Welcome to the racer’s mail bag. Questions for racer writers can be sent to emailbag@racer.com. We love hearing your comments and opinions, but letters containing questions are likely to be published. Any questions received every Monday after 3pm will be saved the following week.
Q: I know that street alternatives are still an item under development and definitely part of the promotion of sustainability, but they really need to be rethinked. I love the fact that Indycar is trying something, but seeing the beginning of the race and most of the field throw them away on lap 4 and throw them away, it really makes them look more like a gimmick than a pure strategy.
We know there have only been a few instances like the Reds, but in most cases their degradation was not that extreme (especially if you have a sixth feeling about doing it last with minimal dropout). Additionally, there is usually a performance delta large enough, leading to very interesting strategies.
Alan Bundy, Salvar, Pennsylvania
Marshall Pruett: The good thing is that we shouldn’t experience a zero life alternative in Detroit until June. The road course lasts long, has thermal favourite tires, and you’ll think you’re good at Barber and Indy GP. After Detroit, the other Zero Life Street course remaining on the schedule is Toronto, so this experimental IndyCar is more than half, affecting only two of the remaining 14 races.
With the long production lead times for making racing tires, there is no option for Firestone to alternate street courses ahead of Detroit and Toronto, but I can’t imagine this going to continue in the same way next year.
Q: I was reading “Penske Entertainment, which is about to bring Penske Entertainment to more IndyCar events.” Isn’t it completely clear that people like you’re in the middle of the day are packed with things that continue to have a vibe, such as on-track activities, food trucks, music, entertainment, and more? Have these “promoters” been this ignorant all along?
Take Texas Motor Speedway, as you can give many examples. You left town, headed out to a facility where nothing was going on outside of some merchandise tents, sat in the heat until the race began before heading home. Even if the race was incredible, it wasn’t that great. How can you entertain your kids in that scenario?
We have taken our kids to the barbers for the last few years. One of them loves cars and racing, but do you know they’re most interested in about 20 minutes? A bouncy home, a Ferris wheel, and an exhibit where they can put things together and try to win something. There is a car show and a museum. There’s even an Indy NXT race before IndyCar. It’s a fun day! This is why street racing is so popular. It’s easier to have fun all day long. I’m not an expert here, but it’s not rocket science.
Ross Bynum
MP: I can hear it. This was because of copies by promoters trying to attract attention, as it is the way Long Beach has been doing it for decades.
But insights about seeing LBGP for the first time from within Bud Denker have new reasons to incorporate all the unique things about events, so you need to create better Penske Entertainment/LED events elsewhere in your schedule.
Q: Doesn’t Colton Hertha’s team seem to have a strange knack for the consequences of formidable races? It seems that everything is going wrong. This can be either a pit error or a poor strategy.
Mark, Buffalo, no
MP: What’s interesting is that teammate Kyle Kirkwood runs a similar early season in terms of possibilities. Kirk has fifth, eighth and first finishes. Colton has fourth and seventh, but started some tires in the Pit Lane disaster at St. Pete and fueled 16th. They were strong in thermals and had delays in light tyre changes and overwhelming races at Long Beach.
They definitely need to close things down, but they’re not in a bad shape. A good run in Barber or Indy will earn Hertha to where Kirkwood lives today. They know that 26 cars can be produced as they were the clear best of Andretti Global, who ran second in 2024 with two wins and championships.
Q: Are there any words about the specific issues with New Garden belts?
Joey Selmantz
MP: The best guess is that Joseph had gone through the hairpin and buckled to release the belt. Your letter came in before we published a story about it – if you missed it, here it is.
Q: When singing the song “Hometown Again in Indiana” do you have any ideas on how to get back to the balloon release on IMS?
David Brown, Birmingham, Alabama
MP: The best suggestion is to bring your own balloons and helium bottles, as this hasn’t returned.
Q: I’m silent while watching the WEC race. F1 has some of the worst sounds. Watching in person is expensive – the cost of the product is insane and has abandoned traditional fans, but it is the most popular motorsport to date.
IMSA and WEC have a big gap between the small calendar (IMSA 11 rounds, WEC 8) and the race. However, they have experienced considerable growth and are attracting fans and makers.
Why raise this? Both of these are the reasons why individuals blame IndyCar for their current predicament. It is true that you need a new car and a better schedule. But this is not the reason IndyCar is struggling to grow. You need to answer the following: What is IndyCar’s vision? What does success look like?
and Mayhew of England
MP: It’s hard to know the series, its tracks and its broad measurement vision for the future plans, as it was mentioned here last year as well, which was also mentioned in the past, when I didn’t have the Indycar State speech of Penske Entertainment that I could think of after the first purchase. We get things little by little like certain people in the company talk about any topic, but unlike what other sports leagues do each year. Maybe that will change with Doug Ball, who will be in charge of IndyCar. In theory, there is no reason it could have happened. If his boss wants to do it at his parent company, that’s also welcome.
Success must be the same as always. This is popular as measured by television audiences and live attendees, and prosperity is measured by field size and financial health of all teams. IndyCar also has a unique need to grow a new, younger fan base, and it’s easy to track that metric.