Q: Following the silly season news, I can’t help but feel that Oliver Askew has been receiving a pretty raw deal. True, he didn’t set Formula E on fire during his rookie season, but there are probably less impressive drivers who might still secure rides for next year. Andretti’s choice of Norman Nato (and Andre Lotterer before him) makes me wonder… why not Askew all along? I genuinely hope he’ll resurface in IndyCar for a career reboot. Oliver was on par with Pato in Indy Lights, and had a similar early career trajectory to his friend Kyle Kirkwood. By now, his concussion should be fully cured. He could be a hidden gem, poised for a strong comeback if given another opportunity. Do you guys have any information that suggests there’s hope he might return to IndyCar?
Cheers from Florida,
Maximilian
MP: He’ll get a shot to test with Ed Carpenter Racing later this month alongside Christian Rasmussen, so all is not lost for the 2019 Indy Lights champion.
He and ECR’s Rinus VeeKay ran 1-2 that season and raced each other hard and fair. I love the sound of them reuniting, but as teammates. Rasmussen should be of interest to more than ECR, so if Oliver does get the nod, I’d just hope it wouldn’t be at Christian’s expense to be on the grid.
Q: First, in last week’s Mailbag, Janis from Tampa asked about if there is enough fuel if the whole race is green. I read that comment as, “even with refueling, teams have XX gallons they can use in the race. If the entire race is green, is that enough?” I would expect the answer is still yes, even at full burn.
Second, I know the challenge that’s always stated is “can’t go up against football and win” for why the season ends when it does. OK, so don’t. MLB has games during the week, and my Brewers still can draw 30k+ fans for a weeknight game. Do you think the likes of Gateway, and other lighted tracks could potentially do an evening/night race, during the week with a 7pm local start for expanding the season into the fall? I don’t see why not. The issue would probably be track workers. I do think having a race during opening week of the NFL is a bad idea if it’s on Sunday. But why not try Friday night?
Otherwise do a race over Labor Day, skip a week for NFL opening weekend, and run in mid-September. What are your thoughts, and how would you potentially schedule a few fall races that would expand the season while still drawing decent TV numbers and decent attendance? Or do you feel that is a fool’s errand? I also think a 10am CST start time on Sunday could work and finish before noon games kickoff. F1 gets 1m+ for 8am starts.
Tyler, 3 miles from the Milwaukee Mile
MP: It’s entirely likely that I misunderstood the question, so hopefully Janis will forgive me. That’s an interesting thought on the Friday Night IndyCar Specials. F1’s U.S. fan base is accustomed to getting up early and enjoy their races from the comfort of a bed our couch or café for races that start in the afternoon or evening; I don’t see IndyCar fans rocking up for a breakfast start time.
We’re just a long way from IndyCar being popular enough to risk running when the NFL takes over television.
Q: F1 does not allow refueling in races (and it took me playing their official F1 team management game for me to realize that). Will IndyCar’s switch to hybrid engines put a stop refueling in IndyCar races? I wonder how the Iceman would adapt if fuel savings wasn’t a tactical option!
LA Open Wheel Fan
MP: There will be no changes in refueling practices. Fuel saving, and now energy recovery and usage, is another differentiator of skill.
Q: Whatever happened to the independent driver/field filler/start and park drivers in NASCAR? That used to make a race so special because you would have teams with few if any full-time employees, scuffed tires, hand-me-down cars and aging drivers just trying to make a race!
Kurt Perleberg
KELLY CRANDALL: It doesn’t make financial sense for that to happen anymore. With the charter system, if you are an open car that qualifies for a race, the payday is going to be significantly less. So with the high expense of a race and the purse not being worth it, so to speak, we’ve seen that practice fall by the wayside.
Q: What happened to Ross Chastain? He was consistently top 10 first in half the season, then besides Nashville, he’s been a nobody. Was it his dressing-down from Hendrick?
Shawn, MD
KC: I do believe it’s a combination of Chastain continuing to evolve, by his own admission, and the rest of the field catching up to Trackhouse Racing. The incident at Darlington Raceway between Chastain and Larson was very public and very ugly for Chastain, and it did make him look in the mirror about needing to be smarter. Even last year, there were plenty of times when it came down to what he could have done differently behind the wheel. But it’s also as simple as the rest of the competition catching up, and whatever advantage or procedures that were working well for Trackhouse Racing haven’t been the same, and they haven’t had the same speed they did in the past. Daniel Suarez is a good example — you can look at how well he ran last year versus what’s gone on with that 99 team this year.