Q: Couldn't help noticing how INDYCAR's new Competition Committee seems to be a throwback to Champ Car's Board of Directors. I also remember how badly Tony George wanted a spot on that BOD and not getting it was impetus to start the Indy Racing League. Should TG haters be scared by the "wild card" spot on the Competition Committee being filled by him? Frankly, I wouldn't be against it. The committee could use his experience and occasional good idea (don't say he NEVER had one Miller) while being large enough to reject any bad ideas he had. It might also be the best way to keep him away from ever trying to buy IndyCar outright. Thoughts?

Buck, Akron, OH

RM: As I recall, TG did have a non-voting spot on the CART board but that wasn’t his impetus for starting the Indy Racing League. Good ideas? Yeah like 25/8. Get rid of the Snake Pit. Tear up IMS for F1. I do think he’s likely going to be the at-large member.

Q: As I see it the formation of this committee is the direct consequence of partisans in a dispute lobbying board members behind the scenes. I hope the car owners got a sense of satisfaction out of ousting Randy Bernard because payback is about to be exacted. And as usually happens in such circumstances everybody suffers. The primary function of this committee will serve as a firewall between the partisans and the board in future disputes. The success of such a committee will depend on the self-discipline of the board to deflect all overtures on series matters to the committee. Every time someone brings an issue to a board member the first words out of his or her mouth "Did you bring this to the Competition Committee?" And if the reply is no the response will be "why are you bringing this to me!" I would expect more than a few doors to be slammed in the faces of a number of prominent people with open wheel before the message sinks in.

Bob Marston

RM: USAC and CART had governing boards and IndyCar had the ICONIC committee and while I understand it’s good to hear from all precincts, all those voices seem to drown out common sense.

Q: I was reading an article the other day about the efforts of Penske Racing to get AJ Allmendinger ready to compete in the Indy 500, most notably fielding a car for AJ at Barber Motorsports Park. However, Tim Cindric made an interesting point in the midst of that article. He said something to the effect of (and I'm paraphrasing here), "There are no ovals before Indy, so this is the only thing we can really do to get him ready for the 500." With that said, why did IndyCar go back to a schedule where there were no ovals before the 500? A few years ago IndyCar ran an oval race at Kansas before the 500, and John Andretti competed to get himself re-acclimated with an IndyCar. It seemed to help. Doesn't it make sense that IndyCar would return to that in an effort to get rookie "500" drivers acclimated with oval racing and the Dallara chassis before throwing them on the track at 16th and Georgetown?

Jay Matheny, Mayfield, KY

RM: Ideally, IndyCar would be at Phoenix in a couple weeks like they were for 35 years but NASCAR just left. Fontana has Cup this weekend and K.C. didn’t desire IndyCar anymore so where do you go? Not many options and you need a dance partner that wants you.

Q: OK, with the whole Legge/Dragon/Truecar fiasco, how does this compare to past driver/owner/sponsor dustups?

Jeremy from Harrisburg

RM: None immediately come to mind but I do remember my old pal Art Pollard taking Grant King’s toolboxes when he didn’t get paid. Dick Simon bumped John Mahler from the Indy 500 in 1971 because he said sponsor Travel Lodge demanded he be in the car that Mahler had qualified. Firestone put Lloyd Ruby in George Snider’s car during the rain delay in 1967.

Q: Interesting reading David M-K's assessment of the sport and observation that he "can't remember the last time I saw someone in their 20s or 30s working on a car in the driveway or garage." Maybe it's different up in Canada, but I happen to be a 20-something (well, OK a fresh 30 something) that attends as many car shows per year as IndyCar races, and I've always found it astounding that these two crowds of people have nearly zero overlap. Nationwide shows like Import Alliance will draw thousands of passionate 20-somethings that wait in mile long lines of cars to show off after having spent their entire year slaving away under the hood of their cars and turning out some concours-quality work (not to mention horsepower figures higher than you see in the IndyCar paddock). Yet IndyCar can't get a single one of these people out to a race? Why? I think your observation about mechanical diversity has a lot to do with it, but technical relevance as well. Contrary to M-K's observation, the "car guy" population is alive and well with young folks and they are NOT afraid to spend money. Question is: how is IndyCar going to get the "car guy" when the car guys are building more powerful machines on their own and seeing more variety at a regional car show? Even as a long time attendee of Pole Day, the last few years I have opted to attend a car show in the Southeast on the same weekend because I'll at least see something new there. There needs to be more substance besides the proximity of one car to another, or the "car guy" and the "hardcore fan" will just continue to grow further and further apart.

Lyle James

RM: I believe that is Mark Miles’ primary agenda, how to re-capture old fans and make new ones using technology, innovation and speed. Not sure how it’s going to happen but next couple years might be interesting.

Q: Another season of IndyCar is ready crank up, but I want to say that I'm going to miss Bob Jenkins. Unlike lots of commentators in many sports, Bob never tried to be bigger than the race. I talked with Bob after many Indy events over the years. I don't think any person ever put me onto so many great short tracks, or shared so many stories about Indy racers from the past or sprint car drivers of today. Many broadcasters could care less about racing but Bob knew and really loved the sport. I thought that the NBC sign off last year for the last time didn't acknowledge his contributions and connections to racing. Robin, can you add anything else about Bob? I mean, how can you not be impressed with a guy whose favorite Indy driver was Jerry Hoyt?

Gerry Courtney

RM: Jenks will be a host at Indianapolis for NBC in addition to his IMS public address and radio work so he’s still a part of his favorite month. Don’t really have a new story but you hit it on the head – he was a fan long before he was a broadcaster and it shows.

Q: Please tell your reader who wrote about MGM's casino pitch in Toronto at CNE affecting Honda Indy Toronto not to worry. Brian Ashton, who is president of the CNE Association, recently wrote MGM with a cease and desist order. He doesn’t want them using images of the Princes Gates, the annual exhibition, mascot or the acronym CNE in any further pitches or videos of the proposal by MGM for a Toronto casino. Furthermore he emphasized to media that a casino resort at Exhibition Place logistically impossible and something he would never support. Also Green-Savoree knows the score and exactly what is happening at Exhibition Place. They have a contract with IndyCar and Exhibition Place through 2014 to run the race in current configuration. The rumor about Mosport or another track hosting the event or the hotel being built affecting operation of the event isn’t so. The promoters told me in the past that any changes to the event would be communicated to subscribers. In other words no worries here. Enjoy the doubleheader weekend.

Geoff Roberts, Toronto, Canada

RM: Thanks for that update. You know the old Toronto circuit was bad ass but it kept getting clipped by new buildings so glad to hear it’s not in jeopardy.

Q: I need a history lesson on something I haven't found an answer to just watching old CART races from the late 90's: 1. How did the Penske dominance from ‘94 go from really strong in ‘95, tough contender in ‘96 to outright CRAP in ‘97, ‘98, and ‘99? I know the Reynard-Honda-Firestone was an outright beast, but why couldn't Mercedes-Ilmor and Penske's chassis designers build something that could at least compete? Which leads into ... 2. Why after buying TWO Reynard-Honda-Firestones for Gil de Ferran and Helio Castroneves to conquer CART in 2000 and 2001 did he jump ship for the IRL? I get why Ganassi, Andretti-Green, and Rahal jumped ship after CART failed and Champ Car started, but why did Penske make the first move when CART was still viable?

Dan Henderson

RM: The easiest answer to the first question is Goodyear. Yes, the special Ilmor-Mercedes engine masked the chassis problems and Paul Tracy did a helluva job in 1996 (as did Michael Andretti) but Firestone’s superiority was the game breaker. Penske warned the CART owners at a meeting in Houston in 2001 that if they didn’t adopt IRL engine specs he was leaving. But his bags were already packed because Indianapolis is where his legend was cultivated.

Q: After reading this week’s mailbag, and seeing the comment from the reader who was talking about when the dirt cars were dropped from the USAC Champ Trail, and blaming it on Roger Penske, I felt like I needed to make this comment. I recalled an article by Carl Hungness, in the 1996 Indianapolis 500 Yearbook entitled “The Pealed Eye,” in which he states on page 162 of that publication the following:

"Then again according to John Cooper himself, who told me with his own two lips, USAC had abandoned the Championship Dirt circuit after 1972 season at the request of powerful car owner Lindsey Hopkins."

Hungness goes on to write, "Roger Penske and Pat Patrick had nothing to do with the removal of the Dirt cars from the Champ Trail as has been popularly reported.”

Dan Bullock

RM: Thanks Dan, that’s why I said what I did last week: it wasn’t RP, he was still a new kid on the block and didn’t have a lot of weight to throw around just yet. Another theory was that Bobby Unser and Mario lobbied to do away with dirt tracks but that was crap – they loved dirt cars.