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IndyCar
INDYCAR: Miller’s Mailbag, 11.23
Always genuine, never lite: It's Miller time. Here's the latest Q&A from SPEED.com's IndyCar guru.
With Tony Stewart's enduring ties to the IndyCar Series, could he add an IndyCar program to his successful Sprint Cup program in the future? (IMS Photo)
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: Since Smoke won a nice, hefty $6 million for the championship, what do you think are the chances of him taking that and investing in an Indy Car team as an owner (not driver), maybe a one off this year at the Indy 500 with an existing Chevy team. I can only imagine how much Chevy would LOVE to have Stewart involved in IndyCar racing. However, do you think Stewart has the genuine interest to do that, to become a Chip Ganassi and Roger Penske and span into IndyCar racing as an owner with the influx of new cash after his championship?
Tom Blackburn
RM: I think Tony has been talking to GM for a few months about doing something at Indy and, yes, I would expect him to branch out with his own INDYCAR team someday.
Q: What’s going on with Bourdais? To me, it seems like he would be a no brainer to sign if you want to beat TCGR and Dario for the championship. The past two years, Power has shown that he can keep up with him and challenge for the championship. When it comes to road courses, you can’t get better than those two, except for Bourdais. If Bourdais could beat Power on a consistent basis in Champ Car, and Power is right there with Dario, it seems to me that Bourdais would be an instant championship contender. He can beat Dario. It’s that simple. Why do we not hear more about him? Seems being at Coyne is not where he belongs. Any chance of a return to NHR? I would hate to see either Oriol or Mayor Hinchcliffe go though. Wouldn’t that make a great 3-car super team!
Paul in Cleveland
RM: He told SPEED.com he wanted to run the full schedule with the right deal and it sounds like Newman/Haas could be interested in bringing him back. I admired what he did this year and he can still road race as well as anybody. But, like you, I hate to see Oriol or the Mayor lose their seat.
Q: You looked halfway positive on Wind Tunnel last night, did you have $ on Stew? Congrats to Smoke and his team. Great strategy by Darian Grubb. Even without the rain caution, Smoke would have won, barring a series of green-white chequers. It was painful listening to the good ol’ boys in the booth trying to comprehend the strategy call to stretch it out to one final stop. You could hear the wheels grinding away, and Rusty was still convinced that Cousin Carl could somehow win it when the caution allowed Stew to bunch up, and Carl to pit again. It was a bit laughable. But what no-one talked about and what sealed Carl’s fate was the decision to only take two tires. Come-on, there were 50 laps left when that rain caution came out. Give the guy a chance to run. At that point his team should have known Smoke had four tires and enough fuel to make it to the end, plus he would gain track position. Carl’s only hope would be to be able to run strong. Even with the rain caution, 30 laps would have been enough to run Smoke down, had he had some rubber under him. Anyway, after Carl’s antics with Keselowski, I have a hard time cheering for him, and as everyone has said, the guy with five wins in the Chase had better bring home the cup. Any news on PT for next year? How is Hinch’s ride looking?
Trevor Bohay, Kamloops, BC Canada
RM: No but I was happy to see him win. The guy deserved to be champion with five wins in 10 races and, besides, he'll always be an open wheeler at heart. Nothing new on PT and Hinch is sweating.
Q: Do you think Danica was the first one on the phone to Smoke after he won the championship lobbying for him to spend is Championship bonus money on putting an Indy 500 program for her? Thoughts?
Jared, Iowa
RM: If Tony ran Danica at Andretti with GO DADDY it might work.
Q: Based on your article about 1.5 mile ovals I see that IndyCar has seen the light. Less tire and more horsepower means real racing! I would also suggest less downforce as well. True racing based on skill by both the drivers and engineers can reappear. Let's hope this really happens.
Don Giovanoni, St. Louis, MO
RM: Yes but there's no guarantee Firestone is going to go with a hard tire and nobody is really sure what to do just yet about the 1.5-mile ovals so it's a work in progress. But at least it's being addressed by some smart guys and not TGBB.
Q: With A.J Foyt dropping Vitor Meira, what are the odds Bruno Junqueira gets offered a full time ride by Foyt for what he did at Indy this year?
Scott Prushko
RM: Good question. I think A.J. has talked to Justin, Oriol and Mike Conway but Bruno would do a good job as well.
Q: What's the situation with Nelson Philippe? Only three Grand-Am races in 2010, no race in any major championship in 2011. Furthermore, his website has barely been updated since the Sonoma 2009 crash. Is his single-seater (or even, motorsports) career over?
Yann Laprevotte, France
RM: Haven't seen him around so I would imagine he's done over here. He told me once that after he won his first Champ Car race that his dad wasn't going to sponsor him anymore because he should be able to be hired.
Q: So which team is the Lotus factory team? D&R, HVM, or BHA? Or are they all factory teams? If that's the case then who will be in green and yellow next year? I'm all for Lotus being in IndyCar, but if their colors aren't in the field, it kind of defeats the purpose in my mind.
Michael Hart, Indianapolis
RM: All three but HVM will be the house team and carry the colors, the way I understand it.
Q: So it seems like the word is that the Lotus engine is 40+ pounds lighter than the other two. That’s a lot on a car like this in terms of feel, balance, and fuel consumption (i.e. adding weight after Danica kept going farther than the competition early on in her career). They’ve already acknowledged the need for ballast. Given the discussions about superspeedway imbalance on the new chassis, could this provide an advantage of added flexibility and balance adjustment to the Lotus teams by positioning of the ballast? Or, is the imbalance issue strictly aero? I’ve long thought that it looked like the DW12 would be back heavy based on appearance alone. Could this imbalance add some driver difficulty that we’ve been asking for or does it border on being unsafe?
Andy, Nashville, TN
RM: I'm not your technical man but the drivers all said the car was pretty un-driveable in its original form so Dallara is working to improve it. As for Lotus/Judd, I imagine they could have a slight advantage.
Q: With companies like Judd and Ilmor making engines for Chevy and Lotus, is it possible the Kalkhoven and Cosworth are waiting for Ford? Or another company?
Jesse Vincent
RM: It would seem to be a natural for Ford/Cosworth to reunite but Kalkhoven has been pretty quiet about any future plans.
Q: I saw that Bryan Clauson's IndyCar development scholarship was renewed again for next year. While I do think that's exciting news, how did Cole Whitt, Brady Bacon, and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. not get scooped up as IndyCar development drivers? I think that they would have been the next great American open-wheel hopes.
Jay Matheny, Mayfield, KY
RM: Because until Randy Bernard went to Kokomo for a USAC sprint show, nobody in the previous INDYCAR management (when those three were in USAC) had any interest in helping. And Randy opened the door but there's still a long way to go to get Clauson or Levi Jones or anybody else from USAC in the Indy 500.
Q: Recently the newspapers in South Florida are reporting talk a Fort Lauderdale Grand Prix 2013. The Promoters of the Fort Lauderdale Grand Prix 2013 held an open house Wednesday night at the Swimming Hall of Fame, showing their plans to the community and inviting feedback. Do you believe this is a credible addition to the 2013 IndyCar schedule?
Glenn Watts, Pompano Beach, FL
RM: I know INDYCAR was talking to those folks so it's definitely a possibility.
Q: So, I just got a questionnaire from IMS about running a race on the road course, possibly in 2013. I went to every Grand Prix run at Indy, namely because it was a Grand Prix, not because of a great love for the track. Drove 500 miles (one way) to be there, but felt it was worth it. I would not drive that distance to see an Indy Car race on the road course, especially as I can drive a lot shorter distance and see them at Mid Ohio (which I do attend every year), Toronto (went last year) and Watkins Glen (went to every Indy Car race held there). My question is this - Is there any consideration being given to heading back to Watkins Glen, or even some of the other natural terrain tracks instead of just adding this event at Indy? Indy should remain Indy. I would much rather see them at Mid Ohio or Watkins Glen, where I can move around freely from corner to corner and watch how the different drivers handle the various challenges that a natural road course presents. With such great tracks being left idle, it pains me to think that they would just add an event at Indy. I certainly hope the reason they aren't running at the Glen is not political infighting between the Speedway and the France family (ISC ).
Paul H., Lancaster, NY
RM: We all want to go back to The Glen and now that Fontana is back on the schedule, ISC tracks like Phoenix and Watkins Glen should be back in play as well. As for Indy cars on the IMS road course? Terrible idea. I agree with you.
~Robin Miller
Q: Since Smoke won a nice, hefty $6 million for the championship, what do you think are the chances of him taking that and investing in an Indy Car team as an owner (not driver), maybe a one off this year at the Indy 500 with an existing Chevy team. I can only imagine how much Chevy would LOVE to have Stewart involved in IndyCar racing. However, do you think Stewart has the genuine interest to do that, to become a Chip Ganassi and Roger Penske and span into IndyCar racing as an owner with the influx of new cash after his championship?
Tom Blackburn
RM: I think Tony has been talking to GM for a few months about doing something at Indy and, yes, I would expect him to branch out with his own INDYCAR team someday.
Q: What’s going on with Bourdais? To me, it seems like he would be a no brainer to sign if you want to beat TCGR and Dario for the championship. The past two years, Power has shown that he can keep up with him and challenge for the championship. When it comes to road courses, you can’t get better than those two, except for Bourdais. If Bourdais could beat Power on a consistent basis in Champ Car, and Power is right there with Dario, it seems to me that Bourdais would be an instant championship contender. He can beat Dario. It’s that simple. Why do we not hear more about him? Seems being at Coyne is not where he belongs. Any chance of a return to NHR? I would hate to see either Oriol or Mayor Hinchcliffe go though. Wouldn’t that make a great 3-car super team!
Paul in Cleveland
RM: He told SPEED.com he wanted to run the full schedule with the right deal and it sounds like Newman/Haas could be interested in bringing him back. I admired what he did this year and he can still road race as well as anybody. But, like you, I hate to see Oriol or the Mayor lose their seat.
Q: You looked halfway positive on Wind Tunnel last night, did you have $ on Stew? Congrats to Smoke and his team. Great strategy by Darian Grubb. Even without the rain caution, Smoke would have won, barring a series of green-white chequers. It was painful listening to the good ol’ boys in the booth trying to comprehend the strategy call to stretch it out to one final stop. You could hear the wheels grinding away, and Rusty was still convinced that Cousin Carl could somehow win it when the caution allowed Stew to bunch up, and Carl to pit again. It was a bit laughable. But what no-one talked about and what sealed Carl’s fate was the decision to only take two tires. Come-on, there were 50 laps left when that rain caution came out. Give the guy a chance to run. At that point his team should have known Smoke had four tires and enough fuel to make it to the end, plus he would gain track position. Carl’s only hope would be to be able to run strong. Even with the rain caution, 30 laps would have been enough to run Smoke down, had he had some rubber under him. Anyway, after Carl’s antics with Keselowski, I have a hard time cheering for him, and as everyone has said, the guy with five wins in the Chase had better bring home the cup. Any news on PT for next year? How is Hinch’s ride looking?
Trevor Bohay, Kamloops, BC Canada
RM: No but I was happy to see him win. The guy deserved to be champion with five wins in 10 races and, besides, he'll always be an open wheeler at heart. Nothing new on PT and Hinch is sweating.
Q: Do you think Danica was the first one on the phone to Smoke after he won the championship lobbying for him to spend is Championship bonus money on putting an Indy 500 program for her? Thoughts?
Jared, Iowa
RM: If Tony ran Danica at Andretti with GO DADDY it might work.
Q: Based on your article about 1.5 mile ovals I see that IndyCar has seen the light. Less tire and more horsepower means real racing! I would also suggest less downforce as well. True racing based on skill by both the drivers and engineers can reappear. Let's hope this really happens.
Don Giovanoni, St. Louis, MO
RM: Yes but there's no guarantee Firestone is going to go with a hard tire and nobody is really sure what to do just yet about the 1.5-mile ovals so it's a work in progress. But at least it's being addressed by some smart guys and not TGBB.
Q: With A.J Foyt dropping Vitor Meira, what are the odds Bruno Junqueira gets offered a full time ride by Foyt for what he did at Indy this year?
Scott Prushko
RM: Good question. I think A.J. has talked to Justin, Oriol and Mike Conway but Bruno would do a good job as well.
Q: What's the situation with Nelson Philippe? Only three Grand-Am races in 2010, no race in any major championship in 2011. Furthermore, his website has barely been updated since the Sonoma 2009 crash. Is his single-seater (or even, motorsports) career over?
Yann Laprevotte, France
RM: Haven't seen him around so I would imagine he's done over here. He told me once that after he won his first Champ Car race that his dad wasn't going to sponsor him anymore because he should be able to be hired.
Q: So which team is the Lotus factory team? D&R, HVM, or BHA? Or are they all factory teams? If that's the case then who will be in green and yellow next year? I'm all for Lotus being in IndyCar, but if their colors aren't in the field, it kind of defeats the purpose in my mind.
Michael Hart, Indianapolis
RM: All three but HVM will be the house team and carry the colors, the way I understand it.
Q: So it seems like the word is that the Lotus engine is 40+ pounds lighter than the other two. That’s a lot on a car like this in terms of feel, balance, and fuel consumption (i.e. adding weight after Danica kept going farther than the competition early on in her career). They’ve already acknowledged the need for ballast. Given the discussions about superspeedway imbalance on the new chassis, could this provide an advantage of added flexibility and balance adjustment to the Lotus teams by positioning of the ballast? Or, is the imbalance issue strictly aero? I’ve long thought that it looked like the DW12 would be back heavy based on appearance alone. Could this imbalance add some driver difficulty that we’ve been asking for or does it border on being unsafe?
Andy, Nashville, TN
RM: I'm not your technical man but the drivers all said the car was pretty un-driveable in its original form so Dallara is working to improve it. As for Lotus/Judd, I imagine they could have a slight advantage.
Q: With companies like Judd and Ilmor making engines for Chevy and Lotus, is it possible the Kalkhoven and Cosworth are waiting for Ford? Or another company?
Jesse Vincent
RM: It would seem to be a natural for Ford/Cosworth to reunite but Kalkhoven has been pretty quiet about any future plans.
Q: I saw that Bryan Clauson's IndyCar development scholarship was renewed again for next year. While I do think that's exciting news, how did Cole Whitt, Brady Bacon, and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. not get scooped up as IndyCar development drivers? I think that they would have been the next great American open-wheel hopes.
Jay Matheny, Mayfield, KY
RM: Because until Randy Bernard went to Kokomo for a USAC sprint show, nobody in the previous INDYCAR management (when those three were in USAC) had any interest in helping. And Randy opened the door but there's still a long way to go to get Clauson or Levi Jones or anybody else from USAC in the Indy 500.
Q: Recently the newspapers in South Florida are reporting talk a Fort Lauderdale Grand Prix 2013. The Promoters of the Fort Lauderdale Grand Prix 2013 held an open house Wednesday night at the Swimming Hall of Fame, showing their plans to the community and inviting feedback. Do you believe this is a credible addition to the 2013 IndyCar schedule?
Glenn Watts, Pompano Beach, FL
RM: I know INDYCAR was talking to those folks so it's definitely a possibility.
Q: So, I just got a questionnaire from IMS about running a race on the road course, possibly in 2013. I went to every Grand Prix run at Indy, namely because it was a Grand Prix, not because of a great love for the track. Drove 500 miles (one way) to be there, but felt it was worth it. I would not drive that distance to see an Indy Car race on the road course, especially as I can drive a lot shorter distance and see them at Mid Ohio (which I do attend every year), Toronto (went last year) and Watkins Glen (went to every Indy Car race held there). My question is this - Is there any consideration being given to heading back to Watkins Glen, or even some of the other natural terrain tracks instead of just adding this event at Indy? Indy should remain Indy. I would much rather see them at Mid Ohio or Watkins Glen, where I can move around freely from corner to corner and watch how the different drivers handle the various challenges that a natural road course presents. With such great tracks being left idle, it pains me to think that they would just add an event at Indy. I certainly hope the reason they aren't running at the Glen is not political infighting between the Speedway and the France family (ISC ).
Paul H., Lancaster, NY
RM: We all want to go back to The Glen and now that Fontana is back on the schedule, ISC tracks like Phoenix and Watkins Glen should be back in play as well. As for Indy cars on the IMS road course? Terrible idea. I agree with you.
INDYCAR BRAZIL
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