Q: Now that we’ve heard about the IndyCar drivers you consider most underrated, let’s shift gears. What about cars? Which race car — past or present — do you feel is underrated? Are there one or two out there that you want fans to know and understand more about?
Mike, Rawlins, WY
MP: It won one race, so it might not stand out as being underrated, but my first thought went to Dan Gurney’s favorite car, the 1980-81 Eagle Indy car — the “Pepsi Challenger” driven to victory at Milwaukee by Mike Mosley.
All American Racers was on the downhill slope of its greatest success and profits as a chassis constructor, and on a highly restrictive budget, Dan let a young kid at the time — John Ward — pen his first car.
They couldn’t afford to buy the dominant Cosworth DFX V8 turbos, so they went with a stock-block naturally aspirated V8 that came with a weight break in the rules. And they went for a wild concept that skipped the in-fashion ground effects tunnels and made a car that looked like an arrow, using a fresh idea — what was dubbed B.L.A.T. — the boundary-layer adhesion theory –along the sides of the cockpit in place of big sidepods and fed wide and expanding rear bodywork, complete with a giant diffuser, to make ample downforce without needing the big and boxy and drag-inducing sidepods.
It was really fast at The Mile and also at Indianapolis, but was often regarded as a weird machine, or an untenable gimmick. It eventually received Cosworth DFXs as a handful of orders came in for the car, and those were quick as well, but that yellow 1981 car was the sweet spot for me in terms of innovation and trying to take on the established cars and engines with something that was altogether different.
Q: Forty-three years before Ugo Ugochukwu’s win, and also before Logan Sargeant, Santino Ferrucci and Richard Antinucci took podiums at Macau, there was another U.S. talent who took a surprise win in the Formula 3 race. It was Bob Earl in 1981 at Macau. Bob thought he would become another U.S. driver who would crack the F1 or IndyCar ranks, but had to settle for sports cars before calling it quits in 1993. The last that we knew about Bob was that he was a freelance driving coach. Is he still doing freelancing, or did he go on to other projects?
Juan Solano
MP: I see Bob at local vintage racing events, often coaching. Haven’t had a proper chat with him in a while, so I can’t say what else he’s doing.
Q: The world of sponsorship of big-time auto racing teams has certainly changed over the decades. I believe it used to be that teams hired drivers and teams found sponsors. I’m sure the above model is still used by some teams, but we all see that there is a second and third model being used, that of a driver finding a sponsor and then approaching a team with sponsor in tow. This seems to have a negative connotation, as it gets lumped in with the third model — that being, rich kid brings daddy’s money, or his own money perhaps, and basically buys a ride. We all hate that.
However, is there really anything wrong with a driver bringing a sponsor to a team? Wouldn’t a sponsor want to associate itself with a talented driver? I’m sure there are some cozy relationships between drivers and sponsors that are maybe not based so much on talent, but I would think most are. If all this is true, dear IndyCar, please have teams apply a prominent color-coded decal, perhaps to the roll-over hoop, depicting the three sponsorship models; this way, it will be easier for us fans to know who to root for and against.
Will, San Diego, CA
MP: Rooting for or against people based on nothing more than a color… as history has shown, there are no negatives to this plan. And maybe we could complete the trifecta by placing colors on the cars that also denote the drivers’ political and religious affiliations to make the booing louder.
Q: Reading your Mailbag response about Abel and Malukas both being interested in an IndyCar team made me wonder if there is any talk between either of them and Dale Coyne Racing? Also, I have not heard much about Logan Sargeant’s plan for next year. Would love to see him join IndyCar!
Tim Sheehy, Germantown, TN
MP: The Abels and the Ganassi team have gotten to know each other quite well over the last season. Prior to the charter system and strict three-car coverage limit, I think we might have seen some form of Ganassi-Abel connection with an entry.
Sargeant hopes to land a seat but has nothing in the works that I know of for 2025. He did test the week before last with the IDEC LMP2 team in Europe, and that team is one of Hyundai’s GTP/Hypercar development outfits, so he could be in the frame for a factory prototype deal.
Q: What would have happened with Renault’s F1 engines if Mercedes hadn’t dominated the V6 turbo hybrids since 2014? Will Renault dominate again?
Would Mercedes have slid to mediocrity if the V6 turbo hybrid wasn’t introduced?
How about potential new components of Dallara IR-27 IndyCar car from 2027 onwards?
Will the stillborn 2.4-liter V6 twin-turbo IndyCar engine be part of the regulations slated for 2027?
Given that the WRC will remove hybrids from next year, will the IndyCar Series consider remove hybrids in the future?
Therius Oktavio
MP: Renault would have been beaten by Ferrari and Honda, just as they are today. With Renault ending its F1 powertrain program, it will dominate the most-recent-engine-provider-to-leave-F1 championship.
Yes, but only in 2017.
Indeed, how about new components.
It’s very possible.
No.
Q: Felipe Nasr made the most of his test at Thermal. If Josef, Scott or Will were unable to start an IndyCar race would Penske/Cindric call Felipe up?
Speaking of Felipe, if my memory serves me correct, his 963 suffered a power steering failure at Indy. The onboards looked excruciating. What kind of steering wheel forces are we talking about — a Twinkie 35 feet long weighing 600 lbs?
Jonathan and Cleide Morris, Ventura, CA
MP: It would make a lot of sense for Filipe to be the first call. I also wonder if Penske would pull Malukas up to stand-in, since he’s at Foyt to prepare himself to become a Penske drive, and place a different driver in the Foyt car for the weekend.
But it should come as no surprise that Nasr is as good as any leading IndyCar driver. He’d be winning races for Penske in the series, or another top team.
Giant forces. With power steering on a 2000-plus-pound GTP car, there are no setup efforts made to make turning the car easier in the same way changes are made to an IndyCar without power steering. So when the assistance fails, it’s not just a heavy GTP car to turn, but also one that is as hard as possible. And, with that assistance, sports car drivers do not go full Hulk on upper body development because there’s no need, and because it’s excess weight. Not a fun time.