INDYCAR: Miller's Mailbag, 1.12

IndyCar

INDYCAR: Miller’s Mailbag, 1.12

Always genuine, never lite: It's Miller time. Here's the latest Q&A from SPEED.com's IndyCar guru.

Robin Miller | Posted January 12, 2013

It's time to leave the baggage behind, says one Mailbag reader. (Photo: Marshall Pruett)

Hello open-wheel types and thanks for all your questions. I intend to answer your questions every week during the season, so just email me at . Don’t feel left out if I didn’t directly respond. I appreciate your interest and passion.

~Robin Miller

Q: It’s been well documented that IndyCar has more issues than Vogue magazine. Yes, more horsepower, body kits, more ovals, etc. would be nice. Everyone can’t be pleased, and it’s become quite clear that the old Indy car fans aren’t coming back. I say good riddance. What IndyCar needs is a demographic shift and I think the Turbo movie can do it. Think of how huge the movie Cars has been over the years. I think if Turbo has half the popularity of Cars it will still be a huge coup for IndyCar and could be the jumping off point for sustained growth. Whether parents like to believe it or not, kids pretty much control household spending and activities. If you get a kid to be a fan and want to watch and attend races, then mom and dad come along and pretty much have to get involved by necessity. It’s like a 3 for 1 deal if you snag a kid as a fan. Kids also want t-shirts, hats, and die-cast cars…more money spent. Kids don’t care if the car has 6 cylinders or 12. Kids don’t care if suspension parts were made by the teams or Dallara. All kids care about is the car looks cool (ok, I’m 26 and think it’s hideous) and it’s fast. So, I say stop catering to the unhappy old fans. You can’t please a curmudgeon anyway. Attract the kids. Start with Turbo…make a cartoon out of it…make a video game for the Xbox, Wii, and PS3…do more special activities at the track for the kids…have meet and greets just for the kids…heck, just set an old IndyCar out in the FanZone and let kids climb in and have their picture taken. That’s what will make the series grow.
Ross Bynum, Houston

RM: That’s was Randy Bernard’s intent when he went to DreamWorks and pitched a movie. He knows IndyCar needs new fans and younger fans and Turbo (from the preview I’ve seen) could be an instant connection. One of the first things the new management did was shut down IndyCar’s LA office but if the movie is a hit it will more than be worth that investment.

Q: Am I the only one who thinks that leasing engines is hurting the Indy Car series? Reading Marshall Pruett's explanation of the lack of horsepower confirmed what I have long suspected, that the current engines are de-tuned for reliability. In trying to control costs, the series has short changed the fans by not giving us the fastest most advanced cars this side of the Atlantic. When going through my friends historic racing pictures from the 60's and 70's I was reminded of the days when teams built and developed their own engines. The cost control formula might be saving teams money, but it is making the cars seems like showroom stock in the SCCA. Plus, lease engines have ruined any thought of a team or manufacturer using innovation and engineering to beat their competitors to the finish line.

Rick Schneider, Charlotte

RM: It’s a slippery slope in that engine leases have provided amazing reliability and big savings to the teams while depriving the fans of the horsepower factor that helped make Indianapolis a mecca and, as you point out, the free thinkers like Gurney, Granatelli and Smokey. But I’m not really sure very many teams could afford to build their own engines today.

Q: In my lifetime I saw Offenhausers, Fords, Stock Block Chevys, Turbines, Navajo 6 (that's a modified AMC), Buick V6, etc. You get the idea. Then we've seen 4-wheel drive and I might be wrong, but I think someone tried front-drive. We also saw Jimmy Clark bring Lotus. The point is people loved the drivers, but they also loved the technology. Lots of opportunity for smart engineers to develop new and exciting systems that, if they didn't trickle down to us for our cars, at lease kept us entertained. Today we have several choices. We can go watch the 5 hp go karts, shifter karts, or Indy cars. You know everybody running the same crap. Robin you have a voice that's heard. Here's an idea for IndyCar or maybe some other class that could really benefit mankind as a whole. Have a uniformed driver cockpit designed, a safety cell if you will (maybe designed by NASA. I hear they need the work) and then let the designers and engineers do their thing around it. BUT, here is the catch. You’re running 500 miles. Here is 50 gallons of the fuel of your choice. Think about that for a minute. The technology would jump by leaps and bounds. A lot of that would transform into our daily drives and more important ... because Indy cars would be doing a series with an eye on helping the masses the crowds would be back. Make this happen Robin!

Keith Shamblin

RM: I suppose you could have one set of rules for the championship and another for Indianapolis and then sell a title sponsorship for the Indy 500 that would pay such a big purse it might attract an influx of new engines and chassis builders. There is no denying Indy was built on technology, taking a chance and innovation but not sure how much interest is out there. If Ford, Dodge and Fiat signed up, then maybe you could return to the good, old days.

Q: One year from now, F1 will also introduce a V6 Turbo racing engine as IndyCar did in 2012.

The F1 engine will be a smaller 1.6L power plant but revving at 15,000 rpm and producing an estimated 750hp. The Indy V6, while significantly larger at 2.2L, only revs at about 12,000 rpm, and only produces between 550-650hp. Question: Is there any concern in the IndyCar front offices (assuming they have a clue), with Honda or Chevy, or with the drivers that in one year their “new” technology engine will immediately be rendered inept and pathetic by the sexy new, more powerful, high-revving, FASTER F1 V6 turbo engines?

PS-Please say hi to Randy Bernard from all of us former IndyCar fans.

Rich Huffman

RM: It’s pathetic to think the pace car at Indy has as much, if not more, horsepower than the cars of the IZOD IndyCar Series but the counter point is that the racing was about as good as it gets last year with these detuned motors. And as much as the drivers, fans and most of us old-schoolers yearn for high horsepower that takes your breath away, not sure that would improve the TV ratings or attendance. They didn’t watch last year and the racing was great.

Q: Any developments on Conor Daly and Tristan Vautier getting rides? Do you see any momentum carryover from last season now that the chassis are a year old, one less engine manufacturer, and Randy Bernard's exit to greener pastures at Rural T.V.?

Dan, Louisville, KY

RM: Sounds like Conor is headed back to Europe and Vautier may be in line for the second seat at Sam Schmidt. The best thing about 2013 is that with the raceable cars and pretty evenly-matched engines, the competition should again be close and fierce.

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