The RACER Mailbag, April 16

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: A 17-race IndyCar schedule is way too short, which in my opinion is the reason for the dip in viewership. They need to stop make these excuses that the Masters and NCAA Tournament is going to hurt viewership. It is what it is, the series is in competition with the United Football League, Major League Soccer, the NBA and the NHL. Just expanded to 22 races by adding Homestead, New Orleans and Richmond and keep Thermal. Having races every weekend will add more viewers for the series. Having these three week breaks in the schedule hurts the series.

Alistair, Springfield, MO

MARSHALL PRUETT: I don’t see the citing of The Masters or other big rival events as excuses. If an independent film debuts on the same weekend as a new Star Wars movie, there’s a 100-percent chance it gets overlooked and its ticket sales will suffer. Why wouldn’t the same effect happen here?

Without competition, IndyCar tends to generate solid TV audiences. Pitted against sports that are more popular? IndyCar falls to second or third on the list, if not fourth or fifth.

Its audience size reflects its current ranking among major sports, which is a mile behind anything involving a bat, ball, or club, and at least a half-mile behind NASCAR and F1. To quote Juan Pablo Montoya, “It is what it is.” I’ve lived in times where the opposite was true and IndyCar was the big dog, and I’m among the many who pray for its return to that exalted place.

I love the idea of more races being the answer to bigger TV audiences, if those extra events fall on weekends where IndyCar has the broadcast window to itself. But if it’s got big competition from one or two sports that have more fans, logic says those folks will go to what they prefer before checking out IndyCar.

More of something doesn’t automatically equate to greater popularity. MLB teams play 162 games per year, and most struggle to fill two-thirds of their stadiums and record TV ratings that suck.

Here’s what Sunday’s FOX audience of 552,000 viewers tells us: All of IndyCar’s diehards tuned in on big FOX, and that’s about it. Last year, buried on NBC’s USA cable channel, Long Beach produced 307,348, which was dismal. In the switch from a cable channel that nobody associated as the place to watch IndyCar, to a giant network home in a featured slot, Long Beach went from 300k to 550k. It’s nearly double, so that’s obviously a good thing, but it’s still a tiny number. Especially for the race that’s rightly hailed as the second biggest on the IndyCar calendar after the Indy 500.

Despite the competition from golf on CBS, I would have expected IndyCar on FOX at Long Beach to attract more than 550k. It’s disappointing, at least to me, and also acts as a reminder that no matter how much we love IndyCar, a massive effort lies ahead for the series and for FOX to bring it out of the shadows. This is an unwelcome reality check, but it is indeed what it is.

Q: I just read the news item saying that Hy-Vee will no longer sponsor the Iowa doubleheader. Do you know why Hy-Vee pulled out? It went from sponsoring a car and the doubleheader to getting out of IndyCar completely. Do you think this is a harbinger of rough times for IndyCar and teams finding sponsors?

Peter, Indianapolis, IN

MP: This change happened last year, so I wouldn’t take the news of Sukup (Sue-cup) Manufacturing being signed just now as a sign of anything meaningful in April of 2025. Hy-Vee underwent a CEO change, with Randy Edeker, a huge IndyCar fan who drove the deals with RLL and the series at Iowa, stepping down. A failure to renew the contracts after their completion in 2024 was not a surprise, since CEO changes often result in sponsorships going away.

Hy-Vee said Bye-Vee, but Iowa will still be awesome. Travis Hinkle/IMS Photo

Q: The talk about tariffs made me remember Swift. Back when IndyCar was choosing a new car, Swift was making Formula Nippon cars (now known as Super Formula). What are they doing nowadays?

That car was nice, it raced well and sounded great. I remember Swift’s IndyCar project was beautiful. I always wondered why Japan had an American company making its cars, but IndyCar couldn't go with Swift to make theirs.

Also now with this talk in F1 about the V10 (which looks like will result in a V8), maybe IndyCar could switch to a V8. Ask Honda and Toyota if they still have those engines around. They sounded better than the IndyCar V8 from those years.

This seems like a very complicated moment to decide engine rules, isn't it? So much uncertainty.

William Mazeo

MP: Made in San Clemente, Calif. I grew up working Swift’s NorCal distributor and built/prepped/ran countless Swifts. Of all the marques, it’s the closest to my heart, and I’d rate the longtail Swift DB-1 as one of the most beautiful race cars made.

V10s would be a play for entertainment alone since there’s zero road-car relevance at the point in time. Same with V8s as a mandated formula. But if a series lacks auto manufacturers, there’s no reason not to go with something loud, screaming, and entertaining. I feel for Penske Entertainment on this front. We know hybridization is genuinely important to a lot of manufacturers today. But will it hold the same importance in three to five years?

Q: Not surprisingly, push-to-pass was often talked about during the Long Beach broadcast. I swear the FOX guys never even mentioned the hybrid. Is the stored electric energy not self-deployed on demand to assist with overtaking and defense?

Shawn, MD

MP: The energy recovery system can harvest automatically, if that option is enabled prior to whatever session, but is not allowed to deploy automatically. That’s the sole responsibility of each driver.

And yes, if I’m an auto manufacturer in IndyCar and compete with hybrid engines to showcase or promote hybrid road-car technology, I’m livid.

I rewatched the race Monday night and don’t recall a single mention of the ERS being available as a push-to-pass tool. Heard tons about the turbo P2P and who had however much time left to use, but it’s as if the other, newer P2P is invisible. I did note, however, that in the Acura commercial I saw during the race, it used its hybrid IMSA GTP car in the ad.

Q: During Sunday's race at Long Beach I never heard the announcers say anything about the hybrid. FOX didn’t show the lights on the dash or talk about the drivers using it. The only mention I heard was how the energy recovery system affects braking. So what’s up? Considering that none of the teams, drivers, or fans wanted to add the hybrid, is this the start of IndyCar phasing it out?

Rick, Charlotte

MP: It’s not being phased out. It’s just a bizarre direction that’s been taken by IndyCar’s TV partner. If we could mention the hybrid system a few times and remove most of the 95,463 mentions of tires, tire strategy, softs, hards, alternates, primaries, greens, reds, and blacks, I’d be eternally grateful.

Q: Been to every Indy 500 since 1967 (minus the COVID year), and to many other IndyCar venues throughout the U.S. and Canada over the years – your typical old fart IndyCar fan with lots of comments and suggestions, but just one question: Why no, or so little, mention of the hybrid unit this past weekend?

I didn’t see the pre-race show and perhaps something was said during my brief naps during the race – sorry, third snoozer of the year. My common sense tells me (and hopes) that it’s finally on the way out. My conspiracy theorist nature tells me the organization asked the media to not mention the word "hybrid" just to see if anyone noticed. As far as I can see, other than maybe keeping Honda in the game, it’s done nothing but hurt the product on the track.

Oh, and regarding racers as athletes, let’s not forget Hemingway’s quote: "There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games." There are athletes, and then there are warriors. Race drivers are both.

Ned Thompson

MP: When I asked the "why no hybrid mentions" question to FOX after St. Pete, I was told it was part of not wanting to overwhelm a new audience with minutia, but that it would start to come in after St. Pete. Maybe I misheard.

Q: We have black, red and green Firestone tires, all with designed-degradation engineered-in. Black = hard or primary. Alternates are red or green, although not sure which is used on a particular course or why.

As to why: green used to be referred to as guayule and I think that had to do with a material from a Brazilian tree (ED: Close – it’s a shrub from the southwestern U.S. and northern Mexico. Firestone maintains a guayule research farm in Eloy, Ariz.) Why do we no longer see the term guayule used anymore?

Tom Fitzgerald, Las Vegas, NV

MP: It took me years to realize just now, thanks to your letter, that Firestone has gone with the colors of the Pan-African flag for its tire colors (which I learned about as a kid in a song by King Sun).

We do see the word guayule used, but since the use of guayule in the sidewalls of Firestone’s street course alternates/softs began in 2022, it’s no longer a new thing to mention on a regular basis. Which also ties into the last question on hybrids. I’d expect hybridization to fall into the same guayule territory in a few years -- once it’s become normalized -- but not prior to its first anniversary, which arrives in July.

Just IndyCar's luck for Firestone to come up with a tire made from a potentially game-changing material, only for the plant at the center of it to have a completely unpronounceable name. Chris Owens/IMS Photo

Q: I have read that Mr. Penske is going to finance new cars for a significant portion of the field, when the new model is introduced.

What, exactly, do you understand the design criteria to be? Better looks? (Couldn't that be accomplished with styling on the existing cars?) More competitive field? (I'd suggest the field, top to bottom is very competitive!). Less weight? (Exactly how will that be accomplished while keeping the existing hybrid power and the halo?)

Russell Zipoff

MP: We revealed that Mr. Penske is considering a financing plan for teams who might be interested. You’ve raised some excellent questions on the next car. I hope to have those items and more covered in an upcoming story that’s been in the works for months.

Q: We are three races into the IndyCar season and the races have been awful. Constantly hearing about the tire strategy is getting tired. The series needs a rethink or it will be lost forever. The Indy 500 can’t save this tire fire. I sincerely wish I didn’t have to send this comment but the series is on life support.

Michael Veretta

MP: I wouldn’t agree on the last statement, but yes, the opening trio of races have produced very few thrills in the pursuit of victory. Plenty of passing behind the leaders, but not much to offer up front where big memories get made.

Q: It seems as though Penske has a recurring seatbelt issue. I could be wrong, but the last three times I can remember there being a seatbelt issue were all Penske cars -- Allmendinger, Power and now Newgarden. And all at pretty costly times -- leading the Indy 500, final race for outside shot at championship, and solid top 10 (chance for top five) respectively.

Are seatbelt assemblies a spec item that come from one supplier, or are there multiple? Seems odd that all of the recent memories are all Penske issues.

Chris, MI

MP: I rang Ron Ruzewski who runs the team and he said it was unrelated to previous issues. The belief is Josef managed to hit and twist the buckle in the Turn 11 hairpin with his elbow, which popped all of the belts loose.

Q: If anyone has anything negative to say about the Long Beach race, then may God have mercy on their souls. That was one of the best, if not the best street race I have ever seen. The passing and close racing was awesome! Please thank every single driver for putting on that show. Great job to FOX too!

TJ Spitzmiller, Sarasota, FL

MP: Further proof that we all see and receive different things from races. In the post-race press conference, Kirkwood and Palou either mentioned or apologized for putting on a boring race -- did so unprompted -- and I thought it was boring as well in the context of fighting for victory. I watched the race again Monday night to see if my original take would change and it didn’t. But that doesn’t mean my perception is right and yours is wrong.

Q: How dire is IndyCar's situation post-2026, based on factors (below) and American open-wheel history? What's the paddock's perspective? Can the series overcome it, and when does the tide need to reverse?

• Increasing costs, though there's at least one proposed solution.

• Repeated failure to secure a third manufacturer (Toyota and Ferrari, most obviously). Meanwhile IMSA and WEC have manufacturers pouring in.

• Honda seeming unlikely to return and priority seemingly decreasing for Chevy (i.e., increasing open-wheel representation via F1). This includes a failure to change the engine homologation. I believe the engines are run at a loss to each company's revenue, too.

• Failure to secure tracks for the schedule. Pocono was dropped after 2019 due to ABC supply dropping its title sponsorship, Richmond and COTA were apparent COVID casualties, and Texas was due to unsuccessful date negotiations.

• The lack of identity and vision for the series by leadership [based on their inability to openly disclose their thoughts proactively or when directly asked]. I believe this can lead to uncertainty around how to prevent the new car from becoming another Frankenstein's monster (10+ year old chassis with essential add-ons).

• iRacing/Motorsport Games gaffe.

Atilla Veyssal, Madison, WI

MP: Without embarking on days of calls and research to craft a 2000-word feature story in response, I can say that the most-asked question I get from the paddock is about Honda and whether it’s staying, and if there’s another brand in the pipeline to take Honda’s place.

Based on a number of conversations with smart people last weekend, there’s no answer to the stay/go, and I believe there’s some interest from other brands, but IndyCar needs to make a decision on its next engine formula before any manufacturer (other than Chevy) will stay/go/join.

With or without a second or third manufacturer, IndyCar will continue, just as it has done in the past. It has a committed paddock of team owners who love the series, and for many, it’s their primary business. That isn’t something you abandon.

The challenges ahead have been documented to death in the Mailbag and plenty of other standalone stories. Costs need to come down, which Penske Entertainment is working on. More viewers are needed to increase the value of sponsorships, which the series and FOX are working on, etc., etc., etc.

The rest is perception. If Honda leaves? Huge black eye for Penske. If FOX is unable to deliver a sizable audience increase? Huge reality check for the series, which could have a ripple effect for some sponsors.

But let’s get through the Indy 500, see what kind of audience shows up for the fourth, fifth, and sixth races, and then we have enough of a sample size to project forward and contemplate whether 2027 and beyond will be happy or sad for the series. Right now, it’s too soon to make the call.

Q: Is there any more Penske Perfect driver than Kyle Kirkwood? If I were Roger I would keep Will, who is still mad fast, until I could get Kyle under contract.

Steve, Chico, CA

MP: Kirk was signed to a nice and lucrative extension during his first season with Andretti, and if the team keeps performing like it did at Long Beach, it might be a case of Penske drivers trying to become his teammate.

Q: What's going on with the IndyCar boys? Three races in and only one yellow from a first-lap crash in the first race. I don't think I've ever seen them this well behaved!

But for actual questions, I know we're only three races in, but RLL already looks in bad shape for the Leaders Circle. Foster and Devlin are both outside it at moment. Is there any sense of panic for them yet? And might it be time to consider downsizing back down to two cars?

Also toward the back end of the grid, it seems like Jacob Abel has really been off the pace even by rookie standards. I'm hoping he can get it turned around, but do you think he's struggling more than most with acclimating to IndyCar?

Nathan, York, PA

MP: The team has three charters, so it would make no sense to give one up since it needs the funding from its third driver to complete its financial puzzle. It lost its top performer, signed a promising rookie in his place, and they just hired a new president to run the show. An error while refueling on Sunday ruined Graham Rahal’s race, Foster made up a few positions, and Devlin got yelled at by Felix Rosenqvist after the race for holding him up. There’s a reason a new leader was sought and hired, but Frye isn’t a miracle worker. He'll need more than two weeks to make a difference.

As for Abel, something isn’t clicking and I wouldn’t put it all down to him. We wouldn’t be having this conversation if he was in Kyffin Simpson’s car, or Nolan Siegel’s car.

Q: I don't know if I have a question as much as I would just like to state that I hope the paddock doesn't want to say goodbye to Portland.

I'm sure it's not the most packed. But where I sit it is a very packed area, and we have very engaged fans. I've been coming every year since it came back in 2018. I've brought friends and family members to the race. I think my favorite person to bring is my nephew, who has gotten to meet the drivers both years he was there and will probably be coming back this year. I've always found it to be a very fun fulfilling experience.

I can't speak for the drivers, but I know the fans are very excited to have IndyCar come to Portland.

I actually do have one question unrelated to Portland, and it's been bothering me for a while: How long does it take to set up and take down a street circuit like Long Beach?

Ryan Callagan, Salem, OR

MP: If Portland’s full of people, I hope it stays. But if it’s another "where did everybody go?" event…

Three to five weeks is what most street courses cite for setup.

If you want Portland to stay on the schedule, be like Mailbagger Ryan – show up, and bring your friends and family. Travis Hinkle/IMS Photo

Q: I know a lot of people like to complain about the lack of passing on street circuits like Long Beach, but this year featured a lot of action in both the IMSA and IndyCar races – at least from my seat near Turn 1.

There were actually quite a number of passes for position, along with watching groups of faster cars in their own little battle pick their way through a group of slow cars, also within their own little battle. Following Lundgaard hunt down Rosenqvist lap after lap and then pull off the late pass for third was fantastic. Aside from that late pass, I'm sure most of this would be missed in the TV coverage.

I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir here, but the experience of being at the track can never be duplicated by simply watching a video screen. Folks need to get to a race in person, especially a place like Long Beach, where there's hardly any downtime on the track. I save up all year to fly a thousand miles to be here, and I've never regretted it once in the 10 years I've been attending. After I had to skip one year, my wife insisted that I go back again, saying, "It's good for your soul." (Yeah, she's a keeper!)

Sorry for the rambling post, but in the words of Nike, just do it.

Steve E, Normandy Park, WA

MP: Amen. The difference between being there and choosing what to see and being limited to what a television director decides to show you is massive.

Q: Another great event and a great crowd. If only the weather and racing could have been better. The ridiculous green tires gave us a little bit of uncertainty, but not much. Why don't the powers that be reconfigure Turn 9 to be more like Turn 3 at Toronto or Turn 1 at Bahrain? There's plenty of room there and it would add a legitimate passing zone.

Mark, San Diego

MP: I feel confident in saying Turn 9 is one of the most popular places to pass at Long Beach, so I’m not sure how to respond.

Q: Any word about a FOX Sports app? Where we currently reside, we are unable to obtain FS1 or FS2. Sometimes, maybe, we get FOX through the antenna. Is there any hope at all of watching INDYCAR again in the future for us? I reached out to NASCAR and they basically told me, "Outta luck, find a new hobby to watch."

Phil, Northern Arizona

MP: I haven’t asked since FOX said it would be ready towards the end of the year, which would be after the season concludes on Aug. 31.

Q: I've been a open-wheel racing fan for most of my 73 years and a subscriber to car magazines for a lot of those years. I remember an article in one of those mags that tested a Champ Car like you would a street car. It was fascinating to say the least if for nothing more than the quarter-mile and 0-60 times. Can you remember the last time a car magazine was allowed to do this? Do IndyCar teams bother with such performance metrics since they don't use standing starts?

Mark

MP: I’ve saved every magazine I bought that had some form of straight race car benchmarking test, or a comparison of a race car against a street car. Last issue I recall would have been a decade ago where a bunch of GT cars -- the type that race in IMSA and SRO -- were tested against their stock road car versions. If there have been other tests, I’ve missed them.

Performance data with standing starts wouldn’t be of value, but manufacturers absolutely prize and quantify acceleration data. I had one IndyCar driver tell me they were baffled as to why their car was losing three-tenths of a second out of the Turn 11 hairpin compared to their teammate last weekend. The onboard data would be the first place to find the answer.

Q: I just read your piece about PJ Hyett bringing the Panoz DP01 to Long Beach. Given all the praise for the chassis as one of the best IndyCars ever, what lessons could/should Dallara learn from it as it designs the next IndyCar?

Paul Lewis, Macon, GA

MP: I can’t think of anything they don’t already know. Looks matter. Sound matters. Chassis balance matters. All three, working in unison, make for a great car. Get just one of three wrong, and it throws the package out of harmony.

Q: With the announcement of new ownership at Willow Springs, the natural question is, does it have the facilities to host an IndyCar race? Will people attend if IndyCar goes there?

Doug Mayer

MP: As we wrote, they hope to make such things possible after wide-ranging upgrades are made. If throngs of people are willing to drive to Leeds, Alabama, Mansfield, Ohio, and Elkhart Lake, Wis., for IndyCar racing, I’m sure the same is possible for Lancaster, Calif.

Q: Before we moved from Oregon to Arizona, I understand that IndyCar tried to make a comeback to Phoenix International Raceway but pulled out, supposedly due to a low gate count. Not so long ago, millions of dollars were spent on an entire revamp of the facilities, which are now quite impressive. We hold season tickets to both NASCAR weekends that are held at PIR.

We've been wondering how a racing facility can exist with just two race weekends each year and have been knocking around the idea of an IndyCar return. Given the track's history dating back to the '60s (Champ Cars, sprint cars, modifieds and even sports cars when PIR had an infield course), plus the population growth Phoenix has realized the past several years, I would like to think the powers-that-be would re-think PIR as a viable venue early in the year, when it's sunny but not so hot.

Bob Kehoe, Eloy, AZ

MP: It wasn’t "supposed." It was dismal. I’m in total agreement here; loved PIR since my first visit in the 1980s and would love to see its owners consider another IndyCar return. Once upon a time, it was filled to capacity with open-wheel fans.

Q: I was watching a video of the 1955 Indy 500 and at the start of the race the announcer said, "They made it safely through the tornado turn and into the second..."

I have never heard Turn 1 called "tornado turn." What's the story behind that, and why is it no longer called that? I Googled this and all it brought up was the tornado at the 2004 Indy 500.

Luke, Michigan

MP: Hadn’t heard it until you mentioned it. Sounds like a fun turn of phrase by an announcer. Sometimes nicknames stick and sometimes they don’t.

Q: After being an IndyCar fan since 1971, your comments about IMSA and sports cars made me take a look at it, and now the WEC is my favorite form of motorsport, with all its innovation and relevance to the auto industry (which IndyCar has long lost).

That being said, what do you think should be IndyCar’s motorsports blue ocean? The racing on an oval, which admittedly few attend, is the best I’ve ever seen, but most of its races are on street and road courses where the capabilities of an F1 car outshine it.

Should it just be a semi-spec series with one engine and several designated manufacturers like Dallara, Ligier, Multimatic, etc., or a full spec series with just Dallara, which has been a great partner and has a major presence in Indianapolis? This is assuming losing Honda and no other OEM coming in.

James Bost, Oklahoma City, OK

MP: Glad you’ve added sports car racing to your roster of series to enjoy. Weekends like Long Beach and Detroit are just incredible with IndyCar and IMSA together.

This is a deep topic to contemplate. Should IndyCar continue to seek the engagement of an auto industry that, other than the amazing folks at GM and Honda, has no interest in its product? As one of the world’s most successful and prolific auto dealers, I can’t see how Roger Penske would turn his back on that industry by intentionally going spec, but if Honda leaves and there’s nobody willing to jump in, it might become a necessity. Let’s hope it doesn’t go that way.

If I step out of the big-picture perspective and go small and recent, the St. Petersburg race was an overwhelming success with ticket sales and crowd size. Long Beach just set an attendance record. Thermal is an outlier, so it’s not relevant. At least for the two races where masses of humanity had options to attend or ignore IndyCar, folks on wildly different coasts showed up and showed out for IndyCar. I don’t think that changes for the positive with more chassis suppliers, but more auto manufacturers would extend the series’ marketing reach and increase the chances of more people coming out to IndyCar races.

Reader James's conversion to sports car enthusiast won't be truly complete until he sends us a letter complaining about BoP and driver categorization. Jakob Ebrey/Getty Images

Q: Is it known exactly how many DW12 chassis Dallara has made?

The article about tariffs impacting IndyCar said that Dallara has made over 100 of them. Doing some napkin math, there were at least 33 DW12s at the start of the 2012 season and I would assume at least the big teams would have had backup chassis, so the total number is probably at least 40. My understanding is that the well-funded teams have separate chassis for ovals and road/street races, which would mean there are close to 50 (33 at the 500 plus 15 street/road cars plus five backup cars) DW12 chassis with the potential to be used during the 2025 season.

Is my math in the ballpark, and if so, is the average IndyCar chassis racing this year 6-plus years old?

Will, Indy

MP: My last DW12 update was in May or June last year, and it was 91 DW12s, 68 of the 2018 version of the DW12 they call the IR18, and we can safely assume that number is over 70 with PREMA coming in and other new-car purchases. That’s a lot of cars since the first orders were fulfilled in 2011.

Q: Katherine Legge is doing NASCAR's Cup and Xfinity Series with e.l.f. How much of a loss is this to IndyCar? Was it a matter of not having a car for the 500? Network broadcasts don't cure it all? Sad that this bright spot of inclusion will not be with IndyCar this year.

Isaac W. Stephenson

MP: A definite loss in terms of building upon the positivity and momentum from last year’s 500 where e.l.f. made a genuine impact with its onsite activation and overall women-centric promotions.

Q: With the potential effects of tariffs on IndyCar teams, manufacturers, and suppliers, and a new car not coming until 2027, this could be an opportunity for the sport. It could hearken back to its roots while promoting good ol’ American know-how: The NTT IndyCar/Run What Ya Brung Series Presented by AutoZone.

Multiple manufacturers! Multiple classes! American-made parts (mostly) brought to you by AutoZone (mostly)!

I’m confident that multiple insurance companies would be happy to take on this kind of liability.

Ed, Jersey

MP: This is brilliant. Let’s do an IndyCar draft where teams get to pick three cars apiece from the IMS Museum. Modern is Round 1 (1978-2011), War is Round 2 (1940-1977), and O.G is Round 3 (1911-1939). Drivers rotate among the three cars all season. No risk of caution-free racing. Great sights. Greater sounds. All eras of fans are happy. Nobody rants and complains on social media, forums, or comments sections. Hell freezes. The Rapture ensues. Earth explodes.

Q: It's interesting to see the news around the purchase of Willow Springs Raceway, and the new ownership talking about investing in the overall facility. Have you or anyone else at RACER heard ideas about how serious or well-off the new owners are?

I used to live in SoCal and went to events at Willow several times in the late 1960s to early '70s. I did race there once at a club event on a GP-style bike, so I know the turns a little. The track was at the time almost exactly 2.5 miles long. At the end of the straight the elevation started to climb, then back down in a fast section. The last turn, a right-hander – Turn 9 as I remember – had a little collapsing radius hook at the end when it straightened out and taking it flat in or on something fast required skill and nerve. The approach was fast!

What I do really want to say in my Willow Springs Raceway fan letter is that if there were a large grandstand at start/finish, you could see about 90% of the track from there. I would think that a layout like that would be appealing to road racing spectators. I've been to around 10 road racing courses in my life, so my reference on how much of the track you can see at any one track is limited. Regardless of the layout of other tracks that I am not aware of, this feature of Willow's geography seems like a good deal.

Highway access could be an issue. The road that passes the gate at Willow may still only be two-lane.

Thomas Finlay

MP: Billionaires.

Q: Is there any chance you can use your considerable charm and influence to get FOX to resurrect the Delta Force movie theme in the driver intros for the Indy 500? That song is bitchin’, and along with Paul Page’s awesome announcing, personifies IndyCar at its zenith. We cannot get Paul Page’s voice back, but at least the song.

Can you get Will Buxton to slow down? Most humans pause between sentences.

Did you know Roger Penske has an identical twin separated at birth? Check out the villain Karl Stromberg from The Spy Who Loved Me. Dead ringer.

Marwood Stout

MP: To borrow a line from Wayne’s World, monkeys will fly out of my butt before FOX gives a fart about what I think or suggest, so don’t hold your breath.

We’ll ask Will to cut down from 12 pre-race Red Bulls to 10.

Movie advice: The Mailbag is such a gift.

Q: What's the latest on Katherine Legge’s Indy 500 effort? Social media is saying that at least one team bought an extra chassis so as to keep her out of qualifying, but with no proof offered. Would that explain her going NASCAR this season, or does she have other IndyCar options as the season progresses (and Coyne runs through drivers)?

Matt Wiser

MP: I have no clue about the first item. Unless a team plans on parking one of its full-time drivers for a few races to run Kat, the IndyCar charter system which places a cap on 27-car fields (outside of Indy), would make it hard for her to step in and drive. Unless it’s replacing one of the 27, getting a team and engine manufacturer to support a 28th entry after Indy is going to be highly unlikely. But it’s situational.

If Rick Hendrick and Kyle Larson want to do another race that doesn’t conflict with a NASCAR Cup event, I have zero doubts that Arrow McLaren and Chevy will put a 28th car on the entry list and bump someone from the 27-car grid. They wouldn’t do that for anyone else, unless it’s Lando or Oscar.

Q: First, I would like to say thank you to you. One of my questions to our good friend Robin Miller appeared in last week's "Final Word."

I don’t have a question per se, but rather a possible update. In last week’s Mailbag, Brian from Joliet gave us his idea of what the 2026 schedule might look like. In your response to him, you mentioned how Hy-Vee underwrites some of the Iowa races. You also mentioned the big-name musical acts that have appeared at this race in the past. As a resident of Iowa, I have heard rumors that the big acts will not be appearing at the races this year, but rather a shift to more local or regional musical groups to bring down prices. It is also my understanding that this will/could lead to lower ticket prices for the race dates. I expect further details to emerge in the coming weeks.

Jerry Laake, Davenport, IA

MP: Most welcome. The Miller questions are chosen by RACER.com’s Jarno Trulli-loving editor.

Yes on all front. Looking forward to seeing where the pricing falls.

Did someone say Jarno Trulli? Fine, here's he and Olivier Panis looking bored with each other. Getty Images

Q: I don't recall when the new F1 regs came in, but I do recall that the purpose for the aero treatments mandated on all F1 cars, like the rear wing shape, front wheel deflectors and the aesthetically unpleasing wheel covers were all adopted to encourage aerodynamic downforce even behind competitor cars so that passing would be possible on the track.

So, when did this aerodynamic configuration jump the shark? And how did the teams "overcome" the intent of the regs set forth by the FIA?

Andy R., The D.

CHRIS MEDLAND: If I’m honest, I think it’s just the natural evolution of a set of regulations. These cars are still immensely quick – the last race of the previous generation of car at Suzuka was 2019 and pole was a 1m27.064s, but the top three this year all beat that record – and yet they have allowed much closer racing than in the past.

But we’re into the final year of these regulations, so simply through the evolution of the designs, as they get more and more complex, then the need for clean air just increases that little bit more each season. It’s tough for the FIA to get it right for the first year of regulations, let alone try and predict what teams will have come up with four years later, but if you are creating a car to go that fast, it is impossible to not disturb the air behind in some way, shape or form.

What we’ve also seen is a much closer field. All 10 teams were able to set a time within a second of the fastest lap in Q1 in Suzuka and Bahrain, and 1.009s in China (Haas slightly ruins this stat by having a problem in Australia to stop it covering the entire season so far), so in terms of raw pace the gaps are actually very small.

In a clean, fast, 53-lap race at Suzuka, only one car went a lap down, and that was due to strategy as Lance Stroll was the only car to make two pit stops. When you have such small gaps, you don’t have the difference in car performance to get close enough to overtake. The dirty air is actually far less than in the past, but it has a bigger impact when the margins are so small.

Q: By my rough count, Mercedes will power half the field next year? Home team, Williams, McLaren, GM, and the unholy Franco-English-German alliance at Alpine.

Shawn, MD

CM: Sorry to correct your math Shawn, but it’s only four teams – Mercedes, McLaren, Williams and Alpine – because GM/Cadillac will use Ferrari power units. With Aston Martin partnering with Honda, it’s the same number as in many recent seasons.

Ferrari will also have the same number (three) through the works team, Haas and GM/Cadillac, adding the new team but losing Sauber as it becomes Audi and uses an Audi power unit.

Then Red Bull Powertrains (RBPT) – in partnership with Ford from next year rather than Honda – will supply the same two teams as this year in Red Bull and Racing Bulls.

Q: So, I wrote in about the snoozer at Suzuka. How on Earth can every single team come up with a different strategy at the same track they had pre-season testing?

Bahrain was a great race. Passing was probably still a bit too difficult, but with all the tire offset due to strategy differences, that was great. More of that this year, please. In fact, let's get crazy: Teams are only given soft tires for practice. They have to figure out the strategy on the fly.

Ryan

CM: I quite like the idea of having to figure strategy out on the go, but I slightly worry that would lead to far more conservative strategies because teams don’t know what they’re going to get. So they would go for track position, one-stop strategies, and usually start on the medium and switch to the hard compound to play it safe. As we saw at Suzuka, safe is almost always the way a team goes.

The Bahrain situation was due to the fact that all three tire compounds were usable in the race scenario. The hard was the most robust but lacked grip, the soft had a clear performance advantage and didn’t degrade ridiculously, but the medium was still the best balance in between.

So, depending on your car characteristics, you could target different strategies. McLaren saved an extra set of mediums because it was confident in its superior tire management, whereas Red Bull knew it had trouble looking after tires so kept both sets of hards for Verstappen for the race because it thought it might burn through the mediums more quickly. The hards provide to be too low grip with the car balance issues in the end, but you could see the logic.

The safety car timing was also helpful in terms of mixing up strategies, because teams were forced into a decision at an awkward time. The medium was the right tire but most didn’t have another set left to put on, so they had to choose between the soft (quick but maybe too long a final stint) or the hard (slow but should get you to the end no problem).

You’ll be pleased to know Pirelli has gone with softer tire compounds than usual in Jeddah, with the softest three selected, so there’s a chance of more strategic variation again this weekend, too.

Q: Is it too early to start calling Oscar Piastri the Iceman?

Tom, Milwaukee, WI

CM: Not at all. Although I feel like he deserves his own original nickname! But he really does seem particularly good at blocking out outside noise and pressure, and that will stand him in really good stead when it comes to this season’s title fight.

Iceman. It's been done. Getty Images

Q: So far as I can work out, Ferrari and Red Bull are in favor of V10s while Mercedes, Honda and Audi aren't. So why don't we set a capacity limit for normal engines, a capacity and electric limit for hybrid engines and let the manufacturers build what they want?

Jordan, UK

CM: Cost, essentially. One engine type would likely emerge as the better one to have, even with limitations, and anyone not with that engine would then have to develop one if they wanted to be competitive.

On top of that, manufacturers would likely not sign up, because if you were Mercedes (for example) and running the turbo hybrid you see as most road relevant, but you keep getting beaten by a V10 from Ferrari (for example), it makes it look like that is an inferior type of power unit and be terrible PR for the automotive brand itself.

It would also be very difficult to create equal car regulations for different power units or engines given their weights, layouts, additional components etc. And while that was OK in the past, these days F1 has pretty prescriptive technical regulations to try and create better racing, so it would have a big impact on that. Sports car racing is great for different engine types, but BOP is often needed in that case, and that’s a route F1 is not keen to go down.

Q: It's my understanding that the 2026 engine regs in F1 are until 2029, but there was just a meeting to discuss future V10 possibility in the future. (It would be awesome.) Do you have any thoughts? How is Cadillac going to know what kind of engine to build if supposedly they will have their own engine in 2028?

Jack, Ft Pierce, FL

CM: So, the engine regulations are for a five-year period, running from 2026-2030 inclusive. That means the next change would be in 2031, although those recent meetings you mention have potentially opened the door for that to happen a year or two earlier.

I don’t expect much change in timing to be honest after the Bahrain discussions, given the money and time and effort already invested, but Cadillac had already revised its target to deliver its own power unit to the end of the decade.

That’s partly because of the time it takes to create the facility where it will make them, so while 2028 might still be the target and Cadillac could get three years out of the power unit, it could also end up focusing on the following regulations if those are brought forward by a year.

THE FINAL WORD

From Robin Miller's Mailbag, April 14, 2014

Q: Just watched the NOLA race, which was oddly entertaining despite all the cautions. It got me wondering – would there ever be any circumstance where the Indy 500 would be a timed race?

Matt, Atlanta, GA

ROBIN MILLER: Oh my God, Matt, don’t give race control any new ideas. The only chance for a timed race would have been during the IRL days (wink wink), if you know what I mean.