The RACER Mailbag, February 19

Q: It sounds like you had some insight that Jay Frye was on the way out, but maybe something behind the scenes caused the sudden ouster? I understand that Mark Miles can't divulge personnel details, but it would be interesting to know what drove the sudden firing at the start of the season.

I think your questioning in the Zoom call about whether the president of IndyCar is now responsible for growth was spot-on, and too quickly overlooked. Doug Boles seems to be doing a great job, and is well respected by competitors and fans, but I wonder if he's being put in a no-win situation, with Penske Entertainment making him responsible for the series growth, when factors like marketing and race promotion are outside of his control.

Did anyone in the series or Penske Entertainment give you any additional feedback that you can share? Have any team owners given feedback about Boles taking over the dual roles? We sure wish him well.

Tom Pate

MARSHALL PRUETT: I heard from approximately half of the owners/leaders and countless drivers from today and yesterday asking what happened and why. The fact that the most in-the-know people in the paddock -- the people who dealt directly with Frye -- were left scratching their heads and didn’t get a straight answer from Penske Entertainment is telling.

Nobody is providing answers, but I have a suspicion it might be related to repeated disagreements around where Penske’s executive steering committee is trying to take the new car. I’ve heard that Frye routinely championed a cost-saving compromise where as many of the current parts as possible would be carried over into the "new" design.

A new tub is needed, for sure, and some other components to reduce weight, but Frye had been pushing for a compromise while the Penske execs are said to have been pushing an all-new car. And while many of us would love a 100-percent new car, that note below about costs being on the rev limiter -- while using an extremely old car the teams all own outright -- is a fear that Frye held.

I believe his latest salvo to Penske to try and steer the new-car conversation away from where the execs are taking it might have been the final straw. I’m aware an email was sent days prior to his firing, and by last Monday, a press release was being written and the wheels were in motion for his termination on Tuesday morning. Coincidence? If so, then I have no idea why it happened, nor can I explain the bizarre timing.

Q: I wrote in to the Mailbag some time ago about the possibility of Doug Boles taking over IndyCar altogether, and as I read the news I have to say I'm excited for the future of IndyCar. If he is half as passionate about IndyCar as he has been about IMS, the future is bright.

If you were Roger Penske, what three projects would be at the top of the list for Mr. Boles to work on right now?

Kaleb Hartman

MP: Great question, Kaleb. Penske Entertainment’s three biggest problems to solve with IndyCar:

1) Its fans are waaaay to old, and that means more than half of its current audience will be gone in 10-15 years unless it backfills that audience with a big wave of newer and younger fans. As the saying goes, "Father Time is undefeated."

2) Honda is nine toes out the door once its supply contract is fulfilled after 2026. Is there a chance Penske/Boles could convince them to stay? Of course. But it’s starting to feel like Honda is Lauren Holly and Penske is Jim Carrey in Dumb and Dumber.

3) Costs are close to, at, or beyond what half of the teams can afford (more accurately, five of the 11 by my current count) and sustain. Brings costs down, appreciably, or increase revenue, significantly. Preferably, do both. But doing nothing isn’t an option.

Boles is the perfect person for the job, and not because it lacked a single thing under Jay Frye, but because Penske gradually stripped Frye of the authority to make decisions in the same way he did while running IndyCar for the Hulman George family.

He was also blindsided by the move. He knew he’d been on the hot seat, but was stunned by the firing and was given no answers from Mark Miles as to why it was done.

Doug’s amazing. I think the world of him. My frustration with the treatment of Frye is wholly unrelated to Boles. This was just cold, and underserving for someone who gave 12 years of his life to IndyCar and left a huge list of achievements behind. And as I said about Boles, he’s the perfect person for this job because he's what Penske wanted, but didn’t get with Frye -- who had no problem saying no when he felt decisions were being made that weren't in the best interest of the paddock. In Boles, Penske has someone who’ll carry out his vision and have upper management's support to add his own ideas and flair, which wasn’t extended to his predecessor.

Doug has overseen many incredible things at IMS since Penske bought it, and just as Penske’s wishes have been executed at the Speedway, I expect the same cohesive approach to be involved at IndyCar.

Boles has made an immense impact at the Speedway. Can he extend that magic touch to the entire IndyCar Series? Jake Galstad/Motorsport Images

Q: Any updates on where Michael Cannon may land? I'm hoping he returns to Foyt as that combo worked well, but it sounds like they didn't end on the best of terms.

Ben Malec, Buffalo Grove, IL

MP: Gardening leave. I've been told the PREMA deal came with a 12-month non-compete clause and it was slashed in half, but even so, that would push his availability to work for another IndyCar team beyond the Indy 500, which is when he commands the most interest from the paddock.

Q: While we all love Doug Boles, it certainly feels like Frye disagreed with Penske considering this change happened so close to the start of the season.

I'm sure Doug knew he was swimming with sharks before taking Jay's job, but I’m wondering what his thoughts are now that the growth of IndyCar had been planted on his shoulders?

Jake

MP: We share the same curiosity, Jake. But the growth isn’t being planted on his shoulders. The executives at Penske Entertainment are in charge there. On the racing side, the series has been sitting firm at 27 cars, and could be 29-30 if not for the charter system, so that former president must have been doing something positive.

There’s the other aspect to consider, and that’s how Penske pursued Frye’s replacement last year, and according to an impeccable source, at least two people, late in 2024, turned them down. Since Penske decided a change had to be made, I’m glad it was Doug who was asked to pull double duty. It’s also not a surprise the job went to someone who was already on the payroll.

Q: I have a suspicion Frye was pushed out the door by Roger, Inc., but hope I’m wrong. Your insight, please?

David Spear

MP: Jay went to sleep Monday night last week as the president of IndyCar. On Tuesday morning, Mark Miles informed him he was fired.

Q: In my mailbox this afternoon:

Has any television partner ever promoted IndyCar this aggressively?

Rob Joseph

MP: Been great to see.

Q: Who are working the pits in the IndyCar Series for FOX?

Chris Fiegler, Latham, NY

MP: I don’t know. I haven’t asked.

Q: So Marshall you are a beer guy on occasion, and before we get into the race season when the Mailbag will be focused on more important subject matter, I was wondering if you have any favorite beer race car liveries from the past?

Some come to mind:

Tecate - IndyCar

Miller and Lowenbrau - Porsche 962s

Budweiser - Indy and Porsche 962s.

There were some great paint schemes back in the day. Any stand out for you?

Jeff, Colorado

MP: Similar timeframes with two I’ve seen when they were new and loved, with Danny Sullivan’s 1988 Miller-sponsored Penske-Chevy, and the 1990 Foster's March-Porsches. Both of those beers are nothing short of terrible, FWIW.

Q: Big Possum cannot hold his tongue any longer about the standard, stupid, repetitious pictures of race drivers putting in their earbuds with a faraway mean look on their faces. Every single picture is the same. These drivers must practice in front of a mirror to get the look just right.

How about this for a change. Have pictures of them chomping on a cigar like Jimmy Bryan, Bill Cheseburg, and others did back in the day. Or how about Gary B with one last cigarette before the start of the Indy 500? (RP didn’t fire him for smoking, he fired him for racing sprint cars). Anything but the standard earbud mean-face pictures. Just make sure they don’t inhale or swallow any juice – might make them sick.

Big Possum encourages all to patronize your local dirt track and watch the sprinters. No earbud pictures will be seen. They don’t use spotters/radios because the action is so fast and furious that radios and spotters would be useless. Just blood, guts, ruts, and stomach lining.

Big Possum

MP: Preaching to the choir here. The ear-touching photos were a new thing when some photographers were searching for a different look; the moment where drivers stop and put in their ear pieces is one of the few still situations to capture them before they get in the car. But now it’s just become lame and lazy.

Not an earpiece in sight. Motorsport Images

Q: It has become clear to me that no one wants to come into IndyCar as a third manufacturer. Clearly it seems Honda is on the way out. So why bother with them? Penske owns Ilmor so they won't leave. There is Cosworth out there, with a big history in IndyCar – I am sure they would love to come back.

I understand the marketing aspect of having a manufacturer in the series. But that doesn't look like it will happen. So why not just go without?

David Tucker

MP: Might be where they’re headed if Honda can’t be kept or an addition can’t be found.

Q: It is no secret IndyCar is stuck in a time warp and floundering. Although we have good racing, I wonder if they could create hype with some type of award or monetary rewards, or points even, the best average finish in the biggest three events IndyCar has (in my opinion): the 500, Long Beach and Road America?

Colorado Dan

MP: I love the idea. Let’s run through how your call would go:

“Hi, Roger, it’s Colorado Dan. I’ve got a great new thing for you to consider.”

“Hello, Mr. Colorado. Will it cost me anything?

“Yes, it will…(click).

"Hello? Hello?”

Q: I enjoyed your article about the Andretti Global IndyCar line-up this year, but you never mentioned Marco Andretti. I know he announced he had sponsorship and everything and I assumed he was going to be with Andretti – anything you can update us with on that?

CAM in LA

MP: I tend to do season previews for the season-long field, not the Indy 500, which is an animal of its own, and since all the teams don’t have their Indy-only seats sorted and announced before St. Pete. Marco will have Ron Barhorst as his engineer at Indy. (Note: Craig Hampson remains with the team but says he'll no longer be engineering for Marco, as I previously understood.)

Q: I have read the two RACER articles regarding Doug Boles replacing Jay Frye as President of IndyCar. I appreciate your direct question to Mark Miles as to why Jay Frye was fired, also noting the direct response that Mark did not want to discuss specifics.

Reading between the lines of the articles, I noticed the line "given that we’ve had several years now of single-digit growth." Does this indicate that Jay was too focused on the competition and operations side of IndyCar and just didn't make enough progress on realizing double-digit growth?

I'm sure it has to be more than that -- it's usually just not one thing (given the comp and ops successes) that gets an executive removed. I know Mark did not give an answer, but what is your inside knowledge telling you?

Rob Pobiega, Lemont, IL

MP: Frye wasn’t "too focused on comp and ops," as Miles put it during the Zoom call. That’s all they’d let him do in the end. This is the guy who negotiated with and signed Verizon as the series’ title sponsor. Then negotiated with and signed NTT Data, which remains today. And signed new tracks, led the UAK18 bodywork (beautification) project, led the aeroscreen project, the manufacturers’ call for hybridization, etc.

Remember a few years ago when SJ Luedtke, who was hired in 2019 during the Hulman George era as IndyCar’s VP of marketing, abruptly quit in December of 2022? And then Penske conducted a nationwide search for her replacement and nobody wanted the job, so they just passed her responsibilities onto others?

A functional organization has leaders in a range of major categories, and doesn’t try to pile all manner of departmental responsibility onto the president. Nor does it ask a president to win without a proper supporting cast. Although Frye did many things in a smaller and leaner Hulman George-era IndyCar, a president isn’t meant to be a magical unicorn who does everything and makes everything better.

That’s what happens in a collaborative manner with the president, a VP, a VP of marketing, a VP of sales, a VP of finance, a VP of communications, a VP of digital, a VP of growth and strategy, etc. When the series was sold, most of those folks or the decisions those types of folks would make fell on the Penske Entertainment side.

Q: I'm sure you'll get absolutely no questions on this, but as you asked on the Zoom call, "Why did you fire Jay Frye?" It seems like Mark Miles was blaming Frye for only having "several years of single-digit growth."

I mean, it seems like Jay's focus was on the competition and operations side of things. Did he have a chief marketing officer to work with to spur that growth? It just seems like Frye was the fall guy. How much responsibility does the CEO of IndyCar (Miles) have for single-digit growth? The whole thing just seems odd, and it seems like Jay Frye got done dirty.

Greg Warren, Little Rock, AR

MP: Covered off most with the last letter, Greg, but on the topic of Miles, I’m reminded of the old line, “History is written by the victors.”

When you call and fire your main adversary, and hold a private press conference -- one where they stated up front that it wouldn’t be preserved or recorded by them so we’d need to record the audio ourselves -- without that adversary, you can say anything you want and go unchallenged.

Q: One of the outlets had an article about what the leadership changes mean to IndyCar and what it is going to bring about to all parties involved like the fans, teams, races, new car and so on.

This prompted me to write here. Based on all the things we heard this week about Jay Frye not being there, Doug Boles assuming presidency and other changes, it seems to indicate that one thing that is constant with Penske Entertainment, and that is they don’t want any outside forces to come in and upset whatever strategy they are looking to pursue.

While it seems to be simple at the first look, it is such a lethargic, lazy attitude again being exhibited by the company to not want to change things drastically and not generate new excitement. It is almost status quo, minus Jay Frye, and you know what they say about if you keep expecting different results from doing the same thing.

The only bright spot is that Boles' ability to look at the series as a whole will give him a better perspective of what the series lacks vs the Indy 500 and assess things holistically. But going by history and the rumblings of teams wanting to leave and the lack of bigger changes, I am not sure how much Boles can do given the tendency for this organization to not want to make big changes. For a company named Penske Entertainment, they act like nothing like an entertainment company.

The style of operating the organization seems to be emulate a top secret defense company. Anyway, I hope Doug Boles reads this.

Shyam Cherupalla

MP: The fact that someone claims to know how these changes will affect everyone is phenomenal.

I’ve said this in various ways, over countless Mailbags in recent years, about how Penske Entertainment has total control over all major IndyCar decisions, (except for the rulebook, which Frye commanded until his final day). But the rest, including all key decisions on the new car? Penske executives are leading that area, despite having zero race car design experience or knowledge.

Frye was an outsider and remained an outsider; who disqualified Penske’s drivers with the push-to-pass cheating ordeal? The former president… Boles, who was also an outsider, hasn’t been in an adversarial role where he’s expected to act as the commissioner of the league and push back on his boss who owns everything and competes as an entrant. Very different dynamic.

Apologies for any repetition here, but it’s in the friendlier position held by Boles among his bosses where I can only hope he’s allowed to actually do something as IndyCar’s president. If it’s just carrying out Penske’s orders, I’ll be sad, but not surprised. And if he’s given some measure of freedom to think and act on his own, I’m positive it will be seen and felt in good ways.

Q: IndyCar team owners are now joining Honda in their complaints about their return on investment. I imagine it must be hard to run a racing operation when the series goes dark for six months every year. As I understand it, IndyCar has a contract clause guaranteeing St. Petersburg as the opening round of the championship. Has anyone from IndyCar reached out to the city of St. Pete to renegotiate the date and open up the calendar into February and maybe space out the races a little more?

Rob Rochester, NY

MP: Great question, I don’t know, and separate from St. Pete, you’ve got to consider FOX as the bigger decision-maker here. February, for FOX, is the Super Bowl and the Daytona 500, and thanks to how the calendar works out in 2025, the start of the IndyCar season with opening practice on the last day of the month. I’m not saying it’s impossible to drop an IndyCar race in before Daytona, but I do wonder if FOX Sports wants to wedge in a non-NASCAR distraction before FOX’s and NASCAR’s biggest race. If I was a FOX exec, I’d veto the idea.

And IMSA owns the second half of January with the Roar Before The 24 and then the Rolex 24 At Daytona, and while that’s on NBC, there’s a huge influx of IndyCar teams and drivers who compete at that event. Who knows, maybe Kyffin Simpson’s family can recreate the Nassau Grand Prix down in the Cayman Islands as a sunny start to the New Year.

But if we can convince the NFL and NASCAR to move the Superbowl and Daytona 500 to January, then February is wide open for St Pete. Jake Galstad/Motorsport Images

Q: There seem to be 33 cars in the Indy 500 right now. Any more on the way? Can Linus Lundqvist find a spot for this race? A fourth car at CGR perhaps?

Tomas Gustafsson

MP: We’ll have more than 33. I need to ring Linus and see what he has going.

Q: The inaugural Thermal Club IndyCar Grand Prix is only four weeks out. Any word on how ticket sales are going?

Bob Gray, Canoga Park, CA

MP: I won’t be able to get an answer in time before this needs to be filed—writing this in my hotel at Sebring for the two-day test -- but I will try and find out soon and write about it

Q: I'm excited to see how FOX and Doug Boles handle their new roles with IndyCar. FOX seems committed 100%, and Boles seems highly skilled based on his excellent work at IMS.

I have to admit I feel bad for both NBC and Jay Frye, based on how excited everyone (me included) is for their replacements. For me it's not about removing an underperforming entity but upgrading from a solid performer to a once in a lifetime talent.

When NBC and Frye began working with IndyCar, I remember the series being in a very bad place. ABC/ESPN was a disaster. Races were at best on ESPN and frequently bumped to ESPNews when other events ran longer than expected. Todd Harris, Marty Reid, Rusty Wallace, Scott Goodyear, and Eddie Cheever were collectively horrible. It was clear ABC only cared about the 500, but even the 500 wasn't treated that well.

The IndyCar series management before Frye was also a nightmare. Old car, wet oval racing, single engine supplier, inexplicable decisions from race control…

NBC treated IndyCar like it mattered, even though it wasn't first priority. We were treated to passionate and knowledgeable broadcast teams.

Jay Frye brought rationality where it had not been for quite a while. I think the tension between the series and teams eased during his tenure, although it may have climbed higher than it had been in the last few years. Chevy and the aero screen were two major accomplishments during Frye's tenure.

How will you remember NBC and Frye's time with IndyCar? Am I misremembering anything?

Kyle

MP: Big fan of NBC, so my memories are nothing but positive. If everything I’ve already written doesn’t give an indicator of what I thought about Frye, I’m not sure I have any words left to offer.

Q: A couple of weeks ago, Marshall answered a question about cameras. It got me thinking about 360/birds-eye cameras that are installed in some OEM cars and trucks along with some aftermarket Android head units like Teyes and Mekede.

Couldn't a system like this be installed in an IndyCar, NASCAR, IMSA/WEC and F1 car? It would allow a greater variety of angles, along with an overhead view. I would think this system would be much better than a standard front/side/rear view, although those views are available as well. Being that it only requires four cameras, it shouldn't be cumbersome to install. Also, if a screen is installed in the car, then the drivers could have a better view of what is transpiring around them. I know NASCAR has an in-car screen but I think it is just a rear-view camera. This question is for not only Marshall, but Kelly and Chris as well.

The Teyes screenshot (above) shows a left-rear view, which is one of eight different angles.

Ericglo

MP: I’ll very surprised if the next IndyCar doesn’t have a range of video cameras as "mirrors."

CHRIS MEDLAND: There's some incredible technology out there, but I think we're still a little way away from seeing it on an F1 car. Weight is already a massive issue and to add extra cameras – even just four – (and potentially some on the top of the car and raising the center of gravity even marginally) would not go down well with teams.

Similarly, I'd say a screen just isn't currently feasible within an F1 cockpit given the complexity of a steering wheel and size of display with all the info they already need to show. And the tech, as great as it is, would need to be millimeter accurate with zero lag or distortion, and forgive my ignorance if I'm wrong here, but from the examples I've seen both with the supplied screenshots and using similar cameras myself, it's not quite there yet. Maybe in the future it could be used, and potentially for broadcast purposes rather than driver use, but I think it still has a bit of a way to go before we reach that point given how much work has had to be done on the quality of existing cameras.

Q: This is open-ended and somewhat unanswerable, but comparing the current four days of F1 TPC + simulator running to the previous unlimited testing that rookies used to be able to do, are rookies less or more prepared compared to the early 2000s?  

Will, Indy

CM: I love the unanswerable questions Will, because I can try and judge it rather than having to know an exact answer! But I'd say it's comparable. It's not the endless running of the past as you say, but the simulators allow them to work on current and upcoming circuits rather than just ones they're able to test on, and run through so many extra procedures, etc., due to the turnaround speeds you can do running simulations. Fitness won't quite be the same from the sim, and driving the real thing would always be preferable, but Ollie Bearman's Ferrari debut last year showed how well-prepared you can be from the simulator.

Sim-based prep proved good enough for Bearman when he got the call-up from Ferrari to stand in for Carlos Sainz in Saudi Arabia last year. Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images

Q: With the reported news that ESPN is leaving F1, where do you think the U.S. TV rights for F1 go in 2026?

THE FINAL WORD

From Robin Miller's Mailbag, February 21, 2015

Q: The talk has been coming back around again about including dirt tracks on the IndyCar schedule. What about using the existing (DW12) Dallara chassis to run on dirt tracks? We’ve seen ample evidence that the chassis is incredibly strong by way of crashes and rough street courses. The cars could be raised a couple of inches. Add to this a kit with more robust suspension pieces and halfshafts that would also compensate for the camber changes inherent in raising the chassis.

The diffusers would need to be removed or plugged to protect the drivers following behind, and to prevent the tracks from becoming small Oklahoma dust bowls. There would be other necessary details, such as air cleaners, softer springs and so on, but it would be a fairly inexpensive transformation. Just don’t give 'em bigger wings.

Mid-engine IndyCars (as well as the old pavement variety roadsters) have done laps around dirt tracks in the past with no ill effect. Existing dirt tracks are a given, but there’s also the opportunity to return to the urban street course equivalent. Any city with a horse racing track is pretty much ready to go. The infrastructure is already in place; just add temporary pits. The Sacramento Mile at the old State Fairgrounds is but one example.

I think it would make for fantastic racing as well as lending yet another dimension to a great series. It would also re-open an avenue of opportunity for up-and-coming American drivers in addition to bringing fans (both old and new) with it.

John Nevins, Sacramento, CA

ROBIN MILLER: The talk has always come from old-school fans like yourself and, as much as many of us would love to see it, there’s no chance because today’s leaders, owners and drivers would never consider it. That ship has sailed, as they say, so just buy some Dick Wallen videos and enjoy those good old days. I remember watching Lloyd Ruby try to qualify his rear-engine Indy car at the State Fairgrounds for the Hoosier Hundred. Not a good look or result – and Rube was a badass.