Q: It is bad enough that the Laguna Seca race was on USA, but when I turned it on and found that a rain-delayed NASCAR race was being shown, I was irate. No mention of IndyCar being mentioned by either announcers or bottom line until almost 6:30. So it gets switched to CNBC at the last minute. Luckily my streaming package carries CNBC, but field was already on the warm-up lap. No pre-race show. Thank God we move to FOX next year, and NBC wonders why they got dumped! I hope Bell and Hinchcliffe get hired at FOX, and I hope Jon Beekhuis and Paul Tracy are being considered, too.
Dave
MP: I only have a few more months to say this, but the magical answer that circumvents every viewing problem is Peacock. No need to wonder what channel it’s on, or where it will move to if it gets bumped on broadcast. Full show, every time.
Q: I know Laguna is a tight track, but some enforcement of track limits would be nice. It’s kinda silly watching the drivers intentionally put both tires outside the curb at Turn 4 and then into the Corkscrew.
Little Tanuki (I think in the tradition of Big Possum we should all adopt animal-based Mailbag pseudonyms, hope it catches on.)
MP: I’m guessing you’re referring to Turn 5. Turn 4 is where Armstrong went off. The track limit is dirt, which is delightfully self-policing.
Q: Why is fuel saving so critical in IndyCar? It really seems to impact the racing. Announcers are constantly talking about saving fuel, and how using push to pass really drains fuel. In F1, fuel seems to be a total non-issue. The only issue seems to be tire management. I assume fuel is limited in IndyCar but not in F1? It seems counter-productive to racing quality, and behind the times for racing to be saying “we’re really good at fuel saving.”
Jeff B, Bernardsville, NJ
MP: It’s critical in every form of racing where refueling happens: IndyCar. IMSA. SRO. NASCAR. F1 doesn’t have refueling, so it’s just tire choice. I’d suggest the merits of fuel saving and auto brands touting their ability to win while conserving fuel, as hybrids become a more important part of their promotions and sales, is the opposite of being behind the times. If you’ve watched IndyCar or IMSA races, it’s not often when racing quality is lacking.
Q: To me, Herta rejoining across pit lane just across Newgarden looked way more dangerous than Ferrucci’s “block.” Is there not a rule about unsafe rejoining?
Bernard, TX
MP: Yes, there is.
Q: Hey, way to go race control. Helping the Boss cheat again. Holding the yellow so Josef Newgarden can pit so he improves from being outside the top 10 up to second. When is the series going to stop obviously helping Penske?
Michael Pennington
MP: Josef was leading when it happened. As it was noted on the broadcast, it’s been standard practice for race control to wait for the leader to pit, when possible, before closing the pits under caution. I can’t see anything that was done to benefit Newgarden that hasn’t been done for other drivers. What I took issue with was the 1m13s it took to throw the caution. If something has happened that’s deemed worthy of a caution — like a car that’s spun and stalled and sitting backwards on the racing surface — and a decision was made that it could wait more than a minute for that caution to be thrown, then don’t throw the caution because it’s clearly not a concern.
It’s either a caution or it isn’t. What I’d rather see is a tight window of consideration. If the leader is near pit lane, great, let them get in and out quickly. When you end up waiting almost a full lap for the leader to arrive, you’ve shown that the safety of the affected driver is of secondary priority, and that should never be the case.
Q: I read the Mailbag every week but never write in. Well, today I had to! NBC did IndyCar dirty. I get it, NASCAR in the rain was exciting. But show the finish on USA. Glad we are moving to FOX.
Pedro Poveda
MP: To quote Juan Pablo Montoya, “It is what it is.”
Q: I just finished watching the Laguna Seca IndyCar race. Cars were slipping and sliding all over the track for the entire race. This surface was just repaved last year! Is it rubber building up on the track? I don’t recall seeing a single street sweeper all day long. With all of the yellow flag laps in the race, there was plenty of time to sweep the marbles. Why didn’t they?
Also, why is grip so elusive for the IndyCars here? I don’t remember the IMSA cars having this much trouble staying on track.
Kevin P., Los Angeles, CA
MP: Sebastien Bourdais told me at the IMSA race in May that the track surface was opening up and breaking up in some areas. I’d guess it has something to do with the surface itself, since other recent repavings have either held or worn down quickly. I always think of repavings like paint jobs on cars. Done properly, they last a long time and look great. Done poorly, they peel and flake and need to be redone far sooner than expected.
On grip, don’t forget that harder Firestone tires have been the norm this year since they were made for the heavier cars that were supposed to be hybrid from the first race.
Q: I’m feeling a bit down for Jack Harvey. The last couple of races, he has been driving pretty good only to have some mechanical issues. Just this weekend at Laguna Seca he was running 20th with 15 laps to go and had a ton of P2P (120 seconds) then something went wrong with the right rear.
I know DCR is a lower-budget team, but Jack is usually only 1.5s or less behind in qualifying, so I do not think it is his driving. I believe with better equipment he would do better, and I don’t think the last couple of seasons did him very much good at RLL, as all of the cars struggled, and have continued to struggle even this season with the exception of Lundgaard.
Thoughts, and what have the mechanical issues been with DCR?
Kasey
MP: Other than Tristan Vautier’s run for the team at Detroit, there hasn’t been a lot to celebrate for DCR. Jack’s done his best in the toughest situation of his IndyCar career. They have good people running the cars, but if there’s an engine failure, it seems like DCR is the place it happens first. It also had no real offseason engineering R&D program, the thinnest engineering group that came together at the first race, and a revolving door in the second car. Take all those things, and it adds up to a team that isn’t able to give the other teams a hard time.
They try like hell, but DCR effectively started the season three laps down, and that’s why its drivers are usually among the slowest and least competitive. Jack knew what he was signing up for, and he’s a highly positive influence. And the crew is full of energy, despite the poor results. But the team is where it should be with all of the limitations it has faced. Jack’s good, but he’s not going to haul a 25th-place car up to 15th on talent alone.