Welcome to the RACER Mailbag. Questions for any of RACER’s writers can be sent to mailbag@racer.com. Due to the high volume of questions received, we can’t guarantee that every letter will be published, but we’ll answer as many as we can. Published questions may be edited for length and clarity. Questions received after 3pm ET each Monday will appear the following week.
Q: It sure seems that the IndyCar brass have once again sold themselves short by only doing a docuseries that’s a lead-up to the 500. How much better would the show be with the drama between Palou/McLaren/Ganassi? For two years running, no less… “Drive To Survive” would have a field day with this storyline. IndyCar has its own Toto versus Horner with Zak versus Chip.
Chad Pearman
MARSHALL PRUETT: The rub here is Penske Entertainment owns IMS Productions, housed in the same building that contains IndyCar’s offices, and within IMSP, some extraordinarily talented producers and shooters could be filming on a daily basis at the tracks and at the local shops — no need to wait for Netflix to send a production team — for an in-house docuseries, but that’s not been the path chosen by the series’ leadership. I listened to an impassioned plea from an influential team owner last week who was begging for more digital content from IndyCar, and it does make me wonder if and when the series is going to realize it can be the solution to the problem.
Q: Can we get a Robin Miller sticker or his name printed on Kyle Larson’s IndyCar? Please?
Howard Carson, Omaha, NE
MP: That’s a great idea. I was with Zak in Monterey for the big Reunion vintage event last weekend and he liked the idea and said it was noted.
Don’t forget that Kyle Kaiser’s Fernando Alonso slayer carried Miller’s cartoon made by Roger Warrick and TorontoMotorsports.com on the Juncos Racing Indy 500 entry in 2019, which was done as a favor to me by Ricardo as a nod to Robin, whose cancer diagnosis had been recently revealed.
Q: Wouldn’t it be fitting to have the letters “RM” on the nose of the No. 17 Arrows/McLaren-Hendrick Chevy as a tribute to Robin Miller, who often spoke of wanting Kyle Larson to run the 500? Robin deserves that moment of respect.
Skip Ranfone, Summerfield, FL
MP: I mean…it’s Miller, so the backside of the car would be a better placement for the old crank’s initials.
Q: After hearing the recent rumors that Linus Lundqvist can race for Ganassi in 2024, I have some questions: 1) Ganassi being one of the main, if not the main, Honda team, does it have access to Lundqvist’s telemetry? 2) Could Chip be shelling out for him to race these last few races at MSR, or is Linus taking the money out of his pocket?
Eusebio Sachser, Brazil
MP: Linus won $500,000 from Indy Lights for earning last year’s championship. That gets paid to the team that runs him from IndyCar, so Meyer Shank Racing should receive those funds once he’s done driving there.
Every team has select telemetry channels it receives from the other teams, so yes, Ganassi would have some insights into his skills via data.
Q: I’ve heard scuttlebutt about Mick Schumacher possibly being on the list for the No. 6 that Palou has vacated. Any truth in that, do you think? F1 opportunities for him are non-existent, and it’d get a lot of eyeballs on the series. Germany has a motorsport fan base that’s bored of F1; maybe a Schumacher in IndyCar opens up a new market?
This bit is pie-in-the-sky talk from me, but considering the Lausitzring is owned by Michael’s old friends at Dekra, and IndyCar need more ovals on the schedule, maybe we could even get a trip back to Europe out of it? A girl can dream.
Trixxy, UK
MP: As much as I’d love to see Mick in IndyCar, my money is on a young IndyCar veteran getting the nod to be Pretend Palou. A Malukas or Ilott is where I’d look first, and if it’s not them, there’s no shortage of European options.
Q: Does IndyCar plan to have spring training at The Thermal Club again in 2024?
Tulsa Indycar Fan
MP: Yes, that’s the only track I’ve heard mentioned as the site for Spring Training. But until I see it confirmed, I’ll hold off on booking a flight to Palm Springs.
Q: It seems like it’s been a lot easier for guys to find reverse after going off/incidents. Two times that come to mind are Grosjean on the first lap at the Indy GP, and Rahal on the first lap in Toronto. Feels like for years guys have stalled trying to do the same, and I remember anti-stall back then never really seemed to work. I know they’re going to have starters next year, but was there a development, or is it just guys getting better at pulling the clutch in when there’s an incident?
Tim, Stamford, CT
MP: Better at pulling the clutch, for sure, and anti-stall is more than a decade into its development and refinement in IndyCar, so it’s no longer as wonky as it was in the early years.
Q: Ever since the IndyCar series added the aeroscreen it feels like some accidents are creating harder hits for drivers. Maybe due to its weight and position, or just its weight.
Has there been any study on it? Would Wickens be in a worse condition if that crash had happened with the aeroscreen? And now they are adding more weight with the hybrid system. Isn’t time to take a step back and check stuff first? It really looks like IndyCar is on the brink of a g-force induced fatality.
I’m not against the aeroscreen, by the way. Just worried. Maybe an aeroscreen that only covers the openings in the halo would be better than something as robust as what’s being used now if the goal is only to deflect bigger car parts. It’d be lighter as well.
William Mazeo
MP: We’re talking about an overall weight increase of 2-3-percent with the aeroscreen, so if that’s the tipping point in making crashes harder, we have serious problems.
Yes, IndyCar and its partners at Dallara do an exceptional amount of modeling and testing. I’m sure some would like to believe they just bolt stuff on and hope for the best, but that would be inaccurate. I’ve seen nothing that would support any suggestion that crashes in the aeroscreen era have been harder, worse, or close to killing drivers because of an extra 60 pounds bolted to the car.
Maybe we can just accept the aeroscreen, exactly as it’s conceived and designed, has been the greatest safety innovation IndyCar has seen in a generation.