Yahoo Autos The RACER Mailbag, April 19
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: Do IndyCar drivers use spotters around the course that will help them know when other drivers are around them? In NASCAR at Road America (and probably other road courses, as well as ovals) they have spotters positioned all around the course to help the drivers know when other cars are getting next to them. Perfect example, the pass at Long Beach where Pato O’Ward went down the inside of Scott Dixon and they made contact — would Dixon have had a spotter at that moment that could have helped? If not any idea why not? A simple “inside, inside” from a spotter could have been a huge help in that instant.
Craig C., Slinger, WI
MARSHALL PRUETT: It’s more a case of one spotter placed strategically on road and street courses, instead of multiple. And not every team uses spotters outside of the ovals.
The Dixon/Pato deal was a tough one because if you know O’Ward, he’s always going to fire his car into the gap, but even knowing that wouldn’t have prevented what happened because he cut to the inside so much later than anyone expected — including Dixon — and from so far back, it wasn’t something Scott or any other driver would have anticipated.
If Dixon had a spotter right there, and was on the radio button leading into the corner, I’m guessing they might have had time to say a word or two as Pato lunged down the inside, but this was more of a surprise than something we saw coming the entire time.
I don’t blame O’Ward for trying, but it was a risky attempt that really needed Dixon to know it was going to happen so he could have moved to the left to save the two of them from making contact. Sometimes that happens — the driver on the outside catches a last-second glimpse in their mirror and adjusts to avoid being hit. That didn’t happen here, and we got the outcome at hand.
Q: Back in 2017 (I think), I heard that the long-awaited book about the history of the Newman/Haas team was put on hold right before it went to the publisher at the request of Carl Haas’s widow. I have not seen any more information on it. Do you know anything about it, and can you check with Gordon Kirby?
Joe Mullins
MP: I spoke with a friend about it at Long Beach and was told the same hold remains in place by his widow. Prospects of seeing the book appear in print didn’t sound promising.
The Newman/Haas story would make a heck of a book, but it seems increasingly unlikely that it will ever get the chance. Motorsport Images
Q: I’ve been wondering something about the upcoming IndyCar hybrid engines for a while now, and recently I haven’t been able to get it out of my head, so I might as well ask.
Electric motors are very torquey, and we all know torque figures have a massive impact on how cars drive depending on how much torque there is and where in the rev range they hit. A lot has been made of the added power, but little talk of the added torque. Do we have an idea of how this is going to influence things? Do they expect it to be in the middle of the rev range? Do they expect to be tuning the engine to hit its power band at higher or lower RPM and having the electric motor handle the other side? Or is it expected to be a more consistent increase across the rev range?
I’m mainly curious because of Indy NXT. I worry that if the added torque comes in too low, hitting hard out of corners, we may end up in a situation where Indy NXT does not adequately train its drivers for the jump to IndyCar, not unlike how it was often said the older Lights cars didn’t sufficiently prepare them for the DW12. And if that happens we have to ask ourselves how to solve that conundrum.
PS: Last week you had a question about if TMS had a road course, and you said you didn’t know. I am happy to inform you that yes, TMS has a 2.3-mile 10-turn infield road course. The ALMS used it in 2000 and 2001, with the 2001 race being the site of the only podium ever achieved by the stylish but fragile Panoz LMP07. Whether or not it has been maintained in a usable state, however, I cannot speak to.
FormulaFox
MP: Definitely understand the training concern, but we trained Indy Lights drivers in the 1990s with flat-bottom cars that made limited downforce and had 420hp and sent them to CART where they had underwings and lots of downforce and 900-plus horsepower, and the Kanaans and Hertas and Helios and Dixons of the world did just fine when dealing with the jump to light speed.
Indy NXT and all of its previous iterations have fluctuated heavily when it comes to speed, technology, and relevance to what those kids would drive in the big series. And yet, each era has seen phenomenal talent emerge and thrive in IndyCar, so I’m not worried about a turbo motor from Chevy or Honda, which already makes prodigious torque, being aided with an extra dose of electric torque. Considering the extra weight the cars will be carrying, the ERS units won’t give drivers the explosive acceleration that made the former LMP1 Hybrids disappear out of the corners like they were dragsters.
Great note about TMS; I’d forgotten about it being part of the early days of the ALMS when half of its schedule seemed to be on crappy rovals. I’m struggling to recall the old infield section as being something the track has preserved; in walking and driving around the infield, nothing stood out as being maintained and utilized, but I could be wrong.
Q: Will we see any 237mph laps at Indy this year?
Jon, Ann Arbor, MI
MP: Based on the surprising leap in speed last year, I’ve been expecting 237s and hoping for some 238s.
Q Where are things at with RC Enerson’s entry to the Indy 500? Let’s hope it’s good news. Are there other possibilities? Having a list of 35-36 cars would be great.
Edward, Italy
MP: I’d heard a formal announcement was imminent last week, and the week before, Edward. They have an engine at their disposal from Chevy, so if they don’t show up for the Open Test tomorrow and Friday, there’s no need to turn up in May because it will be a lost cause in going up against 33 Indy 500 veteran entries.
Q: This point has been made in previous Mailbags, but as a UK-based IndyCar fan I wanted to add my perspective.
I have been very fortunate to attend several IndyCar races at TMS over the last few years. As an F1 fan from the late 1960s, the thing I have missed most of all (with F1) is fan access to the garage and pit areas, which is now largely restricted to celebrities and team/sponsor guests unless you have very deep pockets and can afford Paddock Club access.
I attended my first IndyCar race at Phoenix in 1993, and subsequently visited Long Beach, Michigan, Fontana, Indianapolis, and over the last 10 years Texas. I have to say the highlight for me was the ability to get close to the action with fantastic fan access to meet drivers, watch car preparation, and enjoy practice/qualifying from the pit area. I even chose to visit TMS rather than attend the British Grand Prix when both events were on the same weekend in June.
I was therefore extremely disappointed to see that TMS was only offering Garage Passes for two hours on race day morning — at a cost of $75!
Sadly, I may have seen my last live IndyCar race, at least at TMS. Increased flight costs, a reduced two-day weekend, and little or no garage/pit access now makes it impossible to justify the cost of the trip to TMS from the UK.
I was considering a last-minute trip to this year’s race but the news about limited garage access was definitely a deal breaker. Thankfully we have excellent live IndyCar TV coverage on Sky TV in the UK, and I really enjoyed this year’s race from the comfort of my chair with a couple of cold beers.
Richard, West Yorkshire, UK
MP: Thanks for the insights, Richard. Racing fans will dig deep and spend big to see the sport they love, but once you get the feeling that you’re being taken advantage of by a series or circuit — when the price gouging is evident — the reactions are swift and hard. As they should be. TMS was wrong on garage passes, no doubt. Needs to be fixed for next year.
This happy bunch managed to get some use out of the Texas garage passes, but it sounds like they were in the minority. Also, Josef Newgarden wrecked this kid’s birthday. Chris Owens/Penske Entertainment
Q: I was a bit perplexed when I read the following statement concerning Isotta Faschini’s grim outlook for Monza: “While the team has been targeting the FIA WEC round at Monza following Le Mans for the car’s race debut, RACER understands that the team has been informed by the series that the pit allocation is already at capacity for that race.”
Monza’s active “pit stop area” of the pit lane is only 20-30 meters shorter than Le Mans, yet Le Mans will support 62 entries this year. At Sebring, the WEC teams made use of the “hop over the wall” temporary pit lane with no major race-affecting issues. Can you explain why Monza struggles to field 40 WEC entries due to pit allocation? Is this just a case of the ACO not thinking outside the box? Do the mechanics not want to push the cars backwards after the stop like at Le Mans? Do we need to show them how IndyCar will shoe-horn 27 entries into pit lane at Toronto?
Kyle
MP: RACER’s Graham Goodwin — my Week In Sports Cars podcast co-host, as well — was kind enough to field this WEC-specific item for you:
“Let’s start with the level at which the Isotta Fraschini is currently at in its development: last week’s test was a rollout. By any measure a car as complex as this with a bespoke hybrid system will require very significant test and development time (the car is currently back in the wind tunnel and after that has significant 4WD dyno time booked) that means the time to its next track test is measured in weeks and not days – a process designed to ensure that the car is as good as it reasonably can be at the point of homologation. After that, development is significantly restricted.
“The team has known for some time that Monza was very unlikely. My impression is that whilst the narrative is one of disappointment, the reality is a significant release of pressure on a program that is more important to get right than to go early.
“As for comparisons with Le Mans, anyone that has been part of that race for any time would tell you that it’s a pretty poor comparison with any other top class sports car venue — pit garages, and therefore space in front of a team’s pit, is pitifully small. Plans to update the Le Mans pit complex fell victim to the COVID period and have not (yet) been revived.
“Outside of Le Mans WEC races usually allocate pit garages to the ACO Scrutineers (two or three) and another to the safety cars. Add in a sensible additional space for each car in their working area and the available space is pretty rapidly gobbled up.
“Again, take a look at any recent major race at Monza: WEC, ELMS (where we have more than the WEC’s 38) and GT World Challenge (where they have more still) and I think you can rapidly come to the conclusion that safety and practicality are closer to the real issue than capacity.”
Q: Do IndyCar teams have spare speedway oval chassis at their shops, waiting for teams to use upon their return from Long Beach? Or will teams hastily convert their DW12s chassis from temporary street circuit guise into an oval car for the IMS Open Test, and then convert them back again for road course duty at Barber?
Tom Harader, Florence, OR
MP: Most of the big teams have dedicated Speedway cars that are perfected for IMS, but there are some teams that use the same chassis for every race and keep their crews busy with changes from road/street configuration to Speedway and/or short oval specs and back. With a full crew, a change from Long Beach to Indy Open Test specifications can be done in about 10 hours. For some teams which have a smaller full-time crew and rely on fly-in staff to complete the crew at the races, it could take 14-16 hours.
Q: Once again, LBGP scheduled IMSA qualifying at the same time as the IndyCar autograph session. What are they thinking? That’s not “For the fans.”
Bruce Merchant
MP: I’m sorry you were disappointed, Bruce. Long Beach is always stacked with events taking place in the middle of sessions.
Q: I understood from the graphic on the screen during qualifying at TMS that attempts were in reverse of current points. Ed Carpenter was first, as this was the first race for him in 2023, but why was Takuma Sato halfway up the list as his first race in 2023?
Bernie
MP: It’s the entry and the car’s place in the entrants’ championship that dictates such things, and since Marcus Armstrong did a great job on his debut at St. Pete, the entry — and Taku — were in a good qualifying slot at the next race. Ed’s car, which didn’t compete at St. Pete, was last for that that very reason.
Q: I’ve seen comments/complaints about this before and I don’t want to be the a-hole who complains about everything, but there is an ongoing problem with the audio mixing during Peacock coverage of IndyCar practices. I’m watching the Long Beach morning warmup session now and can’t make out a damn thing that the commentators are saying over the engine noise. This is certainly not your problem, but I’m hoping that posting this will keep the issue visible and eventually lead to an improvement.
Alan Hummel
MP: I made a follow-up call to a friend involved in the IndyCar broadcasts who tells me it’s out of their hands, and they’re fully aware of the complaints. As I’m told, the audio mix done in the onsite production truck that nobody takes issue with on the linear broadcasts is beamed (along with the video) up to whatever satellite and distributed to our televisions. The same video and audio is also taken, separately, for streaming use on Peacock, and it’s here where a different Peacock-only audio mix is applied which seems to make fans like yourself less than happy.
As I’ve written before, I use Peacock on a regular basis — even while at the track, and on pit lane — to stay informed and haven’t noticed the audio mix issue. Maybe I’m just deaf.
Q: I wanted to ask you about the big sports issue on my mind. What is going on with Mid-Ohio? Some people say Mid-Ohio looks the same as last year and has no improvements. It is between two huge sports-loving cities. A lot of people want Cleveland back on the schedule. I have been to the Cleveland GP multiple times, but I don’t see it being a long-term solution in the 2020s. Plus, Clevelanders are getting tired of the Burke just sitting there. Resolute Motorsports Club is being built outside of Delaware, OH which is great, but won’t be ready for a few years. Being a business major and sports fan, you can see why I think Mid-Ohio is a better choice for IndyCar.
Should we be calling Mike DeWine to save Mid-Ohio since he saved The Crew, and we can get a better ownership group than the Castellini-level ownership currently running the track?
John, Ohio
MP: IMSA cut bait with Mid-O for the reasons you mentioned, but IndyCar has no intention of leaving, as they’ve told me when I last asked. I don’t think you have anything to worry about on the IndyCar side. Now, if IndyCar had as many auto manufacturers as IMSA, which is holding at 18 or 19 across all of its touring series, you might understand why Mid-Ohio fell out of favor with almost no modern hospitality offerings for giant manufacturers and boutique manufacturers, all of whom want to feel special and cradled in places that match the big-dollar expenditures they’re making.
I realize Sebring isn’t exactly a cutting-edge facility, but it’s got tons of hospitality suites overlooking pit lane and it’s a cultural happening that’s been around since the 1950s. I’d love to see Mid-Ohio step into the 2000s and give IMSA a business reason to return.
Can Mid-Ohio woo IMSA back? (As an aside, isn’t it weird how the DPi cars already look retro?) Richard Dole/Motorsport Images
Q: We complain about the TV coverage, and at many races how the broadcast breaks away 10 seconds (just kidding) after the race ends with minimal post-race coverage. Why does NBC spend a full half-hour plus of its coverage on prerace nonsense and a crummy (sorry, just my opinion) national anthem?
Is there anything more humorous than watching the NASCAR coverage talking about the four turns at Bristol and Martinsville? Will it never end? I do not have a high school diploma so I am forever trying to find the four turns. Someone help me, please. (Not to mention neither Daytona nor Talladega have four turns either, but I digress).
Dave in Cincinnati
MP: I’d have to guess that since cautions can lengthen a race and reduce the amount of free time after the checkered flag to do interviews before the next event starts to air, they front-load the broadcast with plenty of guaranteed time to talk and roll featurettes. Also, I believe NBC cuts to Peacock for post-race interviews, sometimes, so there’s that?
Q: Big Conor Daly fan. Just wondering if it is him or the car? Good at Indy, but not much everywhere else.
John T Feeser
MP: Driver or car…that’s a great question, John.
Finishes after three races for Conor: 14th, 20th, and 23rd, 33 points earned, 23rd in points.
Finishes for teammate Rinus VeeKay: 21st, 11th, 26th, 33 points earned, 22nd in points.
Hopefully that provides a clear answer.
Q: Long Beach 2023 left me with the feeling I had when Mario was emerging in the mid-’60s. A star wasn’t being born so much as just becoming abundantly apparent, and with punctuation! My question, thoug, revolves around RLL. Hopefully we won’t be reading about strong top-12 finishes only 50 seconds back, but rather, where’s Bobby? He had one of the most admirable and diverse careers during the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s as a driver and then as a team owner. It doesn’t seem the team is presently headed in the right direction — more an over-promise and under-deliver saga. Where’s Bobby? Are his health issues hopefully positively directed?
Jack Woodruff
MP: Bobby’s at the track, thankfully, where he belongs. He, along with Mike Lanigan and David Letterman, have hired a lot of talented people to run the team, engineer the cars, and so on. He’s 70, and the days of Bobby getting in a 6am and leaving at 10pm are in the past, but he’s still pushing hard to make the right hires and internal movements to get the team back in a consistently competitive place. Just hasn’t happened as quickly as they’ve wanted, and as you’d expect, the other teams aren’t waiting for them to catch up. They really need to have a good Indy 500, because if that doesn’t happen, the season will be lost in terms of making a title run. And after a few seasons of making incremental changes, a big shakeup is the only major step left to take if the season goes sideways.
Q: I have been an IndyCar fan for decades and just heard the term “install lap” for the first time during the qualifying broadcast on Saturday. What is it and why is it called that?
DKL, Maryland
MP: That term’s been around for as long as I can remember, and it’s in abbreviation for an “installation lap,” which is performed during the first lap in opening practice, and/or after a significant change was made to the car — new engine was installed, new radiator, etc. — to allow the driver to complete a lap at relative speed and get everything beneath the bodywork warm and ready to be inspected for any installation problems when they pit. Is something leaking or loose? That’s the reason for an install lap.
Q: With yet another disheveled IndyCar start on Sunday, has there ever been a discussion of moving the start down several hundred feet? There’s plenty of room to move it down as many feet as needed to get the entire field aligned properly then go back to the original line for the rest of the race. I don’t blame Scott Dixon for being upset, but based on how the pack can’t form up, Josef Newgarden and Pato O’Ward took advantage — possibly inadvertently, possibly not. Meanwhile, everyone from 10th on back just get hosed. Made for an exciting start in what turned out to be another fantastic race.
Eric Z, Lancaster, NY
MP: I’ve not heard of that being suggested, but it would only help the situation at Long Beach for the start; not sure restarts would need to be done farther down the road. With the new EM Marshaling system being used by the series and the large light panels installed throughout the track, I’d bet IndyCar could affix one close to start/finish and tell the polesitter they can’t go until they change the light from whatever color to green. That would allow race control to assess the orderliness of the grid coming out of Turn 11 and hold the leader until most of the field is lined up and then give the polesitter permission to mash the throttle at the moment of their choosing.
Sounds like Dixie wasn’t the only one who wasn’t happy with the start at Long Beach. Jake Galstad/Motorsport Images
Q: I’ve heard a lot over the last few years about how Long Beach is the top street course on the IndyCar circuit and second most prestigious race behind the Indy 500. My question is, what is considered to be the top road course by the drivers and the IndyCar series? Would it be Mid-Ohio as it’s the longest continually running race on a road track? Laguna Seca because of the history and because it’s the “championship” race? Road America seems to be a favorite of the drivers, and I keep hearing the announcers talk about Barber being the Augusta of the IndyCar series…
Ryan, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
MP: Barber is cited as IndyCar’s Augusta because of its highly manicured nature. Road America is the one I hear mentioned as everyone’s favorite because it’s crazy-fast and challenging to drive, the fans turn out in droves and give nothing but love, and the food and drink options are amazing. If we went there five times a year, I’d be in heaven.
Q: Long Beach was an entertaining race but fuel saving seemed to dominate the strategy. They came off the truck knowing it was going to be two stops with a lot of conserving of fuel. Why would IndyCar not just add 10 more laps to force a third stop? Tire strategy would be more of an issue and if there were more yellow flags then some cars could try to make it on two stops. But, it seems to me that most of the race would be run with no regards to saving fuel and there sure wouldn’t be any unused push-to-pass!
Rick Navratil
MP: It was an unusually clean race in terms of cautions. Had it gone in a more traditional manner, fuel saving wouldn’t have been a concern. We could add more laps, but there’s no guarantee fuel saving would end; depending on the cautions and their lengths, it could be a repeat of Sunday. The fastest driver won, so I’m not mad at how the race played out.
Q: Loved your video walk through the Vintage F1 paddock. I could see that all but one of the cars had changed engines to the Cosworth V8. I understand why they all retrofit the Cosworth due to reliability and parts availability. When the constructors release these cars to private parties, do they include the engines? If not, what happens to the engines?
Ed
MP: Two of the cars had V12s and all had the correct engines from when they ran; none were retrofitted with Cosworths. All depends on the constructor and the era and what the asking prices were. Same with IndyCar. Dario Franchitti has one of his Team Kool Green CART Reynards, but not the Honda engine needed to power it because HPD won’t sell or lease a period-correct engine for him to use.
Q: You previously mentioned the fact that Dallara is currently working on a new speedway front wing design for next year. From my understanding, the idea behind it is to have more front downforce in order to improve car handling. This is to compensate for the added weight of the upcoming ERS, and the extra dirty air generated by the aeroscreen. Am I correct, so far?
Regarding the latter point, you also quoted (in last week’s Mailbag) Helio and Dixie saying that it’s good to have downforce on ovals if you want to survive in the dirty air. Since these are two of the most successful and experienced drivers who have been in the business for the past 20 years, I’m certainly not going to question anything they say.
Now, as an IndyCar fan with an engineering degree, I’ve been following up with quite a bit of interest what the DW12 has been through in terms of R&D. And what I do remember from the last 11 years of watching this car evolve through time is that adding downforce on ovals produces different results depending on which part of the car generates it. Correct me if I’m wrong, but if the added downforce is produced by the floor of the car (by ground effect), the added drag and wake turbulences range from minimal to none, and your car is also less affected by dirty air. However, if the added downforce is produced by the wings (which is the case here), this means more drag, a more turbulent wake, and a car that’s much more sensitive to dirty air.
So, with all that in mind, isn’t it counter-productive for Dallara to work on a new front wing that produces more downforce, since this will ultimately also mean a more turbulent wake and more sensitivity to dirty air? I get the idea that more front downforce is needed for next year’s car, I’m only questioning the way Dallara chose to achieve this in the context of designing a car that is expected to produce good racing. Wouldn’t they get the same downforce numbers buth with less drag and wake turbulences by seeing things this way: more overall downforce and shifting the balance to the front? In other words: wouldn’t it be better to make changes to the underwing (to increase the overall downforce, with very little added drag) and then downsize the rear wing (to shift the balance forwards)?
Xavier
MP: We need to think in terms of aero tuning and aero efficiency here. With its existing speedway front wing, teams and drivers have found that they could use more downforce to provide stability while cornering in a line of cars. And they can crank the front wing angle adjuster and apply more downforce, but due to the wing’s design, a lot of unwanted drag would also be created with that increased nose-down and drag-inducing wing angle.
A new, more powerful wing design that generates more downforce at a shallower angle — closer to flat — would create greater stability without inducing as much drag. And since the front wing is the primary aero tuning device used during the speedway races, it’s the right area of aero to modify.
I’ll take whatever front wing he’s having. Brett Farmer/Motorsport Images
Q: Eagerly awaiting the debut of “100 Days to Indy.” How cool would it be to see Katherine Legge have a segment on the show? It’s great to have representation, and her story seems interesting. A decade after her first shots at the 500, she has gotten another based upon her strong career. I feel there is enough for a good storyline.
K.S., King County, WA
MP: I’d be shocked if Kat isn’t part of the series. They’re focusing on a few drivers per episode; Newgarden and McLaughlin are the main characters in the debut episode. Will Power and Pato O’Ward, I believe, are in the second or third, and so on. I look forward to hearing what people think of the first episode and really hope Vice and Penske Entertainment take the input and private criticism they received last weekend and make fast and sweeping improvements to the project. Everybody said the right thing on social media to support the project, but behind the scenes, the real opinions rarely matched the front-facing comments to the world.
The bones of a good docuseries are there. But some of the decisions made in the opener blew my mind. I know this series isn’t made for diehard fans and those of us on the inside; it’s meant to introduce a brand-new audience — a younger audience — to IndyCar. Thinking of what I saw from that perspective, there are a number of things that could hook new fans. But there are also some items — from the first second — that have me worried. I’ll keep the rest to myself for now and look forward to reading the reactions and opinions after it airs on April 27. I really hope it succeeds in its mission.
Q: Long Beach always seems to be very well-attended, and just by the eye test, seems to be the best-attended event outside of the 500. My question is, what are the most attended races on the schedule?
Eric Batch, Carmel, IN
MP: Obvious stuff up front with the 500 and Long Beach. After that, using the same eye test, I’d think Road America, Mid-Ohio, Barber, Iowa, and Toronto are next on the list. It sounds like Detroit could be joining them, based on what Penske Corporation president Bud Denker told me on Sunday at Long Beach.
Q: Could you expand on the ramp issue Saturday morning that launched Callum Ilott and Rinus VeeKay? From my perspective, it looks like someone really screwed up and it set back their weekend from which they never quite recovered. Any changes to the track in any form should be communicated to each sanctioning body and then to the race teams, even if it was a repair. Even a repair to the track can impact how a car running on the edge performs and therefore should be communicated so the teams and drivers know and can best determine how they will handle it.
Two other things I noticed from the weekend: RLL had better pace in qualifying and ended up with a decent finish for all three. Not a win but compared to last year and the beginning of 2023, it has to feel good for them. Second, Andretti started out the season with crashing out six of eight times. Nothing like finishing first, second and fourth to lift a team’s spirits.
John
MP: Over to Mark Glendenning, who covered the session reports last weekend:
MARK GLENDENNING: The situation with the curb seemed to be the result of twin breakdowns in communication and common sense. According to IndyCar, the track’s explanation was that it was a simple repair — the curb was there for the track walks on Thursday, there on Friday until getting smashed during an IMSA session, before IndyCar had its first practice, and then put back in place on Friday night. Accordingly, it wasn’t considered necessary to inform anyone — the series or the teams — because the curb was being restored to its “original” configuration, regardless of what it had been like when IndyCar practiced on Friday.
That might fall into line with a very literal interpretation of the relevant protocols, but it’s still mind-blowing that while the track was updating the series on overnight changes to the color of some painted lines, it didn’t occur to anyone to add, “Oh, and we’ve bolted a massive curb back onto the exit of Turn 5.”
On the other side, the argument that the teams and drivers should use the opening laps as an opportunity to make sure there aren’t any surprises out there — say, a large curb where there was no curb yesterday — isn’t entirely unfair. But it’s also easy to understand them putting some level of trust in the track to tell them about a change that significant. It bit Juncos and, to a lesser extent, ECR, but the really telling part was all the radio transmissions during the caution as teams warned their drivers that something funky was going on at the exit of that corner. It’s impossible to say if the entire grid was caught by surprise, but it’s clear that a significant chunk of it was. I don’t blame Juncos for being upset.
Q: With the use of 100% ethanol, has the fuel capacity of the Indy cars been increased due the less mpg than E85? Or have other adjustments been made to keep range the same?
Bob, WI
MP: Other than the octane rating being lower than the E85 it replaces, there has been no other changes to its use and carriage — same fuel capacity as last year.
Different octane, same fuel capacity. Michael Levitt/Motorsport Images
Q: I am generally slow to anger, but that was my emotion to the several times when the GP of Long Beach was completely taken off air – for laps at a time — for full-screen commercial breaks. I know it’s not the advertisers’ fault, but whatever message they were trying to convey had an adverse effect and just created negative vibes. The courtesy of splitting the screen would have been appreciated and could have had a better chance in fostering goodwill for the advertisers.
Despite having to endure the full-screen commercial marathons, I am glad to have witnessed Kirkwood’s first IndyCar podium! It was also a joy to see the teamwork results coming from the A.J. Foyt 14 car driven by Santino Ferrucci. It hung near last for both practices, then figured some things out and qualified P18 and less than 0.2s from the Fast 12. Then, four positions were picked up in just two pit stops. Ferrucci was also able to fend off the march of Graham Rahal (who came up 12 positions), stay clean, do his advance up the field thing and end up P11. Looks like a really nice overall team effort.
My condolences to A.J. and his family and prayers for peace as they grieve the passing of Lucy Foyt.
Norm-Bob, New Bloomfield, PA
MP: I had the same reaction to Santino’s drive; it was the starring performance that went completely unnoticed. Factor in how dreadful the team’s early season has been coupled with Mrs. Foyt’s unexpected loss, and this was a delightful result that arrived at the perfect time.
Q: Why did Juncos mess up its chance at a good finish? llott coming out of the pits while his teammate was in the lead and messing him up seemed like a poor decision for the team and driver.
Tom Harleman, Carmel, IN
MP: I’d err on the side of it being a mistake rather than something intentional. They’d just gotten Ilott’s lap back and he was on the lead lap, so there was a clear motivation to get out ahead of the leader. The fact that the leader was his teammate was immaterial; Canapino was a few laps away from needing to pit for fuel, so his visit to P1 was always going to be a brief thing. If Canapino was leading because of raw speed instead of being the only driver who was kept out when everyone else pitted under caution, it would be a different story and Ilott should have moved aside. But that’s not what happened. The team held the lead for a few laps and hoped another caution would come to save them, but it didn’t work out that way.
Nonetheless, it made for a really uncomfortable situation that created stress within the team when it wasn’t needed. It’s stuff like this that makes a coveted driver like Ilott decide it’s time to go elsewhere at the end of the season.
Q: So, we are five races (three IMSA, two WSC) into the new “golden era” of sports car racing, and where are we at? Anything surprising? Maybe it’s just because of all the pre-season hype, but the Penske Porsche 963 is not meeting my expectations. Cadillac and Ferrari are doing pretty much what I thought, while Acura is performing above expectations while Toyota continues to be the WRC team to beat.
I am also surprised that, with big factory money involved, there haven’t been more drivers with IndyCar or F1 experience recruited for the teams. Bourdais, who was already at Cadillac, and Giovinazzi at Ferrari are the only names that come to mind. I would have thought we would see some equivalent of the famous Mercedes junior team that featured a just-emerging Michael Schumacher.
And this being sports car racing, when do we next see the dreaded BoP be enforced? WRC seems to me to be more BoP-prone, and unless Toyota sandbags at Spa, wouldn’t they be likely to be slowed down at Le Mans, where a neck-and-neck battle with Ferrari would be a cash cow for the organizers? Dunno about IMSA. On the one hand, three different winners in three races. On the other, had the WTR Acura not been crashed out of Sebring and succumbed to a driver mistake at Long Beach, it would be leaving everyone else in the distance. On pace, Acura appears to have a significant gap over Cadillac as opposed to near-parity last season.
Also, I would really like to know more about the GT classes. Is it correct that in 2024 IMSA and WRC will run according to the same GT3 rules? Second, if the major Pro GT teams and manufacturers have moved up to GTP and Hypercars, and the GT ranks will be left to privateer teams, what is the point of having Am classes? And third, are there any homologation requirements anymore? Back in the day, when production-based cars actually needed to be production based, this used to be a big deal. What would keep Aston Martin from entering a Valkyrie, for example, as a GT?
Al in Boston
MP: Porsche was there to take full advantage of Acura’s issues at Long Beach, so while it might not have won on pure pace if MSR, WTR, and CGR were running problem-free, the 963s struck — just as AXR and Cadillac did at Sebring — when adversity entered the room. The Porsche is overly complex and takes considerable time to find the right setup. BMW is the biggest surprise, having gone from nowhere at Daytona to being highly competitive — not quite ready to win, but not miles away — two months later at Long Beach.
Hard to compare a new GTP formula with three races of data to DPi, which had six years of BoP evolution by the end of its run.
The ACO doesn’t need to mess with BoP manipulations to attract a big audience to watch Ferrari’s return. It will happen on its own.
Yes, the WEC will follow IMSA two years after we went to an all-GT3 GT formula. We run Michelins; they’ve chosen Goodyear, which will be a major headache for any GTD Pro or GTD entrants who want to race at Le Mans. Amateur drivers are an integral part of the sport; that’s why AM classes exist.
Aston Martin could develop the Valkyrie as a GT car, but if it wanted it to race in any ACO/WEC/ELMS/AsLMS- or IMSA-sanctioned series, it would need to build it to GT3 regulations, and there’s no way it would fit the strict rulebook, even if there were no homologation production requirements.
The No. 6 Penske Porsche might not have an outright pace advantage — yet. But in Long Beach, it didn’t need one. Michael Levitt/Mototsport Images
Q: What constitutes a turn at a road or street course? For instance, why is Turn 7 at Long Beach considered a turn, but the “turn” just past the start/finish line is not? It can’t be just the angle of the turn because there’s more of a turn on Shoreline Drive than at Turn 7. I’ve noticed similar things like that at other tracks too and have been wondering what the explanation is.
Mike Brockmeier
MP: The basic answer is “whatever each track decides it wants to name as a corner.” There’s no national or global standard for such things, so if a track wants to call something a corner, it can. The long bend on Shoreline Drive is just that, a really long bend. I’ve never heard a driver refer to it as a corner, so I’ll go with the real experts on this one.
Q: I recently had a thought about doubleheaders: IndyCar and MotoGP at Laguna Seca, the Indianapolis road course or COTA. I was completely shocked to subsequently see an article about a possible linkup between F1 and MotoGP. However, after thinking about it a bit further, perhaps SuperBikes (now MotoAmerica) might be a better fit for IndyCar; money being what it is. Could this be a workable plan? Or, how about a tripleheader including IMSA or Trans Am?
Back in the day, a number of NASCAR teams brought in “ringers” for road course races. In more recent times it seems that the regulars have really upped their skill levels. Have “ringers” become extinct? The same appeared to be true for the Bristol dirt event as well.
Don Hopings, Cathedral City, CA
MP: I love your line of thinking. Only issue here is it’s hard to get series that are accustomed to being headliners on their own to link up for a double or tripleheader. Long Beach is a perfect example, where IMSA takes Saturday for its race and does, technically, serve as the headliner on that day, but it gets second-tier treatment at the event with a cramped and crappy paddock — think of the space like jamming a size 12 foot into a size 6 shoe for three days in a row. IMSA runs really early and really late on Friday, which wears out its pit crews, and then they’re back to run early on Saturday, race in the afternoon, pack up, and must be gone Saturday night so the track can use the space for Sunday parking and whatnot.
So, as much as I’d like to see more IndyCar+IMSA weekends, or IndyCar+MotoAmerica, you know Roger Penske won’t let his series be the opening band that people want to rush off the stage so the sports cars or bikes they love most get top billing.
KELLY CRANDALL: The ringers are extinct because, with the number of road courses on the schedule, drivers can’t afford to sit those races out. They would be giving up championship points, and that is inconceivable. And they absolutely have gotten better through the years because of how many races they are running. Back in the day, when there were only one or two road course races on the schedule, smaller teams could put a road ace into their car to help them with points. The same could be said about dirt — there just aren’t a lot of options for a ringer to get in a car because drivers running for points aren’t going to get out of theirs.
Q: I’d love to know the attendance at the Bristol dirt race and whether it was more or less than they had at the last spring pavement race there. From what I could tell the attendance Sunday night was spotty at best.
That leads me to my question: what in the world do they spend to turn that place into a dirt track and back to pavement again? I’m thinking that’s probably a closely held secret, but it seems to me that they must be taking a financial bath on the event, since attendance is what it is. I say if they want to run dirt tracks, go to a permanent one like Eldora or Knoxville or any number of others.
Greg in Brown County
KC: I don’t know what the attendance for Bristol dirt was. Those numbers are not released, and I haven’t seen an estimation from any reputable source. However, the attendance for the spring Bristol race has been abysmal for years, and I think between that and the weather, it led to NASCAR and Speedway Motorsports putting dirt on the track in the first place. I don’t know of the drop has been because of the weather or because NASCAR races in the Southeast a lot during the spring or what the cause is, but the numbers just aren’t there for the spring race.
Turning the place into a dirt track is pretty simple by their standards since they are using the same dirt they’ve had since the 2000s when they covered it in dirt for World of Outlaws. It’s been stored on property ever since. It’s been three years now and no one seems to know for sure if this race is going to continue in the future — Marcus Smith didn’t give an answer one way or another during the week of the race. Drivers are split on wanting the race on the schedule, and to your point of going to a purpose-built racetrack, that honestly hasn’t been something anyone has mentioned.
Q: I keep seeing second-generation racer Hailie Deegan’s name being thrown around in reference to driver marketing, such as:
Given the successful marketing career of Danica Patrick beginning in 2005 or so, do you think Deegan has a point?
Dan Schwartz, Atlanta, GA
KC: Hailie Deegan is tremendous at marketing and social media. She has a great personality for it, and she’s using it to her advantage, and I don’t see anything wrong with that. Everyone has a different approach. Hailie has the support of those she is working with to be herself and use social media as she does. To her point about personalities, there are a lot of drivers that just do it differently and are more reserved (which can translate to being vanilla) as to not put themselves in a position for any blowback through social media or in an interview.
THE FINAL WORD
From Robin Miller’s Mailbag, April 18, 2018
Q: I can’t agree more with you more regarding the IMS Hall of Fame changing its policy to allow drivers outside of the 500 to be inducted. In my opinion it takes away the prestige of the HOF, and is preventing more deserving individuals from being inducted — particularly those who drove in a time when you had to earn your spot to drive at Indy. My hope was that Johnny Boyd would be inducted for all that he did during his career, and afterwards as a great ambassador of the race. My question for you is, outside of Art Pollard, who you’ve stated you would put in the HOF, who would be your top three nominees?
Brett, Indianapolis
ROBIN MILLER: Jim Hurtubise, Mike Mosley and Bill Finley.
