The RACER Mailbag, January 10

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. Questions received after 3pm ET each Monday will appear the following week.

Q: I was thinking about Honda and IndyCar, noting that Penske and Chevrolet are apparently silent about the prospect of losing Honda, and there’s all this talk about maybe a spec engine would be better than engine competition; and suddenly I was hit by a terrible conspiracy theory:

The spec engine that’s being discussed would be from Ilmor, which makes the “Chevrolet” engines that are currently in the cars. Who owns Ilmor? Roger Penske, who also owns IndyCar. So he would not only do away with an engine competitor in the racing series, but also, all of the money from engine leases would flow to one of his companies. Obviously simpler and easier, but opposite to the direction taken successfully by IMSA. Mr. Penske is acknowledged as a master manager, leader and organizer, and he loves an unfair advantage, but I have never heard anyone say he was a brilliant marketer.

Big Sur Ridgewalker, Big Sur, CA

MARSHALL PRUETT: This has the feel of an Oliver Stone movie where lots of conspiratorial questions get added up to equate to a likely misdeed. Truth is, American Honda/HRC US are saying that they’d welcome taking a big slice out of their annual racing budget by buying or leasing a spec-ish motor instead of spending zillions to do it themselves.

And since Honda/HRC US has the deepest respect for Ilmor as a rival and collaborator, it makes more sense for Honda/HRC to suggest Ilmor — the only other expert in the world at making championship-winning 2.2-liter turbocharged V6 IndyCar engines — is the best fit for the job.

Let’s also be honest here: A proposed spec supply suggestion from Honda/HRC for the company Penske co-founded and co-owns is one where everyone knows full well that it will benefit Penske’s bottom line. The thing being served up as a possible conspiracy is actually the exact thing Chevy/Ilmor’s main rival would welcome, so that probably makes it something other than a dastardly plan Penske devised.

These Ilmor engineers might be giving off some secret government agent vibes with the dark uniforms and mirrored shades, but there is no deep state conspiracy behind the standard engine chatter. Michael Levitt/Motorsport Images

Q: A few months ago, I came across a post you retweeted from Dawn Treader Performance and their restoration of the Penske PC26. Since then, they have had a couple of excellent videos of the car being run on an airport in the UK. What a great sound and look; I was immediately transported back to my childhood in the 1990s seeing this car run in person at Michigan, Cleveland and Nazareth.

What is it like, from a parts availability and cost standpoint, to restore a ’90s-era CART car? Is there much opportunity for an interested person to pursue an endeavor, or do teams tend to hold on to their stock of old cars? And where might these cars be seen running again? It looks like track days shy away from open-wheelers, so perhaps vintage festivals? I can only come across a couple of YouTube clips from a Goodwood Festival where a PC22 was tearing it up.

Chris Reardon, Washington, DC

MP: Plenty of open-wheelers at SCCA and NASA club racing events, and the same is true for vintage series that welcome them (some series are dedicated to sports cars or stock cars, only). There is a sore lack of modern-ish Indy cars at vintage events, which I hope gets resolved sometime soon. The HMSA vintage organization will be running a field of vintage Indy cars during the Long Beach GP in April, so if your calendar and bank account will allow, it’s a perfect excuse to come and watch IndyCar, IMSA, and vintage Indy cars in action in SoCal.

My friend Patrick Morgan, whose Dawn Treader Penske you referenced, was kind enough to help with some insights:

“A difficult question to answer, and everyone in the restoration business has to grapple with them. There are many cars out there in various states of completeness. Parts availability can depend on the specific chassis – for example there were many 1997 Reynards around, less so with Lolas for that year, but by 2002 the field was almost all Lolas so there more to be found around for those cars. Engine-wise, Cosworths are pretty much available with electronics to support them; early Ilmor/Chevy engines are out there and a very few later Ilmor-Mercedes engines. I have yet to see a complete running Honda and only a couple of Toyota-engined cars running.

“Cost-wise, it really depends on what you start with and what your end point is. There is quite a cost difference between simply running a car and having a race-ready car in terms of, for example, a fuel cell being certificated, dampers rebuilt, etc.

“It’s all expensive and you’ve got to want to do it, but it’s achievable and not as painful in the longer term as an F1 car. The duty cycle on the engine for an Indy car is 600 miles at full throttle rather than 350km with varying throttle for an F1. Knock 200rpm of the rev limit and reduce the boost a tad and it’s going to last longer than 600 miles. So for the performance, it’s much more cost effective. And better looking…  just my view, of course!”

Q: As we’ve hit the dog days of the offseason, it’s the perfect time for a movie marathon. What are your go-to racing movies to get us through the cold winter months and, in your opinion, which recent one is the best?

Michael in Central Indiana

MP: This is where I need to admit I’ve been fearful of watching “Gran Turismo” because it looks so generically bad: Shouty team boss guy. Young driver who needs to find his confidence. Cartoonish crash scenes (barring the terrible ’Ring crash Jann experienced). But I do need to watch it.

Other than my passion for hate-watching “Driven,” I don’t have much to offer that’s original in terms of cinematic pieces. “Le Mans” and “Grand Prix” are the go-to gems. I did add a few items to my Watchlist on Prime that should range from terrible to amusing. One is “Born2Race,” a documentary-style movie about Al and Bobby Unser that, based on the trailer, is horrifically bad, which means I’ll love it.

During the pandemic, I came across something called “Gearheads: Win At All Costs.” It’s as if someone watched “Driven,” challenged themselves to make something worse than the worst racing movie of all time, and possibly succeeded, with the mess set in the world of short track racing.

I’m a much bigger consumer of racing annual reviews and documentaries. The documentary “Hurley,” about Hurley Haywood, is well worth watching. “Super Speedway” is another that’s always awesome.

Q: My 23-year-old son (an avid IndyCar fan that I’ve brainwashed since his toddler years) and I will be attending the Rolex 24 At Daytona for the first time. We live in Indy, and have been to many IndyCar races across the country, and attended the IMSA event at IMS this year.

We’ve never been to Daytona International Speedway, and have never been to a 24-hour race. So we’re looking for tips on what to do, how to plan, what not to do, sleeping/eating strategies, etc. We’ve agreed that it’s going to be awesome, but we’re prepared for a few moments of “what did we get ourselves into?” We rented a small condo about five miles away for shower and sleeping purposes only, but we’re tempted to sleep a bit in the car at the track and maximize the experience.

We’re open to any and all advice! Thanks in advance!

Jeff Keen

MP: First recommendation is to check the track’s website for what you are and aren’t allowed to bring in with food and drink. Based on that, I’d plan on treating the events as a “touring race,” which means having a nice rolling setup for you and your son, if possible, that has whatever you can have in a cooler, plus folding chairs, umbrellas, rain gear, and sunscreen.

Although DIS has giant grandstands that are quite comfy, this isn’t an event where you park yourself in a seat all day and all night long. Go up there, for sure — especially for the start on Saturday — but plan on using the tunnels to go into the infield and tour from turn to turn and stand and watch where standing is all you can do, and set up your camping chairs and chill and watch at the places where that’s possible. I’ve slept in my rental car every time I’ve been there, except for last year when I was sick and needed to get proper sleep in a bed, so go with how you’re feeling on which option to take.

If you or your son like to take photos, there are a bunch of places to do that as well. Just buy a little stepstool to chuck into your rolling wagon, or bungy it onto your backpack, to help shoot over the fences as many fans do.

Last piece of advice: Challenging yourself to stay up for the entire race is great if you two don’t have to go to work on Monday or Tuesday. But if you do, skip that challenge because it takes a week to 10 days to feel human again.

Two laps around the clock means plenty of opportunity to explore the different vantage points at the Rolex 24 At Daytona. Alexander Trienitz/Motorsport Images

Q: In response to Ed, from Westfield in last week’s Mailbag, via a short story:

My brother attended the Indy 500 every year from 1975-1997. It was the only auto race of any kind he ever attended. I tried unsuccessfully many times to talk him into Road America (closer to his home) for the CART folks and IMSA. No dice.

Fast-forward to 2022. He’s retired, kids are grown and gone and he’s bored. I talk him into IndyCar at Road America. We get there early enough Sunday morning to walk through the paddock. I make sure he notices all the driver and team names on the banners fluttering in each paddock. After a while he stops and says, “Now these guys aren’t here, right”? Me “what do you mean?” “Well, Castroneves, Herta, Scott Dixon, they’re not here today, are they?”

I was flummoxed. I tried to explain that yes indeed, they are here and in fact if we hang around long enough we might bump into them showing up for work.

Instead, we head down to the bleachers in T5 to watch the driver introductions on the giant screen. Me: “See, there’s Castroneves, there’s Dixie,” etc. I think — not 100% sure — I have him convinced.

Now for the Ed from Westfield section: I talk him into IMSA in August again at RA. After a full weekend of exciting multi-class racing, I ask for his thoughts. “Well, the cars are boring. I like IndyCars much more.”

Bear in mind this is a very successful, college-educated guy. He’ll never be convinced that if it ain’t an IndyCar it’s just a car. The good news is he’s now a road course fan and went with me again in ’23 and is going again in ’24 — of course, only for IndyCar.

Keith Conroy

MP: Great story, Keith. Glad he got to see both, even if he likes IMSA less than IndyCar.

Q: As we all know, IndyCar does very little marketing/advertising of the series to the general public other than the occasional TV commercial on NBC. If the argument is that the series is practically focused solely on B2B, why even do that? (I guess that’s an NBC thing?)

Perhaps that is precisely why there is little advertising and promotion. There aren’t even promotional ads within a former series and current car sponsor Verizon’s company, as a friend of mine who works in the Verizon headquarters (and has been a Verizon employee for over 20 years) has continued to tell me he sees nothing internally promoting the car, Will Power (“Is that really his name?” I was asked) or the series and didn’t even when they were the series sponsor. You would think Verizon would be proud of being the sponsor to one of the best drivers in IndyCar and tell even their own employees about it, but apparently not. Not even when Power won the 500. Bueller? Bueller?

How about this simple strategy: Some time ago there was a weak marketing effort about the series having the best drivers in the world. Though that is arguable by some or many, let’s go with it (again). Hype up the season (and past champion Palou) by saying the series and the championship is to crown the best driver in the world (because of ovals, streets, and road courses on which they compete to determine the title), and beat it into the viewing public with social media ads, a few relevant influencers, and in upcoming race commercials.

At worst it will get online debates aplenty; at best it will get more of the IndyCar-clueless public trying to see “who the hell are these guys and why are they hyped to be the best drivers in the world?” Geez, IndyCar, throw us some kind of bone to help get the word out — the aging IndyCar diehard fan demographic is dying out and needs some help spreading the word before it’s too late. What says you?

Randy Mizelle, Oak Island, NC

MP: Not sure where the Verizon-didn’t-do-commercials angle comes from, but they did, because I saw them when they aired, along with millions of other people. Do we wish that continued in the latter years? Of course!
The “best and most diverse drivers” promotional angle has also been used, plenty of times, in CART, Champ Car, and the modern-day IndyCar Series. I know you and I grew up at a time where a great TV commercial could make a difference, but I just don’t know if that’s a thing that still works like it once did, with the younger demographic IndyCar is chasing.

Q: Last night, as I was watching Team #144 of the Maize & Blue as they ROLLED the TIDE on their way to the championship game, a random thought popped into my head: “I wonder how many people know that Jim Harbaugh was once co-owner of a multi-championship winning IndyCar team?”

So, I Googled it, and very little came up that was recent. It would be smart for IndyCar to embrace this link (and others as they arise) when their star is shining and eyeballs are on them. Put something out there congratulating him (and the team) on the recent wins, along with footage of him jumping over the wall changing tires back in the ’90s! IndyCar should exploit this to their advantage considering U of M has arguably the largest fan base and alumni of any school. IndyCar competes with all other sports for eyeballs. Embracing and engaging your competitors on their turf should not be feared, exposing the sport to potential new fans.

Further thoughts on this subject led me to the sports-media wunderkind whose “Thunderdome” sits kitty-corner to IMS (via I-465)! The one and only Pat McAfee! People either love or hate him, but his numbers don’t lie and he has created a juggernaut based right in Indy and his reach has no bounds. He is an admitted fan, has sponsored Conor Daly in the race, and drove the pace car for one of the Indy GPs, so he’s obviously a fan. Why not exploit that?

There is nobody else in sports media who has a daily three-hour show on constant replay on a major network. He has amassed a huge following, and IndyCar needs to hop on his coattail in any way possible, as even if he only spends five minutes of his three-hour show talking about IndyCar/interviewing drivers, it is guaranteed to bring new eyeballs. If IndyCar is not pursuing it already, then they need to hire me to drive that initiative.

Steven Bushouse

MP Two excellent points, Steven. While I’ve been aware of McAfee since his NFL days, I’m new to him as a sports show host and do, on occasion, enjoy some segments on ESPN. And that part, with ABC/ESPN, might be an issue with IndyCar tied directly to its rival at NBC. Can’t deny that the exact audience McAfee speaks to is of the age that IndyCar needs most to start following its series.

Harbaugh and Scott Goodyear collect the spoils after Panther Racing’s win at Texas in 1999. Penske Entertainment

Q: As I digest all of the concerning comments about IndyCar, I am wondering if there is any good mental energy at 16th and Georgetown being spent on some out-of-the-box marketing, or are they all in a defensive mode fending off threats relating to suppliers and broadcasters?

One never sees a good advertisement with IndyCars or their drivers anymore. I recall the Texaco ad with Mario and A.J. where they kind of rib each other, and the Valvoline ad with Little Al ribbing Mark Martin and Joe Amato.

I also am ominously reminded of the Honda/FedEx ad with Gil de Ferran. Those were great. Guys like Mario and A.J. are still with us. Why can’t someone create a funny ad with those two? Maybe partner them with a couple of IndyCar drivers like Alex Palou or Josef Newgarden. Make it comical, something that would go viral on YouTube or TikTok.

Look at Palou, a two-time champion that hardly anyone outside of the series itself knows about. Criminal! And Josef, possibly the best oval racing driver since Rick Mears, and again, not even close to a household name.

Look what State Farm has done with Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid. I know this isn’t the NFL but it’s something to think about. How about getting Chip and Scott in a funny ad? Look what the NFL did with John Madden.

I’m a fan of all motorsports but I’m still mad that IndyCar let NASCAR beat them to the punch in staging a street race in Chicago. My two cents.

James

MP: Next time I speak to IndyCar, I’ll ask if they have anything in the works, or an ad agency to help create such things.

Q: When the IndyCar hybrid system is finally implemented, will the cars be able to roll off after a stall without having to be restarted? I don’t ever hear mention of this capability. From day one, this is all I have really cared about as it could eliminate some of the long cautions that happen on road courses.

Rick Navratil

MP: Hi, Rick, yes, that’s the plan. It’s been written about here in the Mailbag and in other RACER stories.

The only caveat is if the supercapacitor is nearly depleted of energy when the spin or stall happens. Can’t wind up the motor generator unit to start the car if there’s not enough juice in the supercap to wind it up.

Q: For everyone worried that any change to the engine specs/manufacturers/formula will bring with it the horrific and feared term Balance of Performance, a reminder:

IndyCar has already been there. Back in what’s widely described as “the good ol’ days” you could run an Offy, Cosworth, or Buick but your boost was limited to balance the performance of each. The Buick, being a pushrod engine, got a fat turbo allowance (to its eternal detriment in durability) yet always put up big numbers on pole day. That pushrod loophole in the rule book was big enough to drive a Mercedes through, though…

Maybe we old-guy IndyCar fans born in the ’60s or ’70s shouldn’t fear the idea of a new BoP. If it comes to that. I plan on watching IndyCar for life. F1 just isn’t racing, to me. Nothing much is, anymore, sadly.

Bill Bailey

MP: Thanks Bill, but BoP was never used back then. Engine type, displacement, boost, and weight was a common pick-’em solution in open-wheel, sports cars, and so on, but actual balancing of performance, where the sanctioning body actively dialed boost/weight/revs/etc up or down to make a Cosworth DFX equal to a Buick or a Judd or a Chevy, and so on, wasn’t done. If they had, the racing would have been much closer, but each era of IndyCar has its dominant engine from back in the day, and that wouldn’t have been possible if true BoP was employed. There were adjustments made, of course, but the old practice was more like a distant uncle to BoP than the grandfather of the process.

Not sure A.J. would have looked so cheery if his Watson-Offy had been slapped with a BoP adjustment at Indy in 1964. The quotes would have been good, though. David Phipps/Motorsport Images

Q: What do you think about the Chili Bowl? 370 racers on an indoor dirt track. Racing all week long. Makes a lot of events seem tiny.

Pete Pfankuch, Wisconsin

MP: I’ve always wanted to go but haven’t made it happen yet. My friends who attend say it’s all kinds of awesome.

Q: Tell us what your crystal ball is for the next five-seven years of IndyCar.

In the near-term, would it simply make sense to start in 2025 and 2026 testing and adjusting the cars to the IMSA engine formula for 2027? Just start the process of what is needed to fit/accommodate these engines now? You can test the adjusted chassis/engine while still running the Honda and Chevy in the near-term for the next two seasons.

IndyCar would need to use a few chassis at different tracks for the engine testing. If this change was made there might need to be some sort of handicapping for power, but if all things were equal, it would be a matter of space, weight and aerodynamic profile. I would think some of that could be worked out over time. The weight might go up, but do IndyCar fans really care about the actual weight? No. They just want to see cars racing. I am sure balancing this all would require some testing for many variables, but if we are to keep the existing chassis and will need new engines, what really is the choice?

I think people are tired of the old chassis, but I also feel some aesthetics could be incrementally changed over time. The tub and aeroscreen are ugly, but it appears the same basic car will be in place for a while. Can Dallara not change small things over time? Maybe change the front and rear wing (loved the early 2000 IndyCar with the angled front wings, love the angled rear wings in Formula E) and maybe only changes to parts of the car one year at a time. The bodywork for the new engines could be a one-year change. If you keep the same car, make some incremental changes each year to change the look.

Finally, all NBC advertising should involve either high-speed slipping and sliding, some sort of elbow checking, loud, loud noise and some incidents. Get a huge social media presence that involves the drivers, personalities, the science of racing, feuds, etc… If IndyCar wants to garner new fans, get them smelling the bait in small bites. My kid knows all the MLB all-stars but does not watch games. He knows them in many small social media highlights. I’ve got to believe advertisers like eyeballs, no matter how they get these videos viewed.

Tim, Chicago

MP: All interesting thoughts, Tim, but there’s no “adjusting” of the DW12 to fit GTP motors without it costing a fortune. That’s why, as I’ve written ad nauseum, a new chassis would be needed if IndyCar went to an all-shapes-and-sizes engine formula.

Other than going hybrid, I have no idea where IndyCar is headed by the end of the decade because they don’t know and haven’t mapped out where they want to go.

Q: I must say the Corvette Z06 that is going to compete in IMSA is still pretty similar to the Corvette C8.R it is replacing. What are the technical and mechanical differences between the Z06 and C8.R? With the Z06 racing in GTD Pro along with GTD, what has been the feedback from drivers in testing, and is GM expecting the car to make the Corvette name become competitive again?

Brandon Karsten

MP: Great questions, which are better served in a feature-length story, not a quick-hitting Mailbag reply. The previous chassis was built to the now-retired GTE regulations, which made for faster cars than the GT3 formula, but lacked some of the driver aids like anti-lock braking. Corvette was planning to build a proper GT3 version of the C8, but didn’t have one ready in time to go with IMSA’s move to all-GT3 regulations in 2022, so the series allowed Corvette to modify the C8.R, retrofit it with things like ABS, and then used Balance of Performance to make it work among the purebred GT3 models.

Corvette won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in its class and the GTE-Am title in the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2023, so I’d say the name hasn’t lost its competitiveness. With its move to a proper GT3 car, there’s every reason to believe Corvette’s grand success in IMSA will continue as well.

Q: It seems that for the relationship between CART/IndyCar and NASCAR has been a zero-sum, parasitic relationship where neither series has positioned itself to mutually grow together. I personally believe this does not need to be the case, however I understand that the “I run this town” attitude of the France family the past 75 years has shaped this narrative.

However, I also believe that if there was anybody who can help change this narrative and mend the relationship, it is Roger Penske. NASCAR would have to come to the table also, but do you see this the same way I do — that the relationship between IndyCar and NASCAR needs to change for the long-term betterment of both series? Is there a reality where NASCAR and IndyCar can truly work together in a substantial way and cross-promote?

Additionally, I believe IndyCar has been long out of touch with grassroots racing. As a dirt racing fanatic I would love to see some sort of connection between the “big leagues” and “old school grassroots.” The BC39 is an awesome event, but that’s really the only gesture that Roger Penske has made acknowledging grassroots racing. [ED: The BC39 event predates Penske’s purchase of IMS by a year]. [Indianapolis Motor Speedway president] Doug Boles is a rock star at that event every year (personally greeting every driver and tilling the track in the tractor himself) – why can’t we have more of that?

Eric

MP: Both series would undoubtedly benefit from working together, but that’s just not how competing businesses in a free economy tend to behave, right? I’m sure if Coke and Pepsi worked together, they’d sell more soda, and an alignment between McDonald’s and Burger King would sell more of their food, but these are warring businesses in the same space who are trying to beat the other. IndyCar and NASCAR are the same and always have been, as I’ve seen it.

Like the soda and fast food companies, IndyCar and NASCAR have similar products to sell, but they’re just different enough to attract different audiences, so it’s not like the glaring need for Champ Car and the IndyCar Series to join forces for their mutual betterment.

Former IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard tried to rebuild the roots to short-track racing in the early 2010s and while it was cool to see, it didn’t seem to do much for the series. He was fired before it could be developed into a bigger program. Maybe Kyle Larson’s upcoming Indy 500 debut will bridge the worlds of IndyCar and short-track racing in meaningful ways.

There’s plenty of respect between NASCAR and IndyCar drivers, but the chances of sustained, high-level cooperation between the two series seem slim. Chris Jones/Penske Entertainment

Q: Do GT3 manufacturers turn a profit by selling their race cars? It’s always been interesting to me that some sell many, many cars (Porsche, Ferrari), while others seem content to limit things to a “factory team” feel (Corvette). Is the value purely in the marketing, or is there money to be made as well?

Brad

MP: Sure, some do. Ferrari charges a fortune and sells every GT3 car they make. Porsche doesn’t go silly with pricing, and they definitely operate as a business with their customer racing, rather than as a marketing arm and expense as some of the smaller brands do. All depends on the size of the brand and what they’re trying to achieve with the GT3-based programs.

Q: You have said that you know management at IndyCar read the Mailbag, but I really wonder if they care, because there is no such forum on the IndyCar website. Their website is all feel-good stories about the series. Do you have any sense that they are taking in all the feedback from the Mailbag and formulating a plan that they will announce in the near future that addresses Honda’s and the fans’ concerns? Their silence is deafening.

Dave

MP: One of the things that you can find among a group of like-minded people who’ve been ultra successful in their other businesses is an inward approach to whatever they do with decisions and planning. In other words, if you’ve made billions elsewhere, looking to comments sections and forums on how to run your new business just doesn’t fit the mindset of most business leaders. Titans of industry tend to look in the mirror and see everything they need.

Prior to IndyCar’s sale, when it was run by people who never believed they were the smartest people in the room, it was common for them to look to those comments and forums to get the real pulse of the fans. Now, we get the series talking down to its fans, telling them that negativity is “out.” Because, well, who wants to hear the frustrations of IndyCar’s most invested and passionate fans? Just smile and blindly accept whatever you’re told to do, people…

Q: Regarding all the Honda stuff, I assume this goes much deeper than at a dollars and cents level, correct? If it was just about money, with an overabundance of teams, entries, and sponsors (in some cases), couldn’t Honda simply request the engine subsidy they absorb be reduced or eliminated in future years to make the budget align? That seems to be a simple answer. Or is asking each team to pay $500k or a $1 million more in 2025 or 2026 unreasonable? If the simple answer isn’t be pursued, there must be something much deeper going on, right? What am I missing?

Mark Schneider

MP: The financial balance in the paddock is one where some teams could easily absorb a doubling of the annual engine lease price, but approximately half could not. It’s a rarity for teams who rely on paying drivers to come across one who has an extra $1.25 million to give; in most instances, it’s a fight just to get the amount those teams need to properly operate.