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Q: I can't get excited about the Indy 500 this year. Sure, the two leagues are together but the Champ Car teams are at an obvious disadvantage. Unless there is a NASCAR-type pile up of the front four rows, the CC guys will be no more than window dressing for Tony George's show. Am I right or is there any chance for some real racing between the former series guys and the IRL vets?
-Doug, Murrieta, Calif.
RM: I'm afraid you are 100-percent correct. It would take a major miracle for any Champ Car team to win and a minor one just to run in the Top 5. Probably going to be that way until the new car arrives. Of course Newman/Haas/Lanigan could always surprise us with young Graham Rahal and Justin Wilson but Bruno Junqueira is the best oval-tracker of the bunch.
Q: Finally made it to Bump Day for the first time since 1995 and the last half-hour could have been some of the most dramatic I've seen racing for some time. I truly was inspired by Buddy Lazier's performance, he's still got some of the biggest "attachments" in the business and that run just endeared the '96 winner to me. If they go back to the original qualifying criteria instead of this 11-11-11 BS does Bump Day in your mind give more drama to the fans than Pole Day?
-Alex, Elk Grove, Ill.
RM: Without a doubt because there's always more at stake on Bump Day. Ganassi's team won $100,000 for the pole, big deal. The little teams going for that last spot last Sunday was what Indy has always been about. Three races: the one for the pole, the one to get in the race and the race itself.
Q: I read another person’s question mentioning the old days when we all looked forward to hearing "a new track record" and I remember buying the Indianapolis Star every day in the month of May just to see the details of what happened at the track that day (before ESPN). What do you think of the 500 being a part of a championship, but not playing by the rules of the rest
-Craig Stewart, Paoli, Ind.
RM: I think that's exactly what Indy needs. Open it up to anyone and everyone. Indy was always about innovation and, if the purse increased to where it should be ($20 million), you could probably get teams from USAC, WOO, ALMS, Grand-Am and maybe even NASCAR to give it a shot. Getting General Motors and Ford back in play is also a must. No sure the whole world would watch, but it could definitely generate some marketing opportunities, if not sponsorships.
Q: I spent last Saturday at IMS hoping to buy my 8-year-old son a Marco Andretti or Graham Rahal T-shirt. I searched high and low, but could not find one of either young star driver. Instead, he settled on an IMS baseball as his keepsake. Oh, but he did get to hear the guy from that third-rate punk band yell some expletives over the PA that he had never heard before. I kept waiting for an apology over the PA but it never came. It seems that the money used to have these worthless bands play might be better spent on printing a few T-shirts of the young star drivers. What do you think of this?
-Alex, Indianapolis
RM: I think you have every right to be incensed about the continued vulgarity at those IMS concerts. Last year, Kid Rock screamed the F-word over the PA system no less and this year I've had several calls and e-mails from parents who said they were walking behind the grandstands with their children and couldn't believe their ears. Tony George got rid of the Snake Pit because he didn't want that type of atmosphere but this is much worse, in my mind. As for Marco, I think you can get his merchandise at Danica's trailer but I don't know about Graham.
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