The RACER Mailbag, March 19

Welcome to the RACER Mailbag. Questions for any of RACER’s writers can be sent to mailbag@racer.com. We love hearing your comments and opinions, but letters that include a question are more likely to be published. Questions received after 3pm ET each Monday will be saved for the following week.

Q: Formula 1 is in the final year of its contract with the Las Vegas Grand Prix. If they’re not able to come up with a new deal, could IndyCar replace F1 on the streets of Vegas in 2026?

Alistair, Springfield, MO

MARSHALL PRUETT: Anything is possible, but with all of the major investments made to host an F1 race, it would be a shock to see it come to an end after three years. I’ve been to many IndyCar races in Las Vegas, and based on previous crowds, there would be a lot of empty grandstands. But with heavy promotion and ticket prices that aren’t obscene like they are to see F1 there, who knows, maybe a decent turnout could be generated.

Q: If IndyCar needs any confirmation that moving to FOX was a good move, look no further than IMSA coverage. Not one minute of the 12 Hours of Sebring (at least the second biggest American sports car race) was on any TV service (OTA, cable, dish, etc.). Pathetic. I’m sure IMSA people don’t need to hear this, but run, don’t walk away from NBC.

Travis, Kansas City

MP: It was strange to see Sebring relegated to 12 hours of streaming, only, via Peacock. Perfect solution for those who’ve cut the cord (or never had a cord), but probably not for fans who prefer to consume their racing via network or cable.

Q: Is the recent decision from IMSA to make the Road America race a 6-hour an example of a series hearing from its fans? I love it and am looking forward to it.

Daniel Martins, Belo Horizonte, Brazil

MP: It’s that, for sure, but also the underwhelming response to the Indy race. Not sure a major effort has been made to promote the event, and while many auto manufacturers were supportive of adding Indy in 2023, most have not come through with onsite activation like we see at other IMSA races.

Chevrolet, which is the official car/truck of IMS, was the only brand I saw at last year’s race to bring cars and trucks to the midway, and by comparison to what they do during the month of May, it was a tiny footprint and modest display. Maybe the greater Indianapolis market isn’t one the manufacturers found to be vital after a handful turned up in the midway in 2023 and decided the returns weren’t worth the expenditure in 2024.

That’s a guess, but when you have a small-ish crowd and the majority of IMSA’s nearly 20 manufacturers opt out on activating at a major endurance event, I can see why it would lose the enduro to everyone’s favorite event on the calendar. At lease in my mind, I view the upcoming 2h40m race at Indy in September as the last chance for IMS to show IMSA that it should continue.

Is the clock ticking on IMSA at the Brickyard? Michael Levitt/IMSA

Q: Any idea what an extra three hours and 20 minutes adds to an IMSA team’s budget? I know nothing is cheap in racing, but I would’ve thought prep and getting to the track was the main expense. I'm so excited for Road America in '26 and pray the 6 Hour stays and gets moved to Saturday in '27 with an early evening finish!

Chad, West Salem, WI

MP: None. No added expense is being accrued by taking Road America out to six hours because it’s simply a trade in format with Indy, which loses its six-hour race and takes Road America’s 2h40m race. Teams were already going to Road America, so there’s no extra fuel costs, and they were already going to Indy, etc.

Q: Is Oriol Servia still the pace car driver for the IndyCar Series ?

Yanie Porlier

MP: Yes, he is.

Q: Last week in a Mailbag answer, Marshall said that half of the Honda-powered teams have free engines, with the implication that the other Honda teams are paying for the engine lease. Does the same apply to the Chevy teams, and is it public which teams/cars are sponsored by the engine manufacturer?

Is there any chance that the 2027 chassis is less expensive than the current one?

Will, Indy

MP: Yes on it applying to some Chevy teams (not hard to guess as the best get comped, but not every entry in the best teams gets a motor deal since some are paying drivers). No, there’s no public list of who does or doesn’t pay, but it’s the title contenders who do.

I’ve yet to hear a case being made that has the new car being cheaper than the current one.

Q: What about a robustly turbocharged, hybridized, two-liter, inline four cylinder for IndyCar's next engine formula? It could make enough power, be good for weight and packaging, and there are lots of manufacturers that use similar power plants in road cars. There's even a "Back to the Future" angle with the old turbo Offys.

Ray Schumin

MP: A V6 turbo is the perfect solution these days. With the long life being asked of each motor in IndyCar, it’s easier to share the load of making 750 hp across six cylinders than to divide that 750 among four and get to the 2500-mile minimum set in the rules. I love a good turbo four, but with the complaints some fans have about the sound of today’s engine, it will be an uproar when a field of farty four-cylinders go by. Except for the insane high-boost turbo fours from F1 in the early to mid '80s that sounded like 1000-plus hp volcanic explosions and lasted a few hundred miles, tops, there’s not a lot of audio magic there. Drop the mileage limit to 500-1000, and the possibilities open up.

Q: I'm sure you're tired of Honda questions, but I have one more for you that might be a little different than the others. I know you probably don't know, but what will happen to the races currently sponsored by them? Currently the Long Beach, Mid-Ohio and Toronto races' sponsor is within the Honda family. If Honda leaves, will that sponsorship go with them?

I can't imagine the market for replacing race sponsors is that great right now (cough Iowa cough) and having to replace three sponsors at once doesn't seem ideal. Please talk me off the ledge – should we be concerned about these races, or will things work out regardless of Honda's decision?

Ben, Columbus, OH

MP: Can’t say I can think of any examples where an auto company that wasn’t involved in a racing series went ahead and sponsored a race. I’m sure it’s happened before, but the idea of a manufacturer leaving a series but continuing to spent money to sponsor events it no longer attends or takes part in is wild. No, if Honda leaves, you can look for its entire IndyCar budget to be rerouted to another series, or simply not spent.

Event sponsors come and go. And some are never found. This is one of many reasons for Penske to try and keep Honda.

Q: A number of questions in the March 12 Mailbag referenced Push-to-Pass. My opinion is, there is way too much of it. We see drivers using it on consecutive laps, trying to overtake, trying to defend, with the result that it doesn't really change things. When both the leading and trailing driver are “on the button” – it's just a slightly faster stalemate.

My solution would be to make it good for one single use per race. One 10-second blast, use it early, use it late, use to pass, use it to defend, driver's choice. I think that this would be more effective and more interesting.

Fritz

MP: I like that idea. It’s a single "Get out of jail free" card, so don’t pull it out and waste the one shot you have.

Mailbagger Fritz might be onto something with his one-shot Push-to-Pass idea. Travis Hinkle/IMS Photo

Q: I was born on the day of the 1964 Indy 500. My late father many times recalled listening to the race on the radio in the waiting room. That was an era when expectant fathers were kept far away from the delivery room. He remembered all the "Black Noon" talk about the death of Eddie Sachs and Dave MacDonald. That was the day A.J. Foyt won his second Indy 500.

I am planning on attending the 2026 Indy 500 with a friend. This will fulfill a lifelong ambition and due to my age and other factors, will likely be my only trip to the famed Speedway.

What is the earliest date I can expect to purchase tickets for the 2026 Indianapolis 500? This is important because we want to be able to purchase the best available tickets for first-timers. I've studied the IMS website at length over the years and while there is a lot of info about the 2025 race, I cannot find anything that indicates, even generally, when tickets for the following year's race go on sale.

Gary, Glendora, CA

MP: I asked IMS President Doug Boles, and here’s what he sent back:

“Technically we go on sale for renewals the Monday after the checkered. That is also the time renewal customers can request upgrades. I would suggest – if the writer is not a current customer – that a call to the ticket office to explain what he is trying to do is a good next step so we can get him on the application list. The sooner he is on that list, the better.”

Q: With the green tires being good for only 14 laps or less (at St. Pete anyway), do teams short fill for that stint to gain a wait advantage for speed and less load on the soft tires?

Tom Hinshaw, Santa Barbara, CA

MP: Depends on the simulated lap time advantage, and depends on the track. St. Pete is all about track position, so if you’re starting in the midfield, the idea of being truly empty and having to fill the entire tank while others are likely saving fuel on primaries and having shorter refueling periods is where the lap time gain might be negated.

Q: So say, Michael Andretti and the Andretti name were supposed to be Towriss and the Walter Group's ticket to F1, and then it turned out that GM was needed instead. So Michael was shown the door and the Caddy team was allowed to join. What is the incentive for TWG to keep a team in IndyCar beyond 2025? I figure this is Colton Herta's last chance to earn Super License points in the series, so if he fails they could drop him and the team.

Bruce Kerr

MP: It’s an interesting question, but they also own teams in NASCAR and IMSA, so it’s not a case of everything being focused on F1. Their drivers have contracts through at least 2026, so that’s a thing, and they likely have a supply contract with Honda through 2026 as well.

I’m less fixated on all the F1 angles and more interested in seeing how the IndyCar team is funded this year. If it’s all via the companies owned by Walter and Towriss, it will be a concern. I have no doubt they could fund the team for a hundred years, but there comes a point where wealthy owners tend to grow tired of doing all the spending.

Q: It was asked in the last Mailbag if there was a replay of the St. Pete race on YouTube. Well, I saw at least twice it was replayed on FS1/FS2 and probably more. Also, they showed last year’s 500 in the week before the race. One of the best things back in the day when ABC had the 500, the week before the race ESPN would show archived races, some going back to the mid-'60s. It sure would be nice if FOX could work out an agreement to be able to do the same.

Tom, Waco

MP: I remember what a thrill it was in the late '80s and early '90s to see the Indy 500 replays pop up at odd hours on ESPN. It would be great for a new generation to have the same experience on FS1.

Q: Is there a problem with the France family and the way their organizations run races?

According to what I read recently from Carl Edwards, NASCAR throws cautions to make racing more exciting. So much for the best car and team winning.

In IMSA, could this be why they seem to always throw a full caution? Maybe I am wrong, but it's like if an incident happened in WEC it would be a local yellow. Do you guys think they are manipulating races?

David Tucker

MP: Huh? So the France family owns NASCAR, and IMSA, and Mr. France owns the Action Express Racing team, which competes against many other GTP teams, including Roger Penske’s Porsche GTP team.

And Roger also owns the rival IndyCar series, which IMSA is working hard to try and overtake. And so to manipulate the races, the France family throws full-course cautions so his GTP rival and racing series rival Roger Penske could win January’s Rolex 24 At Daytona? And threw those manipulating cautions last year so Penske could win four of the nine GTP races and win the championship? While his own team won zero races and finished a distant fourth in the standings?

How’s this: If this is race manipulation, it’s the sorriest job I’ve ever seen.

If nothing else, the "fixing a race so that your rival wins" conspiracy theory makes a nice change from all the Michael Andretti/Cadillac ones we've seen lately. Brandon Badraoui/IMSA

Q: With regards to tires, in F1 four come in a set – LF, RF, LR, RR – and can only be changed together to another set of four. I know NASCAR can do either side or all four; but can they do only one? Are they in a set of four or can they mix and match? Lefts/rights/front/rear assigned?

What about IndyCar and IMSA?

Shawn, MD

MP: IndyCar teams are not required to change set for set. If a driver has a punctured left-front, the team can replace that left-front on its own. It’s the same for IMSA.

KELLY CRANDALL: Well, I guess technically NASCAR teams can change one tire but it wouldn’t make any sense. When teams are given their allotment for the weekend, they have it down to a science in terms of what they are looking for, how they will work them, and making the perfect left and right side sets.

Q: My understanding of professional sports is that it should be entertainment with fair rules.

In Formula 1, the DRS one-second rule is bad, because drivers can't defend and different drivers can have more or fewer activations in the race. Instead, F1 should copy IndyCar, with a limited number of activations (say 15-20) and no gap rule.

In NASCAR, the infinite two-lap overtime rule may make sense in ovals, but not in road courses, where there should be a single-lap, single-time overtime. Also, pit stops at stage breaks are boring. How about this: after a stage ends, drivers must stop within the next four laps (two in road courses), and only then they deploy the yellow flag?

In IndyCar, when there's an early caution period, several drivers in the backfield make a stop to refuel and swap out of the undesired tires. I like strategy gambles, but this is not it. Instead, drivers should not be allowed to refuel before the race leader has completed 15% of laps.

Ignacio, Uruguay

MP: As I noted last week, let’s not overreact based on St. Pete being a snoozer for 90 or so of the 100 laps. Let’s talk after Barber, the fourth race, and see if more boring races emerged or if St. Pete was a storm in a teacup.

KC: The stage breaks aren’t necessarily there for entertainment, although the belief was that it would make teams compete harder with points on the line. Nor are they there to make pit stops fun. One of the biggest things around stage breaks is they were put in place for television purposes. By knowing there are set cautions and pit stops, the broadcast partner knows they can get commercial breaks in under caution and allow everything to reset. I also don’t think NASCAR wants to get into the business of deciding pit cycles and mandating when a team needs to pit, as you are suggesting.

CHRIS MEDLAND: It's not the first time someone has suggested giving all drivers freedom to use DRS but only for a limited number of times during a race, and I don't think it's a bad idea. But I also don't think it necessarily improves things, either. It's an imperfect tool, like pretty much any overtaking aid is, but the whole point of it is to negate the impact of dirty air on such aerodynamically sensitive cars.

The one-second rule exists because it's only meant to be usable if you are clearly quicker than the car ahead, so have caught up to within a second. In the past it was very tough to overtake because dirty air would cost you so much performance. I agree it's bad when it just allows a driver to cruise past in a straight line – I hate that – but when it is correctly set up for a track it should allow a driver to stay close enough to attack but also mean the lead car has a chance of defending, too. I think this is the crux of the issue, and it would be deemed good if it never allowed an easy pass between two cars that have similar performance.

If you gave everyone a limited number of uses, there would be times it would be great and create a scrap when both drivers are choosing when to use it, but at others it would make life easy for the defending car if it had been able to save its allocation. Also, both using it at the same time or neither having any left could create a stalemate that DRS was designed to try and discourage.

Q: Nobody goes out and buys an Explorer because a car with Mustang decals wins a race. Ditto for a no-longer-made Camaro. So how about this?

Have NASCAR run famous older stock car bodies. 1968 Torino for Ford (their best NASCAR design), '70 Monte Carlo, the car Chevy returned to NASACR with. Toyota hasn't a history, so maybe their first fun sporty coupe, a '72 Celica.  The blunter design of these cars would slow them down as well – something NASCAR seems to want to do.

Lloyd Parker 

KC: Sometimes the past needs to stay in the past. Yes, those cars are famous and had their time in the sport, but things evolve. There is no way to know that those cars would perform well now. Plus, I think the manufacturers would disagree with you about the philosophy. They plan and execute activation based on the vehicles they are trying to sell, and they want to show off their product.

Q: What role, if any, will Michael Andretti have in the new Cadillac Formula 1 team?

Art Howle

CM: Essentially none, as far as I'm aware. He's no longer part of the project, other than being someone that Daniel Towriss – the CEO of TWG Motorsports that effectively runs the team – can lean on for advice given their history working together. It's a shame, because he put so much effort into getting that project moving, and so nearly had an F1 team to turn when Andretti nearly took over Sauber a few years ago, but recent comments at St. Pete suggest he's happier after stepping away from team management and ownership.

Q: I have a bar friend who is a huge F1 fan, and particularly a huge Lewis Hamilton fan. He is as passionate about F1 as I am about NASCAR. Since the Australian GP was a 9pm start time here out west, he and I decided to meet at our bar spot to watch F1.

We watched Isack Hadjar lose his car and stuff it in the tire pack on the formation lap. After, we noticed Lewis’s father console Isack almost immediately. We understand that the Hamiltons have been his mentors, and we understand that the Racing Bulls have another car to worry about as well.  But we were both wondering why was Lewis’s father there to console him almost immediately and not his team principal?

Kevin, Arizona

CM: That was just the nature of the layout of the paddock in Albert Park and timing of Isack's return. Isack's team principal Laurent Mekies was on the pit wall as there was still a race about to start and Racing Bulls had Yuki Tsunoda's car in it, whereas Anthony Hamilton was either in the Ferrari garage or hospitality, but either way just a few yards from where Isack was coming back into the paddock and able to reach him (Isack came in from the end nearest the pit exit and therefore had to walk the majority of the length of the paddock, past most teams). Hamilton obviously doesn't have an operational role to consider like a team principal does at that moment, so he was free to go and console him.

F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali also went down to the Racing Bulls hospitality to comfort Isack and give him some words of encouragement, and there were multiple team members there to speak to him, too.

"I'll be there for you, when the rain starts to fall..." Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images

Q: My family and I were moved at seeing Anthony Hamilton consoling Isack Hadjar after he spun out. Is there a personal connection between Mr. Hamilton and Isack, or is he just a decent human being who knew someone needed a hug? Either way, it’s hard to not vote for Mr. Hamilton as F1 Father of the Day.

Bary

CM: The only connection is the fact that Isack is a massive Lewis Hamilton fan and hasn't hidden that fact. He met him before when he was a child early in his racing career, and openly spoken about how Hamilton is a role model he looks up to. So I believe Anthony was aware of that, but aside from knowing it would mean a lot to Isack to have his support, he was just acting out of the goodness of his heart to try and comfort an upset rookie.

THE FINAL WORD

From Robin Miller's Mailbag, March 19, 2014

Q: If what I've read on Facebook is true, it looks like Texas World Speedway is facing what seems to be the nemesis of all abandoned open-wheel venues: developers with armloads of cash. Do you have any good stories about Indy cars at TWS?

Dan Wildhirt, CO

ROBIN MILLER: I saw that and it’s amazing it’s taken this long. At Texas in the mid-’70s with Bill Finley’s team and Bentley Warren driving, Warren had a problem in qualifying and only went quick enough to be the first alternate. But Bobby Unser blew up and didn’t qualify, so USAC came along and asked Finley if they could buy his spot. He said sure. Then they paid the slowest qualifier to give up his spot to Uncle Bobby. They took the money and left. We were loaded up but I suggested we wait until warm-ups were over the next morning in case somebody crashed. As fate would have it, Bob Harkey hit the wall and we were back in the race -- a double payday for Finley, and the only contribution I ever made to one of the last true chief mechanics.