Welcome to the racer’s mail bag. Any questions from the racer writer are: mailbag@racer.com. We love hearing your comments and opinions, but letters containing questions are likely to be published. Any questions received every Monday after 3pm will be saved the following week.
Q: With all the negative headlines that Roger Pensuke is generating, do you think Honda would stroll around even if he wins the Indy 500?
The other is that Dodge will be participating in the NASCAR track series in 2026. We all know that it’s just a badge. TV ratings are rising — and hopefully they will continue throughout the rest of the season — hopefully it will seduce Honda to stroll around and perhaps attract some interest in other manufacturers now that IndyCar has put a solid date on it.
AE, Danville
Marshall Pruett: It may be semantics, but Roger hasn’t generated headings. The actions he made by his team are the cause of the headlines. Yes, that’s what I hope.
Q: I’m not irritated anymore, but I’m really angry. Pitwall fencing along the straight away must be mandatory at all INDYCAR venues. Do you need to die or get a terrible injury on live TV before this happens? Robin Miller has been talking about this for years. It’s time for Indycar to do the final act. Make this two with IndyCar I never want to see it again.
Rob, Rochester, NY
MP: In the mid-2010s, in which a major collision sent parts flying into the wall, some of which went up for a short period of time. Other than that, I’m fine without them installed, but I might be in the minority.
Q: What’s the problem with RLL, especially Graham Rahal from Gateway? The slowest finisher behind Rookie Abel in the coin machine. As a fellow Buckeye and a lifelong Lahar fan, I’m pleased that everyone is enjoying it. The crowd looked really good. We should definitely do a shorter oval at Primetime.
Come to think of it, don’t run St. Louis in any other time slot than after the dark.
I hope you and Chabral do well. If it’s okay, I want to Reshare the link Donate her fight.
I’ll take Watkins Glen home.
Phil, Chattanooga, Tennessee
MP: Your sweet, Phil. The battle continues seven years later. Although RLLs experience a rather typical growth pain, the problem here is that they feel it appears and feels like a continuation of the problems they have had for years. In reality, the team’s engineering groups have grown and become stronger, but it’s still new, with new members added and others moving to different cars and different roles. When that happens, you tend to get a lot of hit or miss weekends. This is what we see in the Juncos Hollinger race, with JHR going through roughly the same engineering changes and growth stages during the offseason.
Graham’s output at the Indy Grand Prix was the peak of the team so far, but Rookie Louis Foster points out as a real through-line of RLL possibilities. He’s a rookie, but he’s usually the fastest in qualifying or the strongest performer on race days. If RLL’s fortunes could be reached at the end of several races without the cartoon anvil falling down on his car, then RLL’s assets would be very different.
Q: I can’t help but think that all the controversy surrounding teams over the past two years have begun to work. Are some of Pensuke’s magic gone as all the personnel are reforming? It seemed like the New Garden spotter missed the phone and told him to stay high. But I could certainly be wrong about it.
Doug Mayer, Canada, BC, Revelstoke
MP: It doesn’t take long for a championship-winning organization to lose its advantage. Think about the contractual drama of Alex Paulow in 2022 and how it took away his sharpness while trying to defend his title. Will Power took the crown in 2022 and then suffered from health issues that threatened his wife’s life, making it difficult for him to concentrate and repeat in 2023.
And imagine what it must be like to deal with repeated in-glossios among the entire team, and how it makes life more difficult to maintain the same highest level of execution. Afterwards, see three senior leaders being fired and at least one is ranked as loved by everyone. It’s an emotional storm to survive. Team Penske had a forever reputation for being cold and robotic, but spending time with the crew in the pit lanes and garages reveals that the newer version of the team is something else. That being said, they signed up to work for a team that expects perfection, and it requires a different personality – It comes with mental fortitude and discipline.
Of the people remaining, they are incredibly strong and talented. That’s why the team was able to show up and show off at WWTR until countless problems and misfortunes kicked the trio out of the race. It’s hard to say how a month of confusion affected the whole team, and it’s odd to think that it didn’t have an impact, but given all the wrong things for Pensuke after Indy, most of it is a torrent of bad luck or driving errors.
With Power winning and New Garden finished second last year, Road America feels like the perfect place for the team to end this crazy streak and return to where they belong.
Can Road America cause another reset for Team Penske? Joe Skibinski/IMS
Q: Regardless of IndyCar’s management or the state of controversy, we are still optimistic about Indycar’s future, for one reason we all saw Sunday night. IndyCarRacing is amazing! This race had it all. That said, I’m currently sleeping too much jazzing up and working tomorrow. Maybe Sunday night races are great for Fox’s schedule, but they’re not mine. Will this race return on Saturday night for next year’s event?
Also, sometimes we feel like IndyCar fans are too caught up in the environment to simply not be able to enjoy the sport. I have been guilty of this. Sunday nights reminded me of why I love the sport.
Kentucky Bruiser
MP: I said it many times last year, so let’s say it again. IndyCar’s short oval hybrid package is fantastic. Hybrid weight remains a problem on road and street courses, but it is surprising with the oval of the speedway. The Indy 500 was very good, don’t get me wrong. But WWTR, Milwaukee and Nashville were really special last year. Assuming the tires match an Iowa truck and car, you can also add it to the list.
I don’t know where it will fall next year, but the Prime Time Slot was a gem. The 2026 schedule is said to be imminent. They were told they checked Mexico City after the NASCAR race was a request, so I’m on the watch to see where in WWTR Lands and whether IndyCar and Fox can convert some more races into prime time slots.
Q: I’m sure I’ll receive many complaints about the “delay” between hitting a wall and being thrown out by Foster. I want to throw it on something that’s a little worth, not my 2 cents Five A cent about what I noticed after a full speed replay was shown.
It’s hard to spend time accurately from the couch at home, but I think there’s under five seconds between Foster hitting the wall and New Garden hit Foster. This is a three 4-second reaction time with race control. Unless he was looking directly at his foster parents when he hit the wall, it clearly wasn’t faster in Marcus’ case.
So I don’t think racial control should be criticized for its delay. Frankly, if that was the worst we’ve seen from them, I would be very happy.
As for the whole race, I think the Gateway is the worst oval on the schedule…but it can be very well the best oval race of the season. Hey, it looks like we might actually be playing a title fight this year!
FormulaFox
MP: Kirkwood left Indy the impossible 150 points for Palou. Parow is then destroyed by Marcus, and then the Ganassi team has the first important mistake of the season in a setup with Parow. Kirk then slices 75 with a 2-fur, 2-point lead in half and leaves WWTR. We’re certainly fighting for titles.
I’ll ask about the warnings of big crashes. It seemed to take a long time for it to appear. My stopwatch had it in 4.75 seconds and after the initial contact by Foster there was the collision itself in 5.25 seconds. If this reaction time is odd, I was found with a crash essentially identical to the beginning of order 4 with Willpower, and my unofficial time was 2.5 seconds.
Then near the end of the race, Marcus repeated the effects of power and promotion in turn 4, being much lighter and taking about 1.3 seconds to place. It was almost instantaneous. Why the Foster mid-crash took two to four times more for the yellow light to work on the steering wheel and the lights surrounding the truck.
Q: Both Malukas and McLaughlin’s penalties felt inevitable. The next stop in Marcus below the green required the exact same launch. That means the highway lanes were empty. How was the driver supposed to leave the box without attacking the crew and equipment of the car ahead?
Indycar has to call a penalty, but it hurts.
Ryan, West Michigan
MP: I default to questions that are not always asked. So, did 20 other drivers leave the box without hitting the equipment and go to slow lanes instead of highway lanes? If it was such an impossible task, then there would have been dozens of total penalties during the race.
There’s not much to discuss about Marcus’ penalty. Chris Jones/IMS Photo
Q: I really enjoyed the Sunday night race, but the New Garden crash really paniced me when I thought his cockpit was vulnerable if he was a little closer to the pit lane.
I’d like to see some replays and see if, in fact, the driver’s head is vulnerable to intrusions from things like narrow walls and poles if the worst-case scenario occurs? Could you talk to him after the crash?
Tom Patrick, Baja California
MP: I didn’t talk to him. Yes, despite Aeroscreen and Halo, these are open-wheel and open-top cars, so the poles could enter the cockpit from above. Other than that, the upper halo ring acts as a barrier to the wall, and you will encounter the driver’s helmet.
Q: What happens to IndyCar’s bathtub after it’s damaged beyond repair? I’m thinking of a more serious shipwreck than anything that could become a show car or roller for pit stop practice. Will everything be landfills or are there any components that can be collected and grafted into other vehicles?
Pete of Rochester, New York
MP: It depends on the situation. If it’s not broken, yes, a show car or pit stop car is a common route. If it was bad, or if a fatality was experienced, it would have been destroyed and sent to landfills. There is no important thing to consider grafting from the DW12 bathtub to another tub.
Q: I don’t fully understand my love for IndyCar. I’ve accepted this and I think the people around me have as well. Especially like romantic relationships early on, there are nervous butterflies, jealousy, embarrassment, growing concern over physical appearance, pure joy, and then deep trust, unconditional love, and a bunch of other things that are not fully understood.
Sunday’s race at WWTR was fantastic. Hopefully for many, the first date with IndyCar. Yes, I was embarrassed by Jack Harvey when he was a little too late for the grid walk, so he hopefully made a bad impression with millions of viewers. Yes, while the network cameraman chased him, he fell on the driver, landed on the ground with his camera, turning his face to face. During the formation lap, when the driver was expected to change from three to two, hoping the driver would start right, I had a nervous butterfly. I experienced pure joy when the 10 55 gallon drum of shell race fuel appeared to explode straight away.
Afterwards, seeing the driver move the wheels two or more widths on the race wheels, Connor Daly runs the stupid NASCAR race glue, as everyone wants from the driver. I relied on Hinch and Townsend to help me understand, and eventually unconditionally embraced the fueling and pit strategy, along with Will Buxton. As much as I wanted to beat Connor, I was able to see the celebrations that have been kept secret on television for many years, with several other drivers passing through the winner’s circle in my head.
Like my lovely wife who loves Bell Isle and tolerate the Detroit Grand Prix, it’s good to know that Indycar is always there for me. I personally loved it. Now, do you begin the difficult process of understanding how to make WWTR a respectable camping trip?
Jeff, Eton Rapids, Michigan
MP: My favourite letter for a while, Jeff. thank you.
Q: Hello! I have two items:
First, most of the commentators at the Fox booth will be Buxton. Indycar seemed to think that the yellow button should be punched faster due to the crash involving Foster and Newgarden. It seemed very critical. Was that really a mistake?
Secondly, I didn’t expect to miss the mail bag as much as I did last week. You know, I love my mail bag.
John, Downers Glove
MP: It’s like saying John. Sometimes commentators get very upset about something, half of the questions in the mailbag are about super upset, and I often disagree with their views. This is not one of them.
Maybe the buttons need to be larger. And Yellower. Michael Levitt/Honda
Q: I usually spend time on you about not being able to change courses in Indycar’s hybrid decision. It’s expensive for the team and doesn’t add anything to the on-track product.
On Sunday, after seeing the crash between Josef Newgarden and Louis Foster, I realized I had a pit in my stomach. While the crash unfolded, I immediately flashed back on the horrifying day of 9/15/01. Louis and Joseph were lucky. That could have been worse.
Can Indycar explain that it took so long for the truck to turn yellow after Foster hit the wall? Will Buxton of Fox Broadcast commented that it took at least five seconds for the yellow to appear. The track quickly turned yellow when Marcus contacted the wall later in the race. Was the race control on the switch sleeping? Foster was bounced off the wall, so what was the spotter in New Garden telling him?
Michigan Matt
MP: I’m sure they can do it, but will the formal explanation change something? As mentioned above, two of the crashes on 3 turns 4 were lit at 2.5 or less. The larger one was about 4.75. This is a long time when 1.3 and 2.5 were seen in the other two.
Could the faster yellow be preventing the bigger one? I don’t know. perhaps. probably. What was it said or not to the New Garden and Pit Lane from above to warn him about crashing? I don’t know.
I feel safe using the final result to say that Foster crashes were not detected exactly as they were occurring. If so, you’ll expect that the person responsible for switching the warning light will press that switch as soon as possible. So it wasn’t seen immediately or there was a problem after the switch or system was activated.
And if Joseph’s spotter saw it happen when it happened, or if it was seen by his strategist in the pit lane, you can assume they said so with a zero delay. So we couldn’t deliver the message because they couldn’t see it right away or because someone was on the radio at the time.
It exaggerates what is obvious, but if race control saw it happen, there’s no reason why they don’t hit the switch because they did it early in the race where the power had the same crash. Therefore, there were technical issues that were not seen at the time of the impact. Same as his spotter/pit lane. Otherwise, the light will light up within 2.5 seconds. Or they are told to avoid the action before he leaves turn 4.
Q: It’s good to make sure that changes in dates (due to NASCAR) do not appear to affect attendance at Gateway.
The last time I went to Gateway in 2021 was a very last decision, but I bought my tickets around 3pm on race day and managed to race a decent race. This year was the first time I’ve been able to go since, but on race day I learned that it was possible. However, even though the grandstands weren’t full, ticket sales had already ended. I think the truck had rather than my money. Do you know if there’s a reason ticket sales ended on race day?
Ian, St. Louis
MP: I don’t, and it’s weird. It was a decent crowd, but there were empty seats. Maybe the seats were on sale and people weren’t sitting among them because of bad weather or other possible reasons.
Q: Are you involved with fans, universities and businesses for input to set 2028 engine, chassis and marketing goals, referring to the iconic project before the DW12/V6 ERA?
Craig in Newport Beach, California
MP: Not as far as I know.
Q: Did you explain how Dixon got the lead and keep the lead in WWTR? I was confused and spoke with a few people who didn’t understand how it worked.
Brian Hartman
MP: Please note that Marca enters turn 4 when the timing of the lap 195. Dixon was 12th On lap 188, 10 cars, 76 cars, then by lap 191, 4, 21, 26, 5 and 8 were pitted from before him, three times pitting on lap 192, he placed fifth. The 27, 66, and 14 were then pitted on 193 laps, and he was promoted to second.
Then, on lap 194, he was pitted one lap before, and when it turned yellow, he was leading and all the drivers had laps on him…nobody nearby needed to pay attention.
He lost his one-lap advantage by pitting, but still ranked number one and first made a lap 207 reboot. Just wild.
Marcus’s attention was timing straight to Dixon’s hands. James Black/IMS Photo
Q: I’ve heard that Honda (and perhaps Chevy/Ilmor too) offers some free engine leases to your favorite/top team or driver. Is that true?
Tyler, Milwaukee
MP: Yes. For decades. And by most manufacturers of the Top Race series.
Q: How long will it take for Roger Pensuke or Chip Ganassi to start watching Kyle Kirkwood? He seems like a real thing, but do I think he will be locked up in Andretti in the near future?
Gareth Holt, London, UK
MP: He’s signed at least in 2026, so I’m sure he’ll be a hot item if he doesn’t sign the extension with Andretti.
Q: How could Kyle Kirkwood’s car have been technology tested after winning a race in Detroit? His front wing is damaged (by his own actions), which can lead to dangerous orbital situations. Otherwise, the front wing did not meet the required readings. What is the difference between the Indy 500, where the car was fined after a technical inspection?
Barend Blom in Heartgambusch, Dutch
MP: I really don’t understand that this is a mystery. The wings were broken. And it has not broken in ways that bring benefits, but it has created a disadvantage. Therefore, it is not subject to the same inspection rules. It’s been that way in the race forever. Two NASCAR Cup drivers are intertwined with each other, damaging the bodywork that no longer fits the template of the bodywork, and those drivers are not punished with post-race techniques. The same thing happens here too.
Q: Is there any updates on Linus Lundqvist’s 2025 race year activities? Is there a chance he might return to IndyCar in 2026? He certainly seemed to have had a very good rookie year with CGR in 2024, and was emptied in 2025 at IndyCar.
Tom Fitzgerald, CPA, Las Vegas, Nevada
MP: Apart from hearing him sue Ganassi, no, I’m not aware of the race dates on his calendar.
Q: I have a few questions about IndyCar. First, what are the small shark fins at the top of the side pod on the right?
Also, while watching qualifying on the 500 TV, the announcer spoke about Jacob Abel’s crew trying to cool the engine, which was soaked in heat after a too-slow qualifier. I get what hot soak is. They had the cooling fan running on the radiator. And then he went outside and let him run a slow lap to cool it down. So is there a way for the crew to circulate the coolant while the fan blows air into the radiator? Also, run the engine high idle as the engine comes in and sprays water on the radiator. Is that against the rules or could it damage the engine?
Gary Stanton, Mondobi, Wisconsin
MP: Communication antenna. Against the rules. Teams can do all sorts of smart and quick things and can lower the engine temperature if allowed.
Q: Does Dennis Hauger have the IndyCar seat promised to him next year? Going from F2 to Indy NXT makes no sense from a career development perspective.
Will, Indy
For a driver like Hauger who spent three seasons in MP: F2, it made sense that he didn’t go anywhere after his eighth best in the championship, and decided it was better to waste time and stop trying us out to get to F1.
As most IndyCar team owners told me, F2 drivers who weren’t in the top five would develop better than almost every front-running indie driver they check out (see C. Lundgaard, two seasons of F2, best championship finish).
Smart Move by Hauger, showing off the overwhelming numbers of other NXT rookies and veterans.
Q: In answering a question about Honda’s involvement in the last mail bag cited cost reductions as one of the main concerns.
I’ve read multiple times that this is an old topic and is too expensive to produce more engines. (I think this made the engine a bit rare a few years ago.) Is that still the case? If so, this always looked backwards to me. It’s understandable that driving costs for R&D will increase, but leasing as many engines as possible means not as many engines as possible?
I have always thought that the main investment in engine manufacturers is in the R&D (high risk/reward trade-off) that pays back when selling/leasing more units. I don’t know how much R&D is in spec engines, but why is it still more cost-effective for Honda to produce less engines?
Furthermore, if the IndyCar engine is a low-altitude spec engine (relatively low R&D compared to most motorsports), why is Honda unable to know how manufacturing efficiency has the core ability to make money? Don’t they have an incredible number of engines to lease?
The only reasonable explanation I can think of is that they don’t have the infrastructure to produce more engines, so they need to invest in more factory capacity or reassign them from another race program.
microphone
MP: A pretty simple answer here. Chevy is given a certain annual budget to work with the IndyCar Engine Program. Same as Honda. If not, and both were free to use, they will have facilities five times the size, with over 1,000 employees each, creating a 1,200 horsepower engine of junk after each session.
But that’s not the case, so unfortunately they need to provide and support what they can do with a given budget. And, as we saw, it covers 13-16 full-time entries, and several one-offs at Indy, respectively. It has nothing to do with efficiency or manufacturing capacity. I manage a limited budget.
As documented since the current official debuted in 2012, all leases are at a loss. I couldn’t say what the exact number was for Chevrolet or Honda, but when I asked, “Is that less than half a million per lease?” I got a laugh from former HRC technical director Roger Griffiths. So it’s not a money maker to create more engines and sign more leases. It’s a money loser.
It can be considered a marketing expense, as it is part of their budget and both are known to spend eight digits on everything they need to supply eight digits per season.
The supply of the IndyCar engine is a number game in one or more ways. Chris Jones/IMS Photo
Q: I’m amusing to find out that a recent car has been caught from specs.
I love the old NASCAR story about how the team bent the rules. (Innovation until caught). The creativity of the world’s Smoky Uniques is fascinating.
We know that the importance of imagery for the IndyCar team sponsors has the effect of making it difficult for the team to justify. My question is two parts. First of all, how much fraud is committed at IndyCar today? With spec cars, slight increases in performance can have a significant impact on your team’s performance.
Secondly, is there any fraudulent stories that can be shared by my experience as a mechanic and team manager ending the laws of restrictions?
Wally, Eden Prairie, Minnesota
MP: It’s hard to answer how much fraud is being done today. Because if it is known, they are of the kind mentioned in IndyCar.
My career was pretty boring from that perspective. I deliberately changed the REV limits for the Old Mobile Engine in 1997 in qualifying at Charlotte (I think it was Charlotte). – It was pretty obvious to our ears – And they were warning the authorities of our suspicions.
They said the Menard ECU was checked and it was all legal at 10,500. We couldn’t understand how it was true, so we set it to 11,000 to see if they were actually watching. I didn’t change the gearing so there were no concerns about rotating more than 10,500 motors, but I checked and confirmed that it wasn’t legal, but I also looked at traces of the RPM and found the motor remained below 10,500.
A few years later, Menard changed the wiring harness and created a round of stories to connect to the second ECU hidden at a non-10,500 REV limit… Our little stunt was to find out if the inspector was inspecting what they were saying, but the team set up a second ECU to hide all the incidents in order to hide their highly innovating capacity. problem.
Q: In response to Ann Arbor’s message about volunteers cleaning the speedway, the volunteer group will be paid by IMS for their work. The group uses Speedway Cleanup Jobs as an annual fundraiser.
Rocky, Indianapolis
MP: I’m glad I heard it!
Q: 6/4 On MailBag, Andretti Global said it was excellent without Michael. This surprises me. Without asking for details, is this between performance or interpersonal dynamics, coughing, Cadillac F1, between him and moneybag Stouris and Walter? Most of us believe that Indycar and Andretti Global would be even worse without Michael.
Also, since it’s still Andretti Global, can we assume that the checks Michael received have many zeros?
Mike Decardo, Lake Elkhart, Sheboygan
MP: I asked a lot of people out there about the change, but yes, they say the team is better after the change, so that’s the internal take. I’m told that there has also been a bigger investment in the engineering side.
I agree – I don’t think IndyCar is better without Michael, but the team itself appears to be more competitive after the change. I can’t imagine Michael leaving without many new zeros.
Q: I discussed with my brothers at IMS for an 8-day practice/race this May. We had Charlie Browns, Long, a working man friend, in a mug. Everything was thought-provoking, even on the same day or on the same trip. What was it like to choose three Robin Miller’s daily triple ect/? Is Charlie Brown for breakfast? Workers’ lunch? Mag dinner? A long box inside the desk? Have you completed any of these with him?
Team Stuff
MP: I knew you wouldn’t eat at all on the same day, as the dead didn’t write a letter.
He vowed to have a mug in his later years. He was with him except for Charlie Brown. He regularly brought longs. There are my favourite Mexican restaurants, but there are restaurants that are more for conversation with friends than the food itself. His palate was different from what I saw with human adults. A constant barrage of sweet soda and candies. donut. hamburger. Plain potato chips. Cold fried chicken. There are no vegetables. And so on. If this sounds like everything a toddler wants, then you’re right. What a life.
Certainly what a life. IMS Photos
Q: If Indycar returns to a single engine supplier, why not return to multiple tire manufacturers as a differentiator? Looking at all the Goodyear marketing this year, I longed for a time when tires were made to optimize both performance and durability. (And when Big Al and Bobby drive for a rival team.) It should be better races, and better races and something to talk about things other than the tyre deg on roads and street courses.
Fred, outskirts of St. Louis
MP: Not that much. Why do soft tires get even softer, get grippers and create more degs? Competition between tire manufacturers. No matter how many engine suppliers there are in the series, I want multiple tire suppliers. However, you also get grip battles on road and street courses and short oval shapes, which have the drawbacks of the used rubber brands and fields that line the trucks.
Q: After all, I have never seen a driver’s perspective helmet cam recently. A technical problem? Cost issues? Team/driver complaints?
Greg Repore, Charlottesville, Virginia
MP: Earlier in the season, he said he plans to use it in four events.
Q: How good was the Indy Parow car? I saw a lot of practice and it looked to me as he absolutely equaled the New Garden of Pace and Traffic. He was playing Possum and seemed to tell everyone that he wasn’t in the New Garden league. Everyone, especially the Fox crew, fell into that. Was he as fast and fast as I thought?
ss
MP: Definitely. However, if no one knew that Paloo was due to win in Indy, he arrived in 7th place with Dale Coyne in 2020 as a rookie, returning with Ganasi to second place in 2021 and fifth place in 2024.
Q: I hope IndyCar notices it’s been a while since the 500 and the flood of feedback and discussion died (if not, this entry will rise). I know you don’t work at Fox so I’m not about saving most of my criticism or they broadcast in another venue.
I hope Indycar gets attention. For several years, the winning drivers stopped at the start/finish line. At first, it was fine for Helio to climb the fence, but now the elevator was on the podium.
IndyCar leaders remind drivers of the importance of post-race tradition, strongly encourage them to come straight to Victory Lane, and ask their TV partners not to interview the track.
Joseph, Atlanta, GA
MP: I don’t know if I caught any of the cup races on Amazon Prime, but they are amazing, much of it is due to the importance placed on pre- and post-race coverage. You will notice a huge difference between free time chatting on a tight network TV window and endless free time on streamers like Prime. However, if staying in Fox is not an option, making kicking to FS1 or FS2 the standard is a valuable workaround. I’m watching the NBA Finals and you’re getting a solid interview with ABC. And straighten to ESPN for postgame interviews and analysis.
F1 does an amazing job too. The end of the race is just the end of the race, not the proximity of the broadcast. You will receive lots of insights, analysis, and driver/team principal interviews. At Fox, so far, the end of the race has been near the end of the broadcast, making it difficult for new fans to sink their teeth into the series, and wants longtime fans to more than they’re getting.
The race ends with a checkered flag, but no coverage is required. James Black/IMS Photo
Q: After watching some 1980s Le Mans documentaries, I noticed some of the drainage areas, especially what appears to be a row of rows of drainage areas at the bottom of the hill after Dunlop Bridge before Esseth. I would have thought that the gravel traps were enough to slow down an uncontrolled car. It looked quite dangerous if any of the cars in the open cockpit could hit one of the fences the wrong way and seriously hurt the driver. We are delighted that we have come a long way in terms of truck safety.
Has chain link fencing done more harm than good when slowing down a car? On this subject, what are the most sketchy truck safety measures you’ve seen in your career?
Brandon Karsten
MP: Chain link fence… definitely not good. The first thing I thought of was Toronto until 1996, where fencing was behind a hard, exposed wooden object that had been attacked by Jeff Crosnov and died. Texas had a light pole in front of the fence, and Davey Hamilton bumped into him, causing brutal damage to his leg and foot. I think it was Toronto in 2013. I was ready to shoot the start of Turn 1 and realized I could move freely through the fencing above the barrier. Nothing actually connected the fencing to the barrier. In other words, if the car got in, it would have been tense through the mesh.
Q: I’m not in a hurry, but I’ll rephrase Baz Luhrmann’s “Everybody’s Free (to wear sunscreen).” I always try to skirt the rules, but as I get older, the lace has always gotten better in the past.
Also, the random and sad fact – DW 12 competes for around 12% of all IndyCar races in the history of the sport. Now I’ve made you depressed. Because I might be writing this after having some small sun pins of sun pins, so two questions:
As his career declined, have we gathered together and minimized the greatness of willpower? Everyone talks about Scott Dixon’s greatness, and he is one of the great people indeed. But Willpower… he is fourth on the list of the best wins of all time, with two championships and an Indy 500 wins. He is also the most pole in the history of sports. But I’m worried that some people might think he’s viewing him as a less flammable Paul Tracy. Maybe people should consider PT as a less successful version of Fast Willy P?
Next question: Canadian GP is inconsistent with the Indy 500, so is there a possibility that there will be some changes in the start times of both events? For example, does FOX start around 3pm (2pm), F1 starts around 500, and rolls into NASCAR around 5:30am? I know I’m worried about overlapping races, but it could work even if all TV networks (including here) work together.
I don’t think I’d want to start Canada at 2pm (normal time). This could be inconsistent with a 500 finish with a 3:45pm ISH finish. I think it’s a win in the new rules package, especially when the team gets a huge advantage and the driver comes to the forefront in 10-15 seconds. (ed: This letter arrived before a Canadian GP/Indy collision was confirmed).
John Tabasco
MP: There is no doubt. However, Dixon has six championships. A different league than anyone else. Will is the best ever. Full stop. I hope he can retire at his third championship. Alex Pallow could be heading for the fourth title, having just been here since the start of the decade, with three championships, the Indy 500. New Garden has had 2 and 2 since 2012. I think most fans will place Josef on top of Alex.
Of the 27 full-time IndyCar drivers, only four are champions. Will is clearly a big deal. This is a big deal. He is tied to third place on the list among the four at New Garden, with New Garden alone having 500 wins. If it’s on either list, it’s easier to position it even higher in the all-timer pool.
Fox Sports’ Roger Pensuke, Dougboles and Eric Shanks will hold the damn line, making no difference in the opening times and broadcast plans for the Indy 500 next year.
While next year’s Canadian GP/Indy 500 Clash is disappointing (and stupid), the two races are not expected to overlap each year. Kym Illman/Getty Images
Q: Please help fans learn more – My research has been shortened.
1. What was Peak Power’s IndyCar year? I probably know that the loss of boost and the profits of Rev were evenly equal, but which year was the top? 2000?
2. When did the guys stop rev matching on downshifts?
3. When do you think the cart is closest to F1 in terms of road/street course pace?
UDO Schueller, Germany
MP: 1972-75. When paddle shifting was introduced. It is possible that in the second half of 1994 and 1995, F1 attempted to lose its strength and speed following the crash and death of 1994.
Q: Zak Brown said his Formula 1 drivers are not interested in doing the 500. He said there might be a surprise to the Formula 1 team. What’s your surprise? Maybe they’re interested in taking part in races on the Indy Road Course? What are your thoughts?
Chris, Cincinnati, ah
MP: I was answering that phone with Zack, and he mentioned it in the Indy 500 context. Zack loves Little AL and owns one or two cart cars. I’ve been waiting to see AL’s posts on Pitfit, which I’m preparing for 500 returns on Arrow Mclaren.
Q: Why wasn’t Santino Ferucci a DQED after the car was found to be illegal in Detroit? The Indy 500 penalty appears to have set a bar on what happens. The outcome of similar violations appears to be different.
Paul, Indianapolis
MP: Because we don’t live in a world where all violations are accompanied by death penalty. Running 55.1mph in a 55mph zone is different from running 100 on 55. Or does a 55.1 speeding ticket cost as much as a 100mph fine?
The car was not below the minimum weight. If so, it would have been DQD. It was above the minimum weight, but the team got the wrong amount of driver ballast. There was nothing in Indy.
Q: There are a few random ones.
1. I don’t think there was a day when F1 and IndyCar came close to each other geographically on the same day as Barber/Miami this year.
2. I know that Roger Pensuke has a reason, but I can’t help Detroit attend the NASCAR race in Michigan the following weekend.
3. NASCAR’s Prime coverage has fuel efficiency graphics, which lets you know who’s saving more or less. With all the talk about “pushing a fuel number,” adapting it to IndyCar is great.
4. I think Zach Brown, who is talking about budget increases, agrees to remove the bottom team, not necessarily bad for IndyCar. Think about the INDYCAR budget and NASCAR of the early 2000s compared to today. Same as F1 (previous budget cap). I don’t think it’s a relative cost. The general value of the series is not sufficient and needs to be changed. Instead of trying to lower your budget to match your current values, increase your profile to match your budget.
Andy Brunbo
MP: OK, but we obviously, you can “removal” the bottom team today, and what do we have? New bottom team. And you can weed them. And then there’s a new bottom team. A sport-like way for them to maintain their score. There’s always a bottom team. What really does this is to get rid of a team that is not very wealthy. Help us to kick those who were here for a while and develop drivers, engineers and crews snapped to a larger team.
Fun Note: Pat O’Ward made his IndyCar debut for Mike Harding. Then there was Carlin Race. Then the arrows McLaren. Nolan Siegel? Dale Coyne, then Junkos Hollinger Race. Then the arrows McLaren.
I fully understand where Zack came from wanting to create more exclusiveness to increase value, but where do you set the standard? Is the first tier of safety reserved for teams that have won the championship? If so, AJ Foyt Racing, Andretti Global, Chip Ganassi Racing, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing and Team Penske are the only five people trapped.
If the second tier is a team that won the Indy 500, it’s five or more Meyer Shanklaces. That’s six out of 11 teams.
This will require five people to consider to boot out of the series. Want to know what Arrow McLaren has in common with Dale Coin Racing, Ed Carpenter Racing, Juncos Hollinger Racing, and Prema Racing? Zero Championship and Zero Indy 500 wins.
it hurts. Karl Zemlin/IMS Photo
Q: The Indy 500 is the only race that involves several days of on-track practice and I don’t think it’s enough for the rest of the track. Based on your experience, current cars, and available data to collect/analyze, what is the minimum amount of on-track practice time a team will need for a full-race weekend? Let’s assume you’re a team, have no Gremlins and have no typical track conditions for races. Is there a direct relationship between the number of cars needed and the time, which can withstand each truck type (IMS, short elliptical, road course, street course) and how much diluted liquid can be compensated?
Atira Vesal of Madison, Wiscon
MP: The short answer is that IndyCar can have one day’s events at all venues, but promoters hope for an opportunity to make revenue for at least 2-3 days. Unless Indycar reduces sanctions fees and adapts to a one-day event where trucks can earn enough money to pay and make money, the three-day standard is unlikely to remain. WWTR’s two-day trading is great, but that’s unusual. One long opening practice session for teams to learn tires and DEG profiles, fuel economy, long-term setups, then qualifications and learn races.
It’s a better race as few teams are fully educated before the race begins. There is no overnight simulator data, DIL support, etc. It will be a less perfect car. That’s the place to enjoy. When most people are prepared in abundance for big tests, their scores go higher. When more teams have to make more speculation than they want, you will get more risers and forwarders, and that’s where the drama is made.
Q: I saw a photo of a GTP car with the fenders turned off. I was able to see what it looked like with the wings of my nose. “Why haven’t you done this?”
If the new IndyCar costs too much, use established techniques. Then bring in all these manufacturers. I know that the IMSA engine doesn’t fit in the IndyCar chassis. Are you okay.
In business, “keep it simple and stupid” is sure that Pensuke is sure to appreciate it. Fenderless GTP vehicle. It doesn’t have to be any more.
So, what do you think?
SJK
MP: These Penske Porsche 963s are each handed for $3.9 million. The new Dallara DW12 costs around $1.2 million. One year of technical support at GTP is not too far from the cost of an annual IndyCar engine lease, so there are sudden differences in vehicle prices. The Fenderless GTP is a fenderless IMSA vehicle, not an indie vehicle. I would rather stick to a true open wheeler.
Q: So, at least it’s time to start talking about new cars and engines.
Even if the series holds a 2.2-liter engine with ERS (or not ERS) or a new engine formula, shouldn’t we build a new car with fairly universal equipment so that a wider engine formula can be applied, given the uncertainty of the race engine market? In other words, you should be able to install many different engines on this car. Is there anything else?
A lighter, more refined, more agile, a complete change in the view of the car is needed. This car is old and has a nose that looks like a mosquito. This series should avoid 15 years of “they had the opportunity to make it look modern and only went on the way.” Have you heard anything new about car design?
We have now been around for many years since the Boston Consulting Group’s findings. Do you know other ways Penske is trying to get information to deal with the ever-changing landscape of motor racing and entertainment in general?
I was all in to drive to the gateway, but the next day I was working on a Sunday night…it’s terrible scheduling, right?
Tim Gleeson, Chicago,
MP: It is difficult to make a car lighter, refined, and more agile when the engine bay needs to arrange wider, taller, heavier engines more widely. I don’t think Roger or his executives have the information to deal with the changing landscape of racing and entertainment. The missing question is, what do you think they should do with that information?
What are we going to talk about when we actually have a new car? Karl Zemlin/IMS Photo
Q: All recent technical violations and penalties were split into IndyCar teams, so it appears someone has woken up to these penalties when this could have been happening all along.
Nevertheless, making all the small pieces like moldings around the gearbox, some items around the hybrid unit of the car seems ridiculous to have to adhere to certain default standards. My view is against it. IndyCar can create suggested standards for mounting any of these parts in a particular way, but in order to open these items and teams meet the basic specifications in terms of load, force, weight, tension, etc., they should explore the best ways to do these mounts, if they meet the basic specifications.
It’s incredible to think that IndyCar has completed 180 degrees from 20 years in terms of specs. Their goal is always to make it more open to teams to explore the best way to do things
Siam
MP: I’m not completely disagreeing, but I’m sure hell doesn’t include safety components in its freedom. Doug Balls reiterated at a penalty press conference for two Pensk cars that, like all other safety items, is not free as the team seems appropriate. There’s a reason Penske’s modifications are illegal, because it involves safety devices. These items are forbidden fruits of Indycar. They were long before May 18th, 2025 and remained thereafter. For the rest, yes, I hate the idea that mechanics are terrified to make the smallest assembly error, not for speed or safety, but not for 100% spec. But that’s not new either.
Have you lost the plot with a hyper perfection-only approach that has been rooted since Paul Day? yes. But that’s something IndyCar chose to accept.
Q: I have two too early questions as they should have been asked early in the IndyCar season.
I think Barber was a race that everyone was forced into a three-stop strategy, with the need to run two sets of each tire. Why has this been done and not been repeated until now (I haven’t seen practice)? In my opinion, I would have wanted to see the tire orders fall to open the strategy.
When boost appears in the qualifying rounds for Fast Friday and Indy 500, how many lives will the engine be taken (percent or miles)? I think this boost is equivalent to a non-oval spec boost, but do oval engines tend to have a longer lifespan?
Atilla Veysal
MP: Not a barber, but an indie GP. It was done for the reasons why me and others wrote in our story about changes to the rules. The same engine uses three levels of boost on different trucks and adjusts as needed, so there is no boost to life equation. They explode or survive at all three boost levels. Disability tends to occur most frequently when it is close to a 2500-mile exchange.
Q: I stopped by for gas and coffee at a rural Pennsylvania station the other day and was surprised by all the signs that were there for my partnership with Sunoco’s Stake F1 Kick Sauber team. On the other hand, I was looking for service from a local Honda dealer the next day, but there was no mention of Honda being at IndyCar and just winning the Indy 500.
Dave of JC
MP: Will manufacturers who win the Daytona 500 have a nationwide dealer promotion campaign that has been installed from coast to coast within three weeks of victory, approved, mass-produced, shipped and installed? If so, Honda is late. If not, perhaps Honda, or Chevrolet of the past two years, is working on something that doesn’t happen overnight within a large company. And if Honda isn’t, there may be a different reason. Maybe give it a few more weeks and then turn the alarm off?
Q: Should the driver’s championship be larger than the biggest race in the series for the series to be healthy?
This question remains in my mind as it leads to this year’s Indy 500. I started following IndyCar in 2019 and was born after the split, so if there was zero pulse in Indycar’s heyday, this is always the case.
I think the F1 driver and constructor championships were always bigger than Monaco. For NASCAR, their crown jewel lace is large now, but I don’t think it was “pre-season.”
I think the answer to my question is “yes”, but both IMSA and WEC break this. Is it due to their formula, marketing, or something else?
Atilla Veysal
MP: I don’t know if you fully understand the inspiration of the question. Most sports fans remember the winners of the biggest events in what they follow, and that big event is essential to the health of those sports. But of course there are outliers. Monaco is F1’s biggest, but the victory there appears to have lost its same internationally recognized importance. Meanwhile, most F1 championships over the last decade have had exceptions from last year, which have been horribly boring, but F1’s popularity is only rising.
Last year’s Indy 500 was a thriller and the championship was very strong and interesting. A year ago, Indy was strong, but Parow got the title. All signs point to an increase in IndyCar health in 2025, but not particularly exciting throughout Detroit. WWTR was the best race of the year.
WWTR had a good show. Matt Fraver/IMS Photos
Q: Marshall, do you, and Ron understand that the Coca-Cola 600 (or the “World 600” where the day before the sponsor was known) is used to run on separate days? This is why Bobby and Donnie Allison, Kale Yerborough and Rayroy Yerborough allowed them to race both on the same weekend. The race was almost a week away!
Also, about “the last Sunday in May.” The 500 was appropriate for Memorial Day (May 30) until 1970, then moved until it settled on Sunday, the three-day holiday weekend of 1974. This is the first year both races were held on the same day.
Jim Thurman, Mojave Desert, California
MP: Thank you, Jim.
Q: I remember an article from the time of Malukas Wristgate. I think one of the problems McLaren had was that Chevrolet didn’t want to help them with Marcus’s contract. Do you have any insights into who is considered a tier 1 driver, etc.? Will Power’s 2026 location floats, so who’s the one who’s going to intervene and say, “Dangling in Sec, he’s one of us” and keeping him in Thailand now? Do you think Palou is not just Dixon and Herta/Kirkwood, but Honda Untouchable?
Tim, Connecticut
MP: As I understand it, Honda/HRC was very interested in driver trading until a few years ago there were almost every contract for almost every personal service contract for the series that hadn’t been updated. At Indycar, yes, I think Alex and Scott are part of the family. I don’t know if Colton or Kirk will fall into that preferred position. It’s hard to say if Chevy comes out of his pocket, but I know Verizon loves Will.
Q: I would like to drop 2 cents completely unsolicited about attendance in the oval race. I start by saying that I have mostly attended in the past. And I want to go more. But here is my stumbling block.
First of all, I live in Baltimore. It takes a few days to thousands of dollars to travel to participate in a much less IndyCar race in an oval shape. Once there, the trucks aren’t always in the largest towns or parts of town.
There may be a lack of convenience and service. Parking, food and drinks can be a problem on-site. Next is the view. At Pocono, you can only see small open-wheeled cars with a huge 300-yard truck. And what gets me on is that at least half of the race I go to is heavily interrupted by the weather (also NASCAR). Despite all the claims I read on the internet, no one can control the weather. It’s what that is. But after a while, you start making sacrifices. Secondly, the past few seasons have not produced any truly amazing oval laces.
Despite what the previous paragraph might say, I want to go to eggs. I want to go a lot. But in my climate-controlled basement there is a huge HD TV with a private toilet and a fridge full of affordable food and beer. But in all life, when someone wants something sufficient, they will make a sacrifice. What can Indycar do about my inertia of spending precious time and money watching boring races and not wanting to see it raining? I don’t know. There probably is no answer. The responsibility is on me. I would guess if I really like oval lace as much as I would argue. I’ll do it to take. I wish it was a little easier.
Sean, deep in my own mind
MP: With the exception of Iowa, last year’s oval race was the best race I’ve seen in decades. You may also buy tickets for games and concerts far away, and those games and concerts are not as expected. So you give up hope and either stay inside for the rest of your life, or make sure you have hope and that it is not always fulfilled. I don’t know what IndyCar can do to guarantee something here.
Q: It is not enough to give an incorrect driver a drive-through penalty to end another driver’s day for avoidable contact. We do not provide compensation to the victim. Five or 10 Championship Points must be deducted from the wrong driver and awarded to the victim. Your thoughts?
rle
MP: I have a great belief in punishment that fits the crime. If you hit someone, did their race end on lap 33? The race will end on lap 33. Knock someone onto the wall, pulled back by the safety team, losing two laps, and two laps in search of repairs to the pit. If a player commits a terrible foul that takes a rival player from the court for medical assistance or to play the game entirely from the game, the penalty should not give up a free throw and stay on the court. Anything that your actions bring to other players is what you have come to. This is called the shared rules of fate.
The mistakes that Marcus made when he Nerv Paloo in Detroit are the most prominent examples of race these days. Marcus is not a dirty driver. I don’t believe it is intentional in any way. However, the intention does not change the fact that Palou’s race was terminated by Marcus’s actions. Palou came out on lap 72 and finished 25th.thscored five points, and the sponsor of his car was no longer seen by fans on trucks and Fox broadcasts.
Malukas received a drive-through penalty and completed 100 and 14 lapsthscored 16 points and his sponsorship was seen throughout the race. In the “shared fate” plan, the problematic driver will be parked given the same points where the finishing position is lower than the person who came out with one spot.
“The rules of shared destiny” sound kind of ominous. James Black/IMS Photo
Q: After reading more about McLaren’s new hypercar program, I thought it was also connected to Zak Brown’s sports car program. I know I wear an aluminum hat on this, but is it possible that McLaren intentionally hired Nolan Siegel for his intention to hire him for the hypercar program? Perhaps Nolan’s time at IndyCar is being used to give him more experience and shape him for HyperCar. Nolan ended up winning the class with Zach Brown’s team. Also, despite Nolan having his moments at IndyCar, he has achieved more success in sports cars. Can I see something like this happening, or is Wisconsin Cheddar reaching my brain?
Ukyo Tachibana
MP: No. This was not the case where Nolan was hired. This was an investment for Siegels to put Nolan in his third car.
Q: Marshall and Kelly’s joint question:
The term “conflict of interest” has cast a lot on both this year’s series. Even Denny Hamlin has said on his podcast that he has problems with Jim France funding the car through Spire. Isn’t it the fact that Hamlin drives one team and owns another? Other sports athletes are not permitted to own part of a sports team, why should they be allowed in NASCAR and INDYCAR?
Mark, Milford, Ohio
MP: Well, in Indycar, Roger Pensuke is not a player. He owns the game. And compete with the teams he owns in the games he owns. And then, in the cars he owns, in the teams he owns, in the games he owns, in the companies he found and in the companies he has funded joint ownership.
This is Robert Kraft owns the NFL, the New England Patriots, and the company that makes football that uses his team.
Denny Hamlin, who owns a team while driving for another person, isn’t that kind of dispute? It would only be a conflict if he ran for Joe Gibbs, who he allowed the driver of the 23IX team he owns to make a profit. And if that happens, I’m sure he’ll be fired by Gibbs and stopped by NASCAR.
Kelly Crandall: If you look hard enough, there may be a lot of things that are considered conflicts of interest. Jeff Burton is the broadcaster for the race where his son Harrison competes. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is a broadcasting station and calls the Xfinity series race when he owns a team in the series (he no longer does that). Denny Hamlin drives one team and owns another. Again, you can keep watching, finding more and more, and truly subjective about what someone sees as a conflict of interest. I don’t know if they want to set up rules that tell drivers can’t own a team. But it’s been made public and leaves those drivers up to questions and skepticism about conflicts and decisions. And as long as they know those questions are there and answer them, I’m fine with that.
Q: After watching the race in the Xfinity series on Saturday, it reminded me of an old race phrase from the years that have passed… “The Call.”
One of the races I was really looking forward to was a Cup race in Mexico City. Rather than sounding like a gross old man, I just had cable TV and I couldn’t see it. Have you wondered what NASCAR’s ratings have been like since switching to streaming services for some of the races?
mark
KC: The numbers were as expected. Overall, it is rising in key demographics (young audiences). NASCAR was hoping for that, but in reality it follows the trend of the NFL putting the game on Prime Video in its first season. The key here is the long game. NASCAR has a seven-year deal with Prime Video, so they build on those numbers and hope and hope that they will grow over time.
Q: In Michigan, fuel economy always seems like a problem. Probably because it’s actually 2.04 miles instead of the two miles that are advertised. In fact, in the 1970s, NASCAR ran some 197 lap races to adjust this. INDYCAR measured the Texas Motor Speedway significantly less than 1.5 miles, which took 344 laps (instead of 334 laps) and ran a 500-mile race using the 1.455-mile-long IndyCar, which is used at one point. Las Vegas is probably longer than Atlanta!
For me, it would be better to add a character to each race, as NASCAR gets these more accurate numbers and gives each track a separate appeal. More importantly, does the NASCAR crew chief know these real numbers for calculating fuel economy numbers?
Alex
KC: So, like many things in sports, fuel efficiency has evolved. We are in an age where teams don’t always fill cars full of fuel, and start racing. They make those decisions based on how they strategize the race and how it affects the balance of the car. Throughout the race, teams always weight fuel cans to determine how much they actually got into the car while running, and know what amounts they expect to burn while driving on each track. So it depends on the science of what those numbers are and how they approach race.
There is a lot of math in all of fuel economy. Chris Greiten/Getty Images
Q: Next year, Zandvoort has dropped from the Formula 1 calendar, and Barcelona’s contract is over. Is there a possibility that there will be less than 24 races in 2027? Rumors about new races in Africa, Thailand and South Korea have been quiet recently. What tracks may be competing for spinning with spa? Maybe Barcelona? Red Bull Ring when the contract ends?
What have you heard about the competitiveness of power units in 2026? There will be a number of whispers that Mercedes will be the engine in 2026. I’ve heard this in 2013 and it’s proven to be correct. What are these rumors based on when no one knows where is there?
Paul, Glasgow
Chris Medland: I’ve tainted you a bit with the timing pole, but I don’t think there will be fewer races after 2027. You may have seen it on Tuesday Thailand took a big step It may be participating after 2028 and has a lot of interest from elsewhere.
If you join Madrid, you will be denied losing Zandvoort in 2027. And, as you say, the spa is there that year too. The “Off” years are 2028 and 2030. Imola wants to come back if a slot is found, but at this stage there is no commercial weight behind it. Barcelona is another thing that I was told I could spin.
There is also continued interest from Türkiye and Malaysia – In Istanbul Park and Sepang, respectively, they are therefore existing trucks. – And while you’re still going in South Africa and Rwanda, you’re right that they still feel a long way. But in the meantime I haven’t seen it fall below 24 races. If so, it won’t last long.
In the competitiveness of the power unit, that certainly sounds like Marcedes is likely to become a front runner again in terms of performance. Reps talk a bit to each other trying to feel where the competition is, but you can also get movements between manufacturers that can determine where they compare to others at the same time in development (even months ago).
The general consensus is that Red Bull and Audi may feel the toughest early on, but there is more unknown about the possibilities of Ferrari and Honda.
Q: Is the Canadian Grand Prix clashing with the Indy 500? no problem. There are no conflicts. The Indy 500 is sacred. That’s not the case with the Canadian Grand Prix. Find Montreal results at Racer.com.
Brian Brist, London, Canada
CM: I’m glad you checked out the site at least! And I agree which races will lose more in conflict. Fortunately, the new agreement that Montreal just announced appears to have an intention to avoid that conflict as often as possible. I’m told that it should only happen once every four or five years.
Q: At some point, the driver’s signature needs to be made public as the Cadillac F1 is increasing its OPS for its 2026 debut. Palou is clearly off the table and needs experiences like Bottas, Perez, and so they’re consistent with the Americans (hopefully) so why not consider the best runner-up in IndyCar this year, namely Kyle Kirkwood? His efforts outweigh Colton Hertha, and he certainly enjoys ownership of his team, namely Dan Touris and the positive support of TWG Group. Moreover, on this side of the pond, he certainly has more name recognition and star power than Jak Crawford, but he has no Euro experience and super license points.
Todd Owen Krill
CM: I think you answered your own questions there, Todd – he has no experience with trucks, personnel or Pirelli tires, but they don’t let him off the table completely. However, I do not have Super License Points. He needs to win the championship, which obviously doesn’t look too impossible a few races ago, but Cadillac can’t really wait for it when it’s very unlikely.
I get name recognition points, but Cadillac just picks Americans rather than names, and said that Crawford is likely to succeed given his path through the European ladder and Formula One team program.
Given that Crawford still needs to maintain his top five position in F2 to get his super license, I don’t think the second seat will get stiff that quickly, so all Kirkwood can do is keep winning.
If you feel that Cadillac is being forced to hire Americans, you might think that Crawford will take a better trajectory to become more American than anyone else in the Indy Carpadock. Sam Bloxham/Getty Images
Q: Do you think George Russell will brake very aggressively behind the safety car and hand him over to bait Max Verstappen to score penalty points? I think that’s certainly what happened, so let’s make beef.
Ryan, West Michigan
CM: I don’t think it’s just about getting penalty points, but it definitely felt a bit like gamemanship trying to show the Verstappen he was in control.
Given their run-ins, I agree with you in the sense that if Russell scored a penalty, I think Russell would not have been upset, but I think he enjoyed being a lead car and knew Verstappen had to keep it clean.
If the race rebooted for a one-lap shootout, George issued a slight warning that Max had repeated the unstable position.
But there’s so much underlying tension there, but I think Russell would have got a big smile on his face if Russell scored a penalty.
Q: I’m an old man who can’t get some things. One of the most interesting aspects is why the F1 Prima Donna continues to whine about dirty air and the confusion of the car’s aero package. Still, Indycars run within inches of each other and need optimal downforce to prevent them from ploughing into the corner. Please help. what happened?
Craig Nelson
CM: For a very simplified answer, the IndyCar Aero package is the same in all cars – the same in all cars compared to F1 cars that each team has developed individually. This allows IndyCar to have a solution that is still high performance but does not affect the next car to reduce the impact of major air.
Another aspect is how fast F1 cars can get. Around the Circuit of the Americas (the only truck that both series competed in the last seven years), the evolution of the cars in both series has a time difference in the estimated lap of the 12-second mark today. This year in Bahrain, there was over 14 seconds between F1 and F2 cars. – Like COTA, F1’s 90s tracks before and after rap – Shows the performance difference.
To get that performance difference, more sophisticated and sensitive aerodynamics will be more easily affected by turbulent air from the car ahead. Furthermore, the field is very close these days (covering the entire field in Canada’s first quarter), and such minimal details have a major impact.
If you are the fastest car to appear behind the slowest car in Montreal and take 0.2 seconds on a lap behind another car, that’s 25% if your pace advantage is gone. If your field spreads get bigger, that same lap time loss will be easier to get close, as it will have less advantages in your pace.
The final words
From Robin Miller’Mailbag, June 18, 2014
Q: I’ve just finished reading “Black Noon: The Year They Stopped the Indy 500.” I was a reporter for the Indianapolis News stationed on the inner wall since my fourth turn in 1964. McDonald’s Red Mickey Thompson racer spins into the wall in front of him, causing seven cars of Inferno. I admire the author Garner trivia (race winner AJ Voyt, who eats post-visit dinner at White Castle. Thompson hired Laura F1 suspension expert crashed “(a) 2.60 hour wage, almost twice what he was making in Formula 1.” However, the book never shows a photo of a 1964 Mickey Thompson race car. It’s like writing about Hindenburg without a photo of a gas bag. Who stopped Garner from including such photos? It’s not just surveillance on the part of the author. What’s wrong?
David Manweiler
Robin Miller: I emailed ART last night about your questions. “Mannweiler is right. There are no pictures of the Thompson car other than a close-up with Dave. Instead, in Retrospect, we should have included a wider shot of the car, especially.
The car’s famous shots show just how high the ride was in the absence of modest tires, and concerns were expressed. So I think Art agrees with you, David, but I told him I wouldn’t ruin his amazing job reporting on one of the pivotal months in American motorsports. Incidentally, I liked you as a humorist or columnist over a racing reporter, but the fact that you were the founder of the last row party makes you into the Hall of Fame forever. Hello Tom Bigelow and Eldon Rasmussen.
