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AUTO-RACING - INDYCAR: Miller's Mailbag, 2.5 - SPEED.com
IndyCar
INDYCAR: Miller’s Mailbag, 2.5
We've got a fever, and the only thing that'll satisfy it is More Mailbag. Here's the latest batch of Q&A items from the best Indycar scribe on the planet.
Robin Miller  |  Posted February 05, 2010   Indianapolis, IN
A return by 'Smoke' to try and earn his first Indy 500 win would please Mailbag readers, and would also draw more fans to the gate. (LAT)
Hello open wheel types and thanks for all your questions. I intend to answer your questions every week during the season, so just . Don’t feel left out if I didn’t directly respond. I appreciate your interest and passion.

~Robin Miller

Q: Please , please tell me that things are not really this bad. I knew all along that things where not good but this is a total disaster. I am 37 years old and I started watching the sport when Little Al and the good old American boys where in there final years and they got me hooked on the sport. The one thing missing for me between then and now was me being able to identify with an "American hero" or "an "American Idle of Open Wheel racing" I finally find that figure again in Graham Rahal and now he is rideless as well or possibly going to DCR which is a huge step down from NHL. What the hell is going on? Why are Penske and Ganassi not jumping at the chance to sign Graham and how are the sponsor such as Target letting this opportunity slip away. The current Penske and Ganassi drivers are excellent, but they do nothing to move the radar here in the states besides Helio (because of dancing with the stars and his court case) Please, talk so sense into these guy's and get this fixed and explain to me why this is happening!
Eric in Pennsylvania

RM: I know Ganassi is tired of hearing me bitch to him that Rahal is a perfect fit for Target and the future of open wheel and Chip's marketing people have met with one of Graham's potential sponsors so at least they're trying but time is running out. Graham is also Penske Perfect but, sadly, he's already got three drivers. But you are spot on, at 21, young Rahal is the best reason to watch an Indy car race and the fact he's got nothing a month away from the season opener is disgraceful.

Q: What do you think about Justin Wilson moving to Dreyer and Reinbold? Is it a lateral move or a move up or down? It seems to me that without Bill Pappas it may be a slight move down. Also, did Z-Line come with Justin or was it going to D&R and Justin just happened to go there too?

Paul

RM: I suppose most would call it a lateral move but Pappas and Justin definitely had good chemistry and it showed. Dale Coyne said he wanted Justin to sign a 2-year deal and that was the hang-up but he also said Z Line wanted to be a primary sponsor and not secondary to the Boy Scouts so he knew that was coming. I think Z Line welcomed the opportunity to follow JWill.

Q: Is it possible that Graham Rahal might end up racing for his father's ALMS BMW team? How many promising open wheel drivers have found their future in sports cars, because open wheel opportunities disappeared? (Joey Hand, Buddy Rice, Jon Fogarty, Alex Gurney, Bryan Sellers, and many more). Another question is what happens if Danica get seriously injured in her upcoming debut in the ARCA Crashfest?

Frank, Dublin, OH

RM: I think there's a chance that if Graham found some sponsorship (and it wasn't enough for Ganassi) he might take it to his dad and jump start Rahal/Letterman in IndyCar. And then if Servia could get some help, they could be teammates again.

Q: I’m stunned, but not surprised, at the selection of the new IRL CEO. Stunned that they would pick someone who has never even attended a race; doesn’t that tell you that they have No passion for the sport? But not surprised since every time the IRL seems to be getting its act together (i.e.: pulling down the IZOD sponsorship) they manage to pull a boneheaded move like this. Seems like open wheel fans are the modern equivalent of “Sisyphus and The Rock”., doomed to eternal frustration.
I give him a year max.

Charlie, Philadelphia

RM: I've heard from racing people in F1, NASCAR, sports cars, sprint cars and they're all laughing at the latest hire. I would think knowledge and passion would be the prerequisites but obviously some people feel this guy has major connections that can help IndyCar. I think he'll last longer than Northern Lights but not as long as Pep Boys.

Q: The hiring of Randy Bernard as the CEO of the IRL appears to be a brilliant move. Anyone who can take bull riding to the national spotlight obviously has the talent and connections to bring back to the spotlight what was once the pinnacle of automobile racing in the world. Do you agree?

Paul, Indy

RM: I guess when you look at Paul Tagliabue and David Stern, they weren't necessarily "lifers" in pro football and basketball but savvy guys with legal minds who were able to make big in-roads. Pete Rozelle was still the best and it was the sport he played and loved. But I'm not sure there's any difference between Bernard and Terry Angstadt, who managed to do the impossible and get a real title sponsor for a series that's on VERSUS. They both look like marketing guys to me.

Q: Is this new IRL CEO really "the right guy at the right time"? I'm hopeful but scared. Why? Frasco, Craig, George, Heitzler etc..Is the Delta car a slam-dunk? Aesthetically I imagine it as unappealing but open wheel racing has to cease its' worship of the aero mistress and restore mechanical grip to the cars. When will the IRL announce what the engine formula(s) will be and which engine manufacturer()s will be on board? Years ago there was talk of a "street" race in the greater-Boston area (Hanscom Field?) but it never happened. Recently I saw it reported (by you perhaps?) that a site in or near Boston was again being considered for a race. True? The single BEST Indycar race I have EVER attended was Loudon in 1993 where Emmo, Tracey and Mansell raced hammer and tong lap after lap. I would welcome more of that but would be VERY skeptical of a "street" race. An airport race... well that could be fun!

Spudboy

RM: You forgot Stokkan, Capels, Mehl, Long and Reif. I don't know if Randy Bernard is the right guy but I don't think any one person can save this thing. I do know the old IRL had few checks and balances and a payroll that was ridiculous so I'm sure Bernard's main job is to run it like a business (although I thought that's what Jeff Belskus was doing) and try to attract sources of revenue. Nothing is a slam dunk but the Delta Wing has a lot more positives than negatives on all fronts. New engine formula? What's the hurry? Baltimore, not Boston, is in line for an IndyCar race in 2011. But that Loudon race was THE BEST.

Q: Is there any chance you could get SPEEDtv to do a live broadcast of the Delta Wing Car unveiling at the Chicago Auto Show on Feb. 10th? I spoke at length with Ben Bowlby two weeks ago. His concept and ideas are not only full of state of the art technical innovations but his approach is full of good old plain common sense and practicality that would do wonders for IndyCar! Broadcasting his presentation will do so much more than show race fans what the car will look like. More importantly the content of his speech will help people to see the need for a radical and innovative change that will make the sport more relevant and cost effective in these hard economic times, which is badly needed to survive. The more this car and the concepts behind it are promoted and explained the better the odds are that the egos and politics that serve to ruin and destroy IndyCar will lose out and allow some positive changes to be made for once. I know you will be there covering the event any way. Why not convince SPEEDtv to give a national platform to show the Delta Wing Car and hear the concept behind it? Lets give positive change in the sport of IndyCar a chance to happen! Please let us know what you come up with.

James, Brevard, NC

RM: There's this thing called Daytona Speed Week going on so that's our primary focus and next week is one of the biggest for SPEED's viewership because of the depth of our coverage in Florida. Having said that, we'll be in Chicago to shoot the Delta Wing and do interviews for SPEED REPORT and WIND TUNNEL on Feb. 14 so we'll give you plenty of coverage.

Q: Just watched the Rolex 24 and saw two different Porches motors, a BMW, Ford and a Chevy badged motors and that’s just in the top series. Shouldn't whoever builds the new Indy car try incorporate these motors in to the mix. Also, the number of Americans that showed well proves there is know shortage of drivers from the shelf in this country. Gidley and Hand excelled in the rain and Gurney, Fogarty and Bomarito showed they should be racing without a roof over there head. Then again, we already knew that!

Ron Thompson

RM: I believe that's one of Ben Bowlby's goals with the inline, 4-cylinder, turbo engine -- to get several manufacturers interested in coming to IndyCar. Don't forget Patrick Long, Paul Edwards and that Buddy Rice guy.

Q: A central theme on the mailbag is lack the of American drivers, good drivers not getting a chance in IndyCar, the Indy Lights feeder system not working, etc. From what I can tell it really comes down to what money a driver can bring to a team. My question is- how true is this? How much sponsorship money is generated by a driver, how much is generated by a team (that can then pick a driver of it’s choosing), and is any generated by the IRL? My point being, if a driver is solely relied upon to bring money to get a ride then of course the skill of that driver will be determined by how well they schmooze corporate sponsors and less on how they perform behind the wheel. Why doesn’t the function of raising sponsorship dollars fall more to the league?

Chris Fields, Indianapolis

RM: Let me give you a couple examples. Graham Rahal and JR Hildebrand. Rahal has proved he's the best young American talent in IndyCar and there should be a bidding war for his services. Instead, he's rideless a month before the season opener and trying to find sponsorship. Hildebrand is the Indy Lights champ who tested an F1 car and has a world of upside but no money. He's got a better shot at GP2 than Indy cars in 2010. Ryan Hunter-Reay is a winner but he'd be a spectator unless IZOD wasn't in his corner. The sad state of Indy car racing is that talent is secondary to raising money for most teams and it's a nasty Catch 22 because IndyCar's budgets far exceed the value for a sponsor. It took the league a decade just to find a real title sponsor so helping its teams hasn't really been a priority, although it's great in theory. The bottom line is that ride buying isn't prevalent in NASCAR or Formula One but it's a way of life in IndyCar.

Q: This IndyCar off-season has been interesting. Tony George steps down 100% and then closes his team up. So remind me again what good he did for the sport back in 1995/96? Oh, that's right, he took a great product, ie: CART, and ruined it with the formation of the IRL. And now it's about to get worse. While I'm not a big fan of the current Dallara's used in the series, I've grown to love them since they are the one lasting piece that is reminiscent to me of Lola's, Reynard's, Penske's etc of the past. Now enter the Delta Wing? What the heck is this? It's only suppose to be 1000-12000 lbs with a 4-banger engine with only 325hp? ugh... I don't want cheap, I want 1000hp Ilmor's and Cosworth's in big Lola's and Reynards! I don't want the series dumbed down anymore than it already is! And what the heck is this Delta Wing thing going to look like? It already scares me considering a "Delta" is a triangle. This is the last thing I want to see! I'm just about embarrassed to say I'm an IndyCar fan anymore, and now it's about to get even lamer than tin-top racing from the sound of it. I might have to find
another racing series to go watch. So dear open wheel gods, please save our sport!

Brian in Speedway, Indiana

RM: I guess the best thing you can do is wait until Wednesday and don't just look at the Delta Wing car, listen to the whole pitch from engines to mileage to costs to relevance before making a decision.

Q: Who’s keeping Brian Barnhart in power now that Tony George is officially gone? He seems to have more lives than a can of cat food.

Michael Balton, Brooklyn, New York

RM: I'd say with a new CEO from the rodeo that 'ol Brian can keep building that $1.3 million home.

Q: With still the problems of finding sponsors for the season. I see really a minimum count of cars in the IRL for the whole season. It's sad. Especially when in Formula 1 now 26 drivers competing. How many cars do you see for whole IRL season?

Michael from Mississauga, Ontario

RM: No Vision, likely one car at NHL, Keith Wiggins is scrambling for one car, haven't heard anything from Bachelart and KV Racing is praying that Moraes gets his money. Andretti (3 or 4), Penske (3), Ganassi (2), Dryer & Reinbold (2), Coyne (2), Panther (1), Alex Tagliani's new team (1), Jay Penske (1). I'd say 20 at Brazil would be the max.

Q: I'm sitting here watching the Rolex 24, getting pumped for the up coming racing season, reflect on the past and get depressed thinking about Sam Hornish. I should be watching him in one of the DP cars. Hornish was one of the greats in open wheel, think back to what he did in that yellow Pennzoil Panther car and how he could be on the cusp of being the next Mears if he would have stayed with Penske open wheel. He would have been working on his road course skills and no doubt he would be up front at the Rolex 24. I loved watching Sam race and now he really tee's me off - what a waist. Here's the question: do you really think Hornish is happy racing the lead-sleds and finishing 35th every week? I'm sure the money is better, but money isn't everything ( I know, I quite an engineering job to teach high school physics). Do you ever see Sam coming back to open wheel where he belongs?

Tony, St. Louis

RM: Sam showed improvement last year and I'm sure it's required a major mindset readjustment going from the front to mid-pack but he's won Indy and three IRL titles so NASCAR seemed like the natural progression. I imagine The Captain made that call and he'll be the one to bring Sam back to Indy cars if he thinks it's best for everyone.

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