Q: I’m a 76-year-old who has been attending races for 71 years, from the modifieds at the Reading Fairgrounds to the F1 race in Monza. I love all aspects and types of races.
Our group does the USAC sprints, Silver Crown and Little 500 every year. I’ll admit that time is starting to take a toll on me. I have one request of Mr. Penske and the IMS staff: Please put handrails in the grandstands that do not have them. We sit at the top of the grandstand 110 steps up. Years ago, it wasn’t a problem. Then came back problems and a few balance issues. I now need help getting to my seat and I’m damn near dead when I get there. Handrails would make it so much easier.
Almost every sporting venue has these rails to assist patrons to their seat. I’m not even going to go into the potential liability aspect if someone took a header from the top row leaving or entering the stands. So come on, Captain, save undue effort from your customers and possibly save a huge insurance claim.
I do love racing but find it a bit comical that there are more passes in the first few laps of a USAC midget race than entire F1 race.
Craig Rubright, Clearwater, FL
MP: Great suggestion, Craig. Hopefully RP is listening.
Q: I’ve been a fan of IndyCar since the mid-1990s. I moved to Portland in 2003 and I’ve been to every race they’ve had since 2004. It’s now become an annual family event that we all look forward to. We sit in the infield grandstand with a great view of the chicane, which makes some of the best or worst starts/restarts. I’ve heard the drivers talk about how much they like the track and the racing it produces, comparing it to the Indy road course.
Now, Portland has its problems, like a lot of other cities. How much does the city itself play into whether they want to race here or not? Does it negate the long history they’ve had here? I’ll be disappointed if Portland drops off the schedule once again.
Marc Bower
MP: Agreed, Marc. We could pick apart every city on the calendar if we wanted to as every major metro has huge flaws and failings. But since we’re here to talk racing, let’s focus on what’s important at Portland, and that’s selling enough tickets and looking vibrant with its attendance. The last two visits were soft in that regard, so if the audience is noticeably bigger this year, I want it to stay. If it looks like few people care about the series based on a relative lack of fans, IndyCar will need to consider whether it’s best to make future returns.
Q: I have to ask something in regards to the Portland question/answer from last week. I live outside of the Seattle area in Washington, and Portland is my home race, as there’s nothing else remotely close.
An honest opinion on PIR and the city of Portland is that they’ve both gone downhill over the years, especially the city. The track is fun one; I love sitting in the shade under a tree during practice/qualifying on the back side. But it’s bare bones facility-wise, and it’s a safe bet it’s not getting upgraded anytime soon. I’ve also heard drivers complain about the facilities at the track on podcasts. But I want it to stay, as there’s no other place in the PNW that is suitable to host IndyCar….
Which leads me to my question: Circuit of the Northwest. Does RACER know anything about the plans for this track? It’s getting underway outside of Bremerton, WA, and looks gorgeous. The YouTube simulation of the plans for the place has multiple IndyCars racing on it, and it gets me excited. It would be a great replacement for Portland. It’s in a very nice area, growing area, a bit out of the way, but 100% worth it.
Charlie Palmer, King County, WA
MP It’s on my list of circuits I hope to be on IndyCar’s radar because the days of having Portland and Vancouver on the calendar were awesome.
Q: When will the practice of driving a competitor off the track when an outside move is attempted be stopped? (Thank you, Lewis Hamilton). It was so blatant at Petit Le Mans last year I thought there was no way a penalty would not be assessed. It’s so commonplace that the commentators actually said that Albuquerque should have known Derani was driving and that he would get pushed off. How crazy is that?
IndyCar and F1 are no better. How about if you push a car off, you have to slot behind that car within a lap or you get a drive-through penalty? If the car goes multiple laps down, so do you. If it’s out, so are you. People will say it’s so hard to pass you need to defend; I say if you can’t defend so hard, it wouldn’t be so hard to pass. I’m writing before the Rolex 24; maybe we will see a clean race, but I doubt it.
Mark, San Diego
MP: The Petit Le Mans deal still makes me mad about it going unpunished because it only emboldens folks to think it’s sanctioned.