The RACER Mailbag, May 7

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: I am really concerned for the well-being of IndyCar. No passes on track with any significant results. Palou, apparently, is unstoppable, and I would rather see a different driver as champion this year, but that is probably not happening. Has the hybrid system created the inability to pass on street and road courses? Asking for a friend. You know it’s pretty bad when the FOX "moment of the race" was Ferrucci’s save after getting a bit loose!

Dan, Arizona

MARSHALL PRUETT: There are a few factors, and going hybrid is a big part of the problem, but not all of the problem. There’s four contributing factors.

First, it’s the weight of going hybrid that’s having a negative effect. The energy recovery system itself isn’t some evil thing that kills wheel-to-wheel action. It’s the weight. I realize this might not matter to some, but IndyCar could yank the ERS units from the cars, replace them with 100 pounds of rocks to match their weight, and we’d be having the same conversation.

Tires are another big contributor to the problem. The silly-soft street course alternates basically melt if they’re pushed too hard, so drivers have had to treat them like huge liabilities and drive to a specific pace to prevent the meltdown and total loss of performance. Those tires have robbed the ability for drivers to attack, which has dulled the wheel-to-wheel action.

The road course alternates at Thermal reacted in a similar way, but it was the track surface, rather than the tires themselves, causing the huge drop-off in performance. So drivers once again had to stick to a specific and somewhat decreased pace to keep the tires from boiling over and giving up.

Barber was the first race of the year where both tire compounds could take all the abuse they were given without surrendering. But since there wasn’t much to separate the performance between the primaries and alternates, there were no big gambles taken on race strategy; everybody was flat out, and with no cautions, the leaders were running at similar speeds -- Palou aside -- and that’s not when great passing takes place up front.

Tons of passing happened behind the leaders, but that’s not what makes for memorable races. Nobody watches an NFL game and spends the next day raving about the great blocking in the trenches. It’s the big touchdowns, long runs, game-changing hits and interceptions that we can’t forget. And that’s been missing.

Circle back to the weight again, and how the cars just won’t tolerate the same kind of over-aggressive passing attempts -- like they did before the 100 pounds of hybrid -- without losing control, and you have a newly flawed recipe.

Weight, plus tire compounds, plus similar paces, plus no cautions and the passing opportunities those restarts bring, and some or all of those factors have combined from race to race to create the product seen during the four opening races.

I can think of one person who isn't complaining about the current quality of racing in IndyCar. Chris Jones/IMS Photo

Q: It is with a heavy heart and much guilt that Big Possum is taking pen to hand to write this but the truth will out as someone once said.

Big Possum is a confirmed die-hard IndyCar fan – attending his first 500 in 1956 – and many, many, many, since. Little Possum has interned with several IndyCar teams at the Speedway while on his way to a Purdue Mechanical engineering degree and was passing tires over the wall during pit stops for McLaren and Félix Rosenquist one year.

So Big Possum tuned in to the Barber race Sunday – no more need to be said about that – and after Barber he turned into the NASCAR race at Texas.

Big Possum is not a diehard NASCAR fan, does not normally watch, but does sort of follow it – favorite driver was the Silver Fox, David Pearson, arguably the best of all time – Texas was packed – and hush my mouth, but it was a  much better show than the IndyCar race he just left. Cars were running closer together, cooler and more pit stops, with most of the field coming in at the same time and a nice display board of who beat who out of the pits, crashes, yellow flags, restarts and the winner was not determined until the last four or five laps, and it was pretty close. Larson was running away until he wasn’t, several comers and goers, green-white checker finish… all in all, damn entertaining. The TV broadcast showed the invocation and the National Anthem, unlike another channel he could name.

Big Possum can see the attraction, excitement and entertainment value, and that is why the stands were packed. They have their own SiriusXM 24 hour radio show, and on and on.

The saving grace for IndyCar at this time is the Indianapolis 500.

Not being critical, and it is with deep sadness that Big Possum reports these facts and he doesn’t have a solution.

Looking forward to seeing you at the Speedway. Meatloaf dinner at the Speedway American Legion hall on Fast Friday. Happy to have you join me as my guest

Big Possum

MP: Thank you for the invite, my guy.

Really tough moment for Penske Entertainment. How will they react?

Huge new TV partner, heavy pre-season advertising campaign focused on driver personalities and the fastest racing on earth (*after land speed racing, air races, and drag racing), and coming into the season and FOX relationship, it had years upon years of being able to accurately say it had the best racing, and all of this has gone out the window in two months.

I use this description a few times per year, but Penske needs to think of IndyCar as a product on the shelf. How does it look and feel sitting next to similar products on the same shelf? What things does its product offer that makes it stand out in the best ways against the others? Through 2024, I think most would agree that its product was strong and appealing. And I think most who’ve bought and enjoyed the product in recent years would acknowledge the product has changed, and changed significantly, in 2025, and not for the better.

It's just not as appealing as it was last year, and for those of us who love this product, it kills us to see it being buried at the back of the shelves for F1, which has gone from being boring as hell to highly entertaining, and IMSA, and so on, that have great products to buy today.

And that’s not being critical of Penske or IndyCar; it’s simply saying what’s real.

The good thing is Penske has the sole authority to make any and all changes to improve its product. There are contracts, of course, with obligations to its auto manufacturers and other official partners that can’t be ignored without the risk of being sued; but if the product they help to make isn’t selling like it once was, I’d hope they’d all come together and work on finding quick fixes.

Q: What were opinions (IMSA, Whelen, teams, drivers) on the MX-5 Cup race at Martinsville last year? Have you heard about a repeat in 2025?

I was able to attend and was very pleasantly surprised by how much sports car gear I saw, especially considering MX-5 Cup was the opening act for a longer Modified race. Even the Modified fans seemed to enjoy the MX-5 Cup race.

Kyle

MP: Huge honor being there, enjoyed it, but it wasn’t the big awesome race they were hoping for, at least when it was compared to the usual MX-5 Cup race where they’re nose to tail and three, four, or five wide. On a bigger oval where that’s possible, I’m sure it would have had a much greater impact. Cool experiment, but it wasn’t an instant classic.

Q: Can you offer any insight regarding the event(s) leading up to the penalty, fine and year-long probation assessed to Indy NXT driver Jack William Miller during the St. Pete weekend? It must have been a doozy!

Douglas Sharp

MP: Ran his mouth more than once at IndyCar safety/medical officials at St. Pete. As the saying goes, he ****ed around and found out.

It’s not as if that kind of behavior would be readily tolerated from an IndyCar star, but it’s one thing if a Helio or Power blows up. But when it comes from an NXT or USF Championships driver? That gets you yanked off the school yard and sent to detention.

Q: Coming to live you from the Turn 2-3 complex at Barber around mid-race. It goes without saying that today has been a very dull affair.

At what point do the powers that be, along with key shareholders in the series, acknowledge that something is very wrong? The racing, once legitimately the most compelling on earth, has deteriorated significantly in the past few years. This season has been unwatchable.

To compound the lack of action, the cars are slower and one year older, the series continues to see dwindling TV ratings, Honda is about to bail… Are we the fans the only ones who see the writing on the wall?

Has there been any outcry from the owners, or is the series doomed to flounder inevitably?

If I were in charge, I’d trade the aeroscreen for a halo for all non-ovals (maybe it will increase drivability) and pray Dallara hits it out the park with the 2027 car.

Jah, Atlanta, GA

MP: No outcry, yet, but the clock is ticking. The aeroscreen isn’t the issue. All of that great pre-hybrid racing from 2020 on was with it on all the cars.

Q: I've watched a couple of races from the 2002 CART season, which was the first time I remember following CART as a kid. I recall Cristiano da Matta being so dominant that season and winning the championship rather easily. He did go on to drive for Toyota in Formula 1 for the next two years, and if I remember correctly, he didn't have the greatest time driving in F1. I thought his racing career kind of tanked after that. If he had decided to stay in CART, where do you think his career would have gone? Would he have stuck around long enough to be a part of the reunified IndyCar series?

Brandon Karsten

MP: Shorty was incredible. Interesting to ponder an alternate timeline for him. If he stays at Newman/Haas after winning the 2002 CART titles and forgoes F1, we don’t get an empty seat for Sebastien Bourdais to fill in 2003 and become a four-time from 2004-07. Having seen him in that 2002 form, I have no doubt he’d have added more championships -- maybe run the table until Champ Car folded after 2007 -- which takes a Paul Tracy 2003 title off the board, takes the deer collision that nearly killed him in testing from 2006 away, and who knows what else in this alternate universe.

He's a racer. If he’d stayed and all of the best things happened for him, yes, no doubt he’d have been a major talent for a Ganassi or Penske to pursue in the unified series.

It's about time somebody gave us an excuse to run a shot of this guy.  Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images

Q: When Foyt signed Malukas everyone thought he might be Penske’s driver-in-waiting. But what about someone like VeeKay or, more recently, Siegel?

Scott C, Greenwood, IN

MP: Nolan’s signed for a while, and Rinus should be on their radar, but Roger signed Malukas and is paying for his season at Foyt for a reason.

Q: It is brought up every race that Will Power doesn’t have a contract for next year. Is this a case of everyone waiting to announce something, or was Malukas brought over to Foyt to be moved up to drive the 12?

Mike

MP: Wrote a story before the season with quotes from Tim Cindric that they’d get through the 500 before making a decision. Penske signed Malukas to be a Penske driver at some point. Based on what we’ve seen through four races, making a change for 2026 would be premature, but the next two races will tell us more.

Q: I know you will get a lot of people complaining about the race at Barber, but that was as pure a race as you can get. A green flag race should always be the goal and getting to the finish line as fast as possible. Yes, there was no lead change on track, but the polesitter is there for a reason. The fastest car drove away from the rest. That's how racing should be. No need to "fix" the car to prevent that or manufacture close racing. We've had this race with all types of chassis and engine combos in the past.

Reward and celebrate excellence and the belt-to-rear-end Palou and Ganassi administered to the field. The finishing order is exactly as it should have been, and what each team earned through all-out racing.  May the 500 play out the same way!

Mark, Cincinnati, OH

MP: I love a good run-away-and-hide race or two or three each year. Virtuoso performances in the era of spec cars/spec racing are hard to come by, so I appreciate them when they occur.

But when we get a runaway race on the back of something similar at the previous race, and the two prior races were mostly processional, I understand why whatever amount of fans were uninterested in the virtuoso part and felt like it was yet another snoozefest.

What Palou just did was like an arthouse movie where the actors are amazing but the plot is a subdued and nuanced character study. If that’s your thing, it was an Oscar-worthy performance. But if you like horror films, or science fiction, or superhero flicks and expect some jump-scares or aliens or explosions, which is what most IndyCar races were like before we got to 2025, Barber was lacking.

Big fan of the purity of sport, but IndyCar has set a high bar for its races offering plenty of excitement as well. Missing either part would feel odd, and the latter half hasn’t been a steady part of this new season.

Q: Is my keen observation off? Passing at the front (on-track) on road courses has disappeared since the hybrid was introduced. The extra horsepower has kept the cars separated. They should reduce the allowable use of the system or scrap it as a failed experiment.

John , Venice, FL

MP: It’s not the power. We’ve had more powerful cars and separation wasn’t a factor.

Q: Will the championship be over in July? I'm not even trying to be pessimistic or sarcastic here. Palou is performing at a level I can’t ever recall seeing in IndyCar. It isn't the wins that make another championship feel inevitable, it's the lack of poor finishes. Almost every rival already has a poor-ish result this year.

Ryan

MP: Boy, I sure hope it isn’t. Scott Dixon did this in 2020.

Q: Any news on the 2024 ROTY Linus Lundqvist? Other than his press release at the beginning of the season, any rumor mills swirling of a return this year? (Barring an injury to another driver). Just seems he’s always on the bad side of some Penske decision, i.e., the lowered NXT prize and the charter system.

Stefan Johansson

MP: Sat with Linus for 10 or 15 minutes on Saturday and he’s continuing to make his presence felt at IndyCar events. No luck so far there, or in IMSA, but he’s not giving up.

Q: IndyCar’s podium ceremony and post-race interviews are embarrassingly amateurish. Is there any thought being given to an upgrade?

Bill Branagh

MP: They did that during the offseason. I guess it hasn’t resonated...

Q: In a previous Mailbag you wrote, "Other than the DW12 tubs, most of the rest of the car is likely to be incorporated into the ‘new’ IndyCar, so there’s that as well."

Could you expand on what components will and won't carry over into the 2027/28 car?

Joey

MP: That’s still to be determined, but the expectation is… a lot.

Q: So how big was the smile on Dale Coyne's face after Barber? VeeKay can drive, there was no question about that. He just needed a ride for 2025. I'm happy for Rinus and the DCR team. I hope they can keep this momentum going. I also hope Dale can get the funding to keep him next year.

As for Lundgaard, I expected him to do well in moving to McLaren, but he has clearly met and exceeded expectations. He has to be happy to be so competitive right out of the starting gate of the season.

John Balestrieri, Waukesha, WI

MP: Based on results, Lundgaard is the best driver at Arrow McLaren. I didn’t have that on my radar after one race, let alone four. Can’t wait to see how Pato responds. And agreed on Rinus. He belongs in a big team, but he and Coyne are humbling some of those bigger operations. I'd love to see him in a title-contending team, but hate to think of Dale losing yet another star driver after they showed out in his team.

Early season standout. Joe Skibinski/IMS Photo

Q: A rare, non-complainy critique of FOX: Will Buxton is starting to find his way. He tells me what's going on; that's all I need from him. Hinch is a gem and a natural. TBell can be a bit shouty and tends to talk over everyone. But calling every little snap of oversteer like it's seeing Hogan leg-drop for the first time gives a little excitement to an otherwise ho-hum race.

Laz, Independence MO

MP: There’s also a level of playfulness that’s new to the booth -- and pit lane -- that I enjoy.

Q: I've got to send in my annual letter to the Mailbag bragging about Barber Motorsports Park. I've been coming to the IndyCar race at Barber almost every year since 2013, and the staff hits the ball out of the park every time!

I know the race for the win on Sunday wasn't the most compelling, but I have to admit that I kind of enjoyed seeing Palou put on a masterclass performance. Now, there were some enjoyable battles throughout the midfield (not sure if FOX showed them), so it's not like the race was a total loss in terms of on-track action.

As for Palou, is he in contention for a seat with the Cadillac F1 team? I know there's been a lot of hype around Colton Herta, but the way the Palou is currently making a mockery of the IndyCar field, the powers that be at GM would be foolish to not at least consider him. Imagine a pairing of Palou and Herta at Cadillac, the best and brightest of IndyCar taking on F1!

I know it's not a likely scenario, but one can dream, right?

Garrick, Alabama

MP: I love everything about Barber. You have to be available to contend for something to be in contention, I guess, so no.

Q: Is PREMA where they thought they would be at this point of the season, or were they quietly expecting to be fighting further up the field? I was expecting some struggles, but they've been pretty anonymous so far.

Billy

MP: They’ve set the public bar of expectation very low and that was smart. IndyCar needs them to succeed, and they will improve. Way too much money is being spent, and they’ve cherry-picked too much talent from other IndyCar teams, to be anonymous. But yes, if you told me they weren’t in the field, I wouldn’t argue because they’ve made no impact in the races. Give them time.

Q: Is Marcus Ericsson's seat safe at Andretti for next year, or could we see someone like Hauger or Veekay take over that ride in 2026?

Jimmy

MP: He signed a three-year deal through 2026. Only way that changes is if a buyout is offered and accepted.

Q: I just read Kelly Crandall's article about NASCAR thinking about "Run what you brung" for the All-Star race. My mind immediately went to the GT3 cars in IMSA. I know it's not what NASCAR would want and the GT3 engines may struggle to last a full race on an oval track, but imagine a world where the standard Cup cars are out on the track with a smattering of BMW M4s, Corvettes, Mercedes-AMGs, an Aston Martin or two, and yes, even some Porsches and Lambos? Limit the Cup cars to 20 and fill the rest of the field with GT3 teams.

Aside from completely different driving styles (rubbin' is definitely not racin' in IMSA), how well do you think the cars could stand up to those driven by Blaney and Briscoe?

A boy can dream.

Chris, Leesburg, VA

MP: Have you seen IMSA racing? Rubbin’ is the norm. Those GT3 engines do 24 hours in a row at Daytona at the Rolex 24, so I can’t think of why they would struggle in a two- or three-hour Cup race. Main issue is Cup cars put out hundreds of extra horsepower, and that’s a huge deficit to overcome.

Q: First, a few comments on what I loved about the race at Barber. I loved the addition of five laps to the race as there was no need for commentators to talk about fuel saving on lap two. I loved how Firestone dialed in the tires. I loved seeing Dixon being Dixon, going from P26 to P12 (at one point flirting with a top 10). And of course Alex Palou! Shoutout to Rinus VeeKay with fourth. My question is this: Would it be fair to say VeeKay is at, or near the top, of free agents for 2026?

Rob, Rochester, NY

MP: Great question, Rob. He should be. I’ve seen his manager at most races this year, and that’s a positive change. But if I had a quality seat to offer, I wouldn’t be in a huge rush to try and sign him. St. Pete was great for Rinus, as was Barber, but I want to see how he leads the Coyne team at Indy. As part of the 500 specialists at ECR, he was a beast, but the team played a huge part in that ability to be so competitive. Said another way, he’s always been in excellent cars at a team that makes Indy its top priority.

With fewer dollars and more modest resources, let’s see how VeeKay 2.0 operates and performs. That’s what the teams who might be in the market for hiring an upgrade -- the Rahals and Hollingers, and maybe others -- will want to see first. They’re in need of more than just someone who can drive quickly. They need a leader, a team builder, and a engineering ally who can get more out of the car and the technical staff.

There wasn’t enough to take from his time at ECR to get a proper feel in those areas, so that’s why his frontline position with Coyne in May will deliver the answers a discerning team owner/manager needs to make an informed decision.

Q: With Alex Palou thumping the field this year and the Cadillac F1 team starting up, would there be a situation where Chip Ganassi would let Palou pursue that avenue with a first right of refusal if he ever returned to IndyCar?

Brad Edmondson, Yorktown, IN

MP: If Dan Towriss wrote a check with all of the zeroes, I’d guess it might be considered, but why would an owner of an IndyCar team who has the best driver in the series want to make his team less successful by letting his best player leave to play abroad for someone else?

I understand the interest among fans, but would the owner of the Kansas City Chiefs let Patrick Mahomes go play in another league just because Mahomes would be really good in that other league? How does that make the Chiefs better? Makes no sense as a business, right?

So why would Chip sell his future and give up his new Scott Dixon who can win championships for him for the next 10-15 years? Bad teams who luck into a great player do things like this. Championship-winning teams don’t willingly do this.

If Alex is a free agent, and want to leave, that’s a different thing. But Ganassi would need an intervention if he lets it happen voluntarily.

The time when the Venn diagram of "Formula 1" and "Alex Palou's career" overlapped might have passed. Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Q: Has Firestone provided any roadmap for the guayule tires in IndyCar? I'm surprised to see it's still only used in the sidewalls in street races. Have there been any proposals or discussions with both sides about staging a tire test to further develop these tires?

Also, shoutout to FOC for the coverage upgrades (quali timer, track preview) this week. Is there a specific place to leave broadcast feedback?

Atilla Veyssal, Madison, WI

MP: The @IndyCaronFOX social accounts seem to be rather responsive.

From Firestone Racing's Cara Krstolic, Director of Race Tire Engineering and Manufacturing:

"Thank you for your question, Atilla. Indeed, Bridgestone and Firestone have always embraced racing as a proving ground -- a mobile lab for accelerating development and learning more about new materials, technologies and processes under the most extreme conditions. And as a company focused on helping create a more sustainable future for racing, mobility and beyond, we’re increasingly using racing to explore, prove, and advance new sustainable ideas and innovation.

"Guayule-derived natural rubber is one good example of that, as we've successfully used it in the sidewalls of the Firestone Firehawk alternate (green-sidewall) race tires on street courses for the past three years. Other recent examples include our Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 race tires that incorporated materials made from hard-to-recycle plastics (2023) and palm oil waste residue (2024 and 2025). And these efforts are just the beginning. We have a variety of ideas that we are working to prove and study through racing, particularly with recycled and renewable materials. It’s all with the goal of helping us advance sustainable innovation across all of Bridgestone. We’re excited about what’s coming soon, so stay tuned!”

Q: What's going on with Toronto? We're now in May and they still haven't started ticket renewals, let alone new sales. This usually takes place in January or February. Rumor around town is the race could be at risk, but nobody is sure why. Do you have any insights as to what's happening? Is there any risk to this year's or future races?

Ben, Toronto

MP:

Race is happening this year and next year. From Green Savoree Race Promotions:

Tickets in Toronto are planned to launch the week of May 19.

Q: Ed Pink passed away recently. ‘The Old Master was mostly known for drag racing engines, but he did have involvement at Indianapolis and in sports cars. Did you ever meet him or have any interaction with him?

Kevin Schram, Albuquerque, NM

MP: Met him a few times at historic races, of all places, since his motors propelled a number of wickedly fast cars. My drag racing friends are gutted. Huge respect for all he achieved and continued to achieve.

Q: Why doesn't RLL hire Sato full-time?  He may be old and may break a few cars along the way, but he seems to be the only driver there that can get some speed out of the cars the team provides.

Darth Buckeye

MP: He’s taken a significant job running Honda’s global driver development program, so that’s the first reason. And at 48, there isn’t much runway left for Taku. Rookie Louis Foster continues to impress, so he’s the next-generation solution, and while Graham Rahal continues to struggle in qualifying, he hasn’t lost his race-day touch. What RLL needs is to get its hands on someone like a Will Power, if he isn’t retained by Penske, who isn’t exactly young but has a few more years of front-running capabilities, or a Rinus VeeKay, who would solve a lot of problems, in its third car.

Q: Any news on IndyCar's quest for a third engine manufacturer coinciding with the introduction of the new car? And with all of the recent grumbling in F1 about the cost and complexity of the current power units, is there any chance that IndyCar would be able to peel off an engine builder or two to join IndyCar?

Or does IndyCar have a better chance of grabbing a PU manufacturer from the WEC/IMSA side of things?

Elliott Killick, Washington, DC

MP: After Porsche from about a month ago, the latest rumor I heard involved Toyota, but I can’t say if it’s real. Here’s the main issue: IndyCar doesn’t have a new engine formula in place. I can’t think of how a racing series -- any racing series -- would be able to get a manufacturer to commit to building engines before it knows what it would build, how much it would cost, etc.

F1 serves a global market, and after soccer, F1’s the most popular sport in the world. It’s gaining manufacturers, not losing them, so no, I can’t see any of them leaving for IndyCar’s benefit.

There are no engines used in IMSA or WEC that would fit in an Indy car, other than the Honda/Acura 2.4-liter twin-turbo V6 found in the ARX-06 GTP cars which is the same engine that was also meant to be used in IndyCar until the rules were changed.

Q: So the annual whining about the poor start alignment at Long Beach has dragged on a bit longer than usual this year, but it has actually led me to think of a solution. I can't think of another track where the issue wouldn't be solved by IndyCar being more willing to wave off a bad start, as it’s that super-tight hairpin finishing the lap that is the cause of LB's start issues, but given it’s always the worst start of the year, special attention is worth considering/

Here's the idea: A ways after the hairpin exit, have the front row stop. Not for a standing start, but to wait for the rest of the field to get around the hairpin and line up. Have them stop at a spot that gives just enough space for the whole field to roll up in formation with about a car length between rows. Then once the last row has stopped, they get waved to start rolling again, and from there the start proceeds under normal rules.

Might need to move the initial starting point down the frontstretch a bit to make it work, but if Mid-Ohio can start the race on a completely different section of the track, Long Beach can certainly move the start line a couple hundred feet to help make this procedure work.

Either that or just don't let them accelerate until they hit the start line. Sometimes the real solution is just that simple.

FormulaFox

MP: And then you run the risk of stalls and mass confusion seconds before the race is due to start.

Q: Regarding Sato’s shunt and RLL’s need to purchase a new Dallara tub -- can teams secure any type of insurance coverage?

David S

MP: They can, and do.

Two minutes later, the Geico gecko showed up. Joe Skibinski/IMS Photo

Q: Love the Mailbag. Two questions on my mind after reading last week's edition.

This may be an oversimplification but does the next generation of IndyCar engine have to be just one type of engine? It sure seems that Penske Entertainment is frozen in indecision, trying to choose between the exact formula that Honda wants and the exact formula that Chevy wants. Does it have to be only a 3.2L V6 with hybrid, for example? Or, can they leave a little wiggle room for Honda, Chevy and other OEMs to run the type of engine they choose?

I know that IMSA has a whole darned variety of engines all competing against each other in the headlining prototype class, and that seems to not be an issue.

With regards to that fact that IndyCar doesn't have early season ovals, it seems to be that Penske Entertainment shrugs and says that no ovals have expressed interest.

Surely Penske Entertainment does not really just sit around and wait to be called by a track or a promoter?

Unless they're bleeding money, it would appear the future is the Iowa/Milwaukee model where IndyCar promotes its own races so that it can dictate its own schedule. Run some kind of Florida 500 at Homestead in February or March, and let FOX open the season broadcast with that.

Nick

MP: It can be anything Penske Entertainment wants it to be. Penske’s people have conversations with all kinds of tracks -- outgoing and incoming calls -- but since Penske no longer owns a wide array of circuits like he did decades ago, it’s very much a case of being prone to the interest or disinterest held by many of the venues we’d love to visit with IndyCar.

The most basic way that I look at the situation is this: If a track believes paying IndyCar between $1-2 million for its sanction fee to turn up and race would generate a profit, it will ring and try to do a deal. If those calls aren’t being made by Track X, it suggests they don’t see IndyCar, at least at this moment, as being a money maker.

Q: There's some reductive reasoning with hybrid engines. F1 has had hybrids since 2011, the racing is mostly good, and people talk about wanting V10s back. IndyCar adds hybrids, the road course racing hasn't been good in 2025, and everyone complains about the engines.

To bring this to a question, the reason both series went with hybrids is because the manufacturers wanted it for road relevancy. How many people at or watching a race could realistically explain how the engine works for the series they are watching, or how a road going hybrid car's system works? The engines are being talked about, but it doesn't seem to be in the way that the OEM marketing department would want.

Will, Indy

MP: Very few, Will. But if the price of having major auto companies in a racing series is using hybrids, or whatever they deem as an important technological link to the cars they sell, I’m not sure what a series can do. Not unless, in the case of IndyCar, Penske Entertainment is willing to cover the tens of millions it would lose in manufacturer investments on engines, event sponsorships, and all kinds of other expenditures each year by going to a spec motor without manufacturer branding.

Granted, that’s the general way it was in the Offy, Offy turbo, and Cosworth turbo eras where manufacturers weren’t a big thing, but we’re talking about those times coming to an end in the mid-'80s. If Penske wants to go back in time by many decades, it could become the new-old norm without heavy manufacturer involvement, but I don’t want to contemplate what it would do to the series’ financial health.

Q: Honda via HRC took over the livery of the series-leading driver and

reigning champion [Palou] for Barber, on the most successful

Honda-based team [Ganassi], at the beginning of May. With rumors of a

spec engine in the series' future, this seems like a statement.

Ed, Jersey

MP: The 10 car went into the season with a few unsold races, and if you look back at some of its sponsors at Barber since 2021, it suggests this event has been a hard sell for the team. No statement being made, other than it’s crazy to think the back-to-back championship-winning car is not flush with sponsorship.

Q: A Mailbag question surfaced about whether DW12s could be raced once the next gen model is introduced. What will teams do with their obsolete DW12s? That's easy -- offer them for sale as full racing simulators, with safety belts, fully functioning steering wheel and all.

You may ask how many people will pay for a DW12 on electronic steroids? I recall a "Peanuts" feature where Charlie Brown set up a lemonade stand in the desert with glasses priced at $1,000,000 each. Lucy walks by, chats with Charlie about his nice stand but questions his high pricing. "It's a high price," says Charlie. "But all I need is one good customer!"

The same goes for those limited number of DW12 tubs. Coming to ebay soon!

David, Pittsburgh, PA

MP: As someone who spends a lot of time in the historic racing world, I’ll be the bearer of bad news and say there are no expectations for DW12s to start showing up at major events once the model retired. First, it’s just not desired as a "vintage" car among those I know who buy modern race cars for historic racing.

Second, there’s the problem of engine suppliers like Chevy/Ilmor and Honda/HRC showing no interest in supporting cars like the DW12 once they go vintage. Dario Franchitti is the most famous example -- he has one of his Team KOOL Green Reynard CART cars and wants nothing more than to drive it again, but Honda won’t make an engine available.

But, HRC does support the modern cars it has sold like the ex-Meyer Shank/Penske/WTR Acura ARX-05 DPis by signing contracts with the owner(s) to fly out engine technicians to handle that side of running the cars. That’s providing extended support for its former cars, which is obviously different than keeping old motors up and running for cars it never owned or sold.

Lastly, there’s the technology side. Buying an ex-Le Mans 2000 Corvette C5.R and running it with a few friends is possible; it has some electronics to consider, but at its core, we’re talking about a big V8 with a car built around it. That’s not the case with a hybrid IndyCar that’s packed with things that can only be serviced and run by those who know the cars, and that’s an issue historic racing is facing across the board.

Take the high-tech of today, and in many cases, they’re a step too far -- or many steps too far -- for the average vintage racer to use. Compare that to retro F1 cars -- pre electronics -- that are thriving, and even some of the CART-era IndyCars that can be run by an experienced group of three or four IndyCar veterans, and even the IMSA DPis, which are right on the edge of being too complex for most to own. It’s only going to get worse in the years ahead, so there might be a cutoff for cars like the DW12.

If you see a DW12 a few years from now, it will most likely be a show car done up by teams in the colors of their current sponsor, or as showpieces that sit in the caves or garages of those who like having a static car display.

The DW12 appears to be headed for a very quiet retirement. James Black/IMS Photo

Q: In a recent Mailbag answer about the lack of track time at the recent Indy Open Test, you wrote, "We lost two hours and 45 minutes to a failure of internet connectivity on pit lane, so the teams/officials/drivers couldn’t communicate with each other."

Can't team personnel and drivers simply use the old fashion pit board to communicate while out on the track?

Jerry, Houston

MP: They could, if that was the only problem. What the boards can’t do is give instant info from race control to the drivers, spotters, or pit stands in the event of an emergency, since all of the communication systems are digital/VOIP.

Q: I saw that Oliver Askew is joining Andretti in Formula E as a second reserve driver. Do you know if this position is only for the simulator or if Askew will at least be entitled to a real test session? Absent from the circuits for several years, do you know if Askew has any plans to actually return to competition in IMSA or elsewhere?

Yannick 

MP: Last saw Oliver at Portland in 2023 and he was busy trying to find work in IndyCar, IMSA, FE, and so on. I don’t know of any plans, since plans involve someone offering a job in order to then have a plan. But Lord, he needs to be hired to drive something fast because he’s too talented to be a first or second reserve driver at any team.

DOMINIK WILDE: Askew won’t be doing any testing this season, unfortunately. Because Andretti is a customer team, it’s not permitted to do any in-season testing outside of the rookie test which will follow the Berlin E-Prix in July -- and since Askew contested the full 2021-22 season (with Andretti) he's not eligible for that.

He will, however, be on the ground plenty of times for the rest of the season filling in for Jak Crawford as reserve driver while Crawford contests Formula 2 rounds, ready to step in if Jake Dennis or Nico Mueller are unable to drive for whatever reason.

Askew was already at Homestead in April, which clashed with Bahrain’s Formula 2 races. He’ll also be in Tokyo, which clashes with Imola, China which clashes with Barcelona, and the London season finale which clashes with Spa.

Q: Why do F1 team struggle with communicating to their drivers when faster traffic is approaching? NASCAR spotters do a much better job communicating situational awareness to their drivers.

Last weekend’s race in Miami provided examples where Norris almost collided with Ocon, who was dawdling on the track, and Verstappen prevented his own teammate from moving further forward in Sprint qualifying. F1 is considered the pinnacle of racing technology but do they need to add proximity indicators and rear cameras to the cars to prevent recurring incidents where drivers are blocked by slower traffic? Grid penalties don’t seem to be discouraging what is a dangerous situation.

David, Overland Park, KS

CHRIS MEDLAND: As is often the case with these sort of topics, it's a combination of things. If we take the best like-for-like comparison, when NASCAR is on road courses they split the field into groups to get the size down to a manageable level, which will be similar to F1's all 20 cars in Q1. But then the timing line is at a different spot, so cars can dive straight into the pits after completing a lap and reduce the amount of traffic on track that could be encountered.

In F1, obviously the cars are going a heck of a lot quicker than a NASCAR Cup car during flat-out qualifying laps, so race engineers have less time to react, but they are always giving gaps to their drivers out on track and warning them of approaching traffic if they are not on a flying lap themselves. So a number of those incidents where it gets close is down to the driver in question not paying attention, or making the wrong call about where to move and when.

The reason they go so slowly, though, is to prepare the tires in the best way possible, and the Pirellis are more sensitive and fragile in terms of the preparation they need compared to a NASCAR tire. But at the same time they are given specific deltas by the FIA that they must adhere to, so they have a maximum lap time they must not exceed. Those points have a big impact on the speed a driver can do on an out-lap or cool-down lap, so they have their hands partly tied in terms of track position, etc.

It's why you see the silly crawling exit from the pit lane during each session, to space out the gaps but also have a window to prepare the tires in, and those are all added factors that impact how a race engineer will ask their driver to respond in terms of track position and traffic.

As for the solutions you suggest, David, they already exist. Drivers get the gaps on their dash of the cars in front and behind, but also the teams have all of that data on the pit wall too, and that's where the race engineer is informing the driver. Plus the onboard rearward facing camera is a feed the team can see, while at low speed the driver's mirrors are more usable than when flat out. But all of those aspects can only have limited impact when one car is doing 220mph and another is doing 60.

To offer the obvious one up that I think would improve the situation, it would be having the timing line before the pit entry like on NASCAR and IndyCar road and street courses, so that drivers spend less time out on track before starting a lap (so a shorter distance that cars will be going slowly) and then they can immediately pit at the end of a run to remove slow cars on in-laps too.

So once again it boils down to "blame the tires." Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Q: Overall I thought that the Texas Cup race was pretty entertaining. That bump in Turn 4 definitely threw some unpredictable anxieties into it for this fan. The ending was an absolute banger, with side-by-side battles for first and second in the closing laps. From looking like McDowell get his third career Cup win to the day just going in up in smoke for him.

Kudos to Logano for persevering and being there when he needed to and snagging that win away. He’s been a constant stage points earner this year and it was his overall finishes that have held him back. Joey definitely deserves that win, and perhaps he might go on a tear to quiet some of the fan base that aren’t all too pleased that he’s got a win and is in the Playoffs now, given the season that he had been having!

Kevin, AZ

KELLY CRANDALL: Texas Motor Speedway has certainly become a one-of-a-kind place because of its character, with two sets of corners that are different and the bumps that are becoming more prominent year after year. On one hand, I want to see drivers be able to race all over the racetrack, but on the other hand, it’s not bad to have one race a year at a track that is treacherous if a driver goes over the line.

The block Michael McDowell made was incredible, and I never thought it would work out for either driver by the time they got to Turn 3. I’m not sure why that isn’t getting more attention. Well, probably because we still had another caution with McDowell, then crashing a lap later, and overtime. It’s easy to just move on to the next thing. Meanwhile, Logano is inevitable, as I wrote in my column. We have seen this repeatedly: The No. 22 team is down but never out. Logano is talented and strong-willed, and if you give him and his team an opening, they will take it, and that is both race wins and championships.

THE FINAL WORD

From Robin Miller's Mailbag, May 7, 2014

Q: Since it’s May, I think we should look back and think of some things that used to be a tradition but fell by the wayside. Such as: Gypsy Mitch's annual corn on the cob fest in May and the ice cold watermelon at the Hoosier Hundred. Mom Unser’s chili. The Last Row Party. Bars inside Gasoline Alley (aka Jim Hurtubise’s garage). Uncle Bobby’s Valet Service (aka destroying rent a cars and parking Roger Penske’s rental car in the swimming pool!) Foyt and his niblings making life hell for the English guys (aka: Furinners), usually the Team Lotus, Lola, McLaren, Brabham and Firestone crews, until he had them. "Training films" shown nightly inside the garages. Slamming a knock-off hub hammer against the side of a 200-gallon fuel tank while the newbies scraped the rust/grunge off of the insides. Scam phone calls to the pay phones, i.e., in 1995, “Roger Penske, there’s a phone call for you from Dr. Jack Kevorkian holding in booth number three!”

David Sutton

ROBIN MILLER: Well, it sounds like you were around for most of them and sadly, that kind of fun doesn’t seem to exist anymore. How about Mario duct-taping Bobby Unser inside a phone booth? There was talk of bringing the original Last Row Party out of mothballs but it never happened. And that classic page, compliments of the late Scott Roembke and Tim Cindric, said: “Dr. Jack Kevorkian please to go the Penske garage immediately” after The Captain’s cars missed the show.