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INDYCAR: Miller’s Mailbag, 4.28
We've got a fever, and the only thing that'll satisfy it is More Mailbag. Here's the latest batch of Q&A items from the best Indycar scribe on the planet.
Robin Miller  |  Posted April 28, 2010   Indianapolis, IN
As one Mailbag reader asked, Sebastien Bourdais is one of the leading open-wheel drivers who still hasn't found a home in the IZOD IndyCar Series. (LAT)
Hello open wheel types and thanks for all your questions. I intend to answer your questions every week during the season, so just . Don’t feel left out if I didn’t directly respond. I appreciate your interest and passion.

~Robin Miller

Q: So I was reading this article the other day that said Randy Bernard was ready to make some sort of big announcement sometime during the next couple of weeks. He said we should expect something new to try and attract new fans to the sport. Two suggestions he announced were the possibility of adding a playoff system, much like the Chase in NASCAR or the Countdown in NHRA, and the possibility of re-introducing the "triple crown." I do not like the idea of a playoff system one bit, but the triple crown thing seems interesting. Could this mean a return to Michigan or Fontana for a 500-miler? Have you heard anything about this and if so, do you have any extra details?

Richard D., Cheticamp, N.S.

RM: First of all, I think all that Chase nonsense came from an AP story (yeah, let's have a playoff with only 17 races) and why would IndyCar want to change anything when the title has come down to the last race in the last four years without some gimmick? I do know that Randy has several good ideas and a triple crown is among them but not necessarily all ovals like the USAC days. I think he could have one major announcement next month if everything comes together but he's still working on the details.

Q: I sent a similar email to you in September, but it was too long to print in the mailbag. Please consider printing this version. I’d really like Randy Bernard and his staff to see it:
a) Move all races to ABC, even if the league office has to buy a lot of the air-time. The ICS needs to be on network TV in order to bring in strong sponsors. But, they also have to be on a single network, not scattered around multiple networks. I’ve read many postings from casual fans over the years who have missed races because they don’t know what channel and/or time they’re televised.
b) Run only during the NFL off-season and begin all races between 1-4pm Eastern time on Sundays. I tuned into ABC on many Sundays last season between 1-4pm and they were running infomercials, re-runs, etc.
c)When it comes time to map out the 2011 schedule, consider TV first. Look at all of the open slots available for purchase on ABC in the time slots I mentioned above. Buy enough slots for the number of races planned. Then, schedule the races in those slots. If the times/dates are not as attractive to the promoters as the slots they currently have, reduce their sanctioning fees and any other costs to help them stay profitable.
The four races broadcast on ABC last year averaged 1.1 million viewers (Indy 500 excluded). By switching from Versus to ABC, the ICS quadruples its viewership immediately. By getting consistent with the schedule, viewership will increase even more. Focus on the 1.1 million viewers per race rather than the 40 thousand attendees per race. It will have an impact 30 times greater. If sponsors feel TV ratings are more important than race attendance, then TV ratings should be more important to the league office. Higher TV ratings will eventually drive higher race attendance. Higher ratings = more sponsors. More sponsors = more promotion of the series. More promotion = more fans. More fans = more $.

Jeff Stark, Port St. Lucie, Fla. (Homestead ’09 and St Pete ’10 attendee)

RM: I think he's heard your suggestion about ABC from a lot of us but it's not just a matter of pulling the plug. It's a longterm contract and, while there are some out clauses, VERSUS is paying IndyCar so that is going to figure into the bottom line that Jeff Belskus and Bernard must take to the Hulman-George clan. My logic is that with IMS Productions, IndyCar wouldn't spend nearly as much money as Champ Car did on CBS/NBC and, as we all know, you get five times as many viewers by accident on ABC as you do VERSUS. I disagree with you about the paying customers because that's the lifeblood of your sport but if the races all started at 1 p.m. like you suggest, it would be good for them as well. F1 said they could care less if anybody showed up to watch an F1 race because they had millions of TV viewers and a massive TV contract. IndyCar doesn't have either so it needs to embrace the fans it still has and hopefully get more national exposure if Comcast (which owns VERSUS) can get some races on NBC.

Q: A few questions about this year's 500 entry list and one other question. Who or what is "AFS Racing," listed as #27 with the ever popular TBA as the driver? Also, who'll be in Foyt's #16 entry and do you recall AJ ever entering a #16 in the past, as I don't? Also, what are Scheckter's chances at a ride this year and with what team? Finally, what's your perspective on your parting of ways with the Indy Star? I always wondered your take on things and if it's changed in light of recent events at 16th & G-town.

Brett "Racing Historian" Smithson, Missouri

RM: I think the No. 27 could be for J.R. Hildebrand (last year's Indy Lights champ) and it sounds like Jacques Lazier could be AJ's third driver. No record of a Foyt car with No. 16. Tomas is back with Dreyer & Reinbold. My perspective of working 6-7 days a week for 25 of my 33 years at The Star and then getting fired with no severance pay? Or losing all my jobs on radio, TV and the paper for being the lone media member in Indianapolis to tell the truth about the ruination of May and Indy-car racing? Can't say in this forum, too many 4-letter words but I will tell you that The Star kept trying to strike a business deal with IMS and the Speedway said not as long as I was employed. A few days after I was fired, amazingly a deal was struck and The Star began sponsoring opening day and having the paper put in with the programs. Probably just a coincidence.

Q: Who are the top drivers who have not been in any of the first four races? I would name Paul Tracy, Sebastien Bourdais, Tomas Scheckter, and Nelson Philippe. Will any of them get a ride any time soon? I know about PT’s deal so far. Will there be any bumping at Indy 500 qualifying or just 33 cars for 33 spots?

Darryl Miyahira, Honolulu, Hawaii.

RM: Oriol Servia and Buddy Rice immediately come to mind, then Darren Manning plus all the guys you named except SeaBass (he doesn't want to come back here). Scheckter was confirmed at Dreyer & Reinbold last week and Servia could end up with Rahal/Letterman in a perfect world. PT will likely run both Canadian races besides Indy. As for real bumping, it looks like anywhere from 37-40 drivers going for 33 spots.

Q: I was in the paddock late Friday at Long Beach. Milka’s team was among the last working on its car that evening. It got me to thinking, how does a mechanic stay motivated in that situation? Those guys could build the fastest car ever, and no one would ever know since she’d still 10 seconds off the pace. Has it just become a paycheck to them, or does a bit of competitive spirit still show through? There must be something it if everyone else is gone and they’re still working until the sun goes down.

Andrew Nier

RM: It's got to be difficult to put in long hours in that kind of situation. I remember when Mark Bridges, who had crew chiefed for Gordon Johncock and Tom Sneva among others, was working for King Hiro and said he was going to have to find something else to do because this wasn't racing. But jobs are scarce enough nowadays that having one can almost balance a Milka Moment.

Q: So where do you think we are headed Robin when the new IndyCar rules for chassis/engine come out? I am so afraid with the exception of the chance to have more than one engine manufacturer, we are still going to have what amounts to a Spec series. We need at least two chassis to participate and let them be quite different in design, (e.g. BAT and Lola). And if VW/Porsche wants an I4 and Honda insists on a V6 let both configurations run! I remember when the Offy 4cyl and Foyt V8 were able to compete with each other on a fairly equal basis until the Cosworth style V8 came along and killed off both. The 1996 month of May featured the Cosworth V8 of Luyendyk and the Menard V6's of Brayton/Stewart trading top speed of the month back and forth. Let's have some real variety in 2012. Same goes for chassis differences. You can't get much different than what the Coyote, Eagle and McLaren looked like in the seventies yet they traded off wins and raced wheel to wheel regularly. Hope the ICONIC board reads this.

Robert C.,Clermont, Ind.

RM: All I know for sure is that three or four major engine manufacturers have met with Randy Bernard in the past few weeks but not sure if any are serious until the rules are announced. I think you are right, there's a much better chance of multiple engines than cars -- at least right now. But the new car might even get pushed back to 2013 because the IndyCar paddock is more or less broke.

Q: I'm all for multiple engine and chassis suppliers but what's going to happen once the hot combo is discovered and all the teams (or at least the big budget teams) switch to it, effectively forcing the weaker manufacturers out of the sport? Certainly the precedent has been set!

Johnny, Pittsburgh

RM: I've heard that argument a lot in the past few months but all I can say is that's what racing is all about. Some years, the Penske was the best chassis so the Reynard or Lola or Eagle played catch-up. But what if one car was better on ovals and another kicked butt on road courses? I realize most teams can't afford to change cars halfway through the season but the same was true in the '70s and '80s. You just tried to improve the car you had if it was deficient. But can things be any more lopsided than Ganassi and Penske winning EVERY oval race the past two years?

Q: Except for Indy, I dislike oval racing. I agree it takes courage to run wheel to wheel at 200+mph but being able to run the complete lap flat out and just steering the car lets mediocre drivers look good if they have a great car. Reduce the ground effects and/or reduce tire size to require lifting/braking in the turns. This would add more passing and certainly let a good driver overcome a car without the "perfect" setup. BRING BACK ROAD AMERICA!

Don Giovanoni, St. Louis, MO

RM: Ovals like Indy, Milwaukee, Phoenix and Loudon are needed because (in the race) you have to drive the car, use the brakes/throttle and deal with traffic. All those mile-and-a-half joints are more of an exercise in aerodynamics and money.

Q: What's going on here, I don't get where everyone gets off saying the racing this year has been so exceptional. C'mon man. Really? Long Beach? A good race?? I mean, I know you're trying to pump up and support the league but I'm starting to wonder if we're watching the same races here. Sao Paulo, good race. St. Pete, not bad. Barber, kinda sucked. Long Beach, horrible. I was there and it was a yawnfest. There was absolutely NO passing. The only noticeable pass that took place was when Power's car slowed off the hairpin and RHR inherited the lead, it wasn't even a battle, it was just a gaffe. It's no mystery that these cars are a joke. They're too slow, too heavy, too old, sound atrocious, and most importantly, CAN'T PASS one another. I really don't get how a development series like GP2 can run a full season for a quarter of the price tag of the Indy Ripoff League, and the racing still be so much better. The cars in that series are far more technologically advanced, aesthetically look much more appealing, and yet are a fraction of the cost of the boat-like Indy cars. And the sad thing is that they're made by the same chassis manufacturer as Indy car uses. Not only all that, but most importantly, they LOOK very quick on track. Indy cars on the other hand look like tanks moving around out there. Even IF they put down faster lap times than a GP2 machine, they just look slower, and I think the appearance of speed in a car is almost as important as how fast it's actually lapping. I remember someone last season wrote in stating that the cars looked like they were moving at a snail's pace at Mid Ohio and I remember thinking I couldn't agree more. I know introducing a new chassis and engine is out of your control, and I know you agree with the fact that the series needs new equipment, so I'm just trying to figure out how you're saying that all these races are so entertaining when there's virtually nothing happening on track, it's practically just follow the leader out there (with the exception of Brazil). Bottom line the racing sucks so far, practically the same as every other year before it, and I don't get how someone could think otherwise.

Hollywood Sheen

RM: I never said Long Beach was a great race, I said it was a typical LBGP: great weather, good crowd and predictably boring race -- been the same for most of its 36 runnings. I agree with your grading of the other three (only one pass for the lead at Barber on the track but that was one more than we expected) but the actual racing, front to back, has been better than in previous years -- at least on street courses. Dallara does build some cool-looking cars and, in all fairness, it never expected to be using the same car for most of a decade.

Q: Is it just me, or did the last four Indycar street/road races produce more passing than all of last year? I can't figure out why, but I hope this crosses one subject off the whiners' lists.

Mark Suska, Mansfield, Ohio

RM: The gentleman above you doesn't think so but there's no doubt that we've had much more overtaking throughout the field in at least the first three shows and they were pretty entertaining considering the constraints of Barber and street courses in general.

Q: Following up on Jeff Kibbey's idea of equalizing the cars by "taking away push-to-pass for top teams and give the others a bigger button." It's very subjective defining who gets the button and who doesn't. How about modulating the amount of extra horsepower or the number of pushes per race they get on the push to pass button according to the points standings or to the last race results, kind of how they assign ballast to the cars in some of the European touring car series.

Fernando PerezGil, San Diego

RM: I like giving more boost to the teams in the back of the pack on ovals but it's kinda Barnum & Bailey.

Q: Didn't Can-Am and Atlantics have a 105% rule for qualifying and races in the '70's? If you couldn't lap at 105% of the leader you were blacked flagged. The memories from Mid-Ohio are a little foggy today, but this could be instituted by Indycar as the "Milka" rule. She's a worse chicane than Hiro or Dr. Jack ever were. Keep plugging away for Graham!
Carl Dughman, Westerville, Ohio

RM: CART had 110 percent rule for qualifying but, when the fields got slim, it was then up to the discretion of the chief steward. It doesn't look like IndyCar has a rule, per se, but Brian Barnhart used 107 percent formula the last few races to finally park her.

Q: If Randy Bernard wants to make the road races more watchable he needs to force Barnhart to get a handle on the ridiculous restarts. The leader shouldn’t have a five-second lead on the 3rd place car by the first turn any more than he should have the pedal mashed before the green flag flies. We’ve got races where the leader is going 150 mph while 2/3 of the field haven’t made it through the hairpin final corner! They need to determine a restart pace and put a speed camera about 30 yards before the start/finish line, keep the green flag in their pocket until he passes the camera and give him a full stop/go penalty if he speeds. Give the same penalty to anybody who steps out of line behind him to make it fair. Speaking of which… what happened to penalties anyway? Where did this ‘ you can cheat as long as you apologize and give the spot back’ garbage come from? The only time somebody gets black flagged anymore is when they speed in pit lane. You know, the place they close at the start of every caution in the name of safety so that they can make it less safe by forcing everyone to pit at the exact same time so that it is more congested!

Steamed Scott

RM: I agree, the fans are robbed by most of the starts as well as re-starts on many road/street courses. Standing starts are needed at places like Long Beach and Toronto and St. Pete to get everyone on the same straightaway. The officiating and penalties in IndyCar often leave a bad taste in my mouth as well.

Q: I'm a huge Dan Wheldon fan and I still believe that in the right team he could be a contender for the IRL title like a Tony Kanaan. Anyway, my question is should I be making the most of the opportunity of seeing Wheldon racing in the IRL this season? If I'm not mistaken his contract with Panther ends after this season and with people like Rahal recently struggling to find a drive surely if Panther does not resign DW (which seems unlikely after all the rumours of not getting along during the back end of last season), Dan is going to be in a very difficult position next off-season. So, what I'm basically asking is, is this potentially Wheldon's last season in IRL or will other teams have any interest in him when he hits the market.

Nick from Surrey, England.

RM: I think you should make as many races this season as possible because Wheldon would appear to be an endangered specie. It's puzzling to see his performance on road courses because that's where he was educated and he won in all the ladder levels and he's still a bad ass in go karts. My theory is that he only drove small horsepower cars before coming to Indy cars and maybe that hurt him (whereas Will Power and Graham Rahal drove 850 HP Champ Cars before dropping down into Indy cars). Not sure what his future holds but it won't be with Panther and having more road races than ovals isn't helping his cause.

Q: How many of the Indy Car drivers do you think accept Tony Stewart's offer to race in the Prelude if they won the 500? He offered Scott Dixon a ride after he won but that was on short notice, I believe the day after he won.

Ray Hando

RM: Good question, I think Dixon wanted to do it but not sure what happened. I asked Stew to put PT in a car because that would be the ultimate thrill show. I hope IndyCar has at least one representative because it's a great event and a lot of people watch it.

Q: I was doing some research into Canadian drivers at the Indy 500 when I came upon this info in Wikipedia about Scott Goodyear. I don't remember this because I stopped watching Indy for a few years after the IRL was formed. Can you please comment on it. Did he get robbed like Tracy? Goodyear finished second again in 1997 after being passed by Arie Luyendyk on the backstraight at lap 194. He might have won if not for a controversial restart on the last lap, when the green and white flag waved despite the on-track lights still signaling yellow. Goodyear, who had expected the race to finish under caution, was weaving his car to keep his tires warm at the time of the restart. Meanwhile, eventual winner Luyendyk had already begun accelerating away from the field.

Doug Mayer

RM: No, because the race was suppose to end under caution and then it went green/yellow and surprised everyone. Scott's real win should have been in 1995 when he passed the pace car and got penalized. Fining him would have been the proper penalty because he was not going to get passed by Villeneuve and there's always been a debate about whether the pace car was up to speed or in the right place. It sucked, regardless, because passing the pace car had no bearing on the true outcome. The penalty didn't fit the crime but it was the rule.

Q: Road America has got to be back on the radar for Indy Car. The road courses seem to be popular again or gaining popularity amongst fans and we all know that RA is the best road course in North America. I haven't heard any news from you about the track lately so let me know if anything has changed. And if Randy is reading your mailbag, please add in bold letters..BRING BACK ROAD AMERICA TO INDY CAR!!! And do it quickly before NASCAR invades.

Erik Steinbrecher

P.S. And another no brainer. Make it a double header weekend with ALMS who is having a lot of success at the track. Seriously, who wouldn't pay top dollar to see that?

RM: The RA promoter was at Long Beach so I assume he's interested in bringing Indy cars to Elkhart Lake and a twin bill with ALMS plus Indy Lights and maybe F2000s would be awesome. You said it, the BEST road course in North America. It pains me to think that NASCAR Nationwide cars will be at Road America this summer and Indy cars won't. That's just wrong.

Q: I was reading the entry list for this year's 500. I am an avid fan, been to the 500 every year since '95 and I know a lot of 500 trivia. However, there one thing I do not know and I have yet to find an answer. Why is the letter "T" used on the back up cars. For example, TK's primary car is #11, backup is #11T. So why is the "T" used and is there any interesting history about it?

Jamie A. Carr, Lebanon, Ohio

RM: The term came from Formula One and it was a "training" car to be shared by teammates, according to my friend Rick Shaffer. I think over here we called it a "temporary" car for a while but it's always symbolized a backup car.

Q: I was watching the movie Grand Prix over the weekend, which for those who haven't seen it is a cinematographic classic as far as vintage open wheel racing goes - and watching the footage of those guys muscle those old F1 cars around got me thinking - have all the safety measures introduced over the decades since that movie was made watered down the sport so much that the average fan is just not interested? I'm, not suggesting we go back necessarily, but even boring Cup restrictor races keep people watching for "the big one." Like it or not, part of the draw for Indy for so many years was the danger involved- brave drivers pushing everything they had to the edge, knowing that many would go over it. I mean, would nearly as many people go to a bullfight if the matadors wore suits the bomb squad wears? Sure there would be the purists who would still watch, but the common person wouldn't. An element of danger certainly exists in OW racing, but with a spec series like exists now, 200 mph around an oval is seemingly routine to the casual observer. Something has to replace the excitement lost by the relative safety of the sport. There has to be a disparity amongst the teams - the only way to get that is with various chassis and engine combinations I think. Because if everyone has the same edge to push to, for the most part, where's the excitement in that?

Zack, Waco, Texas

RM: You have made a very astute observation, one that my lunch gang of old racers discusses from time to time. The Indy/F1 drivers of the '50s, '60s and '70s were revered partly because of their talent and partly because of the danger. They were the gladiators of the day and it was definitely part of the attraction. Watch any replay of a big NASCAR crash and notice all the cheering fans (before the crash is over) and that tells you a lot. So I think it's fair to say that today's safety measures have been good for the drivers and bad for business. The only time it's really scary nowadays is at Texas and that's more a product of how you're forced to drive.

Q: After reading Dean Cron and his comments about his trip to Alabama with his daughter, I would like to add this. I took my 12-year old daughter to the St. Pete race Sunday and Monday in the rain rain rain. After the race we walked around the paddock and waited in the Danica autograph line Uggh. However, after that we stopped at SFR. As a Hoosier transplant I commented on the IUPUI sticker with a crew member and asked if Graham had really been bouncing of the wall on last turn before the runway front stretch all day cause that is what it looked like from my seat. He said yes and let me show you what it did to the car. Walked me and my daughter around the car showed us the bent suspension and cracked wheel cap. The guy could not of been nicer and let her look inside the car put her hands on the worn tires just cool stuff. Now when I watch a race my daughter will check in every once in a while during the telecast and ask me what place is Danica and the Dollar General car in. So all these little things matter in creating new fans. I remember all my trips with my dad during the month of May to Indy as a kid that made me a life long fan.

Darrick A., St. Petersburg

RM: I watched Sarah and Graham interact with the fans in Alabama and St. Pete and most of the IndyCar paddock could take a lesson from them.

Q: As some one who has to get their open wheel fix via the tube...hey, Trenton & Nazareth have been closed a long time now... a lot of my opinion of drivers is formed by the interview they do with the TV Pit Reporters. Now I know most of the drivers have their race face on when stopped for an interview but I still don't think that is an excuse for coming off as a whiner.
As much as I've loved Mario & Michael, I think Marco has a lot to learn. May be it is because it all came to him too easily at a young age and he hasn't had to go struggle with another team. But he never seems to appreciate how lucky he is to be a race car driver name Andretti. Even when things are going good for him he doesn't seem to appreciate his situation...and when things are going bad..fugadaboutit! Now at the opposite end of the spectrum there is Helio. No matter how things are going for Helio you always get the impression he knows how lucky he is to be getting paid big money to drive race cars. When things are going bad Helio communicates, "Well things are not going too good for us right now and we have to work on improving things. But hey, I've got the best job in the world so even when things are not going our way my life is still great." Lets face it every fan would like to be a race car driver and seeing an American kid who is a driver not appreciate how lucky he is turns fans and therefore sponsors off. I'm sure that the only reason Marco has had sponsorship for the last few years is because his last name is Andretti. Thanks to Mario & Michael the Andretti name carries a lot of weight with sponsors. But Marco can ruin the Andretti name just as quickly as Toyota ruined their reputation for quality. So Marco put a note on your mirror that you can read every morning: "I'm a lucky guy, I drive race cars for a living and I'm going to let everyone know how happy that makes me!" Maybe then Indy Car fans will become Marco Andretti fans. If that doesn't work may be Mario & Michael can just kick his butt.

Michael Aldea, Hawthorne, NJ

RM: I think he was justifiably frustrated after leading most of the race at 'Bama and then having to make a late stop for fuel and not too thrilled after being mounted by Mario Moraes at Brazil. But he does seem to be lightning up a little bit this season, although judging from the emails he's still got a long way to go with the fans. I know he comes off as ungrateful and that's a perception only he can change because he never seems happy. Even when he won at Sonoma, Michael and Mario looked a lot more excited. He just seems extremely introverted but it wouldn't be that hard to smile, sign, pose and win over a bunch of people who would end up cheering for him.

Q: Dear fans, all this hoopla about new chassis, new engines etc, is a bit over the top, the real deal of yesterdays was innovation, creativity, audacity (turbines?!) and lots of ingenuity. But lets get real here, a few authorized new chassis and engines is still a specs formula, we'll see a few different car shapes but all still be the same, just an open book in this day and age is not possible, the development cost, wind tunnel, CFD, composite materials, etc, makes cost prohibitive for all the teams, even the rich ones (Penske, Ganassi) and perhaps also for big manufacturers like Dallara or Lola if there are no strict rules. My point is, select the cheapest, safest, most industry relevant solution for the next generation car, just make it fast and slick, freeze parts development for the racing calendar, no wind tunnel test for the teams, more on track winter test for all, and go freaking racing! Oh! and do not forget, grid babes and hunks, so everybody is happy!

Alfredo Giachino

RM: Not a rant, but a nice, concise sermon.

Q: I first started watching Indy car back in 1995 (1st race I watched was Surfers Paradise). What drew me into the sport was the cars (drools), the speeds, the sound of those turbos, and the crashes (I was only 9 at the time). As each race went by leading up to Indianapolis, new heroes emerged (Tracy, Andretti, Gordon, Fittipaldi, and Unser Jr.). Then the month of May came and seeing the cars go on track at Indy and I was blown away by the speeds (230s), the track itself, and the cars looked a little different (first time seeing speedway wings). When race day came, I remember the race being promoted in the local newspaper like it was a Super Bowl. Anyway, the race came on and seeing the introduction by Paul Page, I knew this race was gonna be something special. Then the bad news came that two of my heroes didn't make the race and that made me a little sad, but that day more heroes of my emerged (Pruett, Rahal, Luyendyk, Sullivan, Brayton, Ribeiro, De Ferran and Villeneuve) and an idiot (Goodyear and later in the season, Matsushita). So after that great season of racing, I was exited about 1996 until till the first race of the year when the IRL had their first race at Walt Disney and my first reaction was WTF is this?! Where did all my heroes go? I thought I was watching AA baseball or something! The only driver that kept me from changing the channel was Tony Stewart because he was my driver when I watched the Thursday night races. That race left me confused for a really long time up until the Indy cars raced at Rio (missed the Homestead race thanks to the irl). Then I realized that something ain't right and this big fear of things getting worse came in to my mind. Then May came and when I only saw IRL drivers and not CART drivers, I felt like I was cheated and that took the excitement of May out of me. So here is my thoughts on how to bring the fans back to the race tracks and gain TV ratings. 1. Bring innovation back to the speedway. 2. Raise and double layer the catch fences for faster speeds (I want to see the cars break the 250mph barrier already! We're years behind on speed). 3. Move the race back to Monday to increase competition. 4. Bring the apron back to increase overtaking. 5. Bring the triple crown back (Michigan and a new oval track with a right kink). 6. Kill the IRL and start fresh. The IRL is the MAIN reason why the fans turned away. I am not exited to see another year of a car that sounds like a flushing toilet. However, I'm still gonna watch because someday hopefully (once all the idiots that are holding this sport back are gone) its gonna be like 95 again, but better.
Manuel R. Melendez, Rochester, NY.

RM: The IRL really is dead, although some media continue to use those call letters, it's the IZOD IndyCar Series. Will Power shares your thoughts on speed and braking the IMS record and I think the new CEO has some plans for a couple of the other things you mentioned.

Q: Reading this week's mailbag I came across Frank Bain's comments about the need for a Lucky Dog type rule in Indy Car. For the love of GOD, do NOT let this happen. First of all, there is a reason that the lapped cars are between the drivers, and that is the car in front has negotiated them already while the car behind has not. Say a driver is leading the race by 10 secs and has cars in between him and second when the caution comes out; how can it be fair to not only lose that time-distance advantage, but have the cars that he patiently worked through (and most likely lost time doing so) suddenly be removed from the line and second place no longer has to go through what he did? Second of all, which story line would you rather have in a race? (for the sake of argument my scenario is going to have the lead car being dominant most of the day, with the 2nd place car being faster over the last stint, since this is the only way a pass has the potential to happen in either scenario, barring driver error): There's 10 laps left at the green flag. Well the lap-down cars have been removed from the line so we will now see who has the faster car at this particular point in the race. OR There's 10 laps left at the green flag. There is one lap down car separating 1st and 2nd, can the 2nd place man clear the lapper quickly? Does he have the pace to catch the leader once he does? Will he have enough time to pass the leader when (if) he does catch him?? To me the first option produces an outcome with little drama and is fairly predictable and produces a fairly immediate answer (either 2nd place stays on the leaders tail and tries to pass, or he doesn't), sure there might be a more direct "battle" in some circumstances, but in others there won't be. Where as the 2nd option produces a far less predictable outcome that will make the guy in 2nd drive "balls to the wall" to do everything he can to get by the lapper, hunt down the leader, and try to win, and it puts the audience at home on the edge of there seats till the last lap to see what the answers to each of those questions are. As a fan I know I much prefer the 2nd option; even if my favorite driver sometimes can't make up the gap, it is part of racing, and it should stay that way. There's already to much artificiality in racing (spec series, low horsepower to improve reliability, push to pass to compensate for that, etc) we need to stop finding ways to make things more level for the less talented people, and start removing barriers from the most talented people (or teams) to succeed. If a caution falls with 3 lapped cars between 1st and 2nd, it's because the guy in 1st earned it! Don't take it away from him! Part of racing is being the best and luckiest person on a given day. The more we take away from that and try and level the playing field with artificial rules, the more boring the racing will be. (Even if the rules are designed with the opposite effect in mind. See F1.) I don't want the artificiality that has become NASCAR in Indy Car, I like my Indy Car series because it's not NASCAR; because it doesn't NEED artificial things like a Lucky Dog rule to produce good racing. Every week I hear in this mailbag that we want more OPEN rules for cars, let's get the same for the series as a whole! Move AWAY from a spec series, and don't try and make the racing MORE artificial then it is in it's current form.

Andrew Kinsella, St Thomas, Ontario, Canada

RM: Thanks Andrew, I think you have just shown the difference between the devout open wheel fan (at least road racing) and today's NASCAR fan. The green-white-checker finish has nothing to do with racing and everything to do with pleasing the Cup crowd. Even Kevin Harvick said last night on RACE HUB that as a pure racer he doesn't like it but it serves a purpose. As for Indy car fans, especially on a road course or street circuit, there seems to be a built-in respect for getting the lead and getting through lapped cars. As I said earlier, IndyCar doesn't need to manufacture a special Chase to make a point race and it doesn't need to adopt a mongrel like the Lucky Dog or wave around lapped cars on a road course. The essence of racing is to run as hard as you can for the prescribed distance and the best man, more often than not, wins.

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.

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