Q: "I think even if my career ended today, we've had a pretty successful career," Stewart said. "I think still winning the Indy 500 is higher on the list, higher than the Daytona 500 is to me. But I don't think I'll ever even have an opportunity to win Indy again. It doesn't mean, because I haven't won those two races, that if my career ended I couldn't consider it a success or a failure. We've had a pretty good career over the last 29 years." Is it just me or does it seem like Tony has created some sort of mental block to winning the Indy 500? Opportunity is up to him. He has the resources, contacts and popularity to do it if he wants. Sure, he has contracts with Chevy but how important is winning the 500 really? Not trying to dump on him but if Robby can find the time (like he is saying recently) and Mears and John Andretti why can't he? If Chevy was such an issue why doesn't he try to convince Chevy to come back to Indy? He could be the marketing vehicle that allows Chevy to actually get a return on investment from media exposure. I guess I'm saying it just does not seem like he's trying hard enough given how important he says the 500 is to him. Now maybe he has some master plan I don't know about in which case I'll eat my own words.....but action speaks loudly and thus far I've seen NO real effort on Tony's part to even TRY to run in the Indy500 in recent memory.

Doug Baggett

Of all the problems plaguing the IndyCar Series, a ride-less Graham Rahal is the most disturbing. If America's hottest young open-wheel talent can't get hired, what hope do the rest have? (LAT)

RM: As long as Honda is the lone engine, Stew ain't gonna run Indy because his ties with GM are much deeper than most. And the starting times have to change. Believe me, he'd still love to win the Indy 500 but just competing again looks like a real longshot.

Q: What is up with Stewart and Montoya yakking it up every time they talk about Indycar and saying things like "you could do it with your eyes closed" (Montoya). Tony said something similar about IndyCar being boring because of being flat out. Montoya also mentioned the issue of Cup cars having performance changes that might be radical during the race Now I might be wrong here, but I've clearly seen the same issues in IndyCar (like cars going south performance wise during a race). Is it because they have been out of IndyCar for so long all they remember are the straights with the peddle to the floor? Quite frankly it's a bit insulting to drivers having to do pack racing at 220 miles an hour with no room for "bumpin" (In my humble opinion). I mean...if they can't say anything good the least they could do is stop dumping on the motorsport that made their careers before going to Cup racing.

Doug, Stafford, VA

RM: I think JPM was referring to his lone IRL race when he spanked everybody at Indy in 2000 and he always thought the horsepower was a joke (compared to CART). And Stewart is right about certain 1.5-mile tracks. I'm sure trying to handle a stock car with no downforce for four hours is challenging, especially to a guy who never drove one until a couple years ago. The thing that bothers me is when Montoya says winning at Sonoma was greater than Monaco or Indy or Elkhart Lake.

Q: What is JJ Yeley up to now? That kid was born to race AOW cars and its a crying shame his Indy Car career (which included a top 10 finish in his only Indy 500 start) was as brief as it was. I see Cole Whitt is officially "gone" from AOW, having signed into the Red Bull NASCAR driver development program. So mark another American talent off the list (as if anyone in the Indy-Car World cares). Wouldn't it be sad, if there were more American road racing/"feeder series" grads in the Daytona 500, then the Indy 500 in 2010? Unfortunately, its a real possibility. ARCA has 60+ entries for Daytona, a title sponsor, a stable American-based oval racing schedule, decent-to-good TV coverage and several interesting drivers competing this year (Patrick, Carmichael and Piquet Jr among them). How can they do all of this in a "bad economy" and Indy Car is struggling to just keep its head above water?

Bill in Maplewood, IN

RM: Saw JJ at the Chili Bowl and he's working on a Nationwide program. Cole and Chat Boat are both headed for stock cars but that's all Whitt ever wanted to do while little Boat wants to be an Indy driver (except nobody has noticed he's an 18-year-old bad ass except stock car owners). ARCA has gotten better equipment and better drivers year after year and it's obviously affordable for a lot of people. Just the opposite of IndyCar racing.

Q: Given the current state of AOWR, if you gave several drinks to Tony George do you think he would admit he hurt AOWR by creating the IRL?

Rodney

RM: Honestly? No, I don't think he'd say that.

Q: What happened to that "Hammer" that Anton George used to bring to work everyday?

Steve Levinson, LA

RM: It was auctioned off in one of his garage sales.

Q: I just got to get this all out, sorry if's too long. I would like to say to all those haters of TG, you can say what you want about him, make fun of him or whatnot, but you cant deny that his reasons to start the IRL, were genuine. He wanted to give young American drivers a shot at the big time and put on exciting races, and in my opinion he succeed on both fronts, at least up until a few years ago. If AOWR is to survive, things need to change, from the top down, including the car....please do something, I'm tired of how this series has been run the last couple years, it's an absolute joke and whoever is running the show should be fired and go back to bagging groceries. But I'm not totally negative here, I've been seeing a lot of commercials promoting the IRL lately, presumably paid for by IZOD, I mean the IRL surely isn't smart enough to promote themselves, that would make too much sense.

David Steinbeck, Laramie,WY

RM: First off David, I've received almost 200 letters this week and half of them are about TGeorge and yours is the only positive one I could find to run. If Tony would have started the IRL in 1989 with American manufacturers and stuck to his guns, it might have made it because CART was seriously divided at that time. But, by the mid-90s, open wheel racing had never been stronger and he couldn't have picked a worse time. The only positives of the IRL? Tony Stewart, Steve Kinser and Jack Hewitt all got to drive in the Indy 500. But was that worth the war? Hardly. I think Tony's goal was to be The King and then, after he put things back together in 2008, he just wanted to be a car owner instead of the czar.

Q: Did you ever interview Nigel Mansell when he raced in CART...he appeared to sometimes have an attitude. Also what was his interaction like with the fans...why he friendly with them or standoffish.

RON. Portland, OR

RM: He was a drama queen but he was a helluva racer and I've never seen crowds like CART drew in 1993-94. That was a great time because Bernie was really nervous about Indy car racing. As for his interaction, I don't recall either way.

Q: Now that there is a new CEO what is your advice to him? Not to take away Scott Dixon’s accomplishments, but he is not an AJ or Mario Andretti, I think it is a travesty that the Indy Car record books have Dixon as the winnings driver am I alone on this? I am sure this may have been covered but maybe it is a great direction for the new CEO, Retro is cool.

Paul Hirsch, Erie, Pa

RM: I'm writing an advice column for him and it will be out tomorrow or Friday. As for the record books, Dixon understands history and he's never said he was the winningest driver. It's insulting to everybody that he's listed No. 1 and IndyCar had best honor its history because that's about all it's got.

Q: I just read that Tony George has announced the suspension of operations of Vision Racing. While it is unfortunate for the IRL to reduce the car count by even one, I can't help but rejoice that we won't have Tony George to kick around anymore. "Ding dong the witch is dead". Contrary to the revisionist history I've been seeing lately, the CART/IRL split happened primarily because the CART Board of Directors refused to surrender its chair to TG, who believed himself to be entitled to it by virtue of the circumstances of his birth. He behaved like the spoiled child the knew him to be and ruined the best racing series on the planet in the process. Roger Penske and his kind, self-made men each and every one, had no problem recognizing TG for what he was and is, a light weight of the first order who only mattered because he inherited control of the greatest racing event in the world at that time and used it to force himself into places he so clearly lacked the talent to be admitted to on his own. An event that he managed to parley into a pitiful shadow of its former self. TG has never had anything that wasn't handed to him and has managed to ruin that which in the 1990's would have appeared to be impossible to screw up. He wasn't real bright then and his recent moves show that he hasn't learned much since. I only hope that his family leaves him to the obscurity he so surely deserves and seems destined for as his childish nature once again leads him to decisions he is incapable of think all the way through nor able to make work. I grant you that it is not possible to know where OWR in this country would be now had the split never happened but it seems hard to imagine that it could be any worse off. As you so often point out, hate is good and I can't help but console myself that there is a special place in obscurity for TG and his stay has apparently just begun.

Joe Amodeo

RM: A worthy rant.

Q: I know everyone's already ranted this to death, but it feels satisfying to utter these words: Tony George, the architect of the destruction of OWR in North America, is gone. Long may he rot. May his legacy forever be that of a devious, egotistical, self-serving tyrant. We once had the best OWR series in the world. Near-F1 technology, track diversity, 200+ mph turbo cars, great drivers. What do we have now. The entire series budget wouldn't put a single car at the back end of the F1 grid. You have done your work well, Tony. Long may you rot for it.

Rich Glasson

RM: Some refreshing hate.

Q: Only a man with your passion for open wheel can manage a bi-weekly Q & A. Why even have a mailbag? Nothing changes in Indycar. The cars stay the same, the engines stay the same, the drivers stay the same, the winners stay the same, Brian Barnhart stays the same, the quest for money stays the same, the ride buyers stay the same, the speeds stay the same, the questions stay the same, the Tony haters stay the same and the Tony defenders stay the same. Let's just run Indy and the last 4 laps of Homestead and call it 2011. (I'm sure I'll feel better once the season starts).

Janis, Fishers, Ind.

RM: A good way to end this week's mailbag.

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.