The RACER Mailbag, March 18

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 just watched Arlington Practice 2. And as always the booth was very quick to seemingly criticize the marshals when Will Power hit Scott Dixon, saying multiple times that "there was no yellow."

So, I'd like to share how these panels work. The light panels are set up such that if one goes yellow, the following panel automatically goes green (i.e., not from human input but computer, so no delay). I want to point this out because in many cases for street courses, the TV cameras are not set up to show the flags/panels before an apex, but can usually see the next flag station.

In the replays of Dixon's incident, you can see the following panel go green about 1 second after Dixon spins. This means Turn 4 was yellow about 1-2 seconds before Power hit him. Unfortunately, Power was just passing the panel prior to the apex as it went yellow (you can just barely see it come on as he passes it from the in-car replay; he wouldn't have seen it).

So really there was no delay from the marshals, Power was just too close behind Dixon to avoid it.

I'm just tired of people seeking to blame the marshals. They are highly skilled and while not always perfect, do a really good job. And all of them are volunteers who spend their own money to travel to these events and support them. It would be nice if they didn't take unnecessary criticism on social media and the broadcast, especially when they did everything 100% correct, regardless of if the TV view showed that. And I'm not implying that the booth was looking to place blame on the marshals, but when they incorrectly claim a station wasn't showing a yellow, fans assume they're correct and take to social media and start bashing the marshals...and they don't deserve that.

If anyone at an event ever wants to know more about the light panels or flags, go up to the fence and ask a marshal! We are friendly and love to help fans understand those things. Just do it in between sessions as we get a little busy when cars are on track!

Anonymous IndyCar and IMSA marshal

P.S. Also, while the flags/panel are further up from the apex, at street courses the marshal controlling the panel is in the apex so there is no visibility issue. You can see the marshal push the button on the replay if you know where to look.

MARSHALL PRUETT: It’s a hindsight thing, but my issue with the Power/Dixon incident is the placement of the light panel leading into one of many blind corners, which are a hallmark of street courses. IndyCar told me the local panel was activated and yellow for approximately 4.5 seconds before Power drew level with it, and if that’s the case, he should have reacted much sooner. Based on his in-car feed, Power did nothing to suggest he knew there was a yellow; he kept pushing hard into the corner, and then found a backwards and motionless Dixon and they made contact. A light activates on each driver’s dash when a full-course caution is triggered, and that appeared to pop up while he was just about to ram the back of Dixon’s car.

I don’t know the distance from the panel down to the corner’s apex, but it’s a decent stretch. If Power did not indeed spot the panel on his left was illuminated in yellow, I was left wondering why another panel wasn’t placed down on the left or right at the corner itself – akin to an overhead stoplight you track on approach to an intersection – to further warn drivers of danger awaiting them around that blind corner.

If Dixon had spun and the light was activated just as Power passed it, there’s a whole stretch of road where IndyCar left itself with no method to alert drivers to a problem they can’t see. A second panel right at the entry point to the blind corner would ensure there are no information dead zones once the pre-corner panel is passed.

For takeaways, yes, people shouldn’t automatically blame corner workers. IndyCar would also be doing itself a favor to rethink its blind-corner alert methods with the EM light panels.

Q: What in the Sam Hill is with Andretti (sic) Autosport pit crews? They’ve been bad for several years and reached their nadir at Arlington. They are a consistent fiasco. The team seems to have the most money and least results.

Just when will they address this? They are completely wasting driver talent.

Mike in the Malibu of the Midwest (Sheboygan)

MP: Arlington was about as bad as it gets for a single team at any race, but Andretti Green Racing (since we’re using old names also finished 1-3-4 and was the best team on pit lane across the first two races.

Team KOOL Green also leads the championship with Kyle Kirkwood and Marcus Ericsson is off to his best start in many years; Will Power also overcame two terrible races that had nothing to do with pit stops and vaulted to 11th in the standings. How exactly are they wasting talent?

Q: A question last week about catering for the race crews reminded me of the 1974 U.S. Grand Prix at Watkins Glen. The majority of the teams plopped a bucket of KFC or a bag of burgers for the crew members to scarf while they kept working. However, the Renault team stopped everything, set up table and chairs, put our bread, wine and had a proper meal right in the paddock. Quite a delightful contrast. Always remember that!

Michigan Man

MP: I don’t remember the year, but in one of the Autocourse F1 annual reviews I bought in the 1980s, there was a great passage about the outrage expressed within the Ferrari team after wine was banned as a daily part of lunch for the crew. Something about mid-day alcohol possibly being a liability…the sacrilege!