The RACER Mailbag, September 6

Q: Any merit to the rumor that Lance Stroll will retire at the end of this season and Alex Palou will take his Aston Martin F1 seat?

Ralph, Indianapolis

MARSHALL PRUETT: Couldn’t tell you on the Lance part, but Palou will be driving for Ganassi next year and beyond, which we told you about a month ago, and Chip confirmed on Sunday.

CHRIS MEDLAND: It’s a no from me. I do still find it hard to to shake the feeling that Lance might decide he wants to race in other categories or make a career change given his recent struggles, but his return from his broken wrists earlier this year shows his determination so I don’t see him retiring from F1 just yet. And while Lawrence Stroll would probably like to get one over Zak Brown by poaching Palou, I don’t see Aston taking that risk on a driver who hasn’t started a grand prix.

Q: Will Max Verstappen ever compete in IndyCar, or the Indianapolis 500, or in NASCAR or in the Daytona 500? And will Curtis Turner or Smokey Yunick ever get inducted into the NASCAR Hall Of Fame?

Kurt Perleberg

MARSHALL PRUETT: No on Max and IndyCar. Who knows on Max and NASCAR, and Smokey belongs in every racing hall of fame.

KELLY CRANDALL: Well, they say never say never… but I’ve never seen him express any interest in NASCAR.

Curtis Turner was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2016. Smokey Yunick has never been nominated for the NASCAR Hall of Fame, so the nominating committee must feel strongly about something to not give him a chance for selection by being on a ballot. The assumption is that it’s because of the rift that once existed between Yunick and the France family.

Q: It seems that fewer and fewer V8 engines are being sold in vehicles. Is NASCAR blind to the fact that engines used by the teams are not really production pieces readily available to the buying public in cars? It seems ridiculous that some of the cars being raced as stock cars cannot be purchased in the configuration raced (V8 engine) at a dealership, even ignoring that there is little similarity between the race car shapes and the ones available to be purchased at a dealership. When did the rules start outweighing reality?

Pete Pfankuch, Wisconsin

KELLY CRANDALL: I don’t think NASCAR cares. They aren’t in the engine-selling business — the manufacturers are. But I don’t think they care either. Let’s be honest: there has been nothing “stock” about a “stock car” in decades, so folks really need to let that go. The manufacturers do care about trying to add more character to their race car bodies — something they’ve tried to do more over the last few years — that resemble the production counterpart because they want fans to see something relatable on the track. But that comes down to the box NASCAR puts them in regarding the car design and rules.

Q: Since when do you need a super license and super license points to race in NASCAR? Especially on an oval where it’s two left turns, or maybe three! Sarcasm aside, I’ve heard rumors that NASCAR doesn’t want to let Shane van Gisbergen in full-time next year due to a lack of experience on ovals. That seems like a very F1 elitist-type of thing to do. I realize pack racing on a superspeedway is no joke. I also realize Travis Pastrana has some experience, but it had been a couple years since the last time he’s done it and SVG is a professional at the top of the sport. Is anyone with some common sense able to remove that barrier if that’s the route Trackhouse wants to take?

Ryan, West Michigan

KELLY CRANDALL: There is an approval process that every driver has to go through, and that process can be different depending on a driver’s resume and credentials. NASCAR wants drivers of all disciplines to come and compete in the sport, and they will work to make that happen. In talking about Shane van Gisbergen in particular, he has a road/street course background and was approved for those races. He then ran an oval at Indianapolis and did very well, which will be considered going forward.

But when it comes to superspeedways, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s required to run a race in a lower division before being approved for a national series start. But it bears repeating, every driver’s process is different, so considering van Gisbergen’s credentials, he may not have to take that route. Time will tell once van Gisbergen is confirmed to compete next season and has his NASCAR license.

Q: Why do F1 drivers sit on the ground while their cars are being prepped on the starting grid instead of in chairs?

Bill, IL

CHRIS MEDLAND: I don’t mind admitting I had no idea about the answer to this other than it had just become a habit to conserve energy during longer grid ceremonies rather than standing in the heat the whole time. They’re in race suits, don’t forget, so they can overheat, and sitting allows them to shade themselves completely with an umbrella, if not the wall itself.

So I asked one of the drivers’ trainers — Rupert Manwaring, who works with Carlos Sainz — and he said with the amount of kit that they already carry to the grid a chair would be a bit of a pain, but the window to use it is also small. After getting to the grid to talk with engineers, drivers tend to return to the garage and use the bathroom, then walk back in time for the anthem, and generally get in the car very quickly after that. So while they’re sometimes pictured sitting against a wall to get in the zone, they’re not sitting there for long.