The RACER Mailbag, September 4

09/04/2024 05:26 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: Why doesn’t IndyCar let cars qualify one at a time on road courses? Wouldn’t this solve the interference problem?

JRW, AZ

MARSHALL PRUETT: I'm not against the idea, but since it isn't done in any other open-wheel championship that I know of — big or small — it's not like IndyCar is going against the grain.

Also, there's been a thing that's evolved in recent years where whatever number of folks and too many series believe every driver, on every qualifying lap, should have Moses parting the way at all times. I don't know exactly when that belief took off, but it's lame.

Successful qualifying is about timing and making runs at the best windows of opportunity. It's part of the strategy. Today, every team and driver is seemingly expected to have a 360-degree view on every second of their qualifying sessions, and if they impede somebody by 0.1s, they get penalized. I just don't get it. If it's blatant, give them a penalty. If the driver is asleep at the wheel and totally clueless, give them a penalty. Otherwise, minor inconveniences are part of the experience.

This isn't drag racing with dedicated lanes for each qualifier to be protected from each other. IndyCar drivers are given equal time and opportunity to use the track at the same time to deliver their best laps. If they fail in that equal opportunity due to a slower driver being in the way, well, that's part of the equal opportunity, not a guarantee.

Q; This was one of the best race weekends that IndyCar has ever had, with two great races that may have energized the need for more short ovals thanks to the surprising crowd that showed up for the Milwaukee 250. I wish they would go old school and have two races like they did from 1949-1983 when they raced after the Indy 500 and on Labor Day weekend. Perhaps by 2026 we could see Richmond, New Hampshire, Michigan and Homestead.

And since Pato O'Ward was complaining about the missed opportunity to race in his hometown country of Mexico, maybe they could add the oval race at Autódromo Internacional Miguel E. Abed in Pueblo, Mexico, which is similar to World Wide Technology Raceway.

Alistair, Springfield, MO

MP: The Indy-to-Detroit routine just feels like a massive drop-off in spectacle and prestige. Indy-to-Milwaukee? That's a proven winner.

Q: As long as there's been TrackForum, fans have complained that "all IndyCar needs is better marketing". It's 2024 and despite the marketing genius of "I am Indy", the refrain still stands.

I think part of the problem today is that Penske Entertainment either doesn't understand or doesn't care about the digital space. Responsive design for the web has been around since at least 2008; it's what makes content wrap to fit your computer, phone, or device screen. It's so old (in web development years) that people don't even refer to it as responsive design anymore; it's there by default. However, indycar.com isn't responsive on desktop, mobile, or the IndyCar app, so you can't read full stories. (I attached a screenshot of indycar.com on mobile on Friday of Milwaukee weekend for context).

The weekend schedule is not on the IndyCar.com homepage; it's a click away, hidden under 'Race details' (which you have to scroll down to see – and because the site isn't responsive, it's obscured by the race countdown timer). The homepage doesn't offer notifications, which means the only people who know what's going on during race weekends are people who either install the IndyCar app, or people who are interested enough to go to indycar.com and know where to click.

I get notifications from the Android IndyCar app that sessions are starting, over 45 minutes after they start. I got a notification Practice 1 at MKE started 47 minutes after it began. There are no notifications when sessions are about to start, or even the weekend schedule in advance. Links in notifications don't go to the story in the notification, just the app's homepage, which means you need to find the linked story on the homepage.

I don't know how IndyCar can grow the sport's footprint when they don't seem to understand the basics of delivering digital content. It's bad user experience, and a bad impression for fans.

Ed, Jersey

MP: Thanks for writing in to share your experiences, Ed.

Q: As I watch Milwaukee Race 1, something that’s been bugging me has caused me to email you. When production shows an in-car camera view, in the lower right corner they show the logo of the camera sponsor.
Inside the cockpit all around the rim of the halo the same sponsor’s name is displayed. The logo names also appear on the rear wings for backward camera shots.

It seems that it would help viewers identify cars if they put a still shot of a side view of the car carrying the live camera shot. I don’t associate Mission Foods with Rossi’s car color scheme of the week, for example. I see their name on screen, so the camera logo box is redundant.

Please pass that suggestion to race TV production team.

Pat, Indy

MP: NBC, you've got one race left to take care of Pat.