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: Blackbird 66 Mk.1:Where do you want to express or register support for this design?
John Silla
Marshall Pruett: Support = Register.
Q: I wanted to respond to an article on Blackbird 66. What a breath of fresh air? What a sane display! Finally, someone is pointing in an intellectual direction!
Iracing and Dallara did something along these lines when designing and activating the Dallara IR-01 as a design exercise and doing it for subsequent use in breast services. That fictional means has ridiculous specifications and requires special talent to drive to its limits. It’s from Downforce DNA, but the notable point is that it is, as a project, the kind of first step assumed in this article.
Dallara/Iracing said the final design was completed as a work drawing and specification that could be used to build a car in real life if someone provided the money. If you want to take a peek, it’s still aggressive with today’s iracing.
The Dallara/Iracing/IR-01 bond may be one point to explore along the path to promoting Blackbird 66 as a reality.
Greg Smith
MP: The argument of peeling all downforce from the downforce car was old, with the roadster era in the 1950s and early 1960s, specifically the zero downforce, a long wheelbase, a rather powerful four-cylinder off engine, and tall skinde tension for tall racing.
Within various areas that made the car their own, tall/skinny tires at the cutting edge of knowledge and technology have made it possible to drift.
The unsaid part of Awesome Blackbird 66’s work is also the old counter discussion of today’s IndyCar, taking wings and downforce from today’s IndyCar, which is what happens at the corner. The ’66 doesn’t weigh anything and has 1,000 horsepower. This is a dream. Accelerate like top fuel dragsters like Indy’s Top Fuel Dragster, Long Beach, and crash like a turtle compared to today’s Downforce Car through the corner.
The lack of downforce means a much larger brake zone, which means a shorter straight when it comes to acceleration. Yes, the car is a straight missile, but there is no downforce to slow things down, so jump off the throttle luon and say hello before the corner arrives.
And because there is no downforce to carry that missile-like speed on sharper turns, you are slower and you need to resort to only mechanical grips to pass through the corners. And while that may be fun, it could be fun if tire makers want to stay away from everything that’s going on today with their relatively low sidewalls.
The last time I was in Formula 1 in the 1970s with a great drifty open wheeler (until Lotus brought ground effects and huge downforce to the game). The car was very light, had 500 horsepower, also had wings (often very large wings), and the rear tires were very spacious. But they were tall and had a huge sidewall profile – they looked and acted like balloons. They were slower and allowed to drive sideways at mid-speed corners as Downforce helped them control the car. All the great Jills Villeneuve welcome.
So, yes, if Firestone or another brand wanted to rewind the clock back to 50 years with tire sizing and construction, I’m sure we can replicate the Villeneuve method in ’66. Also, while drifting was cool, the car wasn’t particularly fast in these corners, so it’s worth noting that this works out when modern fans watch as they behave like dragsters on the Indy 500 between corners and suddenly slow down through the pedals as they approach the corner.
For everyone about speed, visual speed and seeing an indy car does more than go faster in a straight line – there are concerns. I want to see this car come back to life. I will be the first guy to help make it. We don’t want everyone to get lost in the romanticism of everyone, without acknowledging that 20-inch wide rear tires are not a corner treatment.
Running 275 mph from turn 4 to first on Indy will shock the driver and fans for the experience. Do you see the driver slam the brakes right after the start/finish line and wobble Turn 1 at 175mph? That’s the part I struggle with.
Understand the tire compromises to allow drift. That would be a magical fix that brings out the ’66 concept to its fullest extent. Something needs to tie it straight, so instead of explosive speed cases, you deploy the parachute multiple times afterwards.
Otherwise, all the fans of the straight and what’s relatively slow and relaxed everywhere else makes me feel bad.
Hildebrand’s Blackbird 66 concept was an instant hit with readers. Images by Patrick Faulwetter
Q: Please pleaseSomeone builds the racing series based on Jr Hildebrand’s Blackbird 66 Mk.1. As a lifelong fan of a non-winged sprint car on dirt, there is no race in its purest form than a power vehicle that takes away traction. It’s magic to see Hildebrand (and Gurney) cars moving.
Ned Smith
MP: Amen.
Q: I was keen to read Hildebrand’s work on Blackbird. I have been thinking for years that wings and downforce improve races in several ways, either with removal or at least limiting. This allows the car to follow and pass more easily, making it a wider range of driving styles more competitive. If the braking distance increases, I think it will also be a better race. Most of us don’t drive cars with huge wings or other downforce production devices, so things may also become more intuitive. It will probably raise the interest of manufacturers as the power unit characteristics become more important. As Indycar goes in this direction, it provides a clear distinction from F1, disabling the notion that they are lower categories.
What do you think?
Will reducing aerodynamics lead to fewer teams being funded as they approach their wealthy competitors? How do you think sanctions groups, teams and drivers will respond? Or do you already have it? If the approach is accepted, how would you configure one conversion schedule?
Jack
MP: I love the concept and the above question is raised as the only warning. It’s also surprising how a concept receives a different concept when it doesn’t look like an adult toy.
My late friend and hero Dan Gurney, whom JR quotes as inspiration for Blackbird 66, was intensively involved in Deltawing Design, created by Ben Bowlby. Like JR cars, its core concept was one of the Big Aero’s absence and deep commitment to extreme drag reduction.
Of course, the Delta Wing created downforce, but was enough to corner their best rivals. The ’66 is most different to the intense engine use. Deltawing has made Colin Chapman’s route lighter as another core tenet. It had a small, custom-made four-cylinder turbo from Ray Mallock Limited in the back and didn’t want to run as fully as the ’66.
Generally, no, reducing things does nothing to help smaller teams get closer to larger teams. The short period when the arena is slightly leveled is when brand new formulas are introduced. And that’s because of zero time and knowledge between all teams using that new formula. When the bigger/better/wealthy teams have enough time to learn and master the car, it happens at a faster speed for them, they pull away from the smaller team. They also tend to get a head start in the learning process as they have more people, more money, and more expertise. You will learn some early surprises and get a small team or two to bring, but that doesn’t last.
This article is a week ago, so I don’t expect any fun and great concepts to make a meaningful impact on how IndyCar, F1, or other open wheel series are moving forward with plans for the future. The F1 has a new 2026 formula, with IndyCar well below the future of the new car in 2028.
Bowlby and Chip Ganassi built a prototype of the Deltau (it’s a show car, it’s accurate, not a working vehicle, not a working vehicle), and it was shown in 2010 at the root of the Pagoda. (SNL’s ambiguous gay duo cartoon), and it was immediately rejected by Indycar.
If ’66 has a chance in the real world, it must be demonstrated as an astonishing thing to be built, run and adopted by sanctions groups. This is unlikely to happen yet, as F1 and Indycar prefer to do their own thing or to invest and form a new racing series using the ’66 formula.
Q: I mentioned this before, but it seems that this marketing idea can now have some legs. With Fox now being an IndyCar partner, how about IndyCar using some of its leverage to put one or two show cars per NFL stadium? QR codes for cars with IndyCar schedules, and ticket purchase opportunities for the nearest race or 500. It seems natural to me.
Vincent Martinez, South Pasadena, California
MP: A great idea that will be feasible at the start of the 2027 NFL season.
Until then, teams will race using the Dalala DW12. When the season finale occurs in late August/early September 2017, there are over 100 DW12s with no purpose or significant value. Who will pay for all the ongoing transport, setup and activations from the event to the event? That part requires an answer.
Currently, most teams have at least one show car, but they tend to be used in sponsoring features and others throughout the offseason. When the NFL season begins and the offseason hits in 2027, there will be a fleet of DW12 deployed in all NFL stadiums, College Football Stadium for Fox’s Saturday games, and MLB Park where other Fox sports have their cameras.
Q: I read a note published to explain the meaning of Ed Carpenter Car Parts. Ed Carpenter has a business that makes special parts just for his IndyCar race cars, not public sales. They didn’t clarify exactly what that meant. I think that means there are in-house designers and manufacturers who design parts to improve aerodynamics for the original bodywork provided by Dallara.
Some of the other teams have made the same type of manufacturing (RRL, Andretti, Penske, and Ganassi can create custom components to get the small advantage of speed). For safety reasons regarding restrictions when replacing certain components, rules established by Indycar and possibly Dallara are required. Neither company would want to suffer from bad press created by the failure of the replacement component.
My question is, what are the constraints for creating and using a custom made replacement that could contain suspension components?
T. Grimes
MP: When writing to quote and refer to something, it helps you share the link, whatever it is, as there is no context as to whether this “note” was posted yesterday or 10 years ago. It was not found on Google either.
I have no knowledge of ECR starting a second business to create IndyCar parts for the main business. All teams have machine shops and composite shops to handle the manufacture or repair of what needs to be related to the car or support equipment.
Depending on the year and ERA, the team is allowed to make many components of the Indy car, and there is a current situation where the team is not allowed to make most of the Dalala DW12, including suspension, except for the anti-roll bar.
Q: In response to suggesting an alternative to IMSA FCY King Elzwasia’s concernsWhy not leave the FCYS pits closed? The team loves the ability to pit, but these long FCY issues are huge delays due to car and class shuffling.
So, screws. Leave the pit closed. If emergency services are required, these rules apply. Otherwise, you can pit once it’s green. It’s fair to all competitors, eliminating at least two laps (and maybe more) per FCY procedure.
Isn’t that a visual sight? perhaps. But I trade full pit battle mayhem for the extra green flags that run every time.
I also remember the Super GT series to park the GT500 class on the main straight to re-shuffle the car. Then let them pass through the GT300 class so that you can reshuffle the grid in one lap. IMSA can do the same. And if you want to take care of the wave around of a wrapped car after the main straight GTP class park, straighten the GTD class park behind and the wave-around cars can cycle behind each class. Then, restarting the classes in turn allows everything to be combined as a reshaped sort field within one lap. Or is it too ambitious?
Duncan, Ottawa
MP: I had the same idea about closing the pits and creating pits for everyone when it’s green. What should be considered as to why IMSA doesn’t do that is the size of the car, that is, the long width prototype, and the size of the pitbox that must be used is most races in the 19-20 feet long range. Some events have long boxes in a 22-foot range, but those are unusual.
Why is this important? Whenever three or four classes compete, it becomes a serious number problem, and the entry list is 35-50 or more car depths.
With 27 cars with many steering locks to get in and out of the pit box, you can see how excruciatingly tight there are many IndyCar races. With that amount of car doubled and fendered, you can’t get the extreme steering angle to play like an open wheeler. This is a recipe for many problems that go in and out of the pit box throughout the field of IMSA GTP/P2/GTD vehicles, pit pit at the same time and registered as members of the lane at the same time. stall.
So they should split their classes and don’t avoid the risk of jaming everyone together or losing a lot of time for the team. I know it’s done this way in the past and people have managed it. With minimal pit stop times and controlled refueling times, you know how everything is tightly regulated today.
Q: Are there any ridiculous things about Honda’s relationship with IndyCar? There was a point where the dominant story was at IndyCar earlier this year. I think it’s good that we haven’t heard any recent peeps.
Will Zoller
MP: When I last asked about two weeks ago, Honda was still rating. I don’t even hear from Chevy about my formal commitment to supply engines beyond 2026, as I need to be reminded of myself frequently.
Look at this space. Matt Fraver/Penske Entertainment
Q: Following last week’s letter regarding the situation with the IMSA yellow flag, I have a question. If there is a situation where there is an FCY, why can’t the pace car pick up the leader and hold the station behind the leader when others run? And if the leader, or someone else, for example, decides to pit during the FCY, they come out where they come out and that’s where they stay.
If the leader pits, for example, a wrapped GT car, the pace car will pick up the next car behind it. They could also be in the box. After that, once the confusion is cleaned up, I’ll go to the race. No time to coordinate classes is wasted.
They race everywhere from sprints to 24 hours dealing with class races, so they should be able to deal with all confused reboots. It should not be too difficult as it is a single file restart anyway. I hope they find a solution.
and
MP: Every question of “Why can’t they?”, my immediate response is, “If they want, they can do it.”
There is no reason why they can’t do what you suggest or what others suggest. It’s the question of whether they like ideas or whether they want to change from what they’re doing now, in any topic.
Q: I was looking at the report on Dan Weldon’s accident, and the comments raised questions about his entry to Las Vegas.
The issues that arise were whether he was the only driver to accept the challenge, and whether other names were considered?
For the 2026 season, don’t you think it would be ideal for Rahal LLR to sell charters at No. 30 and invest in two other cars?
Emerson Cherkauski, Sao Paulo, Brazil
MP: Others were considered, including Travis Pastrana. RLL’s sports car team has won more races than the INDYCAR program in the last 17 years. So the house side is to find and find new manufacturers to hire as a factory team.
No. 30 is the worst season ever, and there were rumors of teams considering selling charters, but they’re wrong. The team is testing Mick Schumacher on Monday on the IMS road course. Graham Lahal and Louis Foster have been trading for several years and are trapped in 2026. The only reason to test Schumacher is to see if he likes cars and want to join Lahal next year to become a foster parent. Another way to put it is that if the team were aiming to remove the third car, it would not be aimed at spending money on running Schumacher.
With that in mind, it is clear that RLL is trying to find a driver to restore what it lost when Christian Landguard sets off for Arrow McLaren. X the third car only makes sense if you can’t find someone to bring it forward in the field.
Q: Is the IndyCar team allowed to mix tire compounds? For example, do you put two hard compound tires on the back and two soft tires on the front? Or put two soft compounds on the left side of the car and put hard on the right side? Or even better, place a hard compound on the right front and soften the other three? Please let us know.
Bob Gray, Canoga Park CA.
MP: Not so.
Q: Will the offseason moves bring Andretti back to the mix? Has Veekay returned to Fold due to the technical alliance between Andretti and Coyne?
Dino, New Hanover, PA
MP: So far, in favour of the role of shop-based engineering, No. We’re losing Nathan O’Rourke from a 26-timed position, so in the short term, we don’t know how it will strengthen our team. He is one of the best race engineers in the series and certainly helps the team no matter what role they play for him, but I wouldn’t think it would have an impact anytime soon. It’s just a matter of timing, when O’Rourke’s revised contribution is felt.
Similarly, he will take on the team leadership role until the end of the year, moving into a comprehensive Chief Performance Officer position covering all of the TWG Motorsports programs except F1. He is not used to the role and defines its scope at the same time, so it is difficult to say that, like O’Rourke, an instant bump is experienced in IndyCar.
Ron Luzewski, who will take over from Edwards in January, is the only person I expect to have an immediate impact. He has arrived from Team Pensuke, whose title was managed director. This is the same title held by Chip Ganasi Racing’s Mike Hull. He is given the title of Andretti’s Team Principal. This is just the name of what we do at Pensuke.
Penske’s background in deep-lace engineering and technical director level height will be a new aspect for Andretti’s IndyCar program leader, so it’s profitable and has the obvious part of knowing that he knows the inside and outside of Penske’s playbook. All that Penske prepares the car for the Indy 500 and does something special anywhere else is in the memory bank of the person responsible for the Andretti three-car effort.
The only downside is Ruzewski, who is on a gardening holiday until the end of the year. If he can plug himself into Andretti today, there will be a great opportunity to shape offseason engineering R&D programs and other areas he thinks he needs to input. Pushing that timeline back from January 1st, yes, the team should be more competitive with him in the house.
Veekay goes out to Juncos Hollinger Racing.
It’s the smile of a driver who knows he’s riding next year. Chris Owens/Penceke Entertainment
Q: Followed Cadillac F1 news and driver announcements. The part I haven’t heard of is the test driver Hertha.
Will he be on the F2 team for next season? Are you interested in any of the current teams being with him, or is there a new team for him to drive?
Michael Kramer
Chris Medland: The last info I had was that the team had not yet been fully confirmed, but there were three nominee lists. There was a suggestion that drivers will need to bring their budgets to their F2 seats, so some of the numbers quoted may be inflated, and in the end it would take a little longer.
It will be an existing team (but it may happen in a short period of time) as there is no announcement that a new team will be entering F2 next year, or that the current team will be on sale/rebranded. I think the majority of teams were very interested in running Colton, but some were a little wary of the increased scrutiny and pressure that came with it.
Q: Colton Herta has not announced which F2 team he will be driving next year. This has a big impact on expectations, but what will a good year for F2 look like for Colton next year?
On the one hand, Hertha has more experience in racing at a higher level compared to the average F2 driver, while on the other hand, he has less experience on the track compared to almost everyone on the field.
Is it realistic for him to be a title candidate?
Will, Indy
CM: Honestly, no, I don’t think it’s realistic for him to be a title contender. It’s not a lack of talent, it’s experience compared to people fighting for the title. It’s right that the team he finishes plays a major role – you need the equipment to be reliable and have a good engineer around you – but I personally consider it Colton’s learning season, get the track experience and get to know the car and the environment again.
Then, before stepping up to F1 in 2028, I was hoping he would compete for the title the following season. It will also allow Cadillac to find the feet, and before considering a lineup change, you can really help develop the team, as well as experience with Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez.
Q: The next set of F1 rules appears to be gaining increasingly negative publicity (imagine F1 putting pressure on drivers to limit negative commentary to the press). But I look forward to the next set of regulations, when F1 is less normative?
For example, the success of cost caps allows this to be expanded to engine manufacturers too, but does it give you freedom in engine size and type? After that, the team has more prominent advantages and disadvantages. I was able to see the turbo V6 smaller than the V12 and V8S VS. The team won with a strict cost cap‘T is permitted to not control spending and development.
For the entire car, for example, reduce the minimum weight to 550kg. It may not be possible to reach that weight, but if the team needs to pass strict crash tests, the team can develop a much smaller, lighter car or a slightly larger (but still smaller than the current generation).
Finally, are there more testing options? If a team wants to test, there are associated costs and the wind tunnel and CFD development time must also be sacrificed. This opens up a variety of strategies and more.
This never happens, but even if they are painted black, it would be good to have more open rules and cars that the team can identify with. (Final Point: Can FIA teams use the car with gloss/chrome finish? Matte colours and amounts of carbon make the scheme very dull.)
UK Richard
CM: I love the idea of freedom for engine manufacturers and have been debated in the past, but concerns need to be made by one type of engine as the dominant engine, developing the same size or getting out of the sport if it didn’t follow the manufacturer’s wider approach. The only way to realistically avoid that event is to use Balance of Performance (BOP), and to be as normative as F1, it’s something that’s not eager to do.
You’ve also seen 2022 become more normative than in the past, but that was to encourage closer racing, limiting the amount of cars affected by dirty air. Believe it or not, both have been achieved – the entire grid is regularly covered in under a second on the qualifying lap, but creating closer fields does not make any performance differences that lead to overtaking.
Without them, a small amount of dirty air would have a big impact as the car is already closely matched. For example, if you lost 0.5 seconds per lap five years ago, you lost 0.0 seconds per lap while driving behind another car, but you have an advantage of 1.0 seconds per lap, you’re likely to overtake it. On the other hand, if you lose 0.25 seconds by lap behind another car, but only 0.5 seconds per lap, the pace advantage is not big enough to move.
The diversity of car design and engine specifications creates a large differentiation to allow for more overtaking, but it will open up more racing possibilities with a big gap between cars.
Whether you go below the more normative route will always be incomplete, but what I completely agree with you is that the car must be small. Very simply, it gives them room to race on existing tracks, but it definitely won’t hurt.
At your last point, technically the FIA can do it if they want. They can write it into regulations! I think this was a kind of proposal, in the form of mandating the proportion of cars that cannot become carbon at some point. However, making it easier for the team to ease weight limiting will also have a beneficial effect on the liver.
The final words
October 8, 2014, from Robin Miller’s mail bag
Q: At a press conference for the Japanese Grand Prix last week, all drivers were asked what the most powerful car they drove by the age of 17. This will take place around 2004 or ’05. I’ve never heard anything about this test, so is there any info about where it was and who he was testing for?
Artem, Kitchener, On
Robin Miller: He is the Formula BMW champion and won the Test in Derrick Walker’s champion car on the Homestead’s infield course. Here’s a quote from Walker: “He was bloody so I told someone, “The child could one day become a Formula 1 champion.” ”
