Yahoo Autos The RACER Mailbag, September 18
Welcome to the RACER Mailbag. Questions for any of RACER’s writers can be sent to mailbag@racer.com. We love hearing your comments and opinions, but letters that include a question are more likely to be published. Questions received after 3pm ET each Monday will be saved for the following week.
Q: The end of the season was certainly exciting and unpredictable. The bizarre situations with Palou and Power over the last two races were something that not even a Hollywood script would come up with. How did the atmosphere go over with the fans with the transfer from downtown to the speedway? What were the attendance figures for the race? It looked like there were a lot of empty seats in the grandstand. Was Big Machine Music City satisfied with the presentation?
I was embarrassed for the series during the invocation. It came across as almost like a satire that you would see on SNL. The chaplins that were used during the year were respectful but this was an over-the-top, NASCAR-type presentation. I saw some strange expressions on participants when it was being presented.
Dave
MARSHALL PRUETT: It wasn’t official, but I was told over 22,000 tickets were sold for Sunday. On the grid, most people around me chuckled after the invocation.
Q: So, the No. 8 car suddenly is open. Is it possible that either Valtteri Bottas or Logan Sargeant is in the running? Or, am I just dreaming?
Jim Doyle, Hoboken, NJ
MP: Jim, the seat was never open. As we’ve written a few times in recent months, Kyffin Simpson will be moving to the third car. It remains unconfirmed by Ganassi but is a known thing within the paddock.
Logan was at Nashville and taking meetings with teams. I spoke with his friend Kyle Kirkwood and we both agreed there were slim pickings for him to explore. Logan wants to be paid, and that leaves the 45 at RLL, the 21 at ECR, and the 77 at JHR, and those three teams have plenty of options with more experienced IndyCar drivers. The timing could be off for 2025, but if he’s patient it looks like 2026 could be more realistic.
Q: Santino Ferrucci can rebuild the bridges from the dirt to Indy. Change my mind?
Mike, West Coast, USA
MP: Sure, if Santino starts running a bunch of midget/sprint races. But since he doesn’t, that bridge is going to take forever to assemble.
Q: Have there been any rumors on whether any of NBC’s on-air talent will make the switch to FOX next year? It would be a shame to lose Hinch in particular.
Joe
MP: Everybody who isn’t a full-timer for NBC has spoken to FOX. No clue if any will be hired.
It’s not unreasonable for Sargeant to want to be paid to drive in IndyCar, but it does limit his options for 2025. Sam Bloxham/Motorsport Images
Q: As another IndyCar season has come to an end, can I suggest an advancement that IndyCar could introduce to the series in 2025? Could they find someone to invent a better “marble” remover than the same street sweeper that slowly cleans the gutters in front of my house?
A faster and more efficient machine could result in better and more frequent cleaning of the entire racing circuit and dramatically improve the racing experience. While this may not be the most pressing issue facing IndyCar today, it would be a nice improvement as laps under yellow would decrease and it would open up more racing lines. Do you know if this has ever been discussed before by the series? Who knows, they might even find a sponsor for it like Dyson or Roomba. As all of us racing fans have experienced, the long track cleanups can certainly make your mind wander.
Brad Ellinger, LaPorte, IN
MP: Great idea, Brad.
Q: How has Zak Brown’s “State of IndyCar” letter been received by IndyCar and other team owners? Hopefully they hear and act on some of his points, including marketing and exhibition races. Do you think Roger Penske would be willing to sell IndyCar and keep IMS only as it was in days with CART and the Hulman family? And would IndyCar without the Speedway be attractive to a buyer such as Liberty Media? Could it be self-sustaining?
Lastly, I met Simon Pagenaud at the WEC race at COTA — a very kind man. He spent more than 15 minutes talking with me about the track, IndyCar, F1, and his head injury He got a phone call, asked me to wait and then we continued our conversation. It was a special time, and he never made me feel he did not have time for me.
Rick, Miami
MP: Roger is not selling the series or the track as a whole or individually. I didn’t hear much from owners about Zak’s State of IndyCar letter, but of those who did mention it, they were largely in agreement with what was written. I wish more IndyCar team owners would do the same. Far too much with Penske Entertainment involves hush-hush talks and an unwillingness to take those private opinions public.
Q: I know that IndyCar still has much to do to restore itself to its former glory as truly one of the world’s pre-eminent racing series, and although most initiatives involve spending some substantial cash, there are a few little things the series could do to help themselves build better fan awareness and interest.
The points system and championship fight generally is unknown to almost anyone except in the paddock and among the cadre of diehard fans. Why not stir things up with an intriguing new system different from any other motor racing series? Think of a system where first place gets one point, second gets two, 10th gets 10 and so forth. The lowest average score wins the championship. Winning would be twice as good as coming in second, five times better than coming in fifth, etc. A driver’s score would be their average number, similar to a baseball pitcher’s ERA, and that score would be well advertised as part of the weekly series news.
Get back to a solid title sponsor like PPG, adding another element to the marketing of the championship. They used to give an A. J. Foyt Award to the best oval racing driver and a Mario Andretti Award to the season’s top road/street racer. Whatever happened to that? Surely the cost of a couple trophies couldn’t be that much.
My last brilliant 99 cent idea is for IndyCar to hold a second late-season event at the IMS and make it a special hybrid race, i.e., run two heats, one on the road course and one on the oval, perhaps a 250-miler. If Daytona can run two successful races a year, why can IndyCar not do it? I would schedule it on Labor Day weekend, thus a week before the NFL starts.
James Herbert Harrison, Overland Park, KS
MP: Thanks for writing in, James.
Q: With the new charter program coming in, are there any measures in place to make sure the charters don’t turn into a “money will always win” situation?
Second, the last couple seasons seems like Penske drivers have gained advantages. Has there been any talk about hiring an outside group to run the races while Penske can run the business? A group approved by all the owners should remove that perception.
Third, it seems, on TV anyway, that the stands at most of the races are empty. I have some ideas that might not work for IndyCar; however, I wanted your take in these.
At 11:00am, have 20- to 50-lap sprint with the starting grid chosen by draw. At 2pm, reverse the starting order from race one. Then at 7pm take the average finish positions to determine starting grid for the race. I find qualifying boring, so how about having the sessions be sprint races of five to 10 laps? Half of the first sessions/race moves on. Half the second sessions moves on. Half the third sessions moves on. The final session/race determines the starting grid.
I really like the doubleheader weekends. However, I think it would add to the weekend if qualifying was done a little differently. The first race can be normal qualifying. The second race starting grid should be determined by the fastest lap run in the first race. Teams that got caught out by a yellow could then change focus and try to get a better starting position in the second race.
Fourth, teams and team orders. The commentators are always mentioning team orders and teammates helping each other. This is something that needs to somehow be banned from IndyCar. The team stuff is one of the worst parts of F1.
Last, more tracks and less time between races. After the opening weekend IndyCar loses all momentum by not having a race within two weeks. Seems like it would be better to keep IndyCar in the public eye. More tracks have been mentioned by a lot of other people; I think it is necessary to go to as many tracks as possible.
Craig B, Muncie, IN
MP: It’s a long off-season ahead, Craig. No need to pack everything into the first week. Answering in order:
Money always wins.
When I asked Roger about letting non-Penske people get involved, he damn near erupted.
Your new race structure would lead to a 99-percent aneurysm rate from people trying to follow what’s going on.
For a guy who doesn’t like qualifying, you’ve come up with a fun idea.
Commentators are not always mentioning team orders in IndyCar. It gets mentioned in the last race or two when the championship is on the line.
Sure, but half the teams are barely able to cover their bills with 17 races. Going to more means more costs, which means people lose their jobs as their teams collapse.
Q: I’m writing this just after getting home from Nashville Superspeedway. Man, what a race! The on-track action was fantastic with plenty of passing and a mix of strategies. Plus, the fans turned out and we had a great crowd on hand.
I just want to point out that Nashville Superspeedway has come in clutch yet again. After being left dormant for years and nearly demolished, the track has defied expectations and has come roaring back. Not only has it found a spot on the NASCAR Cup Series calendar as a premier event (despite heavy skepticism from some within the sport), but it has “showed up and showed out” for IndyCar as well.
While there was a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth when the Nashville street circuit went the way of the dodo, I’ve got to say that what I witnessed today is 100x more entertaining than any of the clown shows that the street circuit put on.
I know the series misses the downtown location of the street circuit, but I can tell you that from this fan’s perspective, Nashville Superspeedway is my preferred venue 10 times out of 10.
Garrick, Alabama
MP: I’m in total agreement, Garrick. I do wish we got to see the revised downtown layout run at least once so we’d know if it was better than the stadium layout, but since the speedway worked quite well thanks to Scott Borchetta’s investments, I hope the next installments pack the house.
“All the Herta fans in the house, come on let me hear you say whoaaah.” Nashville wasn’t the downtown showcase that everyone expected at the start of the year, but Borchetta still managed to throw a good party. Michael Levitt/Motorsport Images
Q: I feel as though not enough attention is being paid to Will Power’s belt situation. He seemed to take too long to get into the pits once he realized he had a problem and I believe he stated there was another belt problem later in the race. He should not have been back on the track and the team needs to face consequences for allowing him to continue in such a dangerous manner.
Does IndyCar have rules to address this? I know it rarely happens, but it seems leaving this up to the teams and drivers is not satisfactory.
Don Anderson, Oak Park, IL
MP: The problem here is there’s no way for the series to know if the buckle is disconnected unless the driver or team says so over the radio. To involve the series, sensors would need to be installed in the buckle to indicate all belts are connected/disconnected.
Q: The top riders of MotoGP have been referred to favorably as “aliens” in the past. If we were to apply this term to the current selection of IndyCar drivers, it would apply to (in no particular order) Palou, Dixon, Newgarden, McLaughlin, Power, Herta and O’Ward. Thoughts?
Jordan, Warwick, UK
MP: Strong list. Only adds would be Ferrucci and Kirkwood.
Q: I must confess that I was initially dismayed when I learned that the Music City GP was moving to the oval out in Lebanon. After all, downtown is where all of the excitement is, right? Nobody wants to go way out in the country to a track to see an oval race, right? After attending my first IndyCar race at the Superspeedway since 2005, I stand corrected. The stands were full. People seemed to really be enjoying themselves. The weather was perfect. The racing was fantastic! To top it all off, I have never experienced and easier ingress and egress from a sporting event. Free parking is definitely better than $40 downtown.
Major kudos to Scott Borchetta and the team to make this last-minute change of venue (with a lot of financial risk involved) and lay a very solid foundation to build on in the future!
Chad I. Pearman
MP: Agreed. On the ingress and egress, I probably shouldn’t say this, but it was so easy to get in, nobody stopped me and asked to see my credentials.
Q: Is it just me, or is there more uncertainty about the 2025 season than there usually is at the end of the previous season? The Sunday broadcast was the last time IndyCar teams and drivers could share news about their futures in front of their fans.
Is it because the drivers and teams don’t know what’s up for 2025, or is it that they know but they don’t want anyone else to know, which seems silly. Or is it all down to signatures on the charter paperwork? Which also seems silly.
You have referred to Marcus Armstrong knowing where he is going. Why not make it public at the final weekend? Any announcement between now and St. Pete is just not going to make as big a splash. Same for the driver of the No. 66 car, and the driver of the No. 8.
Not to mention the status of Honda and Chevy. It’s about time to talk about re-upping for the 2027 season, isn’t it?
I can’t believe FOX does not know at least some of the announcing crew for 2025. And what of the new event(s) for 2026?
I am sure I am missing other open secrets. My point is that these kinds of announcements made at Nashville would have garnered more attention than the same announcement in December or January. Seems like missed opportunities.
Ed in KC
MP: Teams prefer to coordinate announcements with their sponsors, so giving the news away on the broadcast does nothing for them, nor does it include their sponsors to create team-focused news. Also, it’s a long off-season and teams are looking for opportunities to remind the world they exist during five months of nothingness.
IndyCar needs to decide what it’s doing with its next engine/hybrid formula, which could be ready for 2027, before manufacturers will want to agree to sign supply agreements. Gotta know what you’re supplying first…
No, people would hopefully be focused on the championship, not a bunch of random and hurried announcements.
Q: I just finished reading your article regarding Zak Brown’s state of IndyCar. I try to keep in mind that owners are probably pretty cautious sharing anything with the press, but I thought Zak’s ideas were a very honest look at the sport. I think some of his ideas come from someone with very deep pockets, but still very doable.
I really liked his thoughts about embracing F1. I’m not talking copying F1 – more like Zak mentions, just get the fans to take a look at IndyCar.
What are your thoughts, and do you think Roger Penske and company will even consider any of this free advice?
John Furnis
MP: I agree — lots of great ideas and criticisms, but to your point, there’s a giant difference between the budget Formula 1 has to work with each season and what IndyCar has at its disposal. Roger’s wealth isn’t IndyCar’s wealth, so for some of the more ambitious F1-inspired upgrades, a huge infusion of cash would be required. And who says that couldn’t happen? If Penske were to sell a stake of the series to an investor or multiple investors, the strict financial limitations IndyCar has worked from could be relieved.
I hope Penske listens and acts upon Brown’s advice, and Michael Andretti’s advice, and Chip Ganassi’s advice, and what other team owners constantly suggest to the series’ executive leadership branch to consider.
A man with a plan, even if some parts of it are a bit expensive. Andy Hone/Motorsport Images
Q: If the silly season discussions are to be believed, Honda is dropping down to 13 for 2025 from 15 in 2024, while Chevy is moving up to 14 in 2025 from 12 in 2024.
This is the first time in a while that I recall Chevy having more full-time cars than Honda. How much strain does it add on those companies to add or drop two engines, more or less? Will there be a benefit to Honda performance/reliability? And will this kind of change stress Ilmor a bit more?
Ed Joras
MP: Yes to all the above. We haven’t seen Chevy/Ilmor with this many leases to support, so it’s hard to answer on strain since we need to see how the stresses and strains do or don’t manifest before an answer can be derived.
Q: First, what a fortunate backup track the Nashville oval proved to be. Secondly, after the season of what could have been, it was great to see the growth from Colton Herta. Alex Palou earned the championship, but Herta seemed to have a more mature/patient mindset after the mistakes at Indy and Detroit, which ultimately cost him the championship. As a member of the “Anybody but Penske or Ganassi Fan Club,” I’ve got high hopes for an Indy win or championship win in 2025.
JG, Tennessee
MP: It took a while, but the Andretti team really started to make its presence felt late in the season, to the point where the normal Ganassi-Penske-dominate-everything was joined consistently by Andretti with Herta. If the team can hold onto its steady performances, Herta should be a real title contender next year. The only wild card to consider is, Andretti will no longer have the chassis setup/feedback contributions from Meyer Shank Racing and specifically, Felix Rosenqvist, so sharpen themselves on the technical side. How might that affect them in 2025? A dip in performance? No change at all? We’ll be watching.
Q: With the dust settling on FOX taking over from NBC in the U.S. next year, have you heard anything regarding Sky continuing their UK coverage next year and beyond? The current contract expires 2024 as I understand it.
JK, Derby UK
MP: Heard nothing about FOX’s international plans, JK. But with the season over, we’re on the clock to learn many things about FOX’s personnel and initiatives.
Q: The recent announcement that Firestone was bringing two compounds of tires to the Nashville finale led me to wonder how these decisions are made within the IndyCar organization, and specifically, how Team Penske is kept from learning of competition discussions and decisions prior to the other teams in the series? It seems there could be competitive advantages gained by knowing of specific technical decisions for race events prior to the other competitors. e.g. simulation time, engineering planning, etc.
Andy R, Detroit area
MP: That’s a competition decision rather than an executive decision, so Jay Frye’s team would make the call and manage all information to keep all teams in isolation until being alerted at the same time.
Q: I’m rewatching Milwaukee 1 and noticed Herta used hybrid power all the way down the backstretch, and was back to 100% by the beginning of Turn 1. O’Ward didn’t use it at all during the lap. What would be a reason to not use it? Fuel mileage? Are there stats that shows who uses it the most/least?
Chad Brueggeman
MP: When I was at the Milwaukee hybrid test in June, I asked Pato how much he was using the ERS unit per lap and he said “none.” I asked why, and he said he didn’t feel like it contributed enough to make it an every-lap tool. Other drivers felt the opposite way. I’m sure IndyCar has usage stats, as well as each manufacturer, but those aren’t shared. But maybe that should change, if enough people care. Based on the ongoing responses I see, most fans don’t seem to care about the system.
Q: After reading the previous Mailbag and with the recent lack of leadership from Mark Miles, I am wondering if Doug Boles would ever be considered to lead IndyCar? His leadership at IMS before and after Penske’s takeover has been excellent. Seemingly, he is a man of the people, consistently mingling with fans around IMS. I also remember an instance of him pulling up a lawn chair on the hill at Turn 5 in Mid-Ohio a few years ago. If his passion for the sport as a whole is even half of his passion for IMS, I think he would do an excellent job in the role.
Kaleb Hartman
MP: I had the same thought, Kaleb, but then I couldn’t come up with a like-for-like replacement to run IMS. Also, I really like Doug and wouldn’t want to see that spark beaten out of him at IndyCar. He’s super happy where he’s at. Most people who work at IndyCar look miserable, and for that reason alone, he needs to stay put.
Q: If we are going to do an off-season international series, we need to time it right with the weather, economics and driver/engine popularity.
Surfers Paradise, Australia
Motegi, Japan oval
Vancouver, road race
Monterrey Mexico street race
São Paulo, Brazil.
Each race is two weeks apart.
Close calls: Auckland, New Zealand street race, tap into Ireland and lastly a race inMadrid, Spain to win over Palou fans.
Pedro Poveda
MP: Let me cast my vote for Mondello Park in Ireland.
The most recent shot of Mondello Park that we could find is almost 20 years old. Curious to know what’s on the other side of that little concrete wall, because there’s an excellent chance that an IndyCar would end up there. (For those wondering what happened after this particular shot was taken, a quick check of the 2006 British GT Championship results reveals that the Morgan Aero 8 that’s leading retired a few laps later). Jakob Ebrey/Motorsport Images
Q: I have been an IndyCar fan since the late 1970s, I was a stalwart CART supporter during The Split, but was thrilled when it was over. I was not a fan of Tony George and was very happy when Penske took over the 500 and the series.
I have been terribly disappointed since. I expected more from Penske — I expected vision, direction and change. I do not see any of that. What gives? Is there something in the water in Indianapolis that causes mental fog and stagnation? Was the situation that much worse than we thought when Penske took over? Is there some sort of institutional malaise that needs a much more thorough house cleaning than Penske undertook when he took over?
Cheia Ruske, Millville, NJ
MP: This isn’t some age-old rot that needs to be cut out of the IndyCar offices. When Penske bought everything, they also took complete control over every major decision at IndyCar. If you’re displeased with the rate of progress and improvement, the pre-existing group isn’t the one to blame. And for those who are really happy with whatever changes and key developments since the purchase, like the FOX network deal, that praise goes to Penske and his executives.
Q: Sorry to bother you with a follow-up, but my point in last week’s Mailbag was not specifically about Dale Coyne. I was making the point that any IndyCar team with a 40-plus year history in the sport should be entitled to some Leaders Circle money to reward their longevity. I think we can both agree that it’s the smaller teams that give an overwhelming majority of the opportunities to up and coming drivers? What would the sport do without them? That is the reason for financial assistance. Probably not a million, but some percentage of what other teams get would be fair.
Mike Talarico, Charlotte
MP: It’s really no brother. Let’s hope the charter program, which contributes zero dollars to each member’s annual budget needs, will do as you hope when it’s time to do a second version in the years ahead. Some sort of revenue sharing, which the Leaders Circle isn’t. It’s a guaranteed prize money package for the 22 best teams per season.
Q: I’m a lifelong IndyCar fan and sorely miss the races in the Northeast. I was a regular at Nazareth, The Glen and yes, even The Meadowlands Grand Prix. As I was looking through some old photos I was reminded that IndyCar and IMSA shared race weekends at Watkins Glen in the mid to late ’90s. I have a novel idea: Do it again, but alternate every year who runs on Saturday and Sunday. I know, I’m a dreamer but it would be amazing, with the possibility of drivers even crossing over series.
Dave, Johnson City
MP: Yep, once upon a time, IndyCar and the ALMS, and more recently with IMSA, put on some big co-billed events. But IMSA gets the really short end of things at Long Beach with a tiny paddock space and terrible session times before they race and disappear by Saturday night. Detroit was a mess as well this year.
The problem is IMSA’s on the rise and is no longer willing to be the opening act that gets the crappiest treatment, like an unwelcome relative at the family reunion. Its 18 manufacturers and sponsors do not want to receive second-tier status on a regular basis, so that’s why we don’t see more than the two street race combos.
Q: I’m probably in the extreme minority on this, but I think IndyCar shouldn’t go to Mexico or Watkins Glen, because I don’t think where a race happens matters to younger fans unless they live in the city hosting the race.
I think what matters to younger fans is that the races are good to watch on TV, and compared to F1, the current IndyCar broadcasts are awful.
I also think the obvious two places IndyCar needs to be looking to host new races is the Gilles Villeneuve track in Montreal and Interlagos in Brazil. Montreal categorically blows Watkins Glen away. Brazil also has had a ton of IndyCar drivers and Interlagos is probably the best racetrack on the planet.
Obviously the need for a promoter and the money problem are why São Paulo and Montreal won’t happen, but to me those are clearly the tracks IndyCar should be targeting
Will, Indy
MP: So are you saying this as a younger fan, or as a spokesman for young fans?
Q: With your wide experience in the IndyCar paddock, is Newgarden now the lowest on the “liked” list? If not, about where does he rank?
Red
MP: How’s this: If Grosjean, Ferrucci, and Newgarden threw a party just for IndyCar drivers, it would be those three, and maybe two or three others who turned up. Josef’s made an effort in recent months to smooth over a few dents, so that’s been cool to see. And Romain and Santino aren’t bothered by dents and scrapes.
Q: The NASCAR Cup Series has the Busch Clash and the All-Star race. Will we see something similar to the NASCAR Busch Clash and the All-Star race in IndyCar?
Chris Fiegler, Latham, NY
MP: Not that I know of, but as I and others have championed, there needs to be something special and celebratory that happens each year. The old race for hardcore cash with the Marlboro Challenge is the perfect concept to re-establish.
Q: While watching current LMH/GTP class regulations successfully attracting as many manufacturers as GT3 managed to reach at its peak (bringing Hyundai to it is a huge deal) and seeing F1 aero test limits and the budget cap making the grid closer, made me think: What if someone (IndyCar, for example) could get an F1 rule book, and add cost reduction measures inspired by sports cars? How expensive would that be, and what budget cap you think would be needed?
For example, you take 2026 F1 rules and keep all aero sizes (but in IndyCar’s case with refueling, I think the car could be even smaller), but you add drag to the formula as LMH has? Increase minimum weight by 50kg or something.
LMDh has four base suppliers. So everyone buys the safety cell and maybe underbody from Dallara. If they need to be different to accommodate different suspension designs, they can offer different models. But teams won’t need to spend time developing something that is a lot more about safety, and they don’t need to spend money crash-testing it.
As with LMH/GTP you add fuel flow, max energy per stint and torque sensors. The first two can be part of a “success ballast” system as WEC did with LMP1H EoT. Sure it won’t fit big V8s, this is still a small open-wheel car. But should fit enough six- and four-cylinder engines.
A hybrid system with maximum speed for deployment, only focusing on corner exit, can be used as a push to pass as well.
Take the cars to some track before pre-season testing begins, with two or three drivers hired by the series (not full-season drivers, maybe retired guys like Kanaan) and balance them over single lap performance by limiting wing angles and ride height, for example. Avoiding weight increase in this part would be good. That way, good cars (those that are easier to drive and deal with tires better) will still be rewarded. If they are within 0.15s to 0.2s range, it’s good enough. A success ballast system (with weight penalty as well) during the season takes care of the rest.
The regulations could last six years, with teams only allowed to introduce new aero every two years.
If this was IndyCar the superspeedway aero homologation could happen during the Month of May (yes, 1995 needs to happen more times). And that would be more fair as Indy-only entries wouldn’t see what others are doing if they were homologated earlier.
Of course, I don’t think IndyCar can go with this. But just wondering what budget cap you’d need to cover this compared to F1. Any idea? I didn’t think about how you’d deal with smaller teams as well. Would they be customers and be able to buy suspension layout/parts and maybe aero design from bigger teams? How to limit aero testing if they don’t have their own wind tunnels, etc?
Just playing with “what if” scenarios based on what different series are doing.
William Mazeo
MP: I love the spirit of this, William. I also have no freaking idea what a budget cap should be. The difference to consider is in F1 and IMSA GTP, it’s a manufacturer-first construct. I realize there are exceptions with customer GTP cars being sold and teams like Williams (and similar) leasing engines, but it’s the manufacturers (GTP) and chassis constructors (F1) driving the rules and tech.
That’s just not the case in IndyCar where it’s a team-based structure where everybody buys or leases a product made by a vendor. Culturally, most IndyCar teams just want to buy a great product and figure out ways to use that same product better than their rivals. An Acura or BMW wants to do their own GTP suspension, engine, etc., and race it as a factory effort. Same with F1 constructors/manufacturers.
So, while I’d love to see more of that creative freedom adopted by IndyCar, it’s not the manufacturers/constructors paying for it all. It’s the Carpenters and Shanks and Ganassis, and I don’t know how they’d cover those costs unless IndyCar allows manufacturers to invest in or subsidize the running costs of the teams who’d be fortunate to get factory deals. Not so long ago, that’s what happened — in a less public manner — but that era is gone.
The budget cap idea works well in some categories, but it’s tricky to apply to a series with as many control parts as IndyCar. Phillip Abbott/Motorsport Images
Q: I used to be a fan of Roger Penske, and now, not so much. I have two stories to tell. The first story is about the most recent time we as a family attended the 500 in 2021. I went ahead and purchased Hulman Terrace suite passes for $9000. Go big or go home.
Penske Entertainment said it would be an awesome experience and that the deal included tickets, breakfast, lunch and drinks all day. We arrived at 9:30am and headed to the line for breakfast only to find out there was nothing left. Almost the same for lunch, if you like hot dogs that you had to prepare for yourself and nachos with cheese sauce. We saw other people walking around with burgers and fries, steak and broccoli. In my disappointment I wrote three letters to the Penske people to tell them what we experienced. I wrote to Mr. Denker, Mr. Boles and Mr. Penske, with no reply from anyone from the Penske camp.
The next story is about the Penske organization owning the IndyCar Series. It is a direct conflict of interest. Going into this year’s Indy 500 qualifying, Penske cars go out and qualify, one and done for each car. while the rest of the cars with Chevrolet engines have some sort of issue. Do you think that’s just a coincidence? The engines come from Ilmor. Penske has ties with Ilmor. It goes the same for every aspect of the series. The people that are in timing and scoring — would they call speeding either entering or exiting pit road? No, they work for Penske. Can you be certain of the inspection process? For example, the Penske cars have a 5/8 inch fuel line and everyone else has a 1/2 inch? Would anyone say something? No, they work for Penske.
How about the last two Indy 500s? The mysterious red lights at the end? Can you be certain that Penske told his driver to go before the green flag was out? No, they all work for Penske.
Please respond with any of your thoughts.
Paul
MP: Just to be sure I understand, Penske rigs everything to his benefit since he bought the series leading into 2020, and in that time, while tech inspectors are turning blind eyes and Ilmor techs are pouring in a few more ponies into Penske’s Chevys, and while race control is fixed, Penske’s gotten his ass handed to him by Ganassi and Scott Dixon in 2020, who led the championship from start to finish. And again in 2021 by a kid whose name nobody could pronounce as Alex Palou delivered another championship for Ganassi. And then in 2022, Penske’s Will Power, driving like a champ, won the championship while Ganassi won the Indy 500.
And in 2023, yeah, Penske did win the Indy 500 with Josef Newgarden, and it was contentious, but effing Palou and Ganassi spanked Penske yet again — three times out of four years under Roger’s ownership — by sealing the title with one race remaining.
And here we are in 2024, where Penske made a smart play halfway through the prior season by doing a technical alignment with the Foyt team, and through that alliance, Penske learned all of things they weren’t doing at Indy that Ganassi was using to beat them up in qualifying and the race and applied those improvements to win qualifying and win the race with Newgarden. And it wasn’t contentious. And yes, they cheated earlier in the year. No argument there. But, again, Ganassi and Palou have taken the championship.
So with all of those rigged and fixed things in his favor, Penske must be the most incompetent person in the history of racing because two Indy 500s and one championship from five opportunities reads like a giant failure on his part.
Finally, on the topic of IndyCar’s tech inspection team being crooked, one quick friend who may or may not be part of that team asked me to deliver a message to anyone who questions their integrity: “You can tell them to go **** themselves.”
Penske is/has done many things to piss off his fellow team owners, and the undercurrent of frustration, as told to me by multiple (but not all) owners over the last month, is very real. But it’s impossible to have constructive conversations when everything is painted as a conspiracy.
Q: I loved the throwback Adrian Fernandez picture in last week’s Mailbag. The Tecate/Quaker State car was one of my favorites as a kid, but I never understood how Adrian was always surrounded by beautiful women in advertisements when rocking that haircut — the same one my church school teacher, a middle-aged woman, was sporting around the same time. He had some swagger to pull off that look!
Joking aside, I wanted to ask about some technical stuff. Is my understanding correct that the current turbo boost pressure is regulated by electronic wastegate valves? Historically, when we talk about “pop-off” valves, were these more accurately defined as blowoff valves relieving pressure from the airbox/intake, or is the term used broadly to cover wastegate valves relieving exhaust pressure to slow the compressor rotation?
In reading stories and rumors of teams manipulating turbochargers and boost pressures in the past, it’s tough to distinguish which designs were used in different eras, especially as layers of embellishment and outright fabrication obscure the truth. Do you have any favorite stories of extracting more than the maximum from a turbocharger over the years?
Pete, Rochester, NY
MP: When you’re paid to stand next to someone, the quality of their haircut doesn’t really matter, does it?
Not hard to tell in the current twin-turbo V6 formula, but it was during the CART/Champ Car era where placing the single turbo inside the bellhousing made it all but impossible to clearly see what was being used (unless you caught an engine change taking place and got a spy shot of either the turbo being swapped or the exposed turbines through the port hole in the sides of the bellhousing).
The “pop-off” valve, which just became “popoff” because who wants to use hyphens, was a fairly literal thing. The intake plenums had holes drilled or cast into them, and a round blanking plate the same diameter of the hole was held in place by a canister bolted on top of the hole that used a spring captured inside the can to push down on the plate to seal the plenum.
The springs were rated to whatever force was needed to keep the plate in place and the plenum sealed right up to the point where the pressure of the compressed air from the turbo was below whatever the maximum boost pressure setting was stipulated by USAC or CART. If the turbo was set to make more than the allowable boost pressure — which would make more power — that excess pressure would overpower the spring and cause the blanking plate to unseat itself and pop open, which vented the boost to the atmosphere and robbed huge amounts of power. The popping open, or causing the plate to “pop off” the plenum, is where you get the “popoff valve” terminology.
In the beginning, it was purely mechanical. As engine electronics and controls started to take off in the 1980s, we began to see popoff valves — in the 1990s, as I think I recall — go electric.
Q: In the last five IndyCar races we didn’t see any Ganassi cars with Ridgeline livery. Is that a sign that Simpson won’t race with the team in the future?
Norbi, Hungary
MP: It is not. Kyffin will be driving for the team for many, many years. He’ll be piloting the No. 8 Honda next year.
When you’re a multiple race-winner driving a car that looks this cool, your haircut doesn’t really matter. Dan Boyd/Motorsport Images
Q: Here is what confuses me: Williams was not allowed to invest a lot in its facilities because there is also a cost cap on infrastructure improvements. However, Stroll was allowed to build a brand spanking new factory, a new wind tunnel and pay Newey a huge sum of money and somehow cost caps are not an issue?
John Wayne Jr.
CHRIS MEDLAND: Anyone could have paid Adrian Newey a huge some of money because the top three earners of each team are cost cap exempt, usually relating to the team principal and key leadership personnel. Driver salaries aren’t included in it, either.
In terms of the factory, that was signed off back in 2019, although the COVID-19 pandemic did impact the timings of the project. Investments in new property are excluded from the cost cap, but other CapEx spend needs to be approved by the FIA.
The CapEx limits are tiered and the three divisions set by the championship positions from 2020-22. So that means there are differences in what can be spent between the existing top teams — Red Bull, Mercedes, Ferrari — the middle three of McLaren, Aston Martin and Alpine, and the remaining four who get the highest.
This is done on a four-year rolling average that is currently at $58m for Aston Martin, although that will drop to $49m in future years.
James Vowles was making the point that if he wanted to invest in machinery and existing projects at Grove, it had to come in under the CapEx limits, and prevented his team catching up with the top teams. A new factory would have been available to Williams with many costs not under the cap, but that wasn’t an efficient route for the team given its existing infrastructure.
Q: I have been doing some reading about why it seems that this year’s F1 cars are reverting to porpoising and how it’s becoming more and more difficult to balance the handling. It seems like the teams have figured out how to increase downforce from the floor, and the knock-on effect of this is to force the teams to compromise on their setups, either by raising ride heights or going to stiffer springs to keep the belly of the car from grinding itself to pieces at the end of the long straights when the downforce generated by the floor is highest.
Why would the teams not opt for a “third spring” suspension arrangement? Is it against the rules, or does the keel design used by today’s cars prevent that from happening due to packaging considerations, or is it something else? It seems like an obvious solution to me, so there must be something I am missing!
Richard Siler, Flower Mound, TX
CM: You’re testing my technical understanding here now, Richard! But from speaking to those who are far more knowledgeable about the regulations than me, I believe the answer to your solution is found in the fact that inerters are banned, but they do still have heave springs already that must be mechanical (previously hydraulic was allowed).
The current rules also really force the front and rear suspensions to work more independently of each other (hence complaints about balance and disconnected cars), so dampers mounted somewhere away from the front or rear mechanisms are also banned.
Q: I was sad to see Logan Sargeant get sacked but I do understand it. He had just not progressed as a driver and with Franco Colapinto scoring in just his second race, the switch makes sense. My question is, why are American drivers not succeeding? Both Sargeant and Jak Crawford have come up through the European ladder system, have been competitive and won in the junior series, but yet show no sign of being able to compete in F1. What are we missing? Our last F1 winner was Mario Andretti 50 years ago.
Mark B. Floral City, FL
CM: Personally, I think it’s just the sheer numbers of those trying to make it to F1 that is the issue, and I totally understand why they are low. Lots of talent would love to become F1 drivers, but the only really viable route is through the junior categories of F3 and F2 in Europe.
The facts do speak for themselves — the Baku podium, for example, had three F2 champions on it (Oscar Piastri, 2021, Charles Leclerc, 2017 and George Russell, 2018), while fourth-placed Lando Norris was runner-up in 2018.
With the way Super License points are handed out, and the experience drivers get on F1 tracks, plus being able to get signed by young driver programs and work with the teams, it all asks for a massive commitment at an extremely young age. Many of the young drivers are even identified in karting, and the European scene is where many get spotted, because there’s no guarantee an American racing karts in the U.S. will want or be able to move to Europe for the step up to cars.
So when you only have one or two American drivers at a time racing in F3, then that number is only likely to go down in F2, and then you’ve got such a small sample size who might get to F1.
American drivers clearly have easily enough potential, but finding a way of making that pathway into F3 and F2 more viable for more of them is what would increase the talent pool a that level, and then you’re more likely to get a future F1 winner standing out.
Q: Do F1 cars have cooling fans? They seem to sit for a long time on the grid while awaiting the last row to settle in position. What are the various engineering roles for all those folks up on the pit wall?
John Ehrhart
CM: Nope, there are no cooling fans on cars. That’s why you see team members pointing hand-held ones at them on the grid and in the garage. Teams design permanent fans that they can clip into the car’s airbox and sidepods when they need to as well, but that’s only for when it’s in the garage or on the grid for half an hour pre-race. (Williams actually put the airbox fan in during a quick turnaround in Q3 in Baku and in the rush forgot to take it out, so Alex Albon had to stop in the pit exit and throw it out of his cockpit!)
The radiators and brake ducts just work with airflow, so drivers are balancing trying to get enough heat into some parts of the car before the start of the race (like the tires and brakes) so that they don’t cool down too much on the grid, but also keeping engine temps down before sitting there.
But the engines are pretty robust now when idling, and we often see them waiting at the end of the pit lane for far longer before sessions start. Cylinders can be cut and certain engine modes activated to keep temperatures down when sat still.
You get a different mix of roles for teams, but the general setup includes the team principal, chief strategy engineer, the race engineers of each car, and the trackside head of engineering (who oversees both cars on that front).
F1 external cooling fan. This pic is a few years old, but you get the idea. Motorsport Images
Q: How many miles does the pace car cover during the course of a season?
Nitro Bob, Boston
KELLY CRANDALL: The best way to answer this is to understand that it’s up to the OEM what happens with the pace car. You’ll notice that each track had an OEM partner and that dictates what type of vehicle is used and provided by the OEM. So, it would be more of a question to them about how they handle the usage of their vehicles. NASCAR only requires information about caution lights and car coloring, and the event management team works with the OEM to go through that process.
Q: With respect to the engine detonation in John Force’s Funny Car, I was wondering if it’s possible to design some sort of a carbon fiber shroud that could be installed and in place over the engine prior to the run? Is it possible that a shroud could contain the detonated engine and prevent harm to the driver?
Jerry, Houston
KC: It’s such a hard thing to fully protect from happening when these drivers are essentially driving ticking time bombs. But I know that NHRA is constantly looking for ways to improve safety and Force’s crash is another incident that gives them plenty to evaluate going forward. In the case of your question, the Funny Car bodies currently have front firewalls that are layered in titanium, aluminum and carbon fiber. And carbon fiber is not 100% fireproof. From what I’ve been told, there is a burst panel that is built into body above the blower that is meant to help with the pressure during an explosion. Again, in any form of racing driver safety is going to be a continued process and sometimes it’ll be reactive when something big happens. I think we’ll continued to see changes down the road in response to the Force crash.
THE FINAL WORD
From Robin Miller’s Mailbag, September 18, 2013
Q: Based on the Michael Waltrip Racing NASCAR fix at Richmond, what is the worst IndyCar fix that you have witnessed? Before the 1996 Indy 500 during a very private team meeting, I heard one new co-owner of a team who had multiple cars entered was discussing a plan to bring out a yellow by one of his backmarkers when the primary drivers made an early last pit.
By causing a yellow while a very early last pit stop was made, they were figuring that would gain a significant advantage. I was appalled at this guy’s plan and was glad that it never materialized. This was the same guy who had spent time in jail for insider trading. And I’m glad that he was not around IndyCar very long.
Scott Thompson
ROBIN MILLER: To say a race has ever been fixed is impossible because of all the dynamics and cars. Clint Bowyer’s intentional spin only brought out the caution and slowed Ryan Newman’s apparent victory, which he then lost in the pits. Bryan Herta’s “spin” at Sonoma in 2006 enabled teammate Marco Andretti to have enough fuel to finish, but he still had to win the race. I know George Bignotti ran Johnny Parsons out of fuel on purpose in 1977 to try and help Gordon Johncock with a caution, and Mario once asked if Michael “needed a yellow,” so this kind of gamesmanship isn’t new. But Bowyer’s move set off a chain reaction that decided a race and The Chase.
