Welcome to the RACER mailbag. Questions for RACER’s writers can be sent to: mailbag@racer.com. We welcome your comments and opinions, but letters with questions are more likely to be published. Questions received after 3:00 PM EST each Monday will be saved for the following week.
Q: What are the chances that Mick Schumacher will drive for Rahal next year? To do that, they’ll need to do something about signing Devlin Defrancesco. Will they be able to get out of there?
What about an oval? If I remember correctly, his father and uncle Ralph were not Oval fans.
david
Marshall Pruett: If Mick wants to be an IndyCar driver, he’ll have a car and a team to call home in RLL. It’s up to him whether he wants to switch to America or not.
Whatever his father or uncle thought about the Oval has nothing to do with him. he is his own man. The fact that he came to test IndyCar suggests that he is interested in IndyCar. Post-test comments at an IndyCar-sponsored media session included Mick’s comment that the next test needed to be on an oval to get a proper feel for the series.
DeFrancesco’s contract is believed to include a performance clause that he must meet to return in 2026. If that’s true, it would rank 26th.th Had I been second to last in the championship, I wouldn’t have hit the lowest line I can think of.
Q: Well, what do you think? this. I agree teeth Race series other than NASCAR may become popular in October. Where there is a will, there is a way.
derek
MP: I was very happy to see that the NHRA race averaged 2,065,000 viewers after the NFL game. And certainly, once something happens, it’s confirmed that it’s possible for IndyCar to get a similar build-up by sandwiching a race right after the last NFL game of the afternoon…I seem to remember saying it was impossible from a programming standpoint when someone asked about that here last month or so.
I’m excited to be wrong, but as you pointed out, all that is needed now that the 2026 calendar is complete is a willingness between FOX and IndyCar to adjust the 2027 schedule to incorporate Sunday dates in September and October, where IndyCar will immediately follow the broadcast of the NFL’s final game on FOX.
Having grown up working in IndyCar and its feeder series, where races typically ran well into October, and as recently as 2013 when the season finale was held on October 18th, I welcome freedom from the prison of NFL-inspired programming that has existed since 2014.
Q: I previously wrote that I hope IndyCar returns to Phoenix. I’m glad they’re doing it and I think it’s a good idea for them to do it on a NASCAR weekend. I just hope the promoters actually promote it.
I wonder if they have a test date in advance. Have you heard anything about it? We also hope that it will be open to the public to increase interest in this event.
Nick Plenzik, Clarkdale, Arizona
MP: The first run, a tire test, is scheduled for early November (I don’t know the exact date), and another is scheduled for January, probably with the entire field. I recently heard from someone I know that on Saturday’s race schedule in Phoenix, IndyCar will not be broadcast in the morning slot, but rather in the featured afternoon slot.
Q: I watched practice for the United States Grand Prix and noticed a hint of Ferrari’s flow visualization, or “flow-vis” paint. Flovis paint is often seen in F1, but what about other series? I asked questions online about IMSA, NASCAR, and IndyCar. It seemed to indicate that IndyCar uses Flovis paint, but we may not have seen it or had a chance to see it. I googled for pictures of Indy cars with flow-vis paint and couldn’t find anything. RACER has a huge collection of photos. Do you have any photos of series other than IndyCar or F1 with Flow-vis paint?
Tim Davis, Detroit, Michigan
MP: I have a hard time remembering the last time I saw Frobis in IndyCar. There is nothing new in the spec car bodies used from 2012-1014 and 2018-present that requires flow visualization, so there is no need to use them in public testing. But you may have forgotten which teams and manufacturers used it when the Dallara DW12 was new in late 2011 or early 2012.
We believe the manufacturer’s custom aero kit was flow-vised for several years from private off-season testing in 2014 until freedom was restricted heading into 2017.
Let’s hope McLaren’s aero team does what it needs from the gallon of Flobis they threw into Norris’ car during practice at Imola last year. Mark Sutton/Getty Images
Q: Do you know, or do you know someone who might, the whereabouts of the ceremonially placed gold-plated bricks that completed the paving of IMS in 1909?
rick
MP: I don’t know, but Mailbag readers might know.
Q: Assuming Colton Herta actually has an F2 seat for next season, which could be announced before the next mailbag is published, his race calendar is still wide open in May. Also, assuming there are no F1 tests or practice sessions on Indy’s few practice, qualifying and race days, are Herta’s plans to take on the 500m in 2026 afoot? Or am I assuming too much?
Pete, Rochester, NY
Member of Parliament: He is headed to the Hitech Grand Prix team. When I asked the team about the Colton/500 angle on Monday, I was told that it was still a topic for Hertha and that there were also discussions about whether Marco Andretti would return.
Herta is so smart and versatile that it would be easy to add a 500m program to the F2 and F1 test seasons, but with two Indy 500 winners on the full-time roster, I don’t see the need to reintroduce Colton beyond the basic appeal of running another 500m.
Herta’s career has changed to Europe to go to F1, so throwing in the Indy 500 program and all the intense preparation it requires will do nothing to get him closer to his main goal. As you mentioned, there are slots available on the schedule, but I can’t see any value or logic in such a move. There’s nothing wrong with importing Herta to Indy, but I also like the idea of letting the new trio of Power, Kirkwood, and Erickson build chemistry without being too one-off voices in the room.
Q: I know my two questions have been discussed in the past, but it was important for me to go through them. I hadn’t been to an IMSA race since Road Atlanta in the early ’80s until this year’s Petit Le Mans. What an amazing event! It was the largest crowd I’ve ever seen at Road Atlanta, and every camper spot was taken.
But the biggest surprise was the fan area. It’s large, there are multiple food trucks, and products from manufacturers like Ford and Lexus are sold in large tents…very impressive.
My question is why can’t IndyCar, my favorite series, replicate this? I always go to Barber races and the fan area doesn’t compare to IMSA at Road Atlanta. IndyCar management needs to attend next year’s Petit Le Mans to better understand what fan-friendly support is all about. IndyCar can do better – it should be the best!
Then during the autograph session I asked Scott Dixon, “Why aren’t you doing IndyCar at Road Atlanta?” His answer was, “I’ve never heard a good reason why IndyCars couldn’t be raced at Road Atlanta. Road Atlanta would be a great venue.” I encouraged him to keep asking. I watched a few F5000 races at Road Atlanta in the 1970s and I think it would be a great event to watch at one of my favorite tracks.
TSS, Germantown, TN
MP: That would be great. I’ve probably gotten this question in my mailbag 20 times and the answer is the same. IndyCar is too fast to race on some sections without major changes to the safety of the circuit. GTP cars and LMP2s are similarly lightning-fast, but are fully enclosed, with crushable structures on either side of the driver that are more than the size of an IndyCar bathtub.
I’m not going to use Road Atlanta’s big vendor intermediate estate on the hill as an example that can be replicated at every track, but some IndyCar venues have several similarly long or large stretches. Laguna Seca, Portland, Indy, Long Beach, Mid-Ohio, Road America, and Nashville come to mind, but I’m sure there are others.
The main difference between IMSA’s big Midway and some of the smaller Midways seen in IndyCar is the manufacturer. Unlike Chevrolet and Honda, which bring a mobile dealership to a race track and rarely pay for large acreage to display three to five new car and truck models for fans to peruse, the opposite is true at IMSA, where 18 manufacturers compete in various series. Many of these brands require a large footprint to set up displays and showcase their road cars, which is why the average IMSA in the middle can be quite large.
I spent some time at Petit Le Mans drooling over the BMWs and Cadillacs on display… I knew there was no chance of taking them home…
IMSA Vendors Another interesting thing about Midway is that it has a variety of sellers that are rarely seen at IndyCar events. There are plenty of car/racing related books/magazines/posters, many model sellers, artists doing live art and selling prints, and general merchandise such as hats, shirts, and stickers. I bought Rexy’s hat from the AO Racing merchandise trailer and three stickers for $5. I also found a framed photo of Bob Leitzinger’s 1982 or 1983 IMSA GTU Nissan 280 ZX for $4 that I had to take home.
Q: I thought this might be interesting: IndyCar vs. NASCAR at Road America.
I don’t know if this is rational or wishful thinking. What do you think?
Doug Mayer, Revelstoke, British Columbia, Canada
MP: That’s fun! It’s definitely possible. After F1, IndyCar is the world’s fastest open-wheel car on a road course, with Cup cars probably ranking 10th.th up to 12th After all, Indy NXT and F2, as well as similar junior open wheel cars, GTP, LMP2, and Quick GT classes, so no surprise here.
I vote to abolish the simulator and solve these kinds of problems the old-fashioned way. Swope/Getty Images
Q: In last week’s mailbag, you wrote: “Of the 27 full-time drivers in 2025, we count 17 of them to be properly paid by their teams, meaning 100 percent talent recruitment. That leaves a significant number of drivers waking up every day looking for more money to continue their careers in 2026 and beyond.”
How do drivers looking for money make ends meet during the six-month off-season? Similarly, how do pit crew members survive a long offseason? Six months without pay proves impossible.
Jerry, Houston
MP: Paid drivers like Conor Daly, who bring in millions of dollars for teams, sign contracts that give him a cut of the compensation he brings in, so it’s not like he gets paid every two weeks during a six-month season and then goes without for the other six months. Connor is a bit of a unicorn because he is paid by the team as a driver.
But for years, when he’s brought in sponsors and their money in exchange for a seat at the races, players like Daly come into the season with six-figure (or more) paychecks built into their contracts and get paid based on the intervals agreed upon in their contracts. On the crew side, the team hires annual employees.
The only problem, and this happens more often than you might think, is that teams and sponsors in such arrangements may be late on payments or simply fail to pay their drivers. In some cases, drivers contract directly with sponsors and are similarly paid late or not at all.
This is a cruel deal, as drivers in paid racing situations who bring in sponsors (instead of family money) tend to live frugally and are not wealthy by race car driver standards. Some teams/sponsors are well aware of that and know that drivers have limited funds to fight in court, so drivers get screwed. Several drivers I know are chasing results from two or three years ago and always seem to be hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. It makes me sad.
It sometimes happens to teams that when a driver brings in a sponsor, the first payment is made, a few races the sponsor shows up in the sidepod, the second payment was supposed to arrive but is “delayed”, and most teams that pay drivers are desperate for funds, so they keep putting sponsors on the car in hopes of maintaining a positive relationship, i.e. getting the money they need and the money they owe, but it never shows up.
This happened in 2025 to Joker, who performed the same stunt with the team about five years earlier. He showed up this season with a different company. I saw him in the Barber paddock and couldn’t believe he had the nerve to show his face as the team he cheated was still in the series. Then I found a new mark that applied to the same routine. When I told the team about the previous stunt, they said they were aware of it.
Classic ploy: pay a big deal upfront, get the team to work together, get exposed for multiple races, then disappear when the team realizes it’s vaporware. It’s embarrassing.
Q: You have many friends and sources in the IndyCar world. Assuming there are no teams with factory contracts or support or concerns about Roger Penske, what kind of engine design will team owners want? Level playing field, 2026 and beyond.
dave
MP: CART Turbo V8 or classic F1 V10 and V12. Some people told me they wanted to see if IMSA GTP engines were available, but all I know is that it’s impossible for an Acura to fit into that small space.
Q: In Chris’ answer to a mailbag question two weeks ago, he said he thought Colton Herta had been in F2 for two years.
My understanding of how the F1 superlicense system works is that drivers need to earn 40 points over three years. Colton Herta has a total of 34 points, 30 points from second place in IndyCar in 2024 and four points from 2025.
If Herta’s rookie F1 season is in 2028, his 2024 Super License points will expire and Herta will need to earn 36 points between 2026 and 2027.
Is it correct that if Herta aims to participate in F1 in 2028, he cannot finish below 5th place in F2 in 2026, which is equivalent to 20 super license points?
Will, Indy
Chris Medland: Not really, Will, but you actually explained my point. If Colton has had enough of a learning year to finish outside the top 10 in F2, he could finish in the top three (equivalent to a full set of 40 Super License points) in 2027, or still have 34 points for fourth place. He could also earn points by competing in FP1 for Cadillac.
Of course, the same will be true next year, so a top eight finish in the championship will be enough for Colton to earn Super License points. And he said this week that his goal is just one year and then stepping up, but there’s no rush to see if a second year is an option.
Hertha wants to work together as one in F2. Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment
Q: I‘I’m in the minority and prefer sprint races to other practice sessions. However, I think having two qualifying sessions is too much, especially the sprint qualifying feels rushed.
I would like to have two practice sessions on Friday, use the results of the second practice session to adjust the sprint race, and then have the sprint race and qualifying on Saturday.
What do you think about this?
David, Hilton Head, South Carolina
CM: I don’t mind the idea of setting the grid differently, but even if the results from the second practice session were used, it would still be a qualifying session. So when you don’t know when it’s going to be the grid-setting lap, I think it needs to be a structured qualifying session rather than a free-for-all hour.
One of the reasons short qualifying exists is to ensure that there are competitive sessions on each day of the race weekend, which I think is also a good move. And while the two sessions may offer different grids as teams learn throughout the weekend, if they forgo that short qualifying altogether, they’ll likely repeat the race from the same starting lineup.
Perhaps the timing could be adjusted so that it’s not rushed, but I think that would be a by-product of the first qualifying session usually coming early in the weekend when there’s bigger preparation going into Saturday afternoon.
Q: After Singapore, Lando Norris said he would face some consequences for his clash with Oscar Piastri. Zac Brown admitted that while there will be some sports action, it “probably won’t be high profile.”
I think you realize what it is. During the COTA race, Martin Brundle commented on the time Lando’s pit stops took, suggesting that McLaren needed to work on their pit stops. Looking at post-race data posted online by McLaren, Oscar’s pit stop took 2.3 seconds, while Lando’s pit stop took 3.9 seconds. I think the “result” for Lando will be slightly slower pit stops for a race or two (or more!?).
What do you think? Am I just looking for too much evidence to support my theory? Considering Lando was fast on the track, I can’t imagine he added any extra ballast. The only thing McLaren can really control is how long pit stops take, which is certainly very well hidden, but it will have real consequences for Lando.
David Volk, Oregon State, Ohio State
CM: I certainly don’t think that will happen, David, because it would be a huge hit in the sporting world and in Austin’s case it would only hurt Norris’ chances of winning against Ferrari instead of helping Piastri.
There are plenty of other ways teams can give Piastri an advantage. For example, the way drivers execute their run plans, the timing and order in which cars leave the garage, the priority given to teams in strategic decisions, etc., but these are not issues as serious as the loss of race time, and I’m sure no team would ever consider them.
However, McLaren needs to improve in the pits. It’s also slow tire changes in corners, which have caused several delays in recent weeks and could cost him dearly in his battle with Max Verstappen.
last word
From Robin Miller’s Mailbag, October 23, 2013
Q: As an IndyCar enthusiast, I get very sensitive whenever NASCAR claims to be the best, most skilled, greatest, fastest, etc. Considering that, I wish someone (like my five-year-old self) would explain to me how Talladega is “the world’s fastest racetrack,” as I was reminded yesterday with unabashed enthusiasm at every commercial break.
I understand that the track’s size and high banks contribute to NASCAR’s speed, and that restrictor plates control speed, but I can’t find any statistics to support the claim of it being the “fastest track in the world.” Do you think that if it didn’t happen in NASCAR, it didn’t happen?
My brother, who drank the NASCAR Kool-Aid, looked at me like I was crazy and said, “This is the fastest track in NASCAR, and it’s the fastest race course because the IndyCar drivers would pass out.” I said, “But that’s not proven.” A few minutes of uncomfortable silence. In good faith, please help me understand where I am “off track”.
Cindy Riordan
Robin Miller: First of all, slam your brother because he’s wrong. Gilles de Ferran set the all-time IndyCar single-lap oval track record of 241 mph at Fontana in 2001. Last time I checked, speeds at the Indy 500 were 20 mph faster than Cup cars at Dega (and Indy cars were 40 mph faster around IMS than Cup cars). So hit him again.
