The RACER Mailbag, July 12

Welcome to the RACER Mailbag. Questions for any of RACER’s writers can be sent to mailbag@racer.com. Due to the high volume of questions received, we can’t guarantee that every letter will be published, but we’ll answer as many as we can. Published questions may be edited for length and clarity. Questions received after 3pm ET each Monday will appear the following week.

Q: Have the IndyCar rules changed regarding grid drops for unapproved engine changes? Seems there have been quite a few failures (especially Hondas) but no grid penalties that I have noticed.

Ed Joras

MARSHALL PRUETT: Not to my knowledge, Ed. Once an entry goes beyond its fourth engine provided in the four-engine lease, the grid penalties begin. Since we’re only nine races in, it would be too early for fifth or sixth engines to be needed, but it isn’t far away.

Q: I realize it’s a very, very big “if”; however, if Alex Palou stays with Ganassi, are we witnessing a changing of guard where Scott Dixon no longer the main championship threat on the team?

Matt, Dallas, TX

MP: Palou’s gone from Ganassi after he drives out of the Laguna Seca paddock on Sunday evening, September 10, so that’s happening. But in the absence of Palou, no, I don’t think Dixon would be unable to deliver another title before he retires. Where Palou’s had the same race engineer and crew chief since he arrived at Ganassi in 2021, Dixon’s on his third race engineer and second crew chief over the same period, and that can’t be ignored. By 2023, the combination of Palou, Julian Robertson, and Ricky Davis is finely tuned and devastating.

Dixon and crew chief Tyler Rees — new in 2022 — have formed a powerful duo, and after they torched Team Penske in the Indy 500 Pit Stop Competition, we can say that side of the driver/drew relationship is super strong. With new race engineer Ross Bunnell, there’s tons of potential that’s been shown, but they’re still searching for their first win together. They have the potential to reach title-winning heights and they’re on the clock to get that maiden win and then keep building on it.

Q: I was sitting in Turn 4 at Mid-Ohio and noticed that when USF2000 and USF Pro 2000 came into Turn 4 on the parade lap they slowed way up, coming very close to running into the back of the car in front of them. Why did they slow up so much? I was curious to know if they were testing brakes, or what the reason was.

Lisa Klitz

MP: Since I didn’t see it, it’s hard to say if there was an issue that caused a knock-on effect with one driver slowing unexpectedly and the rest reacted in a panic. If that wasn’t the reason, it’s common for drivers to go hard towards the end of a long straight during the parade lap(s) and brake hard to generate heat from the brakes that radiates into the wheels and tires to build tire pressures and temperature.

Q: An incredible drive by Shane van Gisbergen in Chicago in an unfamiliar car and track he’s never seen before. It was reminiscent of Rob Wickens at St. Pete in his debut. Do you think Chip and “The Captain” took notice?

Dave Surgent

MP: I’m sure NASCAR team-owning Roger Penske did, and Chip loves all forms of racing and likely watched the race as well. But I doubt either of them came away with a plan to hire Shane. The next IndyCar vacancy Roger will have is when Power retires, and unless Andretti covers him off with a long and lucrative extension, I’d bet Kyle Kirkwood will be at the top of his shopping list. Chip’s looking to hire race-ready drivers or sign those who can completely fund the car. The patience to sign and develop SVG into an IndyCar driver, which existed when McLaughlin came over, doesn’t seem to be there these days.

Every team owner in the country took notice when Shane van Gisbergen claimed a shock NASCAR win in Chicago, but whether any of them see him as a Scott McLaughlin-style project is another question. Nigel Kinrade/Motorsport Images

Q: How did the TV broadcast not bring up Michael Andretti’s nearly identical crash into China Beach back in 1998? I was there, sitting in the Esses, and it was horrifying.

Brian in Ohio

MP: The broadcast did show Michael’s 1998 crash.

Q: Regarding RLL, is this real progress or a false dawn? They have made a step, but will it continue?

Don Hopings, Cathedral City, CA

MP: Well, IndyCar races on five unique types of circuits, so we’d need to go back to Texas or Indy to know if RLL’s terrible speedway showings have improved. They were good at the first two street circuits, but dreadful at the most recent one in Detroit. They were good at Barber and the Indy road course, decent at Road America, and really good at Mid-Ohio, so they have a strong road course package. They haven’t been on a short oval (Iowa) or an intermediate oval (WWTR), so there’s more data required before we can make any claims about where RLL stands across all disciplines.

But, and this is important, Bobby Rahal has been taken a bigger role in fixing RLL’s issues, and there’s a direct connection between Bob lighting fires beneath people and the gradual rise in competitiveness.

Q: First, my condolences to the family of the driver who was killed at Spa, but before we go into making knee-jerk changes to the track, we should look at the circumstances. The race should never have been restarted as the visibility was so poor that following drivers could not see his stopped car. I have also noticed from this incident and from watching other racing videos on YouTube that a lot of drivers are not slowing for yellows. When I raced SCCA club racing, a waved yellow meant slow down; now, drivers are barely lifting as they enter the crash scene.

Maybe we need better training of the drivers and a new flag like a red/yellow on a diagonal that indicates a crash with cars or debris blocking the track and drivers need to be able to stop quickly. Racing is dangerous, but accidents can be prevented. What are your thoughts about this?

Mark B., Floral City, FL

MP: Some corners have a much higher potential — and history — of calamity than others, and the Eau Rouge complex (including Raidillon, where this latest accident occurred) has been on that list for decades and decades. All four turns at Indy are on that list. About half of the 156-turn ’Ring would qualify. The potential is there for about half of the 8.5-mile Le Mans circuit. Sections of Road America and Laguna Seca are terrifying to ponder in the event of a stuck throttle or brake failure. Finding a stopped car sitting broadside while flying over a crest at VIR or Road Atlanta is the stuff of nightmares.

Obvious statement — we should always search for improvements in safety, and at the most dangerous corners, a higher level of vigilance is required. But if we start to neuter the Eau Rouges, I’m not sure the sport holds the same appeal. We do this for many reasons, and one of them involves the thrill of danger. Golf exists. Soccer exists. They’re both extremely popular, and yet, motor racing is also hugely popular because it’s so radically different in ways that are exhilarating and slightly scary. We choose to do this, despite the grave risks that tennis and basketball players never need to contemplate, and I hope we don’t give in to the calls — which have also been around for decades and decades — to alter what makes us who we are.

Q: I noticed something unusual during the Mid-Ohio IndyCar race. Whenever the Chevrolet-powered cars crested the hill in Turn 5, they made a popping sound. I found it odd, and even my not-mechanically-inclined wife noticed it as well.

It reminded me of the anti-turbo-lag pops the Indy NXT cars make off-throttle, but it was the first time I had ever noticed it from the big cars, and it was specific to the Chevies. It can even be heard in the onboard video of Pato O’Ward’s car released by the series.

Was this a new feature of Chevrolet engine mapping? Or have I just not been observant until now?

Brandon Clarke, Milford, OH

MP: That’s the ECU at work doing just as you mentioned, as it triggers anti-lag to keep the turbo spinning while Pato is off the throttle. Nothing new there for Chevy (or Honda), and the on/off throttle behavior of the engines through ECU/throttle mapping is easily the biggest area of ongoing tuning for both brands.

Q: So between Penske, Andretti, Ganassi, Arrow and Rahal, who is out to make room for Malukas?

Jeff, Colorado

MP: Penske has no vacancies. Andretti has one-two openings, so that’s possible. McLaren has all the quirk it needs with Rossi. Rahal has one seat. And then there’s ECR. I truly have no idea where he’ll end up because he isn’t the first or second choice on the free agent market, which means he’ll likely need to wait and see what some of the aforementioned teams do first and then decide based on the best available options.

Q: Since former Chicago mayor Jane Byrne actually had a signed deal with CART for an IndyCar GP only to see it scuttled, what are the chances that NBC, as the television partner for both IndyCar and NASCAR, sees the ratings figures just achieved and turns Chicago into a NASCAR/IndyCar doubleheader? As a downtown resident, I’d like to see such a downtown disruption more worthwhile!

Mike Vicari, Chicago

MP: I wish NBC had the power to modify events, but this was all NASCAR and the city. And at the moment, IndyCar isn’t big enough or wealthy enough to get in on the Chicago action.

Chicago’s probably a closed shop as far as IndyCar is concerned. Motorsport Images

Q: Seems like a lot of people were angry at Benjamin Pedersen after Mid-Ohio, but isn’t a lot of that misdirected? I always thought the driver’s job was to go as fast as he can while the guys on the pit stand are responsible for keeping track of race position and who’s coming up on their driver and whether he should let them through. I didn’t think Pederson was obviously blocking anyone.

Would it help address the driver’s issues if everyone not on the lead lap just had PTP disabled? I realize there’s no clear-cut answer that’s fair in every situation, but at least then drivers would know where they stand.

John

MP: By rule, he did nothing wrong. By etiquette, he made an ass of himself. He needed to put up a fight to prevent Palou from lapping him, because if he didn’t, he’d lose the faith of his team and be viewed as an easy out by the rest of the drivers. But when he kept fighting like his life depended on it after Palou got by and pulled the same routine on second and third and so on, he showed the best drivers in the field that he was a wild card who can’t be trusted to make smart decisions.

There’s a general agreement among IndyCar drivers where they try to avoid screwing each other — and there are exceptions of course, like if they’re fighting over a win, but if a Rossi or Newgarden is having a bad day, they aren’t going to try and ruin a strong run by a Dixon or Herta. And yet, they’re all capable of being bad citizens and doing exactly what Pedersen did. So when a rookie is more than two miles behind them on track and ready to be lapped over and over again, and chooses to go rogue, he gets booted from the rest of the group that abides by that agreement and opens himself up to being screwed at every opportunity by those he acted out against.

Best thing he can do is apologize to the field and ask for forgiveness. The last thing he and the Foyt team needs is to have a target on his back at Toronto, Iowa and so on.

Q: I just watched the 2013 Freedom 100 finish for the 100th-plus time. Fantastic finish. Why did Indy drop it, and is there a possibility for it to come back? In NASCAR, Cup drivers sometimes run the Xfinity and Truck Series. Any reason why we couldn’t see Dixie, Will or somebody run in Indy NXT?

Steve Coe, Vancouver, WA

MP: The Freedom 100 is gone as long as Roger Penske owns the series. He saw some of the big and scary crashes shortly before buying the track and both series, and decided he didn’t want to run the risk of a maiming or fatality with a kid behind the wheel, much less a maiming or fatality two days before the Indy 500.

I can’t think of any value an IndyCar veteran would get from running NXT.

Q: Road America’s IndyCar program covered the main event OK, but only included only driver headshots of the NXT racers. No car pictures, no info, no nothing. Not even a referral to a website. The other series were not even mentioned. How are fans to get even the most basic info if not from the program?

Steve Rosaaen, Ellsworth, WI

MP: I didn’t see the event’s program while I was there, so I can’t speak for what was or wasn’t in it, but if I wanted to know such things and the program sucked, I’d use my phone or tablet and visit each series’ website (Dr. Google never fails) and go to the pages for teams and drivers and whatnot and arm myself with whatever knowledge the program didn’t offer. I’d also go and walk around the paddocks and look at the cars and signage and get a good feel for the colors and names of the main players, and maybe also use my phone/tablet to take photos of them to refer to if I wanted a reference to use if I forgot who was in what car.

Q: With all of the technology contained in IndyCar and F1, why hasn’t anyone developed a small video screen and placed it on the roll cage to provide side and rearview images for the drivers? The existing mirrors can’t give much of a view and the placement would allow drivers to pick up more of a view while still looking forward.

Craig Nelson

MP: I love the assumption that drivers care about or want to know what’s behind or alongside them! Video cameras are the norm in sports cars, so I’d bet an open-wheeler with a wraparound halo or aeroscreen could incorporate a slim, wide screen if each series wanted to seek a vendor/partner for it.

Q: I’m curious to know if VIR or Road Atlanta ever come up in IndyCar scheduling conversations? Both host IMSA races so I would think that logistically they could support an IndyCar race. Either would add a fresh new race in areas where there isn’t a huge IndyCar presence at the moment. With VIR’s multiple long straights, I feel like it’d be an entertaining race.

Connor, Columbus, OH

MP: They would, and no, the speeds and safety involved with sports cars that fully envelop the drivers, and the speeds and safety measures to handle rocket-fast open-wheel cars with those exposed wheel and roofless machines, mean there’s no way IndyCar races at VIR or Road Atlanta without the tracks undergoing vast changes.

Q: In a response in the July 5 Mailbag, you wrote, “IndyCar needs to snap out of its olden ways and try a few things that aren’t predictable and safe.” OK, here’s my suggestion:

End the season at Watkins Glen on the first weekend in October.

F1, of course, raced at the Glen in early October and drew large crowds for 20 years. A large portion of those crowds were college students, and there are a lot of colleges within relatively easy reach of the track. Market the race not only to the racing audience but also to the weekend-party college audience. By early October those students are ready for an off-campus blowout.

Your first reaction may be to recall the Watkins Glen “bog” and the infamously unruly activities that took place there. Today, the bog is history. Tracks, including Watkins Glen, have learned how to minimize the potential for such things.

Your second reaction may be to object to a race during the heart of the NFL season. I will grant that the NFL has grown to be even more popular today than it was during the F1 years, but I think that the majority of the racing audience will remain loyal to racing. The Pittsburgh Steelers were arguably the most popular NFL team during the F1 years at Watkins Glen, but the Steelers did not have a negative impact on F1 attendance at the Glen. And the college party crowd was not then and is not now a slave to the NFL schedule.

Your next reaction may be to object to an October date in the Finger Lakes regions. It can be cold and wet. It was often cold and wet during those F1 races, but the crowds were there. It can be cold and wet at NFL games, but the crowds are there. People are remarkably accepting of iffy weather when doing things they want to do — just look at the crowd that stuck around in Chicago last weekend. And bad weather is not a given at the Glen in October.

Having now addressed some of the possible objections, let’s look at the positives: It would be an IndyCar race in the northeast market, a market that is the largest in the country and which has been ignored by IndyCar in recent years. It would be both a “throwback,” hearkening back to the F1 years, and at the same time “new,” trying something outside of the current IndyCar box. It would extend the IndyCar season into the fall which, frankly, it needs in order to cut down on the dreadfully long off-season.

I am very much an oval-track guy, yet here I am, advocating for a road course. It would be, as you asked, not “predictable and safe.”  But it could be a success, and it would be lot of fun.  It ought to be tried.

Bobster

MP: Thanks for the ideas, Bob.

Q: Been a few years since I’ve been to Mid-Ohio, and I was glad to see the west side stands were upgraded to new gleaming, shiny steel, compared to the old, rotten wood seats.

The downside: the few times it was sunny, I felt like I was in one of those easy-bake ovens. Can they dull out or paint the stands, or (miracle happens) put a roof over the damn thing? Also, while I’m still in my whiner rant mode, how about a few porta-potties on that side of the track? We had to make the long trek under the tunnel every time.

John Becker, Illinois

MP: Duly noted, John.

Who’s up for ending the IndyCar season at The Glen? Motorsport Images

Q: The IMS authorities have been touting their drive for “diversity.” This year’s Indy 500 featured only one woman, and the 2022 race had none. I cannot think of any prominent woman who could get a ride for 2024. Beth Paretta’s project seems to have just dried up and blown away.

Three years with half the population not represented in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” seems a pretty poor showing given the stated aim of reflecting diversity. Am I wrong?

Anthony Jenkins, Brockville, Ontario

MP: I hear you, but we’re in a generational phase where, barring Simona De Silvestro or Katherine Legge, there are no turnkey solutions that come to mind at the Speedway. Behind them, there are some extremely promising young women who could join in, but the Calderons and Chadwicks and Pins and Powells have a combined total of zero oval races on their records.

We hope Jamie Chadwick will show well on her oval debut at Iowa and again at WWTR, and while she’s only shown an interest in NASCAR, Hailie Deegan might be the closest to taking on something like the Indy 500 based on her multiple seasons of ARCA and Trucks experience. But if we’re talking about readying the next Simona in American open-wheel, there’s a big void to fill in regards to having ass-kicking women running up front in the USF Championships presented by Cooper Tires or Indy NXT by Firestone.

So, while we don’t have a number of next-generation women racers who are ready to race in the Indy 500, we also have almost nothing being done about it, except for Michael Andretti with Chadwick. IndyCar teams like Carpenter and Ganassi will take boatloads of money to develop any driver who can pay for the opportunity, and so far, all of those drivers have been young men. There are a few young women who come from the same kinds of wealth, but they’ve chosen IMSA as the place they want to race. I can only hope that young women with the financial means start choosing USF/NXT/IndyCar.

Separate from the driving side, we’ve had an explosion of diversity on the team side at Indy, and that makes me happy.

Q: What is the rough budget for an IndyCar team?

John L.

MP: Annual budgets range from about $6-11 million per car. Engine lease is just over $1m. Tire lease isn’t too far behind. Crew costs vary based on team size and quality; a 10-year gearbox veteran costs more than a newcomer. First-year race engineer should be a six-figure person, but some teams are cheaper than others; a title-winning engineer will be over $250K at a proper team. Travel is also a big variable since some teams take good care of their crews and others are booking flights and hotels by using the “Lowest Price First” filter (I’m often surprised when I’m staying at a semi-sketchy hotel and find an IndyCar or IMSA team downstairs in the lobby in the morning…)

Q: Why can an F1 car go a whole race on one tank of fuel and an IndyCar would have to refuel at least twice over the same distance? I know there is some difference in the cars, but they look the same and should have the same size fuel tanks.

Don, Grand Rapids, MI

MP: Same reason an 18-wheeler can go a lot longer before refueling than a Ford F-150: Fuel tank big on one, small on the other.

Q: I notice that the NXT cars have a backfire-type noise on shifting. Is this a turbo thing?

Yoshio