Yahoo Autos The RACER Mailbag, December 27
Welcome to the RACER Mailbag. Questions for any of RACER’s writers can be sent to mailbag@racer.com. 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.
ED’s NOTE: This week’s Mailbag is a special ‘overflow edition’ to mop up all of the questions we couldn’t fit into last week’s. Questions that have been submitted in the meantime will be answered when the regular Mailbag returns next Wednesday. See you in 2024!
Q: The news of a potential withdrawal from IndyCar by Honda should have 16th and Georgetown extremely concerned. To claim a lack of return on investment and the inability to attract a third engine supplier to offset costs should be a shot across the bow. It seems like a third engine supplier is a long shot at best.
I learned from the Mailbag that IMSA runners spend about $20 million for a two-car team. What does Honda spend on supplying half the IndyCar grid?
Honda uses the detuned 2.4-liter engine in the IMSA team designed for IndyCar. I have yet to hear squat about Chevy’s 2.4. Is there a reason you can give as to why we never hear about the GM engine?
If Honda does leave in ’26, is Chevy willing to supply 33+ engines for Indy?
Lastly, I heard a rumor that Liberty was interested in purchasing the IndyCar Series. I have heard that F1 teams are now approaching $1 billion in value. Perhaps Roger Penske should call Liberty and see if they are still interested.
Gary, Urbana, OH
MARSHALL PRUETT: Hi, Gary, let’s go: I mentioned hearing the cost to field a two-car hybrid program is in the $20 million-plus range, as noted, but that does not include the costs to design and create the cars, develop them on an ongoing basis, build mountains of spares, fund the factory that does all of this with employees who also support the teams, and so on. I’d bet the real cost is at least double that for a committed manufacturer.
Honda has never said how much it spends, but it did throw out some unqualified numbers of $60-100 million in its quotes to us on how to reduce costs.
I asked GM Racing boss Jim Campbell the question of supporting IndyCar as a sole supplier if Honda left, which he didn’t want to answer, then asked it again, and also didn’t get an answer, so I can’t say.
Written here more than once that I’ve been told on good authority that Liberty offered to buy the series in 2023 and was harshly rebuked, as it was characterized to me. Penske doesn’t want to sell, and he’s said the same to me, in an emphatic manner, in 2022.
Q: Are the new IndyCar speedway wings still set to debut in 2025, with testing happening sometime in 2024?
Joe
MP: I believe so. It’s on my list for a follow-up with the series.
Based on a letter we received last week it sounds like some readers aren’t ready for two-decade-old photos of CART drivers wearing makeup, so we’re sticking to safer ground this week: dogs. To kick things off, Jarno Trulli’s pooch makes its feelings clear about the future Monaco GP winner’s fashion sense in 1995. Motorsport Images
Q: The recent article describing TV ratings in the USA for NASCAR, IndyCar and F1 could use some additional thought.
NASCAR and IndyCar are U.S.-based sports, and as far as I know, have limited TV coverage around the rest of the world. F1 is a worldwide sport and ESPN is only one of many of networks around the world carrying the broadcasts, making ratings comparisons among the three based on U.S. data is almost meaningless.
According to Google, F1’s worldwide TV viewership in 2022 was 1.5 billion.
Tom, Florida
MP: OK. But the question was about U.S. viewership, so comparing the three domestically isn’t meaningless, nor is the data meaningless.
Q: Do the failures surrounding multiple issues with IndyCar in games/sims show a particular failing in Penske’s management of IndyCar and its ability to gain younger fans? It feels like they chased the cash with Motorsport Games when that company was already showing issues, while simultaneously forcing the series’ branding out of iRacing and stopping them from using real tracks, which killed the series in that game and turned many people’s interests away.
Canceling the Motorsport Games contract that everyone knew wouldn’t be followed through with seemed way too little, way too late. It needed to be done, but now the best they have is a possible tail-between-their-legs return to iRacing and maybe their own game in 2025 — more likely 2026 — at the very earliest. Obviously games are not everything in attracting younger people, but if they are making these mistakes with them, what else are they missing with younger fans?
Will, Philly
MP: It’s not as if older people can’t fully grasp and negotiate and manage and see a contract to produce a video game carried from concept to creation. But I would love to hear that someone who was born into the same generation where video games — home gaming, with consoles bearing names like Nintendo and Xbox, and not the Ataris of the late 1970s — came to prominence has been appointed to look after IndyCar’s gaming needs and any other youth-related initiatives.
Q: I’d love to see a new IndyCar chassis. But I understand the reason for a new chassis not being at the forefront of things to deal with. What I do not understand, especially for very visual sport like IndyCar racing, is not giving the DW12 chassis new clothes since 2018. I get that the addition of the aeroscreen changed the look, plus altered the aero and weight in 2020. But for the most part the wings, sidepods and engine cover haven’t changed, to my knowledge. Can they not implement updated body kit components at predetermined yearly increments? That seems like the easiest and cheapest alternative to a new chassis. I feel like that gets more interest from the casual fan to the hardcore fan. What say you?
Derek, Perry, GA
MP: The series could if it wanted to. Also know that IndyCar rarely does such a thing without first consulting its teams and asking whether it’s something they want and can afford. It’s not like the paddock holds all of the power on whether something new like hybridization gets the green light, but there is a frequent two-way dialogue on major changes and the costs that go with them.
Here, and with big costs coming for 2024 in updating each car to hybrid specification, IndyCar was careful to avoid stacking other changes and costs onto the pile.
Q: Like they say on the internet, I was coming here to say that but in this case it was a recent Robin Miller’s Final Word that beat me to the punch. When IndyCar was at the height of its popularity in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s there was a definite connect between the drivers and the fans who came to see how their local heroes did against the best of the best. My buddy raced modified in the northeast from the mid-’80s until the 2010s and he raced against the Bodine brothers, Steve Park and even Ryan Preece. The fans in the grandstands had a direct connection to the Cup series and those drivers were more than happy to visit their old haunts.
With drivers from all over the world, IndyCar really needs to promote one of its assets better: the drivers. Don’t just get them on social media, rule social media. Get more drivers on TV, cooking shows, home improvement shows, talk shows, game shows. This is a celebrity-driven culture. Create interest in the drivers to bring new faces to the track.
Ed Friend, Dover Plains, NY
MP: No doubt, Ed. Former IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard established an office in Los Angeles for this exact purpose — to create a bridge between the series and the world’s entertainment hub and it was somewhat successful before it was shuttered a few years after his ouster.
Q: The New York Times has great F1 coverage (and NASCAR, sadly). Race coverage is followed up with stories digging into the personalities and all the other riff-raff, delivered by email. Am I the only person lobbying the NYT to step-up their motorsports coverage? IndyCar is a worthy recipient.
FYI, F1 references can also be found in The New Yorker.
Redding, Somewhere in the DC shadows with odd reading habits.
MP: I don’t know if I’d call NYT’s racing coverage “great” when there are many dedicated racing media outlets throughout the world who go miles deeper, but I understand your point. We want our favorite things to be recognized and amplified by big, legitimizing names and voices, and the NYT qualifies.
A challenge: When F1’s popularity bubble bursts, and it will happen in the coming years like it does for every series that experiences a crazy surge, circle back when it cuts its F1 coverage to the same pre-Drive To Survive level of next to nothing. The rest of us will still be here, covering F1 and IndyCar and whatever else because we love it, not because it flashed as the “cool, popular thing” to get in on and profit from for a few years.
Q: I noticed small Jiffy Mix logos on Ganassi cars this year and think I spotted Howdy Holmes in victory circle a couple of times during TV coverage. Any interesting stories about his sponsorship and association with Chip?
Greg Huey, Fishers, IN
MP: Chip and Howdy are old friends and teammates, and it has been awesome to see Howdy around the team. I’d forgotten how tiny Howdy is when I saw him for the first time in decades at Road America. His Jiffy Mix company continues today; cornbread mix, blueberry muffin mix, etc.
Q: As was suggested in a recent Mailbag, NJMP could be a good option for a Northeast race. It’s an hour from Philadelphia and Atlantic City, two hours from Baltimore and two and a half hours from NYC. It’s right next door to an airport, so it will be a five-minute shuttle for the owners to get from the airport to the track. The track is being repaved this year and the Indy support series have run there, so there should be some usable data for the teams.
I remember when the Rolex Grand-Am raced there in 2012, but I don’t recall the heat issue. The average temperature in July for that area is 86 degrees. The average temperature in August for Nashville is 89 degrees, so pretty similar. And most importantly, it’s 15 minutes from my house.
Dave
MP: The NJMP Grand-Am race I was referring to took place in 2010. It was a combination of high ambient and high humidity inside Daytona Prototypes that had front-mounted radiators firing 200deg at cockpits that had no AC.
The real question is: Are there enough road racing/IndyCar fans in Jersey/Philly/etc. to pack the place with 30,000 fans each day? If the answer is yes, let’s hope NJMP reaches out to IndyCar. If not, we’ve already got a few too many of those lightly-attended road races on the schedule and don’t need another.
Dario’s two-dog strategy was the correct one at Indy in 2012. Eric Gilbert/Motorsport Images
Q: While wading through the recent 10-page RACER Mailbag, something was not really discussed: Does IndyCar conduct races (such as Iowa & Texas) for a TV audience; or do they put on street “events” such as St. Pete, Long Beach, Detroit and Nashville to attract casual fans?
Worth noting at this point is that NASCAR is slowly going back to its roots, opening up North Wilkesboro and (perhaps) Rockingham; with both tracks just repaved and with SAFER barriers. Perhaps there is still an IndyCar fan base there in the Carolinas that can be reached on a rotating basis, i.e. returning to Darlington (where USAC Champ Car raced in 1956) and Richmond; and also running at North Wilkesboro and/or Rockingham as well.
Let’s look at some numbers and facts with these tracks:
Richmond: Very successful in 2001-03, 70 feet wide three-quarter-mile 12 degree banked oval, with SAFER barriers
Darlington: 62 feet wide (7 feet wider than Nashville Superspeedway), one-and-three-eighth mile egg shape (sorta like one-and-a-half mile Trenton but without the dogleg), 23 degree and 25 degree banking, with SAFER barriers
North Wilkesboro: Repaved five-eighth mile, 55 foot wide, 13 degree banked oval, with SAFER barriers
Rockingham Speedway: Repaved 1.017 mile oval with 22 degree & 25 degree banking and SAFER Barriers
Martinsville & Bristol: Probably too short
I can see IndyCar rotating through each of these tracks every three-four years: Enough to keep fan interest up without the saturation of an annual race which occurred at Richmond. And as we have seen with Iowa, tracks like these can put on a good show for the TV fans with the in-car camera shots.
With the recent repaving at North Wilkesboro and Rockingham, it would be interesting to at least run tests there to gauge local fan interest and get driver feedback, and/or do a demo run before a Cup race (like Sarah Fisher did here at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 1998).
Your thoughts?
Dan Schwartz, Atlanta, GA
MP: I absolutely love the idea, Dan. But would NASCAR welcome its closest domestic rival at most of its traditional homes? I loved our brief visits to Richmond — had my first IndyCar/IRL pole there in 2001 with Sam Schmidt Motorsports and Jacques Lazier — and had a few seasons on the all-oval trail. The long-ago love affair between the Hulman Georges and the Frances isn’t the same as it was when the IRL was founded and NASCAR was welcomed to the Brickyard, so it’s hard to see how IndyCar would get to play in most of the places you mention. Love the concept, though.
Q: I haven’t written in a few years, but Robin Miller usually posted my letters and always replied back to me. He is missed! The one thing I had to say that Robin would never acknowledge is my perfect solution to IndyCar’s engine supply/suppliers.
It’s called a 2.65-liter turbo V8. There are four perfected examples sitting on shelves. These engines are superior to the V6s and their development is long-since paid for. Just start assembling them — boom.
Honda and Ilmor could be joined by Toyota pretty much instantly. If Ford is not interested, the Cosworth engine is a perfect candidate for badging. Hyundai/Kia would be wise to consider this, as they are intent on continuing to raise their profile in North America, and have the financing to support it.
Watching Colton Herta blast around in his dad’s old car reinforced this idea 100% for me. Anyone who doesn’t find those cars more exciting than today’s is delusional.
And I don’t give two craps about hybridization in racing, especially IndyCar. It’s just a way to add cost without any benefit to the actual racing.
Also, I haven’t seen much buzz about it on RACER.com but there is a Tilke circuit (which I believe will be FIA certified)-nearing completion near Nashville. [ED: We’ve written about it here and also touched on it here] Road courses are 1000 times better than street courses. Are there any whispers about IndyCar taking a look at that track? It looks pretty interesting — way more interesting than St. Pete or Long Beach (Blasphemy!)
I would prefer IndyCar race at Road America multiple times per season than either of those or the boring Indy road course. Wake up and smell the coffee, IndyCar!
Keith Younce
MP: As a kid who grew up in the CART era, those 2.65L turbo V8s were the most intoxicating IndyCar motors I’ve seen, heard, and put my hands on as a crew member. If only that formula was a thing today’s engine manufacturers still wanted… our eyes and ears would be in a permanent state of rapture.
If we knew the same audience would turn up for all three, I’d happily trade Portland and Laguna Seca for a Road America Triple Crown.
Q: We’ve seen several instances of Indy 500-only entries also running the Indy GP as part of the preparation program.
Penske did it several times with Castroneves. Montoya also followed this program with Penske once or twice, and he did it two times with McLaren more recently.
I know there are additional costs, which may be a more acute matter with Indy-only teams like Dreyer & Reinbold, Abel Motorsports, etc. But for full-time teams like Andretti and RLL, the extra resources are a less significant factor.
Certainly, there are substantial benefits to driver and crew: the driver gets more comfortable in the car (even though it’s a different racing discipline), pit stops and communicating with the team in-race — and the crew gets live race pit stop experience and practice at making in-race adjustments, etc.
Why isn’t it a more common practice? Do you know of any other teams in the last 10 years that did this other than Penske and McLaren?
Richard, Indianapolis, IN
MP: All great points, Richard. The reasons why extra Indy 500 entries aren’t run at the Indy GP falls in a few areas like budget, if the driver or team is only funded for the Indy 500. In some instances, the team or driver only cares about doing the 500. And on select occasions, there’s been a limitation on engine availability when the 500 entry list has been maxed out for one or both of the brands. Committing Indy GP entry lists to memory is an activity I’ve overlooked, brother.
Do hot dogs count? Yes they do, says Tony Stewart. Robert LeSieur/Motorsport Images
Q: Last time I wrote, I was told I don’t like the IndyCar Series cars and formula. Well, it seems like one manufacturer isn’t a fan of it anymore, and that has a much bigger impact. When will Honda announce its departure from IndyCar and commitment to WEC and/or NASCAR? This is a sad situation for everyone but this is something that anyone should have seen coming long ago.
Well, revisiting and giving more detail to my suggestions for IndyCar’s future: Single-seater prototypes, so manufacturers can put their brand on the cars like LMH/GTP.
Safety cell and all other safety parts mandated by the series. IndyCar already knows what works and what doesn’t. No need to let other people risk lives trying to reinvent the wheel.
Monster downforce, spec ground effect and all other aero parts, especially rear wing. Max lift to drag (I guess it’s necessary due to the front end) to keep aero spending to a minimum. Another aero package for superspeedways, of course.
Internal combustion engines with capped power, no more than around 550hp. Fuel flow and torque controlled as well so there is no need to keep developing anything. Plenty of small four and six cylinder engines are making more power than this. Maybe some small enough V8s around for that as well.
Aim for 200~300hp from the hybrid, limited to a max speed for energy deployment.
Switch everything to either built by the manufacturer or selected vendors. No more teams building their own dampers or whatever. That’s so manufacturers will be more worried about you having a good driver and strategy team than high spending making suspension parts.
I’m not specialist, this is just a fan wish. But I believe you could keep costs decent while adding a lot of value to IndyCar this way. I think kids would love buy a Hot Wheels car with design like this from brands like Ferrari maybe:
It won’t look 100% like this when it’s ready, but you get the idea. Design, brand recognition and speed should give back to IndyCar the “wow” factor it has been missing for a long time.
On the schedule and events. Get rid of short ovals (maybe Iowa is OK). But if racing on ovals, focus on superspeedways.
Make a Grand Slam event. A driver wins all three or four superspeedway events, they get a nice prize. If they wins three of four, for example, and someone else wins the last one, that driver gets a takedown bonus for preventing the Grand Slam. Yes, they’ll be going slower on these with that power I suggested, but if this makes the races safer and big names less scared of trying IndyCar full-season, it’d be great.
Outside of IndyCar’s hands, try to bring U.S. road courses to this century. As nice as they are, most of them still look like amateur club tracks from the ’70s. IndyCar also needs to update its street course package. That Chicago track looked like ready to receive an F1 weekend. None of IndyCar’s street tracks give the same feeling, IMO. They always look like something made in a hurry.
Move on with times on the broadcast part. Modern TV overlays, car telemetry without those weird delays. Fix the wrong audio appearing in the wrong camera (especially onboards), it happens far too often. Bring on the kph too, just like F1 added mph to its broadcasts.
IndyCar finally started identifying the drivers when they show radio messages after I complained about it because broadcasters from other nations always got totally lost, not knowing who was saying what. They needed to check Twitter just like the average person watching the broadcast.
Of all the brands in the world, especially the ones selling a lot of cars in the U.S., if you can’t get five supporting five cars for a full season each, may as well close the shop and give the 500 to NASCAR. Or just sell the whole thing to that series already…
William Mazeo
MP: Thanks for caring enough to go into such detail, William. As Honda said, in the absence of a third manufacturer signing on to take one-third of the field and lower its costs, a formula change would be something it welcomes. Honda didn’t say it didn’t like the formula. It said it didn’t like the costs to compete.
Q: I just read the article regarding Honda’s suggestion for spec engines.
First, I think it’s a great idea. We all love the racing in IndyCar. If you had five new engines developed by five different manufacturers join the series tomorrow, that won’t last long. Someone will come out on top, someone will be at the bottom, those at the bottom will leave. The teams with the “bottom” engines will struggle and possibly fold… or they will try to jump ship to the “winner” engine(s). The racing will suffer, and, the couple of manufacturers that stick around will evolve into an equally competitive thing that nobody notices. See: Lotus and the eventual demise of BHA (independently), HVM, and Dragon (and MSR that never initially happened).
Second, regarding the comment about IMSA having fans that are manufacturer-loyal, that’s because they have sexier manufacturers. Let’s be honest, if it’s not Camaro, Corvette, or truck-related, there’s nothing sexy about Chevy. And with Honda, it’s much the same. Acura is the sexier brand there. In IMSA there is BMW, Porsche, Lamborghini… much sexier brands for fans to get behind. The same goes for F1, where you have Ferrari, McLaren, Alfa, Alpine… it’s a lot cooler to get behind a supercar than it is a Trax.
Lastly, the main benefit to the series is the advertising/marketing activation. If I were running things, I’d much rather have manufacturers spend tens of millions on advertising and marketing activation instead of engines. In theory, it would benefit the series more by attracting more brands, increase marketing, save teams and brands money, and keep the racing close.
Plus, if a manufacturer wants to use racing as an intense engineering exercise, there are many more cost-effective and/or technologically advanced options available than IndyCar. So, cede that to other series, focus on the racing, and focus IndyCar’s strengths. If we are honest with ourselves, IndyCar hasn’t been a tech leader since the ’80s or early ’90s, regardless of how much tech advancement has come from the 500.
Ross Bynum
MP: *Chef’s kiss*
Q: My first point is that I believe it is only 50-50 that the hybrid system will be deployed before 2024.
It seems that Honda is through with IndyCar, suggesting that Ilmor/Penske build a spec motor, since the ERS system is now assigned to them. Honda states it might just put a badge on the engine cover. It seems it doesn’t believe there is a ROI regarding the series. The question is whether GM will still be involved if the Andretti/Cadillac F1 program goes forward? I don’t see GM funding F1, IMSA, NASCAR, and IndyCar.
Frank, North Carolina
MP: Some powerful people at Chevy and Honda got their bosses to agree to spending their brand’s money on building ERS units for IndyCar with the stated purpose of those budgets paying off with the series and those brands going hybrid in 2024. If the ball gets dropped again and it’s pushed to 2025, some powerful people are going to be out of work, and for the sake of not getting fired, I’d think each brand will be pushing IndyCar and insisting on it going hybrid in 2024.
You might have read our interview with GM racing supremo (I love that word) Jim Campbell. The thing we didn’t get, despite asking more than once, was a yes or no answer to any of the questions, but that was expected beforehand.
Whatever this dog’s human was doing at the time the photo was taken, they can keep doing it. He’s got things covered. Motorsport Images
Q: Did IndyCar ever fill that vacant marketing position? I sure hope so, because they need it. A question for those of us that live more than 100 miles from Indianapolis: When is the last time you saw an unprompted ad for anything IndyCar-related?
Maybe unprompted isn’t the right word, but my meaning is not while currently watching a race, or watching 100 Days To Indy, or on a racing-related website.
I think I caught a TV commercial in May shortly before the 500, and the commercial was only about the 500. That’s it. Period. If I want info on IndyCar, I have to go looking for it.
I’m on the young end of the millennial spectrum, almost Gen Z. I’m a cord-cutter in relation to cable TV (so it was a miracle I caught that commercial), and I am on social media. The point is, I’m in a target demographic that they need to grow, and I almost never see anything IndyCar-related. If I didn’t go out of my way, I wouldn’t know the schedule or anything about the series. How is a someone supposed to become a fan if they’re never exposed to it?
I see ads for F1 on social media somewhat regularly, and I even see the occasional NASCAR ad. Those series advertise for themselves, and so does almost every major sport outside of auto racing. I get ads on Instagram and Facebook for boutique stores and places that sell vintage maps, the kind of places that don’t exactly have million-dollar budgets, yet nothing for IndyCar. YouTube plays all kinds of random ads before, during, and after videos and none of those are IndyCar-related. You can’t walk into a sports bar without seeing an NFL schedule hanging on the wall. I’ve never witnessed an IndyCar schedule posted anywhere other than their website. Heck, I’d even take a billboard on a highway — I-80 goes through my area and is a major traffic corridor.
Yes, more engine manufacturers would be great. So would a new car. The hybrid system is also great, even if it is delayed… again. But who is going to care about those things if they don’t even know they’re happening? Facebook has 3 billion monthly active users, YouTube 2.5 billion, Instagram 2 billion. If IndyCar want to increase ratings and/or put butts in seats, it appears as if there’s a whole realm that they are neglecting. If a small boutique store can figure it out and hit me with ads, why can’t they?
If they want to send some of that marketing budget my way, I’d be happy to get the ball rolling. I have zero experience, but I couldn’t do any worse.
Ryan Moore, Youngstown, OH
MP: SJ Luedtke’s vacated position of IndyCar Marketing VP wasn’t filled. A search was conducted and no candidates of interest emerged, per Mark Miles when I asked earlier in the year. Her duties have been absorbed by others.
Q: Having just read about Honda’s engine proposal, I am absolutely stunned. Obviously there is much more to this saga that has yet to unfold.
I have a couple questions about IndyCar’s engine situation. First, how much of Honda’s position is driven by the decision to shelve the 2.4L motors? With a variant of this engine being used in their GTP car, was Honda hoping to save some money by using very similar motors in both IMSA and IndyCar? Secondly, would the moves to bigger motors and hybrid systems have gone smoother if IndyCar footed some of the bill? R.P. seems focused on the financial health of the teams, but maybe that comes at the expense of the engine manufacturers and other interests.
Kyle, MA
MP: I don’t know if I would position the use of the 2.4L in both series strictly as a cost savings play, but the new IndyCar formula did make for a great fit with the GTP formula that followed. For the sake of timing, the 2.4L was announced by IndyCar in May of 2018, and the hardcore GTP regulations were cemented around 2020/2021.
Yes on the last question. One of the most serious issues IndyCar has with the hybrids is it’s something Penske has never wanted and never supported. Ever notice how all of the quotes from the series about hybrids do not include words from Penske? It’s not a coincidence. On December 19, 2022, IndyCar acknowledged its chosen ERS vendor for the first time after trying to keep it a secret for more than a year. A release with the headline of: INDYCAR, MAHLE Powertrain Reach Milestones with Hybrid System was published by the series. Again, for the sake of timing, Penske Entertainment took control of IndyCar at the start of 2020. This release hit at the end of its third year of ownership.
Who spoke in that big, statement-making release about the series’ new partner and new direction? Jay Frye and MAHLE’s Hugh Blaxill.
And who spoke for IndyCar in the recent Dec. 7 release announcing the hybrid delay until after Indy, which had the sleight-of-hand headline of: Development of INDYCAR Hybrid Unit Sees Significant Steps in Preparation for 2024, to offer? That would be Jay Frye once again, with the series’ owner completely absent, once again.
If asked, I’m sure there would be plenty of bluster and “everything is awesome and hybrids are great” on offer, but I’m not looking for platitudes. I’m looking at actions, and to date, one key voice has been consistently missing. Sometimes it’s the words not spoken and the people who don’t want to be in the picture that reveals the real story.
What are the odds that Mansell threw his back out while standing up after this shot was taken? Ercole Colombo/Studio Colombo/Motorsport Images
Q: Since Thermal is not a points-paying race, why not use the hybrid units at the event as a beta test? That would give the attendees a feeling of getting something exclusive, without any downside from a points perspective if a few of them blow up. Wouldn’t that be better than using them for the first time in a points-paying race mid-season?
My second question is unrelated. I watch IndyCar and NASCAR races routinely, but not Formula 1. I tuned into the Las Vegas F1 race out of curiosity and made it about halfway through before I fell asleep. One thing I found unusual is that there were no commercials during the broadcast once the race started. Are F1 races typically broadcast commercial-free? Or was this an anomaly? (Or did I just sleep through them?) If my recollection is correct, how does that make financial sense for F1?
Fred
MP: On the why-not-hybrids-at-Thermal, it’s because there’s already an overarching feeling by many that the event is lame or a waste of time, so the possibility of putting on a non-points race, live on NBC, with high risk for ERS failures, is the kind of decision you make if you’re a lover of dumpster fires. It took some effort to get everyone on board with the event. Doing a thing that could embarrass NBC, Thermal, teams, drivers, sponsors, and Thermal, just because why not, isn’t likely to get a green light from the series.
F1’s move to ESPN was done for a super cheap dollar amount, so ESPN, with some underwriting by Mother’s Polish, aired the series as it airs everywhere but here, and that’s without commercials. F1 gets paid by ESPN for its broadcast rights, so they’re whole. How ESPN profits from it is on them.
Q: Big Possom has been saying what Honda just said — get rid of the engine manufacturers, the cost to the manufacturers, and the lack of engines. I believe Conor Daly said on his podcast that if were not for the limited number of engines available there would be 40 cars trying to qualify for the 500.
Lots of options — Ilmor, bring back The Beast, small block Chevy, Cosworth — teams buy their own engines and do their own engine work. Back in the day Don Kenyon built the chassis and Mel Kenyon built the motors on their IndyCars and they had a great finishing record at Indy. Only a small percentage of fans care about the super-tricked tech stuff, per Honda below:
“All of the engine stuff has gotten so homogenized, I’m not sure any of the fans would know, if you took and put an engine on the floor and took the logos off of it, which engine belongs to which manufacturer. You couldn’t tell them from each other now, and I’m not sure any of the fans today would really notice if they weren’t different. Fans want good, close racing, lots of passes, and cars that sound cool.”
Big Possum, Michigan
MP: Nothing like a Mailbag submission that starts off with Big Possum speaking in the third person.
Q: Do you think Honda is going to quit?
Guillermo Calvillo
MP: Depends on the day, and who’s calling or who I’m ringing. Since I wrote the first piece on Honda firing a warning shot across IndyCar’s bow, where I opened by saying Honda is expected to complete its current contract that ends after 2026, I’ve had suggestions that this might not be the case. So who knows? I hope they don’t leave. That would be terrible for IndyCar in every way.
Honda’s public (and private) comments are akin to a spouse saying they want the marriage to work, but for that to happen, counseling and some huge changes will be needed, and ASAP. We’ll see if IndyCar is taking those concerns in a serious manner by how it does or doesn’t engage in trying to keep its marriage with Honda intact.
Q: In response to the idea of a spec engine: Realistically, Honda and Chevy seem to be duplicating each other’s efforts and building damn-near spec engines with different badges anyway. What I still do not understand is not making use of all the investment and R&D that went into the IMSA GTP powerplants. Talk about ROI? Yes, I know they are big and have a bigger battery, but I can’t be convinced a new open-wheel chassis couldn’t be designed to accommodate them. Indy ran cumbersome stock blocks for those that have been around. The GTP cars are pretty svelte and the passenger space that holds the battery unit is not terribly different volume-wise than a sidepod.
These powerplants have real brand identity in different configurations and exhaust notes, and despite this are all very well-regulated to deliver nearly identical power, per the class regs. And they are long-lasting and have proven to be surprisingly dependable.
Once everyone has more than enough power, or at least equal power, the engineering competition can be centered on power management and delivery as outlined in the article. (MotoGP is a good example) One might pay some smart people a lot of money on this development but it’s primarily software and the cost of material resources, space, machining etc. are comparatively minimal. And there are five manufacturers that have already spent the money on development in Porsche, Lamborghini, GM, Honda/Acura and BMW. I’m not suggesting they all want to go IndyCar racing but a large hurdle in doing so would be removed. And if three went IndyCar racing, there are others, including Ford, who probably wouldn’t want to be the one missing at the party in May.
If, in addition, you could find a way to let the manufacturers add some brand identity to a portion of the bodywork without gaining an advantage — again, as in GTP — all the better.
Lastly, Dallara has constructed a GTP chassis for BMW and just maybe some of that development could be parlayed to an open-wheel spec, although this may be a bigger reach than the rest.
I know it boils down to money and resources, but IndyCar seems to be mired in the mindset of identifying why they can’t do something instead of figuring out how they can, and I’d love to see that change.
George
MP: Another *Chef’s kiss* is required.
Q: I’ve seen a lot of complaints here and there in the Mailbag; sure I agree with most of them, but just to give you a perspective and let you guys know: Here in Brazil (and in our neighbor Argentina’s TC2000 as well), Stock Car Pro Series is going with SUV bodyworks for 2025. You read it right: SUVs for racing on asphalt.
Toyota (Corolla Cross) and Chevy (Tracker) already signed up, and Honda (CR-V) and VW (T-Cross) are going to join as well.
The OEMs are really interested just in what sells here in this country.
Like it or not, I guess it is the future. At least it secures factory involvement for the long term.
Let´s enjoy IMSA and IndyCar while we can, people!
Daniel Borges Martins, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
MP: Time for a third *Chef’s kiss*…
Michael Schumacher ran a larger-spec dog once he had a few championships under his belt, but in January of 1992. he was starting small. No word on what became of the fuzzy banana thing hanging from the rear window. Ercole Colombo/Studio Colombo/Motorsport Images
Q: I’ve got tickets for a couple of different IndyCar races this year and, yes, I’m now disappointed that I won’t be seeing anything new when I go. (No hybrids, and no other major changes again this year).
When inquiring (and possibly jealous) IndyCar fans like me see the manufacturer lineup in IMSA’s top class and ask the Mailbag why we can’t homologate the future IndyCar engine package with IMSA’s — so that all of those engines could be use in both series — we get a straightforward and correct explanation of all the reasons it cannot be done. But, for the heck of it, let’s say that such a measure was deemed the only way forward in the near future: how could that be achieved?
Would it be a radically redesigned IndyCar that becomes essentially an open-cockpit prototype with exposed wheels?
And, as I have no idea, are the engine costs in IMSA dramatically different then the often-scorned engine lease costs for IndyCar teams?
Inquiring (and possibly jealous) IndyCar fan
MP: IndyCar could adopt a formula that used GTP engines, and others. It would just require the designing of a new chassis and go to an older style of tub that’s wider and taller to accept the wider and taller turbo and naturally-aspirated V8s made by BMW, Cadillac, Lamborghini, and Porsche.
Dallara would have some serious weight to manage, since the average GTP motor tips the scales at roughly double of what the 2.2L turbo V6s from Chevy and Honda weigh. Some of the GTP engines also have a wider base, which means the crankcase would take up more space in the underwing, which would reduce downforce. And the wider tub and engine covers would also affect airflow to the rear wing, which would affect downforce. So we’d need a wider car to make wider underwing tunnels, and wider rear wings to help as needed up top.
It’s not impossible, but if the goal was to invite all kinds of engines from other series into IndyCar, the entire concept of today’s tight, low, narrow, and comparatively light IndyCar formula would be scrapped.
And yes, the engine costs in IMSA on an annual basis are nothing like what they are in IndyCar.
THE FINAL WORD
From Robin Miller’s Mailbag, December 31, 2013
Q: I’ve recently made it a habit to take on learning about all the old drivers and legends of the USAC days of the ’50s and ’60s. What do you know about Gene Force and Keith Rachwitz? Lots of guys have no wins, so who would you say are the 10 best drivers to never win a race from the days before the 1996 split?
Likewise, there was the CART/USAC split in 1979. Do you consider any of the races drivers won after 1980 (e.g. George Snider, Keith Kaufman, Bobby Olivero) to be legitimate, or do you consider those wins to not have really come in “IndyCar” because in the case of Snider and Olivero they weren’t even good enough to run in the top five, and Kaufman wasn’t even an IndyCar driver!
Thanks for the history lesson.
Alex in Florida
ROBIN MILLER: Force qualified at Indy in 1951 (finished 11th) and again in 1960, while Porky (that was Rachwitz’s nickname) attempted to make the show in ’62 and ’63 but had a couple of accidents and failed. Snider was a badass when he arrived in USAC (pole at the Hoosier Hundred in 1965 and front row at Indianapolis in ’66) and always good in sprinters. Olivero was a damn good midget and dirt car racer who qualified for Indy in 1977. Kaufman was tough in sprints.
I think Snider, Johnny Parsons, Steve Krisiloff, Tom Bigelow, Mel Kenyon and Rich Vogler were all good racers who never won in an Indy car, but to my mind Lee Kunzman was the best. He recovered from serious injuries and finally got a good Indy car ride only to get hurt again, and then made another comeback and almost won at Atlanta in 1979. Kunzman was as good in a midget and sprint car as anybody I ever saw race.
