Q: Which drivers are still looking at seats for 2024, and where do you realistically see them going… if anywhere?
Kasey
MP: By the time you read this, Grosjean might be confirmed at Juncos Hollinger, so that would leave Callum Ilott (Coyne, Foyt), Conor Daly (not sure), Jack Harvey (Coyne, Foyt), Devlin DeFrancesco (Coyne, Foyt), Sting Ray Robb (Coyne, Foyt), Danial Frost (Coyne), Hunter McElrea (not sure), Enzo Fittipaldi (Coyne), Theo Pourchaire (Coyne, not sure), Matthew Brabham (not sure), and RC Enerson (not sure). Then we have Simon Pagenaud (not sure) to consider, and I’m sure I’m forgetting a couple of names.
Devlin, Sting Ray and Enzo are all said to have significant funding, so that would place them at the head of the queue.
Q: Usually I have a question, but this is just a mini rant of sorts:
As much as I didn’t like how the Juncos/Ilott relationship ultimately ended, I really feel for Ricardo Juncos. He plucked Callum Ilott from the F2 ranks and they built something special together. What’s more, Ricardo’s story is amazing and is very inspiring. But he was also unfairly centered in last season’s drama into a no-win scenario. People on the internet need to learn that what you say has an effect on people (myself included). The internet drama wasn’t the sole reason for their split, but it didn’t help by any means.
I sincerely hope this is something the team, Callum and many on the internet, can quickly put behind them. I welcome the new, passionate fans from abroad but let’s all learn from this. I also hope Callum gets a ride soon in an opportunity he deserves.
Rob, Rochester, NY
MP: When Ricardo called during the summer of 2021 to say he was bringing his team back to IndyCar with a new partner in Brad Hollinger, he sought input on drivers the new Juncos Hollinger Racing team might hire to lead the single-car outfit. There were the usual suspects to consider who were out of IndyCar and looking for a way back, but the Argentinian was clear with his criteria: He wanted someone fresh and new who could put JHR on the map.
Three drivers came to mind, and Ilott was at the top of my list by a mile. I didn’t know him, but the guy was insanely talented and in need of a break after Formula 1 seats failed to materialize. With an assist from RACER’s F1 reporter Chris Medland, who supplied Ilott’s mobile number, Juncos had his guy. Ricardo did give something significant to Callum with the opportunity in IndyCar, but Juncos got just as much, if not more from the deal, than Ilott, who took the team to heights it had never seen.
But let’s be clear: This failure was 100 percent centered on the social media blowups and the fractures that developed as a result of the incidents. Positioning Juncos as some sort of victim is a new one.
Q: I remember scuttlebutt a few years ago about a Calgary race to replace Edmonton that sadly never panned out. This past year, the FIA Grade 2 Rocky Mountain Motorsports Race Circuit opened, located 30 minutes north of Calgary and two and a half hours south of Edmonton. If a return to multiple Canadian venues is a possibility, wouldn’t this be an ideal location to recapture those fans of Edmonton and Vancouver races past? How about a Canadian Triple Crown with it, Toronto and CGV or Mont Tremblant?
Ron, St. Catharines, Ontario
MP: I’d love to get back to making multiple IndyCar trips to Canada. I believe it was Arrow McLaren’s Ric Peterson who was trying to get the Calgary race going, but I haven’t heard anything about it or the one you mention at Rocky Mountain and an IndyCar race. If we’re going north more than once, let’s also take Indy NXT to Trois-Rivieres; that event was a blast.
Q: To expand on Dave Wells in the October 25 Mailbag, it made me wonder about reserving a spot in the Indy 500 for the fastest female racer. Do you know if such a thing has ever been seriously discussed? Eventually expanding that to two and then three could lead to confidence from families and backers to make the expensive, long-term investment required to make it to IndyCar.
Based on history, women drivers are plenty fast to make the field, so this wouldn’t be charity or a gimmick. Just a level of certainty to accelerate money moving in that direction. Same could be used for black racers.
Then eventually maybe we’d have the “10 more Simonas” legacy you mentioned, and 10 more Myles Rowes coming up the ladder series, and 10 black women IndyCar drivers for whom we don’t yet have a role model.
Or maybe there are big driver development initiatives in the works to complement the Race for Equality and Change? WIndycar? NXT REC?
Ken Niese
MP: Assuming this is a serious submission, no, I’ve never heard of IndyCar contemplating guaranteed Indy 500 spots based on race, gender, nationality, political party, or religious ideology. That would be a great way to kill the series and race, for what it’s worth.
The women racers I worked with back in the day, and those I know who are active today, would bristle at the idea of a “women’s entry” at the Indy 500. Again, assuming this isn’t a joke, it’s the definition of a gimmick.