Q: Another year, another 500, and another round of hyperbolic complaints about the ads. Let’s take a look at how much was lost to ads. Using the Peacock broadcast, which does not give us any picture-in-picture coverage during certain ad breaks, cutting out all ad breaks, and removing the stuff before the green and after the checkered, we got a total time of broadcast of 2h35m31s.
According to the official results, the race took 2h58m21.9611s to complete. That means we lost 22m50s. The unofficial industry standard over the past several decades has been a maximum of 10 minutes of ads per 30 minutes of broadcast window, meaning they cut out less than half of this de facto standard.
No, the ads are not “getting worse” as we’re frequently told by internet experts who don’t bother to actually look into things.
FormulaFox
MP: This kind of research-based submission really isn’t appreciated. Please rant about bringing back front-engine cars or IndyCar being doomed if we don’t go back to Cleveland so the Mailbag feels normal. (Kidding aside, thanks for the counterbalance.)
Q: Indy in qualifying trim is flat-out, trimmed-out. No racetrack, Indy or anywhere else, should be flat. With more power and less tire, engineers won’t be able to trim off aero downforce and drivers won’t be able to flat-foot the turns. Use tires similar to the sizes used in the roadster era. I can hear the crying now.
The essence in racing is that the best driver gets more speed from their power, tire, aero combination than does their competitors. The turns encountered must be such that a real throttle lift, if not braking, will be necessary for the car to negotiate the turn at the maximum of power, tire and aero for the turn. Driver actions with throttle, steering and brakes needs to be the defining factors in getting the most speed out of the cars.
Chuck McAbee
MP: We might be confusing “flat” with “easy,” and that’s not what the fast or slow drivers are reporting. Drivers are by no means flat in the race for extended periods, and all of the actions you list are the very same they perform with greater skill from first to 33rd than we’ve ever seen at Indy. Yes, it would be amazing to have cars again that are more powerful than their aero will cover in the corners. But the fact that we don’t doesn’t mean today’s best are any less great than the legends from other eras.
Q: You’re going to hate this one but I haven’t had a “c’mon man” from you for a few months, so here goes. Paint NASCAR-style lanes down the main straight at Indy. Once you exit Turn 4 and choose a lane, you get one move to an adjacent lane (assuming there are three) and that’s it. After that, if you switch lanes again with intentions to impede, you’re black-flagged. Enforce it for the last 10 laps of the race.
Andy, Brighton, MI
MP: How about we just fit the drivers with shock collars and let race control give the offending drivers a few zaps to keep them in line?
Q: Should Ericsson have let Newgarden past immediately after the last restart at Indy so he could have pulled off a back-straight pass?
Mike Talarico, Charlotte
MP: I mentioned in last week’s Mailbag that it was a strategy that might have offered a glimpse of hope, but since then, I’ve had drivers tell me he would have hosed himself because Ferrucci wasn’t going to let him slot in behind Josef, which means Marcus likely would have crossed the yard of bricks in third, if not lower, and been super-screwed.
Q: In junior high, I used to ride my bike from Fontana to Ontario in hopes of seeing the first 200mph lap. Watching the great Indy coverage on Peacock, I was reminded of how big that track was. Were there two speed transmissions then, and when did they change? It seemed to take at least a lap to get up to speed.
Terry in Fontucky
MP: High gear and low gear were the norm. Yes, indeed, it was a proper winding-up process, but we’re also talking about the era of 1000-plus horsepower Offenhauser engines, so there was staggering torque and top-end power on tap that we don’t have today. Wish I was old enough and close enough to join you on those bike rides, Terry.
Q: Do you think IndyCar will get a third engine manufacturer any time soon? With auto companies going fully electric, are any companies even interested in building an IndyCar engine? It seems like all the companies are going into Formula 1.
Cory, Pennsylvania
MP: I do not. Penske Entertainment came close with Toyota, going as far to offer them help with supplying major components from Ilmor Engineering, which Penske co-founded and co-owns and makes/supplies Chevy’s IndyCar engines, but the timing didn’t work out. Provided PE is willing to make similar offers to other manufacturers, it’s a big help in terms of saving costs on ground-up development and time to bring those engines to reality. And while there are always conversations taking place between the series and manufacturers, I’ve heard nothing to suggest a third is on the way.
THE FINAL WORD
From Robin Miller’s Mailbag, June 3, 2015
Q: There is often discussion about increasing the personal profile of the drivers. I’ve often felt that the drivers should lose the sunglasses when being interviewed on television. I’m sure that they are paid to wear them, I get it. Face time is important to people trying to raise their profile. Helio: wearing the damned headphones out of Gasoline Alley. I guess his wife and daughter didn’t have anything to say to him. Need I even mention the GoPros on the baseball caps? Really?
Brian Bristo, London, Ontario
ROBIN MILLER: You are spot-on. It’s hard enough to recognize an Indy driver WITHOUT the sunglasses and it’s half-assed offensive as well. My only explanation for headphones is that these guys watch too much pre-game NBA basketball.