Q: Simple question: What makes a driver fast? Why are Juan Pablo Montoya or Jeff Gordon or Max Verstappen faster than other drivers? Why can’t another driver look at their throttle data and copy it?
Steve
MP: For the same reason you and I can watch hours of footage of Steph Curry’s shooting form and can’t replicate his ability to hit threes with machine-like consistency while 30-feet from the basket. Most of us can study and train like mad and mimic some of what the greats can do, but we aren’t all born with identical physical and mental capabilities.
Fast drivers: Hand-eye coordination is the first big attribute associated with driving prowess, and most sports in general. Rapid mental processing is another. Great feel — a network of physical inputs from one’s limbs and core and audio and ocular inputs — to read and assess the car’s state of stability and judge how much additional speed or load it can take without losing control is another. In the absence of great feel, great instincts — mostly of the reactive kind — and bravery will do. Situational awareness — unlike a one-on-one battle between a pitcher and a batter, fast driving usually involves the need to make speed with cars in your proximity and possibly limiting your ability to create maximum speed.
Adaptability is the last major attribute; since we don’t do single-lap events, speed is always a byproduct of adapting to changing track conditions, ambient conditions, tire grip, and fuel load. The car is never the same on two consecutive laps, so making driving adjustments or chassis adjustments is central to maintaining one’s speed.
Simple question with the opposite of a simple answer!
Q: I have seen this rumor posted in a couple of outlets, and I’m really hoping that it’s not true: Given that NASCAR said that its street race in Chicago was a success and they are going to race there next July, there has been a rumor floating around that NASCAR is going to go after the Long Beach Grand Prix once IndyCar’s contract expires. I can’t imagine that! Have you heard this?
Also, any update on how Stefan Wilson is doing? After what he went through this past May, I sure do hope that he gets another shot at the Indy 500 next year, and I know that many others feel the same way.
Scott Freeman, Bloomington, IN
MP: I’m told Stef’s on pace to get back into fast machinery near the end of December or in early January, and his team owner Don Cusick has been busy lining up their return at the Indy 500.
The LBGP has been rumored to be under attack and takeover by F1 and NASCAR for decades. I’m not saying it would never happen, but the event’s owners and administrators are IndyCar people to the core and that’s where my confidence is held in it continuing to serve as an annual celebration of open-wheel racing and sports cars in SoCal.
Q: Would IndyCar be best served replacing Max Papis as a steward to avoid the appearance of favoritism to his nephew now that Pietro Fittipaldi is full-time at RLL?
Gordon, Dallas, TX
MP: I doubt IndyCar would let Max rule on anything involving Pietro. But if the series is worried about appearances, it would indeed look to replace Max and Arie Luyendyk — who formerly advised Rinus VeeKay and his family — and start fresh next season.
Q: With the limited testing allowed, would you expect CGR to have Kyffin Simpson testing off-season in an older IndyCar?
Oliver Wells
MP: Not in an older IndyCar, but since his family has the financial means, Kyffin will be wearing himself out in Europe and possibly in Japan with an intensive testing program in Formula 2 and maybe Super Formula machinery to acquire all of the testing mileage IndyCar won’t allow rookies to gain at home.
Q: It seems most people are missing the point on the Thermal event. If you’re complaining about the price, the event wasn’t ever for you in the first place, and you weren’t going to go anyway. This is just another opportunity for whiner IndyCar fans to complain, as they love to do.
Please note:
They don’t have grandstands for 15k people.
They don’t have restroooms for 15k people.
They don’t have parking for 15k people.
They can’t handle a normal event at this facility, and they don’t want to — this is a neighborhood with a racetrack inside of it.
The alternative would be to let no one in (like last year), but instead they have created an event that fits the capabilities of the facility, and is priced to attract the type of visitors that blend in with the neighborhood, for lack of a better way of putting it.
I’m not going, but I don’t begrudge those who do. Maybe it offers a chance for a well-heeled visitor to become a fan and decide to sponsor a team. I wish them success.
John, Central California
MP: I’m not sure folks are missing any points here, John. Most of the wealthy folks I know actively avoid wasting money; that’s part of how they retain wealth. Paying $2,000 to attend an “exclusive” IndyCar event might be of interest to some, and I do hope to hear about the track selling a bunch of its “VIP Experience” tickets.
But:
The same wealthy folks who’ve paid millions of dollars to buy plots of land at the Thermal Club and build houses on that land were there in February for preseason testing, at a ticket price of zero dollars, and saw the IndyCar teams and its racing product. And had three days of opportunities to meet teams and express interest in buying into one or start their own team, or sponsor a team with their money or the money of whatever business(ses) they own or lead. To my knowledge, no buy-ins or sponsorship deals were struck. So, I hope IndyCar’s second appearance at Thermal will have a different outcome than the first, but let’s not forget how this experiment was tried in February and bore no fruit.
Also:
The same wealthy folks who might buy a $2,000 ticket for Thermal can spend $200 to see the same thing at a packed Long Beach where the spectacle — with an abundance of fans and the atmosphere of a big, celebratory event — would be every team’s first choice for an introductory affair in California to bring prospective owners/sponsors into their world. Doing so in relative anonymity in the Californian desert, with few fans and no “big event” feel, is a much harder sell. If you’re trying to get someone excited to invest, you take them to a place where the thing you’re selling is surrounded by excitement. I genuinely hope this event takes off, but let’s not position it as some sort of speed dating convention for wealthy racing fans to find their new partners.