Q: Should teams have the option to retire racing numbers based on a driver’s achievements? (So, for example, Hendrick could retire No. 24 in honor of Jeff Gordon, while other teams would still be allowed to use that number.) I acknowledge the differences in car number systems between IndyCar, NASCAR and F1, which might make this harder to implement. But it seems odd to see cars like the 24 and 48 without Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson. Retiring numbers could better reflect a driver’s impact on the sport, vs a Hall of Fame induction which, as a fan, I’m indifferent to.
Andrew
MP: In theory, there’s nothing stopping teams in any series from holding their own number “retirement ceremonies” with the driver that number is associated with. And as you point out, a new Cup fan might only know Alex Bowman is the driver of the No. 48 and have no connection to Jimmie representing that number.
For me, the number part has limited significance. It’s the driver and their achievements that gets remembered first, which is why Halls of Fame is where they belong. Two of my all-time favorite drivers were Gilles Villeneuve, who used the No. 27 and died in 1982, and Ayrton Senna, who also used the No. 27 and died in 1994.
Those weren’t the only numbers they had in F1, but those are the ones I most heavily associate with them. Senna’s first championship was with the No. 12, which is another number that’s attached to him. His final title was earned with the No. 1 on his car. Do we retire all three? I have no clue, which is why I prefer the HoF route, because the car number played no role in what they achieved or how they achieved it.
CM: As you hint at, in F1 it has only really become an issue in recent seasons since we introduced specific driver numbers — prior to 2014 your number was allocated to you each year based on the team’s performance in the previous season, so you rarely had continuity to build up an affinity with a number.
No driver can use the same number as another for two consecutive seasons after the original driver’s final race, so there’s a natural pause in its usage anyway, and as it stands I don’t think many drivers would take an iconic number to use as their own as there are still plenty of options available. Moving forward, though, I think your idea is a good one — either to retire certain numbers for good, ideally due to performances and legacy but also depending on circumstances (as happened with Jules Bianchi’s No. 17 after his death).
I’m not sure teams themselves can realistically do it in F1 as they don’t decide what a driver picks, but they could always suggest they wouldn’t run a certain number on their car again to try and dissuade anyone from choosing to pick it up when they join the grid.
KELLY CRANDALL: Whenever the topic of retiring car numbers in NASCAR comes up, the first thing to realize is that once that happens the sport is going to quickly run out of numbers. You mentioned two with the No. 24 and the No. 48. But there are going to be those who want the No. 43 retired, and the No. 3. What about the No. 21 for the Wood Brothers? It goes on and on. The idea of retiring them within the team is certainly an option, but what would be the point if someone else can still drive it? As you said, it’s weird to see the number without the driver that is connected to it behind the wheel, so does that really solve anything or make it seem important as you’re hoping? Personally, I can’t think of an ideal way to do it.
Q: Is whoever puts the photos on the Mailbag page OK? I suppose it’s still Mark but I think “drivers battling monks” has to have been a subtle plea for help from whoever it was.
All the best for 2024 to all and all readers
Dave, Jersey (the original one near France, not NJ)
MARK GLENDENNING: Ha, thanks for your concern. I’m fine, although there was certainly an element of self-preservation to the photos over the last few weeks when the alternative was a month of 10-plus page Mailbags filled with photos of Jay Frye and Mark Miles looking serious. I don’t think we even have enough photos that would fit that category. Then there’s the problem of coming up with that many different captions about the same thing. So that leaves us with Plan B, which is throwing random keywords into the search box, seeing what comes up and then going to town.
With regard to the drivers fighting monks though, when you consider that was actually a thing that a PR person once made happen (during a European Le Mans Series visit to Nottingham Castle in 2001), maybe it was a cry for help from them?
THE FINAL WORD
From Robin Miller’s Mailbag, January 16, 2016
Q: My fan friends and I are always looking for something to chat about during the off-season, either current news or old memories. Some great memories came up the other day surrounding Carl Haas and his great racing accomplishments (I bought my first FF Lola T202 from his sales guy, Pete Ledwith in 1971, but that’s another story). So now that Newman/Haas is just a fond memory, how is Carl doing? Any updates on his health or what he’s been doing? [ED’s note: Haas died six months after this letter was first published]
How ’bout some of your memories and stories about him? I really miss watching him on the grid, touching each part of his cars. It was truly a spiritual and almost religious ritual at every event, and we could use more guys like him today. The Captain is close but no cigar, if you know what I mean.
Mike McFarland, Elkhart Lake, WI
ROBIN MILLER: All I’ve heard is that Carl is a prisoner of Alzheimer’s and seldom leaves his house, but still enjoys good food. He was a racer to the core and made such an eclectic team with Paul, but they treated their team and drivers with first-class care and brought a lot to IndyCar racing for three decades so it always bothered me they never won the Indy 500.
I guess my favorite story is when I bought my first race car from Andy Granatelli. It was a McNamara Formula Ford with no spares, so after I crashed it at Watkins Glen, I had to replace the Koni shocks and was told to call Carl Haas. Well hell, as mechanically challenged as I was, I had no idea Haas owned an automotive parts clearing house so I just figured it was good ’ol Carl himself. So I called him in his office, introduced myself and asked how much for two Koni shocks? He screamed: “How the hell should I know? Call the parts department.”