Q: I went to Texas in 2021 and 2022. In 2022 they were offering pit/garage passes again (after COVID) and they were good for all weekend. This year, I heard, there were only garage passes and they were only good on Sunday before the race. I will never go to an IndyCar race without pit/paddock passes for the whole weekend. I can watch the race on TV. To go to a race, the major attraction for me is the access.
Who made this decision for Texas this year? Was it the track or the series? They need to know this was a bad idea.
Craig
MP: Unless it’s a track the series owns or promotes, tickets are handled by the owner/promoter of whatever venue they visit. There was one consistent complaint from fans this year heading into Texas, and it was the $75 price for the garage access you mentioned that only offered a few hours of access, with that ticket being an addition on top of whatever ticket you needed to buy to get into the event.
Q: Rick Mears has always advocated for more horsepower and less downforce at Indy. The series is going in the opposite direction. I’m curious as to why?
Mike DeQuardo, Elkhart Lake, WI
MP: And that was very much what it was like in Rick’s era: Lots of power and not a ton of downforce, which is why most drivers weren’t flat on the throttle every lap. Through his final Indy 500 in 1992, we can also say those CART cars weren’t as aero sensitive as today’s, and without an apron that widened the arcs that could be used, it was indeed a different time. The IndyCar formula since 2012 has been low power and varying levels of downforce and drag, and depending on the bodywork configurations, we’ve had more or less downforce and it’s shown in the racing.
We’ve listened to the brave men and women who’ve raced DW12s at Indy, and especially in recent years, they’ve told us that more downforce would be helpful to create stability in the draft and inspire more passing attempts. I’ll take the words of a Scott Dixon or Helio Castroneves on the topic and hold them in as high a regard as anything the Rocket might offer.
Q: Any insight into Will Power’s issue at Texas? It seemed to be a setup problem that dramatically affected his tire falloff. Really strange that it didn’t seem to be a problem for Josef Newgarden. Was it just different setup choices, or was something wrong with the car?
Alan, Orlando, FL
MP: Josef being a rocket and Will having problems is a perfect example of how it doesn’t matter whether drivers are on the same team. Rosenqvist was on pole and immediately went backwards as the balance was off — too nose-heavy — and Pato did nothing but go forward. Happens all the time. Losing a wheel while trying to leave the pits was unfortunate for Power and the No. 12 Chevy team; you only get two or three bad days out of the 17 races if you want to vie for a title and he used up one within the two opening races.
Q: Two questions on the Garage 56 entry this year from Hendrick: Since the car is pretty modified from the Cup car, how does the spare chassis and extra parts supply work? Does Hendrick and company have an ample supply of extra parts? I’d hate to see have a crash in the lead-up to race and them being forced to withdraw. Additionally, what sort of stint length/lap count should we expect between pit stops?
Grant, Maryland
MP: The custom parts will be replicated, for sure, but the car is by no means heavily modified. We’ll need to see what the car does for lap times during the pre-event test day before stint lengths come into view.
Q: How did Linus Lundqvist perform during his test with RLL Racing? I was happy to see social media posts after his runs but RLL certainly didn’t provide any on track action on social media when he was testing. Do you know of any deals to have him race in a couple races this year? I am a big fan of when it was Team Rahal back in the day, hopefully they can find that Rahal/Swedish magic again from the 2000-01.
Not the racer Stefan Johansson
MP: We wrote about the test in a story I did with Bobby Rahal and Linus; he was as fast as any of the RLL drivers at Texas and, more importantly, was extremely valuable in helping the team to find chassis improvements to use at future ovals. Other than the upcoming Formula E test with Andretti Autosport, I’m not aware of any open-wheel races on the horizon for Lundqvist.
But I would place him near the top of any stand-in lists teams might have if they have any injured drivers or if they decide to make an in-season driver change. We could see a decent amount of driver movement for 2024, and I’d hope Linus is seriously considered for any openings that arise. Barring one or two promising Indy NXT rookies who might rise to the top, the rest of the current field is comprised of drivers he whooped in 2022, so if we’re talking about young talent, I think Linus will continue to stand as the best option for IndyCar teams to consider this season and next.
Q: Forgive my poor memory, but sometime in late 2021 or early 2022, IndyCar did a fan survey. Everyone was encouraged to participate as if our very lives depended on it. So, has anyone seen the results of this survey? What was learned from said survey? Let me guess. More ovals? Better marketing? Was this another waste of time on the part of IndyCar?
Seems there is interest in IndyCar going to Argentina. I like the idea, but I looked up Termas Rio Hondo on a map. Nice track, but it’s literally in the middle of nowhere. Is the track in Buenos Aires fit for IndyCar?
Tulsa Indycar Fan
MP: I’m feeling confident IndyCar has seen the results. Most entities that do fan surveys keep the information to themselves, but on occasion, some or all of the results are shared with the public. If it isn’t readily findable through a Google search, I’d assume this one wasn’t.
Speaking with Ricardo Juncos at Texas about an IndyCar race being held at Termas Rio Honda, he’s confident 130,000 people would show up. The MotoGP event there last year reportedly had 186,000 people over three days.
As an aside, Laguna Seca is in the middle of nowhere. Mid-Ohio is in the middle of nowhere. Road America is in the middle of nowhere. Iowa Speedway. Barber Motorsports Park…
Q: I’ve watched some edited footage of the in-car cameras and see at times the camera turn right/left or around to look backwards, and I also see the lens getting cleaned. Are there individual people controlling each car’s camera?
Jim Doyle, Hoboken, NJ
MP: If the camera is moving, yes, no doubt, there’s a remote camera operator.
Q: Why is it that I have to go to Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s podcasts to learn about the backgrounds of Josef and Scott Dixon? Close to an hour of pretty darn good interviews on both. Are they hard-hitting? Of course not, but I learned so much about how they came up through the ranks to where they are now. Come to think of it, why aren’t you doing these?
Lee Johnson
MP: Why do you believe you have to go to Dale’s podcast to learn about these two, or others? How long have you been listening to podcasts? I just checked and I’ve had Dixon on my podcast 17 times since it launched in May of 2016. I’ve only had Newgarden on seven times, but combined, it’s been almost 12 hours of visits. And we’ve covered all aspects of their careers, from Veins of Milk video shoots to learning oval tricks from Dan Wheldon.
For those who’ve been in or covered the sport in whatever capacity, we’ve been there and done that, so rehashing the backgrounds of 10-20-year veterans in podcasts, videos, or words that already exist would be repetitive. For an IndyCar outsider like Dale Jr., a Dixon or Newgarden is new territory, which is why you get new takes on old topics, and I’m thankful he’s doing them and bringing our people to a wide new audience.