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Written by:
Robin Miller
05/08/2008 - 06:49 AM
Indianapolis, Indiana
Hello open wheel types and thanks for all your questions. I intend to answer your questions every week during the season so just email them to openwheelmailbag@gmail.com. I got about 50 questions this week and had many duplicates so don't feel left out if I didn't directly respond. I appreciate your interest and passion.
~Robin Miller
Q: It seems the Indy 500 has come and gone for Paul Tracy to make a run at it. What a true shame. No a true TRAGEDY. What’s the deal?
Jonathan M. Horowitz, Adventura, Fla.
RM: Unless Derrick Walker can perform an 11th hour miracle or Roger Penske decides it's a great storyline and gives PT his third car, "The Thrill from West Hill" will be a spectator. Very sad because he belongs in the field, as well as the series and he only wants to run through 2009. The deal is that unification is good but there still isn't any money (sponsors) to speak of and Gerry Forsythe is playing hardball because Tony George won.
Q: Thanks for giving us information regarding the fact that the Atlantics once ran WITH the Indy Lites in CART. What was their relationship? Was one a step below the other? Could they co-exist today?
Angelo in Chilliwack, BC
RM: They were equal: Greg Moore, Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan and Paul Tracy came out of Lites, Michael Andretti, Jimmy Vasser, Jacques Villeneuve and Alex Tagliani came out Atlantics and Dan Wheldon drove in both. Atlantics ran Saturday afternoon and Lites on Sunday morning. Of course they could co-exist. Atlantics is too good a series with too much tradition to be left by the side of the road.
Q: I wish the radio & TV announcers would show us the lap times versus the lap speeds because lap times are much more indicative of how much quicker one driver is vs. another. Although the speeds
Keith in Rockford, Ill.
RM: Couldn't agree more. I understand flashing the speed at Indianapolis, that makes good headlines and sells tickets but road racing especially should always be lap times.
Q: If Roth Racing doesn’t shut-down first, at what point does the IRL park him before he really does serious damage to someone? He’s been generally off the pace in the first few races, and his mishap in the pits at Kansas could have been much worse. I’m sure he’s a good guy, but as the series strengthens he’s also the kind of “pretender” that the IRL needs to outgrow.
Daniel in North Carolina
RM: I've been pretty harsh on Mad Dog Marty and Milk & Doughnuts for obvious reasons: they don't belong in an Indy car. Marty needs to just become the team owner/manager and hire a fast kid. He's mad at Brian Barnhart for parking him three times this season but it's for his own safety as well as everyone else's. Yesterday, Milk & Doughnuts was warming up at 150 mph IN THE GROOVE!!!!
Q: Since it seems the entry list for the 500 is still "flexible", maybe a 100,000 of us Paul Tracy fans could all throw in $25 each and get PT a ride. Maybe if we splurged and went to $40 each, we could get Derrick Walker's group to be the team! While I would not trust you to be the trustee for the PT@INDY fund, I do think you could be the publicist. I believe we need PT in this years 500!
Jim in Fort Lauderdale
RM: I like the idea and you're right, I couldn't be trusted with that kind of money because the gambling boats are only two hours away. The fans tried to raise money for "Ralphie The Racer" Ligouri back in the '70s but fell short. If Canadians got behind it, I think it could work.
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