Q: While I would like to see more American drivers in the IRL, it wouldn't be just because they are Americans. Qualified drivers would certainly generate more interest from the general public, and fringe racing fans, and would therefore be a good thing. But, where do they come from? How does driving a front engine midget, sprint or modified dirt/pavement car translate to a rear engine car traveling twice the speed? Now, I realize there are exceptions like Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman, etc. who could probably drive anything, but I also seem to remember that JJ Yeley never really lived up to his hype in Indy cars or stock cars. Where are the Saturday night guys that make the switch to the rear-engine support series? It is a reality of the times that you have to bring money to the table and that is just the way it is going to be for a while.

Rick Navratil, Phoenix

Helio won "Dancing with the Stars" and also showed some aptitude for "The Ultimate Fighter" after wriggling his way past IMS' guards and track workers to celebrate his win. (LAT)

RM: I guess my short answer is that if Milk & Doughnuts can make it to 221 mph, most of the USAC midget and sprint boys could handle it easy with some practice and a decent team. Yeley was impressive right out of the box in his short IRL career in 1997 but nobody gave him a ride. I'm not saying Cole Whitt, Brad Sweet, Tracy Hines, Dave Darland, Bryan Clauson, Levi Jones, Chad Boat, Darren Hagan and Jerry Coons Jr. could become road racers overnight but they damn sure could shine on an oval with the right seasoning.

Q: Per a recent mailbag/chat, why would Fogarty have turned-down Rahal? 2) Bruno drove for free for a couple years, and Coyne+team seemed to think highly of Bruno. So why would Coyne spurn Bruno's loyalty and ditch him for Justin this year? Did Coyne feel Justin brought some "X" factor that Bruno did not? Is Coyne paying Justin (I wouldn't think Bruno lost his seat because Justin brought money)? Don't get me wrong: I think they're both fine drivers, but hadn't seen this addressed anywhere, and am curious as to what (really) happened.

Mike Simons, Atlanta

RM: Fogarty didn't like the all-oval concept at that time and had he known road racing would become prominent, maybe it would have changed his decision. But he's got a nice gig in Grand-Am right now along with Alex Gurney and they're making a living as race drivers. But both belong in today's Indy car picture.

Q: Americans aren't stupid and can design race cars if they are allowed. I know you think the era of cookie cutter cars at Indy should be over and so do I. I am sure you want a class in which safety is first and there is a standard pod for the driver, BUT materials would be limited to inexpensive and easily worked varieties. If someone finds a material that isn't being used and it is cheap the IRL could allow it for the following year. GrandAm has made some tough cars along these lines and they are tanks. For engines? Adopt the Grand-Am formula as it seems to work. If that would happen then perhaps we could have easy cross overs from GrandAm or even WoO. Think of it this way - the announcer says, "In car number 47 is Joey Saldana driving a Dynan powered Drinan." If people like Danny Drinan could build one for $80K plus the cost of the driver pod and drive train, they would. The pod could last 10 years. But what if such a car was slow? They can go back to their shops and fix it and not worry about some rule that says, "You have to position your framatizer this way and only glomulate your sway bar with Glabber Girl Baking Soda." Should they not be able to use Turtle Wax? Micromanaged rules result in micromanaged cheating. Give me back the Yunicks who could come and fail with sidecars, but do really well with reworked Eagles. Failure should make one go back to the shop and think but not go into bankruptcy. If the chassis is garbage, remove the pod and start over. This won't happen as the IRL wants the hype and glitz and not poor dumb mechanics with their engineer friends at Wright Pat, Westinghouse, or GE helping them in dark garages making a Kingfish chassis with the design drawn on the floor with chalk. If they blow their one engine, then they can go home and be proud. I miss those days and there was nothing wrong with them because they were Indy. Something is wrong in the present, we are bored.

Scrappy Dan

RM: I ran your essay because it was so good and so truthful. You can build a cheap and safe Indy car and restore free thinking to Gasoline Alley.

Q: I'm a life-long Andretti fan. For the past 2 years, it seems that I continue to hear how AGR is struggling financially. Is this true? They are the only 4 car team in the IRL. If they were having money woes, wouldn't they scale back by eliminating a driver or two? When Graham Rahal crashed during qualifying at St. Pete, a commentator said that Newman Haas didn't have a back up car for Graham. Are they having money issues? While experts (including you) continue to talk about AGR's money problems, I don't see anything on the track that would lead me to believe that the claim is valid. I may be wrong. Would you please help me understand this?

Steve Shanahan

RM: I've never talked about AGR having money problems, they seem to be pretty well oiled at the moment. Michael Andretti said he was concerned about next year because a lot of their contracts expire (Motorola and $21 million for Danica) so, yes, it could be a factor in 2010. As for Newman/Haas/Lanigan, McDonald's isn't mega bucks and Doornbos has funding from his father but it may or may not be enough for all of 2009.

Q: While I was watching Helio partake in the winner’s traditional drink of milk this weekend, an odd question came to mind. What if the winning driver is lactose intolerant? Does the speedway have any provisions for that, or does the winner have a great day and a bad night?

John Ragone

RM: That's a good one. Remember when Emerson Fittipaldi drank orange juice instead of milk in Victory Lane and traditionalists were outraged?

Q: Thanks for giving Larry Rice a nice good bye. Guys like "Rice-A-Roni" are true building blocks to open wheel racing in America. Having friends like Larry it is hard to keep an open mind about open wheel racing as it is today. Most drivers at the speedway today would be hard pressed to hold a candle to the Larry Rice generation.( True statement, I could not see many of that generation on "Dancing with the Stars" either.) Glad your around to keep our past in the present.

Dean Vetrock

RM: Rice was one of the last of a breed: an American racer who came up through the USAC ranks and was hired to run Indy by Pat Santello. He also happened to be a rare gem of a person.

Q: Thanks for the kind words of a great person – Larry Rice. My wife, Sandy and I own Casino Speedway in Watertown, SD, a short 3/8 mile high banked dirt “bull ring”. We met Larry Rice at a WISSOTA Promoters Annual Meeting and became friends. I asked him if he would speak at our annual awards banquet and he graciously accepted. He flew to Watertown, SD in the dead of a South Dakota winter to speak at a banquet for a little unknown promoter at a little short track….that was Larry Rice.

Earl S. Benson

RM: I think your story illustrates the guy we all admired, respected and liked.

Q: Just a question about Herk, since I know you were close to him. I remember going to the track on the final Sunday of qualifying every year when I was a kid and the cheers when he would roll out the roadster. I know he rarely came close to getting into the show, but what was the fastest he ever did in it, and would it be likely that he holds the track record for fastest lap in a front-engine Indy car?

Mark Gillespie, Haddonfield, NJ

RM: I think he ran it 172 mph in either 1970 or 1971 before crashing coming out of Turn 4. Man was he brave. He did qualify the last roadster in 1968 at 162 mph -- the year I got to be his stooge until he fired me.

Q: If the Cleveland Doubleheader makes it to the schedule, would the teams be able to run both races with the same car or would the setups be different enough that they would have one car set up for the Oval and one for the Road?

Peter B in Palatine, IL

RM: Right now that seems to be the big question. It would be very difficult for a one-car team to turn its car from oval track to road course configuration overnight so I think the IRL is looking at running both races with one car.


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.