Q: Just saw your story about the hybrid delay and it sure disappointed me. IndyCar doesn’t know how to run a series. F1, IMSA, NASCAR Cup all have new cars and rules and recent engine technology upgrades. IndyCar can’t get TV deal straight, or even the video game people straight with product and promotion. Old cars, lots of promises of bigger motors (possible additional engine suppliers), hybrids and now another letdown. Other than getting Kyle Larson next year there’s nothing to get excited about. Penske doesn’t even encourage the double with Blaney.
Penske was a risk-taker and a racer in the past (even did F1 and built cars in Europe) but he can’t get his act together with IndyCar. You can’t even go to the museum right now. The 1994 Mercedes monster secret motor guy now can’t get a hybrid with tons of lead time off the ground. Just a spec series with zero innovation. Let’s at least get Stefan Wilson a ride and another 500 chance. One positive story this week.
Time the Captain was put out to pasture. Miller would not approve.
Craig, Leland, NC
MP: Don’t lose hope, Craig.
Q: I have a great deal of respect for Roger Penske. Without Roger I’m not sure what IndyCar would look like today. However, either Roger or the people he hired (inherited?) have failed miserably and changes must be made. What a disappointment.
Ryan
MP: Don’t lose hope, Ryan.
Q: I was shocked to read about the delay on the hybrid engine for IndyCar. All the reports and video interviews about its development were positive from the engineers, drivers and media. What happened? Were all these people not being transparent about the program? Can you give specifics about the particular problems that are still being addressed? This is embarrassing for IndyCar and all its management. It is bad enough that we retain an old chassis and we can’t get a third engine supplier, but now we can’t even supply an engine technology that other series are already using.
Dave Wells
MP: As we wrote last week, there were lots of big gains being made with the system’s development, but there were also lingering issues that made completing the development phase and going into the mass production phase a tenuous situation in regards to time.
The hope was for the testing that started in the middle of August to be completed by early November — completed in the sense that reliability had been achieved — but those ongoing issues kept moving the production start to later and later dates.
I’d heard the early November outing at Homestead-Miami was especially problematic, and from there, it was a cascading issue where applying fixes, testing those fixes on the dyno, testing and validating those fixes on the track, and then manufacturing 40-50 of them, was pushed back and back and back. By the time the series was ready to smash the throttle, a production delay with at least one component is said to have reared its head and forced the post-Indy delay.
Also, I’ve heard that mass producing at least one of the non-ERS items that’s part of the hybrid package is way behind, so that’s said to be a contributing factor with the call to delay the launch of the hybrid era.
Most people have held off on airing their concerns in public out of love for the series and a great hope that everything would come together and meet the go-live deadline.
There have been strong concerns about the series going hybrid to open the 2024 season for years. Having grown tired of asking who’d be making the ERS units since hybridization was announced in May of 2019, I went and found the answers on my own and revealed in December of 2021 that MAHLE was the company chosen by the series.
I’d also heard from many strong sources that fears of failing to go hybrid were held by the series’ owner, which is why the series refused to name MAHLE. Finally, a year later on December 19, 2022, IndyCar confirmed MAHLE, and before long, MAHLE was gone from the conversation as Chevy and Honda took full control of the ERS project. Simply put, there have been big bumps along this road since the start, and only recently have things taken turns towards the positive — even if another delay has occurred.
Q: I typically get my coffee, sit down at my laptop and open up RACER to see what’s new. Wow! Friday morning’s top three stories were certainly newsworthy. I put them into the blender of my mind and pressed go. Here’s what I came up with…
How about if we let IMSA apply its BoP (where everyone gets a trophy) to F1, that way Haas could possibly win a race. And since they are now winning races, Gene should get his NASCAR partner Tony Stewart to drive. And Tony could pull along Kyle Larson for the second seat. And then Kyle could try to do the Memorial Day Triple. Both Tony and Kyle know where to get sprint car engines so they could provide them to IndyCar and solve the embarrassing engine problem. (They have gobs of horsepower and sound so good.)
Realizing that a question is required in this forum, here it is: How soon can you make this happen?
I think I’ve had too much caffeine.
Rick, Lisle, IL (A former owner/driver of a Tiga FFA-79 who remembers when a FF hot-shoe named Mike Hull had a monthly column in Sports Car magazine)
MP: You had me at “Tiga Formula Ford,” Rick. I briefly co-owned and raced a 1980 Tiga FF. I miss it every day. As this weekly Mailbag has proven, I have no influence to make the slightest changes in motor racing, so I’m a terrible choice.
You, though, have the kind of ideas the racing world needs. NASCARFIAINDYIMSA is waiting for your call.
Q: Surprised to see how many comments on Facebook don’t want the hybrid system. I suggest turning up the qualifying boost for the actual race. Let’s chase some speed records again. We were close with Indy 500 qualifying last year. Without bigger displacements or hybrids, why not just raise the turbo boost for the entire month? Give the fans something to get excited about. Allow them the additional fuel, also. With slightly lighter cars we could have something interesting. And go back to double points to give the teams incentive.
Craig B, Leland, NC
MP: The cars will be lighter in May — minus the ERS units — so in similar weather to qualifying last May, a qualifying track record should be possible.