The RACER Mailbag, November 6

Today at 05:17 AM

Welcome to the RACER Mailbag. Questions for any of RACER's writers can be sent to mailbag@racer.com. We love hearing your comments and opinions, but letters that include a question are more likely to be published. Questions received after 3pm ET each Monday will be saved for the following week.

Q: I was listening to your Week In IndyCar podcast and had a light bulb go on. Since the owners did not pay for their charters, why not have an opportunity for other teams to enter by booting the car that finishes 27th in the standing and allowing a new entry? The new team can pay a one-time entry fee to enter the series. At least this creates an opportunity for new blood.

Vincent Martinez, South Pasadena, CA

MARSHALL PRUETT: There was a similar concept floated by Penske Entertainment, whereby the last charter entry or two in the Entrants' championship could be taken — purchased at a fixed price — if those worst-performing charter entries were beaten in the Entrants' standings by non-charter teams, but that idea was shot down a while ago. Sadly, IndyCar's charter has absolutely nothing to do with fostering new entries; it's all about protecting and rewarding those who are already here and competing as full-timers.

Q: I’ve always been a fan of American open wheel racing since I can recall, it has always been my favorite sport and I’m in my 60s. I wish the series was still open to any and all engine manufactures, but that’s a day long gone. I was a huge fan of Teo Fabi and his move from F1 to IndyCar, mainly with Porsche. Do you have any Teo stories of interest?

Mark McKinley, Floyds Knobs, IN

MP: I wish I did, but I was just coming into IndyCar as a crew member from Formula Atlantic and Indy Lights when his career was winding down. Got to see plenty of his drives and always appreciated how such a small person could wield such big cars with great speed. His helmet livery, a tribute to the late Peter Revson's helmet design, was among my favorites from back in the day.

Only regret while putting together this short documentary on Porsche's first and only IndyCar win was being unable to connect with Fabi.

Q: Have you seen the Honda commercial 'Unstoppable Dreams', featuring various blips of racing crashes where Honda is involved, specifically F1, off-road and dirt bikes? Noticeably absent is any IndyCar footage. Is this a subtle hint of it being absent from IndyCar permanently in the near future?

Jeff, Colorado

MP: I have; delightful ad. But it's also not the first time Honda has chosen F1 over IndyCar in its national campaigns.

Purely a guess, but Honda has two open-wheel series to consider to use in its big ads to try and sell cars, and considering the booming U.S. popularity of F1 in recent years, I can't imagine a scenario where Honda's marketing executives would approve the less popular series for the ads.

Also, why would Honda use an ad to hint at anything? It told IndyCar around this time last year, here on RACER.com, that the series needed to up its game and improve the value it receives or risk losing Honda as an engine supplier, event sponsor, and benefactor to the series.

Q: Lots of talk about IndyCar and a race in Mexico. I attended the Champ Car race in 2007. Both Mario Dominguez and David Martinez were flying the flag for Mexican fans. The circuit was packed, and from that experience I believe a race organizer would be able to get more than 60,000 spectators if Pato is on the grid. Nobody expected either Mario or David to win. With Pato, the proposition would be very different. I feel all the ingredients are there for a successful IndyCar race in 2026. Here is hoping others agree.

PS: Bring back the Peraltada!

Oliver Wells

MP: Completely agree on the former final turn at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez; the Peraltada was scary-fast.

Q: I've been hearing rumors about the Iron Dames switching to Porsche for WEC and IMSA next year, and with Michelle Gatting and Celia Martin sampling a Mathey Porsche in the Bahrain rookie test, it feels like those rumors are pretty strong. However, with their affiliation with Iron Lynx and therefore Lamborghini (as the team that runs the Lambo GTP), would there be any pushback there from Lamborghini against them switching? Is the Iron Dames project affiliated/funded/supported by more than just Iron Lynx?

They have far more success with the Porsche in ELMS, and as an Iron Dames fan, I would love to see them switch.

Lucas, Cincinnati OH

MP: Iron Dames is a privately-funded effort by Deborah Mayer, and to that end, they use whatever marque and model they prefer. I've heard the same thing about a full-time switch to Porsche.

The Iron Lynx site is in a factory arrangement with Lamborghini, with PREMA Racing serving as the operational layer, and if they remain under contract, I'd expect to see GT3 and GTP cars from the Italian brand under their tent. But I've been hearing for a few months that, at least on the GTP side, there are questions as to whether that relationship will continue.

Q: You’ve mentioned this one in a recent Mailbag, but is the Nashville street race ever going to come back on the IndyCar schedule? If so, would the superspeedway race be in danger? Could IndyCar keep both and maybe make it a dual event on back-to-back weekends? By the way, how successful was the latter, in terms of attendance? Do you think it has a future beyond 2025? And if so, would it be possible to remove or try to scrape off the bump between Turns 3 and 4 that caused Nolan Siegel to crash?

Also in a recent Mailbag, you wrote that Laguna Seca, Portland and Detroit have "abysmal attendances" and WWTR "has been in a steady decline". I was surprised by this, since these are all relatively new additions to the schedule. But most of all, this reminds me of the TMS situation, especially WWTR. So, here again, do you think these venues have a future with IndyCar? Which do you think could be ditched and at what point?

Lastly, shortly after the F1 Mexican Grand Prix, the news broke that IndyCar and Mexico have re-engaged discussions for a potential 2026 race. Will these discussions be specifically about the Mexico City track? Could there be other candidates, such as Puebla or Monterrey? Maybe I'm the only one who thinks like that, but I just hate what Hermann Tilke did to the former, which is why I hope for the two latter. My pick would be Puebla because it’s an oval; but Monterrey is Pato's hometown, so that one would be an instant sellout. Which one would be your pick and which do you think is the most likely to happen?

Xavier

MP: The promoter and Nashville Speedway signed a multi-year deal, so IndyCar's season finale will be held on the oval, not the streets of Nashville, for the foreseeable future. If the return to the speedway in 2025 is just as good or better than what we had in September, I think the talks of returning to the streets will be forgotten. Plus, all of the teams and drivers I spoke with in Nashville loved ending the season on an oval, and that isn't likely to change.

On the second point, keep in mind that at almost every event on the IndyCar calendar (excluding the ones owned/promoted by Penske Entertainment, or where Penske co-promotes, or rents the facility to put on a race), the series' owner gets paid $1 million or more to appear at the Laguna Secas and Portlands, which is a significant income generator.

That means Penske is often in a quagmire over whether to prioritize income over appearance while looking weak at poorly-attended events like Laguna and Portland, or to jettison some of the weak events and try to upgrade audience size and income by going to Texas in 2026 for the Arlington Grand Prix.

The biggest dog on the calendar in terms of audience size is either Laguna or the Indy GP, and all I hear from the paddock each year is how much they hate Portland, so my guess is one of the west coast stops would be trimmed if a sacrifice was required. WWTR's shrinking audience isn't great, but IndyCar isn't looking to shed any ovals.

On the last point, the talks have been with the Mexico City GP promoter, so I'd assume it would be about the GP circuit. But I'd rather see IndyCar go to someplace that's unique to IndyCar. How about a Mexico City street race?