Q: I read on this Q and A that someone suggest that we Indycar fans quit living in the past and embrace the product that we have right now. I just watched Road Atlanta from 1987. Let's start with HAVING ROAD AMERICA. Yes Mario won from the pole flag to flag, but you had Penske drivers in year old cars, ride buyers in Dick Simon's cars, John Andretti's first Indycar race, Dale Coyne in an old stock block Chevy, different chassis, and different engine manufacturers, no long yellows that bunch up the field, no closed pits, and no pit speed. Embrace the product now? You've got to be kidding. We have to embrace the old days because the product we see now is terrible. Like my grandfather used to tell me when I was a kid, You can't polish a turd.

Kris, Ocala, Fla.

There's been one consistent stream of emails regarding a particular track fans want to see added to the IndyCar Series calendar: Road America. (LAT)

RM: There needs to be a place for Road America, I think all open wheel fans would agree. And we also need innovation along with world peace and In & Out burgers in Indiana but I'm not counting on any of those three.

Q: Always love reading the whining comments made by the thousands of open wheel fans from across the nation. At least you bring sanity to the column. I'm surprised Indycar and open wheel still exist with fans declaring their divorce from the sport on your mailbag every week. I'm 27 yrs old and i got the opportunity to see some amazing drivers in my time (Andretti, Unser, Rahal, Montoya, Seabass, Dixon, etc). I remember Paul Page kicking off the season on ESPN down on the Gold Coast. I remember traveling to Nazareth every year with the family to support Michael. I also remember some real close racing and some races that were won on Lap 1. We all talk about the golden days and how good things were, but even though the cars, technology, and everything else in Indycar has changed, the racing still remains the same. We had some great races this year (Chicago) and some boring ones, but one of the reasons the younger generation has fallen away with Indycar is because we don't want to hear all the "End of the World" stories and the "Golden Years" stories week after week. We love history, but we don't want to relive it. Remember too that there was a split in '78 with no winners just like '96. Everything in has a cycle; Economy, Global Warming, and Indycar racing. I just can't wait to see all the whiners who left Indycar/open wheel come crawling back when things get back on track. Until then, for those who gave up your seats to the INDY 500 and every other open wheel event I attend, I can't wait to sit in them because I know they are good seats, and whatever you do, please don't come crying to me asking for your seat back when Indycar is back on top. Maybe you'll finally learn to be appreciative of what we have.

Chris Gogola, Hazleton PA

RM: Thanks for a very thought provoking and well written letter.

Q: This is a response to Jim Rygg's email on the 10/28 mailbag. I guess he would consider me to be one of those "whiney" Champ Car ranting fans. I grew up watching CART in the 90's, and the IRL is not (and never has been) anywhere close to that level of racing. The names aren't as big and the cars aren't as [insert race-related adjective here]. I wish the IRL could be half of what either F1 or NASCAR is. They have giant fan bases, big sponsors, and a great product. You can say whatever you want about F1 being boring or NASCAR driving around in circles, but I get goosebumps watching Lewis Hamilton fly through the Becketts at Silverstone or watching Montoya bump draft Gordon at Talladega. I am a die hard American open wheel racing fan and I am a fan of the IRL because it is what I have. I am just appalled by the state it is in today. Now Jim is telling us to stop bashing TG because he "put a lot of money into his vision with little thanks for it"!? You can't be serious! Arguably, TG is single-handedly responsible for putting open wheel racing in the state that it is in. Without TG's inept "vision" that was the IRL, we would still have CART at Indy with big name sponsors and with big name drivers... period. The problem isn't that young people aren't "motor-heads" anymore. Sports are about entertainment and racing is no exception. Competition, skill, excitement, and story lines all add to the entertainment value of sports. I don't need to know the difference between a Honda and a Malibu to be evoked by the sound of 2 turbo-charged V8's doing 180 down the front straight of Long Beach side-by-side going into turn 1. The IRL is simply not as entertaining as CART used to be. People knew who Michael Andretti was in the 90's. Now I can't get friends to show any interest in Dario without mentioning that he is married to Ashley Judd. Unfortunately for Jim, I will not stop "whining" about the IRL until TG's "vision" is a faded memory and the IRL goes to a system that works. Hmmm... maybe all the team owners could run the thing using a few different suppliers on a mix of road, street, and ovals... Nah, that would probably never work. Anyway, the potential is there for IRL in the future with Danica, Graham, Marco, new engines, new chassis, more road/street events, etc. Now I just have to pray that IRL's "vision" will capitalize on it's potential. Getting rid of TG was a great first step.

Collin, Denver

RM: In between a history lesson and a rant, nicely done.

Q: I hate Tony George for what he did to open wheel racing in America and other than Indy, Milwaukee and maybe one more I would much rather watch a road or street circuit than the ovals but...you have to stop all of these rants and negative crap you put in your mailbag. It has become so negative that the column that used to be what I looked forward to the most each week, has now become something I dread to read. I know Indy Car is in bad shape but do you have to have only these negative guys from Champ Car put every thing down. A recent one said how bad the drivers are, well I for one really like the mix. (although we could use a few more Americans for sure) Please rip on Milka all you want, she deserves it. But please at least include some info on what teams will be back and what teams the drivers will be on next year. For sure get rid of the best and 2nd best rant of the week, they just give these crazies more fuel to add to their fires.

Paul Fitzgerald

RM: The mailbag is a forum and I try to run as many different questions and viewpoints as possible each week but you must know that a high percentage is presented by ranters. And most are passionate like yourself so I think it's therapeutic more than harmful. Thanks for your interest.

Q: I'm sick and tired of these guys that complain about us die hard open wheels fans ranting about what's wrong with Indy car. I'll bet most of these boneheads never saw or heard a turbo Offy run or watched Mario scream into turn three at over 230 and not lift. We remember the glory days of American open wheel racing and want a return to that. Yes I know we can't turn the clock back but we can still look back and embrace what worked. The current cars/rules package sucks!!! Spec chassis, motors and tires is like the old Indy Lites series...no horsepower, no guts , no glory. They might as well run Formula Fords. Apparently there aren't enough brains at 16th and Georgetown ( apart from Cotman ) to plug a gnat's butt. They keep morphing toward CART light without all the good stuff. Let's get more engine manufacturers even if we allow stock blocks and turbines again ( are you listening Andy? ). The old equivalency rules seemed to work pretty well and Gurney showed what stock blocks could do with himself and later Mike Moseley driving. We need more freakin' horsepower, these cars should be hairy and scary fast not open wheel versions of NASCRAP. Allow innovation like 4wd and other chassis again. And get more tire companies involved. Tire wars are good! Get Hoosier, Dunlop, & Avon in if Goodyear is too chicken. Get rid of that simpleton Brian Barnhart and the rest of his gang of dummies....I hate what they've turned my beloved OWR into. Spec racing is for clubs & SCCA. These measures have only insured the dominance of Penske & Ganassi and don't seem to have improved the caliber of racing. Let somebody build a better mousetrap if they can, maybe they can knock Roger and the Chipster on their butts. And for you guys that don't like us ranters, go get a lobotomy and a #88 t shirt and watch NASCAR. The ranters here know what the spirit of OWR is about.

Bob Hendrickson, Englishtown N.J.

RM: Rant of the week.

Q: I want to challenge your readers... The challenge is to write only what they enjoy about open wheel, why they watch it how they feel when they are on the edge of their seats.... This way when prospective sponsors or new fans read them they will catch a good vibe and maybe want to align themselves with that emotion and not the angry negativity that emanates from the vocal minority... Does that make sense? why would any corporation want to associate with that level of negativity? IndyCar fans are passionate for sure, just need to be passionate in the right way, build momentum, good vibes and good racing will follow...

Rosmo

RM: As much as I'd like to think our Mailbag is well read and popular, I don't think anything that is printed would sway a potential sponsor or fan one way or the other. We can all be pretty negative but right now IndyCar is in need of some positive news -- and not just IZOD or Brazil. Thanks.

The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, SPEED, FOX, or NewsCorp.

Robin Miller became an Indy-car junkie in late 1950s and stooged for his hero, Jim Hurtubise, at the 1968 Indy 500. He went on to work as a vent man and board man on Indy pit crews from 1971-77. Miller bought a Formula Ford from Andy Granatelli in 1972 and raced it in SCCA until 1974 when he purchased a midget from Gary Bettenhausen, competing in the USAC midget series from 1975-82.

Robin flunked out of Ball State College in 1968 and began working at The Indianapolis Star sports department in 1969, covered motorsports there from 1969-2000.

In addition to his broadcast work. Miller's also covered IndyCar racing for Autoweek, Autosport, Car & Driver and On Track magazines over the past 35 years.