The RACER Mailbag, October 30

Welcome to the RACER Mailbag. Questions for any of RACER’s writers can be sent to mailbag@racer.com. We love hearing your comments and opinions, but letters that include a question are more likely to be published. Questions received after 3pm ET each Monday will be saved for the following week. Q: I’d have to imagine that O’Ward’s chef must be cooking up crow three ways for Mr. Miles after seeing him fill malls and stadiums at a race he’s not even racing in… Laz, Independence, MO MARSHALL PRUETT: That and McLaren boss Zak Brown wearing his Pato Who? hat at the Mexico City GP. After not contacting O’Ward for quite some time after stepping on his appendage with his comments in August, Mr. Miles did indeed recently connect with Pato to try and clear the air, which O’Ward told me last week prior to the GP. Let’s see how long it takes for that peace treaty to be broken. Q: I’d like to throw out a thought for someone to be part of the Indy 500 race day: Pat McAfee. I was watching GameDay, and he threw out the Indy 500 in his introduction about Indiana. The guy can talk. He lives in Indiana, was a member of the Colts, has his own show and could get the word to those people who aren’t already watching. He could have drivers on his show throughout the month of May. Let him setup his show at the track. Seems like a huge win to me. Chris, Michigan MP: You’re one of many to have the same thought, and yes, McAfee, who was involved with Conor Daly and the 500 about a decade ago with a t-shirt sale campaign, would be a perfect bro-age fit for Indy. Only issue is IndyCar and the 500 are now exclusively on FOX, and McAfee is among the biggest names associated with ABC/ESPN. I raised the same point earlier in the year when a reader made the same suggestion when NBC was the sole broadcaster, and if there’s a way for FOX to welcome one of the main characters from one of its biggest rivals into its biggest IndyCar race, I’m sure it will happen. But I just don’t know how. Q: I vaguely remember from last season there being a shortage of sim time throughout the field. I especially remember Agustin Canapino going into some weekends without having any on track time in the sim. Why don’t the IndyCar teams, or at least the top teams, have their own sims? Is it a question of budget, or just that both Honda and Chevrolet already have one, so there isn’t a need to have your own sim? Leo, Stockholm, Sweden MP: IndyCar teams rely on the giant driver-in-the-loop simulators at Chevy, Honda, and Dallara to turn those sim laps because they are prohibitively expensive. It’s 100 percent a question of budget. And when you have a dozen-plus drivers to try and accommodate and a finite amount of sim time to offer, you’ll see the contenders get priority over the non-contenders. Q: So often we hear that a track is hard to pass on, with no overtaking opportunities. What makes a track ‘passable’? And are there any? Shawn, MD MP: There’s five types of tracks used in IndyCar, so we won’t spend thousands of words on the topic here, but if it’s an oval and it traditionally has a single lane that can be used in the corners due to a lack of grip in the upper lane or too many marbles being thrown into that lane, that’s one example. But more than anything, it’s the cars in so many of today’s series that make passing extremely hard because they’re either spec cars, or close to being spec. Passing on the same tracks that have been in use for decades wasn’t as much of an issue when CART teams with a Chevy A motor from Ilmor came upon a driver with a Cosworth DFX, which lacked power and torque compared to the Chevy A. Or when a Firestone-shod Reynard was chasing a Goodyear-shod Reynard in the second half of the 1990s. When everyone’s using Dallara DW12s, on Firestones, and the Chevy and Honda motors are nearly identical in their outputs, passing should be damn near impossible. Q: Sebring announced it is switching to Ticketmaster and had the gall to say that it will improve the fan experience. WTF!? Angry Kyle MP: Thanks for the update, Kyle. Q: A rumor has been making the rounds that Simon Pagenaud could be pairing with Ryan Hunter-Reay for Dreyer & Reinbold/Cusick Motorsports in next May’s Indy 500. Have you heard this? It would be great to see Simon back in IndyCar, and his teaming up with RHR would make one heck of a team! Two former winners. Dan Michaelian., Destin, FL MP: I love that notion, and I’m sure Simon would jump at the opportunity if and when he’s ready to turn laps in an IndyCar. A lot would need to happen in his recovery before that could happen. Here, at the end of October, it feels highly optimistic. Q: After reading this week’s mailbag I had to write in. IndyCar may not have licensed any Lego sets, but they have licensed a really sweet scale model kit made by Salvinos JR Models. I recently purchased the 1:20 scale model of Pato O’Ward’s 2024 Dallara and I am impressed. This kit is every bit as good as the F1 kits made by Tamiya, etc. in this scale. For those of us who like to build museum-quality race car models (and not just buy a die-cast) this kit is fantastic. It has hundreds of parts and includes both Chevrolet and Honda engines. The decal sheets are extensive and even provide markings for the carbon fiber components with its characteristic weave. The kit is currently available in versions for Pato, Scott Dixon, Josef Newgarden, Scott McLaughlin, Kyle Larson, and Takuma Sato. I’m sure that makers of aftermarket decal sheets will soon offer others. Fire up your airbrush! Bill Gilman, Rochester, NY MP: That’s awesome, Bill; I had no idea. If only they were readily available at the Walmarts and Costcos and Targets and other big stores where kids and families alike would see and buy them like Legos and Hot Wheels.