Q: First, I want to say how much I miss Randy Bernard. There is a guy who put fans of the series first and the team owners second. I’m sure that is what led to his demise. My question is: what is the possibility of an ownership group coming in who cares about the fans and operates IndyCar in that manner?
I think it’s time we stop caring about close racing and car count and care about innovation and competition. Give me 18-22 cars that compete at the highest level over 27-28 just to achieve a number any day. The teams that cannot compete at the highest level should be in Indy Lights (I refuse to call it the name of a wrestling promotion) if they want to compete. Also, the lower car counts would help out the engine manufacturers since no other company wants to be involved in the foreseeable future — with good reason.
A future former IndyCar fan
Joliet, IL
MP: You’ve struck upon a great point that can’t be ignored on the quantity vs. quality argument. Yes, IndyCar had 27 full-timers last season, but within that 27, there were some four or five drivers/entries circling the drain who were locked in a death match for who could more last than the others.
Granted, we also know that for some of the teams at the back half of the field, they need the dollars being spent by some of the less-skilled drivers to both keep their teams afloat and, critically, to offset the running costs for the better driver. So, we could trim the weak ones in the herd, but that might jeopardize entire families. Putting 100-plus Americans and other racing crew who hail from the world out of work by imposing an artificial car count based on striving for higher quality isn’t the tradeoff I’d vote for.
I’d rather see IndyCar introduce a Saturday afternoon series where qualifying is held shortly after lunch and the bottom six qualifiers are booted to a race of their own, along with the Indy NXT drivers, and go like hell for 45 minutes for our entertainment. The winner (among IndyCar drivers) gets to stay and start last in Sunday’s IndyCar feature. If a star crashes in qualifying and doesn’t transfer, it should be easy to win the Saturday race and get back into the big show. And if it’s just the six slowest, the best of the six will get to carry on the next day. And it will give the NXT drivers a chance to deal with the speeds and craziness they say they want in IndyCar as those six driver rip around them on Saturday while giving them a podium of their own to earn.
I thought IMSA was crazy when their paired LMP3 cars with the slower GT4 cars in the same series, but it has worked and been rather entertaining. Why not go for multi-class open-wheel racing? I’m serious. I think.
Q: I appreciate all your reporting and opinions regarding IndyCar. With the announcement the introduction of the hybrid powerplants is being delayed (a bad, bad look) and now the possible exit of Honda it seems management is unprepared. IMSA was able to keep to its timetable and implement hybrids; IndyCar cannot do the same?
The search for a third manufacturer continues, yet IMSA and F1 have attracted new ones so it cannot simply be a lack of interest in racing by manufacturers. IndyCar has a problem, and do Penske folks even recognize it? Everything recently seems to be reactive instead of proactive, with no future planning. Sorry, good racing is not enough.
I now wonder if Penske was only interested in the Speedway and the series was just part of the deal? Is any of this serving as a wake-up call to IndyCar leadership? It really does seem the series would be better off under Liberty or even (shudder) NASCAR.
Rick, Miami, FL
MP: There’s actually a huge difference between the IndyCar and IMSA hybrid solutions. In IMSA, it was close to an off-the-shelf solution, where the GTP cars are big and have all the room in the world to fit a giant battery in the passenger seat of the cockpits. That’s not the case in IndyCar, and in the absence of a brand-new chassis, everyone had to come up with a design that was tiny and original.
As for the rest of your concerns, haven’t you heard? Everything is awesome! (Sorry, couldn’t resist.)
Q: I follow IndyCar closely. It’s my favorite series for many reasons. I may be factually off on some things, but perception is pretty much what matters to a race fan — especially to the casual observer the series is trying to attract.
Shelving of the 2.4L. Delay of what appears (perception) to be a Mickey Mouse hybrid system. Shelving of an IndyCar video game after F1 has had one forever. 100 Days To Indy five years after Drive To Survive on Netflix. Mark Miles talking about a big marquee event in 2025, which will mark Vegas’ third year and Miami’s fifth year. Detroit visually on TV looking like they were racing down alleyways behind old warehouses compared to Vegas. Toronto also not translating well to TV, either. All my opinions, and I’m a pretty die-hard fan. If I were an engine manufacturer or a sponsor, I’d be very reluctant.
Seems like this series is trying to diminish itself at every turn. It’s a debacle.
John Dowling, Ann Arbor, MI
MP: The overwhelming majority of the people who wake up early and go to work at IndyCar, IMS, the teams, and the main vendors, are doing all they can to make the series as great as they are allowed to make it. Last week was a bad week for IndyCar, but the sky isn’t falling. I promise.