Q: Why didn’t Tony George just fund four or more drivers he thought were deserving or being passed over for lack of funding instead of creating an entirely new series and basically making the series irrelevant? It is not like anyone who did well in the IRL stayed to become big stars — they went to NASCAR ASAP. Plus, the schedule ended up having less ovals than before.
Steve
MP: I might not love what George’s Indy Racing League did to American open-wheel racing, but the main question posed here is one I don’t follow. George, like thousands of people before him, didn’t like something in the marketplace and felt he could do something better, so he brought his own product to market. It’s the spirit behind every business I can think of. My father was a mechanic at a dealership, thought he could do bigger and better things for himself and his family if he started his own car repair shop, and did. In his case, he was right. As for George, I can’t fault the guy for taking his shot.
The IRL wasn’t the only series to see its best leave for bigger opportunities. Jacques Villeneuve won the CART title and left for F1. Alex Zanardi won CART titles and went back to F1. Juan Pablo Montoya won the CART title and left for F1.
Q: Last week, Stuart from Pittsboro asked about how many people it took to lay the 3.2 million bricks at IMS. Here is what The History Channel says:
“Instead of the concrete surface that other racecourse builders were using, Fisher covered his track with a sticky amalgam of gravel, limestone, tar, and 220,000 gallons of asphaltum oil. For months, 500 workers and 300 mules laid layer after layer of the gooey mixture on the Indy loop and pulled steamrollers across it, pressing the roadway into a solid mass.”
D. Mason Crawfordsville, IN
MP: The Mailbag delivers again!
Q: Regarding Stuart from Pittsboro’s question from last week’s Mailbag. The First Super Speedway website may offer some insight. I’ve found an article mentioning about 200 workers being employed for the initial grading works. Looks like there is plenty of information to be found on the early years of the speedway on there.
Michi
MP: The Mailbag delivers again… this time, with conflicting information!
Q: Seems fairly clear after a year of LMH vs. LMDh competition in the WEC that the performance of the two Hypercar platforms is not balanced, since LMDh is yet to win a race. I agree with you that, to paraphrase Mars Blackmon, “It’s gotta be the tires!” The LMH all-wheel drive hybrids get more performance out of theirs than the RWD LMDh cars, especially as the stint goes on.
So how about this for simple solutions? a) Give the LMDh entrants more tires, enough to reduce or eliminate double-stinting, or b) reduce the length of the stints for all Hypercar competitors, thus reducing the tire wear advantage?
I think either of those is simpler than messing with the cars themselves.
Ed Joras
MP: Giving LMDh entries more tires would mean they’d make more pit stops than the Hypercars, and the extra time spent on pit lane would likely negate any on-track advantage those tires would produce. This is history repeating itself. Audi brought its all-wheel-drive 200 model to Trans Am in 1988 and destroyed the rear-wheel-drive cars. The SCCA kicked it out of Trans-Am after one season. So Audi built a wilder AWD car, the 90, and took it to IMSA’s GTO class in 1989. It destroyed the RWD cars. And IMSA booted it after one season.
So, when the ACO/WEC and IMSA couldn’t agree on a single prototype formula — with IMSA wanting the cost-friendly RWD LMDh cars as the only solution — the ACO/WEC decided on doing its own thing with Hypercar where AWD and other high-cost items would be permitted. And, in the first combined WEC season with Hypercars pitted against LMDhs in the books, we have the totally unsurprising score of 7-0 for AWD Hypercars…
Exactly how the ACO/WEC brings the different formulas to a level playing field is beyond me because if it didn’t work 30-plus years ago with the AWD Audi, I don’t know what they could do next year without neutering the Toyotas and Ferrari, which would cause a revolt. It’s just as dumb as dumb gets.
Q: This year, the IndyCar support series witnessed broken barriers. In 2024, Myles Rowe will be only one step from becoming the first African-American to become an IndyCar driver since George Mack in 2002. But Myles is not the only driver who is breaking barriers.
We can also talk about Ugo Ugochukwu, who recently finished second in the Italian Formula 4 Championship and became champion in a three-event Euro 4 series. I was so sad after his weekend in Macau, but he has proven that he is the best U.S. prospect for 2024 who will compete in Europe. He recently tested major FIA F3 machinery, but he is a long way from a top 10 performance. And as a McLaren development driver, what are Zak Brown’s comments about his 2023 season as Ugo gets prepared for the Formula Regional European Series in 2024?
JLS, Chicago, IL
MP: McLaren’s Emanuele Pirro, who heads its driver development efforts, sent this in as a response:
“Ugo has had a very good 2023 season with the runner-up position in the Italian F4 Championship and the win in the Euro 4 championship. In particular, I liked his progression throughout the season, finishing very strong in both series. This is a path which is in line with the high target that we have for him and the other members of the Driver Development Program, which is to become F1 ready and earn a seat in the McLaren F1 team.
“In the 2024 season, Ugo will step up in Formula Regional by Renault. With his strong 2023 performance, he has secured one seat in the Prema Power team for which he raced this season. Then in the McLaren DDP, the expectations are high because we want to find and nurture the Landos and Oscars of the future. For the moment, Ugo is well on target and I wish him the best of luck.”