Q: I’m curious as to what happened to the last three episodes of the 2025 season of “100 Days to Indy” (Season 3). The first three episodes aired before 500. The final three episodes were scheduled to air at the end of the season and cover the final championship run. Did Parow’s dominance and early clinch cause Fox to cancel the final three episodes?
Fred (from Indiana, now living in St. Louis)
Marshall Pruett: Mystery solved…the confusion stems from the fact that the last three episodes were renamed “Road to the INDYCAR Championship.” These will be broadcast and available for viewing on FOX Nation.
Q: When will concept drawings of the new chassis be released? I remember years ago, around 2010, IndyCar had a few different concept designs from manufacturers. It was a full two years before the DW12 appeared on trucks. That kept me hooked on sports.
I know the chassis is behind. With a long offseason and most of the major silly season pieces already wrapped up, Penske Entertainment should at least give us a glimpse of the future. I’m curious if it’s similar to the recent Blackbird Mk 66.
What do you think?
Stefan Johansson is not a great director like Scott Dixon.
MP: It looks like an evolution of the DW12 with an F1-style wing, but I hear it’s not an innovative design. It is said that they are also paying attention to renderings for 2026.
Q: Any thoughts on the Palou/McLaren lawsuit?
It appears that both parties are to blame. I don’t know the parties personally, so I can’t comment on the truth. But RACERers have some access to this story. So what is the truth today?
steve
MP: My thoughts: Sad, vain, and vengeful. I’m told that the attorney fees and all associated costs of litigation with investigative and expert witnesses totaled over $20 million, which is very close to the amount sought in damages. That’s the pointless, vindictive, stupid part.
What’s sad is how this was mishandled by Palou and his former manager from the beginning. I have to believe that if he had gone to Zac Brown and said that he had no desire to drive for the team, was inspired primarily by the opportunity to go to F1, and was not motivated to leave for Arrow McLaren, which was a significant departure at the time, Zac would have listened.
That would have definitely pissed him off and would have cost Parow millions in buyouts, but Zack is smart enough to know that what a contract can’t buy is a driver’s heart and will to give everything to the team. It’s a silly scenario, but we’ve seen it many times in various sports in recent years. A player has lost faith in the team and wants to leave the team despite having a multi-year contract. Forcing the driver (in this case Palou) to comply with the contract is bad for both parties.
A miserable driver, even a two-time champion like Palou, won’t be able to provide what the team needs to level up at that stage. Again, Zack has been doing this for so long that he knew that a happy, inspired Palou would transform the IndyCar team, and an angry and disinterested Palou would waste his time and the team’s time while waiting for his contract to expire. Instead, a giant bear-pecking approach has been taken, with the McLaren team, which has unlimited financial resources, said to be burning mountains of cash to ensure its wrath is felt.
The Ganassi team seems to have their backing and are paying for the fightback, but what kind of financial ruin will Palou face with damages to pay legal aid to McLaren and Ganassi? I don’t claim to know the depth of Parow and Ganassi’s defense agreement, but instead of this ridiculous two-year story, it’s wild to think how this problem could have been resolved long ago, through person-to-person discussions, even if it took a long time to get to that point, and at a high price for Parow.
For now, the real winners in the McLaren-Parow case appear to be the lawyers. Alastair Staley/Getty Images
Q: I was excited to see it. Mick Schumacher is very enthusiastic about this IndyCar opportunity. If he flips the switch, he’ll be a star in no time. Two things:
First, I noticed that his helmet had a prominent large Honda logo (along with other Honda branding elements). Does this indicate that Honda will supply the engine for free and pay his salary if he transfers?
Second, why doesn’t IndyCar/IMS Productions create a live stream, or at least a 30-minute recap of the test? Seems like an easy way to drive engagement in the offseason. All tests require at least some prompt summary to feed into the content machine
dirty southern jar
MP: Mick is a professional. Honda Racing Corporation US gave him and the RLL team access to its prized driver-in-the-loop simulator last Friday to learn about Indy’s road course. Putting a logo on a helmet is just such an act. HRC also sent a film crew to document Monday’s DIL visit and Mick’s ride, further adding to the brand’s investment in testing.
This speaks to the possibilities that Mick, the team and the manufacturers are looking at heading into 2026. There was intention behind the test and it was clear with all the additions and investments made by RLL and Honda that Mick seemed to be enjoying himself and the car. Mick’s mom flew out for the test! Meet the team, see the spectacular RLL shop, and more. That’s what happens when you’re 26 and seriously thinking about making a big change in your life, right?
If he wants to become a full-time IndyCar driver, the door appears to be open at RLL. Now we have to wait and see what Mick decides.
In IMS/IndyCar, there is no unlimited budget. This was not an official series test day, but more of a test organized by the series for the entire field. It was a private day hosted by RLL with other teams also participating, so other than conducting tests, there was no series to be held on Monday. But the series sent a photographer to shoot some shots, put together a B-roll package, and post some social content. F1 isn’t sending out a film crew to do the things you say IndyCar should do a 30 minute private test feature or live stream. IMSA doesn’t do that. NASCAR doesn’t do that.
I wish everyone did that, but that’s not the norm, so I can’t make an issue of IndyCar here.
Q: Do GTP and LMP2 teams have spare cars in reserve like IndyCar and other series, or do they just stock up on a bunch of spare parts and hope their main tub survives? I’ve seen videos of teams scrambling to repair damage during practice, and I’ve come to realize that they don’t know what they’re going to do when the damage is so bad that it can be repaired overnight.
GTP cars are quite expensive to build, so it’s hard to imagine a team wanting to build more than necessary.
John Balestrieri, wait, Wisconsin.
MP: There’s no single answer because it’s different for every team. Yes, many have spare cars, but not all. ORECA, the GTP manufacturer and manufacturer of the 07 LMP2 chassis, has at least one spare tub and enough spares to build a new car.
Q: Millions of people tuned into College GameDay this Saturday to watch the Oregon Duck mascot take on the Indy 500 and the entire state of Indiana. Indiana defeated Oregon 30-20. What will it take for Firehawk and The Duck to meet in the Octagon at next year’s Portland Grand Prix?
Max S
MP: This was interesting. Firehawks are too friendly to scare anyone. Murder Hawk? It scares everyone. However, we saw the person behind the Murderhawk social accounts decommission the account. So ducks are safe.
Q: I would like to know about the rumors regarding Nick Tandy. Some in the BTCC fan base see his drive on the MINI side of NAPA Racing as the front for a full-seat BTCC drive in 2026, as Porsche downsizes (yes, it’s still in IMSA, but we’re guessing Penske will increase its funding for that team) and Dan Roubo is expected to leave the team for Jason Plateau’s new team. To me, this is wishful thinking and unrealistic, but what about the atmosphere around the camp?
We’re all about sports car racing, do you think WEC will be back in the UK in 2027? I’ve heard the rumors, yes. (Definitely after how crowded ELMS was in September).
Dan Mayhew, UK
MP: Why does Nick need to do a one-off drive as a front for next year’s activities? If that’s what he wants to do, why not just do the BTCC next year? Nick told me he really loves running in the Mini. I told him to do more of those types of races just for fun. And he said he wanted to do it. He is one of the greatest sports car drivers of this century. If his current employer is not interested in his services, he will soon be acquired by a rival manufacturer. If he wants to downsize his life and significantly reduce his salary, he could move from GTP to BTCC, but I would not recommend that.
I will never understand why the WEC does not hold a permanent race in the UK, but it is temporary or variable so I have limited hope that the oversight will be rectified in 2027.
Q: I don’t want to wear my aluminum foil hat too tightly. Porsche ends WEC hypercar program At the end of the year, some are thinking and hoping that resources may be reallocated to the development of a 2.4L twin-turbo V6.
In addition to that, there are rumors that AO is interested in moving into IndyCar, and there is also a relationship with Porsche, so I have some big wishful thinking that we might see a Porsche-powered dinosaur livery in 2028. I don’t have high expectations as it feels like a pipe dream at this point, but you never know.
alan bundy, server, dad
MP: We expected one of Porsche’s 963 programs to end and we were worried for the first few months of this year that it would be GTP, but now we know it’s solid, which means hypercars were a concern.
It’s worth noting that AO has no interest in moving into IndyCar. The team’s communications director told me that the team’s CMO was asked if the team had interests beyond IMSA, and the answer was generally “yes,” mentioning things like NASCAR and IndyCar.
Two people will determine the future of AO. They are owner/driver/financer PJ Hyett and driver/team principal Gunnar Janet. They’re not going to race in NASCAR or IndyCar. Unfortunately, that left some holes in the tinfoil cap. There are no plans to expand outside of IMSA, and the way I would handle this issue would be to express a general interest in expanding outside of IMSA. It would be amazing if that changed.
Porsche is scaling back its factory race program as it shifts its EV strategy. The company’s EVs aren’t selling well in Europe, but there’s a bigger problem. That’s a decline in overall sales worldwide. The company’s Formula E program continues to focus on EV-focused projects, but how long will that last? I have heard that IMSA’s flagship GTP initiative will remain strong until 2027, maintaining factory involvement in its largest sales market.
It would be great to pull out of WEC, commit to IMSA, and spend tens of millions of dollars developing engines for a second North American racing program, but that’s not the plan right now.
IndyCar will likely remain dinosaur-free unless one of the current teams decides to run with one. Are there any participants? Brandon Badrawi/IMSA
Q: There are still many important decisions to be made heading into the 2026 IndyCar season. Coin, JHR and RLL are some of the ones being talked about on social media. However, they seem to be ignoring important decisions and you may be a prominent person who has to make that decision.
what am i talking about? My children and wife often ask that question. Today we will talk about an important announcement! A big event that many people have been waiting for! Rush will go on tour in 2026. So what if their weekend in your area is also an IndyCar racing weekend elsewhere? What is your occupation? What is your occupation? ! ? ! ?
John Balestrieri, wait, Wisconsin.
MP: IndyCar = will be around for a long time.
Even without the GOAT on drums, the tour is going fast = they won’t be around for long. Please go to the concert because it may never happen again.
Q: I saw a little bombshell dropped in the mailbag last week about VeeKay going to Juncos. Assuming this leaves Lundqvist without a seat in 2026? If that’s the case, I’m sorry. Do you know if he has anything else planned?
John A.
MP: By the time you read this, Linus should have been confirmed in JHR. Linus is still working on his chances. I spent some time with him at Petit Le Mans last week and introduced him to a few IMSA team owners to let him explore both paddocks. I saw him again on Monday at Indy and I can confirm that he is doing his best to find a place in IndyCar. With no money to offer, he is at the mercy of those who would pay him to drive their cars, of which there are few left.
Q: I was intrigued by the idea of the Blackbird 66, if only because, as Marshall pointed out when it comes to cornering, it welcomes thinking outside the box, even if it’s not necessarily practical.
But do you really need to go that far to get the desired results? Didn’t CART in the ’90s have the right formula of putting a big HP engine in a chassis that relies more on mechanical grip than aero? I’m no engineer, but wouldn’t increasing power and reducing downforce make for a racy beast?
Al, Boston
MP: No, the CART cars of the 1990s had a ton of aerodynamics and continued development and had a ton of downforce when needed.
Racing action occurs in four phases: straightaway, corner entry, corner entry, and corner exit. If IndyCar likes to go fast, downforce is very important in the last three phases. You can go back to 1968 or earlier. Wings weren’t allowed back then, and while there was great racing, there wasn’t a lot of power. Or speed. In that respect, performance was balanced, with no single area significantly better than others.
The Blackbird 66 leverages two areas of power and near-total lack of downforce to drive you wild, and while it’s really fun, it throws the overall performance off balance.
It’s believed that some people refuse to let go of big power and little downforce as being the magic answer to things, but I don’t know what questions are being asked. Likewise, you won’t find any modern examples where huge power and minimal downforce proved to be the best formula.
Sure, if you go back decades, you can find cars like the Can-Am that thrilled the world with Porsches and McLarens with over 1,000 horsepower, but they were rocket-like on the straights and couldn’t unleash all of their speed once they entered the corners. Also, almost every aspect of those cars has changed significantly. Chassis structure. Type of engine. transmission. tire. electronics. Aerodynamics. etc.
If fans want to see explosive power and acceleration, followed by explosive deceleration and blindingly fast cornering, they need downforce to tie all four phases together. If that’s not what people want, you can throw balance out the window, dial up some areas of performance, get an Indy-style dragster, and hope the racing is interesting. Maybe so. We haven’t seen it in action, so it’s all speculation until we see the Blackbird 66 pack in action.
Q: One of the most exciting IndyCar open seats for me is the fourth Arrow McLaren car in the Indy 500. Because most of the time, famous people are riding in those cars. Any thoughts on who could compete in 2026? Are there any other Indy 500 exclusive entries possible? The only one-off entries confirmed so far are Meyer Shank’s Helio Castroneves and Dreyer & Reinbold Racing’s Jack Harvey.
Frank Lehman
MP: I’m not sure, but I’m keeping an eye on Ryan Hunter-Reay.
Brian Herta Autosport has been working with Honda to find the right fit to return to the 500. On the Chevrolet side, the answer is all in PREMA. Other drivers and teams I’ve talked to with the Chevrolet family said they’re waiting to see what happens with PREMA, and if they fold, there’s a good chance they’ll have access to additional engines for the 500. Until that is resolved, I’ve heard that most of the mid-tier teams that want to run different cars are at a loss and won’t be able to sign Indy-only drivers.
Will Hunter-Reay have a papaya-colored May in his future? James Black/Penske Entertainment
Q: I can’t say I follow the Palou and McLaren story, but I do read the headlines. I’m an American, so I can’t understand the outside world. Whatever the outcome, will a British court be able to tell a Spaniard working in the United States that a company not registered in a tax haven is headquartered in Delaware, the dullest state in the United States? what to do?
Sean, Maryland
MP: Parow has signed an agreement with a UK-based company. The UK-based company took him to court in the UK to resolve the issue. If the court had not been able to tell him what to do, he would not have been in the UK taking part in the trial and would not have been centrally involved in the trial. The answer is usually found in action.
Q: What can ordinary fans do to support JR Hildebrand’s Blackbird 66 project?
edward
MP: JR is easy to find on most social media. I ask, holding out my hand.
Q: Thank you September articles Regarding the stupid season situation. Regarding the AJ Foyt team, you wrote, “A driver to replace Marcus and Penske’s budget with him in the car will need to make a significant contribution to operating costs.”
I don’t understand what that means, but I hope you can shed some light on how budgets and sponsorships work. I’ve heard other comments about drivers having their own sponsors. Is the driver responsible for bringing money? How can they find time for that?
Joe Stern
MP: That means Penske paid Foyt to run Marcus, and it also needs to pay for the opportunity of whoever drives the car in Marcus’ place. Some teams have sponsors who pay annual budgets of $8 million to $12 million for cars to compete in IndyCar, and the teams hire elite drivers. Some teams have some level of sponsorship, if not the full amount, and hire paid drivers to cover half or a final percentage of their annual budget. And some teams have drivers who are paid 100 percent of their budget. The deal between Penske and Foyt was unique in that Penske signed Markus in 2024, had to put him on another team because their team didn’t have a spot available, farmed Markus out to Foyt for the season, and paid to start him in 2025.
So, with Marcus gone and the Penske money gone as well, the next driver for that car, likely Caio Colletto, will need to fill the big financial void left. IndyCar drivers compete in 17 races per season. This is once every three weekends during the calendar year. These races are typically held from Friday to Sunday. For those who are not highly paid professionals, there is plenty of time.
Have you ever really wanted to do something and had to raise money for it? Maybe a trip or a car? It’s no different here. Of the 27 full-time drivers starting in 2025, 17 of whom I counted are being paid properly by their teams, i.e. 100 percent hired for their talent, leaving a significant number of them waking up every day in search of more money to continue their careers beyond 2026.
Q: I’m not sure why I thought of this, but I was randomly thinking about an impressive race where a driver didn’t win. What comes to mind is Sébastien Bourdais’ 9th place run with a Lotus engine at Barber in 2012. Max Verstappen in the rain in Brazil also comes to mind. I’d love to hear from others as well.
And that’s not a very positive question. Stirling Moss won 16 races in F1, but no title. Which F1 driver could risk breaking that record, given the new rules package could affect updates? Lando, Oscar both have nine. It is likely that one of these two will win the title. Charles has eight and George has five. I think all four of these guys have the potential to win 16+ races given their relative ages.
If you had to pick one player who won’t win the championship, who would it be?My prediction would be McLaren’s drive, which won’t win this year. I can’t imagine Ferrari being in the doldrums forever and with rumors that Mercedes will have a winning car next year, George will be in a great position.
Taco Montgomery
MP: The most recent example that comes to mind is Alex Parow in Milwaukee in August. He led from pole position and maintained an overwhelming advantage throughout the day, but on the last lap he was defeated by Christian Rasmussen, who charged at him on new tires, and Palou surrendered. In fact, this happened to Parow twice last season, as his dominance at Mid-Ohio went off the road in the closing minutes, leaving him with a second-place finish as teammate Scott Dixon went on to win back-to-back races.
In such an IndyCar hall of fame, there may be nothing much better than the 1992 Indy 500, where the Canadian started at age 33.rd In the end, he was 0.043 seconds away from defeating Al Unser Jr. in the famous photo finish.
Chris Medland: Damon Hill played for the Arrows in Budapest in 1997. Everything went well with the car and tire combination, but I ran into oil pressure and throttle linkage issues that caused me to get stuck in 3rd gear. Despite missing out on a heartbreaking win, he still returned home in second place, showing just how dominant he was in a car that had been nowhere to be found all season.
The longer I think about it, the more things seem to come to mind, but the one that immediately came to mind was Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg in Korea in 2013. He finished fourth, holding off Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Nico Rosberg for what felt like an eternity.
Among the drivers who won enough races but never won the title, I would actually say Charles Leclerc. I think McLaren will still be very competitive next year and in the new era (remember they currently have a Mercedes power unit and are beating Mercedes with it), but it will be very difficult for Ferrari to do well for a full season and get a deal.
Leclerc is a real talent but has never won a title. After holding the title for so long, how would you react if you were able to hold the title? But I hope everyone mentioned above gets it. That’s because there are a lot of competitive races in the future.
Hill’s run to second place in the 1997 Hungarian Grand Prix in an ungainly Arrows was nothing short of memorable. Getty Images
Q: So last week’s mailbagsaid of Colton Herta:
“Then I‘We expect him to fight for the title next season before aiming to move up to F1 in 2028. Cadillac will then be able to stand up, and the experience of Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez will be of great help to the team.‘Consider development before considering lineup changes. ”
Do you really think Colton will play two seasons in F2? I know Czech and Valtteri’s contracts were both announced as multi-year, but that could mean one year with options, right? It would be a different story if I hadn’t missed the news that it was definitely a two-year contract.
My feeling is that Cadillac will let Colton race in F2 for a year, then evaluate his progress and both Czech and Valtteri and move Colton to F1 in 2027 instead of 2028. I can’t imagine Colton competing in F2 for two years. Why do we do that? He will learn almost everything he needs to know (tracks, F1 style racing, etc.) in one year. TWG (obviously ex-Andretti) had wanted Colton to join F1 ever since Michael Andretti first announced the team.‘Intention to participate. If Colton had had a better season in IndyCar and had already earned enough points to get a super license, they might have even been able to put him in an F1 car with one of their more experienced drivers in 2019. I think Valtteri or Checo will be replaced by Colton in 2027.
Nikki
CM: I really think Colton can do it for two years. It’s not because I think that’s what Cadillac/TWG wants to do, but rather due to the reality of the situation. Two experienced drivers were chosen to help develop and strengthen the team, but the job was not to be completed in just 12 months, and neither would have wanted to sign a one-year contract and immediately replace Colton. They’re talking about projects and how they’re practicing hard now to hopefully get paid later.
What if (and that’s a hypothetical) one of the two race drivers is clearly struggling more than the other? and Colton had a great first year in F2, but if that’s the case then changes could happen that quickly and that would make sense. But considering what we’ve talked about about Colton learning and readapting in a highly competitive series, that’s a big ask and a lot of pressure to put on him.
Moving to F2 shows that Colton and TWG are willing to take the time necessary to be the best prepared as possible, and I think they know that it could end up requiring two years of development and preparation before it would be best for the team to replace either Valtteri or Czech.
It’s not a simple equation for Colton either, as his best chance of success is for his team to do well in F1, and for that to happen he needs Valtteri and Czech to be in good form as well.
To directly answer the question of why we keep going for two years, it’s because of the super license points. This is still a big move for him, and if it takes him a little while to get to the front (or if his team struggles at all), even if he performs well, he may not get the necessary superlicense points in his first year and potentially need a second year to lock them in.
Q: Chris, I noticed your comment that Colton Herta will have a learning season in F2 and challenge for the title in 2027. That’s great, but I’m skeptical. Do you agree with the following: F2 drivers are very ambitious to reach F1? they are‘I’ve been riding similar cars and tracks for years. Most of them are very talented, but some of them are also very wealthy. They are young and generally very aggressive. This is a make-or-break opportunity for them. It’s not like Colton is old at all, but it’s probably like going to a party with a bunch of pretty rowdy young people…a total adjustment. agree?
Jeff Brown, Bernardsville, New Jersey
CM: I agree with Jeff to some extent, but that’s exactly what Colton needs to compete with anyway. Like IndyCar, F1 is no walk in the park and you have to perform every weekend. So being aggressive is generally a requirement for most drivers.
But I actually think he’s better prepared for F2 in the sense that IndyCar encourages racing on the elbows more than the ladders in Europe. So while it’s true that the pressure is high and the drivers are trying to prove they deserve a chance in F1, I don’t think it will shock Colton at all.
There are also some very wealthy drivers, but overall standards are very high and F1’s cost cap has made pay drivers almost obsolete. You have to be very talented, but if you have a lot of money, that’s an added bonus. This also applies to F2, where you can no longer simply buy your way to the top. Even the richest F2 drivers are of high quality.
There will be many new things for Herta to adapt to in F2, but intense racing is not one of them. Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment
Q: This question may be answered by the time you get to it, but if George and Mercedes can’t agree, where will he likely land?
Doug Farrow, Plymouth, Minnesota
CM: I think you’re right that we’ll have an answer to making this obsolete in a few weeks, but Alpine is really the only choice for George. Red Bull would also be interested, but since he is a Mercedes-managed driver, Mercedes would be placed in a place where they would have full control over his future if they needed to do so. But he has no intention of going on the market.
Q: I saw it. Racer report by David Marcher-Lopez, Lawrence Foster and JR Hildebrand. Very interesting. During the discussion, JR mentioned potential insurance issues three or four times. Can you explain a little bit about what he was referring to? Is there a policy that puts limits on what is allowed for different series?
Don Wiftig
JR Hildebrand: In the context of the debriefing conversation, “insurance” talk about speed limits has become a proxy for “safety-related” speed limits. You’ll hear these terms used somewhat interchangeably within the industry. I used “insurance” unnecessarily in the podcast to simplify some of the answers myself, but I can understand that some context might be helpful.
Both circuits and sanctioning bodies must be able to provide risk insurance to participating fans and drivers/crews, and it is the sanctioning body that is primarily responsible for any issues (and associated policies) that may arise from incidents on the circuit. These policies are based on the assessed risk of speed and competition style for a particular series at a particular track. Simply put, how bad can a collision be for drivers, crew, and fans, and how likely is it that it will happen?When we talk about this as a constraint on the goods on the track, we are talking about the 1 It comes down to the idea that at some point, in single-vehicle or multi-vehicle situations, a certain level of potential risk regarding the outcome of a collision will not only be considered strictly “over the edge” for pure safety reasons from the perspective of the sanctioning body (with input from drivers and teams), but also potentially make these insurance policies dramatically more expensive. and/or unavailable.
In the situation of a single vehicle on a track, a significant part of the true safety risk is the peak crash energy at the corner, which is a function of the cornering speed and the general dynamics of the vehicle and truck in that scenario. All else being equal, the faster you go through a corner, the more impact energy there will be at that corner. This scenario is mostly what we talked about on the podcast. As an extreme but simple example, take IMS IndyCar. Modern cars can quickly reach record speeds just by adding more power, but they do it by going just as fast everywhere. This includes an increase in cornering speed (and momentum), which in turn increases potential crash energy.
I’m not sure how close IndyCar is to the IMS “limit” in qualifying in terms of what IndyCar deems acceptable impact mechanics, but above 230 even a small difference in speed at hitting the wall is not trivial considering how it affects impact energy. The faster you run, the more energy you gain with each mile per hour. So basically there is a “real” safety limit somewhere, and there is also a projected limit in the eyes of those who deal with or are responsible for the consequences.
Our conversation centered around how different vehicle formulas (for example, ones that don’t depend as much on cornering speed to begin with) can provide new ways of looking at these safety-related constraints.
Q: Will we see Katherine Legg or other female drivers in the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series?
Chris Fiegler, Latham, New York
Kelly Crandall: Katherine Legg has expressed a desire to do as much as she can in NASCAR and expects that to continue in 2026. But it’s always a question of funding, and she’s putting together some great programs to get off the ground as best she can right now. Reg is approved to run at all racetracks in the Craftsman Truck Series and Xfinity Series, and at all tracks except superspeedways in the Cup Series. So I imagine it will ultimately come down to fundraising and where she wants to run and what kind of races will be held with the teams she works with in the future.
I don’t think we’ll see another female driver in the Cup Series next year. Who is ready to take that step? No one comes to mind.
Even though Legge has a say, he’s not going to wave goodbye to NASCAR. Sean Gardner/Getty Images
Q: Why would NASCAR allow “The Ringer” in the playoffs? We have to assume this is gamesmanship on Gibbs and Toyota since Las Vegas was not Almirola’s first showing but the first showing in this format. Some might expect Gibbs to get over this kind of thing, but that’s probably not the case.
NASCAR should rule against this or perhaps force him to race at Talladega as well, where we can see how the gamesmanship plays out.
CH
K.C.: I don’t believe it was Joe Gibbs Racing’s gamesmanship to put Almirola in these races in particular. It depends on several factors, including what kind of race the sponsors want, where Almirola can run, and where other drivers can’t. The latter refers to the fact that NASCAR has a rule that says Cup Series drivers cannot run races that are in the Xfinity Series playoffs. Almirola no longer fits into that category. So teams like Gibbs need to plan for the year, knowing which drivers will be available when the postseason begins. Additionally, Gibbs is chasing the owners championship and Almirola is an experienced driver in the stable who could help them during this time.
last word
From Robin Miller’s Mailbag, October 16, 2013
Q: The first race I ever saw was the 1982 Indianapolis 500. To this day, I believe that was the best 500 race run in the past 35 years. I was 13 years old at the time, and it was the car that made me come back. The innovation and new styles each year were exciting. We know that we believe DW12 has produced some of the most exciting racing in over 40 years, but we need to look back at the history of the sport. Legends became legends thanks to their ability to master cars at the cutting edge of technology.
I encourage you to go back and look at some of Paul Page’s 500 testimonials. His words were 100% correct. So where is the innovation? Where is the technology?
I understand that it’s a money issue, but I would like to say that simply having a good race will not bring fans back. Yes, we need stars and new legends, but I suggest that cars and technology will create stars. Think about it. There were more fans in the 80’s and 90’s when there were very few final contested races. Right now, most of us are, and we’re in the doldrums.
There will be money to be made if the sport is elevated to elite status again. Look at Larry Ellison and the incredible amount of money he spent on the America’s Cup. When the fans come back, the money comes back and so far I don’t think what we’re doing today is any different than what IndyCar was doing five to 10 years ago. I think IndyCar regulates costs too much. Without rehashing the obvious reasons stated above, why doesn’t IndyCar present basic formula rules to help owners buy or build the best cars possible? This formula has worked before, and it could work again. I think that’s IndyCar’s only hope.
Michael, Atlanta, Georgia
Robin Miller: It’s true that many of us want cars that look different, push technology, and are more powerful. But are there enough people out there to actually make a difference in attendance or TV ratings? And I think IndyCar needs assurances from Ford or Dodge or Audi that they want to go into the fight with a clean slate. Until then, why mess with “good competition” which is the only thing you have right now? Maybe just open up the rules for the Indy 500, but then again, does it get teams from sports cars, NASCAR or F1?
