Q: Now that we have an IMSA race on the Indy road course completed, I’m very curious to know how the GTP lap times compare to IndyCar lap times. I’m assuming the GTP cars are slightly slower, but by how much?
Thomas B. Rentschler Jr.
MP: The gap was about 3.5s. Graham Rahal’s August pole was a 1m10.1132s lap tour around the 14 turns in the No. 15 RLL Honda and Matt Campell fired the No. 7 PPM Porsche 963 around the road course with a lap of 1m13.672s to snare the GTP pole.
Q: I watched the USF Pro 2000 race at Sebring and was hugely impressed with the raw talent of Myles Rowe. He, of course, has since won the title and is now moving up to Indy NXT. However, since Indy NXT 2024 season doesn’t start for another five months, he will have a long layover with no racing activities. I think he could benefit from more off-season racing with series that are still active (e.g., in Europe) or are winter series (e.g., Formula Regional-Oceania or Middle East), or even sports cars. This would also expose him to foreign racing competition.
Has Myles ever discussed this with you? Is this something he would be interested in doing? Has he ever had an opportunity? Do you think this would be helpful to give him a head start to 2024?
I’m sure your response will be “if he had the money” but don’t you think IndyCar, a team, or a sponsor, would be willing to invest in their future star? Especially the most promising African American open-wheel race driver in a generation?
Scott, Miami
MP: Not sure why folks here love to tell me what my responses will be since those predictions are almost always wrong, but yes, he’d benefit massively from adding sports car racing — endurance racing, specifically — to his education, and he’s talented enough to not need to bring money.
Roger Penske has a long-term plan for Myles that will have him in IndyCar by 2025 or 2026, provided he continues winning when he gets to NXT. I know Myles has a desire to do more races, but he’s under the career direction of Penske and Force Indy leader Rod Reid, so if he’s going to pop up in IMSA, it would be as a result of what Penske or Reid arrange or bless.
Other junior open-wheel talents like Nolan Siegel and Bijoy Garg have been busy in IMSA this year, and I just saw Kevin Lee’s son Jackson will be making his SRO debut at the Indy 8 Hour event, so just like Pato O’Ward used a season of IMSA racing to rapidly advance his skills before returning and claiming the Indy Lights title, there’s no credible argument against limiting USF Championships or Indy NXT drivers to open-wheel series.
Q: I was talking to a buddy of mine a few weeks ago about racing and the subject of push-to-pass came up. He asked how it worked. Obviously I understand the driver pushes the button on the wheel to get the extra power but what controls it? The ECU? And could it ever be stuck open or act up?
Lastly, Helio is now part-owner of MSR. Did he put any of his money into it, or is it more of an ambassador/figurehead role?
Cory, PA
MP: The cars use electronic turbocharger wastegates, which limit how much boost is fed to the engine. Pressing the P2P button sends an instruction to the ECU to allow for a higher boost pressure — and the added power it allows the engine to make — while it’s engaged.
I’m not aware of Helio having to buy into the team, but he is engaged in finding new sponsors and maintaining the team’s sponsor relations — something he’s made for — and will profit from both activities.
Q: It’s about 12:30pm on Sunday May 26, 2024 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Rain has been falling on and off all morning. IndyCar officials have decided to push back the start of the Indy 500 as track drying efforts continue.
Luckily, it’s not a huge delay and the race gets underway at 1:30pm, but an hour later rain starts falling again. After nearly three hours of the red flag being out, the rain has stopped and the track is dry. IndyCar is ready to throw the green flag again.
Kyle Larson has so far run a solid race, looking comfortable in the top half of the field. Is he strapped into Arrow McLaren’s No. 17 ready to go at the restart, or is he on a private jet headed to North Carolina?
Zac, Melbourne, Australia
MP: You win the “Most Creative Way To Ask A Question” award for this one, Zac. Since we’re having to guess about a hypothetical situation, I’d say Larson will complete the 500 since so much money and effort has been invested and it has Rick Hendrick all the way in on its creation. Missing one of dozens of Cup races won’t affect his ability to make it into the Chase.
Q: Will IndyCar pit stops be longer next year with the hybrid engines? How will they be different?
Lee
MP: I can’t think of anything that would be any different during pit stops. Same fuel tank capacity of 18.5 gallons, and there’s no interaction with the energy recovery system during the pit stop that is planned.