’s 500- and 600-mile races? The amount of commercials NBC uses has made watching the Indy 500 almost unbearable.

Bill Futschek, Elk Grove Village, IL

MP: I really don’t know, Bill. Has anyone? I do wonder, though, if the major sports broadcasters will ever offer a pay-just-to-avoid-all-commercials stream for big events. We know the American broadcasting model is different from many other countries, and we know that selling and running ads is where our networks make their money.

Would diehards pay $10 for a special stream that gives the broadcasters their money while giving us a commercial-free Indy 500, 12 Hours of Sebring, Daytona 500, etc.? Seriously. It would almost be a mission of mercy.

Q: As I said earlier in the year Dr. Pruett, AA is on life support. What do you prescribe to get this once-decent team back on track? That was a pathetic Indy 500 showing.

John Guido

MP: The team that won an IndyCar race on May 14 and had its top driver place fifth in the Indy 500 is on life support? No question the team was underwhelming throughout the 500, but if that places them on life support, so is Team Penske, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, A.J. Foyt Racing, etc. Colton shot himself in the foot by pushing too hard on Carb Day when he knew the car was a handful and paid the price. DeFrancesco was never expected to star as a rookie, and Grosjean did well before hammering the wall. Andretti was nowhere all month, and Rossi drove his balls off to go from 20th to fifth, so quality speed was contained within at least one of its cars. My guess is they’re missing the leadership of Ryan Hunter-Reay, who’s done more Indy 500s than all four of their drivers combined.

I’ll be shocked if Herta, Rossi or Grosjean aren’t on the podium this weekend at Detroit, and any of them could easily win the thing. They underperformed as a whole at Indy, but I’m not seeing the same doom and gloom leaving the Speedway.

Rossi represented for AA on race day, and Grosjean didn't look too bad either prior to the shunt. Michael Levitt/Motorsport Images

Q: What's bigger, how tired you are of hearing us complain about commercials during motorsport broadcasts, or us watching them? How do other countries have commercial-free broadcasts? How does NBC show an entire MotoGP race commercial-free? I'm a capitalist, I get it though.

Shawn in MD

MP: Between the Mailbag, my listener Q&A podcasts and social media, a large portion of my weeks are spent receiving every racing complaint imaginable, so I’m always on the lookout for the rare birds. Would someone actually write in to say they’re happy or thankful about something? Does the world contain one human being who would feel compelled to compose an email that complements NBC Sports? Will I win the lottery before that happens? These are things I wonder, Shawn.

Q: Again, Penske was a no-show in the 500. The team seemed OK in practice, couldn't compete when the boost was added for qualifying, then were only the third-best (maybe) Chevy team, in the race. What is wrong with the team at Indy? Did they promise not to be competitive when The Captain bought the place?

Bruce Kerr

MP: They certainly opened Indy 500 practice behaving like they thought they had something special to work with after having custom wing covers made to prevent their rivals from seeing their wing settings and downforce choices while the cars were in Gasoline Alley and on pit lane. You don’t go to that effort to cover and protect things unless you feel you have information worth protecting. Only problem here is those wing covers are strictly prohibited in the rules, which led to IndyCar technical director Kevin Blanch confiscating them from the team on pit lane early in practice, and they weren’t returned.

That little story is a roundabout way of say that Penske, like Ganassi not so long ago, has been lost when it comes to finding that last little bit of speed at Indy. Chip just ended a 10-year drought at the 500. And yet, Santino Ferrucci in the comparatively tiny DRR team had Penske’s number for most of the month. It just speaks to how remarkable the Speedway happens to be; the big teams can fail in grand ways while the minnows can thrive. I hope that never changes.

Q: Every year I can’t wait for Sunday on Memorial Day weekend and this year was no exception. I got up and watched the F1 race from Monaco, and as usual the start and first lap was great and then it went downhill from there. Then I went to church and got home just in time to watch the Indy 500 pre-race show on NBC, and it was great. Then I sit down and watch every minute of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing and again the race lived up to that and more. I am not a NASCAR fan but every year I try to watch that Coke 600, and to be honest it is tough to do. Granted, following the Indy 500 is hard to do but 18 caution flags and a six-hour marathon to boot. After about the eighth or ninth yellow flag I could not take it anymore and started going back and forth between the Mets-Phillies game and the NASCAR race, and the ballgame even finished before the race did. But I will do it all over again next year, and again, what an exciting 500!

Don, Michigan

MP: Don! Give those eyeballs a rest! Glad you had fun on Sunday and I bet you snuck in a few naps as well. Sounds like it was a great day for you and a lot of racing fans who stuffed themselves with all the racing your body would tolerate.

Q: Last year, I enjoyed reading the article about the exhaust configuration that you wrote. What is the most interesting mechanical change from last year that you found during the 106th Indy 500? I assume the aeroscreen tinting could be one of the options.

Mitsuki Matsuura, Kanagawa, Japan

MP: Wish I had something interesting to offer, Matsuura-san, but I don’t.

Q: Congratulations to Marcus Ericsson on winning the Indy 500, and he earned by driving a disciplined race. Interesting that just four years ago he was a teammate to Charles Leclerc at Alfa Romeo and since moving to IndyCar he’s having some success even before he won the Indy 500. My gut tells me that current F1 drivers that might not have a ride next year like Nicholas Latifi, Sebastian Vettel, Yuki Tsunoda or Daniel Ricciardo will make the move to IndyCar. Which one of these drivers will we eventually see in IndyCar next year?

Alistair, Branson, MO

MP: As long as Williams needs money it will make a seat available for Latifi, and I can’t imagine Vettel will be without an F1 employer. I know American Honda/HPD would love to have Tsunoda if and when he becomes available, so that might be someone to watch, and with Ricciardo rumored to be in the $40 million/year range and IndyCar’s top earners being in the area of $3 million/year, I think he’d be wise to continue earning F1 money for as long as possible with whomever wants him.

That's the faraway stare of a man whose body is in Monaco, but whose mind is at Mid-Ohio. Image via FIA Pool

Q: Isn't Mike O'Gara married to Sarah Fisher? Am I mixed up here on local racing-family -- last-names? I did very much enjoy the a story about Mike.

Tom Fitzgerald, CPA

MP: Mike’s brother Andy O’Gara is married to his much better half, Sarah Fisher. They were plugged into helping the DRR team, so we did have the cousins -- and sister-in-law -- competing against each other on Sunday.

Q: STOP THIS RED FLAG CRAP! THIS IS NOT NASCAR!

Michael Ultimo, Lombard, IL

MP: YOU’RE RIGHT AND THANKFULLY IT ISN’T. BUT IF YOU’RE ACTUALLY MAD AT THE SMART CALL BY RACE DIRECTOR KYLE NOVAK AND HATE THAT WE HAD A THRILLING TWO-LAP SPRINT TO TRY AND SETTLE THE INDY 500 INSTEAD OF A GUARANTEED FOUR-LAP YELLOW THAT ENDED THE RACE, I DON’T KNOW HOW TO HELP YOU.

Q: In honor of Scott Dixon’s pole speed, and thanks to racing-reference.info, here’s a pretty arcane question -- maybe too strange and complicated for the Mailbag.

Up until the mid-1960s, the average race pace was always around 80-95% of the pole speed. From about ’65 to the end of the CART era, race speeds were much lower than pole speeds, with 1992’s race speed being the lowest at only 58% of the pole speed. From the late ’90s through 2008, race speed was stuck at around 60-70%, and then it’s crept back up into the 70-80% range.

What happened to drive those changes? As the Offy was challenged in the ’60s, was that when reliability started to take a hit and special qualifying engines became ubiquitous? Why didn’t race speed rebound when the IRL slowed pole speed so much? What about any rules changes -- especially to the caution rules?

Chris, San Francisco

MP: Hi Chris. Interesting observations, and yes, we won’t do a feature story on the topic in the middle of the Mailbag, but if you look back to the roadster era as it transitioned into the early rear-engine years, you had cars on narrow-ish tires that were running at or near peak speeds whenever they were on track. As we move into the turbocharging and wings era, we step into big new opportunities to crank up boost and do remarkable things for qualifying that simply weren’t available beforehand.

Carry that forward as more downforce comes in and more specialization develops as team master low-fuel/low-weight/high-power qualifying trim and revery back to more sane race trim configurations, and you get the widening of qualifying and race speeds. Some eras, with the early IRL years as the obvious outlier, featured a handful of excellent teams and too many that weren’t, which would have created weird averages -- even in a naturally-aspirated formula where adding big power for qualifying wasn’t possible -- and then we move into the current formula where special high boost is allowed for pole weekend but is taken away for the race.

Q: As an Indy 500 attendee every year since 1977, I've been constantly aggravated by the number of yellow laps after an on-track event. In the "old days" there was greater urgency during the race to clear the track and go green ASAP.

I attended the GP race and certainly weather was a factor, but there was no obvious reason to have multiple laps of useless yellow when the track was clear to race -- no trucks, no debris to clear, no cars in pit lane, yet no explanation. It's frustrating to watch the yellow lap parade. Can you explain race control's logic in making any yellow event take so long to return to green?

Pat, Indy

MP: I think that on a few of those extended cautions, they were needing to re-order the field, which seems to be a common issue. We also have, on occasion, a situation where a caution falls at a point where, if the drivers are allowed to circulated under yellow for a few extra laps, the need for a late splash of fuel can be avoided and hard racing can take place until the checkered flag.

Q: Do you think IndyCar will ever be back at Pocono? I live close to the track and enjoyed many good times there. Maybe if Turn 2 was a little different that would help. Thank you!

David Marlowe

MP: I do not. Pocono wouldn’t change its corners just for IndyCar. There’s no appetite within the paddock to go back. I always liked the place, but it didn’t draw a big crowd and the lasting imagery of Robert Wickens tearing down the fence and the patchwork repairs that followed soured the idea of returning to the Tricky Triangle.

Q: When I hear that the engines will be changed for the 500 after the last official practice, I’m curious to know if there are exceptions? Wilson had to change an engine before practice and Herta changed one during the practice sessions. Are these changes considered as meeting the change to a fresh engine for the 500, or do they get another?

You did a nice video piece on pitot tubes and noted two different head shapes of the tubes. Since pitot tubes are used to measure speed through the air, are the tubes used for that purpose and airspeed corrected to ground speed? Do any of the cars have "static ports,"which on an aircraft are used to determine altitude along with a pitot tube for air speed? If so, which cars/teams?

Warbird Willie

MP: Most teams went to their fresh race engines Saturday night or Sunday morning on qualifying weekend. Indy-only entries got one motor for the month, and someone like Stef Wilson, whose engine was damaged due to a team error, was an exception who received a second engine to keep going. The motor that went into Herta’s car on pole weekend was his race motor.

Yes on the pitot usage, and there’s at least one team which really doesn’t want to be named that uses a second port to measure airflow height.

Q: Another glorious day of dawn-to-dusk racing on U.S. TV. The Indianapolis 500 never looked better. This is the NTT IndyCar Series and American racing’s crown jewel. As for the Monaco Grand Prix, I’ve long been one of its loudest supporters. But this year I was completely off the bandwagon. Without rain the race has been a processional for years, but this year’s wet conditions it just made the farce of "racing" more pronounced. And except for the beautiful expanse of the harbor, the track looked even more claustrophobic, crowded, and ugly.

How has F1 allowed itself to engineer the Monaco Grand Prix obsolete with the development of its cars? I’ve seen multiple graphics indicating how the cars have increased in size and length over the years. They're huge! It’s literally impossible for drivers to pass unless they force someone to lock their brakes and slide off into a runoff zone, or to crash. In my opinion, F1 has ruined its crown jewel.

Are there plans for future regulations to reduce the size of the cars? If not, F1 should just convert Monaco into a non-championship race and have the field of drivers race smaller-spec cars for the spectacle of honor and tradition. Various drivers get together on a yearly basis for the Race of Champions event. Why not convert Monaco into a grand prix festival, rather than a full-fledged race on the calendar? It’s already obvious it’s not a race, and not an event worth watching.

Terry J., Germantown, MD

CHRIS MEDLAND: I totally agree with you. Monaco is an amazing event for those lucky enough to be there, but the racing is non-existent, and it’s a real shame that there’s not just that tiny bit more jeopardy in terms of a potential overtake. Fernando Alonso going so slowly but Lewis Hamilton not being able to even try a move shows all that’s wrong with it at the moment.

But I also agree with you that it’s down to the size of the cars, which were necessary in many ways because of the hybrid power units that make the sport so attractive to major manufacturers and the safety systems for performance. There’s one place that they’re completely wrong for, and it’s Monaco.

Your timing is great, though. You'll read about it in my column this week, but there are plans to reduce the size of the cars. It’s one of the goals for the 2026 regulations to make them smaller and lighter, which should help in Monaco if nowhere else. Whether that all comes to fruition is a long way off, though, so we’re stuck with at least three more years of a similar show if Monaco stays on the calendar.

F1 already adapts for Monaco with a shorter race distance than every other grand prix due to the average speed, but I don’t see why it can’t do more. The track has changed in the past, and should be looked at again to just improve racing in any way possible, but I’d still call it a championship race even if nothing changes because it’s the one event that is pretty much won and lost on a Saturday, and that’s a slightly different skill that a driver needs.

Has F1 outgrown its crown jewel? Glenn Dunbar/Motorsport Images

Q: Chris, what’s your take on Ferrari? Once again, I am left wondering if Brawn, Schumacher, Todt, and Byrne hid the instruction manual when they left, and Maranello still hasn’t found it? Has to be a serious issue if Charles Leclerc -- heretofore famous for taking more blame than warranted -- is publicly criticizing the team.

Al in MA

CM: If we look at how good this year’s car is, the design team has been doing a good job. But there has been one glaring weakness at Ferrari for a long, long time and that’s its strategy department. How many times have we seen Ferrari crumble under pressure or just do something silly that costs it a victory or good result? It’s happened far too often and yet there hasn’t been enough change in that area, so I’d be looking to hire from rivals and completely rebuild there.

I don’t think Leclerc minds the lack of reliability like in Spain, because it comes with good pace and Red Bull had similar issues at the start of the season. But that pace is no good if you throw away near-certain wins through strategic errors, and he’s been at Ferrari long enough to see multiple instances of it -- it cost him in Monaco in 2019 too, when his qualifying was ruined -- so he’s right to vent.

Q: Why do NASCAR-centric media feel the need to push NASCAR-style racing on IndyCar? For example, pushing for GWC, stages, making snide remarks if a race ends under caution, double-file restarts, stirring up controversy over this weekend's red even though that is not a new rule by any means? Every single year we deal with this nonsense from Daniel McFadin, Jeff Gluck, Jim Utter, and others. Letart was ripping on how long practice is for the 500 last week.

James D

KELLY CRANDALL: I am not going to speak for other NASCAR media members, or begin to try to explain why different forms of motorsports are compared. But I will say that I do believe there is a larger problem within some circles, which is an "us versus them" mentality. I’ve never had that belief and think it’s a little ridiculous to spend energy on making a case for one series over another. I also don’t like to entertain the notion that one series is better than the other because of their rules and regulations. There is no right/one way to officiate or sanction a racing series. Each one has its own rules, which doesn’t mean they would work or fit into another series. So again, it’s a waste of energy and time, in my opinion, to fall into the trap of what one series is or isn't doing compared to another. But you know what they say about opinions. And for the record, I thought it was a great call to see a green-flag run to the Indy 500 finish on Sunday.

THE FINAL WORD

From Robin Miller’s Mailbag, May 28, 2014

Q: At last, finally what a great month of May. Beaux Barfield’s decision to throw the red flag to set up the final shootout of the Indy 500 made one of the greatest moments in history.

The biggest void in the month was qualifications: it sucked. Please tell me that aero kits will be a reality and more chassis and engines will be available for beyond 33 cars in 2015? What is with all the price gouging? I don’t mind paying $9 for a sandwich, but $9 for dried bread and coleslaw with catsup called BBQ is a bunch of BS.

With so many international drivers in the mix, why don’t they play the victor’s national anthem? Nationalism works and what better than an "us against you" mentality to strike up the juices of pride and prejudice?

Daniel Bonham, Indianapolis, IN

ROBIN MILLER: Beaux made the same call at Fontana two years ago and Derrick Walker said it had been decided that would be the protocol before the race but that there would not have been a red flag with only a couple laps left. It was a good month and qualifying drew decent ratings so that was the whole idea of the two-day program. Aero kits will be here in 2015. For some reason the national anthem of the winning driver is played everywhere but Indianapolis and I think it would have been popular last Sunday.