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’ve read eight or nine articles about Thermal in the past few weeks, including last week’s MailBag. Under all the articles in the reader’s comments section, everyone complains about the lack of fans on television. The main set of spectators was placed high above the embankment, about 20 feet above the track surface. The TV camera is set up at the track level. When the camera splatters around the track to catch race action, there is no way to get views of the audience as the bleachers are so high.
Thermal bleachers were packed and looked more fans than Portland and some other races. At the start of the broadcast, there were short drone shots of the bleachers, and they looked full. I don’t know what they can do to catch a fan’s shot, but they were there – so high that the camera can’t see.
Bob Gray, Kalos Park, California
Marshall Pruett: Unless you were talking about Portland or other tracks or events outside of India, more people weren’t thermals than “Portland and some other races.” In that case, yes, Portland’s recent SCCA Regional had fewer fans than the Thermal IndyCar event.
In fact, the thermal had a small stand and wasn’t in the best place for a TV camera to catch, but there’s no need to immerse yourself in the “alternative facts.” I hope we were talking about a lot of fans, but I was there, for all three days, no false impression was given due to camera placement. If that’s true, I’d be happy to say that.
Q: Since it was April Fools’ Day last week, can you share some good prank (or similar) stories from your time at Padoc?
When European manufacturer Volvo read the “Report” on April 1st, when I reported that European manufacturers were building a prototype for Daytona, I saw the epic AM race and laughed at myself.
Kyle
MP: Yeah, they were friends with Dailysportscar and were accidentally raised as realistic, it created Volvo works that were rich in it.
There is no April Fool’s Day story to share from my days as an IndyCar or IMSA crew. That’s because the date was pointless, at least in my time, because it wasn’t just the day when such a thing was tolerated. Most days we practiced the Asherry of the Generals to ruin each other, create nonsense, see who can deceive, and entertain ourselves and each other.
Car keys can take an hour to hang from the ceiling or tie in the middle of a 20-foot string, so don’t leave them sitting outside. Do not leave your car unlocked. Or something is cut off – obvious and not easy to unravel – and you get stuck for an hour. Don’t leave your phone unlocked or leave your laptop unlocked…
Hell, that continues today. One colleague left his laptop/email open last year at the Nashville season finale, and we had a lot of fun. One person mentioned sending something, so I urged another colleague to email me from someone else’s work account. I replied that I was really disappointed with them by going to me first on behalf of the owner (and copied it to the company owner). While they were filming, they had forgotten to exchange fake emails saying they wanted to quit. The owner, used to seeing fake inflammation and inflammatory emails when the laptop was left open, knew it was a joke, but they played together.
When I went on a few hot raps with Stefan Wilson in 2023, I couldn’t listen to my own advice at Thermal. I put my phone or anything I had in my pit wall pocket, put on my helmet, tied up to the passenger seat, and left for 10 minutes. Sadly, Anders Clone, who loves to find clue phones, couldn’t unlock my phone, but knew there was an exploit that I could access and use the camera from the lock screen.
Steph pulls in, I hope, and the clone has that big, stupid smile on his face. I knew I was “Krohn’d” but I found at least 100 offensive selfies he had filmed during the wrapping session. I had them on my phone as a reminder.
Yes, we are all bunch of idiots. But we’re having fun…
Q: I’ve seen this in the racer’s comments: If IndyCar loses both manufacturers, it means that their marketing money is gone too, why can I adopt IMSA’s fuel flow and torque model to reduce development and makers freely supply the engine to as many teams as they need? If they want to have only a factory team, it’s fine. If they want to supply it to more teams, it’s fine. Everyone still builds a V6. Ilmor can also be used to provide engines to teams who cannot do business with OEMs or other independent engine builders (if they are financially viable for them to participate). You will charge the same fee as IMSA and see where the series goes like this.
So, what else does IndyCar need to lose (in the scenario where they already lose Chevy and Honda)?
Another question: How much did it cost to lease a Honda V8 at the time? Has Honda subsidized the entire grid?
William Mazeo
MP: Honda has been supplying cart engines for many years, so there’s no single answer. In many cases, the engine was free or free, with lots of cash. This was a common practice for all manufacturers with the best teams (or teams with drivers whose country’s origins are the same as the manufacturers) on the best days of carts in the 1990s. Adjusted inflation and ran towards millions or back for a select team without proper ties or drivers.