-
Home
-
Latest Headlines
-
- TV Shows
-
TV Schedule
-
SPEED Showcase
-
- NASCAR
-
Formula 1
- Auto Racing
- Moto Racing
- Cars
- Bikes
- Store
- Social
- Games
- Mobile
- Deals
- Videos
- Photos
- Home
- TV Shows
-
TV Schedule
-
SPEED Showcase
-
- NASCAR
- Formula 1
- Auto Racing
- Moto Racing
- Cars
- Bikes
- Store
- Social
- Mobile
- Deals
- Videos
- Photos
IndyCar
INDYCAR: Miller’s Mailbag, 9.13
Always genuine, never lite: It's Miller time. Here's the latest Q&A from SPEED.com's IndyCar guru.
Can Will Power earn his first title after a pair of runner-up finishes? (Photo: LAT)
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: If Will Power doesn't win the title at Fontana, he has to rank as one of the unluckiest drivers ever. On a par with Dan Gurney and Chris Amon. Power has clearly been the fastest driver all year and has led a very high percentage of the laps yet here we are on the verge of it all falling apart. Can you relate any similarly unlucky stories from Indy racings past?
Ted Mayer
RM: Actually, for the past three years nobody has won more races or pole positions than Power so with a little luck he could be looking at a three-peat.
In 1967, Mario won eight races and led twice as many laps as A.J. but lost the title by 80 points and in 1972, Bobby Unser won seven poles and led 520 laps but finished eighth in the points because of all his blown engines. Paul Tracy led more laps and won just as many races as Nigel Mansell in 1993 but wound up third in the CART points. In 1996, rookie Alex Zanardi won the most poles and led the most laps but finished third in the CART championship. But possibly the most dominant drivers not to win a title was a tie between Danny Ongais and Michael Andretti. In 1978, Ongais won eight poles, five races and led 870 laps and finished eighth in the USAC standings while Andretti he racked up seven poles, five wins and led 1136 laps in 1992 only to lose the CART title to Bobby Rahal by four points. And Rahal was The Man in 1985 in terms of wins, poles and laps led by ran third to the Unsers in the points. Ditto for Teo Fabi in 1983.
Q: First, this has been an incredible season start-to-finish! THIS is what leveling the playing field with a new car and multiple engine manufacturers was all about. I loved this season. Going forward ... what can Will Phillips do to keep Penske/Ganassi from doing what they did before in the CRAPWAGON era from a technical standpoint? Second, I've seen chatter about the ALMS/Grand Am merger actually being good for IndyCar. I read that the way the technical specs might come out may drive teams from road racing into IndyCar. How many would jump to IndyCar in your view?
Gordon Martinez
RM: IndyCar has already announced it will limit testing next year so that’s going to help the Bryan Hertas and Sam Schmidts, but nothing anybody can do from preventing the big teams from using the wind tunnel and 7-post shaker rig. Too early to say if any ALMS teams might find IndyCar more inviting.
Q: I have a bad feeling that Will Power is going to suffer his first mechanical failure of the season at the worst possible time. If he qualifies well at Fontana, do you think Team Penske might take the grid penalty to give him a fresh Chevy for the championship race?
Blake, Flower Mound TX
RM: Several teams have commented it’s ironic that Penske is the only group not to have engine failures with Chevrolet this season so I wouldn’t expect any now. But if might not be a bad play to do as you suggest since it doesn’t matter where you start in a 500-miler at Fontana.
Q: I’ve just got to say that by the time the weekend ends, I hope RHR has signed with Penske. Michael shows no loyalty to anyone other than Marco. Penske has kept Helio for an inordinate amount of time, although the fleet-footed and driving Brazilian is always a contender at Indy and at most other tracks. I think RHR could enjoy a long career at Penske. Probably close it out there. Roger has the bucks to fund that third car when needed and I think his organization has more power when it comes to attracting sponsors. Glad to hear in last week’s mailbag that Indy will have a new Canadian partner, I was aghast to find three hours of tennis on my DVR when I got back from camping. Dang you TSN! Not even women’s tennis! I sure hope those jerks don’t preempt Fontana!
Trevor Bohay, Kamloops, BC Canada
RM: I can’t remember ANYBODY ever turning down Roger Penske and to most it’s a no-brainer. But this is different because RHR appreciates that Michael Andretti rescued his open wheel career and now he’s the leader of that team. Like I wrote last week, it’s the toughest decision any driver would have to make under those circumstances. As for Canadian coverage of IndyCar, it sounds like you can look forward to 2013 with Rogers.
Q: With all the talk about who gets the open seat at Penske, Ganassi and possibly Andretti Autosport, why on earth is Sebastien Bourdais not being considered? Ryan Hunter-Reay, Justin Wilson and Oriol Servia are all talented drivers to be sure, and deserving of getting a ride based on their talent and not the sponsors they can bring with them. But considering how well Bourdais has performed in lesser equipment in the last couple of years, for teams that barely test, I can't imagine he wouldn't be an instant championship contender in a Penske or Ganassi car, and would certainly do as well as RHR or Hinch in an Andretti Autosport car. Am I missing something here? Is Bourdais' contract with Dragon Racing a done deal? And even most 'done deals' can be undone if they want the driver bad enough, right? I may be showing my CART/Champ Car bias here, but I would love for SeaBass to get a shot in a top team to really show what he can do, on the twisties and the ovals. Didn't Will Power say about Bourdais 'imagine what he would do in a Penske car?' Well, I would LOVE to see that!
Ramon, Culver City, CA
RM: Besides Pagenaud (who isn’t available), Seabass would be at the top of the list for sure but it sounds like Jay Penske is close to re-signing him (Marshall Pruett did a story two weeks ago). However, if RHR turns down The Captain then I would assume Justin Wilson and Seb would be on his speed dial but that might make Thanksgiving dinner a little awkward at the Penske home.
Q: There's been a lot of talk lately about which drivers are moving to what teams. A lot of the talk seems to focus on the current group of drivers in the series. Any chance we'll ever see someone like Buddy Rice in a car again?
Tom P, Pennsylvania
RM: Other than a one-off at Indianapolis, I doubt it. Spoke to Buddy over the weekend and he’s working on a sports-car deal for 2013 and staying busy with his Tony Kart armada.
Q: Well, you saw it and heard it. Professional sports car racing in North America has just been relegated into another NASCAR dumbing down, another version of pro-wrestling racing with dumb down, identical cars. (By the way, the term “Daytona Prototypes” is a true oxymoron). Yes, Fred’s machine shop will do all the chassis and some engine company will do all the engines and the cars will have decals from the Detroit Three marketing departments. And, the Detroit Three will send their marketing people to the races but they won’t send their engineers and they won’t say much about the cuts in engineering to support the new marketing program. Contrast that to the various Le Mans-based series which have featured the global automotive technological leaders and has done much to drive new technology. Those top competitors are the world leaders in global automotive market and its technological leaders. Looking for a testimonial? Compare the sales of a Toyota Prius to a Chevy Volt and you see the continued decline in North America motorsports-driven innovation. This is another example of dumbing down of America and further entrenching the Detroit Three as permanent but declining provincial players in the global automotive market. The France and Walton families may get wealthier, some of the Leigh Diffey’s and the Scott Atherton’s will have jobs but the results will be the same. This just accelerates the move to a dumber America; where everything is made elsewhere and the innovation is elsewhere as well. Welcome to the United States of Wal-Mart.
Tom Nelson, Somers, Wisconsin
RM: Rob Dyson and Greg Pickett have made it clear they’re only interested in sports car racing the way they’ve been doing it in ALMS so I guess we’ll see where the line in drawn in the sand. But the real concern is that the cool cars will be replaced by the DP clones.
~Robin Miller
Q: If Will Power doesn't win the title at Fontana, he has to rank as one of the unluckiest drivers ever. On a par with Dan Gurney and Chris Amon. Power has clearly been the fastest driver all year and has led a very high percentage of the laps yet here we are on the verge of it all falling apart. Can you relate any similarly unlucky stories from Indy racings past?
Ted Mayer
RM: Actually, for the past three years nobody has won more races or pole positions than Power so with a little luck he could be looking at a three-peat.
In 1967, Mario won eight races and led twice as many laps as A.J. but lost the title by 80 points and in 1972, Bobby Unser won seven poles and led 520 laps but finished eighth in the points because of all his blown engines. Paul Tracy led more laps and won just as many races as Nigel Mansell in 1993 but wound up third in the CART points. In 1996, rookie Alex Zanardi won the most poles and led the most laps but finished third in the CART championship. But possibly the most dominant drivers not to win a title was a tie between Danny Ongais and Michael Andretti. In 1978, Ongais won eight poles, five races and led 870 laps and finished eighth in the USAC standings while Andretti he racked up seven poles, five wins and led 1136 laps in 1992 only to lose the CART title to Bobby Rahal by four points. And Rahal was The Man in 1985 in terms of wins, poles and laps led by ran third to the Unsers in the points. Ditto for Teo Fabi in 1983.
Q: First, this has been an incredible season start-to-finish! THIS is what leveling the playing field with a new car and multiple engine manufacturers was all about. I loved this season. Going forward ... what can Will Phillips do to keep Penske/Ganassi from doing what they did before in the CRAPWAGON era from a technical standpoint? Second, I've seen chatter about the ALMS/Grand Am merger actually being good for IndyCar. I read that the way the technical specs might come out may drive teams from road racing into IndyCar. How many would jump to IndyCar in your view?
Gordon Martinez
RM: IndyCar has already announced it will limit testing next year so that’s going to help the Bryan Hertas and Sam Schmidts, but nothing anybody can do from preventing the big teams from using the wind tunnel and 7-post shaker rig. Too early to say if any ALMS teams might find IndyCar more inviting.
Q: I have a bad feeling that Will Power is going to suffer his first mechanical failure of the season at the worst possible time. If he qualifies well at Fontana, do you think Team Penske might take the grid penalty to give him a fresh Chevy for the championship race?
Blake, Flower Mound TX
RM: Several teams have commented it’s ironic that Penske is the only group not to have engine failures with Chevrolet this season so I wouldn’t expect any now. But if might not be a bad play to do as you suggest since it doesn’t matter where you start in a 500-miler at Fontana.
Q: I’ve just got to say that by the time the weekend ends, I hope RHR has signed with Penske. Michael shows no loyalty to anyone other than Marco. Penske has kept Helio for an inordinate amount of time, although the fleet-footed and driving Brazilian is always a contender at Indy and at most other tracks. I think RHR could enjoy a long career at Penske. Probably close it out there. Roger has the bucks to fund that third car when needed and I think his organization has more power when it comes to attracting sponsors. Glad to hear in last week’s mailbag that Indy will have a new Canadian partner, I was aghast to find three hours of tennis on my DVR when I got back from camping. Dang you TSN! Not even women’s tennis! I sure hope those jerks don’t preempt Fontana!
Trevor Bohay, Kamloops, BC Canada
RM: I can’t remember ANYBODY ever turning down Roger Penske and to most it’s a no-brainer. But this is different because RHR appreciates that Michael Andretti rescued his open wheel career and now he’s the leader of that team. Like I wrote last week, it’s the toughest decision any driver would have to make under those circumstances. As for Canadian coverage of IndyCar, it sounds like you can look forward to 2013 with Rogers.
Q: With all the talk about who gets the open seat at Penske, Ganassi and possibly Andretti Autosport, why on earth is Sebastien Bourdais not being considered? Ryan Hunter-Reay, Justin Wilson and Oriol Servia are all talented drivers to be sure, and deserving of getting a ride based on their talent and not the sponsors they can bring with them. But considering how well Bourdais has performed in lesser equipment in the last couple of years, for teams that barely test, I can't imagine he wouldn't be an instant championship contender in a Penske or Ganassi car, and would certainly do as well as RHR or Hinch in an Andretti Autosport car. Am I missing something here? Is Bourdais' contract with Dragon Racing a done deal? And even most 'done deals' can be undone if they want the driver bad enough, right? I may be showing my CART/Champ Car bias here, but I would love for SeaBass to get a shot in a top team to really show what he can do, on the twisties and the ovals. Didn't Will Power say about Bourdais 'imagine what he would do in a Penske car?' Well, I would LOVE to see that!
Ramon, Culver City, CA
RM: Besides Pagenaud (who isn’t available), Seabass would be at the top of the list for sure but it sounds like Jay Penske is close to re-signing him (Marshall Pruett did a story two weeks ago). However, if RHR turns down The Captain then I would assume Justin Wilson and Seb would be on his speed dial but that might make Thanksgiving dinner a little awkward at the Penske home.
Q: There's been a lot of talk lately about which drivers are moving to what teams. A lot of the talk seems to focus on the current group of drivers in the series. Any chance we'll ever see someone like Buddy Rice in a car again?
Tom P, Pennsylvania
RM: Other than a one-off at Indianapolis, I doubt it. Spoke to Buddy over the weekend and he’s working on a sports-car deal for 2013 and staying busy with his Tony Kart armada.
Q: Well, you saw it and heard it. Professional sports car racing in North America has just been relegated into another NASCAR dumbing down, another version of pro-wrestling racing with dumb down, identical cars. (By the way, the term “Daytona Prototypes” is a true oxymoron). Yes, Fred’s machine shop will do all the chassis and some engine company will do all the engines and the cars will have decals from the Detroit Three marketing departments. And, the Detroit Three will send their marketing people to the races but they won’t send their engineers and they won’t say much about the cuts in engineering to support the new marketing program. Contrast that to the various Le Mans-based series which have featured the global automotive technological leaders and has done much to drive new technology. Those top competitors are the world leaders in global automotive market and its technological leaders. Looking for a testimonial? Compare the sales of a Toyota Prius to a Chevy Volt and you see the continued decline in North America motorsports-driven innovation. This is another example of dumbing down of America and further entrenching the Detroit Three as permanent but declining provincial players in the global automotive market. The France and Walton families may get wealthier, some of the Leigh Diffey’s and the Scott Atherton’s will have jobs but the results will be the same. This just accelerates the move to a dumber America; where everything is made elsewhere and the innovation is elsewhere as well. Welcome to the United States of Wal-Mart.
Tom Nelson, Somers, Wisconsin
RM: Rob Dyson and Greg Pickett have made it clear they’re only interested in sports car racing the way they’ve been doing it in ALMS so I guess we’ll see where the line in drawn in the sand. But the real concern is that the cool cars will be replaced by the DP clones.
2013 INDY 500 Practice
LATEST HEADLINES: AUTO-RACING
-
GRAND-AM: Valiante Joins 8Star For Mid-Ohio
Daytona Prototype ace to sub for Stephane Sarrazin in next month's… -
MILLER: My Annual Indy 500 Quiz
It’s time for Robin Miller's annual Indy 500 quiz. -
INDYCAR: Miller's Mailbag, 5.23
It's time for SPEED.com's weekly IndyCar Q&A with Robin Miller's… -
INDYCAR: HIPPINO.com To Sponsor Kanaan At Detroit
Just a few weeks after announcing the KV Racing-SH Racing entry of… -
PHOTOS: Indy 500 Practice & Qualifying 2013
Enjoy a huge collection of photos from practice and qualifying while… -
LE MANS: BoP Adjustments For GTE Announced
GTE-Pro Aston Martins handed extra weight, larger restrictor for… -
LE MANS: Jim France Named LM24 Starter
GRAND-AM founder and NASCAR Vice Chairman to wave tri-colour flag… - More News
