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: I see people asking how Pensuke can let go of Will Power when he is their de facto leader at the moment. They should ask JPM or Helio the question.
Sean, Maryland
Marshall Pruett: And if that’s the case, they’ll know that Helio is the third best in Pensuke in his final Indycar season and JPM, a year after tying Dixon for the 2015 championship. After running to second place in 2019, Pagenaud went out in 8th place in 2020 and 8th place in 2021.
The power situation is not something that his three former teammates have experienced.
Power was the only Pensuke driver to win a championship in the last decade (2022), the best Pensuke driver of all time in 2024, sitting second in the rankings to enter the final race when the strips of the belt buckle mechanism were reverted and given the pits as soon as the race began.
And once again, in 2025 he was Pensuke’s best driver, the only driver to win, and consistently his top performer in the championship.
And is this a guy who needs to go? now?
He currently sits sixth in a season that goes down as one of the worst for the team. His closest teammate in the championship is 11-year-old McLaughlinthit is said that he recently received a lovely new contract extension. And has the power been replaced with a new model?
The 45 wins and 71 pole man is about to be parked for a very promising child and is destined to drive for Team Pensuke, but as of today Paul has a zero victory with zero. Is this the right time to make changes?
Is this real life?
And let’s be clear: there will be changes. That’s when’s the question? And the urgency to do it at the end of the month is the mystical part.
Apart from Mario Andretti, who raced an Indy car until he was 54, the 44-year-old driver is not a long-term solution, but isn’t this an important factor? Marca has the appearance of a future badass. Hearing young players, they have an incredible “top,” but when we talk about replacing the greatest of all time, shouldn’t something stronger than hope be involved?
Pensuke took a risk to McLaughlin in one respect. Open wheel racing is a new challenge. However, he also won multiple championships with Pensuke and was fully known and understood as a generational talent. It’s not based on promises, possibilities and benefits, but on results in the race. Pensuke was rewarded for taking the three-time champion to IndyCar and giving himself to a very high standard in the decision-making process.
Pensuke saw Joseph Newgarden develop for five years with the small Sarah Fisher/Ed Carpenter racing team and saw him win his first pole, then get his first win, add two more wins, and run to fourth place before signing him at the 2016 championship.
Without a rush along the way, Pensuke refused to guide young talents who needed more schooling before being drafted by IndyCar Upper Echelon.
Newgarden went to ECR University and is ready to graduate, becoming the champion of his debut with Penske in 2017, and backed up with his second title in 2019. The timing and preparations are now available. New Garden ticks both boxes. The perfect approach. Two championships over three years. Refusing to hurry the process was rewarded.
So why do you feel this scenario with Power and Marcus is in a hurry? I’m sure Marcus will win Pers and win the race for Pensuke. I’m sure. But when did Team Pensuke become a finishing school? This is the part that does not reconcile even when using history as a guide.
Helio, JPM, and Pagenaud were all on downhill slides, from small to dazzling when taken away from Pensuke’s indie car. Power is Penske’s No. 1 driver, showing statistical facts rather than based on opinions.
To put this into simpler terms. There is a 44-year-old car salesman who faces retirement in the coming years but sells more cars than other staff members a year. There are also new, young salesmen who have been adopted and have great potential to sell cars, but unfortunately they haven’t moved one car out of the lot yet.
While he continues to sell meaningful sales, will he fire an older salesman, lead the entire group and replace him with the 23-year-old who hasn’t sold his car yet? Or will you wait until your child actually completes some transactions before making earthquake changes on the dealer’s floor?
There’s no business I can think of, but I don’t drop top earners for people who haven’t made anything yet, but this is actually considered the right move. What about the timing and preparation?
It is clear that power can still get the job done. James Black/IMS
Q: I’ve heard that Fox is considering adding a playoff to IndyCar. As a Southerner, NASCAR was my first love in racing, but now there’s not even the rough risk of catching a television broadcast from the national unnatural auto racing association.
Because NASCAR Racing is actually quite interesting. No, this isn’t going to be another gross Facebook Man Philippic about how NASCAR died when Dale went. When Dale passed away I was not alive. Yes, I’m in that legendary target demographic (TM). And let me say I don’t want a NASCAR-style playoff format for the IndyCar series, as a representative of its target demographics (TM).
But it’s not just me. NASCAR has had a playoff format for 20 years, but during that time, he didn’t know a single lonely fan who wanted a playoff format at INDYCCR. why? Why would you want to see the blown up Spaniard and his perfect 10 teams let the title go away rather than an exciting title finish? Simple. It’s real.
In an in-season championship, the title should be rewarded with the best team of the season. In 2024, Joey Rogano was the NASCAR champion, but he wasn’t even close to the best driver of the year. Instead, he was the best system player. He peeked out early at his lucky victory and took a coast run for the 30/36 weekend. He and the 22 crew then drew the jet. I don’t want Indycar champions to play the system well and be someone who minimized most of the season.
However, if the playoff format is featured in Formula E, Norman NATO will be a multi-time champion. I like Norman so try it there first.
Taylor, Kentucky
MP: I agree. What’s interesting is whether and how the changes to the NASCAR Cup Chase/Playoff format have had a meaningful impact on viewers and attendees. I think if the answer was no, I would have been killed now, so assuming that is a boon to valuation and ticket sales, that would be an argument that Indycar would consider such things.
I know Doug Boles, president of IndyCar, says he won’t go to the playoff format just before Fox Sale takes place. So, if you need to make Indycar more popular, the series sees NASCAR with lots of raps, portraying F1 levels and North American fans.
While it’s hard to imagine that adopting a playoff format would magically double the fan base of Indycar, refusing to creatively experiment guarantees that there will be no change for the better.
I also feel that this will be one of the things I often mention in my mailbags. Fox purchased a minority stake in IndyCar for 33%, so changes could occur, but Fox does not have the unsolicited authority to make those calls. Roger and his Pensuke Entertainment executives are in charge of the series just as before Pensuke was willing to choose to sell a third of Fox.
But as I wrote right after the sale, Fox’s influence is something they welcome in the fold, trying to make Indycar more popular and wealthy for all involved. So if that means entertaining the playoff format for the season and checking whether to move the needle of viewing and attendance, I am open to being brought to court.
It’s not what I want from a purely competitive perspective, but I’m more interested in IndyCar’s health than I do to keep everything the same and not see great growth.
Q: I was happy to pay for the peacock and am really missing out on having the IndyCar streaming option now. But I’m one of the crowds that don’t pay Fox. I’ve been an IndyCar fan for over 45 years and can’t imagine not following anywhere, but my conscience is not allowed to pass money to Fox or any other Murdoch venture. I hope you are wise enough to use third-party streaming options.
When I heard that Fox had bought a share of IndyCar, my first thought was that Penske wanted their marketing team to improve the value of the series in order to sell everything later. Penske does not carry many joint ventures. This seems to have come out suddenly. Is this a short-term plan to jump the value of the series as part of a succession plan that involves selling it? I understand that no one can answer that question at this point and hopefully my theory is wrong.
Tom is suffering
MP: Since 2020, we’ve heard the tough, consistent answer of NO by selling series and speedways, so if this is the first step to selling it, it’s against the unwavering response we’ve been given.
Not for sale. At least not as far as we know. Joe Skibinski/IMS
Q: I don’t know if this has been mentioned before, but how about Indycar racing for the second time in the oval form at IMS as the season finale?
It can be held in mid-September and on Saturdays to avoid conflict with the NFL. To make it unique from 500, you’re probably 300 milers and you might not be qualified. Instead, we only use cars that have a starting grid in reverse order of points rankings and run the full schedule.
I think it’s attended well and maybe it would offer half the prize money to a team heading into the offseason. What do you think?
Gym, Ontario, Canada
MP: I know it’s proposed and shot down. I know that NASCAR races are racing after 500 at Daytona, but I didn’t feel that right, just like the 12-hour Le Mans or Indy 300 weren’t sitting with me. It’s okay to keep something really special in a truly special position.
Q: Regardless of discipline, I hear a lot about “ditches” during oval races. What does a truck with one, two or x grooves tell?
Bernard, Texas
MP: In IndyCar, the grooves are lanes where the rubber is crushed into the track surface and act like tire adhesive when in contact, providing ample grip. If the driver is consistently driving in two lanes, you will get two rubber-related grooves and more.
Q: The drum beat about David Malukas, who replaces David Malukas’ Power, is bigger and bigger. This started before the season. I think this change was implemented as soon as Lil’Dave signed the Foyt deal. I don’t think the team owners and sponsors will wait this long to make a major contractual decision, especially with someone who is the height of Will of the sport. You reported that Verizon loves Love Will. Would you like to take Verizon elsewhere? Where does this leave Miles Low, whom I thought would take Will’s place?
In an interview after practice on Friday, Marcus wrapped his left hand. Is this a new or residual effect from a previous injury?
Ed, jersey
MP: I’ve written here dozens of times that the contract was signed Penske, so the change has been changed to the watch so far as to make sure that the right timing is a very interesting topic. Verizon is not a will to take it. If the company wants to follow him, I’m sure they will. Miles’ future has not yet been decided. I asked CEO Mark Miles about this a week ago and it’s still TBD.
David said in an interview this year that his wrist injury was permanent.
Q: I’m sure some firefighters need to feel like 150 degrees. However, drivers of all forms and classes want to maintain their suit and also secure their neck flaps, instead of thawing and peeling them off. Is there another reason besides not covering sponsors?
Lazarus, Jefferson MO
MP: If I understand the question, it’s the same reason why the firefighters don’t turn on the fire and peel off the fireplace and not light it.
Q: I was surprised there were no comments on the two commercials featuring Rossi and Rasmussen during the Laguna Seca race. They were great and immediately reminded me of the “good old days” Zanardi/Vasser commercial. Everyone broadcasted brave people.
Also, thank you for editing the photo of Jarno Trulli, who is developing a prototype for Hans Device!
Ed Kelly, Los Angeles
MP: Clear target vibe. I believe they were broadcast through money spending. This is because the network is welcome, so everything is working as intended. I’m waiting for someone to send a question to Mark Glendenning, the editor of the mailbag, to explain his obsession with Truli.
Q: I don’t have any real questions today, but I wanted to share this devastating news and bring more attention.
This weekend, a fire destroyed the base of the Power Max Racing (PMR) team (and related businesses) at the UK Tour Car Championship. PMR is one of the smallest teams on the grid, but has the best engineers in the series, and has even managed to win this season (with a car built in 2017). This is shocking and sad news.
I wanted to share it with the wider racing community to help them recover. I miss the old Vauxhall Astras tearing it off about our British racetrack, they were iconic.
I’m sure they’re grateful if people, American race teams, etc. can do.
and Mayhew of England
MP: Thank you, and. (ed: Adam Weaver, a fellow team owner, has since GoFundMe campaign has been launched To help rebuild the team. )
The fire completely destroyed the headquarters of the BTCC Private Team PMR, but the team will compete with a car rented at Knock Hill this weekend’s round. Images via Adam Weaver/Facebook
Q: With the advent of IndyCar charters and the “closed” model, it feels like more teams and talented drivers are looking out.
At the same time, there is definitely a missing rung in the ladder between the Indy NXT (essentially the F3-level series) and the complete IndyCar grid.
Solution: Starting in 2027, we will be making the slot between NXT and Big Cars live the DW12 in a new series called “Indy Light.”
This can serve multiple purposes.
Add another quality support series for IndyCar weekend, providing more value to fans. With a robust chassis and Aeroscreen, we also saw the Freedom 100 revitalization, which has improved talent level and safety.
The Indy NXT offers a high-level single-seater category for drivers who are too advanced, but IndyCar is not ready or lacking the budget to compete there.
With so many DW12 chassis already in existence, and the costs of its tools and development have been covered for a long time, Darara could potentially supply and support them with relative discounts when the next generation IndyCar cars debut.
Pair it with a long engine that rebuilds the intervals to ensure a lower cost and a TV package (probably Fox).
Devlin de Francesco, Sting Ray Robb, Jacob Abel (a driver with a higher budget than talent) vs Linus Lundqvist, Lochie Hughes, Michael D’Orlando (a talented driver with no budget) Myles Rowe, Josh Pierson (a talented driver with a greater amount of seasoning), and perhaps the concept of seeing old veterans who have lost old veterans, Hunterley, Graham Lahal, Hinch, Connordaly) could be a really fun series.
ATL’s JAH
MP: I pitched the same thing to former IndyCar Chairman Jay Fry. The IndyCar B Series races on Saturdays at select events. No changes – the same car – the team can make money by running additional DW12s, giving B-level drivers a place to continue their open wheel dreams without being completely spitted out in the main series.
Kids, or veterans about to return, happen to be prominent as seen in the secondary and ball leagues where the stars are invited to try out in the NFL/NBA/ and more.
Q: Fox’s first broadcast and race as (part) owner of IndyCar will be pushed back after 15 minutes and 45 minutes due to coverage on the main channel… keeps showing golf.
Why not make this decision/shift golf coverage? I think it means the series is a Bush League.
WIS, West Allis, Atilla Veyssal
MP: Why do you continue to feature sports in games that are more popular than IndyCar? Nothing is implied. Just a fact. It’s not the other way around by slamming something that’s not very popular. It makes me irritated. But angering a larger audience there who were there watching a big draw to support a small number of viewers while the end of the match is approaching would be a bad call on any network.
Q: My father took a little effort by purchasing stocks (very light!). He was a loyal GM employee, so that’s where most of his investment went. My parents were handed over in the late 1990s and I inherited their inventory. Unfortunately, most of it was turned into dust in 2009 when GM went bankrupt. I was glad that Dad wasn’t there to see the catastrophe.
Anyway, one of his stocks was a kind of hybrid. Part GM and Part Fughes (like Howard Hughes) Corporation. This has become known as fuse electronics. I don’t follow the market at all, but I don’t think the inventory was affected by bankruptcy. It split up with other companies and merged or began to buy. I couldn’t even chase inside and outside of these various sales, shopping and mergers.
Whenever I received a notification that another company had been established or purchased, they always wanted to know if I would sell my shares or receive shares in the new company. I was not involved in it (it was inherited), so I always chose to acquire shares in the new company. By doing so, I own inventory from several different companies. There are also some stocks in Walt Disney Company!
What I’m getting is that one of the stocks I own is News Corporation and I think it’s Fox or currently owns it. It’s the same company that recently purchased a third of Penske Entertainment, right? So, I think I actually own a very small part of IMS in some complicated ways! Am I wrong?
Regarding related subjects: After Mr. Pensuke purchased IMS, I hope he set aside a small portion (probably 10 or 15%) of his IMS stock to buy fans. To keep large companies out, they may limit sales to 5 shares to one person or similar.
This way, the fan can have an IMS stock certificate and hang it framed to squeeze it to the wall. The specifics are to give it as a gift or pass it on to the next generation. Trucks must be able to create bundles to sell these stock certificates! As a shareholder, who doesn’t want to own a portion of the truck?
Jack, Avon
MP: You are certainly the owner of IndyCar. That’s a nice idea about fan stocks.
If Jack’s idea gains traction, then this tiny little piece might be yours. Paul Harley/IMS
Q: I hope I can stay on my schedule as I watched the race in Portland this year.
You have shown in the past that team owners are not heartbroken to see Portland falling from the calendar. I consider Portland a race worth saving. Portland offers Indycar a market for PNWs that other series don’t have. This track, which last raced in 2022, requires investment in some upgrades, but I think it requires more date changes than anything else.
I would like to see it coincided with the Rose Festival again, but I don’t know that June date will become a reality. Do you think Portland is worth saving?
Steve, Chico, CA
MP: From a sentimental perspective, yeah, I want you to stay in Portland. However, if you use attendance to base your location on the calendar, those helicopter and drone shots showed that there were too many empty grandstand seats on Sunday. I would like to thank the great fans who have come to see Iowa, but there is no credible argument that Indycar will really thrive in PNW. It exists, but it has not risen.
Date changes are always open, but it is hard to imagine the massive local conflict that was supposed to separate people last weekend.
Q: Yes no Reporting of Portland Race in the Chicagoland area, including Northwest Indiana, on the Fox Channel.
Fox showed several travel shows following Bear’s first pre-season match, postgame match, TMZ. There is nothing on FS1 or FS2.
You can ring everything we want about Fox’s so great in IndyCar, but let’s be authentic. Indycar has proven to be unimportant if the nation’s third largest market is not important.
If I was led to believe that it was not important, I would not chase anything. There’s a lot to do. I was a fan of the great Cubs until they launched their own streaming network, but haven’t seen the game except for the highlights of the evening news. I won’t miss it either.
Treating fans as unimportant will make you irrelevant too. Read it later on with the racer who won. Incidentally, Local News (Chicago) never shows IndyCar highlights either.
Mark Schoonert. Michigan City, Indiana
MP: Thank you for the report, Mark. This sounds like it was one of Fox’s Indycar’s first Boondoggles.
Q: It was great to see Will Power continue to show that he deserves a top ride at IndyCar. However, his post-race interview sounded like Pensuke was determined and pushing his strength.
Organizations falling into different sports tend to push performers out before they decline. Despite becoming a top performer over the past two years, we see what’s happening here. I don’t think I’m seeing it as if I’m working to turn my organization around, I want to keep my best performance veteran. The updates that can be added are because the series requires Will and his loose fingers.
PS: Before the Milwaukee Mile race, there is plenty of time for the truck to have repairs done. Unusual rain overnight.
John Balestrieri, wait, Wisconsin
MP: Yeah, you could see reality set in that reality was Pensuke’s final victory and perhaps the last of his career. The step from the top team to the second tier program was not kind to IndyCar drivers these days. Rosenqvist won at Ganassi and left for Arrow Mclaren, and has not won since. Rossi leaves Andretti and is on his second post Andretti team and won’t win as well. The same goes for Erixon after leaving Ganasi.
Last week’s production of our stupid season revealed that RLL is waiting and hoping that the power is available, but who knows who knows who a handful of elite drivers keep their presence on the forefront? If that were to happen, he would be the first person in a while – since Shank’s Helio? – After finishing a larger program, hit the victory lane.
Q: In an interview after his victory with Jack Harvey, Will Power had the nostalgic attitude of someone not with Penske in 2026.
Are there any updates from the weekend?
Kyle
MP: No news. However, the colour of Gallagher insurance, which is usually found in McLaughlin’s cars, was certainly beautiful when worn in Voyt/Pence Malcus cars…
Marcus was impersonating the best Scott McLaughlin in Portland. Chris Owens/IMS
Q: I’m so happy to see Will Power win this weekend. If this is actually his Swanson and Team Pensuke, what a great way to go out… the lead driver of the team. Palou is once again the champion, but for me it belongs to Will that day.
Two questions for your comment:
Have you heard anything about non-calls against Rasmussen? In my view, he started it all, but Daly leaned over it. And in the end, Daly was a little ahead on the turn that ended his race, but I didn’t think there would be a prayer for him to make a corner anyway, because of the speed he was carrying and his line anyway. Is that why there was no call? I was fine, but I’m worried about having the driver have it at those speeds.
Secondly, Andretti. The only team I tested in Portland and when it counted it was nowhere. It was fast when the truck was green (as it was probably when it was tested) and when it was covered in rubber it was nowhere. Has Michael pushed this year of Dantouris’ evaluation with a massive overhaul of engineering, strategy and operations next year? I have some insider information that shows me that the difference between talent and Andretti and CGR discipline is daytime and daytime.
Jeff Smith, Penn State University
MP: Andretti team speeded up on Saturday morning after the rubber was applied on Friday. I made it not to learn what I needed on Friday in the alternative, and it only made my head grow in qualifying and the race turned into an alternative fest, making the problem worse.
Look at what Ganassi engineers have achieved with two of the three major cars and MSR. This is a high level of overall achievement. Luke Goldenstein, who has been renewed to the modern CGR program as an engineer at Simpson, is also very impressive.
Andretti’s engineering groups stack equally on stars, so no, this is not the case when raw talent is the differentiator. The same can be said about Penske and others. So it comes down to management, organization, budgeting and creativity. Excellence is needed in every region, and even ultra-rich teams like Andretti can be short if they are missed in any of these categories.
I won’t count anyone as Ganassi could take a step back next year if she missed any of the above.
In the Daly-Rasmussen case, IndyCar’s race control team refused to act as a parent in setting expectations for action among drivers. There are no established bars implemented to suppress bad behavior and send messages. It will strictly arbitrate issues that arise using rulebooks and opinions, and create a culture where drivers can handle things well among themselves.
If this requires a major rethink, there is a lack of messages to send to junior drivers in all training categories, not just the IndyCar field. Do you want your rivals to run into the dirt? There are no penalties or issues. Will the angry driver who escapes will retaliate by hitting the problem driver from behind? There are no penalties or issues. An angry driver and former criminal play chicken in the fastest corner, get in touch for a third time in 90 seconds, and hit the barrier at a very speed at one time? There are no penalties or issues.
When big painting thinking and action is needed, it is micro thinking.
I am sure that if a driver punches another driver in the pit lane, actions that hinder the series’ reputation and other factors will result in a major penalty and fine. I wish I could see what I lacked.
Q: Congratulations to Alex Palou for winning the fourth IndyCar series title. He must do it under the age of 40, winning just three more titles to tie AJ Foyt’s record together.
After seeing Christian Rasmussen knock Connor Daly off the track, I wonder when there will be a change in IndyCar hosting if it was extremely dangerous. If that were what he did, I would have swinging my fist at him after the race.
Alistair, Springfield, MO
MP: Maybe that’s already the case next year.
Q: It’s really hard to jump to the “Yay Fox” bandwagon. The Laguna race began almost an hour later, another broadcast lasted longer, cutting off the final six laps of the race. There is no pre- or post-race coverage.
In the Portland race, Men’s Golf OT burned most of the first hour, with coverage starting on lap 7 and ending on 10!
If this is a new partner in coverage, it won’t help attract new fans!
A rather disappointing Seattle fan
MP: This wasn’t the first and didn’t seem to be confined to Illinois.
Q: When I hear about the issue of being behind a car in “Dirty Air” many times, can you explain how to get towing from IndyCar is an advantage?
It appears that you can pull the car at the same time as being at the back of the car.
In a light notebook, perhaps a Bible comparison. Since he joined the series, I have been a Colton Herta fan and have theories about some of his issues. I wonder if it started slipping when Colton cut the long, flowing lock very short, just like when Delilah cut Samson’s hair and lost her strength. It could have been a jealous competitor who sneaked into his RV at night with a pair of sharp snips
Tom Aust, Reno
MP: Hertha must go to Full Junior Hildebrand and rock Pit Lane Yes Rock.
tows: If you’re close enough, it behaves like a pansaw, that’s a good thing. If not, you’re sitting in the most turbulent air as it’s off the main car, making the front of the car unstable and inconsistent front downforce unstable.
There is a fine line between helping and getting turbulent confusion. Karl Zemlin/IMS
Q: As a man with exceptional access within the paddock, suggest that Mike Hull and Palou’s management team go to Chili Bowls like Santino Ferucci and Catherine Reguet. Or did Pikes Peak, Katherine do it, as Justin Wilson and Honda had planned? Hopefully he might try both!
This is an exceptional talent. We are fortunate to take him to IndyCar, so we would like to thank Piastri for signing with McLaren.
Oliver Wells
MP: I love that idea. I was trying to find that Justin in the car sent me from testing the ARX-04A on the Pikes Peak International Raceway when the motor was grenadeed… he was amusing.
Q: It gushed through the Paloo and left his strength in the victory lane, so he booed Fox. Everyone knew that Palou would be the champion in this race. There’s no news there. The bigger story was the victory of Power and the lack of a contract to come next year. So we receive a brief interview recorded from Jack Harvey and then we go back to more parrows.
Jeff, Colorado
MP: I was in Pit Lane to interview Barry Wanser, then went to Win Lane and couldn’t see the broadcast of the winner vs. Champion treatment and its handling.
Q: Action really speaks more eloquent than words, and Rasmussen/Day was IndyCar’s “boy.” But do you think Fox Sports and the series have been working on it from the beginning of the contract, either implicitly or explicitly?
Both sides may have broached the subject, but that is not really important, and the “reckin” attitude should be a rating.” My first smell came when Will Power was excavating Kyle Kirkwood during practice and race control was silent. Now we’ve seen the incident like Canbeen, where there’s something that could have been called by club race officials (the overtaking cars were ahead of the front axles of other cars, etc).
“Getting a collision” and “pushing another car out of the truck” are the foundations of rules-based racing where safety for all involved is paramount. It is also important to have room for interpretation. That’s why police don’t spend every minute of their shifts handing out tickets for stupid drivers. It’s time for non-rate thinking, as the lawlessness on the track has gone too far.
PS: Other drivers who do Grosjeans in Rasmussen are not the answer. Because this issue concerns the host.
Richard, Vancouver
MP: No, I don’t think Fox and Indycar were conspired to slam these two against each other.
Q: What happened at Ericsson’s first pit stop? He fell from the top 10 and never recovered. On the IndyCar app I saw his stopping takes a long time, but I couldn’t make it in time for his radio or video.
Atilla Veysal
MP: The team says there was a “equipment problem” at the stop. Wheel gun, air hose, refueling probe, or air jack.
Q: I am sure this is one of many letters about the incident between Daly and Rasmussen. The overhead replay of the crash seemed crucial, as Rasmussen took too many curbs and pushed him heavily into Deely, but we can talk about it without the decisive expression to generate a penalty.
But when the two laps before that, Daly was completely lined up on the outside and both left, don’t you know why it’s not a penalty? Daly did not begin external contact, and Rasmouthsen forced Daly to get him on track (along with him, that’s irrelevant).
I am absolutely confused and would like to better understand what happened with those decisions.
Ryan, West Michigan
MP: We share the same desire to improve our understanding. Immediately after this incident, I expressed my desire to talk to someone from race control once the race was over and was told that it wouldn’t happen.
Q: Will Power is my favorite driver at IndyCar. He is as determined and skilled as the drivers who raced in the series. He is charming, respected by his drivers, and always gives straight answers when asked by TV people. He stopped his scooter and spoke to me a few years ago while walking around the Mid-Ohiopadoc.
So what about the winners of Sunday’s race, two-time series champions, Indy 500 winners and all Time Pole winners not being offered a new contract for Pensuke?
They had a very late year, but Power has only won, leading New Garden and McLaughlin by points.
My second question is about Verizon. Do they have any say in Will Power’s contracts, or are they just tied up by their team and who drives the car? If Will is gone and you can’t ride it next year, it’s a mistake by Pensuke and you’ll lose one of the greatest drivers in the series’ history.
Rick Schneider, Charlotte
MP: Something doesn’t make sense, that’s certainly true. Verizon can certainly express that preference, but I don’t think Penske will grant complete control over sponsors over driver choice.
Q: I’ve heard a lot about how the 2018 spec Aerokit oval front wing is inefficient and therefore makes the race worse. This wouldn’t be a problem if the manufacturer’s aero kits were still around. Was it a safety issue? Cost issues? It feels like a great solution to make cars all look a little different to each other and make cars that look crazy or performant.
I’ve heard old rumours that the 2028 engine formula is spec and that the “manufacturer” will just throw names on the side of the engine. If that happens, by reclaiming Aerokits, manufacturers can still distinguish themselves at a low cost. I wasn’t a stubborn follower of IndyCar at the time (I’m only 24), but I often think about the Aerokit era.
break
MP: And congratulate your heart for being interested in the often forgotten age of aero kits. I have the ambition to write a book about that era. Because it was wonderful to experience it from development through its conclusions.
In fact, costs were the cause of the end of the era, and this was another goal, along with not attracting other manufacturers. It costs a ton each year for Chevrolet and Honda, but it has improved the quality of the race and brought the series to flourish. From a technical standpoint, we loved it for such things, but too few people have expressed interest in justifying its survival.
The following engine formula is not by specification. The aero kit budget was comparable to the annual engine development costs. There was nothing about them with a lower cost!
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The manufacturer’s areo kit era was wild. Brian Cleary/Getty Images
Q: If you give a concentration camp a cute name like “Speedway Slammer,” I don’t think people think it’s a concentration camp. It’s a concentration camp. Unless Penske and Fox are concentrated camps, you need to do more than just “distance.” It is appropriate to stop the lawsuit and file a lawsuit after the lawsuit. If not, tolerating the name is merely a signal, and then they are conspiring.
Also, what’s the problem with NJMP? Is there a specific reason why you don’t like the truck? When the IndyCar Support Series was run there, I thought it was a pretty good race.
Dave
MP: I’m a realist, I’ll do my best to be Dave. Pensuke is famous for his support from President Trump. He received freedom from President Trump in 2019 and honored the team by President Trump at the White House four months ago. I don’t pretend to know his thoughts and feelings in the DHS posts, but Pensuke is a Republican supporter, as his political contributions suggest, and he supports President Trump, and everything represented by the DHS Post is a keystone initiative by President Trump.
And should that be what Pensuke should challenge through his lawyers over social media posts that fully support Trump’s policies and hopes?
This is a movement that DHS took with full intent, performed at a high level with the exact image and message you want to send, and when asked to comment, it is effectively said **** off, and it does not change.
I know there is a lot that can be done beyond the soft responses that Penske presented, but filtering those possibilities through reality makes me think it’s unrealistic except that it was made in official statements. I’m not talking about the right or wrong or anything else. Be honest with what is right in front of us at the party you mentioned.
I’ve never said I don’t like NJMP tracks. I don’t care about its anonymity. When I was covering the races of the Grand Amrolex series, it was a ghost town. I realized that Grand-Am wasn’t the most popular series, but it was a good race, tickets were cheap and professional races were being played in New Jersey. All good things. It seemed no one cares. And Indycar doesn’t have to go to another truck that can barely attract the crowd (I’m writing this while sitting inside Portland where the problem exists now).
Q: When I first started my F1 engine, I’ve seen many videos about care (spraying hot oil and water into the block). Do I need to take the same precautions when starting the IndyCar engine for the first time? If not, why?
I’ve also seen the cooling fan packed into the vents as Formula 1/IndyCar enter the pit to prevent overheating. If any of these cars have problems on the orbit, and if there are issues that prevent it from returning to the pit, what harm is causing the engine from unavailability of the cooling fan?
Mark, Baleui.
MP: Yes, each team has a warming device for IndyCar’s engine. And before it became a commercially available high-tech unit, we did things in a simple way, such as pointing to oil and water radiators to kerosene fuel heaters. It also worked on a team using heating elements built into the thread cap/plug of Bellhouses oil tank with the elemental electrical cord coming out from the top. Remove the standard cap and remove the elements. The element goes deep into the oil reservoir, thread it into place, connect the cord, and power the oil job while using the oil bullet heater.
There’s no harm. Depending on the situation and duration of the inconsistency, you will be able to return to action simply by spikes in temperature. Lower the temperature on the cooling fan and prepare the machine for more speed and heat. Uncooled results in heat soaking, so the question is what temperature you see when you sit and what cooling is needed to bring the car back to the happy operating window.
Q: We flew to Milwaukee last year and had a great time. I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to see Indycars return to such a historic setting, but I was hoping for a boring show and off-track. I wouldn’t have made the wrong happy. With fan turnout, Fairground Midway’s unique and fun atmosphere, and high quality shows carried out by the IndyCar series, we are enthusiastic and looking forward to returning.
That being said, there is no continuous on-track activity that leaves something to be desired, and there are many rooms (which seem figically literally too) for the growth of the event. The keyword is “event.”
What do you know about the takeout at Milwaukee Mile and Penske Entertainment after last year’s race? What do they want to build? What can you expect in 2025 and move forward? Is there room for articles on these topics?
Christopher Strebe of Seattle, Washington
MP: That’s a great idea for the article. I spoke with President Bad Denker of Pensuke a few hours after the race, and he was delighted with the results. Explain your points and see if you can take him with you for a few minutes to answer some questions. Great trucks, cities, states. It is necessary to stay in our lives.
What did Indycar learn from the 2024 Milwaukee event? I’ll know next week… Chris Jones/IMS
Q: The solution to the long Imsa yellow flag period with Slip Dic seems easy to me. Yellow appears – the hole is closed. You can only pit under green. Go there, I solved the problem, right?
South Jersey, Steve
MP: The boom will be dynamite.
Q: I understand that only 25 charter cars can compete to pay for 22 leader circles each year, but I am interested in how the charter system creates motivations and opportunities for teams outside of the charter system.
Imagine a virtual scenario in which one or more Premacars have finished in the season. They are not eligible for paying for leader circles, but does that strong finish somehow earn them the right to get a charter from a charter team that finishes outside the top 25?
Is there a mechanism differently to allow charters to move to a stronger team?
In this hypothetical scenario, can the pay for the leader’s circle go to the team that finished 23rd or below as the uncharacteristic team slams them from the leader’s circle? Is there a payment for 22 leader circles differently, no matter what?
Tom, Elgin,
MP: As I understand, no, there is no mechanism for non-charter teams to take charters for teams that miss the top 22 leader circle cutoff. But I recall that something like this is being discussed when the charter is being developed. I wonder if it will be available whenever the next version of a charter is written.
Yes, the Leader Circle will reward the top 22 finishers in the championship for participating participants who own the charter. If the Prema entry is finished with 22nd For example, in participant ranking, the next best entry using charters gets 22.nd And then the final leader’s circle contract.
Q: At the time, Lola submitted a competing design to the Dallara DW12. The Lola design still looks modern (F1 style front wings and how the air is channeled into the floor and diffuser). All boxes are checked except for rear wing and halo/aeroscreen swanneck. IndyCar did not make a mistake by throwing out some of the Roller’s styling clues for the next chassis.
Jonathan and Creed Morris, Ventura, California
MP: Sermon!
Q: It seems there is overwhelming support for Fox ownership. Am I missing something or is it owned by a linear TV network?
Linear television is not what it was before and hasn’t returned. Major streamers have been increasingly dipping their toes with huge successes such as the NFL, English Premier League Soccer and NASCAR. We feel that F1 will end up with Apple or Prime in the next few years.
Is this the case where Roger wants to recover his post-Covid losses and secure a broadcast partner in the long term in light of his extremely flat audience figures? I’m having a lot of trouble seeing this. It looks great today, but not necessarily tomorrow. As always, I’m here to be corrected by people who are more informed than me.
Will there be Will Power that can be powered in 2026? It’s August and the silence makes me worried.
John
MP: IndyCar has new co-owners who want to use considerable power to make the series much bigger than it is today, so that’s a great help. Indycar has spent decades hoping that someone or something will have a lot of interest in it and try to make it more popular. That’s what Fox did with support, and now it needs to be implemented in action to deliver.
I wrote about concerns about the streaming side in my mailbag last week so there’s no need to rehash everything, but yes, as long as the Fox One streaming subscription service is the main way to get IndyCar via streaming, growth outside of Linear is limited.
That’s, of course, as long as Fox doesn’t explode into something with a subscriber equivalent to Amazon Prime, Neflix, or Hulu.
Q: It’s okay to buy one-third of ownership in the IndyCar series and what it’s doing to promote the series even further. However, I’ve been reclaimed a bit of ownership of IMS. Do you see anything good or bad about Fox owning a third of the Speedway? We were unable to see French families selling a third of Daytona to CBS or NBC.
Jerry, Houston
MP: I don’t feel what the IMS side of the sale looks like. Do you use the infield to hold NCAA football games? Would you like to turn one into MLB Stadium? Let’s be wild.
Go all the way, use the IMS infield on the USAC/MLB twin building. Waltcoon/IMS
Q: I recently read about Indycar rejecting the idea of a NASCAR-style playoff. I agree that Indycar should not attempt to copy. With Fox buying IndyCar stocks, it seems like it’s the best time for IndyCar to do something really different.
My idea is that IndyCar splits it into two leagues. Obviously, it’s not like a CART/IRL split, but let’s call them departments to avoid confusion with CART/IRL, like Baseball’s National League or American League.
With the current 27 cars, that would be 13/14 cars per department. That alone isn’t enough. But I don’t think you need nearly 27 cars per field. No one cares about 25 peopleth Or 26th place. I think there are 18-20 cars per field.
There will be two parallel division seasons, along with several “Indy Division” races, including the Indy 500, and at the end of the regular season, there will be two parallel division seasons, in addition to winning two Division champions and playing a small number of playoff races to determine the overall champions of the entire Indy Car Series.
With two schedules, each division may have fewer races a year, but IndyCar can have more races overall. For example, in a season, each division can run six single division races, three inter division races, two playoff races for the top finisher, and one playoff race with the bottom finisher. The team that has run all the possible races will run 11 races. The back marker team missed the 500 and full playoffs run nine races. But overall, IndyCar runs 18 races that year.
Obviously, division races don’t run more than 36 cars at a time, but I think this will provide an opportunity to do something fun. For example, all cars will be eligible on Friday, with the top 10 cars from each division that will advance to the main race on Sunday. Other cars can race sprints on Saturdays. Points can be awarded so that the winner of Saturday’s sprint race (or podium) will earn more or more points than the last place in the main race. Another possibility is that they will be qualifying on Friday and each division will be playing a sprint race on Saturday. The top 10 finishers in sprint races in each division will compete in Sunday’s main race.
At the end of the “regular season,” two division champions will be crowned. The top 10 teams in each category will playoffs for the overall champions of the IndyCar Series. The lowest team can run at least one playoff race to determine the final place in the rankings. Points will be reset in the playoffs so that the two division champions start at equal points. The same applies to the second and third parties.
Points are weighted so that two champions have a clear point advantage, but finishers in second and third place will have the opportunity to charge the entire title if both division champions are upset.
Isn’t that cool?
Wilholtz, stl mo
MP: I love all the ideas you put in this, Will.
And I have the perfect name for two departments:
What Pat races with all fans showing up and getting the best TV viewer number
and:
Another thing that Pat doesn’t race is if there are no fans in person or watch the broadcast.
I say that seeing Pat back after the first session, he’ll come back from being greeted by a crowd of fans chanting his name like a rock star, and the crowd grew bigger as the crowd posed for the photo and signed in front of the Arrow’s McLaren tent.
He also noticed that his lovely young teammate Nolan Siegel was 10 steps to the side of Pat Lovefest, with his gaze on and two people talking to him compared to those over 50 who were there for Pat. And this was few people not attending on Friday.
The final words
From Robin Miller’s Mail Bag, August 14, 2019
Q: Can I explain the damper? I’m 74 years old and I’m chasing IndyCar at least as long as you have, and I understand the springs and shocks, but what the hell is the damper? Thanks to you, you’re always having fun, enjoying the video, the appearance of Gold in Sports and live your columns. Great job. A longtime fan.
Steve Smither, Friendsville, Tennessee
Robin Miller: There’s no Steve, I’m not very smart, but thankfully I’m friends with Sebastian Bullday’s respected engineer Craig Hampson, who responded politely to your requests.
“Dampers are devices that dissipate vibrational energy, especially in our case. The movement of the springs, especially in the suspension. The dampers slow the movement of the springs by converting energy into heat, due to the total unit of coil springs and dampers.
“The Inter is also a device that stores and releases suspension energy. In IndyCar, if used, it must be built inside the shock absorber unit. The damper responds to speed or spring movement, while the Inter responds to the acceleration of the spring.
As always, he quickly pulled the words out of my mouth. Thank you Craig.
