Q: In response to John Becker’s question about IndyCar never having had a restart without a warmup, the IRL did at the Infinity Pro Series 2005 Freedom 100. After a late race caution, the drivers received a yellow and white at the flag stand. When the cars reached the middle of Turn 3, the green flag was thrown. By the time the cars got to the start/finish line, the checkered was in the air. Not everyone got the word of what was going to happen so there was nearly a big pileup in Turn 1.
Something I have not seen a comment about on the last red flag and restart at Indy is, how safe was it for the pace car to lead the field through a carbon shard debris field and then go green with no warm up to for the drivers to feel out a puncture? Or if there was going to be a red flag and restart, why not divert the pace car down pit road to avoid the debris?
Walt, Dolan Springs, AZ
MP: I did wonder why the field wasn’t sent down pit lane with broken cars strewn across the front straight, Walt.
Q: I get Detroit’s alt start/restart line being on the main straight before the hairpin. It makes sense. Why not also just make that the finish line? Is there something in the rule book that says the finish line must be parallel to pit lane? (Seriously)
Ryan T
MP: I’d need to understand why IndyCar would need to move the finish line, since there was no issue I can think of for where it was placed.
Q: I just finished watching the Detroit race. It was a better race than I thought it would be after watching qualifying, etc. It was hard to gauge the crowd size, but looked like full stands around the track. Do you think this is a better track/location over Belle Isle? I would cast my vote for Belle Isle but I’m interested in hearing your thoughts.
John Furnis, Austin, TX
MP: I think Belle Isle was tapped out in terms of commercial growth, which the move to downtown solved in a big way. I agree. The race was much better than expected, and I loved Scott Dixon’s comments afterwards about it being extremely difficult — more so than most IndyCar tracks — and that’s the way it should be.
I was embarrassed for Penske Entertainment to unveil a new circuit design with the worst surface conditions of any venue on the calendar. Only Sebring’s Turn 17 has worse undulations, and somehow, a brand-new event went live with an entire circuit comprised of Sebring Turn 17s. All of that aside, the drivers who didn’t crash or hit each other were rewarded, as Dixon noted, and while the surface obviously needs a ton of attention, I think there’s something to build upon.
As for crowds, it looked decent, but we didn’t get to see much of the grandstand sections and the 50-percent free viewing areas during the broadcasts that the promoters touted.
Q: Doesn’t it seem as if former and wannabe F1 drivers don’t deserve to be in IndyCar this season?
Grant, Indianapolis
MP: Alex Palou (P1 in the championship), Marcus Ericsson (P2), Pato O’Ward (P5), and Alexander Rossi (P6) would like to know more about this theory.
Q: Back in the day, drivers would get roughly 40 to 50 percent of their team earnings for the Indy 500. What percentage, if any, of their team earnings do drivers currently get for Indy?
Joe, Malvern, PA
MP: 33 drivers, Joe, and 33 different answers.
Q: What in the world has happened to Colton Herta? He seems to be the third-best Andretti driver every week.
Paul, Indianapolis
MP: Of late, he was running strong at Indy until the pit stop miscue. He was going well at Detroit until Canapino blocked and broke his right-front wing. Not sure I’d say he’s P3, but I would say that I haven’t seen the Colton Herta that scared the crap out of everyone from 2019-21 on a regular basis for far too long. The kid who wanted to destroy everything in front of him is still in there. I’ve been wondering when he’s going to rediscover the way to tap into that guy and make sure he never leaves.
Q: As a very longtime follower of motorsports, I suspect I’m one of the very few who found the Indy 500 disturbing. IndyCar dodged at least three major bullets: Ms. Legge hit no personnel in the pit lane; neither did Palou/VeeKay. If Kirkwood’s shunt had happened yards earlier we’d have seen a repeat of Le Mans 1955…
The dragon move (weaving, in my book) is downright dangerous, especially using the pit entry lane. I really hope intelligent minds are concentrating on what might have happened and not on congratulating themselves.
David F.
MP: We share the same hopes, David.
Q: Not a fan of pack racing at Indy. It degrades the 500 and decreases safety for everyone at the track. “Rack ’em and wreck em” is not sustainable. Keep doing it, and we will soon be debating if 1973 was a good race by comparison.
Does IndyCar agree with me, or is the progression to pack racing viewed as acceptable?
Jon, Ann Arbor, MI
MP: Pack racing wasn’t the reason for losing a third of the field this year. It was too many drivers losing control on their own, running into each other, and behaving like they were in a video game where you can hit the reset button. This was an episode of Drivers Gone Wild that needs to be cancelled after one show.
Q: It’s well past time for IndyCar to take the gray areas out of red flags and white lines.
The last 16 laps of the 500 consisted of three red flags, 14 yellow flag laps, and two green flag laps. If the powers that be insist on “suspending on-track activities” under 7.1.4 of their rulebook, then no laps should be counted until the race goes green again, or as described in the rulebook 7.2.1c, “(the) race has… restarted.”
The first two red flags were sandwiched by yellow flags, the last one wasn’t. When the red flag/red condition is withdrawn, give the drivers two warm-up laps, then restart the race, and the lap count, with a green flag.
Additionally, section 7.3.3.5: “At Oval Events except for the Indianapolis 500, drivers must not place any of the four wheels of the car below the solid boundary line at any time.” Isn’t IMS an oval? Ericsson was far off the racing surface on the backstretch, Newgarden went well over the pit-in boundary line on the frontstretch.
John Hardaway, Orange, VA
MP: The series governed as it chose, which is within their right — whether we like it or not — and they told the drivers that using the pit-in lane to “dragon”as Newgarden did would be permitted.