Q: First, it’s weird that we can’t provide feedback to IndyCar as fans. I don’t know of any way to provide feedback to the series.
You wrote in last week’s Mailbag that Detroit having one passing zone is the biggest culprit behind that race being chaotic. As another Mailbag writer expressed, we go from an Indy 500 that is so well executed as a race and to a clown show in Detroit, and this is what leads to IndyCar not getting the respect it deserves.
If you took F1’s newest street tracks, Miami and Vegas, it’s like a night and day between those two races and Detroit. IndyCar needs to commit to a track that is wider, at least for a significant portion of the layout, and second, it can’t be a single passing zone track. The track needs to be long enough to provide multiple passing zones.
I don’t understand how IndyCar doesn’t take the quality of how a track races into account. It just looked like a big demolition derby and the amount of the race that was run under yellow provided less value for the fans. It always feels like IndyCar is looking to settle for mediocrity rather than excellence when it comes to streaming partner choices, TV coverage, marketing, fan engagement, and so on.
Shyam Cherupalla
MP: Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Shyam.
Q: Big Possum understands the criticism of the Detroit GP, but wonders what is better? A parade of F1 cars with the winner a forgone conclusion, or the Detroit GP which was suspenseful right up to the end? Detroit was a bunch of drivers going for it, the likes of which is never seen in F1. Big Possum thought it was a great, exciting race, Thrills, chills, spills and Dixon again putting on a masterclass.
By the way folks, get your tickets for Milwaukee – it will be great, old-time IndyCar racing. Big Possum remembers the time Foyt’s rear engine IndyCar did not show up for the Milwaukee race for some reason, so A.J. unloaded his sprint car, put it on the pole and would have won the race except his sprint car did not have enough fuel capacity and he had to stop more often. There is a great picture of the parade lap with A.J. in his sprinter and the rest of the field in rear-engine Lotus Ford-powered cars.
Big Possum
MP: I’m writing this in my hotel near The Mile on Monday and can’t wait to see cars in action again at Tuesday’s hybrid test. Been far too long.
Q: This question may seem a little bizarre, but I saw an image from this season of the 100 Days to Indy show of Will Power with his gentleman’s sausage out. I was wondering if you had a crumb of context as to why he had it out on TV? I am unable to watch the show in my country so I’m clueless.
Danny, Southend-on-Sea, UK
MP: Oh Lord. I just caught the last five minutes of the Season 2 finale in my Road America hotel room, and it looked spectacular. It’s also the only five minutes I’ve seen of Season 2 so I can’t say as to what was or wasn’t shown. Let’s hope Will Power’s PeePee isn’t a new star of Season 3.
Q: Excuse my blatant naivety, but why can’t IndyCar consider using the 2026 F1 engine rules, RE: 1.6 liter V6 with hybrid electric using renewable fuels? This would open the door for up to six new manufacturers. IndyCars could mandate their own hybrid electric part to differentiate from the dreaded F1 crowd. Manufacturer people want to make commercially viable hybrids and Americans that buy cars love hybrids. I bet even Briggs & Stratton could make a viable 538 hp 1.6 liter V6, and so could the Penske-Ilmor sponsored by Chevy gang.
I realize that this assumes the whole world, including very old men, use common sense all the time – except Rupert Murdoch, who just got married for the fifth time.
Doug, Coronado
MP: The simple answer is because Formula 1 engine programs cost about as much as it takes to fund an entire season of IndyCar racing for all 27 cars, so it would kill the series in an instant since nobody could afford them. IndyCar went to renewable fuel in 2023, well ahead of F1.
Q: My question is about Team RLL and the BMW GTP program. Ever since the start of this IMSA season, Team RLL and the BMW effort have been mostly uninspiring. They’re currently seventh and eighth in the GTP standings and always seem to be outgunned by the other factory programs. Also, they have yet to even get a podium this year, with mistakes, crashes, and poor performances. What needs to change to get this program back into the fight?
To add on, and tie into the Indy side, it just feels like RLL can’t seem to get out of its own way. I can’t say they’ve felt like a top tier team on the sportscar side in a long time and their IndyCar performance is overall lackluster. Hell, isn’t the fact that Graham was fighting on Bump Day for the second year in a row sad enough?
Matt
MP: RLL lost its BMW GTP technical director Brandon Fry during the offseason, and while I can’t say he’s the sole reason for the decline, I can say that Porsche Penske Motorsports became a lot more competitive when he moved there in a similar role entering 2024.
At its core, racing is a big series of decisions. Every team has to make essentially the same calls on who to hire, how to act, what to do, what not to do, etc. For the teams that continuously succeed, we know they have the right people in those important decision-making positions because the results say so. The same applies to what the results tell us about the decision makers at teams that aren’t continuously successful.
Teams change drivers all the time if they aren’t performing. I wonder why underperforming teams don’t take the same aggressive approach to changing out the decision makers who aren’t performing.
I hit a rough patch in my personal life in 2000, lost my focus — stopped caring — and it was evident in my work as an assistant race engineer. And while it made me angry at the time, the IndyCar team I worked for fired me, and with a bit of distance to reflect, I appreciated and respected the decision because it was done in the best interest of the team.
It also helped me to get out of a bad relationship, get back to a happier place in life, and return with a different team in a much better situation. It sucks to be on the receiving end of the invitation to leave, but if it helps the team to improve, it needs to happen.