Q: Was noticing at the Indy 500 that the cars do not have the new vents on the front of the aeroscreen. Are they using the old, heavier aeroscreens, or are there two versions of the new, lighter one?
Craig
MP: The plan for 2024 is to use the lighter new screens with the new vents on road and street courses, and to stick with the thicker “old” screens for ovals.
Q: Did Dale Coyne ever consider putting Jack Harvey in the car at Indy this year with the difficulties that the team was having getting up to speed with Nolan Siegel?
Kasey
MP: I don’t know, but since Dale was being paid by the Siegel family to run Nolan in the car, I can’t see how he could take their money and be contractually permitted to replace Nolan with another driver. Also, I’m sure a veteran would have done better, but I don’t think Newgarden could have gotten that car into the field.
Q: I was at the Speedway for qualifying on Saturday and enjoyed being there. However, I did feel bad for Nolan Siegel struggling to find speed in his car after he crashed the day before. I heard the Dale Coyne crew had to go to a road course car for a back-up. In that situation, was there ever an option for Dale Coyne to approach another team in Gasoline Alley to buy, beg, borrow, or steal a chassis that is readily suited for ovals rather than cannibalize a road course car?
Brandon Karsten
MP: It wasn’t Dale doing the asking, but yes, a well-known figure in the paddock reached out to bigger and faster teams to see if they could rent optimized components to help Nolan’s car make more speed, and there were no takers.
Q: The NBC graphics showed some cars qualifying in fourth gear, some in fifth and some in sixth. Your explanation?
Rick Smith, San Diego, CA
MP: Teams usually use the top three gears with small rev splits between them so drivers can downshift if when a drop-off in speed happens to they can keep the motor in its sweet power band spot at all times.
Q: So much is made of a driver “doing the double.” It is spoken and written of as some sort of awesome accomplishment. To me it seems unadmirable; a greedy stunt. Surely a driver cannot give both events, separated by a hectic transfer rigamarole, their best.
Most in a position to do so, don’t. What do you, and what do full-time Indy drivers, think of those who attempt it?
Anthony Jenkins, Brockville, Canada
MP: This is the first I’ve ever heard of trying to attempt something arduous and rare as greedy. I respect it, which is all I’ve heard other drivers say about it.
Q: Not to push another conspiracy but when asked why he knew in March that the Penske cars would be the fastest at Indy, Will Power said that “the other guys don’t have the new pushrods.” Please tell me that with spec chassis and spec power plants Penske has something others don’t have.
Can you elaborate?
Skip Ranfone, Summerfield, FL
MP: Will often speaks in a cryptic manner where he can say the opposite of what he means to say. I’m not familiar with this quote, but it sounds like he’s saying the opposite of what I understand the situation to be. When the new DW12s arrived in 2012, they had normal suspension pushrods that worked as intended.
When IndyCar allowed Chevy and Honda to make custom aero kits in 2015, downforce skyrocketed and those original DW12 pushrods were bending in testing at some tracks, so IndyCar called for an update where bigger and beefier pushrods were introduced to withstand the crazy downforce figures. And those pushrods remained on the cars — they’d become the new norm — after aero kits went away in 2018.
Well, some enterprising teams, having noticed the original and smaller/thinner pushrods were never banned, realized they would have an aerodynamic advantage at the Speedway if they installed the old 2012 pushrods since they cut through the air with a smaller profile and wake.
I can’t say this for sure, but I believe Team Penske was not clued into the old-pushrod game at Indy through 2023, and that — if trying to interpret Power’s comments — would have been a disadvantage to his team. But they were outlawed by IndyCar this year, so all teams are on the same thicker/beefier pushrods to eliminate any aero advantages in this area.
Q: During Indy 500 qualifying Will Power mentioned in an interview that Penske had new uprights and if teams were not running them they wouldn’t have a chance. I know teams have freedom to develop things like dampers and uprights and such, but did Team Penske have a breakthrough after 12 years of running the DW12 and seven years of this iteration?
Joey, Florida
MP: All teams were required to buy and use new, stronger rear uprights in reaction to the upright failure Kyle Kirkwood had in last year’s race when he was hit and had the wheel assembly break free from the upright. Coming back to an earlier point, I don’t always understand what my guy DJ Willy P is talking about.
Q: I noticed during qualifying the Penske cars were carrying onboard cameras, but not the camera on the roll hoop that lets us see the drivers pushing buttons on the steering wheel. Are teams allowed to refuse certain cameras, or is this something specific to Penske?
Brandon Clarke, Milford, OH
MP: I was on pit lane for most of qualifying so I didn’t see the broadcast and what you’re referring to, but a commentator friend from F1 texted to ask the same question about the lack of Penske cockpit footage, so it clearly stood out.
I can’t say what happened here, but I did notice the Penske overhead cameras being shown Monday on the Peacock practice show.
Teams are required to pay $375,000 for the season to have the overhead camera, so since they have to pay to get it, I’d assume they have the right to say whether they do or don’t want it turned on.