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MILLER: Robin’s Indycar Mailbag for January 29th
Written by: Robin Miller   
01/29/2009
Indianapolis, IN
 
Robert Mather of Phoenix, AZ, says Robin should add Darren Manning to his short list of quality drivers to be considered for a top ride in 2009. (LAT Photographic) ยป More Photos


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: Getting ready for the season with great anticipation, love this time of year when all the deals start getting put together and a better picture emerges on the season ahead.

I have accused you of this before and I will accuse you of this again, you seem to leave Danger Mouse Manning high and dry. The first time I accused you of this was DM’s performance at Watkins Glen last year. Now he doesn’t even make it on your radar screen when talking about drivers not having seats for '09, you just state the predictable one’s Justin, Ryan, Buddy Rice, Oriol Servia and Tracy over and over. Today, I hear that he may be in with a chance at Sarah Fisher Racing for the road course events. SFR you say, HA, HA what a joke, but no, I think this could be a cool story. She claims she is hooking up with Forsythe Racing on the engineering side and if she could get DM in the car possible results could be pending. Look at what Darren did with Foyt, got him his best result in years. God knows why they think the sulky faced Brazilian can do better. Shame on them. Anyhow you are the man, what do you know on this?

Robert Mather - Phoenix

RM: Guilty as charged. I do forget to list Manning when I refer to competent drivers without rides and I've liked him since his first season with Derrick Walker. Not sure SFR will have the budget to road race but DM could certainly step in and help. Forsythe Racing is down to a couple of employees so I don't see how there's going to be any partnership unless some people are brought back. The Manning-Fisher rumor was hot a few months ago but it has subsided. And while he belongs in a car in a good economy, I don't think he deserves a ride ahead of Wilson, RHR, Rice, Servia and PT.

Q: With all the good drivers we know finding themselves on the sidelines, this season, in the IndyCar series, how is that Mike Conway from England was able to find a sponsor in Europe willing to spend money for a series that doesn't even go to Europe? Are the European drivers just better trained to market themselves or more aggressive at finding the sponsors than the guys on this side of the pond ? I'm not against "ride buying" if you use it to get a shot, but have the talent to keep the job. A recent multi-year F1 champion started his F1 career as a ride buyer. I think everyone would prefer the seats went to the hottest shoe that got in the car, but the only way that will ever been the norm again, is if it really pays to go racing. Even with TEAM money to spread the wealth, it must not pay to race in the IndyCar series, at this point.

John W, Apple Valley, Calif.

RM: This trend really took off in the '90s when F1 costs escalated and it was much easier for a foreign road racer to find a few million and bring it here and get a competitive ride. There was talk a couple years ago it cost $5 million to buy a test drive in F1 and we know that's a damn good sponsor in IndyCar right now. I don't know if the Euros are better trained at finding money or they just have to start looking for it at a younger age. Conway is certainly competent (Macau GP winner, British F3 champ) but will he sell one ticket over here? Is it better to have him in an Indy car than Buddy Rice or Ryan Hunter-Reay or Justin Wilson? Of course not but you can't fault Dennis Reinbold, he's got to do whatever is necessary to keep the doors open. But your last comment is the most telling: it does not pay to run in the IRL and while the TEAM concept is helpful, the purses are pathetic. AGR, Ganassi and Penske can still hire drivers because they have the only real sponsorships in IndyCar and while they may not make a lot of money, they surely don't spend any of their own either.

Q: Do you know if Buddy Rice has been tossed aside for good now that D&R has this English kid running for them? If so, this ride-buyer’s world is really getting old. I can’t stand watching another race with Milka, but I guess we are stuck with this kind of thing for the foreseeable future. Also, any firm news on Bourdais?

Brian DeKemper

RM: I know Buddy was looking for something better in 2009 but, obviously, there's nothing out there and if Milkmaid and Townsend Bell secure sponsors, that will be D&R's lineup. I'm afraid Buddy, Tracy, Wilson, Servia and Hunter-Reay could be looking at Indy 500 only. Sorry, P.T. will surely have something for Toronto and Edmonton as well. AUTOSPORT says Seabass may be staying at Toro Rosso, which is only right, he deserves another season.

Q: Basically, we should all quit watching and attending the Indy Car Series Races so it tanks (probably won't happen, but wanted to stress my point). Not knowing who is racing year to
year and not knowing what teams will make it is taking a toll on us. I was glad to see the merger and was hopeful, but this is getting ridiculous. ICS, Champ Car, whatever the name is the fans deserve a better product. TG has ruined American Open Wheel Racing (not the only reason, but I feel he is #1 reason). I feel bad for all of the teams, drivers, and fans. I would ask you a question here on how this can be solved like others in this mailbag, but it's apparent that until he relinquishes control, there is no hope. SO TG, PLEASE RESIGN AND JUST CONCENTRATE ON THE INDY 500 AND VISION RACING. Until then I will be tuned into F1, A1GP, MOTOGP, ATLANTICS, etc. Whoever starts up the new series provided TG listens to me, they must hire TONY COTMAN and make him PRESIDENT.

Scott - OWF

RM: Your frustration of the ever changing driver lineup is the weekly theme of many of the emails I receive and it's IndyCar's biggest problem. As I've said a lot recently, coming off the first year of unification, it's imperative to maintain depth and competitive balance and IDENTITY. You cannot lose Wilson, Rice, Servia, Hunter-Reay and Tracy and replace them with Stanton Barrett, Mike Conway, fill in the blank and expect fans to care or the media to embrace your product. I've said for a long time now that Cotman is open wheel racing's only hope and that becomes more evident every month that passes.

Q: What is Chris Pook up to these days? I really think he and Tony Cotman could truly save Indy Car and take it to the next level.

Martyn Orpiano, Costa Mesa, Calif.

RM: A short history. I was Pook's biggest supporter and lobbied publicly for him to run CART before they selected Jabberin' Joe Heitzler. I think Pook could have saved Honda and Toyota from bailing. Having said that, Chris was a big disappointment to me, especially how he doled out money and didn't take care of the Atlantic grads like Jon Fogarty, Alex Gurney, Joey Hand and Rocky Moran Jr. Some of his hires were also dreadful choices. I see Chris once a year at Long Beach and I heard he was kicking around the idea of helping Bernie with F1 in America but I think that may have cooled. In the right situation, like promotion or marketing, Pook probably could still be very vital because of all his contacts.

Q: As a Canadian OW fan I have been somewhat disappointed with a few things, the first being I still have not seen an announcement of what the TV deal will be to broadcast up here in the great white north. We don't get that Versus channel instead we have OLN and I haven't seen any advertisements there saying that they are carrying Indy Races. Any word yet where we'll be able to tune in? Maybe TG doesn't realize that there is a pretty good fan base up here. Next I can't believe that OW fans still have the us vs. them attitude in regards to the IRL Champ Car merger. So it won't be all ovals anymore for IRL fans and it won't be all road/street courses for the old Champ Car fans time to get over it. I like your mailbag but too many people have an opinion, but opinions based on not being able to adapt and move on....same symptoms TG displays by not driving to make positive changes to this series. Time to "Think outside of the box", especially with tough economic times here. As for Paul Tracy, I do hope he gets a ride this year. I don't think people realize how important he is to the series. I was in Long Beach 2006, when all the upfront drivers got taken out in the first turn by Mario Dominguez. I could not believe the number of fans that left when they found out Tracy was done for the day.

Canadian Curtis, cold in the north.

RM: The IRL is negotiating with TSN and it assures me that all the IndyCar races will be telecast in Canada, details to come.

Q: I don't know if you got the chance to watch any of the 24 Hours of Daytona. If nothing else, I hope you did see the last two hours. I need you to do my a HUGE favor: the next time you see JP Montoya, please remove the thumb from his mouth and tell him to take his ass kickin' that David Donahue put on him like a man!!!! Better yet, ask Scott Pruett to give him some lessons in class and a little bit of grace. This guy makes me sick, weaving all over the track and taking side-swipes when Donahue pulls along side is about the worst performance I've seen since Ernie Irvan earned his nickname.

Kevin

RM: I watched a couple hours early, a couple in the middle and the final 45 minutes and I didn't see Donohue's pass of JPM but I did hear him complain about Porsche's unfair advantage in horsepower. And it did look like Porsche had an advantage but (kinda like having a Reynard/Honda/Firestone in the late '90s in CART) the racing was close and Montoya chasing Donohue thru traffic kept us all watching. I wish JPM would have said something like "they had us in a straight line but we kept them honest in the corners" or given Donohue props for not making any mistakes those final 20 laps. I know Montoya is competitive and a helluva driver but that still had to be more fun than running 20th in a Cup race.

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