Q: When teams talk about setup, other than camber, tire pressure and damper stiffness, what does that entail? What is the magnitude of those changes? Millimeters or inches?
Shawn, MD
MP: Lots of units of measurements including metric and standard, with millimeters and inches, with inches expressed not in fractions, but decimals. You also have degrees for angle measurements with camber and wing elements.
Of the most common items of adjustment with chassis setup, you have camber, castor, toe, ride height, anti-roll bar stiffness, coilover springs on the four dampers, springs on the third dampers/heave springs front and rear, packers/shims on the third dampers, damper build changes, geometry changes through moving the suspension mounting blocks, and wing angle or gurney flap changes. There’s gear ratio changes and differential changes that are also regular factors — more on the ratios side — in setup changes.
Q: Why on earth would IndyCar have a street race in Dallas when there is a magnificent speedway in Fort Worth? TMS has had some of the most entertaining and exciting IndyCar races in series history. The track has awesome amenities, great parking and it’s easy to get in and out. There is not a bad seat in the house and you can see the entire track. Street races have very limited sightlines, minimal passing and tend to be single file with an occasional banzai pass.
I live in the DFW area and have attended most of the IndyCar races at TMS since the track opened nearly 30 years ago. Next to the 500, the Texas race was my favorite event. I have attended races at Indy (55 straight), Texas, Fontana, Sonoma, St. Louis, Michigan, Houston, Homestead, Disney, Phoenix, Long Beach, Laguna Seca and St. Pete. The street races that I have attended were absolutely boring.
I hope IndyCar is reading this. This street race is a stupid idea and I won’t be wasting my time and money. Time for everyone involved to get their heads out of their asses. Ditch the street race and get back to TMS!
DB, Texas
MP: Why try something new when there’s something old and unsuccessful to hold onto?
Having been to TMS 20-plus times since the first IndyCar race and seen it become a shadow of its former self in terms of attendance, the argument to do nothing new and go back to where IndyCar was a failure is not one that can be made if the series is going to grow.
And who knows, maybe the race around the Cowboy’s stadium will be a failure. Considering the sorry state of that team and its penchant for failure, it just might rub off on the race. But since TMS has a long history of delivering small IndyCar crowds, it makes sense to try something new to see if something better can be done down the road in Arlington. And if that event sucks, there’s always TMS to consider.
Q: IndyCar heading to Dallas is great news. Easy city to fly into. This is a perfect example of sanctioning money. Who is paying IndyCar $1 million to race there? The City of Arlington? The Dallas Cowboys? Jerry Jones? Who is shelling out the cash to make this happen?
Bob Gray, Canoga Park, CA
MP: We’ll have all the details when it’s announced on Oct. 8, provided the date holds.
Q: The IndyCar season is over and now IndyCar stories are mostly about the FBI, Michael Andretti being demoted, and Ed Carpenter getting a new partner. The announcement regarding the future race in Dallas is positive and I hope it doesn’t follow the Boston GP or the Hawaiian Super Prix in never coming to fruition.
It should be noted that IndyCar has nothing on the calendar until March of next year. Formula 1 has six more grands prix through the first week of December, NASCAR has six more race weekends through November 10th, the NHRA has three, and even the Outlaw sprint cars will run at seven more venues through mid-November.
When nearly half a calendar year passes with no IndyCar races when all other key motorsport entities are still quite busy, is it little wonder why IndyCar struggles to remain viable in the public consciousness?
Alex Palou has just won his third IndyCar championship in four years — an amazing accomplishment the likes of which the series hasn’t witnessed since Dario won four of five in 2007, 2009-11. Yet, Speedway, Indiana aside, if one entered 99% of the nation’s sports bars and brought this up to any of the patrons, the unanimous response would be, “Alex who?”
I believe the IndyCar Series drivers champion should be revered on a level along with all other sports championships for individuals. I believe most of those who log on to RACER and review these comments would agree with me.
The masses still need to be sold.
James Herbert Harrison
MP: All great points. Palou is Ganassi’s new Dixon in rapid success and, sadly, his ability to walk anonymously down almost any street in America. Meanwhile, IndyCar wets itself with excitement whenever it finds an influencer — inevitably with 2X or 3X the followers of Palou, if not more — to play with IndyCar for the weekend. In terms of effort and priorities here, the math ain’t mathing when there’s a greater emphasis on embracing disposable influencers than growing the reach of the series’ mainstays.
Q: Most of the charter deal is good for IndyCar. The part I do not like is the cap of 27 entries outside of Indy. Tracks like Iowa, WWTR, Milwaukee, Portland and Road America can easily race 30 cars. So, IndyCar is saying “we are closed for new business.”
And if you’re going to have your 25 charter teams, then either expand the Leaders Circle money to 25 teams or make it available to all 27 entries, since the other two (PREMA) can’t buy a charter unless a current charter team downsizes or leaves. Penske has left no room for new teams to compete in IndyCar. Between Penske and Miles, they have been drinking too much of what Zak Brown has been serving up.
AE, Danville
MP: There’s some great aspects to the charter program, but yes, in every way possible, it’s about protecting the “made men” with the 10 existing teams and not opening the books for any new earners (Can you tell I’m writing this while Donnie Brasco is on in the background).
Zak didn’t dream up the charter.