Q: Was Portland not coming back for 2024 left out of your recent “Nashville getting a new date” article?
Jared, Reading, PA
MP: No, that would go into a “Portland not coming back” story, not a “Nashville getting a new date” article. According to the people I talk to, fans of the Portland IndyCar race would be wise to schedule a visit next year around its familiar late-season spot on the schedule.
Q: With so many races this year having 27 or 28 entrants, it made me wonder: has there ever been an IndyCar season where this many cars and drivers have entered every race, and with so few driver changes?
As I make it (and please correct me if I’m wrong!) so far we’ve had:
- 27 full-time car entrants (26 have qualified for every race)
- 24 drivers start every race
- Six drivers start some races but not all (Armstrong, Carpenter, Daly, Hunter-Reay, Pagenaud, Sato)
- Five drivers start only one race (Andretti, Blomqvist, Enerson, Kanaan, Legge. Wilson would’ve made this six)
It feels like there’s been less driver-swapping than usual. will have started every race by the end of the year?
Paul Rayner, Edinburgh, UK
MP: My friend and after-hours IndyCar statistician Scott Richards was kind enough to field this one:
Paul brings up some excellent points: 2023 has seen at least 27 cars start every race, and if that pace holds as planned, it would be the first time this has ever happened in IndyCar. The closest before that would be CART back in 1998, when we had 27 cars start in 17 of the season’s 19 events.
We have had 24 drivers start every race so far in 2023, and all are scheduled to drive the final five races. If that holds, it will break last year’s record of 23 who started every race.
In terms of driver changes, we have had three cars run in 2023 with multiple drivers: one shared ride (No. 11), one driver change (No. 20) and one injury (No. 60). Both 2014 and 2022 also had three cars with multiple drivers. The fewest driver changes/shared rides during a season that I can find would be the 2007 IRL season with one: Ryan Hunter-Reay replacing Jeff Simmons at Mid-Ohio for Rahal Letterman Racing.
Q: The IMS website lists Sunday general admission tickets for the IMSA race as sold out. Given the size of IMS, I find that very surprising. Is the IMSA race already more popular than both IndyCar races on the IMS road course?
Kyle
MP: IMS president Doug Boles told the Mailbag it was a brief glitch that was fixed. GA tickets are still available.
Q: I imagine the paddock is alive with 2024 rumors. Can you throw some light on the possibility that Shank may drop to the 500 only, or run just one car in 2024? I find it unlikely with Liberty Media as a shareholder plus the apparently close relationship with SiriusXM and Autonation. Maybe things have soured this year. Maybe it’s pure speculation.
Secondly, Malukas mentioned Hy-Vee numerous times when interviewed by IndyCar. Am I becoming too clever/ gossipy, or can we read something into that?
Oliver Wells
MP: There’s a zero-percent chance MSR runs fewer than two full-time cars next year. As for Malukas, RLL would need to run six cars to accommodate all of the drivers it’s supposedly running in 2023.
Q: I love the look of the IR18 from the side, it makes me remember pre-shark fin prototypes. But while watching Iowa, I realized something… with the aeroscreen cutting some air to the rear wing, why didn’t Dallara develop a new aero for the car with a rear wing that covers all the car’s width? I guess they’d need to cover the rear wheels a bit for that. But wouldn’t this make the cars better, especially on ovals?
William Mazeo
MP: You’d be surprised at how unwilling teams are to spend money on new parts if they aren’t completely necessary, and a new rear wing wasn’t necessary with the introduction of the aeroscreen. Make a big change like that at the rear and a complementary change would be needed at the front. More downforce on ovals doesn’t automatically create better racing. It’s finding the right amount for the track that creates great racing, as seen earlier this year at Texas.
I do expect new superspeedway wings at some point, but not next year since the costs of going hybrid will be significant.
Q: Why does it take so long to get back to green racing? I’m sure people have complained about this before, but I feel like it’s getting worse, not better.
For example, Canapino brushes the wall and keeps driving — not even a crash. It’s questionable why a yellow even comes out all. But then 20 laps of yellow, for what?
I’m watching with my sons and they’re 12 and 14. I don’t need explain attention spans of kids today, but we’re all wondering what takes so long?
Thomson boys, Gilbert, AZ
MP: We’re talking about two very different things here. The main question is hard to answer because some series are faster than others at returning to green, with IndyCar being the best I’ve seen here at home. Others, like NASCAR and IMSA, can burn 20 to 30 minutes with ease.
Canapino’s glancing blow off the wall didn’t seem like it should have taken all that long, but I believe the series took time to send the sweeper trucks out, let pit stops take place, and then needed to re-order the field a bit, so it was an anomaly. Without that, the caution would have gone from lap 87-102 instead of 87-105. By my rough count, about 12.5 minutes were consumed, which is too much, but using the Canapino caution as a blanket indictment of IndyCar’s caution procedures wouldn’t be fair.
Q: Finally we have sweepers cleaning up the marbles during yellow flag laps! I’ve seen them on track several times since Indy, and I applaud R.P. and his team! As avid racing fans, all we want to see the guys have a chance to duke it out with clean passing zones — the last thing we want to see is a Monaco parade race.
Joe, California
MP: Great note, Joe.
Q: So a random thought while I’m watching the Sunday Iowa race regarding superspeedways. Do the IndyCar teams even want another superspeedway? With the extreme speeds, it’s so easy to trash a car, so is a superspeedway even worth it for the teams?
Josh, Louisville, KY
MP: If that’s the fear-based angle teams were taking, they’d be pleading for street courses to be removed from the calendar. Two cars were destroyed at St. Pete. Another one in Long Beach. One in Detroit, I think, and Rosenqvist’s in Toronto. And we’ve yet to get rolling in Nashville, aka, Crashville.
Speedway racing is a big part of our history. I hope to have more, not less.