MILLER: Robin's Indycar Mailbag for January 21st

IndyCar

MILLER: Robin’s Indycar Mailbag for January 21st

Ready for more of Miller's Mailbag? Here's 25 questions from die hard Indycar fans & 25 answers from the best Indycar scribe on the planet.

Robin Miller | Posted January 21, 2009 Indianapolis, IN

SeaBass, SeaBass, SeaBass...will we see you back in an Indycar in 2009? Are you damaged goods after a poor maiden F1 journey, asks Steve from Aurora, CO. (LAT Photographic)

Hello open wheel types and thanks for all your questions. I intend to answer your questions every week during the season, so just e-mail them to openwheelmailbag@gmail.com. Don’t feel left out if I didn’t directly respond. I appreciate your interest and passion.

~Robin Miller

Q: It appears Sebastien Bourdais is headed back to the States (at least that's what you reported). I thought that would be the case, given Sato is bringing money to Toro Rosso and the fact Sebastian Buemi posted faster lap times (no excuse for that, unless Toro Rosso rigged it that way, which would not surprise me). Do you think is Bourdais damaged goods? I don't know what F1 does to a driver, but drivers who have failed in F1 -- Michael Andretti, Alex Zanardi and Cristiano da Matta -- weren't the same when they returned to open wheel racing here. Also, with the former Honda F1 team walking around with its hand out looking for an engine, why don't they give Cosworth a call? I would think Forsythe and Kalkhovan would like the business.

Steve, Aurora, Colo.

RM: Newman/Haas/Lanigan is trying to find sponsorship for Bourdais, but nothing yet. As for damaged goods, it's interesting to watch the guys you mention kick ass over here and then go to F1 and get humbled. But, realistically, Jacques Villeneuve is the only CART champ who ever went to F1 with a top ride (and Williams was easily the class of the field in 1996-97) so I think that explains much of their struggles. Senna admitted the McLaren wasn't up to snuff in 1993, Zanardi was out-paced by teammate Ralf Schumacher but the car wasn't very good and Cristiano drove that Toyota slug. Seabass came on strong the last six races and was right with Vettel so obviously Toro Rosso needs money. Michael was still on top when he returned to CART but Zanardi struggled and da Matta was with a midrange team before moving to RuSport when he was injured.

Q: I've been reading these Q&As with you here at SPEED and a couple of others connected with Indy Car racing for years now, and I keep hearing the same old complaints year after year about the IRL, and I have a few questions now of my own. Am I the only IndyCar fan in the country who doesn't think the Dallara is any uglier than people thought the original rear-engined cars were in the early 1960s (I was there), and looks an awful lot like the F1 cars of the 70s? What race car IS beautiful? They're RACE CARS (not babes), for crying out loud! Am I the only IndyCar fan in the country who thinks (like Gene Simmons) that if it's too freakin' loud, you're too freakin' old, and that the IRL engines sound just fine, thank you very much? Robin, you HAVE to have heard a NOVI before, quit complaining, they're RACE CARS, for crying out loud! Am I the only IndyCar fan in the country who think the IRL races on NASCAR high-banked tracks look a lot like high tech old-time dirt track racing what with the different grooves and all, or have most IRL fans these days never even seen dirt track racing? Now there were some RACE CARS, for crying out loud. Am I the only IndyCar fan in the country who is sick and tired of reading "road course, road course, road course," as if being able to drive a silly road course somehow makes you a much better driver than someone who can, say, muscle a 900 hp dirt car in a middle groove with someone riding the rim and someone riding the rail right next to them? We're talking about RACE CARS, for crying out loud. Am I the only IndyCar fan in the country who makes a 1,250 mile one way drive "back home" to "The Track" every couple of years so I can stand in Turn 1 with tears streaming down my face as I remember what it was like to see the "Whooshmobile" and other cars of my youth go by, while anticipating that time when another unique set of 33 will do what has never been done before them, dive headlong into that turn one in a pursuit of immortality, once again validating for all who will see that the Indianapolis 500 remains The Greatest Spectacle in Racing, and is as great as it ever was, and we're damned lucky to even still have it? After all, they still, in fact, drive RACE CARS there, for crying out loud. Just a former Broad Ripple resident asking questions in snowed-in, frigid Maine,

Phil Kaiser, Searsport, Maine

RM: I enjoyed your letter because obviously you've got history and passion for Indy Cars. But the IRL sound has been painful to the ears (to the point I think even TG complained) for a long time and I watched families take their kids home halfway through races because it bothered them so much. An Indy 500 engine should sound sexy and strong, not obnoxious. The cookie-cutter NASCAR tracks have hosted some incredible IRL events, no question, but oval crashes wreck budgets and, because of the specs, the racing is more insanity than enjoyable to me. I think a nice mix of ovals (like Phoenix, Loudon and Michigan), road courses and street circuits make for a challenging series. A lot of us cry when we remember how great the month of May use to be.

Q: It’s a no-brainer that PT needs to be in a race car for the two Canadian races, but no one has mentioned his value as far as the Long Beach Grand Prix is concerned. I grew up in So Cal and have attended all but two GP's since my first in 1988. PT is a four-time winner and a fan favorite. The GP suffered in attendance after the Big 3 defected from Champ Car and Long Beach has had two constants since that time, Bruce Flanders and PT. Take either of them out of the equation and it just wouldn't be the same. Long Beach doesn't need Danica, there’s enough eye candy in the crowd. It’s great to have an Andretti back in the field, but we want one who can own a street circuit like dad and grandpa did. Long Beach fans may grow to love one of the current IRL drivers, in time, but in ʽ09 PT needs to be in a race car.

John Wertz

RM: Obviously, I agree. Flanders keep us laughing and P.T. keeps us watching.

Q: Last fall I forwarded an email that I got from Tony Bonetti at sfaft.org, which is the marketing arm of Subway restaurants. I recently wrote him to ask how it was going for a Subway sponsored ride for PT. His reply says that they were unsuccessful in coming to a deal with Indycar, and will use their sponsorship for Carl Edwards in NASCAR. Too bad for Paul, I still have a picture of the No. 22 Subway car at Edmonton as my background on my computer. Glad to hear he may be able to get something going with Vasser. I thought Kalkhoven had bottomless pockets for Champ car, can't he have the same for his own team and stop this stupid "buy your ride scenario"?

Keith Hines, Smithers, BC, Canada

RM: You would think that between Kalkhoven, TGeorge and AGR, they could pool their money and make sure Tracy had a proper ride for the whole season since he they could all use his talents and his persona. He sells tickets and newspapers. He is the only reason anybody wants to go to Toronto to watch. But we all seem to realize that or care a lot more than the IRL and AGR at this point in time. And I don't want to see P.T. thrown into a car at the last minute to try and save the Toronto race, he deserves better.

Q: I have read when TG has stated that if by 2013 the IRL isn't profitable, it will be "shut down." Does this statement have any validity? Having been hooked on OW racing after my first visit to Indy in 75, I have lost interest in the IRL product for most of the reasons already discussed. If the IRL IS scuttled in 2013, do you think it might be a good thing? The Indy 500 would live on, but would it be a NASCAR race or would TG be forced to open up the rules and revert back to the "run what you brung" mentality. I know that that would get me back to Indy. I'm ready for a new start. Perhaps becoming low budget might be refreshing and interesting again.

Gary Pope, Urbana, Ohio

RM: I've heard conflicting stories that he said that tongue in cheek and that it was a serious statement. My immediate response was that the IRL couldn't be profitable by 2033 because it's already so far in the hole and has no real business plan for success. Could that all change with Terry Angstadt in the next few years? Possibly. But I know a lot of people who believe IndyCar needs to bottom out and get a radical new start to have a chance.

Q: I see where Michael Andretti is going to be Danica's race strategist this year and the first thing that comes to my mind is, "what's the over/under on when he gives that job to somebody else?" and the second thing that comes to mind is, "are race strategists really necessary?" Getting back to Mike though, I say Indy will be his last race as her strategist.

Damon in Hilliard, Ohio

RM: Guys like Jim McGee, Tony Cotman, Roger Penske and Mike Hull have been calling race strategy for a long time and won a lot of races with pit or fuel strategy so, yes, it is necessary to have a smart guy calling your race. If betting wasn't against my high moral standards, I would say the over/under on Michael/Danica is June 20.

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Robin Miller

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