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: As someone who lived in Markham, Ontario for 36 years, I couldn’t believe Markham could play the IndyCar host for the next five years. What an exciting and unexpected development.
When I first moved here, the entire area was rural and there were plenty of farms with developers gulp, leading to Markham going from a small town to a city of 300,000 people. What shatters my gear is that some fans think that going from the exhibition scene landscape and that CN Tower is leading to the decline of the series.
Coming in August, more than 200 countries broadcast by IndyCar know about our cities. We are not barren wastelands north of Toronto. The markers are very beautiful. Union Building Main Street in particular is five minutes from the track.
The point is that marker want They invest in it in ways that Race and Toronto don’t. It’s about sustainability and you don’t have to worry about the last moment.
We can’t blame promoters and Indycar, especially last year, when the event was not approved until March, and when they forced ticket sales a month before the event.
With the ability to build better Thunder Alleys and potential exhibits, are you wondering if there will be more space in the paddock in the Support Series? There is currently a USF Pro Championship. Why did IndyLight stop the race in Toronto? Have you heard anything about coming back to Canada again about the last fan favorite stadium supertrack in 2019?
David Kolkit
Marshall Pruett: It’s too early to chase the support series information for the upcoming August, but IndyCar, FoxSport and Green Savory Race Promotion are confident they’ll try to create a proper street racing festival in Markham before Toronto is built and everything shifts into Expo Hall. There were no serious constraints on the support series when the paddock was large and spread to the right of the start/finish. That’s what you know what the series wants.
As you correctly pointed out, the key to this race is that it was wanted by Markham. I’m not saying Toronto doesn’t want to race, but events have always been subject to revision and not in a vast way. The new town concept, which was first to use IndyCar, is hosting the series and wanting to make it very much. A local friend told me that Markham was actually trying to win an NHL team, but that didn’t happen, but it’s such ambition to seek a major sport that perfectly matches what Fox Sports wants to do with IndyCar.
Anyone trying to find a negativity here is determined to be miserable.
Q: Instead of racing in Mexico in 2026, why not race in 2027 at Fundidora Park Raceway, Pat’s hometown in Monterey, Mexico? The track is still unharmed and there is no need to worry about the promoter.
Alistair, Springfield, MO
MP: If it’s an option, I think this is what’s happening.
Q: As a fan who has an engine and likes what I have the earliest memories of IndyCar, I was on the 2011 Indianapolis 500, but why was Milicadeno so bad when he was with IndyCar? She was so bad that she even took probation in 2010.
Kurt Perberg
MP: Different times and different needs. She was the financial lifeline of the Samax Grand-Am sports car team embracing her to Indycar. It lasted for a year, and I was paying for two part seasons with Dreyer and Linebold before paying to win one of the Dale Coin seats in 2010.
Duno looked like a gentleman/gentleman driver competing in the LMP2 or LMP3, who had base skills and mileage to quit racing at the top of IndyCar, but he worked on Pro Am Skills in a series that was primarily based on professional talent. I was there for many of her sports car races and she was good. Not great, but she was a good mix of her time in the competition at Proam. The restrictions were exposed at the Cutthroat IndyCar level, and to be fair, she wasn’t the only frontier type in the series at the time. Find out John Herb or Martyros. It hurts it. Check out the loss.
If drivers could run without a regular problem with small teams that relied on funds to keep them up because they were floating, then the era was more tolerant of marginal participants like the duno.
What is the speed of a recent signed Milka Duno Hero card? Darrell Ingham/Getty Images
Q: How tragic is things in Prema? Has the US department made certain funds promised from its European headquarters? Looking out, it appears they spent a lot of money ahead of time without much planning on how to bring in the money to offset.
Bob
MP: I don’t know about the miserable parts, Bob. They have a lid on things, and while it’s certainly a topic of interest, it’s also one of the things that means doing if it’s intended to survive. It’s a ruthless way to see it, but I’m on a folded team at the end of the season. It definitely sucks. If you know the situation, options for other teams (IndyCar, IMSA, etc.) have been cultivated before the offseason.
If you work in a race on the team, if you are not employed by Ganassi, Pensk, etc., the change will remain constant. This means you should always be ready to adapt and return to other places.
As I understood the situation, there was a multi-year plan for fundraising, but a change in mind has occurred and now the team is at risk. Juncos Hollinger Racing has been discussing the merger with racing, but not many stand out as beneficial to JHR.
That’s not said in an important way about Prema. The JHR has all the cars and spare cars and equipment that can be used after purchasing assets from the former Carlin Racing Team. JHR has mounted racing merchandise from Carlin and hired many people – many are still there – so there are two chartered entries and all the people and assets needed, and we don’t know what value Prema will offer JHR specially.
I’m sure there are some great people who can upgrade some positions in JHR. Prema had really great hospitality units, but beyond those areas, the JHR doubled the size and I’m not going to run four cars like the JHR or JHR-Prema. So, at least from the outside, it looks like a dead end.
This will allow investors to step in and become the team’s financial backbone. If that happens, I hope the team will join the grid in 2026.
Q: Is there any vision between IndyCar and Firestone to introduce alternative tires to other oval events? If not, why does Nashville offer alternative tires?
Will Herta’s success in F2 and (probably) F1 not undermining Indycar’s reputation? How is an F2 car different from an IndyCar?
Atilla Veysal
MP: Work backwards. If you want to know the difference between IndyCar and F2, there is an entire world of online information to consider. It’s worth a hour or two of your efforts. We try not to use mailbags for general information. People can always digest it themselves.
I’m struggling to understand what is being asked about Hertha’s potential success in the item.
Indycar and Firestone continue to develop alternative concepts for oval shapes. If ongoing feedback from both sides and teams told them to keep it up and do it in more races, they would.
Q: Are you interested in why it’s been delayed to announce the moves between David and Rinus?
Terry Bowman
MP: The season ended two and a half weeks ago. The offseason lasts six months. Teams will not burn big news immediately unless there is an immediate need.
If you’re reading this on Wednesday, September 17th, you’ll be able to wake up tomorrow and you won’t have to wait for Marcus’ news. I was told to expect the news of Linus today, but it was pushed.
Q: I came back when Jr Hildebrand had gig education engineering at Stanford. I began to wonder what drivers did during their breaks, which could be more interesting than taking a vacation or spending time with family (not that this is not important). Do you know of drivers who have interesting hobbies or extra jobs that you can share?
Shawn Raymond
MP: I think JR was a lecturer, not a teacher. Kyle Kirkwood said he’s always boat fishing, but Graham Lahar is a mile leader in the business interests of multiple companies, and Graham Lahar’s performance, which is located next to his own large building.
Q: I hope I can give me some insight here.
What is IndyCar’s deal with Prema? They are the only teams that are not part of the charter program and there is no chance that they will participate in my understanding. Only if they buy someone else’s charter.
Your insightful article a few weeks ago states that Deborah Mayer is rumoured to have committed more than $40,000,000 to establish Prema’s IndyCar program. When there is a question mark about their future, it seems like a lot of wasted money.
Do you have any ideas as to why they started with IndyCar? I am seriously intrigued because I don’t understand the conditions laid out in the team and their participation under all the money pumped into this venture. Buying a brand new car or equipment to match the best of what you see from the big teams in the series, you’re expected to see something different than what you think is happening… Or maybe I’m missing something here. Why do they want to compete as a only team without the profits of the charter? Racing a car with little brands doesn’t inspire confidence. Can you imagine how they are viewed by the rest of the paddock?
Luca, Holland
MP: The team, like many of the stubborn guys in Europe’s junior open wheels, had a desire to do more than race in the F4, F3 and F2. F1 was not an option, so IndyCar became a natural route to pursue. Also, consider that Prema runs a large amount of drivers through the program. An impressive number has reached F1, but there are many elite drivers who have not or have not reached F1.
Here in 2024, Prema was already the team behind Deborah Meyer’s Iron Lynx Lamborghini IMSA GTP program. When the IndyCar team was officially launched, I asked Prema how it would be funded – I knew it was Mayer – they were told they wouldn’t talk about this issue. It was odd to treat team funding sources as a no-go topic, but we talked about how Prema would move on to the business.
It was that the bankrolling of motivated investors brought life with great style and enthusiasm, and the line-up of genuine corporate sponsors reminded me of countless racing programs that have earned rich angel investors bored, crazy, or endured the clock to burn out when they hit their own budget road blocks.
The story I was told in Milwaukee was perfect for this old trope: big enthusiasm, big cash burns, big burnouts, and the need to find new investors and partners that are continuing.
I’ve heard conflicts on charter. One story says they were promised a charter and moved forward under that expectation before the series was destroyed. As for perception, we have a well-received crew from the IndyCar team, but we have seen the team behave in isolated ways for most of the time.
Maybe they’ll return to the second season and based on their name and circumstances, they’ll make more effort to become part of the community.
Indycar’s most mysterious team. Joe Skibinski/IMS
Q: What is IndyCar’s target market? I don’t know if they’re trying to sell to F1 crowds and to American oval crowds. In my experience, these are a crowd of very different people. I spent the weekend at the 410 Sprint Car event and don’t know a single person watching Formula 1 or road races. While teaching in the fall I meet many kids who are F1 fans who never see oval races. How does Indy navigate this?
Justin
MP: I can’t think of anything from Indycar or Fox trying to sell to the “F1 Crowd.” Messaging seems pretty clear about it being a completely unique multi-diship line series with open-wheel IndyCar with two different road races and three different oval shapes. IndyCar won 17 races last season. The five were oval, so Indycar wouldn’t describe it as an oval series.
F1 is recognized as cool and new as it was a big or six years ago in the US on Netflix and ESPN. It’s not different from popular music. What’s everywhere is highly perceived, while niche music has fewer audiences. What Indycar and Fox can do is continue to promote awareness of the product with younger fans, but without the Earth-moving collisions like Covid and Survive, they won’t be able to drive to bring F1 to the public during closure.
Q: I just read your answer about Colton Hertha to mark in Buffalo and I totally disagree with you in the year he had. He ran all year long. I think I was on a fast 6 almost every time. How many times have he been running before and has anything happened in the pits that sacrificed him a race that included Nashville, not his fault?
He races in Europe, he has a great name recognition and has been with Andretti for a long time. I love Kirkwood and I think Will Power will help make him amazing next year, but I think Hertha is the right move for Cadillac F1.
Approx. in
MP: Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Cam.
Q: I might be crazy…and I’ve never seen a race…but if I read the story correctly, Power ran very well towards the end of the Nashville race, maybe there was a chance to win. The Pitstop then lay down and brought him back onto the field. Did that actually happen? Will Pensuke do it intentionally to avoid the inconspicuous spotlight of winning drivers being handed over walking paper?
I’m not a power fan, I’m interested in politics/optics.
Bill, Fresno
MP: Hello, Bill. Races and highlights are easily available online.
Q: If Honda chooses to leave IndyCar, which is at least somewhat possible, the series will need to make sure the new car can get multiple engines/sizes (as the new car is not yet designed), so will the engine space/parts be adapted?
Or just racing a Chevrolet engine (which is likely to stay at Indycar as Ilmor-Chevy) would hope that the new manufacturer will eventually jump in, but with its very fixed engine size/footprint, it’s a very specific size for the future car at least?
If you’re modernizing the look of a new car without being a copycat of F1 (I think this is a bad idea), what design desire do you think the series should adapt to?
Tim, Chicago
MP: The car is designed. The engine formula is agreed. However, if there is no taker on the engine side other than Chevrolet, IndyCar will have to stick to what it has and wait until Porsche or Toyota or anyone can sign and push the new car and motor package until the new launch day.
And if you don’t want to do that, you can integrate your current powertrain package into a new chassis.
Q: According to Will Power, Penske was actually ready to discuss some form of deal, very late in the season. Speculation from various journalists says Marcus has a performance clause in his agreement.
He wasn’t, and Pensk was ready to negotiate with power, but it was too late. Malukas’ announcement to No. 12 and Veekay isn’t very comfortable to announce their return to Coyne, but is Penske trying to figure out the drivers of No. 12? Veekay has a better resume than Malukas and follows past Penske Hires and some successful drivers (Win and Poles).
Pensuke sat down and watched the New Garden season for almost five years, bringing victory and pole before signing Pensuke. Penske is funding to convince Malukas at Foyt, so what hurts to leave him with another year to see how he can improve? In Pensuke’s words, he is merely “human capital.”
If Penske literally makes Foyt’s crew a complete Penske derivative, Malukas will have the same opportunity to win with Penske. Penske believes it is likely that it will raise its sponsor to No. 4 and meet sponsorship and contract requirements for the number of races that will likely be the primary.
Oddly, we’ve been a week past our major announcement, but now it’s cricket related to Malukas going to No. 12. It makes us think that Roger and the team are rethinking based on Veekay’s better options at the start of power, based on the lack of potential performance clauses. No doubt, leadership changes have created some of this challenge. This sounds like Cindric has introduced a lot of this.
Doug Elmore
MP: Rinus says he’s not driving towards Foyt or Penske.
At Marcus, driving car No. 12 is not a priority the world knows, and the announcement did nothing to change what was happening behind the scenes. But when you go back to check tomorrow (Thursday) you’ll be happy.
Depending on when reading this, this photo may already be outdated. Justin Caster Line/Getty Images
Q: I’m not negative, but I’m saying that Indycar could lose Honda and that Ilmor could be the only engine supplier. Can you give me a vision for what will happen? Lease costs, factory teams, current thoughts on the Honda team, what is the overall effect on the series? I know you’ve touched on this topic before, but I think Honda is no longer there.
Dave
MP: There are no factory teams in a single supply scenario. There are no cost clues as we don’t know what the specifications will be. If you only have Chevy/Ilmor, you don’t need a new engine formula. However, if Indycar is stuck on moving to a new 2.4L V6 and a new hybrid system, they will be costly to create, and those costs will be expected to be passed on to the team.
If there is no competition among carmakers, we expect team owners to push back from going to all new powertrain packages. Justifying the huge costs that Chevrolet would endure, and in turn, taking on the team while returning to the Spec series, is a difficult thing to sell to Padoc.
Q: We listened to Paul Tracy’s new podcast by Racer with Robbie Gordon at our guest spot. PT asked if he would team up with himself for 24 hours in Daytona in 2026, 24 hours on the team name “Can’t Drive 55.” Robbie, forever a competitor and certainly said he is a pure racer!
Marshall, have you heard more about the project? Sounds like a must-see TV with gearheads like us! Maybe even Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt) will show up as a spare driver? Have you had time to put down the microphone and bust the old wrench-turning knuckles in Genoa Race?
Yanie Porliel
MP: Brian Johnson, the lead singer of team AC/DC, over 50, reminded me that he was back on the Rolex 24 or the 2nd. This was a lot of fun. I didn’t know the goal mentioned here, but it would explode. The last thing the world needs is that the car leaves the pits in the lost carriage and I remain the culprit of the mistake.
Q: It’s often said that on race weekends, teams do a lot of work on the simulator overnight. How will the team handle it?‘The fastest guy in s, for example Verstappen, like most of the setup if others can use it?
Jack
Chris Medland: Work done overnight generally finds solutions to problems. Here, driver feedback and problems found in the data are analyzed at the factory and tested potential ways to address those weaknesses. It helps to give direction to alleviate these issues, so race drivers can look into what they believe are best suited to.
In many cases, it is still driven by data, so both drivers have to be given a setup based on what the engineer says the fastest thing and adapt to it. That’s what Verstappen is definitely better than anyone, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the car suits his taste.
Each driver will provide feedback on changes based on what they like and what they most enjoy, but if the engineer is confident in understanding the fastest setup based on all the track running and simulator work, it’s simply down to each driver to make the most of it.
For Red Bull, the Zonodah ideally wants the same setup as Verstappen, as drivers don’t want a setup that limits their performance compared to others. Because you can see what your teammates can get, especially if your team says it’s the fastest setup.
In many cases, there are also component factors. For example, in Monza, only Verstappen had a new floor, so running the simulator takes place on both car specifications. This means there may be differences in the recommended setup ideas given to each driver based on the equipment.
According to the caption that comes with this photo, this is Liam Lawson using the Red Bull Factory simulator. These early struggles make more sense now. Getty Images
Q: I would like to mention the misconceptions about the Las Vegas GP that are constantly being printed.
The city will not sign a contract with Formula 1 as none of the GP trucks are within the city’s boundaries. The truck is located within Paradise Township and Clark County. The Las Vegas Strip is actually a state highway, so the Nevada Department of Transport is involved. I’ve done some work at the intersections used in trucks, but NDOT really hurts to do the job.
I think the Formula 1 contract actually belongs to Las Vegas visitors and convention authorities. A few months ago there was an article in the LV Review Journal, where county commissioners alleged that LVVCA had acted without the county’s approval to sign an F1 contract. I don’t know if the county approved it after the fact or if this is still open. I am sure the way this happened remains a problem for individual commissioners who may have an impact on future long-term contracts.
Walt, Dolan Springs,
CM: Apologies Walt, you can choke it into a lazy britt using the term “city” as a general catch-all. When you’re right, I should be more decisive about who has the ability to make decisions.
LVCVA has approved a new sponsorship agreement for two more years for the race through 2027. Some of the resorts and casinos are founding partners that appear to have had a major impact on those approved along Las Vegas Boulevard. MGM Resorts International has extended its partnership agreement discovered this week until 2030, suggesting that both the resort and the LVCVA are still keen on the event.
I have seen the frustration that there is not enough discussion about the costs and impacts associated with the public meetings of LVCVA and Clark County Commissioners, but I think decisions are one of the reasons why long-term deals are not fully committed. It could potentially lock down important spending and increase opposition or opposition compared to current short-term extension approaches.
Clark County Commissioner Tick Sagerbrom says he has never signed a contract, so the most recent report I found was in early 2024, entering the third of the original third year and is about to extend the agreement for another two years, so I expect it to be resolved. But I ask how it was all unfolded.
In NDOT, one area may be slightly softened, but those who paid for the road resurfacement and tracking work required before the first race asked Liberty Media to earn the costs and contribute to Clark County.
Q: As I understand it, Cadillac is expected to cancel the two cars currently on sale, the CT4 and CT5, after the year of the 2026 model. Instead, they’re going to offer (probably) one or two electric vehicles. All other products are in the SUV class.
If so, what does Cadillac want to gain from racing in Formula 1? When using a product line consisting primarily of SUVs, what is the relevance? Additionally, electronic vehicles are hardly related to F1. We know we’re not in “Monday Sunday Cell Winner” anymore, but we’re having a hard time figuring out what their final game is. How does this help them sell Cadillacs? I know there are teams that are not owned by car manufacturers (Haas, Red Bull), but Ferrari and Mercedes in the Formula One world make not just cars but sports cars. And while the aforementioned Haas is in F1 and sells CNC machines, Red Bull is there to sell Red Bull.
Your thoughts?
St. Pete’s Indy Car Fan
CM: Cadillac wants to get exactly what everyone listed wants to get when they enter F1: Brand recognition and affinity.
I think it’s generally safe to say that most observers understand that cars raced in Formula 1 are not something that can’t be purchased, but when you’re competing in such technically sophisticated and complex sports, you’re showing that you have a certain level of knowledge and expertise. The association allows your brand to be considered technologically advanced and compete at the highest level.
After that, for non-US people who may not be in the same way as the automaker, they will absolutely promote the company regardless of its scope. China is a big market for Cadillacs, and it is F1 race there, and given the popularity of the sport in Europe, it can improve its position compared to other European brands.
Cadillac has recently received another example of approval for sales in Australia, and F1 is a platform to raise brand awareness there.
Being part of the sport is that it simply expands the reputation of Cadillac’s reach and name, and it simply appears on the grid. This applies to other companies that have invested in their teams, whether they want the association for motor plats, machine tools, or energy drinks.
The final words
September 18, 2013, from Robin Miller’s mail bag
Q: Based on the Michael Waltrip Racing NASCAR fix in Richmond, what was the worst IndyCar fix you witnessed? During a very private team meeting, one of the new co-owners of the team with multiple cars was heard discussing plans to bring out yellow by one of the back markers as the main drivers made the last and final pit. By causing yellow while the very early final pit stop was taking place, they thought it would get a great advantage. I was amazed at this man’s plan and was pleased that it never happened. This was the same guy who spent time in prison for insider trading. And I’m glad he wasn’t around Indy’s car for too long.
Scott Thompson
Robin Miller: It’s impossible to say that the race has been fixed because of all the dynamics and the car. Clint Bowier’s intentional spin drew attention and delayed Ryan Newman’s obvious victory, which lost in the pits. Brian Herta’s “spin” at Sonoma in 2006 made teammate Marco Andretti have enough fuel to finish, but he still had to win the race. George Bignotty knows that in 1977, Gordon Johncock tries to help with caution, by intentionally kicking Johnny Parsons out of the fuel. But Bowier’s movement sparked a chain reaction that determined race and pursuit.
