Welcome to the RACER Mailbag. Questions for any of RACER’s writers can be sent to mailbag@racer.com. We can’t guarantee that every letter will be published, but we’ll answer as many as we can. Published questions may be edited for length and clarity. Questions received after 3pm ET each Monday will appear the following week.
Q: Looking at the Indy NXT lineup. I count 12 rookies out of 20 drivers. And to be honest, over half of these rookies have very little success in the lower ranks. Are there any past performance requirements needed to move up to NXT? I guess if you’ve got the backing, you qualify. Turn 1 at St. Pete should be interesting.
Markpenske, Buffalo, NY
MARSHALL PRUETT: I think of the junior open-wheel ladder series as levels of universities, and as we know, some students get accepted at the top schools because they have 4.0 GPAs, and some get in because their parents built a new library or football stadium to get their kid enrolled.
The cool thing about the USF Championships and Indy NXT is there’s no hiding the lack of talent, and IndyCar won’t license a joker who can’t get out of their own way. But why would we stop someone from going to school to try and find out if they have the goods to do big things in life?
Q: As I look forward to the 2024 IndyCar season getting underway, I wonder about the men and women who travel with the teams from race to race. How many team personnel are full-time and how many are seasonal? What do the seasonal folks do during the winter?
David Kincaid, Vancouver, Canada
MP: Some IndyCar teams bring in “weekend warriors” as they’re called, who help with crew duties, or dive over the wall to do pit stops, but that’s about it. The days of teams holding onto a small group of full-timers and hiring new (or former) staff to fill the secondary roles for the season and then get dropped afterwards are long gone. Qualified and experienced IndyCar personnel is the most valuable asset teams have, and that’s because the large numbers of ready-to-go crew that you could call and hire a few weeks before the start of the season no longer exist.
So many veterans have retired or moved onto other series, all without an influx of racing-educated replacements, that teams are having to find candidates from places they’d never considered like auto dealerships, kart teams, and so on — and train them in order to do the jobs they need done.
To that end, teams are paying more than ever to keep their crew. When I retired from working on IndyCar teams, I was making good money as an engineer. The entry-level position on most cars/crews is the front-end mechanic, and from what a few teams have told me, it’s way more than I made 20-plus years ago, and I’d make more money if I quit this media role and went to work at the bottom of the mechanic’s pecking order. All because there’s no longer a sizable group of vets looking for seasonal work.
As for what they do, there’s usually plenty of off-season testing, car and equipment refurbishment, new projects, and the chance to take a week off here or there to catch up on. Keep in mind that from the time crews come back after the New Year through the final race — sometime in mid-September — there are no vacations, and very few days off. For folks who work normal jobs, like their 40 hours a week, and get regular days off/vacations, the relentless schedule and constant travel would be a nightmare.
Q: On Friday received an email from the Thermal Club. I was receiving a refund of $1500 of the $2,000 ticket; no explanation. I emailed them and they responded quite quickly. Said nothing has changed, still three days, etc. They also stated they issued the partial refund because the county gave the Club permission to increase attendance.
I didn’t get a number for how many more it was increased to, but that’s a huge partial refund. And my refund hit my credit card account Saturday, the day after I received the email. What makes me a bit curious is that I didn’t see this on any IndyCar site I read, or on any forums. You would think if you reduced the price by 75% you’d be telling the world. And it being only a few weeks from the event seemed a bit strange to me.
Yes, I’m very happy about the partial refund. Obviously makes the three-day event more palatable at $500. Just thought I’d let you to know to inform your readers that the price has been drastically lowered. I checked the sales site; tickets are for sale at $500.
Gary P., Los Angeles, CA
MP: I know IndyCar was being hammered by its team owners for the silly prices — they, too, were having to spend $2000 a pop to bring guests, so this is great news for everyone.
Q: What is IndyCar? Is it a small Midwestern all-spec series, or is it a global series with innovation and a mix of street, oval and road courses? Would someone in 1995 use an engine and chassis from 1980, because that is what is occurring. I can get close racing at my local RC track for those worried about “close racing” but it doesn’t seem to matter for F1’s popularity.
Steve Mattiko
MP: According to IndyCar engine and chassis expert Mark Miles (that’s meant to be humorous, since Mark readily admits both are outside of his expertise), who spoke with me and the small group of dedicated reporters who still cover the series, the series is looking to introduce a new chassis in 2027. Or parts of a new chassis. Or maybe just new parts for the old chassis. If IndyCar does a new engine formula in 2027. The “if” is the important item to digest here.
But there’s no guarantee a new engine formula will be introduced in 2027, so there’s no guarantee of a new chassis. Or parts of a new chassis. Or new parts for the old chassis.
And based on a call I had with Miles a few days before the group call, the desire is there to marry an engine update with a chassis update at some point.
If that comes across as anything but firm, that’s an accurate take on the situation. Ifs and maybes, with no guarantees or fixed dates on anything.