The RACER Mailbag, April 1

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: Do you know whether Don Cusick is going to partner with another team for this year’s Indy 500? Cusick Motorsports has joined forces with Dreyer & Reinbold over the past few years, but I have not read if that’s going to take place this year.

I know that Don has a team in Indy NXT, Cusick Morgan Motorsports, which is great, but I’m really hoping that his team will again be a part of the 500. I met Don in the DRR garage last year, and I immediately became a fan of his. Such a nice man, and he has a great passion for IndyCar and the Indy 500. We need more team owners like him! I’m hoping for good news on his team’s return.

Bill Joseph, Sonoma, CA

MARSHALL PRUETT: He is not involved with DRR. Don’s committing his funding to NXT. We do need more folks like Don in IndyCar. He’s been a gift to a great many people.  

Q: I would like to see Myles Rowe make it to the next level. If he doesn’t finish first or second in this year’s NXT championship, will his window of opportunity be closed?

Doug, Indianapolis

MP: As a full-time IndyCar driver, yes. The newest crop of NXT drivers are making most of the returning full-timers from 2025 look bad. I spent a few minutes talking with a team owner on pit lane after the Barber race and asked about which driver(s) are looking like they could get the job done in IndyCar in a big way, and the few names mentioned were all those who are in their first full season of NXT.

Q: Really love all the Meyer Shank SiriusXM liveries so far this season. Have you been able to have any conversations with MSR regarding having the Rush 50 Something tour on their SiriusXM cars for Markham?

Rush Toronto concerts: Aug. 7, 9, 11, 13.
Markham race: Aug. 16

Rich Huffman, Missoula, MT

MP: No, but I know what I’m asking Shank in our next call… 

Q: Would you happen to have detailed information with regards to why Will Power’s rear brake system failed Saturday?

Bruce,Western Massachusetts

MP: The team was disinclined to answer, but I heard a ruptured rear brake line was the issue. I’ve heard a few reasons for that rupture being possible, but can’t verify the accuracy of why it happened, so I’ll stop there.

A ruptured rear brake line derailed Power's Saturday at Barber. Chris Owens/Penske Entertainment

Q: What has the feedback been from inside the series regarding the race directing for the FOX broadcast?

If you watch the race back, the first pit stop for Kirkwood was a struggle, to put it politely. I like the Transformers movies so I am easily distracted by explosions and shiny objects. I typically never notice this kind of stuff. It worries me that I noticed and makes me wonder what it looks like to anyone with a more critical eye to things.

P.S. I thought Will Buxton did an amazing job with his fill time in FP2 and loved the honesty and emotion added to the end of the race. I am sure you’ll get your share of weekly complaints so maybe I should provide weekly compliments to balance the scales?

Ryan in West Michigan 

MP: The work of FOX’s director has never occurred to me as a topic of conversation to raise with the series, nor has it been raised with me by the series.

If you’re going to start saying positive things on the regular, we might have to consider ending the mailbag. Rampant positivity won’t be accepted. 

Q: What has happened to Pato O'Ward? I have been a huge fan for many years. It was getting hard to hold out hope, for the last year, but Barber was painful, with him running around between 14th and 20th all day. I don't remember a single time he was mentioned on the broadcast. 

It feels like Arrow McLaren has a new favorite driver, and maybe it's time for me to find a new favorite team.

Russ

MP: Is this the same Pato who finished second in the 2025 championship and had three consecutive top fives to open the season? All of that is forgotten with a single terrible event? At least we aren’t overreacting.

Lundgaard’s an amazing driver. And he’s newly paired with one of IndyCar’s great minds in race strategist Kyle Moyer. Christian is doing exactly what he should be doing on road and street courses. If he can become a threat on ovals, he’ll be a complete IndyCar driver.

Wild idea – let’s get more than one bad weekend in the books before we start writing Pato’s obituary and hailing Lundgaard as the new team favorite? 

Q: Do teams with multiple cars set up their cars to match the fastest driver’s car? There seems to be a big difference in the cars. For instance, Dixon and Palou, Penske drivers, etc., would have their cars qualify with nearly equal times. Dixon can’t seem to get close to Palou on the grid, for example. Newgarden and Siegel [ED: Do you mean Malukas?], another example.

Dave S

MP: They do not because every driver likes their car to behave in ways that are either slightly different or significantly different than their teammates.

What Palou loves and uses to set pole position is tailored to his needs, and would not automatically work for Dixon, etc. There might be things tried on Palou’s car that also get tried on Dixon’s, and those things might make Dixon’s car better and faster, but there’s no magic setup to apply from one car to the next that will make both perform equally with different drivers. It’s the drivers who make the speed, and if the setup from a faster teammate feels weird or unsettling, those settings are meaningless to all but the driver who uses them to great effect.

Think of setups like a tailored suit. If you’re six-feet and 175 pounds, that tailored suit is going to be perfect for you. But not for someone five-five and 130 lbs, and wouldn’t work at all for someone six-five and 250. Bottom line is Palou’s perfectly-tailored setup wouldn’t be magic for anyone else unless they liked the same things and drove the same way. That does happen on occasion, but it’s rare.

Scott’s had a rough time this year in qualifying, and he and the team are struggling to find the through-line to those problems. Alex’s setup might contain some ideas to consider, but isn’t a cure-all for Dixie.