The RACER Mailbag, July 27

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: It’s blatantly obvious that Alex Palou needs to fire his manager, legal team and PR crisis people. Whomever he is getting career advice from has only helped to do one thing -- further derail his career and even ultimately destroy it.

I have read forum posts and watched vlogs where people have raised the idea of Chip Ganassi not releasing Palou and allowing him to drive anywhere in 2023 to screw him over for his comments about his current employers. Then when 2024 rolls around, Palou could be pursued by Arrow McLaren SP or whomever else.

Do you see a scenario where Ganassi pays the minimum amount for 2023 to Palou and keeps him sidelined for the season and putting contracted relief driver Ryan Hunter-Reay in that ride?

Also, the way Felix Rosenqvist answered media questions following Toronto seems to hint that AMSP’s original idea was to have Alexander Rossi, Palou and O’Ward in IndyCar and Felix in Formula E. Now that there is a snag, do you think AMSP would be a three-car team in IndyCar next year?

David Colquitt

MP: That’s the scary scenario I’ve written about a few times, David -- if Chip "wins" the war over Palou, does Alex spend the next year or two on paid leave? There’s a similar question later in the Mailbag that broaches the topic of his managers, so I’ll jump to the last question. Yes, cars, equipment, and everything else to go full-time with three entries is happening. The only question is who will drive the thing.

Q: Not really a question but I did want to extend recognition and congratulations to Marco Andretti on winning the SRX championship! The series just finished its second year and I really enjoyed watching the Indy and NASCAR racers go at it. I was at the Stafford Springs race and what a great show that was. The battle was up front for all the race!

Norm-Bob, New Bloomfield, PA

MP: I love seeing Marco smiling and free. He might have all the toys and trappings life can offer, but none of that stuff fills you up from the inside. He looks as content as I’ve seen the guy, and that makes me happy.

Marco's happy place. Image via SRX

Q: We long-time race fans know that many drivers were superstitious about green cars. I know Jim Clark won Indy in '65 in one of Colin Chapman's green Lotuses. But I'm thinking it wasn't the first green car to win Indy. Straighten me out, please.

Joe, Cincy

MP: Other than the ’65 winner you mention, my pal Paul Kelly from IMS says “Gaston Chevrolet in 1920 in the No. 4 Monroe Frontenac.”

Q: Watched Iowa 1 with several people that were new to IndyCar. After hearing constant talk from the drivers and broadcasters about the tires wearing out they asked towards the end of the race why Firestone couldn’t build tires that would last. Without explanation from the broadcast team, that does a great disservice to Firestone. Perhaps some discussion about why the tires are designed to wear down, maybe including someone from Firestone, would be helpful.

Chip from Naples, FL

MP: Firestone is more than capable of making tires for Iowa that are harder and more durable, but they’d slide across the track surface and lead the drivers to tip-toe around the oval at unimpressive speeds the entire time.

So the compromise is to go with softer tires that provide exceptional grip that lasts about halfway through each stint before the track surface -- with the high G loading in the corners -- acts like a cheese grater to the tire’s carcass and wear and grip becomes a major issue to manage. The latter half of the stints when the cars are a handful is where heroic performances are seen by some and others are begging to be called into the pits. I prefer the way it’s done now by Firestone -- makes for rising and falling fortunes every year.

Q: You remain all over the Palou situation, which is fascinating but maybe for all the wrong reasons. What does IndyCar think of all this, or is any news good news?

Has the series looked at doing more to reduce the marbles created by today's tires? Apologies for asking a stupid question, but could Dallara add some aero bits under the trailing or leading edge of the underwing to produce high pressure airflow out of the sides, potentially pushing marbles away?  With 26+ cars on the track, using the airflow as a sweeper might be possible, but low-speed corners would still suffer.

Just waiting for the second race at Iowa, and Saturday's race was pretty good. I hated the old 1.5-mile tracks, but Iowa and Gateway seem to have some great racing... as did (apologies Mr. Miller) Milwaukee back in the day. I think the downforce levels at Iowa make for some great racing, so hopefully the series could find another Hy-Vee to help at some other viable venues,

And finally, we'll be making our way over from Ohio for the GP next week, though I agree a second race there is a little odd. I wish there was a way to do a double in Wisconsin. Friday at the Milwaukee Mile, one day event, with RC aero package. Then Sunday at RA. Crazy, or…?

Todd

MP: IndyCar doesn’t comment on stuff like this, but rest assured that nobody is happy or celebrating this counterproductive issue.

The creation of turbulence coming off the cars is what adds to difficulties in passing, so I would imagine IndyCar would avoid ruining its races by turning its cars into 750hp leaf blowers.

Sign me up for the Milwaukee-to-Elkhart caravan.

Q: Here's praise for the Peacock broadcast of Iowa. After watching Saturday's race on TV, I was resigned to either catching a replay or skipping Sunday's race altogether. But thanks to the Peacock app on my phone (after I remembered it), I was able to catch lap 60 to the end. Especially useful to watch what happened to Newgarden while watching for foul balls at the minor league ballgame my wife's employer had a group event at.

On to my questions. Did you get a chance to talk to Conor Daly? I was cheering him on at qualifying and was happy for his great run. But then in the races, he fell back. Was it a strategy issue or a situation of a great setup for qualifying falling off quickly once the race started?

Last, Kyle Kirkwood. He is certainly talented and has shown signs of speed but so far, he has not shown the ability to finish race consistently. Is this causing concern within Andretti, or are they just upping their crash budget for next year knowing he should get better the more time he gets in the car?

John Balestrieri

MP: Looks like two days of having the car go sideways on balance/tire life way earlier than Daly wanted and he opted to pit early and suffered the consequences in the end, going a lap down on Saturday and two on Sunday.

Kyle’s been a complete surprise. He was among the cleanest I’ve seen coming out of the Road To Indy, but once he’s gotten to the big cars, we’ve had to brace ourselves for some kind of spin or crash in practice or the race. He’s failed to finish 50 percent of his races and it’s been the questionable decision making that’s come as a shock. His run to 15th at Iowa Race 1 was what he and the Foyt team can do when both sides are on their game. He’s also finished two of his last six races. He can’t afford to end another in the wall or spinning across the grass this weekend.

Q: At the time of writing (on the morning after Iowa Race 1), Josef Newgarden has won four times as many races as Marcus Ericsson, yet is behind him in the championship. I know the rules are the same for everyone, but surely that indicates that IndyCar needs to change its points system?

Jordan, Warwickshire, UK

MP: How so, Jordan? Along with those four wins through Saturday, Josef also had four extremely poor finishes of 13th or worse while Ericsson has only failed to finish inside the top 12 on one occasion. It’s not like boxing where the winner of the most rounds is declared the winner; it’s the best average performance over the entire season and Josef’s average -- aided by four wins -- is still shy of Ericsson’s championship-leading output. That’s the bigger story to me. If you’ve won four times and nobody else had won more than once (prior to Pao getting his second on Sunday), it speaks to the misfortune and lack of pace Josef’s endured at times this season.

He was my pre-season pick for the championship, and depending on whether he’s cleared to drive this weekend, that hope might be lost, but with a new race engineer to bond and work with, he came into the year with a lot to figure out and showed how damn good he is by getting into victory lane twice in the first three races. But a lack of consistency -- no matter the reason behind it -- is a title-killer. Minus that inconsistency, he’d be the runaway championship leader. The point system isn’t the problem here.

The strut of a man who knows that consistency is king. (Winning the double-points Indy 500 while Newgarden finished 13th didn't hurt, either). Gavin Baker/Motorsport Images

Q: I saw your video wrap-up of the Iowa race and I agree the production and organization of the race was pretty darn good. This is the template for IndyCar to move forward: not just racing, an entire event with music. If you're going to ask people to stay a whole day, then fill it with stuff. The Food Truck Challenge was inspired -- I counted at least 20 food trucks in the south side area and maybe another 10 on the north side. Yeah, there could have been better signage to direct traffic and how to get to the food trucks, but those are minor complaints. I had the feeling many people in attendance were new fans, even though about half the people were wearing Indy merch. So maybe the other half of the people in attendance were new?

Hy-Vee gets a lot of credit. They had very large VIP areas on both ends of the track, sponsored the race, Jack Harvey's car, and even had their employees show up to volunteer for parking and crowd control duties. The yellow t-shirt workers were contracted workers, but the red T-shirt people were all HyVee volunteers (though they were reimbursed for transportation and food).

As for the racing, I liked it, but I'm a racing fan. My wife's only complaint (her first IndyCar race in 30+ years, so I'll count her as a "new fan") was to have bigger numbers on the cars so you can tell who's going by, especially if the livery is not distinct.

Finally, the captions on the Mailbag's photos are completely hilarious, especially the July 20th edition. Whoever writes them, keep it up!

John Becker, Downers Grove, IL

MP: Thanks for the report from the fan side of the event, John, and please thank your wife for being awesome. I’ll tell Jay Frye that even old school fans like her want the LED panels to make a return!

RACER.com editor Mark Glendenning is the longtime photo selector and caption writer for the Mailbag, along with serving as its weekly editor who compiles the questions for me and edits the nonsense I send back.

Q: I recall a little while back there was a letter suggesting, with tongue firmly in cheek, that IndyCar could follow NASCAR and run a dirt race. The idea has had me daydreaming occasionally about what it might be like for IndyCar to run on an even shorter paved oval than the current one mile-ish. Short tracks seem popular, maybe it’s a good way to get the grassroots back into IndyCars?

What’s the shortest oval Indy cars have ever run? Is it feasible to run anything shorter than a mile? I guess the steep banking at most of the NASCAR short tracks would rule out running there, as cornering speeds might get a bit wild. I also guess it might not translate so well on TV with the cars not hitting the kind of top speeds they do everywhere else.

How about some of the tracks where Super Modifieds run, though? I’m thinking mid-week madness at Indianapolis Raceway Park during May, with heats and a feature.

I’m sure there’s more chance of a race on the full IMS oval running clockwise than IndyCar hitting a local paved short track, but I’d love to hear your thoughts.

B, Christchurch, NZ

MP: How about we do the BC39 dirt event on the inside of Indy Turn 3 with hiked-up Dallara DW12s? I mean, IMS has its own temporary short track, so why not use the spare cars and do our own Night Before Indy… but at Indy? Indy cars on a super short paved oval would bore me. Let’s do something properly fun and hit the dirt. As for the shortest ever, I don’t know.

Q: I try to travel to a few races every year and it can be costly with tickets, gas, hotel and food. Sometimes it doesn’t feel worth it for a two-hour race. IndyCar doubleheaders or IndyCar teaming up with IMSA or NASCAR gives me the instinctive to travel. I wouldn’t mind every race weekend being a doubleheader. Reaction?

Mark, Niagara Falls, NY

MP: Same here, Mark, on loving and wanting more big-deal events. I loved it when IndyCar and the ALMS teamed up a few times each year; both had amazing cars. IMSA, the modern version of the ALMS, isn’t as fond of getting together outside of Long Beach and Detroit, and I understand that -- they want to be their own sovereign series and be the headliners. But they sure could use a big spike in fans, and maybe doing more events with IndyCar would generate better everything for them. NASCAR bores me, so I’d lean towards sports cars where, by no coincidence, about half of the IndyCar teams also compete in IMSA.

Scott Sharp was so excited about the IndyCar/ALMS doubleheader at Baltimore in 2013 that he could barely keep his car on the ground. Kevin York/Motorsport Images

Q: I thoroughly enjoyed the two races from Iowa over the weekend. It was good to see Jimmie Johnson use his years of oval experience while racing to an excellent fifth-place finish. Also the rookies David Malukas and Callum Ilott continue to impress as they run among the leaders every week.

As good as the racing has been this year, I have a couple of questions about the series. First, when I attended Mid-Ohio a few weeks back, I planned on seeing two practice sessions on Friday but only saw one. In all the years I’ve been to the track we always looked forward to seeing the cars on track in the morning and the afternoon. Also, at Iowa, I don’t understand the one practice session then locking out the cars after qualifying. It seems very unfair to the teams for them not to go to their race setup as in all of the other races this year. Is this being done to save money for the teams?

Second, with the extreme heat on Saturday, was making it a night race ever discussed? Which might be answered by asking: does IndyCar have any control of the schedule or is it totally controlled by NBC and finding a time slot for the race?

Finally, my opinion on Alex Palou: I’ve never seen a driver burn a bridge (actually, blow it up) while under contract as the series champion. I believe the only reason he would do this is he is headed to F1, either next year or in 2024. With that being said, I don’t like Zak Brown or McLaren for the disruption this mess has caused to the series. It seems the one thing I was worried about with McLaren coming to IndyCar is taking place, F1 politics and drama.

Rick Schneider, Charlotte

MP: Yes, IndyCar’s general thinking has been to reduce Friday sessions from two to one at most events, and to have that lone session later in the day so most teams can save on hotel room nights, rental car days, catering, per diem, etc., and most teams fly in on charters early on Friday, bust their behinds all day, and return for busier Saturdays with more practice and qualifying.

NBC offered live TV for both Iowa races, but live and primetime on Saturday and Sunday night on big NBC isn’t something they’d offer to IndyCar, so that’s why we had day races.

McLaren is not and has not been the big dog in F1 for a long time, nor will it anytime soon. It takes forever for such things to happen there. But here? With the kind of budget it has and the enticement of F1 testing that can be offered? Tactics aside, Brown has enabled many things for Arrow McLaren SP to transform from an being an afterthought in 2019 to a real title contender in 2021. Here in IndyCar, he’s able to move the team forward in ways that aren’t possible in F1, and that’s all most racers would care about.

Q: I’ve heard some of the NBC and IndyCar folks read the Mailbag so I’d like to share some feedback. Hy-Vee, Hy-Vee, Hy-Vee. If I say their name three times, does that mean they’ll appear again and somewhere else? Thank you, Hy-vee. We had flex grandstand seats which were absolutely great for the race. The event was a home run. With that said, there are a couple of things I’d like to provide feedback on.

The heat index Saturday was well over 100 degrees. The event did everything it could to help people cool off with cooling stations and other handouts. I came prepared and in three-and-a-half hours I’d consumed two sports drinks and three big bottles of water.  The heat was still too much and I missed Saturday’s race. The alternative would have been me in the infield care center getting an IV. Two other friends had heat exhaustion and couldn’t come back Sunday, and one other friend I know didn’t make it to the end of the race. The 2019 race was supposed to be in the mid-90s as well, so this can’t be marked as an anomaly. Other than a night race or date change, I don’t have a great solution (permanent covered grandstands?). I do know if it is this hot next year I won’t be there for qualifying, the Lights race (which was amazing) or for the concert. I’ll just be there for the race.

On the topic of water, the setup for infield access leaves a bit to be desired. You have to leave the track and go through security to get to the infield and then go through security to get back into the grandstands. Each time you go through security anything you have carrying water must be empty or sealed.

Overall, it was an amazing event. I’ll be back next year. If those Hy-Vee temporary seat tickets are for sale, please let me know. I’m interested in the shade.

Ryan in West Michigan

MP: Thanks for the feedback, Ryan. Yep, if this remains the general time of year where the race is going to be held, and it’s going to be run in the afternoon, better planning will be required from the promoters to keep its audience safe. Building enclosures over the grandstands would be amazing, but it’s hard to see NASCAR forking out the money to do that.

One driver told me he was blown away to learn Penske Entertainment and Iowa Speedway -- with a blazing hot forecast that was known well in advance -- did not place misting tents around the facility and especially behind the grandstands. The did do a few shipping containers with AC units plugged in that fans could walk into, but it simply wasn’t enough as I’ve been told by some fans who were cooked on Saturday.

And if the sun is the biggest enemy to fight and keep a crowd, how about giving fans a chance to bring their temperatures down without alternatively going out to their cars, firing them up, and using the AC? That’s something the track allowed folks to do. The idea of fans running to their cars and burning fuel to stay cool -- right next to cornfields -- makes me not want to eat corn that tastes like an exhaust pipe. There weren’t many glaring oversights that stood out, but this was one of them.

Q: I attended the doubleheader IndyCar race at Iowa Speedway and it was fantastic. IndyCar, Hy-Vee and Iowa Speedway all deserve a great deal of credit for putting on a terrific race and a fun weekend. Anyone who claims "ovals are dead, no one will come" should witness what a great job that was done at Iowa Speedway.

From what I can tell, the success of this event was something of a perfect storm:

1) The IndyCar series was highly motivated to add another oval race (or two) to the calendar.

2) IndyCar found a title sponsor (Hy-Vee) that was very interested in getting national exposure for a new marketing campaign.

3) The racetrack was in trouble, and was fighting for survival.

What put the event over the top was adding great music from Tim McGraw, Florida Georgia Line, Gwen Stefani, and Blake Shelton and turning a race weekend into a total entertainment package for a broader audience.

So, it seems like we have a formula for success. Iowa Raceway and World Wide Technology Raceway (Gateway) prove that ovals aren't dead, they just need to be retooled. Can we make this formula work at the Milwaukee Mile and Kentucky Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway so that we can make oval racing thrive once again in IndyCar?

The fact that we also had great three-wide racing in the turns, lots of passing throughout both days and a minimum number of yellow-flag laps just added to a great race weekend.

Now if we can just run this race in the evening...

Kevin P., Los Angeles, CA

MP: The formula is there for copying, no doubt. I have to believe there’s a major company or two in Wisconsin, Kentucky, and Texas, that might be open to a similar concept. It can’t just be Iowa and the greater St. Louis region.

We have a winner. Image via Penske Entertainment

Q: Now that R.P. no longer calls a race for one of his cars, what is he doing and where is he during an actual race that is not at IMS?  Motorhome? Race control? Skybox?

Jim Cox, Rock Island, IL

MP: Depends on the day and the event. He’s the guy who owns the whole shebang, so it’s spending time with key sponsors and partners and guests. He posed for a photos with Marky Mark on Sunday before the race, which was cool.

Q: Why doesn’t Larry Foyt fire Kyle Kirkwood since he can’t finish a race? Seems it would be smart to put someone in the car for the rest of the season who can gain points and finish. Santino Ferrucci, maybe.

Gary at Lake Tippecanoe

MP: The kid’s going through a rough patch and quitting on him isn’t the solution. Unless it’s Ryan Hunter-Reay, who is under contract to Ganassi, I can’t think of anyone who’s better than Kyle that’s out of a ride who would have a higher ceiling of potential in the car.

But, if I’m Larry, I’m making damn sure Kyle knows he’s in jeopardy of costing the team a Leaders Circle contract unless he stays off the walls in the five remaining races. The No. 14 is 24th in the entrants’ standings and he needs to get it to 22nd to get that million-plus payout for the team.

Q: One thing I wanted to mention about Toronto Indy was the crowd! I've gone every year since the merger and it was by far the largest I've seen. What was interesting was the number of people who had never watched an IndyCar race who were there in their NASCAR shirts, staying close to the 48 team and Jimmie Johnson, and the even larger number of F1 fans. I spoke to one group of young people in their early 20s in the paddock who had never watched an IndyCar race before but are big F1 fans through DTS. They said they came to the Indy because "it was so much more affordable than the Canadian GP." They were blown away by the accessibility to the teams, cars and drivers and felt the racing was just as good if not better than F1 and said they will definitely be following the series more and be fans going forward.

It's fantastic that IndyCar is finally getting more fans and traction. I've always said if we can get more people to the track to experience it, people will love it! My question is: how? What's IndyCar doing to capitalize on the new overall interest in all forms of motor racing? NASCAR added Michael Jordan and Pitbull, F1 has "Drive to Survive." I know IndyCar is getting a video game, but what else is being done to try to draw folks in? At some point Jimmie will retire and DTS will stop being a draw, so it's best to strike now while we can.

Ben from Toronto

MP: Other than working on a scripted reality show that we documented earlier in the year, and the big production team that follows Jimmie for his "Reinventing The Wheel" video series, I’m unaware of anything on the horizon that would take IndyCar to DTS levels of awareness. I spoke with a lot of fans last weekend in Iowa and many were first-timers, drawn by the racing or the music. In the absence of a big streaming series to attract the masses, turning the races into Iowa-like events with concerts seems like the best way to make new fans on a race-by-race basis.

Q: Why would Helio Castroneves would want to try the Daytona 500? He has absolutely no experience with that kind of racing, he’s not going to have a top ride, and the chance of getting caught in a big wreck is very high. When I first heard about this, a voice in my head said, “No! Don’t do it!” Your thoughts about it?

Tim B.

MP: I mean… at one point Helio had never driven a go-kart and I’m thankful he wasn’t discouraged from exploring his curiosities in racing. Just like he had no experience in sports cars but went on to win major races and championships, and he’d never driven V8 Supercars but went Down Under to try them, he has a desire to try NASCAR. I hope it all comes together and he has a blast.

Daytona dreaming. Jake Galstad/Motorsport Images

Q: When you watch a race on TV, sometimes you miss details due to the way the coverage is. But because the Toronto race was on streaming on Peacock and because I watched pretty much all the rounds from FP1, FP2 and qualifying, I saw up close how terrible some of the turns are: Turn 3, Turn 5, the turn leading to the pits and the turns past the entrance to pits leading to front straight. Drivers as elite as IndyCar drivers do not deserve to be racing on that bad a course.

I know people are going to point to how it equalizes every team and driver, but no matter how much you play up the negatives of the course as being "exciting," there is a point where everyone has to say enough is enough and not participate in an activity that keeps getting worse.

The turns mentioned above should at least be repaved by the next race or Toronto (Green Savoree Promotions) will have to find a new venue for IndyCar to go to. I know Toronto and IndyCar needs a race in Canada, but not at the detriment of how bad IndyCar is made to look.

By the same token, Formula E had a race at the Brooklyn shipyards in NY. While I saw no spectators there, you should have taken a look at how beautiful that layout was set up with proper aesthetics, I am not sure where IndyCar is going, to agree to race without any demand to a race course’s minimum condition for safety and other aspects like surface condition, aesthetics and things of that nature

Shyam

MP: You’re describing the joys of racing on city streets where race promoters don’t own the course and aren’t able to fix and pave problem areas without huge amounts of red tape to cut through with the local government. At the same time, the last thing I want is for perfectly smooth tracks at every stop. That’s where the character and variables come from. Since I didn’t hear the IndyCar drivers saying the Toronto circuit was undrivable, I can see no reason to neuter the place and take away the sections that allow the great drivers to separate themselves from the good.

Q: I enjoy NASCAR, however, I spend most of my racing energy on IndyCar (including RTI), IMSA (including MPC), then F1 and NASCAR come third.

Love Road America -- really had no interest in the Cup race at RA. Glad it worked out for RA and the Cup fans, more racing is better than less. Does the Chicago NASCAR street race excite me? Meh, but with racing being this close to home, a short commuter train ride to downtown, I'm likely to attend at least once -- I want to compare it to the other street races I have been to (Detroit 1, Belle Isle, Cleveland, Des Moines, Denver 1, etc.).

What got lost in the announcement is the pairing with IMSA. Any news on which classes and how it affects other tracks on the IMSA schedule? We already heard IMSA to IMS soon --  forgot which track would lose its event. I'm heading to Road America in a few weeks for IMSA, and I hope it is not on the chopping block to be replaced by Chicago too.

Doug, Wheaton, Illinois

MP: Yeah, the upcoming Caution Flag 500 on the streets of Chicago has the looks of an idea that wasn’t run through the common sense machine. As for IMSA, I haven’t heard, but I do wonder if a single-make series like Lamborghini Super Trofeo might be a great fit; super exotic cars compared to Cup and they sound amazing. IMSA’s Midwestern home is Road America. It’s going nowhere.

Q: I'm a little too young to remember, but didn't CART manage to sell out Milwaukee for both qualifying and race day, while still packing fans in for Road America? I don't think NASCAR needed to drop Elkhart Lake to avoid market saturation in Chicago.

Tom in Newark, NY

MP: Yes, a long time ago when the CART IndyCar Series was the most popular form of racing in the country.

Q: I am a lifelong A.J. Foyt fan and it pains me to see what a clown show the team is now. I hear how small teams can’t compete with the big money teams, but every year a small team comes out of nowhere and does well. If Larry wasn’t related, he would have got the boot years ago. I know I’m just venting but it’s such a sad show. Why would anyone want to waste sponsorship dollars on them? And you say Porsche may want them to campaign the new 963? I can’t believe that. Maybe they should go to the track, do all their calculations and then do just the opposite. It might work since everything they try doesn’t.

Terry

MP: The team’s potential has been shown with Kirkwood, but he’s still got a lot of rough edges to polish. If it weren’t for Larry working like mad to keep the team afloat as sponsors have left or defaulted on payment, we wouldn’t have them in the paddock. The best news I’ve heard is that Benjamin Pedersen and the GRG folks are making a serious investment into the kid’s move to IndyCar with the team and it includes upgrades in all areas within the team. On the Porsche 963 IMSA GTP side, I would expect Hildebrand to source and install a separate team under the Foyt banner, if everything comes together there as desired.

Kirkwood's top 10 at Long Beach showed what Foyt can do when things click. Jake Galstad/Motorsport Images

Q: I am a fan of both IndyCar and IMSA racing (especially the DPi and the new LMDh/GTP class) and wonder why sports cars aren’t at least as popular as IndyCar, at least judging by TV ratings? As John Oreovicz said in "Pick Your Poison", IMSA is more technically diverse while at the same time the racing remains close. Given the laments of many IndyCar fans about spec racing, myself included, it seems that IMSA should be at least as popular.

Paul Lewis, Macon, GA

MP: I’m hoping the move to GTP next year brings some positive change in IMSA’s popularity. But I can say, having worked as a mechanic in the original GTP series when it rivaled IndyCar for popularity and, at some tracks, nearly matched IndyCar with its lap times, the highly regulated prototypes and GT cars today can’t compare in terms of wildness and creativity. Same with IndyCar.

I think of it like the difference between a young and super energetic band that cranked out some amazing music in the early years, but after a few decades, the music lost its edge and lost some of its audience because the songs stopped hitting like a shot of adrenaline to the veins.

The diversity coming to GTP and the marketing budgets from four major manufacturers to kick the class off next year just might be something to jump-start interest where it’s been lacking. The last time we had amazingly fast and diverse prototypes was 2006-2008 in the American Le Mans Series. It was a golden era -- and where I started my reporting career… lucky me -- and trust me, I’m praying we will say the same when we look back on the new GTP cars.

Q: Regarding NASCAR’s Chicago race -- how in the world did IndyCar miss this opportunity? IndyCar would provide a much better and faster show than taxis driving the streets of Windy City!

Dave Adamson

MP: NASCAR’s the only series here with the name recognition and gravity to pull it off.

Q: I can’t blame Alex Palou and Colton Herta and the other young guns for wanting to race at the highest level of the sport. Zak Brown at McLaren is just seeking the best talent, period. Shame on Ganassi for not paying Palou more and maintaining the status quo. Obviously he did not manage his drivers correctly. I see the logic in wanting Scott Dixon with his wealth of experience. Even Andretti wants to join the top rung of F1. If Ganassi prevails, he’ll have an unhappy situation and Palou will never sign beyond 2023. Pato O'Ward, Herta, Palou, Rinus VeeKay and the other young guns certainly are attractive compared to some of the awful pay drivers in F1. Kevin Magnussen couldn’t be happier being back there.

CB, Naples, FL

MP: For months, I’ve had all manner of folks in the paddock tell me Palou signed on to make $200K per year, and that’s a tiny amount of money, no doubt. But since most of us only get paid the amount we negotiate to receive from our employers, why aren’t we asking about the apparent lack of kickers in Palou’s contract?

Devil’s advocate here: We know Alex has managers and advisors who negotiate his contracts; why didn’t they negotiate a kicker that included a rise in salary for 2022 if he won X number of races? Why didn’t they negotiate a kicker that said if Alex won the championship, his salary would jump to millions of dollars this season? From an outside perspective, it looks like some big issues arose in negotiations that didn’t favor Palou, and yet, he still signed the contract of his own free will.

As an aside, knowing Chip’s hard core dedication to team and loyalty, Palou became dead to him the moment this blew up.

Q: In response to David's email question last week about Mid-Ohio’s IMSA race moving to Indy in September 2023, you noted, “David you’re on the right path. The state of disrepair at Mid-O and the upcoming move to the Indy road course can’t be a coincidence.”

Following that sound logic, when do you think IndyCar will finally have had enough and decide to leave Mid-Ohio as well? I’m thinking it’s inevitable.

Terry J, Germantown, MD

MP: Nearly 25 percent of IndyCar’s calendar is made up with Green Savoree Race Promotions events. I’m not sure the series has the leverage to leave, even if it wanted to. Add in the fact that it’s Honda’s home event with its nearby manufacturing plant and R&D facility, and I just can’t picture how IndyCar would say farewell.

Q: My question has probably been asked and answered several times, but what is the logic to keep the clock running when a red flag is thrown during qualifying? I certainly understand driver safety is paramount, and if a session stoppage is warranted, then I am all for it. But I don’t see a reason to penalize other drivers for the incident, especially at tight street courses such as Toronto. When it occurs in F1 the clock is stopped and restarted after the track is deemed safe to resume qualifying.

Larry, Indianapolis

MP: Thanks, Larry. Give last week’s Mailbag a read.

Q: While it's nice to see some much-deserved interest in some really talented drivers by the McLaren team, I really hope Zak Brown doesn't become the Helmut Marko of the IndyCar Series. Red Bull has left countless drivers in career purgatory over the years after promises of F1 drives and promotions to the flagship team. Bourdais, Hartley, Albon, Gasly, and many others have all been left in Red Bull's wake from their ruthless recruiting practices. I'd love to see any of McLaren's IndyCar hires find their way to F1, but would hate to see their careers stalled or hindered because of the carrots McLaren is dangling.

Michael

MP: Within IndyCar, Zak’s holding the only ticket to the F1 dance, so I’m not surprised to see all the F1 aspirants in our series accepting his invitations. Completely predictable situation. McLaren’s aggressive moves this year will change how all the major teams do their driver and personnel contracts, and in some instances, I would anticipate some existing multi-year contracts will be revised to carve out any wiggle room or exit options for the greater talents -- with an offer of more money for doing so.

The Palou deal has been scary for some team owners because it showed that even the drivers nobody expected to be available -- or to be the subject of a power play to liberate them from their time while under contract -- is now a thing we do here.

I guarantee you that when the Palou contract dispute came to light, lawyers for all the heavy hitters in the series were paid to review those teams’ driver contracts to find any areas that could be exploited and used to against them by a rival in ways they never anticipated.

The smile that launched a thousand lawyers. Jake Galstad/Motorsport Images

Q: Would Chip consider moving Marcus Ericsson to the 10 car if Alex Palou does move on to Arrow McLaren SP? If he doesn’t have the option of bringing in a proven driver for the 10, would it be better for him to have Marcus in it and put a newer driver in the 8? I know Marcus has his own sponsorship with Huski so not sure if that could prevent that with the 10 being sponsored by NTT.

Justin in St. Petersburg

MP: I guess it’s possible, but the 8 car has been the best Ganassi entry this season, so I wouldn’t see the logic in shaking the team up and moving the championship leader to another car. It might not be a front-running IndyCar driver, but there’s no lack of supreme talent in the world for Chip to drop into the 10. And like Ed Jones was a one-year bridge driver in the 10 car, I could also see that happening again since there should be a number of high-caliber IndyCar free agents on the market going 2024.

Q: I read the rant by Joe in California in the 7/20 Mailbag regarding Peacock. I don't understand his point, which you so eloquently responded to. In California, he is probably paying close to $200 a month for cable. I don't have cable anymore and I pay the $5 a month for Peacock. Am I greatly disappointed by not being able to watch the races on USA? Yes. But I get awesome IndyCar content on Peacock that I never got before like practice and qualifying.

Unlike Joe, I can't justify sky-high cable costs just so I can watch a few races. I had done the math and we as a family were watching maybe four channels a week on average. I had cut back on NASCAR because the late start times meant I couldn't watch the end of a race since I had to cook dinner, or I just plain got busy doing something else after lunch and forgot about the NASCAR race. Is Peacock perfect? No. But it's pretty damn OK for the price.

I read your response to the suggestion of moving the second Indy Grand Prix to Road America. As a native and resident of Wisconsin, the fans would support this -- especially if the race was in mid to late August or early September when the weather starts getting nicer. But you would have to be sure the race starts and ends before the Packer game.

John Balestrieri

MP: How about the season finale at Road America, run on Saturday, and we all drive up to Green Bay for the season-opening NFL game on Sunday?

Q: As I read last week's letter from Joe in California, I agreed with every point he made. I am sorry that you didn't realize that there is a difference between getting rid of your dad's rabbit ears for cable TV so you could watch all races, and paying for cable to get most races and then having to get a streaming channel to watch qualifying and an occasional stream-only race. I have heard it before, it's only $5. No it's double-dipping and it's the principle of the thing. In the comments section some are saying a true IndyCar fan would pay the $5 to support IndyCar. The $5 isn't going to IndyCar, it's going to NBC, which is using IndyCar to grow its streaming service. Another trick it started using is having a 30-minute pre-race show that gives very little information except to get the sponsor's face on TV yelling "drivers, start your engines." Then after the race Lee says, "Gee, we're out of time, please switch over to Peacock for driver interviews."

You say this is the way it is, I ask why is IndyCar the only series that gets stuck with these horrible contracts.

Bill, Los Angeles

MP: IMSA has far more of its racing delivered via Peacock, so no, IndyCar isn’t the only series to "get stuck" and isn’t saddled with the worst contract.

Q: Two things from the July 20th Mailbag. First, it’s nice to know that my (mostly negative) opinions of McLaren’s involvement in IndyCar are not uniquely my own. Nothing more needs to be said about that.

Second, reading the (predictably) numerous bitchy comments about the Toronto race only being on Peacock prompted me to pose this question: What percentage of "IndyCar fans" are what I term "Free IndyCar fans"?

By that I mean they don’t attend a race (which is somewhat fair, location and cost are factors). They don’t buy team and/ or driver merch. And they don’t support IndyCar team/series sponsors when they have a choice to do so.

It seems to be an increasing expectation amongst a sector of "fans" that every race should be on "free" TV (as if that is actually a thing), and even when a race is on broadcast or cable, they bitch about the number and length of commercials. TV viewership is of course an important driver of new eyes on the series, but where are young eyes at these days? The answer is streaming media. It’s the future; don’t fight it, embrace it.  As you pointed out, a month of Peacock is cheaper than a gallon of gas in most parts of the country (never mind the fact that you can access all of the Peacock content for that).

Now, one last point. I was annoyed that Peacock didn’t do side-by-side commercial breaks. It’s minor, but something for the future, because we all know, there will be more races on Peacock going forward.

Chris, Chicago, IL

MP: Death, taxes, and bitching about IndyCar: Three things that can’t be avoided, Chris.

Q: Talk to me about tires. When I see old Indy cars, old F1 cars, I see treaded tires. When did slicks come into play? Did some technological advancement have to happen to make a slick tire a reality? Or did nobody realize earlier that having one giant tread block was better than dozens and dozens of tread blocks?

Bill Jurasz, Austin, TX

MP: Great question, Bill. It was the late 1960s when IndyCar’s tire suppliers -- Firestone was reportedly the first -- to try slicks at the Speedway and by the early 1970s, the grooves were gone. The fear that I was told about involved a belief that the grooves gave better grip because any imperfections on the track -- marbles, and so on -- could be handled and readily dispersed in ways that might cause a slick to slide and lose traction while riding over whatever was on the track surface. Well, that fear proved to be unfounded...

Q: After all the questions in the July 20th Mailbag regarding the future of IndyCar tracks and venues, I was wondering about a street race from the Champ Car era. Do you ever see a return for the Denver Grand Prix? The entire Front Range and Intermountain West is mostly devoid of professional racing of any kind (and perhaps for good reason) but with the way Denver has grown and the remarkable downtown location of the old Denver GP circuit it seems like it could be a hit.

And while we're at it, let's do a lightning round of old Champ Car venues and your thoughts: Vancouver street circuit, Cleveland airport, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Mont Tremblant, San Jose street circuit (joking, joking, never again).

Keane Horner

MP: Man, I loved the brief but spectacular SJGP and its "Dukes of Hazzard" jump. Takuma Sato, JR Hildebrand and Stefan Wilson live in Colorado, so we have some local advocates for a return, I’m sure. I’d love to go back to Denver. It was a cool event. But it would take, like usual, a promoter to put a proposal together and bring it to IndyCar. Other than Detroit and Iowa, Penske Entertainment isn’t on the prowl looking for more races to promote on its own at long-gone venues.

Better be careful with all this Denver talk or you'll start giving NASCAR ideas. Brad Bernstein/Motorsport Images

Q: Regarding the Palou/McLaren telenovela, Zak may or may not get his man Palou. If he does, how on Earth will he manage three alpha males? O'Ward, Palou and Rossi will all be positioning themselves as first banana. Ron Dennis had to manage Prost/Senna and Alonso/Hamilton during his time at McLaren -- neither of those driver pairings worked out well. I can't imagine adding a third driver to the mix would result in anything but continuous infighting and chaos.

Jonathan Morris, Ventura, CA

MP: "Telenovela" is the best description I’ve seen so far, Jonathan! I wrote about this very question in a story not so long ago and it continues to make me wonder if any attention is being paid to the chemistry side of this potential super lineup.

I think of the Los Angeles Lakers adding Russell Westbrook last season and the team’s apparent priority of stacking big names onto its roster instead of signing the best talent that would make for the most complementary fit. Westbrook was a disaster who ended up costing the team a fortune while making it worse. McLaren has something great with Pato and Felix. Personality-wise, Pato and the incoming Rossi could not be less alike.

Throw in Palou who, on the surface, is the sweetest guy on the planet, but has spooked some of the drivers I’ve spoken to in the last week -- they wonder if he has multiple personalities. I wouldn’t want to be the one responsible for keeping that group on the same page and maximizing results.

Q: After reading several comments and your replies on Indy’s road course and its two races, I feel the need to say I enjoy both the road course races and attend both, and hope IndyCar keeps both on future schedules. The racing is good and I get to be live at an IndyCar race, practice and qualifying. Though I have to admit, temperature-wise, late July maybe not ideal. (And no, don’t do NASCAR.)

Bill

MP: Thanks for adding the counter argument to the conversation, Bill.

Q: Hey people, quit complaining about Peacock. It’s awesome! For five bucks a month there is so much more than IndyCar, there’s IMSA, motocross, MLB, golf, supercross and a ton more sports. Plus movies, TV shows, news and on and on, and it’s on demand. That’s not even two happy hour beers a month. I returned my $80 a month cable box a decade ago, I have an antenna and Peacock and when IndyCar season is over I drop it until St. Pete.

Lee

MP: Naw, Lee, we don’t want the complaints to stop. The Mailbag is like a free weekly therapist who listens to all the gripes but doesn’t necessarily give back comforting responses.

Q: This might be simplistic, but a cure for poaching is pretty obvious. If Palou is signed to an option with Chip Ganassi Racing, but signs with Arrow McLaren SP to get out of a contract with CGR, CGR should park him. And pay him to sit. Nothing would be worse for a racer.

Bill McGavic, Arcadia, FL

MP: Without a doubt, Bill. The team is also believed to have an option on him for 2024 as well, so if Chip comes out of this with the sole rights to Palou’s driving services, there could be some unfortunate realities visited upon the kid if his team owner decides to bench him for two seasons.

Q: I read so many whiny pieces about the Toronto race being on Peacock. "I won't pay to watch a race," says the person who pays to watch whatever on Hulu or Paramount or YouTube TV or Dish or cable or DirectTV. For every person that says they won't watch, we lose a viewer. But do they realize they are the problem then? They are the downturn in viewership they probably complain about? I find the Peacock year-long price very reasonable ($50). I waste that much a year on crappy food that I shouldn't eat. If people want to save IndyCar from irrelevance, they have to keep it relevant by tuning in, going to races when they can, buying some merch, telling friends about the racing they are missing out on, etc. End rant!

Randall

MP: Thanks, Randall.

Q: On paper, SRX would seem to be Smoke's Silly Sideshow. But it's genuinely entertaining and getting impressive ratings. It has turned me on to Ernie Francis Jr. Chip should put that cat in the 10. Any talk of him in silly season rumors?

Shawn, MD

MP: I love everything about Ernie; Willy T and I brought him to R.P.’s attention around this time last summer. If you’re talking about the 10 car in 2025 or 2026, that might work, but Ernie has so much to learn -- he’s been at the back of the Indy Lights field on his series debut -- that it would be criminal to drop someone who is so unprepared into a front-running seat.

Ernie Francis Jr. Fast? Absolutely. IndyCar-ready? Absolutely not – yet. Michael Levitt/Motorsport Images

Q: Many conversations over the past few weeks have involved the questions: How does IndyCar keep up with Formula 1 and NASCAR? How do we increase our popularity?

For F1 I see "Drive to Survive" as the near-complete rationale (at least in the U.S. market) for its growth in popularity. Before DTS, F1's popularity in the U.S. was akin to IndyCar's; after, it's grown to almost reach NASCAR's level. My doctorate is in biomedical engineering, so I'll throw in that neuroscience teaches us that emotions matter. If you want people to tune in the following week/month you need to give them some happiness, laughter, fear, wonder, or even anger (but preferably not the latter) to hang onto. NASCAR has a fanbase that has remained popular since it was built in the ’90s much on the same thing -- emotion! Gordon versus Earnhardt was quite the spectacle.

However, this segues into a greater point I'd like to make. Another thing NASCAR did in the late ’90s was to transition from small, hometown tracks to a variety of 1.5-mile ovals. They are doing this with the Chicago street course today. In other words, they expanded their fanbase by taking the sport from remote areas and bringing it to people in larger markets: Fontana, Joliet (Chicago), and Fort Worth (to name a few).

I have missed the spectacle that is IndyCar most of my life, and now that I've found it, I won't go back. The series already has the keys to success -- the personalities, the on-track action, and the speed. It's just so, so fun! I only wonder at this point where the series will go next (literally) to grow. I saw you suggest another Road America race. Is Pikes Peak still a thing, and could a Denver-area race ever happen? Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez?

Zach Dean

MP: Great stuff, Zach. It’s an age-old marketing tool: If you have a product you want more people to buy, you’ll want to find new stores in more areas to carry it. My idea for a second Road America races goes against this, and isn’t very smart if we’re trying to make new fans. My thinking was about going to a place where a lot of fans will turn up to make IndyCar look good, but to your point, the easiest way to penetrate new markets is to go to where the people live and hold a downtown street race. IndyCar and IMSA did an absolute ton of this in the 1980s, and it worked.

Not everybody loves street racing, but that’s where large numbers of new fans can be produced.

Q: I think RACER is missing out on a great story idea: the person who shows up at IndyCar races with the giant Will Power head. What luck has graced them with the ability to attend so many races? How do they travel with the head? How do they keep it in such pristine condition? Are there multiple copies? How much does a giant Will Power head cost? What does Will Power think when he rounds a turn and sees his own face smiling back at him? Where can I get a giant "Will Power throwing the double birds at Loudon" cutout?

Let's give this superfan their due with a two-page spread in RACER!

Ryan, Stamford, CT

MP: That’s the awesome Maggie Kuhn, Ryan. Met her during practice for the Indy 500 and saw her again last weekend in Iowa. She shared a funny story about Will forgetting her name -- calling her by the wrong name, Rachel, I believe -- and Maggie refused to give it to him afterwards…

I like the idea for a post-season series on IndyCar super-fans.

https://twitter.com/marshallpruett/status/1550868406081130498?s=20&t=ady9uZOgfKzcBw2cKSs4OA

Q: Thanks for the excellent and interesting Mailbag column on 7/20.  Lots to unpack the past couple weeks, and you did a nice job of delving into the details and prickly politics. Very interesting read.

I'm highly disappointed with the conditions at Mid-Ohio. It's a beautiful facility with great history, and it "races" really well. It's an easy day trip from several big markets, including us here in Detroit. I went to the 2021 IMSA race at Mid-Ohio, and was surprised how run down some areas are. A couple of pedestrian bridges were closed for disrepair, and the old wooden grandstands looked horrible. As others noted, it's lumber, screws, and paint! No excuse for that. Is new ownership needed? More events and revenue? Honda has signage all over the place -- I would expect them to demand better.

The Palou situation is a s***show -- I hope that RP steps in there. This isn't F1, and we don't welcome this mess in IndyCar. I hope that the media holds Palou accountable for his role here. Tremendously talented racer, and seemingly very likeable, but he really screwed up this (very avoidable) situation.

We went biking on Belle Isle in Detroit last week, and I was lamenting the race moving away from there. I know that the downtown street races are popular, but I'm not encouraged when Detroit GP officials reference Nashville. High-speed straights and impossibly tight corners breed crashes, not good race flow. I can't argue with good attendance, but I hope IndyCar keeps the focus on race quality. I have sent detailed feedback/ideas to the Detroit GP leadership.

I expected people to be upset about Toronto being available only on Peacock. The coverage was not bad (I thought the "cauldron" bit was dumb, but I literally laughed out loud, when Rossi jumped in at the end). Peacock is included with my cable, but I wouldn't mind paying (I pay for the crappy broadcasts on FloRacing, and I'm thankful to have USAC coverage available). But streaming doesn't seem to be a path to gaining new customers -- it draws in dedicated fans like me. It would be good to hear where Penske Entertainment sees coverage going, and how customer acquisition figures in. I know that the smart people are working on it, and it would be good to hear their thoughts.

Tom Pate, Macomb, MI

MP: Thanks for the read-through, Tom. I definitely need to get IndyCar’s thoughts on where the live streaming of races will fit into its future with NBC.

This thing is becoming IndyCar's most controversial bird since Will Power at New Hampshire in 2011. Nigel Kinrade/Motorsport Images

THE FINAL WORD

From Robin Miller's Mailbag, 29 July, 2015

Q: You know better than anyone, the press baits drivers, team owners, anyone who can evoke a lively remark in the heat of the moment. The people who need to be smacked with big fines are not the drivers, the team owners, etc., but rather the news reporters who poke their mics and cameras where common sense would say, “That is not a real story and we do not need to go there.” It does no one any good to report on this type of crap. Stick to racing and let ambulance chasers spook out the scandal sheet crap. 

I hate to see reporters catch a driver after some hair-raising incident of any type and expect a ridiculous lively reply. It is like asking the driver, and expecting a sane answer, “What did it feel like when you were killed?” Rise above the gutter nonsense and stop poking drivers and owners with sore points of the past. That is stupid.

Thomas Grimes, Waco, TX

ROBIN MILLER: I’ve seen East Coast media prod football players after a close loss but I disagree about auto racing coverage. I think most of the people that cover motorsports understand it’s not a ball or a strike or a missed FG -- it’s a dangerous profession that requires sensitivity in certain situations. It’s our job to ask a driver what happened in a crash or maybe what they thought of the racing, but I don’t see reporters baiting drivers to give sensational answers. Maybe sometimes we don’t give them enough time to cool off but that’s part of live television nowadays.