Q: Seeing that it is January and everyone is starved of racing action, this is always the time of year when I find myself sifting through my collection of IndyCar memorabilia. My dad recently brought over his collection of the Autocourse annual books — he has all 14 publications of them from 1993-2006. As I am looking through these books, I couldn’t help but think to myself, “What a shame they don’t make these anymore for IndyCar.” These books were awesome. Marshall, you and the RACER crew need to write and publish an annual book like these.
Paul Cray
MP: I started collecting Autocourse F1 annuals in the mid-1980s and added a lot of the older editions from the ’60s and ’70s, most of which sit in storage. Same with the Autocourse IndyCar annuals. Both are must-haves for open-wheel fans, along with the Hungness Indy 500 annuals.
I co-wrote the 2008 and 2009 American Le Mans Series annuals, which was a rewarding experience while I was early in my switch from being a crew member to a member of the media. You’re right; RACER would be the perfect choice to produce a new IndyCar annual. If IndyCar wanted to pay RACER to create one, I’m sure it would be considered.
Q: In a previous email I said that I didn’t think the car/engine for IndyCar was holding the series back from growing.
However, it seems like there is serious angst among older IndyCar fans about the aging chassis/engine combination (I’m relatively new Mailbag reader). How hard would it be to take the current F2 or Super Formula chassis, replace the roll hoop with the aeroscreen, work on the suspension to keep the Firestone tires, and drop in the hybrid engine? Granted, it appears that the current IndyCar, F2, and Super Formula Dallara chassis are all very similar anyway, but it seems like it could be a cheap and quick solution to the ‘problem’.
Speaking of F2, my perception is that IndyCars are about the same or slightly slower in comparison. I think making IndyCars clearly faster than F2 cars would help with finding additional engine manufacturers.
Will Coffey
MP: Good line of thinking, Will, but each of the cars you’ve described has been designed to very specific rules and dimensions, just like the DW12, so there’s no cheap of easy retooling of one to make it work in another series. It’s like assembling a Honda Accord, Toyota Corolla, and Chevy Malibu and trying to make the Toyota into the Chevy and the Chevy into the Honda. They’re all of similar sized and layouts, but they’re still so different that it would be smarter to simply build a new car from scratch.
Q: You guys stumbled onto a great idea. The answer to all of IndyCar’s problems is… “Driven 2: Electric Boogaloo.”
Keith, Orlando, FL
MP: It’s the sequel I’ve been calling for… for at least a decade.
Q: Cale Yarborough passed away Dec. 31. His history in NASCAR is well-documented. Do you know of any stories of Yarborough when he raced Indy cars, or have any photos from when he raced open-wheel?
Jeffrey Smith, Cabot, AR
MP: I was one year old when he made his last Indy 500 start and never met him as an adult, so I’m of no use for stories, but here’s a photo from our friends at IMS.
Q: People think that IndyCar was slow to jump on a program to showcase the drivers and events on the schedule, but it’s not true. Back in 2013, “IndyCar 36” was on the NBC Sports network and is still available on YouTube. Drivers were followed for 36 hours on a race weekend throughout the season. I remember an episode where Josef Newgarden was followed during the Indianapolis 500 weekend when he drove for Sarah Fisher. He and some friends went to a coffee shop and met up with a bridal party in Broad Ripple, I believe. Simona de Silvestro was followed at the Brazil race in that time period.
Mike
MP: Watched all of them and they were well done. But I wouldn’t rush to hail IndyCar as a leader in this type of content; the concept of doing special features to promote a series has been around for decades.
Q: OK, so we have the Grand Prix of Toronto. Rush is from Toronto and is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. We don’t have a Grand Prix of Winnipeg and the Guess Who, nor BTO are in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame despite their significant contribution to the genre. The Guess Who sold more records than the Beatles in 1970. Rush clearly deserved their induction, but I don’t understand why the Guess Who nor Randy Bachman’s next band, BTO, have not been added to the HOF. Do we need a Grand Prix of Winnipeg to get this oversight resolved?
John
MP: We most definitely need a IndyCar GP of Winnipeg. We also need back-to-back events in Ontario so the Toronto GP is followed by the next-door Mississauga GP to honor the oft-forgotten Canadian band Triumph.
Q: Can you offer an opinion as to why Beth Paretta has been unable to get her IndyCar program off the ground? I thought Roger Penske and Bud Denker were enthusiastic about helping. At the 2021 500 that team generated more publicity than probably anyone besides Helio. And the fans love Simona.
I also don’t understand why the most recent rumors about Paretta Autosport included the rather slow Tatiana Calderon. What happened to Simona? Nothing against Tatiana, but Sim is a proven IndyCar driver with several top-five finishes, mostly with sub-par teams. Someone asked you this a few months ago and you said Simona hasn’t been here trying to promote herself, but I don’t see any reason why she would need to. She and Beth have phones, and I’m sure Simona would travel here if it was necessary. She is currently training to race bobsleds, but that is just her winter activity.
Patrick, Brownsburg, IN
MP: The willingness to help from Team Penske by fielding/supplying a large portion of the team in 2021 was not offered after 2021. After that, the quality vs cost to partner with other teams, from what I’ve heard, didn’t make sense. I know a lot of companies have a strong affinity for Beth, and she’s great at finding sponsors. But Beth isn’t the “doing it just to do it” type. If she doesn’t see a quality Indy 500 finish in the realm of possibilities, she’s not going to give a program the green lights.
Are we actually judging Tatiana, an IndyCar rookie, on barely a half season spent with one of the worst teams in the series who joined so late that she didn’t get to do proper pre-season testing? C’mon, man.
Sure, everybody I know has a phone. But if Tatiana is actively trying to create IndyCar opportunities for herself and Simona is not, team owners don’t take notice? The last time Simona was here on a regular basis was 2015, which is a lifetime ago. A handful of mostly unremarkable results with ECR in 2022 did nothing to create interest. And while some of those less than memorable ECR runs had nothing to do with her, it doesn’t change the fact that a former full-time driver returned and did not stand out.
I’ve been one of her biggest fans since her Atlantic Championship days and would love to have her back, but I’m not going to crap on Calderon because she’s putting in the effort to create new opportunities for herself.