The RACER Mailbag, August 17

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: For me, the bombshell at the end of the Nashville race was Dixon saying he did 45 or 50 laps on the tires and didn’t take any on his last stop. I completely missed that and, apparently, so did the guys in the NBC booth and their pit reporters. (Not complaining, there was a lot to keep track of in the chaos and, at the time of that stop, we weren’t really focused on Dixon.) Any intel on why he didn’t take tires? Was it collateral damage from his incident that made it hard to change tires?

Tom Hinshaw, Santa Barbara, CA

MARSHALL PRUETT: Well, if I was less of an idiot, Tom, I would have asked Dixie when we spoke for about 20 minutes on Friday. He opened the race on a set of new primaries, pitted during the lap 22-24 caution to complete his mandatory laps on alternates, ran on those until lap 26, pitted and replaced those with another set of new primaries, and yes, from there, he completed the race on that set. The only caveat is with all the cautions from lap 28 to the checkered flag on lap 80, there were just 25 laps of green, so the tires weren’t being asked to do all 52 laps at maximum attack.

Q: During the Nashville telecast, Kevin Lee said that McLaren was trying to be the first team since 2003 or 2004 not in the Big 3 to win three races in a season. FYI, Newman/Haas and Forsythe Racing both did this in the timeframe mentioned. Thanks for the chance to correct -- I think it’s important to remember some of our great teams of the past.

Bob in Detroit

MP: I hear you, Bob, but in CART/Champ Car, Newman/Haas and Forsythe were in the Big 3. I’d probably look to Ed Carpenter Racing in 2015 when Mike Conway won two and Ed won one, giving ECR three in a season as a non-Big 3 entrant.

Q: Has any other Penske driver ever behaved in a public forum like Josef Newgarden has in the last few weeks on Twitter and in the interview after the Nashville race? From the "Joseph" tweet to replying numerous times to small accounts after the race it seems very odd, especially from a Penske driver. It is usually very corporate and buttoned-down.

Steve Mattiko

MP: Well, we had Will Power and the famous double-bird scenario after Loudon. We had Helio going nuclear and wanting to attack Brian Barnhart at Edmonton, but got former IndyCar head of security Charles Burns instead. We got Power in June at Road America where it took me three tries to get a response on the DeFrancesco incident that wouldn’t get him suspended, so those are all from the last decade or so.

I’ve got to admit, I’m somewhat surprised by how much Josefppphhhppffff has ticked people off with his "Get my name right" tweet at Ferrucci and clapping back at one Twitter person who referred to him as "white meat" and his salty response on the NBC broadcast to the Grosjean incident. Honestly, these are about as low-key as it gets.

On the scale of 0-10 of "getting a call from R.P. telling him to cool down," Newgarden’s at a -10. I’m not here to defend Newgarden, but jeez, the guy acts human a couple of times and he gets hammered for it. Doesn’t make sense to me.

Helio's wrath pretty much bounced right off then-IndyCar head of security Charles Burns at Edmonton in 2010. And it didn't seem to hurt Castroneves' standing with Team Penske, either. Perry Nelson/Motorsport Images

Q: Ever since taking off with some basketball player in the two-seater just before the start of the Indy Grand Prix last May, Mario Andretti has been conspicuous in his absence from races. The two-seater he usually drove before each race is not seen or talked about. What happened?

While I am at it, I also wonder what happened to the cars that I always enjoyed seeing at the IMS Museum, and also what happened to the Hulman home that stood outside the stands near turn two at IMS? I never read or heard anything about it being torn down, but a grassy lawn now occupies that historic structure’s former place at the track. I was told by an employee, who would know, that Tony Hulman used the house when he visited the track back in the early days of his years there. I know his daughter used it every year on race weekends for private events involving her charities.

So, have you any ideas about these oddities? I would greatly appreciate enlightenment.

William Grimes

MP: I swear I saw Mario once or twice at July races, so I don’t know if that’s a thing. Without knowing what cars you enjoyed at the museum, there’s no way to answer that question. The person at IMS who would help with the Hulman home is on vacation, so that’s one to send back in for a future edition.

Q: There two major controversies in the realm of motorsports: Palou-Ganassi-McLaren, and Piastri-Alpine-McLaren.

The common thread here is McLaren, and more specifically, Zak Brown. I would think that this less the positive media attention is something that the McLaren board would like to avoid. What do you think the chances are that the McLaren board would turn on Zak Brown?

Don Hopings, Cathedral City, CA

MP: I think the chances are slim to none. Zak is McLaren’s Golden Goose. He’s brought them more sponsors than they’ve had in a decade, so there’s almost nothing he could do that would lead the board to sending out the door. I did wonder, though, about what would happen if Zak was no longer an F1 CEO. Let’s say an auto manufacturer takes a majority stake in McLaren and installs a leader of its own. Take all the teams like Red Bull, Mercedes, Ferrari, Aston Martin, etc., that don’t need a rainmaker CEO, and would Zak get the nod over a veteran team principal?

Q: In defense of Nashville, the majority of the yellows were caused by the guys who you would expect to be causing yellows:

• Dalton Kellett, who got to be up around the big boys, fell about 10 spots in two laps and then decided to slam it back in there against a potential race-winner to the predicted result.

• Devlin DeFrancesco, no surprise with how many people he's drilled this year.

• Jimmie Johnson, who has improved but really struggles on road/street courses.

• Kyle Kirkwood, who is at least fast but wrecks pretty much every race.

Add in that the large wreck may have been indirectly caused by Johnson being up front and stacking everyone up, another wreck caused by Graham Rahal out there in a damaged car and another by Helio Castroneves who is pretty much a backmarker at this point, and the vast majority of the issues were due to guys that generally run around at the back, amplified by driving on a very tough racetrack.

As to my question: Relatively minor hits either broke or severely damaged the gearboxes of three championship contenders. Can you explain what is getting damaged there, how "emergency mode" could still work, and if there's anything they can do to prevent this either with the current car or on a new car whenever it happens?

Tim W, Madison, WI

MP: We can certainly point to certain characters being at fault for a lot of contact, but since most or all will be back next year, and in the years to come, I’m not sure if any of the who-caused-it stuff matters since the same drivers will be in the mix when we return.

The hits to the back and sides of the gearboxes did one of a few things: The gear position potentiometer was smashed or damaged, and with that, the shifting system lacked key information on what gear was selected. We also had a hit or two -- Pato O'Ward being a prime example -- where the shifting actuator on the left rear of the gearbox got mangled, and from there, the GCU and pneumatic shifting mechanism could not shift. Teams often make an effort to protect the gear pots and actuator with shrouds, but hard hits will smash those critical bits.

We have a new gearbox coming for the cars in 2024, and while I could be wrong, I haven’t heard anything to suggest the locations of both have changed.

Q: I took my wife and two other couples who were IndyCar "virgins" to Nashville for the race. As you know, the race was delayed due to thunderstorms -- perfectly understandable. We went back to our accommodations while waiting out the storm. There was no communication via the IndyCar app or anything else to which we had access until shortly before the race was started. The only way we found out when the race was going to start was by watching the NBC broadcast. We scrambled back just in time to get to our seats. This left a very poor impression with my friends. Can you mention this to someone at IndyCar so they can try to do a better job looking after their paying customers?

Bary

MP: Thanks for the feedback, Bary. One suggestion would be to keep an eye on a racing series’ social media feeds when there’s a delay. Here what IndyCar posted on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/IndyCar/status/1556381905049747466?s=20&t=uY9p6m8yYrPE1QRqGnP9YA

Q: Seems like a smart call to debut the semi-experimental new tire at a race that was unlikely to have any long green-flag runs to really test the wear and tear. Well done, Firestone.

Glenn in Houston

MP: Indeed, Glenn.

Q: The shuffle to see who fills the No. 10 seat is fascinating to me, so here is one possibility that makes sense in my brain. What if they take a chance on F2 points leader Felipe Drugovich? He has a lot of experience for a rookie and he would have a great mentor and fellow Brazilian in T..K. Be honest, how far off am I?

Also, while I'm here, so many people are riled up over the Newgarden/Grosjean scuffle. If they didn't make contact and Grosjean finished the race, we would probably be talking about another scuffle since there were like 5,000 to choose from.

Ian

MP: Great point on Grosjean, Ian. I mentioned Drugovich to the team about a month ago and he’s known to have a serious interest in IndyCar. He’s also said to have a budget to offer, which should make him a prized asset to catch.

Q: So now that we're two years into this adventure, what was/is the better track: San Jose or Nashville?

It seems like if they wanted to smash cars up, they could've saved a little money building a track and blocking traffic and just ran them at the Nashville short track just outside of downtown on a Saturday night (an IndyCar version of the Bristol night race). Is it too remote to run the Nashville Superspeedway? It'd seem like a decent way to a) still be in the market, and b) add another oval. Or would that tin-top sanctioning body make it impossible?

Michael in Brownsburg

MP: Having watched the first SJGP practice session from behind Turn 1 and being blown away by the Space X launches over the railroad tracks, I’d go with it because at least it was entertaining for the right reasons.

The folks behind Big Machine Records promote the Nashville GP, so that’s where the street race is an easy solution for IndyCar to engage in with old and familiar friends of the series. I was on teams for a couple of old Nashville oval events and it was a blast. I’d love to see if IndyCar and NASCAR could figure something out and get it back on the calendar, but I haven’t heard about any movement there while the GP is active.

Nashville. I mean, San Jose. Brad Bernstein/Motorsport Images

Q: We talked about the necessary Nashville changes to the track layout last year. We had some more of the same this year, but did we? I don’t think Nashville 2.0 was a copy even if the box score reads the same.

By moving the restart zone there were overtakes into Turn 9 on the restart and it caused a couple yellows, because it gets tight in IndyCar. It didn’t solve the restart problem as I see it, it just created a different one. If they re-model Turns 4, 5, and 6 maybe they can put the alt start line into the new Turn 4 and it’ll be better? As for the layout, they didn’t change the one thing that could have really fixed the track. Turn 4 needs to go another block to 2nd Ave and become a 90-degree corner followed by another 90-degree corner. It gets rid of the ridiculous Turns 5 and 6 that caused 25 percent of the field to disappear this year. Yes, all 90-degree corners are boring, but that’s what you get if you want the bridge and a parking lot. Also it’d make Turn 4 a more viable passing zone than it already is.

I had heard the extra block wasn’t available because of contractual agreements? Either way, if I change one thing for next year, that’s the top of the list. The other thing would be to maybe change the parking lot around to create a restart zone more conductive to not crashing. As is there were 285 passes for position in 54 green-flag laps, which means racing isn’t a problem all the time.

Ryan in West Michigan

MP: We pack the passing stats when tons of restarts happen. I wouldn’t confuse a big passing number for lots of great passing.

Q: I’ve noticed about the first thing Scott Dixon does when he takes his gloves off is pull the cuff of his fire suit up to expose his Richard Mille watch. As a six-figure timepiece, I’m surprised he wears it in the car. I know it’s sponsorship, but I’m curious about a couple things. Is it real or a dummy? If it was to get damaged, do they just replace it? Do other drivers wear watches inside their fire suit?  When I was racing karts, I found a watch very uncomfortable if I forgot and left it on.

Scott Heavin, Indianapolis, IN

MP: I am unaware of dummy watches being worn, Scott. Yes, wearing watches is rather common.

Q: In the March 30 Mailbag you made an off-hand comment about developing a street circuit in Louisville as an example of going to places where there is market interest for IndyCar. I've been thinking a lot about this, and I was curious to know if developing street circuits in cities with a nearby oval might garner more interest and attendance for an oval race close to the same city? Using Louisville as an example, could a street circuit get more locals excited about Kentucky Speedway? Intrigued to hear your thoughts.

Michael, Indianapolis

MP: It’s been a good while since IndyCar had an interest or lots of invites to race at NASCAR or SMI ovals throughout the south, so I don’t think there’s much left there to lose since it’s been a decade or more since we hit the Kentuckys and Charlottes, and so on. It’s why the idea of doing a Louisville street race -- even if there was a nearby oval -- is always the winning choice if you’re trying to build a new fan base in the area.

Q: We see the IndyCar TV ratings are pretty low and some tracks have a huge amount of empty seats, but yet we’ve also seen tremendous growth in the number of teams in the past few years and plans to even expand the grid in the future. Wouldn’t that indicate the B to B business model is strong enough to support this series?

As to Nashville, sure it’s a crashfest but as one of 17 races and the absolute wild card nature of the results, I have to say I find it entertaining and it’s a great place for IndyCar to be. While I am sometimes impressed by the knowledge many of your readers have, I do wish there were more comments on the exciting racing moments that happen in each race. When all is said and done, isn’t that why we watch racing in the first place?

I know you are not a NASCAR fan, so I would love to see a Mailbag by Kelly Crandall devoted to it.

Finally, we all saw Colton’s save at the first Indy GP, but the in-car video from his out-lap on slicks in the wet was the most amazing display of car control I can ever remember. Love to hear of some of your favorite moments.

Jon Smith

MP: Thanks, Jon. The ratings aren’t low; they’re low at select events. They aren’t wildly high, either, but it’s not a binary thing. I watch racing for the excitement as well, but I’m not five years old and don’t need constant crashes to be amused or entertained. I’m sure if we reach a point where enough NASCAR questions come in to warrant a separate mailbag Kelly will be all over it, but until then she'll continue to answer any that are submitted in this one. Watching Juan Pablo Montoya drift through Turn 1 on his first trip through during rookie orientation in 2000 was one of the craziest things I’ve ever seen.

Q: A few years back, there were rumors of a potential F1 seat for Daniel Ricciardo at Ferrari. If all of Daniel's F1 options dry up, could we see him in a Ferrari Hypercar? Like Alexander Rossi, Daniel has not forgotten how to drive. Not sure what the issue at McLaren is, but given all the drama surrounding that organization, well...

I don't think Ferrari could go wrong by putting him in their Hypercar, and at just 33 he has a lot of racing years left in him.

Jonathan, Ventura, CA

MP: True, but if Daniel steps out of F1 to do endurance racing, he’s effectively raising the white flag on his competitive spirit. I know he’s said he doesn’t want to do IndyCar for fear of the ovals, so I’m struggling to think of what he’d do that would be genuinely fulfilling if it isn’t switching to another F1 team. The FIA WEC is cool, but it’s like going into the Witness Protection Program compared to F1, and that isn’t a place where he’ll find much oxygen to support such a big personality.

The last Aussie who went directly from a top F1 ride to the WEC seemed to enjoy himself. Sam Bloxham/Motorsport Images

Q: Being a rather new IndyCar fan, my only context for an open-wheel series with multiple chassis and engine suppliers is F1. Back in the USAC/CART IndyCar days when they set their own formula, how did they keep their cost down for teams compared to Formula 1? Is that possible to replicate for the series in this day and age?

Also, any tips for visiting Gateway would be much appreciated -- it’ll be my first oval race.

Matthew, Columbus, OH

MP: CART was never in jeopardy of reaching F1 budget levels due to mass-produced cars, whereas every F1 team in that era built every car from scratch each year. But that’s not to say CART was cheap by any means; millions of dollars were often spent on buying multiple cars from Lola, March, Swift, Reynard, etc. Top drivers could command annual salaries that were equal to the cost of running one or two cars per season these days. Crews were large, teams were mostly flush with cash, and so on.

Move into the 1990s and in many cases, teams were partnered with a Ford Cosworth, Chevy Ilmor, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, etc. and that’s where big bucks were spent -- with the teams selected as factory partners, on engine development, and with marketing -- to help offset annual team budgets.

Compared to today, costs absolutely were not kept down. Back to the new-car note: Teams would buy two to four new Reynards per year, for example, at say $500K each, and do it again the following year, and the next year… Team owners would form an armed revolt if that practice came back. Different times, different money available.

As for Gateway, get as close to Turn 1 as possible and go as high as possible -- you can see more of the track from that vantage point than any other.

Q: Who designs these street courses? The promoter? IndyCar? The host city?

Bill

MP: The promoter in partnership with a veteran circuit designer is the most common situation.

Q: Five or so years ago I had the chance to take a pace car hot lap with Larry Foyt as my driver. I asked him what areas he was looking to improve in, and he said, "dampers and engineering." In every interview I've read since then, he has said the same thing, yet the team is still stuck in low gear. Why wouldn't he look to form an engineering partnership with another Chevy team and share resources (the Juncos-Hollinger shop is just a few blocks away)? Seems to have worked out well for Meyer Shank with Andretti.

Scott C., Bargersville, IN

MP: Two things here, Scott: A team needs to have a willing partner on the other end of the relationship, and so far, there aren’t any, other than Andretti for MSR. Second, a team needs to have a lot of extra cash on hand to pay a willing team; Shank is rumored to spend seven figures on the Andretti deal, and if we look at the Foyt team’s state of finances for the last two seasons, it’s the one team in the paddock that doesn’t have a spare million or two to offer.

Q: In consideration of Romain against the world, where's the line between acceptable aggressive driving and unacceptable? When can you pass and when can't you?

Shawn in MD

MP: We’re about to find out over the last three races, Shawn.

Q: Just returned from a wonderful weekend at Road America. Three full days of great on-track action from 8am to 5pm.  Had a chance to listen to the IndyCar Nashville debacle on the ride home. As a former open-wheel fanatic, I'm proud to say my motorsports budget is 100 percent IMSA these days. I only wish they would make Road America an endurance round in the future -- 10, 12 or 24 hours at one of the world's greatest race tracks would be amazing!

Dana Andrews

MP: I’d hope more IndyCar fans add IMSA to their world. The Road America race was the best we had on Sunday.

Q: Last week’s Mailbag was an honest critique of Nashville with many predictable and fair comments. The course itself is not far from two little autocross tracks connected by two high-speed straights, and were it not for those straights these guys just might be quicker in spec Miatas. I feel there is no question it needs a rethink. But to be fair, if you watch the race in replay with the luxury to fast forward through the yellow periods, the competition and spectacle was not a bad watch. This leads to wondering what can be done to shorten the yellow periods?

The folks doing the work out there are beyond reproach (it’s certainly not on them) but it seems the procedures and strategies could also use a rethink to alleviate what feel like excruciatingly long yellows for relatively minor offs. What about breaks in the Jersey barriers that wouldn’t be in the racing flow but would allow cars to be pushed or dragged off the track on an escape route quickly followed by two guys with a couple very wide brooms or blowers? Have a path out at every corner possible. Wad a car up? The tractor is waiting, it gets yanked off the track, your race is done, throw the green.

If they could come up with a strategy that could cut yellow times in half by whatever means possible, it makes even a debacle like Nashville decidedly more watchable and would help any other street race as well. It seems from afar that this is worth more effort from IndyCar. Is this a topic that gets attention from those in power?

George, Albuquerque, NM

MP: My mind goes first to the folks who bought tickets to attend, and after the first Nashville race, we had a full year for folks to buy all the tickets available and pack the facility. I know there were weather issues and delays on the second and third days of the series’ return, but it didn’t look like all the crashes and messiness from 2021 did a dang thing to move the needle on live attendance for 2022. Maybe that changes next year and all of the crashes and drama will lead to a sellout from fans who can’t get enough of drivers running into each other.

I’m sure cut-outs and cranes could be used to shorten the yellows, but I doubt IndyCar is sweating Nashville while it has a season to finish. If we return to Nashville next year with no significant changes to the layout, I will not be surprised.

Q: With the successful season by Callum Ilott, any news on sponsorship for JHR?

Vincent Martinez, South Pasadena, CA

MP: Not that I’ve heard of, Vincent. The business development side of JHR is an area of the team that has been expanded, but it takes years to make headway so patience is the key.

Get your company's name onto those sidepods while you still can. Gavin Baker/Motorsport Images

Q: IndyCar needs to partner with Speedway Motorsports in Nashville. Move the IndyCar race to the concrete oval outside of town until Speedway Motorsports is able to complete its renovations at Fairgrounds Speedway. When that’s done, run a street course layout at the fairgrounds complex, but have it designed so it incorporates a pass through the historic short track. Someone has to buy into this idea!

Also, what’s the problem with Mid-Ohio? is it the track surface in need of repaving? I’ve been to the IndyCar race there in each of the last two years (as well as one time prior in 2017, and the 2013 NASCAR Xfinity race), and find it’s a great facility to view a race from. Really hoping IndyCar doesn’t drop Mid-Ohio. Since Pocono fell off the schedule it’s the closest venue to Central Pennsylvania that I can travel to for an IndyCar race.

Kevin, Pennsylvania

MP: I’d be shocked to learn about Mid-Ohio leaving IndyCar’s calendar, Kevin.

Q: I noticed at IMS that all the pits had large bottles of compressed air. I am assuming this is what is being used to run all the compressed air tools. Why do they use this instead of using a compressor? Is it more reliable? Has any team ever run out of compressed air during a race?

Craig

MP: Yes, this has been the standard practice for decades. You’d need a massive compressor and tank to feed four wheel guns knocking lug nuts off with 350ish PSI and re-installing them seconds later, which is why each wheel gun has a dedicated bottle of its own. Teams order refillable nitrogen tanks for each race, and order plenty. Teams have run out of nitrogen during a race, and as a result of folks not paying attention to how low the pressure had gotten. It’s not so much of a thing today, but it has happened.

Q: So I solved the Crashville track layout. It was especially easy since it’s not my money.

First: Get rid of the T4-T8 shenanigans and replace it with a giant hairpin at the intersection of Korean Veterans Blvd and 1st Ave. Think Sonoma hairpin, but street circuit style! Leave plenty of straight run off if a driver overcooks it. You might need to eat into the two parking lots at that intersection, but hey, eminent domain.

Second: Shelby Ave between T3 and T9 is plenty wide to actually add some shenanigans. Chicane, switchback, bus stop, whatever you want to call it, make the cars weave through there and scrub off some speed. Plus move the walls and Grandstand 11 back 30 or 40 feet in the grass field to create generous runoff.

That wasn’t so hard. The check’s in the mail, right?

Tim Elder, Baton Rouge, LA

MP: I’m sending you 10,000 shares of CART IndyCar stock, Tim.

Q: Would you puh-leeze get Zak Brown to mess with the biggest of the Big 3 teams: Penske? McLaren is doing some kind of reverse hazing of the Indy paddock or something, but has yet to pick on the biggest target! Newgarden to McLaren eSports? McLaughlin to a newly minted MotoGP team? I know the Mailbag has the pull to get this done.

Ken

MP: I like your line of thinking, Ken. Since the line of drivers McLaren’s signed to test or race its F1 cars is longer than the one each morning at Long’s Donuts, maybe the team’s eSports team is where Palou, Piastri, Ricciardo, O’Ward, and Herta are meant to compete? Has this whole lawsuit thing been about Chip trying to keep Zak from making a big iRacing move with Palou?

Q: Your August 10th article on the latest episode of Palou/Ganassi soap opera discussing who knew what and when they knew it has me wondering. Was Ganassi's signing of Ryan Hunter-Reay in a back-up role directly related to Palou giving Ganassi notice? Where does that fit in the calendar?

Bill Carsey, North Olmsted, OH

MP: Hard to say exactly, Bill, since we don’t know when the Palou/McLaren/Ganassi dramas truly started, but I do recall hearing the RHR-reserve driver thing before the Palou-wants-to-go rumors.

Most drivers carry a sharpie for signing autographs. Hunter-Reay carries one in case he needs to scribble NTT Data logos onto his hat and shirt at two minutes' notice. Michael Levitt/Motorsport Images

Q: Here's a somewhat different question from the usual. I am a fairly serious motorsport book collector and I have been wondering why there are no relatively recent photo/biographical books about two major American racing icons: A.J. Foyt and Richard Petty. There are several dated autobiographies on Foyt (1983) and Petty (1986) but compared to other legends, nothing else. I know that Robin always hinted at a possible work in progress on Foyt, but this seems not to be a thing.

Also, do you believe we will ever see anything even remotely close to a return to an annual such as the Autocourse CART/Champ Car series of books?

Wiscowerner

MP: Sadly, no on the latter. And I have all of them, plus decades of Autocourse’s F1 annuals which, thankfully, continue to be produced.

On the American open-wheel side, if it isn’t Gordon Kirby, John Oreovicz, or Bones Bourcier, you won’t find a lot of new titles. Can’t say on the Petty/NASCAR side since that’s not my deal. But in a general sense, Racemaker Press, Motorbooks International, and Octane Publishing stand out as a few of the remaining publishers of racing books who always have some great offerings each year. But there aren’t many who’ve survived.

Foyt said he hated all magazines/publishers as recently as May, so I’d have to guess whatever might’ve been in the works was stung by a bunch of killer bees.

Q: I was going to write some long diatribe about the status of IndyCar and comparisons to F1, but then I remembered that no really gives a damn about what "fans" think about IndyCar -- they'll just keep trucking along until the sport finally kicks off or a miracle happens and IndyCar gains a bucketful of respect and returns to its deserved number one spot in the minds and hearts of American auto racing fans.

Anyway, I've been an IndyCar fan for a long time -- Dave MacDonald was supposed to be my godfather before his untimely death at Indy in 1964. Long enough to remember nerf bars on the USAC big cars of the Indy car circuit in the 1960s. Do you think by the time Nashville rolls around next year that IndyCar might mandate nerf bars and tell the drivers to "have at it"?

Jake, Pasadena, CA

MP: Apparently, I’ve offended the heck out of Mr. Dallara for my dripping-with-sarcasm opening to the Nashville Cooldown Lap, so I’m trying to think how I should answer this without digging a deeper hole. Would draping the cars in foot-thick bubble wrap do the trick, Jake?

There must have been at least 30 of the old GForce Indy Racing League cars built in the late 1990s and early 2000s. I worked on a few of them and they were unbreakable. How about we agree to race with those old battleaxes? (I now await hate mail from Mr. GForce…)

Q: I watched the Formula E Seoul E-Prix last weekend. One thing that stood out to me was how seamlessly the full-course yellow system was executed. (Yes, FCY has been there from the start of its second season in 2015.) I'm wondering how difficult would it be to introduce it to IndyCar and Indy 500 in terms of the costs and the complication of the system?

Mitsuki Matsuura, Kanagawa, Japan

MP: When I recently spoke with IndyCar about plans to do local slowdown zones and FCYs with the EM Marshaling system, they were pointed to as future goals for the series without any specific dates in mind for when they’d happen. A corner worker friend who was on station at Nashville mentioned that a few light panel failures occurred over the weekend, and since IndyCar is only a few months into rolling the system out -- and since we only have a few weeks left in the season -- I’d expect race control to want more time using the system to work out any kinks before it uncorks its wider range of offerings.

THE FINAL WORD

From Robin Miller's Mailbag, August 17, 2016

Q: It’s probably a good thing that IndyCar is scrapping the aero kits. While I favored the move as a way for the series to fight the perception that they were a second-tier spec series compared to F1, the hallmark of a good leader is having the courage to admit they are wrong. When I got into watching open-wheel racing in the ’90s, I really liked being able to tell the Lolas from the Reynards at a glance.

The worst part about the aero kits is that they created too much disparity in the field. I still place the aero kit debacle squarely at the feet of Nick Wirth. While the series wanted to distance itself from spec racing, the Honda kits and let’s face it, the Honda engines were not on par with the Bow-Tie brigade’s offerings.

The bitching in the paddock was loud and long, and the series, trapped in a homologation-induced nightmare had the unenviable task of finding a solution, yet saving face. Now the aero kits are scrapped to lure in new engine manufacturers. Great! But wait a minute, how short are everyone’s memories? Does Lotus 2012 ring a bell? Unlikely; because IndyCar management has been a never-ending game of musical chairs.

Let’s hope the series gets a revised engine program right, striking a balance between cost, innovation and performance, because you know that whoever is saddled with the powerplant that makes five HP less than the leading package will be beating a path to IndyCar’s front office crying crocodile tears.

Miller, I know car owners are a whiney lot, but since the old interwebs were much less prevalent in the ’90s, or because my memory is shady, I’ll ask you: was the complaining as prevalent when Toyota joined CART, or when Gurney brought back an Eagle chassis, lamentably, with a Toyota? Or did people just shut up and race?

Trevor Bohay, Kamloops, BC, Canada

ROBIN MILLER: People just shut up and raced – except in the case of Andy Granatelli’s turbines, which they legislated off the track. Or Gurney’s Eagle in the early ’80s, which they feared and neutered in the rulebook. Or the carbon fiber Porsche, which was outlawed and then, miraculously, appeared as a Lola the next year. Roger Penske showed up with the Mercedes in 1994 and waxed everyone with the USAC rulebook. so there was a lot of bitching but no tampering (for a change).

In the ’90s if you bought a Reynard and Lola was the car of choice, you either worked on your Reynard or bought a Lola. If your engine sucked (and you had a free deal like most teams) you had to grin and bear it. Ditto for the Goodyear runners when Firestone was clearly superior. At some point we lost sight of why people raced: to get an advantage and beat everyone – not to make everything equal. But now we’ve got spec racing and it’s damn good racing, so I don’t see IndyCar ever going back to much innovation. We hope the aero kits might draw some interest from F1 or sports cars or Audi or Ferrari or McLaren, but all we got was a lame Lotus.