Q: I am really starting to get back into IMSA with the wide-eyed enthusiasm I last had in the early ’90’s, and it has now risen to the top of my Maslow’s Hierarchy of Auto Racing.
While I realize the meat and potatoes of the schedule are the short “sprint” type races, do you feel there is room (or better yet…the infrastructure and/or desire) to take some of the two-three hour races and bump them closer to a 10- or 12-hour race like Sebring or Road Atlanta? Is “6 Hours at the Glen” sacred if it could be 12 hours instead? I know it has been six hours forever, and perhaps it is for a reason? I find what I enjoy most is watching the transition from day to night, and how differently everyone is affected by it or has to adapt to it.
Just in typing this out, I’ve made the decision tonight to pull out my copy of IMSA 1969-1989 and see if the answer may be within, but I would like your thoughts as well.
Brad in Seattle
MP: IMSA says it’s mindful of the costs for its teams to go racing, and costs go up with every hour of racing that’s added with the consumables like tires and fuel, and in the mileage and wear placed on the cars.
Q: Have you seen the HBO documentary “The Lionheart” yet? If so, what was our reaction to it?
Mike, Holland, MI
MP: I have. Really sad. Really, really sad. The parts where Dan’s friends like Tony Kanaan treated the boys like surrogate fathers brought a few tears to my eyes. I can’t say I cared for how Randy Bernard was positioned.
Q: Watching the St. Pete race, a semi-serious question came to mind. What kind of tires are used in the tire barriers? New or used? Radial or bias ply? Tire size?
And what happens after the race? Are they put back in a warehouse? Shipped to the next street course stop? Or big tire sale at MP’s Slightly Used Tire store?
Rick Smith, San Diego, CA
MP: Used, in most cases. A lot of the racing-specific things like tire barriers and fencing gets rented and used at other events.
Q: With Honda’s threat to IndyCar about finding a third engine supplier by 2026, it seems like they already have one foot out the door with all the talk of Honda going to NASCAR as a fourth engine supplier, and the lack of performance at St. Pete. Roger Penske said he wanted to expand the schedule to a 20-race season, then Mark Miles said he was content with a 17-race season. Sounds like the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing. Kind of reminds you of how USAC fell apart in 1978-1980 and CART was formed in 1979. The schedule does need to increase — 17 is not enough. After all the talk about Mexico it has never happened, and whatever happened to Richmond?
Frustrated AE, Danville, IN
MP: Change in leadership at Richmond, plus COVID, meant the deal IndyCar struck to race there with the former leader was no longer in place afterwards. I sure hope that changes. I love that place.
Q: The Mailbag has been poking fun at some of the IRL cars and sponsors such as Rachel’s Chips the past few weeks, so I thought I would send this query.
I must say I got a chuckle when I received the UPS shipment notification email for my Indy 500 tickets from the “Indy Racing League” last week. At first I thought it was an oversight from the Penske organization to not update the name on their UPS account. However, I was told that is still technically the name of the legal entity operating the IndyCar Series. Is that true? If so, I would think it would make sense to change it at this point or at least use the “doing business as” name on their shipping. Kind of funny that they are still using Tony George’s company name.
Fred M, St Louis County
MP: I’ll have to look on the series’ trucks, but I do recall still seeing “Indy Racing League” on their doors.
Q: As a fan since ’75, why is it crazy of me to think it is time for Mr. Penske to ask Liberty if IndyCar can be the Saturday race at the three USGPs?
Gary, Urbana, OH
MP: He could ask, but I’m not sure F1 is interested in trying to promote a rival open-wheel series to its partisan audience.
Q: Car financier Don Cusick has owned at least three properties around the track at The Thermal Club. One real estate listing shows one of his homes with a garage stocked full of all kinds of toys including exotic sports cars, purpose-built race cars, go karts and dirt bikes. There is even a DW12 IndyCar which I believe Townsend Bell drove in the Indy 500. What influence did Cusick have in bringing IndyCar to The Thermal Club? Also, are there any other IndyCar-related people that own homes on the track?
Bob Gray, Canoga Park, CA
MP: As the story was told to me, it was conversations between the Penskes and Thermal’s founders, not Don, where talks began. But since then, Don has become the most visible proponent for the IndyCar+Thermal relationship, which fits his warm and boisterous character.
Q: In previous years I watched practice, qualifying and the race on the IndyCar timing screen. It’s really great info for what’s not on the screen at any given moment, especially during the race. On Friday I watched the timing screen and it’s been completely screwed up. Instead of viewing nearly all the field at once and seeing all the data at once, you now only see the top seven before needing to scroll down and lose that data. Also, you have to scroll left and right as one third of the screen is taken up with data on the proceedings, which leaves me baffled. Is this meant to be progress? Whoever thought this up needs to go to the back of the class, as a really good service has been badly depleted. Another Penske own goal. It’s as if they want us to stop following the series.
Oliver Wells
MP: I’d hope something bigger than a wonky new timing and scoring screen isn’t the thing that makes you quit IndyCar. But I can say I’ve had the same thoughts about the strange sizing of the T&S screen.
If you’re a user of Chrome as your browser, assuming you use a browser to view T&S, you might visit https://www.timing71.org/ and consider using its pop-up T&S software. You get a prompt on the top right of your screen asking if you want to launch its tool when you open the IndyCar T&S, and I quite like its simplicity.