Q: My question is about what IndyCar viewers will be missing with FOX replacing Peacock? Currently we get to watch all the practices and qualifying on Peacock. Will FOX do the same or do we get cut off of all that action?
Greg
MP: The FOX Sports app (if you have cable with FOX in the plan) and/or an external streaming service (YouTube, Sling, Venu Sports) that offers FOX, FOX Sports 1, and FOX Sports 2 will be the way to get every session. We wrote about it here.
Q: Can you please explain where Conor Daly needs to finish the 78 car in each of the last three ovals to help secure the $1 million Leaders Circle contract for Juncos Hollinger Racing? Bell and Hinchcliffe mentioned something during the Portland race suggesting that the 78 car is competing against the 20 car of ECR.
Lori
MP: Hard to answer, right? There’s three races left and the results of each race dictate where he needs to finish at the next, based on where his closest Leaders Circle rivals finish. He is chasing the No. 20 ECR Chevy — they’re tied on points at 141, with the No. 20 placed ahead based on better best-finishes — but the No. 51 Dale Coyne Racing Honda is only nine points behind him at 133. If the 51 has a better race or two than Conor in the No. 78 Chevy, the Leaders Circle ask gets more complicated.
The simple view is this: Place ahead of the Nos. 20 and 51 and he’ll be in great shape. If he doesn’t, he won’t, but there’s no “he must place in XX position to get the contract” we can offer with three races to go.
Q: It’s hard to believe today [ED: Sunday, Aug. 25, when this letter was submitted] marks three years since Robin Miller left us. In his honor, my submission will focus on one of his consistent pleas to IndyCar to bridge the gap between sprint car racers and the current IndyCar grid.
Is there any current effort or interest for an IndyCar team to look to WOO, High Limit or USAC to find talent for a seat in the Indy 500 or beyond? It seems that since Bryan Clauson died, there has not been another driver from the dirt open-wheel side to step forward. Does IndyCar even consider trying to engage the fans of these series to tap a new market?
I’ve attended numerous IndyCar races over the years, including the past 16 Indianapolis 500s. As an East Coaster (Maryland), I recently sought more local forms of racing to attend and the past two weekends have made the trip to Central Pennsylvania to check out the rich sprint car scene. Lincoln Speedway, Williams Grove, Port Royal, BAPS, Action Track, Selinsgrove and others are running weekly races with talent known as the PA Posse and a large fan base. It seems like an untapped market for driver talent and a potential opportunity for IndyCar to give a nod to its roots while bringing in a new fanbase.
Chris R, Olney, MD
MP: As much as I’d love to say yes, the series is looking to re-establish its midget/sprint roots, no, there’s absolutely nothing I’ve heard of on this front. Robin implored former IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard to make that link, which brought Clauson to the 500, but with Randy’s ouster, his replacement(s) saw no value in spending money to keep making it happen.
Q: At VIR, the No. 65 Mustang and No. 23 Aston Martin teams had to serve a drive-through for a fueling time penalty. So, how long is it supposed to take to fuel a car? If a team is running a fuel-saving strategy, they can fill the car in less time, then have a penalty. Are they required to remain attached, even if full, for a time limit?
It was good to see the Mustangs being competitive. I do fear that IMSA will now issue a BoP change to make them uncompetitive again.
Frank, Mooresville, NC
MP: Yes, there are minimum refueling times outlined in the regulations. Count me among those who were happy to see the Mustang GT3s up in the mix.
Q: Can you explain the level of interaction between Penske and A.J. Foyt Racing in terms of their technical partnership? Will Power mentioned that they would discuss the start. Does that mean they have joint strategy sessions?
Jim Doyle, Hoboken, NJ
MP: Yes, full interaction. Power referred to Santino multiple times on Sunday as a “teammate,” which speaks to how he and the Penske team view the Foyt program.
Q: Big Scott Dixon fan for years, but I feel like he should have taken the middle of the track at the dogleg. Since he was accelerating from being run off the corner before that, someone at speed might come up on the outside as Pietro Fittipaldi did. Not Pietro’s fault. Your thoughts?
Jeff, Colorado
MP: Looked to me like he drove the normal racing line, but was unaware he had Pietro and Rossi hot on his heels. In that situation, a driver is trying to stop the bleeding ASAP, so getting onto the regular line and accelerating hard — to try and prevent more passes being made — is fairly typical behavior.
Using race control’s logic, after it chose to not penalize Kirkwood for running Dixon wide and onto the rumble strips, which started this sequence, it should not have penalized Fittipaldi for being run wide and onto the rumble strips by Dixon. But that would require consistency, and that’s been out of stock for most of the season.
Q: On the Wikipedia page for Nicole Briscoe, it now contains this sentence under current career section: “On August 4, 2024 she announced she will be leaving the network at the end of the year to go to FOX Sports to become the new IndyCar host beginning next year.”
Can you find out any more about this? Studio host like Shannon Spake was for NASCAR?
Rob Joseph
MP: I spoke to Nicole, and no, this is fake news. There’s also no link or citation to where the “announcement” was made, nor can anything be found on her social media channels. The fun thing about Wikipedia is, anyone can go in and write anything you want. Did you, by chance, add this to her page? (Kidding. Kind of.) And do we think this would be something she announced before FOX announced its lineup?
Also, if she’s leaving ESPN, this announcement of signing a new multi-year contract in December sure seems odd.