The RACER Mailbag, November 20

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: Why did Sebastien Bourdais not sign with Meyer Shank for IMSA like his Cadillac teammate Renger van der Zande? Was he signed elsewhere before everything was finalized with Acura? Was there only one seat? Politics of racing? Kim MARSHALL PRUETT: Seb was retained by GM/Cadillac to race in the WEC. He and Renger went to/stayed where they were wanted most. Q: I have been studying this year’s oval races and have a few observations. After several years of oval domination, Josef Newgarden had a tough time this year. While he did win the Indy 500 and the race at WWTR, his other oval results had to be disappointing to him after the dominance of the previous years. Meanwhile, his Penske teammate Scott McLaughlin established himself as a force to be reckoned with on ovals. Scott had two wins a second and a third, qualified on the pole four times and second twice. He led by far the most oval laps at 554, more than double that of second-placed Will Power with 240 and almost one third of the total oval laps (1666). Team Penske continued its oval domination. The three drivers led a total of 895 of the 1666 laps, or 53.7%. They led more laps than all the other teams combined. In addition, the team had a record of five wins, two seconds and three thirds from the seven oval races. They also had five poles and five other front row starts, including a complete shutout of the front row at the Indy 500. Despite this dominance they did not win the championship, which supports the notion that the best all-around team that finishes well in all disciplines will be the likely champion, as seen by Alex Palou’s third title in only four years with Chip Ganassi Racing. Finally, I have to give a big shoutout to Colton Herta. After five years of disappointing oval results, a fourth, two fifths and two sixths, he qualified well in 2024 and got a win and a third. Perhaps these oval performances will continue and put him in the upper echelon of title contenders. I can’t wait until next year to see how things unfold. Despite the doom and gloom championed by many of the Mailbag readers, IndyCar is the best racing on the planet. Doug Mayer MP: Agreed, Doug. Despite its many problems and shortcoming, most of those items do not detract from the on-track product. Important year ahead for Penske. Its driver trio is simply amazing. Full stop. It’s the streaky nature of their amazingness that has kept them coming up just shy in the championship runs since 2020 while Ganassi’ has taken four of the last five. McLaughlin looks poised to have a breakthrough in that regard. He doesn’t need to hit home runs in every race. A couple of dingers and a steady diet of doubles and triples will make him an IndyCar champion; it’s the exact formula Palou has used to stifle Penske’s gaudy stats. Q: With Roger Penske buying GPLBA and the exclusive right to stage races at Long Beach until 2028, is Green Savoree next company he’s thinking of buying? They own four tracks, and three of them need way more attention and investment. The St Pete GP is only one that seems OK, but it still could use having the IMSA WeatherTech Series added on to make it a proper big-time event – an east coast Long Beach. I do hope Roger doesn’t mess what Jim Michaelian and his team have done for LBGP for 50 years. If anything they need few more TV monitors, better speakers and a better booking agent to attract better acts, especially for a city like Long Beach that has great local original music scene. The other main question is, can Roger convince the Long Beach council to re-up the next contract? Or Will Liberty Media with Chris Pook or NASCAR bid for the next contract? Dale Gribble, Arlen, TX MP: Green Savoree would need to be for sale for that to happen. Forsythe was interested in selling to the right buyer. I miss the days of St. Pete being an IndyCar/ALMS event. Penske’s track record is one of taking control of or starting events and investing or making significant improvements, and if I’m the city council, that’s something to bank on. Q: I can’t say enough how happy I am to see the current positive vibe of sportscar racing both in IMSA and WEC. This is all thanks to allowing LMDH and Hypercar solutions to be available for prospective manufacturers to utilize! GTP will be all the richer for it, and my yearly Rolex 24 trip since 2016 will be even more exciting with Aston Martin’s stunning Valkyrie joining the lineup of awesome machines from the current OEMs. People argue about what solution is better, but both are excellent. With LMDH, big makes like GM, Porsche or Honda can get involved using their powertrain tech and design language as well as other tricks of the trade developing a car that is very much their own without having to start from scratch with a custom monocoque and other bespoke parts. For Hypercar, a large manufacturer that wants to build from scratch and take up the task of developing everything for the challenge, or to provide a car available for purchase such as Toyota or Ferrari, can do so too. What’s more, a smaller manufacturer that doesn’t make its own engines can still build their own vehicle and represent themselves accordingly, like Glickenhaus did. This logical approach has given us so many cool cars to enjoy on track and excellent racing. I hope this momentum continues to carry on. Even though it’s years away, the hydrogen concept racecars Alpine, Hyundai, and Toyota have shown off have me feeling positive about the future for sportscar racing! Cheers to that and a bit of positivity for the Mailbag. Derrick Fonseca MP: There’s no real debate to have; both formulas are excellent and provide manufacturers with the option that best fits their desires and financial capabilities. I don’t know what to do with all of this Mailbag warmth and kindness!