Q: Do you have any insight into what appears to be a sudden change by IndyCar to be actively interested in a new chassis and engine changes? After the purchase by Penske, there was essentially nothing from the series in that regards, kind of like Kevin Bacon from “Animal House” standing there at the parade in his uniform saying everything is fine and not to panic. Then in the fall, we had Honda be brutally and publicly honest about its position with IndyCar. In the last week, we now have news articles about actual efforts to address the engine and chassis issues.
Looking back on things, was Honda the come-to-Jesus moment IndyCar leadership/ownership needed to get past the inertia? The competition is the best it has been for decades. The talent pool is solid with some really amazing drivers. Qualifying at Indy is crazy tight, and one bobble is the difference between pole and 22nd position.
The core ingredients are all there for growth in the series. There just isn’t a good social media team, no new major developments to drive interest/attention from new fans, and a huge financial burden placed on Chevrolet and Honda. So, back to the original question: Do you have any insight into what appears to be a sudden change by IndyCar to address some core issues with the series?
John
MP: There is no sudden motivation or interest from IndyCar to make a new chassis appear in 2027, but they’ve spoken like it is, which is confusing.
How’s this: The senior executives at Penske Entertainment received all of the hate from fans on the topic of guaranteed Indy 500 starting positions, so it put some PR spin on the subject and recently intimated that it might not do that after all. In the charter call with team owners, the series also declined to answer questions about those guaranteed Indy spots, but did go into how there would be 25-26 guaranteed spots at Toronto and Milwaukee and everywhere else.
I’m seeing the same thing here with the new-chassis talk. They get torn to shreds for fielding an ancient chassis and so now, all of a sudden, 2027 is the magic year to make something happen? It was news to teams and manufacturers, both of whom have called and asked for more details on what we were told by the series.
I want to see something new, just for the sake of having a fresh car to celebrate, and maybe that will happen, but for now, it’s all come across as Kool-Aid the execs want us to drink.
Q: I hope I’m not such a rube that I’m the only one who found all of the driver additions for 2024 to the CGR IndyCar team quite surprising. In light of the ongoing and more-recent IndyCar charters talk, could this have been a strategy to potentially having more entries grandfathered in before the actual rules of charters get set, or was this more unrelated happenstance/good fortune in having drivers and money show up at the same time in the same place?
I could have seen maybe having one extra driver heading into 2024 but that assumed Ericsson stayed. Given the Palou (shall we say,) “availability uncertainties,” to have Dixon signed, then officially retain Palou, lose Ericsson, take Armstrong full-time and still gain two new drivers? An embarrassment of unintended (and potential) riches, a completely planned and savvy strategy approaching charters/future engine leases, or do you feel this reality just a mixture of random and planned that fell together this way?
DZ, Goshen, IN
MP: The only surprise towards the end of the season was hearing the Simpson-in-2025 talk turn to Simpson-in-2024. I’ve understood that Kyffin wanted to go now, so that’s what the team made happen. On the charter side, I’m confident IndyCar will place a limit on how many a team can have. I’ve heard it’s three or four, which would mean at least one of the Ganassi cars would not be covered if that’s what ends up being ratified.
Q: I was really proud of what Rajah Caruth did on Friday night at Las Vegas. NASCAR has really done a great job in selling its series to a large segment of African Americans to get their youth involved. Kinda wish IndyCar would had done that years ago; it had Ernie Frances Jr. I hope Myles Rowe will be in the series in the next two years, and driving for a top team like Penske or Ganassi. And speaking of Ernie, I heard he’s back racing in the Trans Am series, which is somewhat disappointing. Hopefully he’s racing in NASCAR or IMSA by the end of 2024.
Alistair, Springfield, MO
MP: Ernie wasn’t ready for IndyCar, which is why that effort was put on ice. Based on what Rowe has showed us, he’ll be in IndyCar in 2025 or 2026, no question. Penske’s all-in with him and has bankrolled most of his racing activities since 2021 and was rewarded with the USF Pro 2000 Championship last season.
Francis is a heck of a driver and should absolutely garner interest in other series. He could use some help with personal media and promotions because that’s the one area where he hasn’t made a big impression. Such things didn’t matter until recently…
Q: I like stats and I enjoy compiling them, and IndyCar stats are sometimes not as well kept as F1 ones. Anyway, my question refers to teams. We all know when Ganassi or Penske wins a race, it’s another one for them, but what happens when it’s a partnership entry?
I’m thinking, for example, of Dan Wheldon’s 2011 Indy win. His entry was Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian/Sam Schmidt Motorsports. Or Rossi’s 2016 win, which was with Andretti Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian.
How are these wins (and poles, and starts) counted? Does Andretti, Herta and Curb get a win each? Is every entry counted as a different entity even if they all run from the Andretti shop? I wanted to know if there is some sort of consensus on how to count wins for teams.
Jordi Domenech, Manlleu, Catalonia, Spain
MP: Hi, Jordi, I asked my friend Scott Richards, a racing statistician, to help with an answer:
“Excellent question. From what I can tell in my research, it appears that the victory goes to the team/individual who is in majority control of the organization. For example, Wheldon’s 2011 victory is listed only as a victory for Bryan Herta Autosport since they controlled everything except for the actual car, which came from Sam Schmidt.
“By 2016, Herta’s team merged with Andretti Autosport, creating Andretti Herta Autosport. The team utilized Andretti-owned equipment and Rossi himself was hired by the Andretti team and placed in that car, so therefore his victory is counted towards Andretti Global totals. It would be the same situation in 2024 if Marco Andretti would win the 500; Andretti Global would be credited as the winning owner and not Curb, Herta, Agajanian or Marco himself who are all smaller co-owners.”