Q: How many engines do Honda and Chevy typically bring for a race weekend? Do the engine manufacturers rebuild replaced engines to be placed back into the pool, or are all engines new?
Doug, Brownsburg, IN
MP: I’m told about a half-dozen are on hand at each race. They’re all rebuilt, and as certain components age-out, snap in half, or knock holes in the block, they’re replaced by new parts.
Q: This might be a little nitpicky but I watched the command for “drivers” to start their engines and then watched as crew members crouched down behind the cars and actually started the engines. I know and get tradition, but might it be time to acknowledge the work of the crew members and the team and rewrite the start command? Something like, “Fans, drivers, teammates and crew members, let’s get this thing started!” A mic drop might be cool too!
Bill Phypers, Brewster, NY
MP: I love the idea of a mic drop, Bill. Since each track does its own thing, we don’t have a standard script deployed by IndyCar so we get imprecise wordage at times.
Q: With Marcus Ericsson going to Palou’s backup car, I’m guessing the crew couldn’t rewrap the car in the Huski colors. Does that mean Huski gets a refund for the race? Did they need permission not to have them on the car? How does that work?
My other question falls under the “I don’t get it” category. IndyCar is using renewable fuel, and the green tires are made from sustainable material, and now the series is going to hybrid next year. The series is, I guess, trying to send a message that says, “Hey look, we’re trying to be more environmentally friendly.”
Then why is it that you only have to run two laps (according to the broadcast) to satisfy the requirements of running the alternate tire? This is not the first time we’ve seen teams run a few laps on the black or reds to satisfy the requirements. This not only seems not at all cost-effective for teams but doesn’t really play into “we’re being environmentally friendly.”
Chris, Florida
MP: With the team leaving the track at 1am Sunday morning and returning by 7am to continue final prep on the car before 10am qualifying, the window to wrap the car didn’t exist. Marcus’ personal sponsor owns Huski, so this wasn’t a case of a traditional paying-the-team-to-market-a-product deal where a rebate is required.
I hear what you’re saying on the alternate tires, and the street course tires only make use of guayule on the sidewalls, not the carcass that touches the road, so we might be reaching pretty far into the depth of things to criticize here.
Q: Numerous drivers in the IndyCar race at WWTR received nine-spot grid penalties because their teams made unapproved engine changes prior to the race. Why are the teams/drivers penalized for these changes and not the engine manufacturers themselves (beyond not earning engine manufacturer points), since the teams have little control over the engines?
Jim, Basking Ridge, NJ
MP: The penalty has changed over the years. It was grid penalties, then there were complaints about exactly what you’ve mentioned, so those went away and it was strictly about losses in the manufacturers’ championship points. But then it was felt that there was no public awareness of the penalties and that manufacturers were more willing to fire fresh motors into their best cars without a physical penalty, so we’ve gone back to the grid penalty routine.
Q: Sounds awkward, but when does ECR fire the E?
Bernardo, Canyon Lake, TX
MP: Are we talking the “Ed” or the “Engineer” here? How’s this: Drop Carpenter into Newgarden’s car or Dixon’s, and he’s either winning or on the podium at every oval. Showing up five times a year to drive in his own part-time entry has been brutal, and mostly on the chassis setup side. He’s got some serious questions to ask himself because there’s no reason to continue driving if this is the best his No. 33 Chevy entry can produce.
Also, Ed’s done five races this year with a best of 13th and the other four have been 20th or worse. Linus Lundqvist, a total rookie, has done three races, including his first ever IndyCar oval race on Sunday, where he out-qualified Ed and finished six positions ahead of him. Linus is only nine points behind Ed in the standings with two fewer races in the books. You know how RLL fouled up through May and refused to let it keep happening? I keep waiting for ECR to make that same commitment to being better.
Q: I have a friend who is a huge NASCAR fan but also loves all motorsports. We’ve been texting during racing the past few seasons and he agrees with me: IndyCar has the best oval racing, period. I’ve heard you say that it’s time for IndyCar to get a new chassis. Seems to me the current chassis/aero package is producing great racing. What’s your major complaint/suggestion for a new car? I understand it’s a 12-year-old chassis, but it’s not like it hasn’t been tweaked/developed over the years.
Patrick Harris
MP: I’ve probably spoken on this 50 times in recent years in articles or the Mailbag, so I’ll keep it brief. The first argument is that the current car has been modified to within an inch of its life and will weigh more than any IndyCar has, in at least 50 years, when 2024 arrives. The other argument is one of modernity. F1 went to a new car. NASCAR went to a new Cup car. IMSA has its new GTP cars. Formula E went to a new car. IndyCar? Still racing a vintage car. Just for the sake of visual excitement, we — be it fans or sponsors — have been staring at the UAK18 bodywork for six years now and are headed into a seventh in 2024. It gets harder to preach modernity and relevance with renewable fuel and an energy recovery system when all are packaged in the same old shape.
Want to create some excitement to help sell that modernity? Create something new and compelling to look at. There’s a reason people threw away their Ed Hardy trucker hats and Affliction t-shirts from the late 2000s — because they fell out of fashion. The argument to keep racing a car that was commissioned in 2010 while trying to convince people the series is cutting-edge and relevant will always fail. And yes, the racing is great, but it’s always been great, and yet, the series is a deep second to NASCAR. No way in hell that gets solved by sticking with the same old, same old.