Q: Is having the Music City GP on the doorstep making any impression on Nissan? If it doesn’t want to lay out the commitment to be the third OEM alone, it could always split the cost with Renault and bring Renault (Alpine) into the series ahead of its U.S. launch. The engine would be the same, of course, with different badging. Maybe Toyota could go in with the same model and one of their good friends Subaru or Mazda?
I would feel some shame about this kind of armchair corporate deal-making, but we’ve just been waiting a few years too long
Jaret, Rockville, MD
MP: It would be one heck of a leap for Nissan to sponsor an NFL stadium and decide it needs to spend $50 million or more to supply bespoke engines for a racing series that plays next to the stadium for three days per year.
Nissan, Toyota, Subaru, and every automaker that isn’t in the series has had a green light to join since 2012, but have chosen not to. We all dream of a day when that will change.
Q: The CW just signed a $115 million per year deal with NASCAR’s Xfinity Series. That’s pretty crazy. A cursory look (I may be wrong) through RACER ratings updates shows that IndyCar and Xfinity are roughly similar in terms of total viewers. Maybe a better question: At a time when sports properties are at their most valuable, what is IndyCar doing to maximize that value?
Justin
MP: There are rumors about the money IndyCar receives from NBC, but the series has never made such things public under Penske Entertainment’s ownership. How’s this: If it was a big CW/Xfinity-like number, we’d expect to see the Leaders Circle contracts increase, rather than decrease, but that hasn’t happened so far.
If we’re looking for items to attach to increased value, you’d expect to hear things like the large car count, larger audiences — both trackside and TV — and the shift to a more modern and sustainable fuel and hybrid engine as the talking points from the series. The NFL has done little that comes to mind to improve its value, and the same goes for the NBA, but both are thriving, with record contracts being paid to their stars, and that only happens when the TV contracts, sponsorship deals, and event sales are booming.
I wouldn’t say IndyCar is booming, but it’s improving incrementally.
Q: As much as it pains me to say it, thank you for setting the record straight regarding a return to Pocono.
That track is wide and vicious-fast for the Indy cars. It is also a significant challenge because as I heard it, the cars could be set up to handle for T1 or T3 but not both. And while Pocono does have SAFER barriers, the fencing is, at best, a bad joke.
In the six or so times the Indy cars raced there recently, I can think of at least three occasions that cars got high enough to put holes in the fence. And I’m not sure, but I think it was the aftermath of the Sato accident, the track crew tie-wrapped a garden-variety chain link gate over the hole. As a retired radiological emergency planner with a strong background in industrial safety culture, I cringed when I saw that. And as I remember, Bourdais was very vocal in his disapproval of that “repair.”
It is a shame to admit but Pocono is a white elephant, always has been, always will be. A superspeedway in the middle of nowhere, two-lanes in-and-out, a lack of nearby accommodations, etc.
And unfortunately, Pocono is family-owned and therein lies the problem: money for improvements and promotion are subject to penny-pinching and infighting among family members. Maybe this is unfair, but I have to believe that if Mr. Penske owned that track, plans to replace the fencing would have been drafted before the sale paperwork was even signed.
While it is true that Indy cars don’t belong in the fence, and Mr. Wickens stuck the nose of his car under Hunter-Reay in a place within the corner that was ill advised to say the least, the fact is the speed of the cars, the width of the track, and the setup/handling of the cars leads to some pretty vicious high-speed accidents.
The last thing our sport needs is an IndyCar through the fence, or God forbid, through the fence and into the stands in a manner similar to the horrific Tony Renna testing accident at Indy in the early 2000s.
I guess the best hope for northeast IndyCar fanatics remains The Glen, Richmond, or perhaps Will Power’s favorite place: New Hampshire.
Harrison
MP: Thanks for writing in, Harrison.
Q: I just read the article “IndyCar silly season update: the Nashville edition.” Great overview.
Other than the reference that Conor Daly vacated the No. 20 car in the Ed Carpenter section, there was no mention of him. Not even as an Indy 500-only driver.
I really like Conor, his personality, his passion for the sport, and his support for the series. But what are his realistic chances to secure another full-time ride? Or an Indy 500 seat?
He has the talent, though Lady Luck has never followed him too closely. He’s always shown the speed at the 500. Where does he go now?
I’m glad he’s branching out in other series, and it would be cool to see him in IMSA.
Terry J. Germantown, MD
MP: Thanks, Terry. Of the rumors I’ve heard since that story went up (and more than half of it was written weeks ago, FWIW), Daly pursuing the No. 30 RLL seat has been mentioned, and if BitNile were to get behind him, I’m sure more teams who are in need of sponsorship would roll out the red carpet.
Without a major sponsor, Conor’s in a tough position if we’re talking about full-time chances. And it’s not because he doesn’t have the talent to warrant another opportunity. Of the available seats, they’re either destined to receive bigger names on the market — think of Marcus Ericsson — or they’ll be filled by one of many kids in IndyCar, Indy NXT or Formula 2 who are super wealthy.
There isn’t much of a middle ground for a Daly, who has been exceptional in the right team and circumstances, to get the nod over an Indy 500 winner or a younger driver who can commit an eight-figure sum to a team on a multi-year deal. The days of “he’s a trusted pair of hands, let’s put him in the car” are gone, so without a big chunk of money to entice a team owner, some of our favorite drivers are struggling to maintain their hold on IndyCar seats.