Q: Marshall, you are leaving us hanging. After casually dropping the bombshell two weeks ago that IndyCar was in talks with Stellantis as a possible engine supplier, no follow-up has been forthcoming. Wouldn’t this be a Big Deal if it happened, both for IndyCar and Stellantis? Even more so if the deal would involve a U.S. and an international nameplate.
Like most made-up post-merger corporate names, Stellantis has about zero name recognition although its component brands (Peugeot, Citroen, Fiat, Alfa, Maserati, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram) are well-known. It needs something to gain a higher profile, and motorsports might be it. The ‘French’ side of the company has zero presence in the United States, and its motorsports profile is nearly non-existent (except for the struggling Le Mans/WEC Peugeot program). With Alfa out of F1 sponsorship, the Italian/American side has no racing presence at all.
Interesting to speculate what a Stellantis IndyCar presence would look like. Can’t be Peugeot or Citroen – they aren’t sold here. The cash cows in the USA are Jeep and Ram, but I don’t see those as a fit with IndyCar. That leaves Chrysler or Dodge as the domestic nameplate, and Alfa or Maserati as the international one. Fiat seems to be a lesser priority in U.S. market. Dodge has been the performance brand; Chrysler is more generic. What I see locally is that dealerships are joint Alfa/Maserati propositions, making the nameplate choice a toss-up.
Factoid: Peugeot was dominant at Indy in the 1910s and Wilbur Shaw’s 1939-40 back-to-back was achieved in a Maserati. So, there is Indy history for the company.
Al, Boston
MP: I hear more interesting manufacturer tidbits involving IMSA and the WEC than I do for IndyCar. I’ll see if anything else is percolating.
Q: I was at the Detroit GP this past weekend and was in line to get some food. There was a dude with a ROKiT Foyt crew shirt on. The guy in front of me asked him about it. He said he worked on the crew when they ROKiT was on the car. I was trying to eavesdrop on the conversation and did not hear it all, but I did hear that Foyt never got paid for the sponsorship, and then the other guy said it was just like what Kurt Busch did to Andretti at the Indy 500 when he ran. Is this true that both sponsors failed to pay?
Chris, Charleston, SC
MP: Hadn’t heard about Busch. Regarding Foyt, the company is alleged to have left the team in a $10 million hole.
Q: I brought some newbies with me to Indy this year, and they all loved it! I was happy to learn just about everyone in the group decided to watch the Detroit GP this weekend too, and they weren’t turned off by the crashfest at all.
I suspected the track melees might have been what held their attention. But their first comments were mostly about the challenges of the street course, the different tire strategies, and the wrinkles Mother Nature threw at the race. Even though the chaos at the hairpin became ridiculous for the die-hard fans like me, it didn’t appear to turn off this particular group in any way.
I’ll encourage them to watch Road America to see a proper road course and the breadth of what makes IndyCar so unique. Hopefully this small sample is representative of what the series hopes to capitalize on by scheduling Detroit and Road America right after Indy. It’s working for my group, much to my surprise.
That got me wondering… what’s the best way for an individual viewer to have an impact on the success of the series?
I’m lucky enough to have Peacock bundled for free in my cable package. Is it better for the series if I watch an IndyCar race on NBC (or an affiliated cable channel, like USA) or if I stream it on Peacock? I want my eyeballs to make a difference.
John, Virginia
MP: Great to hear on your friends. If nothing else, a crashy race is spectacular. Streaming is the place where every viewer is counted. Not so on network; you’d need to be a Nielsen house to have your every TV move tracked and reported.
Q: During the Indy 500, Newgarden sported the red, white and yellow colors of Shell. In Detroit, his car was red in deference to his new sponsor. Sometimes, his car is black and white. Scotty Mac’s car was not the usual yellow, but powder blue. I kept thinking it was Alex Palou. But, no, he was in the yellow DHL car. What’s up with the constant changing of car colors? It’s very annoying trying to figure out who is who with the ever-changing car colors.
Jerry, TX
MP: Great question, and I promise it’s not being done to annoy you! We see the same thing in NASCAR as well, and it’s due to the high costs to campaign a car for a season and the struggles, for most (but not all) teams to sign a single sponsor that pays all the bills for a full year. PNC Bank on Scott Dixon’s car, or Verizon on Will Power’s, or Arrow on Paro O’Ward’s, are some of the exceptions, and in a lot of cases, it takes anything from three to five sponsors to share the 17-18 races to get the $8 million budget satisfied. Some teams are over $10 million per car, as well.
Q: I am a very long-term IndyCar fan and one thing that drives me nuts these days is the constantly-changing car liveries. I’m thinking mainly of the Penske cars. Power is consistent, with Verizon full-time, but Newgarden and McLaughin are changing from week to week, it seems. How many different car colors and sponsors has each had this season? Too many. And this from the premier team in the paddock. You shouldn’t need a number to figure out what driver is driving what car.
Follow Alonso in F1? Simple, he drives an all-green car.
Rick Hughes, Deer River, MN
MP: Same as above. Also, Alonso’s car is dressed in sponsorship and investment that comes from a team budget that exceeds 100,000,000 per year, so there’s no comparison to be made. As well, how often to NASCAR teams change the colors/sponsors on their cars per season?