Q: You’ve covered the departure of Michael Andretti extensively, however I just wanted to say how incredibly sad I find this.
I’m somewhat indifferent to Michael. However, whether it’s the link to a genuine motorsport legend in Mario, his achievements as a driver but arguably it’s his role as a team owner starting in the Andretti Green days to what it is now is more impressive. He kept four cars on the grid for many years when IndyCar struggled to field high-quality entrants and respectable grid sizes.
His commitment to Indy Lights when the series was fielding 8-10 cars, and a while a driver’s nationality isn’t important to me, he’s given opportunity to Americans in a way Roger and Chip never have. The ambition to be in other series was also commendable.
Was the F1 dream is Icarus moment? From the outside at least his tone and demeanor after securing the massive investment from Group 1001 and Guggenheim appeared to change. Trying to shoehorn Formula 1 teams to bend to his will was also just massively naïve.
Can we assume that post-investment, Michael gave up majority ownership? Like many, I don’t believe for one minute he just decided to go and sit on the beach in light of his ambition to keep growing.
2025 without an Andretti in the paddock is just very sad.
JK
MP: I haven’t seen any paperwork that spells out who owns what at Andretti Global after Michael’s exit, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to learn his departure involved selling most or all of his stake to Towriss. A person who owns half (or nearly half) or more of a team doesn’t just turn into a special advisor and brand ambassador while wielding big decision-making power. Agreed, it’s just sad.
Q: Big Possum is a big fan of Alexander Koreiba and hope he gets the funding and the chance he deserves in his quest to compete in IndyCar.
Big Possum has never seen anyone so dedicated to the sport and the eternal search for funding — Alexander certainly has the talent, personality, drive, determination, and PR skills necessary to be a successful IndyCar driver. It will now be up to the racing gods – may they have mercy on him.
Big Possum
MP: Amen.
Q: What is it about Road Atlanta makes it unsuitable for an IndyCar race? Would it be possible to make track changes to make it suitable, and what would those changes need to be?
Ben Greenwald
MP: The extreme speeds at multiple sections of the track and insufficient runoff area to slow an open-wheel car in those areas. Turn 1 is a perfect example – a brake failure there in a GT or a prototype would look like a plane crash, but those are cars with roofs, full cages, and a ton of crushable structures. An IndyCar has none of those things.
Q: I was wondering if Ganassi has finalized its IndyCar line-ups for the 2025 season? If not, have you heard anything that would help with who they might sign?
A hopeful Ganassi fan,
Reid
MP: Yes. Alex Palou, Scott Dixon, and Kyffin Simpson. Simpson’s formal confirmation might be here before the end of the month, but there’s never been a question about whether he’s continuing.
Q: Life-long IndyCar fan here, going back to 1953. We used to talk about businesses and describe some as being out of business, but just not realizing it yet. Honestly, that is my view of IndyCar. It appears that the powers are working like hell but not making any progress.Each year is just trying to have 16 or 18 races, several of which have abysmal attendance, and the next year seeing a couple drop off and they’re trying to replace them to have a full schedule.Then repeating the same thing the next year.
It appears there is so much competition for the fans, for sponsorship and for TV time that it’s a never-ending fight but nothing really happens. They’re essentially treading water. Where am I wrong, and how does the series look in three, five, eight and 10 years?
James Riddle, Highlands, NC
MP: Texas fell off the calendar for 2024, but it’s only been additions in recent years outside of that change with Nashville, Thermal, and Milwaukee being added, so I’m not sure the facts support that take.
There are some events with abysmal attendance — Laguna Seca, Detroit, the Indy GP, and Portland stand out first – and we have no data on Thermal until it hosts its first points-paying race and welcomes a larger crowd. WWTR/Gateway has been in a steady decline, which is sad, after the first few races there on IndyCar’s return looked truly impressive. Texas was depressing for crowd sizes, but that’s gone, and then you have Milwaukee, which surpassed all expectations, and Nashville Speedway, which did the same.
The reality is there’s more good on the per-event attendance side than bad. But it could always be better. As for treading water and IndyCar’s future, next year will be hugely impactful in how its future plays out.
Depending on the team, budget increases are said to have been 30-40 percent in 2024. There’s no financial relief coming to the full-time teams by way of the charter, since it doesn’t include profit sharing or any kind of percentage of the new TV contract, so team will need to find investors or new/more sponsorship dollars to cover off that extra 30-40 percent needed to operate.
Depending on how many new investors can be found among the many teams, and how good the all-FOX broadcast ratings happen to be to then sell at a higher rate to sponsors, next season will set the stage for whether teams can sustain themselves in the new and far more expensive IndyCar Series.
The only other option is to make changes to the series to reduce costs, and the only effective way to do that would be to start cutting races. Dial the schedule from 17 races down to 13, which reduces the engine mileage and engine bill, and cuts the tire usage and tire bill, and the wear and tear, and consumables, and travel costs. But nobody wants fewer IndyCar races, not with a six-month offseason, and that’s not what Penske will do. So that means dialing up the revenue. Critical year ahead.