Q: The last time you mentioned Thermal, you said that you had asked about ticket sales and no one responded. Is there any update?
I am contemplating going to Milwaukee to see the return! However, there isn’t much info on the website. Any rumblings about hospitality areas for the weekend? I did that for the first time at Laguna Seca and it was a very enjoyable experience. It might even be more appreciated for Milwaukee in the summertime.
Don Hopings, Cathedral City, CA
MP: Yessir. The interview went up in December, I believe.
I spoke with the folks involved in putting on the Milwaukee event and here’s what they provided for you:
“Thank you for the question and we hope to see you August 30-September 1 at the Milwaukee Mile. Fans will be able to purchase daily and weekend hospitality with their Milwaukee Mile 250 tickets. We will be announcing new weekend experience options in the coming days that will include hospitality, along with camping, parking and more for the Milwaukee Mile 250 IndyCar event. We encourage you to bookmark the event website as additional ticket plans and fan experience enhancements will be featured here soon. Fans can also feel free to contact our ticket office at 414-266-7000 and we will be happy to review the options available. Thank you.”
Q: With Milwaukee returning, can you give insight on why Cleveland never seemed to return? More than most lost races, it has a lot of boxes checked.
- 150,000 (65,000 race day) attendees for the last race in 2007
- An airport circuit as opposed to street, so easier political headwinds to manage.
- An influential and pro-IndyCar promoter in Mike Lanigan along with a strong local team in RLL (albeit Mid-Ohio is closer to “home” for them).
- Always had good sponsorship (U.S. Bank, Medic Drug Stores, etc.) So on the “it’s easy to spend other people’s money” position, it seems like there were a lot of parties willing to spend their money to sponsor the race.
Here is an article from almost a decade ago about how interest in the race was still high.
That had a lot of 2016 issues raised and many of them are addressed now; the Grand Prix of Boston seems like less of an issue now…
More than maybe any other race, it seems online fan interest is high for Cleveland to come back. Do you think there is a realistic chance of the race ever returning, or is almost 20 years gone by too much now?
Ron from Baltimore (formerly Cleveland)
MP: First, THANK YOU for submitting the first why-don’t-we-race-at-Cleveland letter in forever.
Yes, there was interest in bringing it back, but as I recall, the costs to do so and the hurdles to clear made the Lanigans of the world push away from the table. The main talk was of turning the airport into housing, which seemed to dampen enthusiasm as well.
Although it was often sweltering hot at the Cleveland CART/Champ Car races, I’d rather go back there than any other old school IndyCar track that comes to mind.
Q: With this year’s Indy 500 entrants rumored to total as many as 37, is there any chance we return to a qualifying format which more closely resembles the traditional format? It made little sense when we struggled to get to 33 cars, but here’s my two cents.
With the race on the road course two weekends prior to the 500, I don’t think four-day time trials are making a comeback, but the condensed two-day format used from 1998 through 2000 would slot in nicely. The stakes seem lower when 30 guaranteed places are earned on Saturday, with 12 entrants earning a safe spot pretty high up the field, even if the starting positions aren’t set in stone. It takes some of the drama away from Sunday and takes nearly all of the intrigue out of Saturday. Plus, with a full day to make attempts at pole and a full day for attempts to make the field, I think we get more opportunities for quality attempts with properly cooled engines.
And before I’m accused of being your average retirement-age IndyCar fan, I’m only a 1995 birth. But I’ll be the first to admit, growing up on a steady diet of CART/Champ Car through the split with a high dosage of Robin Miller way back on Wind Tunnel certainly taints me towards traditionalism!
Pete, Rochester, NY
MP: I love some of this, Pete. The LCQ format to complete the final row of three could be a serious nail-biter if it was the last two or three rows being up for grabs on Sunday in that LCQ session. That would open up the variables and bring some real heat. We’ll be 35-36 entries by the time everything settles down, so it will be more compelling than running through the whole process just to carve one car from the field.
Q: While listening to this week’s Q&A and the topic of push to pass, I wanted to know with the hybrid system, will teams have the ability to monitor the usage of other cars like they do now?
Vincent Martinez, South Pasadena, CA
MP: Yes. As present, it will be shown on the IndyCar app, TV broadcast, and maybe timing and scoring.
Q: How in the name of all that is good and right in this world can IndyCar not be ready to hold, or at least in deep discussions with Mexico City to hold a race there in 2025? Huge crowds for Formula E only make me think “coulda, shoulda.” Pato O’Ward is a star there. I have to figure a race in Mexico City would be huge with Pato. I’m not very smart, but this is a no-brainer. Can someone corner MM or RP or Bud and ask them why they can’t do the obvious?
Ed D., Milford, MI
MP: Pato’s the most popular driver in the series and drives for the most popular team in the series. So, naturally, we aren’t going to the place where he’s the most popular. I wonder what it would take to get Zak Brown to start McLaren Promotions and put it on for IndyCar?
Q: First off, “Gran Turismo.” I can understand your hesitation to watch. Of course, it is not “Le Mans,” it is not “Grand Prix.” It’s not even “Rush.” But it is far, far from “Driven,” or even “Days of Thunder.” With that being said, I really enjoyed the movie and I think you will, too. Watch it. I thought the dramatic crash of Jan Mardenborough at the ’Ring was very well done and far from overblown CGI.
Now… my real issue. The F1 owners just denied Andretti Cadillac. I think I’m done with that series now. I have IndyCar, IMSA, and MotoGP to watch still. And I feel I’m not the only American who is going to lose interest in the series. Sad. 🙁 Luckily I can see the bikes and the sports cars at my local track, too.
Bill Jurasz, Austin, TX
MP I caught the movie on the flight home from Daytona. It was everything I expected, and less. Overlooking the racing stuff, I was blown away at how hollow it was. The director is a favorite and this had none of the humanity I was anticipating.
F1’s stepped on its appendage many times before, but never in as detailed or embarrassing a manner as it just did with Michael. That 20-point rejection letter will live in infamy as one of the dumbest decisions the series has made; I’m positive people were fired at FOM after that went out.
F1’s become nearly unwatchable without the middle finger to Andretti, so until it returns to a time where it isn’t the Max/Red Bull Show and actual questions exist over who will win each weekend, you have a great rotation of IndyCar/IMSA/MotoGP to love.