Q: It has become apparent to this fan that Penske Entertainment may even been more incompetent and tone deaf than Hulman and Co.
How far away are we from Liberty looking at the chaos and incompetence by Mark Miles and Co and saying, “Hey we can do this better” and starting their own open-wheel series with a badass chassis, engine regs that attract OEMs, and schedule that piggybacks off the western hemisphere F1 dates plus some standalone street races that are scaled-down Vegas/Miami GPs in major cities? Maybe Road America, Barber, and Portland as well?
Think of it as Liberty bringing these huge events to the masses and giving a good percentage of the U.S. population a proper grand prix experience within a few hours’ drive: F1 for the masses.
Obviously the month of May would be left open to allow these teams/drivers to still be able to compete in the 500…
The series could piggyback off Liberty’s existing relationship with ESPN for a decent TV deal and teams with money like Andretti Global, Ganassi, McLaren, etc., would most likely be able to afford the new chassis.
Drivers would include top IndyCar talent, plus elite “F1 rejects” and F1 alumni (since there would be no ovals).
Basically the USAC/CART split but in the 2020s with F1’s marketing and organizational juggernaut finally helping American open-wheel racing reach its full potential.
Jah in the Atlanta Suburb of Buckhead
MP: Almost every IndyCar team owner/leader I’ve spoken with wants Penske Entertainment to succeed. If I could snap my fingers and make huge amounts of people here care about IndyCar in the same new ways they do today for F1, and continue to do for NASCAR, I’d be snapping all day long. I’d have done that snapping five years ago, and 10, and 15, and 20 years ago as well. Same series, same problem. Based on the quality of its racing product, IndyCar should dwarf F1 and NASCAR.
But blind faith doesn’t work, nor does pretending that everything’s awesome when it isn’t, or thinking that inching along with tiny annual gains in viewership and reach is going to get us to the promised land before we’re all on the wrong side of the grass. So you hope the people who are heavily invested in the series — on all sides — make bold steps to pull it out of the deepening shadows cast by F1 and Cup.
We love IndyCar. We want it to kick ass and be celebrated by the masses like it once was. Wanting those things, and waiting for decades for it to happen, while placing exceptional faith in the series’ owners, is the long-standing IndyCar fan’s story.
Q: I know at the outset IndyCar was supposed to originally launch a new chassis with their new hybrids. Then the series decided to mate the hybrids to the DW12 and then a new chassis will come later. Now recently Mark Miles gave a “wait and see” type answer to this question. Either a new car is coming, or is it not. What’s the plan?
Rob, Rochester, NY
MP: I don’t recall IndyCar saying a new chassis would be paired with the shift to hybridization, but there have been so many adjustments to the plans since 2018, it’s possible I’ve forgotten.
There is no plan to introduce a new car. Said another way, there is no date on a future calendar for the next Dallara chassis to be designed, completed, or tested. That could change tomorrow, but so far, the series has not told me or its teams that in the year 20XX, a new car will be ready for order.
Q: I love the new GTP cars, but why do they have the open holes in the bodywork over the front wheels? Is it to keep the cars from getting airborne, and if so, would making it more of a vent instead of it being so open have the same effect?
Another question I have is, with so many people wanting a new IndyCar, couldn’t Dallara design essentially a new car around the current tub?
Sean, Colorado
MP: The vents are to reduce an accumulation of high pressure, specifically in yaw — when broadsliding — to prevent lift and flipping due to a spike in aerodynamic forces pulling the car skyward. Dozens, if not hundreds of versions are usually tried in software simulations before a final specification is locked in, which is helpful in knowing why professional aerodynamicists arrived at the choice in question.
The tub is the limiting factor. Yes, a “new” car could be created around it, but it would probably look identical. Also, large portions of the car you see today has been redesigned around that original tub, so it’s basically been done.
I’d bet the smart and talented folks at Dallara, who’ve built all manner of open-wheel and prototype cars since the DW12 debuted, would love to incorporate a ton of more modern concepts into a new tub, in both materials and construction techniques, and suspension and systems layouts as well.
Q: Is such a thing as a temporary oval course possible?
Isaac W. Stephenson, Fruitport, MI
MP: I believe that’s what IMS did inside Turn 3 when it was launching the Bryan Clauson 39 short dirt oval race, so yes, absolutely.
Q: I know I am not the demographic IndyCar is going after. I’ve been a fan since I was a kid in the early 1980s. I survived the split via the CART side, and I am still around. But things are starting to get old. I usually attend three-four races a year. Now, I understand the idea behind the hybrid motor. I get evolution in racing. However, we now have yet another hiccup. Add this to the video game fiasco, and chassis that are, what, 12 years old next year? And we are like a million miles away from a third OEM at this point.
Yet at 16th and Georgetown, everything is fine. Thermal is nice, and it’s great that Milwaukee is back, but I am starting to lose interest in this series. I am more excited about IMSA next year. I went to Indianapolis and man, those cars are as sweet as you can get. Let’s not forget the difference in sound between a Cadillac, Porsche and BMW, as well as the Acura in GTP alone. Now Lamborghini has thrown its hat into the ring. All I’m saying is, hey IndyCar, I’m slowly slipping away to another series where the racing is also exciting, and there are multiple chassis and more than two engine manufacturers. I can’t be the only one that feels this way. So I leave it up to you, IndyCar. What are you going to do to keep me around?
Kris, Kokomo, IN
MP: The racing is great and has been great in IndyCar for a long time. There’s also a reason most sports leagues keep the visuals fresh every couple of years with different jersey colors or designs so fans don’t feel like they’re rooting for a team or series that’s old and out of touch.
So, offering “great racing” as the big draw is no longer a rare item. Watch a USF2000 race; they’re amazing. Or MX-5 Cup — even more amazing. Or a Michelin Pilot Challenge race. You’ll lose your voice and drain the adrenaline from your body by the checkered flag. Catch a Trans Am race, or Aussie Supercars, or karting, or a dozen other series, and you’ll have the best time.
It’s when one of those series starts to look and feel stale where trumpeting the “great racing” comes across as an excuse for failing to do things to remain relevant. Is it possible that IndyCar is reaching the crossover point where a rising number of its fans want to have something newer to look at and be inspired by?