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The RACER Mailbag, May 28
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: In a press conference last week, Will Power seemed to indicate he knew a competitor initiated the re-scrutineering of the cars. Could he perhaps be referring to Chip Ganassi or Zak Brown?
David Spear
MARSHALL PRUETT: Yes. I mentioned in my three-part video from last Wednesday that CGR alerted IndyCar tech to the modified attenuators at Barber Motorsports Park at the beginning of the month. I know this because I asked the team and they said they did.
Q: Watching old 500 and other oval highlights. The catch fence seems to be highly destructive with impact. No clue if they can make a transparent SAFER barrier. Wonder if bulletproof plexiglass would be feasible?
Bob, Texas
MP: I’m sure it’s possible. Then the question of who’s going to pay for miles of it needs to be answered.
Q: How many times at past races have Indy Car officials inspected and passed the "illegal" modifications that got the two Penske cars punished at Indy? If this is the case, does it mean that Tim Cindric and the others had a valid understanding that they were in fact legal and that Penske should never have held them to be responsible and fired them?
And what about the third car? Did it also have these modifications but was not penalized?
AW
MP: Might come as a surprise, but IndyCar hasn’t been overly motivated to answer such things.
There’s no reasonable scenario where the modifications were done without asking IndyCar if it was permissible. Do you think Penske would fire his three top team leaders without a full understanding of what took place?
Do you really need me to tell you the third car wasn’t penalized because it wasn’t found to be in breach of the regulations? Does it make sense that all three cars were illegal but only two were penalized?
Q: Will that be the last Indy 500 attempt for Helio Castroneves? Any chance we’ll see Tim Cindric again in IndyCar? Why did Austin Cindric never race in IndyCar?
Frank Lehmann, Germany
MP: I hope not but he hasn’t said whether he’s planning to return. Yes, there’s a chance on Tim. Because Austin hasn’t been given the opportunity.
Q: How exactly does PREMA get rewarded financially by IndyCar for its on-track successes? Not having IndyCar ownership shares or franchise (about $1 million per year, per car were it so) would suggest to me that PREMA might share in those very few and relatively small dollar-payouts for each event of the series paid by the event promoter.
Maybe it nearly-solely survives on its sponsor-relationships and payments, as I suspect? If so, and if ownership shares are limited, what smaller IndyCar team does it target for buyout of shares?
Tom Fitzgerald, CPA-retired, Las Vegas, NV
MP: PREMA decided to enter IndyCar before the charter system was in place, and was talking to the series well before charters looked like a sure thing. They are funded by Deborah Mayer, who funds the Iron Dames WEC/IMSA sports car program and has kindly deployed her vast wealth to support PREMA.
The team attempted to buy other teams/buy their charters, and were unsuccessful. It chooses to race without the possibility of modest financial gain from the series and has its benevolent backer to thank for that ability.
Q: Do you think there will be any wrongful termination lawsuits in the wake of the Team Penske Massacre last week?
Bob Gray, Canoga Park, CA
MP: Most contracts I’ve seen in racing have an at-will clause on the team side. Drivers are different. In this specific case, only Cindric comes to mind as someone who amassed enough income to fight his billionaire former boss, and even then, the president of the team is generally accepted as the person in charge of its success or failure. And despite the brutal end, I believe all three have an immense amount of respect for Roger and doubt they’d try to take him to court.
Q: I know the top teams massage the heck out of their cars at Indy to reduce drag and friction in the quest for speed and that additional 0.0001s. But how much might you gain from smoothing the flow around the attenuator? (I think that is what they were trying to do.)
Seems high risk for very tiny gain.
Rick Smith, San Diego, CA
MP: In a spec series where the teams have had the same cars forever, it’s the finding of 0.0001s here and 0.0001s there, and the addition of all those fractions of improvement, that add up to difference-making changes for the Indy 500. It’s the largest wind tunnel and engine dyno in the sport, which is why team commit huge amounts of money every year to finding those 0.0001s to beat everyone else.
Q: I'm sure you are going to get a metric $%#& ton of mail about Indy. So I'll add to it.
FOX. Now I understand what has been happening with the graphics and leader column on the broadcasts. FOX spent that budget on a short AI film featuring Michael Strahan. I know you were there live so couldn't see it. But near the end of the race, they had Pato O'Ward three laps down but in fourth place. It was mostly working once they got it working around lap five.
The camerawork was much improved over earlier races this year... right up until the last lap. Then they blew the camerawork. Missed the trademark zoom-in on the winner as they crossed the yard of bricks. Got a flash of the car backed into the wall that caused the caution on the last lap, but no one said who it was or a replay.
Was it as good as NBC's coverage? Solid no. Was it better than ABC? ABC had better graphics work and captured the leader crossing the finish line, FOX didn't. FOX had better energy by a mile. So, a toss-up.
I expect it's going to take you a while to unwrap everything that happened and talk to everyone. It was like the chaos demon that has plagued the FOX broadcast decided to spread the bad juju to half the field. I feel bad for Marco and Rossi as it wasn't their fault. Bad year to be a pit crew member. McLaughlin... damn! VeeKay...hope they can rebound at Detroit. Takuma can still run hard. I could go on. This race has given you at least two weeks of stories you could write.
I should probably have a question. So I know that Sato slid long on his second or third pit stop. Was he just unable to recover from that?
John Balestrieri, Waukesha, WI
MP: Saw most of the pre-race coverage and features on FOX and it was unlike anything I can recall; just on a different level. I saw a blend of broadcast and raw feeds during the race, and still need to watch the full broadcast (got home after 9pm Monday, was out like a light at 10, and it’s 5:57am right now…) to get my own read. But I can tell you I’ve had a number of friends on the TV production side hit me with a bunch of WTFs regarding the green-to-checkered decisions.
Yes, Takuma’s oops on that pit stop was the domino that turned a great day into an average day.
Q: I know that you often have to sidestep questions or from commenting on television coverage because you are at the race and aren't tuned into FOX. However I'm guessing that many of your readers are going to have plenty to say and questions regarding how FOX failed to barely acknowledge the Penske team's issues with illegally modifying their car and being forced to start at the back of the grid.
Yes, it was said once or twice that Newgarden and Power were starting at the back due to a "technical infraction.” Did they explain what the infraction was? DId they show an attenuator and discuss how modifying it could or could not affect a car's performance? Did they mention that last year's winning car had the same illegally modified part? Did they mention that Penske had fired a number of valued team members including Tim Cindric? Did they mention that Penske had been caught cheating with the Push to Pass modification last year? Did they air an interview with Roger Penske or Cindric or anyone else involved in the imbroglio? Did they mention that the sport is looking at an independent body to oversee the sport? No to all of it.
After the race, Danica Patrick mentioned that it had been a couple of tough weeks for Penske but here is the biggest news story for the race and they barely acknowledge it?
This finally leads to my question. Is FOX contractually obligated to never speak ill of Roger Penske? Does the series exert editorial control over the television coverage? In my opinion, IndyCar needs FOX more than FOX needs IndyCar. FOX is paying a lot of money to cover the sport and they should have the latitude to actually practice sports journalism rather than being a cheerleader and offering a number of top-notch Tom Rinaldi essays. I would love for someone with the series and with Fox what happened. I'm afraid I know the answers and it's a shame that so many good people have to bury an important news story to appease Roger Penske.
John S., Cypress, CA
MP: I hear everything you’re saying, John, and as a journalist, the criticisms are well-deserved. But as someone who also looks at the sport and thinks of what’s in its best interest, I’d have made the same production decisions as Pam Miller and the rest at FOX.
First Indy 500 on FOX, massive budget dedicated to the event by FOX, and turning it into an in-depth look at how Penske’s team cheated, the penalties, and the firings, just isn’t how to build interest for fans — new and old — on American racing’s equivalent of Christmas and the Super Bowl wrapped into one.
The last thing FOX needed to do was build a strong narrative leading into the race that some of the players involved – including the person who owns the track, event, and series – can’t be trusted, etc. If I’m tuning into my first 500 and get a heavy dose of the attenuator ordeal, I’m left asking whether I should bother watching the rest. From a purity of journalism standpoint, yes, FOX should have done the deep dive you mention, but FOX Sports isn’t a journalistic entity. It’s in the sports/entertainment business, and that’s what it needs to protect with a new property like IndyCar.
If it wasn’t the first 500 on FOX, I’d have a different view. With many years of entrenched coverage and an established viewership base, going harder on a cheating scandal involving the track/event/series owner would be an easier ask. But not the first time out.
Q: Now that Alex Palou has won the Indy 500, his legacy is sealed as one of the best IndyCar drivers of this generation in my opinion has nothing left to prove. I know it’s a big loss for IndyCar, but I say let him seek an opportunity to race in Formula 1.
I know many IndyCar fans want him to stay and break all the IndyCar records but if Cadillac, or dare I say Aston Martin which will have Honda engines next season, offer him a large amount of money to drive for their team, do really believe Palou will say no? If I were in Alex’s shoes it would hard for me to stay in IndyCar and not give F1 a try.
Alistair, Springfield, MO
MP: One of these days I hope to understand why being the best in what you do, and where you do it, isn’t enough for some folks. We’ve seen nothing like Palou in decades so, naturally, let’s try and send him away.
Q: On the 500 broadcast, there were a few tiny (but noticeable in high def 4K) gaps in the lower rows of North Vista grandstand of empty seats between Turns 3-4. I have a conspiracy theory! The 500 was in fact not sold out, but IMS/IndyCar/Penske said so to 1) make the race feel like the big deal it is, but more importantly 2) give cover to allow the broadcast to run live locally on FOX to massively lift ratings.
They knew the tape delayed rating for Indianapolis was going to be relatively awful going head-to-head against Pacers/Knicks.
I am 100% convinced that is what happened. Please confirm.
Mark Schneider, Columbus, IN
MP: Like most conspiracy theories, this is a crock of ****.
If I add up all of the planes I step onto and the plane changes heading to and from covering races each year, It’s over 100 individual legs. And on most of them, I hear the kind person grab the mic and say it’s a completely full flight; not a single seat is unsold, and yet, there’s usually at least one or two or three seats that are empty. The tickets were sold, but for whatever reason, the person or people didn’t show up. So that’s one item. Then there’s the other, which involves people buying tickets for seats and either not being in them at the time of whatever footage being shown, or choosing to get up and watch from a general admission area. But if it’s easier to believe in a conspiracy theory, don’t let reality get in the way.
Q: I know I wrote in earlier but I wanted to process the race. I've been reading social media posts and the most alarming ones are from first-time race attendees. Some are hooked, which is great. Others are underwhelmed and are wondering where the racing is. I wanted to hold judgement on the hybrid unit until after the 500.
After watching the race, it appears the 500 is suffering from the same issue as we have seen in the first five races this year: everyone is racing at the limit and that means there are very few opportunities for on-track passing. The veteran fans can see this, but for first-time attendees, it is leaving some wondering what all the fuss is about. What Palou and Ganassi and all the drivers (no yellows) are doing is phenomenal. However, compared to the races last year through the 500, this year makes for a poor television product. That has me concerned and I am wondering if team leaders and Doug's are concerned about it as well? Are the Chevy or Honda people talking (not on record)?
I don't want to crap on the hybrid, but it is looking like it has pushed this ancient chassis beyond its capabilities, taking away that thin margin that teams and drivers could use to overtake on the track. Which is a shame given all the races this year are broadcast on live network television.
John Balestrieri, Waukesha, WI
MP: Your eyes didn’t deceive you, or those who were underwhelmed, John. If not for the seven cautions and the pit stops en masse and restarts, it would have been really boring. And in the longer stretches of green, yes, it felt a lot like many of the other races this season where a lot of drivers followed each other without the ability to make big gains.
There were, of course, the outliers like Josef Newgarden and Rinus VeeKay who tore through the field and used each caution – while they were still in the game – to their benefit. But overall, it was a lot of riding around, a bit like the Daytona 500, lap after lap, while waiting for the shootout at the end. And you can attribute it to the negatives brought on by the weight of the hybrid.
Q: Five wins in six races, including the Indy 500. A 115-point lead in the standings with only a third of the schedule complete. Oh, and let's not forget that he's won the championship in three of the last four seasons.
Seriously, does the IndyCar field have anything for Alex Palou, or should they just ask for terms of surrender? Maybe just go ahead and give him the championship trophy and ask him to take an early vacation? Or possibly award the runner-up the "IndyCar Class B Championship"? Hit me with your best idea to make the championship race interesting again!
Garrick, Alabama
MP: Palou’s reminding me a lot of Simon Pagenaud on his title run in 2016 when he was the clear class of the field, and even within his team where Power and Castroneves and Montoya looked like Class B competitors. And Newgarden in his first championship run in 2017 when he was just a different animal from the rest; Pagenaud and Dixon fought him the entire way, but there was a feeling about Josef as an emerging star who was about to show us he was an outright badass. Which he did, and added to it with another title in 2019. And two Indy 500 wins.
The difference here is when Pagenaud was rocketing out of Atlantics into Champ Car, and when Newgarden did the same out of Lights into IndyCar, both had the cachet of "future beasts in training." We didn’t get that with Palou as a rookie in 2020 with Coyne. He arrived in IndyCar with no momentum and no history of junior formula dominance, smilar to Christian Lundgaard. But once they reached IndyCar, they found a car that was a perfect match for them, and with Palou, he had the perfect supporting cast to turn his talent into championship-caliber material.
As for the rest of the season, yes, every driver inside the top 10 has the team and talent to disrupt Palou’s title aspirations, but it can’t be a repeat of last year where no single rival emerged until late in the season with Colton Herta.
A driver – any driver – needs to weld themselves to Palou and start finishing in front of him, starting this weekend in Detroit. But if it’s McLaughlin winning this weekend, then O’Ward, then Kirkwood, then Dixon, etc., it’s game over. Worst case here is if a wide array of championship challengers trade wins over the next three months. If that happens, Palou can kill them with seconds and thirds and lose a minimal amount of ground on the way to his fourth crown.
I don’t care who it is, but for the sake of good storylines and entertainment, I do hope someone steps up to make things interesting.
Q: Overall, the Indy 500 was not a very exciting race. What changes should be made to the 500 to make the racing more like Milwaukee? I know they are different types of tracks.
David Tucker
MP: Remove the energy recovery system.
Q: I was not thrilled when NBC took the IndyCar package from ABC/ESPN, though I could see the logic in increasing the viewership. The same business logic was applied to the move to FOX, and the network opened its checkbook.
So I hate to say this, but I do not know if the aggressive marketing of what turned out to be a defective broadcast was good. It reminded me of the debacle when FOX got the rights to the U.S. Open and sold the package back to NBC at a steep loss.
I’ll skip over the obvious unforced errors, like Chris Myers's inability to discern Indy from Daytona. I get the need to use the 500 as a promotional vehicle for the NFL and vice versa, but the 3D Strahan piece was just one of many cringeworthy moments. I’ll leave it to others to comment on how the last couple of laps were presented.
I miss Alan Bestwick doing the play-by-play, and Leigh Diffey. Buxton, Bell, and Hinchcliffe were not the problem with the broadcast; it was everything else. The delayed start and all the chaos made this the worst race since 1992 to cover, but so many things were self-inflicted. (And 1992 was the last time a network blew the iconic shot of the winner crossing the bricks.)
This year seemed to have a lot of promise at its beginning, but this broadcast, the scandals, and the lack of drama in many races have conspired to turn it into a bad dream. Having one driver dominating in a series seldom makes for the best television, unless you appreciate the sustained excellence of an Alex Palou. It’s a shame because this month's coverage showed promise until Jim Cornelison wrapped up. The timing and scoring information were often inaccurate or out of sync, and some relevant information seemed lost, even as late as the crash on lap 199 that ended the race.
I’ve been a fan of Indy since 1965. If Indy is the event that draws more eyeballs to screens for the rest of the season, I wonder if today’s troubled TV show helped the cause or hurt it. I never believed Penske would cure the sport’s issues overnight, but it seems things are not much better off than when Randy Bernard left, except (of course), Penske has invested long overdue resources in fixing up IMS. But things sure seem to be stacking up a little, and it will be interesting to see if the paddock and the other stakeholders will be happier now that three heads have rolled.
Noel B.
MP: I really need to watch the broadcast (it’s 7:28am now, BTW).
Q: In last week's Mailbag, Alastair from Missouri mentioned Teo Fabi being the first rookie to win the pole for the Indianapolis 500. No, he wasn't! How about some love for Walt Faulkner, "The Little Dynamo," who was the first rookie to win the pole for the big race when he did so in 1950? Faulkner pre-dates Robin Miller and his involvement, but I think Robin would have called him a badass as well. He ran championship cars, stock cars and raced in the Carrera Pan-Americana after starting out as a flat track motorcycle racer then moving on to become a top midget car racer.
Jim Thurman, Mojave Desert, CA
MP: Thanks, Jim. That’s on us for failing to point out/correct that Fabi was the last rookie to earn pole.
Q: I am generally in support of IndyCar letting people fight to stay on the lead lap. However, on Sunday the feeling in the stands was it robbed us of a proper three-way duel for the win. I’m not necessarily saying that rule needs to change, but is there a point at which a driver needs to acknowledge it’s not their day and move aside?
If it’s 10 to go and you’re using your duel for 14th to stay on the lead lap, it’s not your day. This is something I know Rossi has mentioned on his podcast (albeit on road/street courses) being discussed among the drivers in the past. (I also acknowledge that neither Palou nor Ericsson made much of an attempt to get by Foster and DeFrancesco and probably didn’t mind having them there). Of course the bigger problem here is that the cars that are fighting to win are powerless to race each other if they’re in line behind two cars about to be lapped.
Max Camposano, Pennsylvania
MP: It stood out to me as a byproduct of the hybrid weight and just how tough it was to pass; it wasn’t good, obviously, but if Ericsson had the speed to catch and pass Palou, I figure two tail-end cars should have made it tougher on Palou and easier on Marcus to turn it into an advantage if Alex was truly compromised on going full speed.
We saw the almost-lapped cars cost Palou in Turn 3 on the final lap, which allowed Ericsson to close in and get a run, but then Ericsson’s car oversteered, which forced him to back out of the throttle to save and gather the car, which surrendered that extra speed and momentum and gave it all back to Palou, who had no pressure from behind him heading into Turn 4 when the caution came out for Siegel’s crash.
It took until a few seconds before the checkered flag, but the tail-enders did add spice to the close of the race until oversteer took it away.
Q: Does IndyCar have anything in the rules that could remove almost-lapped cars in the last 10 laps? Because those two almost lapped cars did stink up what could have been a fantastic finish. They were the only ones that could pass each other.
Also, you and I both worked together on Tayler Fletcher’s Indy Pro Series team at the Freedom 100. That race was always fantastic every year. However, it was removed and now we have to watch a fake hot dog race instead. What is holding IndyCar back from having Indy NXT race on Carb Day?
Tom Harleman, Carmel, IN
MP: It does not. Roger Penske saw Chris Windom crash and split his Indy Lights car in half in the Freedom race, and as I’ve been told, that was the catalyst for ending the race under his ownership due to a fear of losing a driver in the days leading up to the Indy 500, not to mention the general fear of losing a young driver at any point. Wanting to keep the spectacle on the 500, without the added risk of terrible headlines due to a grave injury or fatality in IndyCar’s equivalent of college ball, is the reason we’ve been given.
Q: Will IndyCar ever redesign the IMS front wing? When the leaders are unable or unwilling to pass cars that are 99% of a lap down late in the race, even when they don't need to save fuel, there might be a problem with the aero package. The recent Indy 500 finishes seem to have made most overlook that passing is incredibly rare from third to 33rd.
Kyle
MP: Yes. But it has been a rolling timeline that has yet to reach the finish line. It was possibly arriving for 2024, then 2025, and now with a new car on the way for 2027 or 2028, who knows when that new front wing will arrive.
Q: I want to see the Indy 500 and Daytona 500 (and most other high-speed oval races) reward drivers who mash the gas pedal all day. I am tired of the scripted fuel mileage strategies where cars race single file while drivers are instructed to meet fuel numbers for the next pit stop. Teammates swap positions for the sake of a few drops of fuel. Leaders choose to follow slower cars for lap after lap to save fuel instead of deservedly putting them a lap down.
How about reducing the capacity of the fuel cells? This would lighten the cars for more speed and also create more pit stops to jumble the field. The fastest drivers and cars would be rewarded for their efforts.
Kevin Kelly, St. Peters, MO
MP: I hear you, and don’t disagree, but you could reduce the tanks to one gallon or increase them to 100, and we’d still have fuel saving. It’s just a really smart tactic that helps, if nothing else, during pit stops to pick up a position or maybe two, due to having less fuel to fill the tank. If Palou sits behind Driver X and banks an extra half-gallon during a stint, that’s a fraction of a second less for his refueler to stay plugged in and a fraction of a second he can leave the box to try and leapfrog whoever he was chasing. Sometimes the advantage plays out on put lane when the cars pit together and the better fuel savers gain spots on the lane, and sometimes it plays out on track after everyone’s stops are completed and that fraction manifests into an extra 100 feet of track position.
It’s probably not what you want to hear, but we’re in the midst of the NBA playoffs and even the best players on the four remaining teams are not on the court going flat out for all 48 minutes. They get a few minutes of rest in most of the quarters to preserve their energy to attack at the end of the game. In only the rarest occasions do we get 48 minutes of a Tyrese Halliburton or Shea Gilgeous-Alexander giving 100 percent for every minute of the game. They do their version of fuel saving with physical energy to benefit their chances of winning. In my warped brain, that’s what I think of here with drivers intentionally conserving their cars’ energy to put them in a position to win at the end.
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Q: What is the explanation for the allowance of the Miller beer and a wine company sponsorship on the cars? And where could Will Power go if he were to decide to bail out of the dumpster fire?
Bill M., Delray Beach, FL
MP: I believe the allowance is due to living in a free society where such advertising is legal? Or if it isn’t, please send us the link to the law that has been violated. Google is a powerful information gathering tool; highly recommended.
Power is driving for one of the three best teams in IndyCar. He’d be an idiot to leave on his own volition.
Q: The FOX timing and scoring pylon had a few times during the Indy 500 where it wasn't updating correctly, like when Daly took the lead as DeFrancesco pitted, and there were reports from the track about the position boards not always updating correctly. Is IndyCar saying anything about ironing the bugs out of their timing and scoring system this year? Seems like IMS and FOX are catching strays from IndyCar still having some troubles.
Dan Plantholt
MP: I asked IndyCar about this at the beginning of May and was told they are trying to get on top of the repeated problems. This was after losing hours on the first day of the Indy Open Test to an Internet failure. Overstating the obvious, but there’s clearly more gains to be made…
Q: Has IndyCar ever considered abandoning procedure and showing blue flags to lapped cars with say, 10-15 laps to go in a race? I personally would not mind it at a race as big as the 500.
Joe
MP: Can’t say what they have or haven’t considered, but if it was pondered, we know it wasn’t turned into action since those blue flags didn’t appear.
Q: Have IndyCar and Dallara done a deep dive into how/why one of the rear wheels became untethered in McLaughlin’s practice crash?
Jamie
MP: The series always looks into such things along with chassis partner Dallara. But seeing how the race ended late Sunday afternoon and Monday was dedicated to breaking everything down from the race to pack up and bring to Detroit, followed by the Indy 500 banquet, I’m not sure a deep dive would have been completed by now.
Q: Is something up with Goodyear? Not only was the blimp hovering over IMS prior to the 500, they curiously had four full-page ads in The Indianapolis Star’s race day trackside edition.
Larry, Whiteland, IN
MP: I’m leaning towards advertising, Larry.
Q: One of the FOX announcers mentioned last Thursday that Honda provides only one engine to those cars that do not race in the entire IndyCar Series. I believe there are six cars in that group, which includes the cars of Helio Castroneves and Marco Andretti. The announcer said Marco was not turning high-speed laps like the regulars in the series because his engine was detuned to reduce the stresses. The status of detuning the engine for the other cars affected by this one engine allotment was not mentioned.
So what happens to these cars if the engine expires? Does Honda provide an engine to allow the car to proceed with qualifications? Only 35 cars were accepted for qualifications. Are there IndyCar rules involved to preserve the sacred 33 count?
Tom, Waco, TX
MP: Yes, the lease is for a single engine for the event for the one-off entries, but Chevy and Honda obviously do not refuse to supply a second or more if a failure occurs. If that were the case, we’d have seen many one-offs departing the event in past years.
Q: If IndyCar decides to separate church and state, as you say, what are the realistic options? It has been reported that establishing a new officiating body, or turning to the FIA or USAC have been considered.
I don't have faith that Penske or the rest of the team owners will establish a transparent or effective officiating body. And why would IndyCar want to attach itself to a toxic organization such as the FIA? Besides, don't Zak Brown and Dan Towriss have connections there already that they could manipulate to their own ends?
So that leaves USAC, apparently located already on 16th Street, near the Speedway. My understanding is that at one time USAC sanctioned the entire series, and was established by Tony Hulman. Near the end of its involvement it was seen as unable to effectively promote and grow the series, an old boys club of Indy old timers, and under the influence of Hulman.
I am I correct, and if so, are these issues that would still exist today? To me this seems the best option, as USAC is already officiating the USF circuits, and has a nationwide network of talent that could be used to refresh and grow the IndyCar team that would presumably be shuffled over. Or is there a fourth option?
Also, I find it outrageous that this attenuator issue existed during the entirety of last year’s race, apparently undiscovered. Why was it suddenly noticed on Sunday? And how can the chief inspector not be certain of the rules, or not even keep a copy of the rulebook on hand?
Lots of questions – hoping you have a few answers.
Kevin Michaels, Schaumburg, IL
MP: A new and original ruling body will be created. USAC, the FIA, etc., is not being invited into IndyCar to act as a governing body. Saying somebody doesn’t know the rules and the person actually being uncertain of the rules are very different things. Words said by a company in the midst of damage control are rarely based on facts or reality.
Q: Are Dallara or Indy 500 officials concerned with all of the cars that have gotten airborne this month? It seems like it is way more than in the past.
Russell
MP: Not that I know of, and nor should they. There’s no known way to prevent takeoffs 100 percent of the time. The specific manner both drivers spun, crashed going backwards into the walls, at a 45-degree angle or so, with the left-rear first, causes the rear to lift in a way that turns the underwing – something that makes big downforce with the car is going forward – into an airplane wing that creates big lift.
The way they hit is the exact way these cars can fly, and that’s going to be the case until some form of blockers are created that can deploy and seal the ends of the diffuser on both sides of the gearbox to prevent the underwing from being energized with that fast rearward flow of air. And even then, there’s no guarantee rearward flights will be prevented.
Q: Why not have a representative from each team be part of the tech crew under "Rocket" Kevin Blanch's direction? Maybe one of the truckies? Not that they don't have plenty to do – just thought one of them might be a good candidate.
It could play into the teams being more involved with the charters. And instead of looking outward for a third party tech, it would be more self-policing by people who know what to look for.
Bill Sr., Wisconsin
MP: The people working for teams have jobs to do, so taking someone away from each team isn’t in the best interest of each team. Needs to be a group of experts with no other duties but to oversee and govern.
Q: The question here is about Newgarden’s 2024 winning car that is in the IMS Museum with an altered attenuator: I spent 15+ years doing tech on USAC Midgets, Sprint and Champ Dirt Cars, and was also technical director and chief steward of the USAC National Midget Division. Yes, we don’t always catch everything, but I never once let a name like Jeff Gordon or Rich Vogler change my mind on a decision.
So are the current IndyCar officials not good enough to do their jobs? I heard they did not even have a rule book with them. I always carried one in my back pocket. Or are they being told to look the other way on some things? The IndyCar officials on pitlane stood and watched the Penske crew members try and do the work on the attenuator, and that’s a big no. Not sure just how qualified some of the officials are.
AE, Danville, IN
MP: Of course the rule book is with them and available at all times. It’s also available to anybody with access to the internet who can type "2025 IndyCar rule book" into a search engine: https://epaddock.indycar.com/docs/default-source/rules-regulations-and-policies/indycar-rulebook.pdf
They are completely qualified to do their job, otherwise, they wouldn’t be there.
Q: A quote from Doug Boles during the Monday presser announcing the grid penalties really stuck out to me:
"Rocket, in his head, was pretty sure that we had a rule, but he didn't have a rule book with him that stated that could not be a modified part, and we do in fact have that rule.”
Firstly, tell me who Rocket is, and what their role is.
Secondly, did you get any explanation for why the technical inspectors are not performing their jobs with a current or complete rule book present?! What is the actual protocol, if any? It astounds me that copies of the most recent rule books would not be easily accessible for competitors and officials alike to easily consult. At the very least there should be a tablet or similar with a digital version.
Pretty clear photographic evidence is coming out to indicate that Penske has been operating with these attenuators since at least last year's 500. This includes other races. Are the tech inspectors overworked, corrupt, or inept? Fearful? All of the above?
Kristopher
MP: Rocket is former championship-winning crew chief Kevin Blanch, who serves as IndyCar’s technical director. He’s the boss of technical inspection and overall competition compliance. After his boss Jay Frye was fired in February, his new boss is Kyle Novak, IndyCar’s race director.
I asked Boles whether an investigation would take place to find the answers on the inspection side of the failures, and he said the series was looking forward, which was a crafty was of saying no.
I’m told there are three full-time people in IndyCar’s tech inspection group. They aren’t corrupt or anything like that but changes are needed with more people and better resources and complete transparency. As long as IndyCar behaves like tech inspection happens in a hidden and protected void, there will be questions, and not the good kind.
Q: A little different Penske inquiry: At least twice now, the No. 3 car was not involved in the cheat. Are McLaughlin and Bretzman just more honest? There has to be some backstory there.
David S
MP: The No. 3 was part of the push-to-pass ordeal last year along with Josef’s No. 2. Will Power’s No. 12 was not. With the attenuators, it was the Nos. 2 and 12, and not the 3, so that’s once, not twice. I have seen photos of the 3 with the modified attenuator at last year’s 500, but don’t know why it wasn’t using one this year. With the race over, I’ll admit that my interest into diving into why is gone. If someone else feels the need to do an exhaustive look into the why, good on them.
Q: Just how much of a financial commitment would it be to bring ACCUS/FIA in to tech IndyCar? It seems it would bring a much-needed independent authority in to oversee the legality of the cars and teams competing, and remove a huge conflict of interest that Roger Penske has being the owner of a series that he also competes in.
Andy R., Detroit, MI
MP: It’s not what’s happening, so I can’t say and spending the time to get an answer for what isn’t being planned is not the best use of time, unfortunately.
Q: I read with interest your comments about how engines are distributed, "randomly" by IndyCar. "IndyCar" meaning a Penske employee? And does that Penske employee have the phone number of the Ilmor engineer (a Penske employee) who ran the dyno tests on all those engines?
For that matter, does Ilmor have a rack of fresh engines, all with the same serial number as the one in Newgarden's car, so a swap can be quietly made before every weekend?
Integrity would be a good thing to be able to believe in.
Russ Wakeman
MP: I guess if everything is a conspiracy, this must be part of the Penske cabal.
Or, if we did something crazy like applying logic, we’d look at when Roger Penske bought IndyCar at the start of 2020, and since then, when he’s been tipping the scale with cheater Ilmor/Chevy motors, his Team Penske program has lost four of the last five IndyCar championships to Honda-powered teams, and at the Indy 500, his team and all the other Chevy-powered teams who might be given hot motors, have lost three out of the last five to Honda.
So, and I say this in the kindest possible way, maybe we give this bull**** a rest and think through the conspiracy theories and questioning of Penske’s all-consuming underhanded actions and come to an agreement that while his team has not played fairly on two verified occasions since 2024, it doesn’t mean the man himself is some evildoer directing his team or series employees to do bad things.
Have there been people in his employ who might have felt a need to do things to tip that scale in his favor through their actions or inaction? Out of love, loyalty, or both? Entirely possible. But if you see Roger as some boogeyman pulling strings on this kind of stuff since he bought the series, I can’t help you. And yes, I’m defending Roger Penske.
Q: Do you think there is any merit in investigating again what went on at the end of the 107th running of the Indy 500 in 2023? It's easy at this time to be excited about theorizing on conspiracies around Penske, and in 2023 the Penske Shell car was essentially gifted a win (given the way that car package got up to speed and slipstreamed) under unprecedented race control decisions, when Shell had some brand new signage and official partnerships with IndyCar/IMS beginning earlier that year.
Joe, Warsaw, IN
MP: Yes, but I think we’ve established the fact that under IndyCar’s new president, there’s no willingness to look back and investigate. If no malfeasance was found, it would be an awesome vindication for Josef among those who place a mental asterisk next to his win, and if some funny business was found to have been part of that decision-making process in race control, it would need to result in firings of people who work in the room today.
Q: Seems like it's the No. 2 and No. 12 team being naughty boys and the No. 3 not so much. How independent are the different cars within a team?
Shawn, MD
MP: Hard to say since every team is different, run by different people, with different approaches to how they run their teams.
Q: In response to one of the questions you posed at his press conference regarding Team Penske’s illegally modified attenuators, Doug Boles indicated "I can't address something that happened on Saturday.” Given that in 2024, IndyCar “addressed something” on April 21, 2024 for infractions that took place at the St. Petersburg race on March 10, 2024, I am curious as to why Mr. Boles believes there is no mechanism to retroactively apply penalties for verifiable infractions that happened at a prior event.
In 2024, IndyCar relied on information it collected six weeks prior to serve as the basis for voiding the St. Petersburg race results for Newgarden and McLaughlin. Even if he is unwilling to rely on the photographic evidence you gathered, surely IndyCar has its own official photographic and/or video evidence that would clearly demonstrate that the attenuators were illegally modified during Saturday’s qualifying attempts.
Claiming that the cars passed tech so there is nothing that can be done does not even pass the laugh test. Presumably the Penske cars passed tech on March 21, 2024. Why were they disqualified six weeks later on April 21, 2024 if there is nothing that can be done after a car passes technical inspection? The situation, in my opinion, is 100% analogous in all material aspects – there is irrefutable evidence demonstrating cheating took place despite a car having passed technical inspection. Am I wrong? If not, why does Mr. Boles thinks he has no option to address what took place during qualifying?
Mike (a longtime Helio Castroneves fan, former Team Penske fan, perhaps soon-to-be former IndyCar fan, and former lifelong fan of NASCAR because that series openly embraces its role as motorsport’s laughingstock of selective rules enforcement)
MP: Well, there was a different IndyCar president when the P2P deal went down. And Jay Frye was never looking to please or protect Mr. Penske, which is another difference between himself and Doug Boles. Frye was also in charge when the Penske cars slid through tech at the 2024 Indy 500 with the modified attenuators, so that’s 100 percent on him and he should bear full responsibility for the failures of his tech team to catch the illegalities in the same way Kyle Novak bears complete responsibility for what the tech team missed this year prior to Pole Day. Just as Roger Penske stepped up and took ownership for his team’s failures and acted with the three firings. Frye’s gone, so if IndyCar wanted to take inspiration from Penske, Novak, the person who took control of tech since Frye’s termination, would be the first place to look just as Penske fired team president Tim Cindric.
But with Frye out of the building and under the employ of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, I don’t know how IndyCar would look to 2024, assess suspensions or firings, and not include the person whose job it was to prevent such things via his tech team, when he was fired in February without being given a reason for the firing. I’d imagine IndyCar would have a nice lawsuit on its hands if it tried to sanction Frye for failures in 2024 while he’s working at RLL in 2025. Sticky and tricky situation.
And do I think Kyle Novak had the slightest of clues that this was happening under his new tech inspection watch? Absolutely not. Zero percent. I’ll also make a leap here with Frye, noting how he had no problem penalizing and fining the team over the P2P deal in April, and say that if he knew about the attenuator deal in May of 2024, his actions in April suggest he wouldn’t have been afraid to call it out and hit Team Penske again.
It leads me to think he didn’t know, because if there was one guy in the building who wasn’t looking to protect Penske, it was Frye.
Q: So the question that has to be asked is: Were these three guys fired from Team Penske sacrificial lambs to hide a larger problem?
Doug Mayer, Big Will Power Fan, Revelstoke, BC, Canada
MP: Tim was in charge of the team, so I can’t see how that was a sacrificial lamb situation. Ron, with Tim stepping back to a non-full-time role, ran the team on a daily basis, so no. And Kyle was in charge of the shop floor, cars, people, etc., and the illegal changes made involved people and cars, so no. It sucks for all of them; I know all three to be good men. But Roger grew tired of receiving calls from his series’ leaders informing him of violations and penalties and took remarkable measures to start fresh.
How’s this: If this was Chip Ganassi Racing that had the P2P thing last year and the attenuator deal this year, do you think Chip keeps his top three team employees on the payroll? Not a chance. They’re all fired.
Q: An unusual thought, but what about Michael Andretti for Penske? He’s a man without a team and he’s won it all – Indy 500, championships etc. [ED: As a team owner. As a driver, Michael’s best result at Indy was second in 1991]. While he speaks his mind, he has lots of integrity. Dario Franchitti comes to mind also. He’s far more than just a driver’s coach. These guys would not pull the stunts that required cleaning house. The best guys are at Ganassi but good luck getting them. Or could Scott Dixon get lured away…
Craig B, Leland, NC
MP: My first thought was Simon Pagenaud.
Q: In reference to your IndyCar report and Roger Penske’s need to engage a separate organization to tech race cars and manage the on track racing activities... look no further than the SCCA.
Many years ago, SCCA sanctioned the Can-Am, Trans-Am, F5000 and other lower-level race series. Given adequate time, it's likely SCCA could hire a core group of paid individuals to handle car tech & driver safety, a race director, race stewards, race control linked to all flag stations, start/finish, Emergency & Rescue, plus radio links to all teams.
SCCA has the DNA to do this based on its prior pro racing experience, plus hundreds of unpaid member workers who help control national & regional sports car races throughout the country.
Not only does this cooperation help RP, but it raises awareness of SCCA and the many programs it offers across the USA.
David, Pittsburgh, PA
MP: All true about the SCCA, but what it did 50-plus years ago has no relevance to what’s needed now. It’s an amateur organization today; I realize it has light pro racing activities, but this isn’t the olden days with the big pro series you mentioned under its governance.
Love the SCCA; was a huge part of my life for decades, but IndyCar needs to start fresh with people chosen by the teams and manufacturers to meet the specific challenges the series is facing.
Q: The thinking was that the difficulty in finding a third engine supplier for IndyCar was that the organization didn't have a hybrid engine formula to attract new manufacturers. After this new formula was implemented, there was still no interest from new manufacturers. Now that this scandal of in-house favoritism and cheating has been exposed, maybe the lack of interest is that the other manufacturers felt they would not have a level playing field with Penske's Chevrolets.
Why invest in a series where you not only had to battle a dominant team, but an owner who paid the people who enforced the rules? Did Penske really not know what was going on? I applaud his actions to fire those involved, but is it sincere, or just covering his butt? This situation needs to be resolved as soon as possible.
Hopefully Doug Boles will get the ball rolling and restore some faith in IndyCar with an independent inspection body.
Dave
MP: If we forget the attenuator and push-to-pass stuff, I’ve continually been told that Roger – one of the world’s largest and most successful auto dealers – has been the point person in trying to recruit that third manufacturer. Documented here a ton that he got close to landing Toyota a few years ago but a change in its U.S. CEO ended that development. Nonetheless, I look to Penske as the best asset IndyCar has to connect with the auto industry, speak straight with those big bosses, and get them to join his series. And to my genuine amazement, there’s been no significant traction. If Roger can’t capture a third manufacturer, I don’t know who can.
Q: I read Roger Penske's talking points about integrity etc., and I don't buy it. He comes across as disingenuous. I have worked for corrupt people and organizations, so I have firsthand experience about where the corruption stems from. It is the top! Corruption does not trickle up, it trickles down because leadership sets the tone.
I have always had a suspicion about Roger. Now ,that suspicion has been validated. It is time for someone else to run IndyCar/IMS. Here is the million (should be billion, but contraction does not lead to billions) dollar question – who?
Bums me out to see what happened, but then again, I am not even slightly surprised.
Jeff Benoit
MP: When Roger was fully invested in the day-to-day running of his team, there was no way to separate him from any illegalities. But those days are behind us. I’ve never believed – not for a moment – that Penske was aware of the push-to-pass deal or the latest one, and it’s here where I received his words about restoring integrity in a different way.
I know I’m one of many who’ve been embarrassed for him, to have this stuff happening, and to feel exposed as a result of the two scandals. When I say something critical of Penske, I’m told that I’m biased. When I stick up for him, I’m told I’m an idiot. In this pair of controversies since 2024, I’ve yet to find how he’s involved, and will continue to say so because that’s what I think.
But I do know that he grew tired of feeling like his team was running astray and made seismic changes to correct the situation. If he didn’t feel things had gotten that bad, the triple firings would have been just one with Cindric.
Q: If the teams all knew about the illegal attenuators for some time, and their approaches to series officials were all rebuffed, leading to a belief that Penske was being given special treatment, why did no one complain publicly about it?
All it would have taken was for a driver/team/affiliate to stick a photo up on social media. If the reason was to not bring the series into disrepute, then that is noble – but now it's come out and everyone knows last year's winning car was illegal, it's far more damaging.
For my money, this voids any claims that the 2024 result should be changed retrospectively. It would be different if the offending part was hidden by bodywork, but it was in plain sight, and there was every opportunity for someone to say something at the time. Silence is tantamount to acceptance.
Rob MacDonald, Chippenham, UK
MP: Great questions, Rob. The basic answer is most owners/managers either revere Roger Penske, don’t want to disappoint him, or don’t want to get yelled at by Roger or one of his executives.
I’ve never thought the 2024 win should be taken away. The race was run. The window to protest expired. Josef Newgarden is the unquestioned winner to me.
Q: Please help me wrap my brain around the Penske team decision to modify the attenuators on Will Power and Josef Newgarden’s cars. How much of an advantage would result from blending in the attenuators to the car’s gearbox as compared to leaving the attenuators as is?
Additionally, how could any modification (no matter how minor or major) be made without consulting the IndyCar rule book? I just don’t get it. Did someone on the team just come out one day and spontaneously shout “Hey, I’ve got a great idea! Let’s blend the attenuator to the gearbox and smooth things out back there?” Help me understand!
Curt Vogt, Kannapolis, NC
MP: The team has not explained why it did what it did. In a text exchange, Tim Cindric said he was gathering all the facts before speaking with me, and he was fired the next morning, and the team has yet to announce its new management structure, so I’ll see who the next Cindric will be and then see if they want to talk.
Every team loads into Indy with every tiny aerodynamic improvement made that they can. It’s an assembly of dozens of minuscule improvements like blending seams on an attenuator that make the cars faster. By itself, the blending wasn’t a race winner or race loser. As part of the dozens of others, it’s part of a package of improvement.
Q: Just watched Mr. Penske's interview with Jamie Little addressing the unfortunate scandal. Appreciated the directness of Jamie's questions. Tough situation for Mr. Penske, especially after everything he's given to the sport, his dedication, his passion, and now here at the end of his career, this. I applaud him addressing it head-on.
My question is about a statement that Roger made, about how he's so proud of the accomplishments (plural) that they've made in the last four and a half, almost five years since he took ownership of the Speedway and IndyCar. I'd really like to know what he's referring to.
There was so much excitement and optimism when the announcement was made. That has passed. I thought for sure we'd have a new car by now. Wrong. I thought we'd have 900 hp by now. Wrong. I thought there'd be a third engine manufacturer by now (due to Roger's influence). Wrong. I thought the schedule would be better, reaching into the fall and not still condensed because of a stupid Boston Consulting report from 20 years ago. Wrong. The hybrid has been much ado and the implementation was fumbled badly. The FOX TV deal deserves all the credit where credit is due so props there, but I must be missing the rest. From your perspective, please enlighten us.
As I'm sending this a few days before the 500, I'll go out on a limb and predict no milk will be consumed on Sunday by anyone driving for Verizon, Shell, or Pennzoil.
Derek, Rochester, NY
MP: Just sharing for the sake of transparency that the questions in that interview were all written in advance and approved by Penske Entertainment, so yes, while I do appreciate some of the frank answers, this was 100 percent produced for camera on a closed set. Thankful he spoke, which is important, but wish it had been done in a manner that wasn’t crafted for television.
We’ve written about the years of inaction here, so there’s no need to rehash it; I’m guessing Roger was referring to going hybrid, the FOX deal, the creation of charters, and the creation of next year’s Arlington GP. And he’s right. The series has been on the throttle since 2024.
Q: As an IndyCar fan since 1974, I truly appreciate all you've done to explain the situation. It's obvious your passion and love for the Indy 500 are as deep as the fans who read the Mailbag and Roger Penske's. As you've addressed the challenges the Penske organization faces and the potential impact to Honda remaining in the sport, there are two pieces of the puzzle that I'd appreciate hearing your thoughts.
If an outside officiating body is created, who pays their expenses, including the employees? In other words, how is Penske Entertainment removed from having influence if they pay the officiating organization, even if it's a separate company?
Penske owns Ilmor, which manufactures engines for Chevy. This seems like another conflict of interest, and Honda or any other potential engine manufacturer would want Penske to sell his stake in the company. Have you heard anything about this?
Shane
MP: Ilmor gets raised less than the other conflicts, but nobody can make Roger sell the things he owns, so I don’t foresee any changes here.
The independent board would be paid for by Penske Entertainment, but set up to be administered by themselves, with no involvement from Penske.
Q: How long would you guess the non-competes are for Tim Cindric, Ron Ruzewski and Kyle Moyer? If/when we see their returns do you think their roles would be different than when at Team Penske?
How can Doug Boles, Roger Penske and others be confident in an independent technical inspection staff if they're moving forward without a root cause analysis?
Is race control independent (I don't believe they are), but do you think the scandal could have ripple effects here? Digression – I really wish they'd be mic'd up for races and we could listen to them on the IndyCar app.
Other than a distraction, does this scandal affect Newgarden's and/or Power's psyches?
How seriously are sponsors taking this?
Do you believe the fallout would be this serious if the scandal happened at any other track than IMS? I ask this because of the Barber tip, McLaughlin stating he weighs the 500 more than the championship, Palou stating his career wouldn't be successful without a 500 win, and [my] perception that Roger Penske regards the IMS and 500 more than the championship.
Atilla Veyssal, Madison, WI
MP: No clue on non-competes, but they were fired, so I’m not sure how non-competes would be valid since they didn’t leave voluntarily.
I asked Doug the very question about needing to get to the root of the problem before it can be resolved, and he expressed no interest in looking backwards. Asked and answered.
Race control is employed by Penske Entertainment. The race director is also the head of technical inspection, having received that oversight duty after Jay Frye was fired.
Power is as mentally strong a driver as you’ll find. He’s been loose and playful the entire time. Newgarden has been prone to setbacks in this area, but I haven’t seen that side of him in the last year or so. He’s able to compartmentalize with the best.
Sponsors aren’t a single thing, so some have been pissed and concerned and others, according to the array of owners I’ve heard from or asked, haven’t been bothered.
This would be 10 percent of what it was if it was anywhere else but at the Speedway, or with any other team, except Ganassi, as the defending champs and current championship leader.
Q: Apologizing up front if this has already been answered, but how much of an advantage did the attenuator mod get? You mentioned 1 hp, but is it in hundreds of a second, thousands of a second or something greater or less?
I agree with you 100% that cheating is not acceptable, but the accountant in me would like to understand the math.
Tom Patrick, Baja California
MP: Nobody outside of Penske knows. Full CFD aero simulation runs would need to be performed. But here’s an interesting one to consider: Teams no longer apply stickers on top the their bodywork; it’s all done with wraps, and the sticker graphics are incorporated into the wraps so there are no aero imperfections – the tiny heights of stickers standing up in the airstream – that generate a millionth of a percent of drag. Point being: Teams are not willing to let the thickness of one sticker interrupt clean airflow these days.
Out of curiosity, I wanted to see how many stickers it took to fill the seam on an attenuator, so on Saturday, I found one that was unattended in Gasoline Alley and measured. It took four regular stickers to fill the seam, and those four had the backing sheet on them, which made them thicker. I didn’t want to peel the backing off and apply them to the attenuator – it wasn’t mine to play with – but I’d guess that without the extremely thin backing sheets included, it was the equivalent of six stickers. But the modifications made no difference, we’re told.
Q: Will we ever see Hailee Deegan in a NASCAR Cup Series race? If so, when? And when was the last time that we had more than one woman in a NASCAR Cup Series race?
Chris Fiegler, Latham, NY
KELLY CRANDALL: It would be wrong to say Hailie Deegan will never run a NASCAR Cup Series race, because you never say never in this business. However, I don’t see it happening in the immediate future. Deegan left NASCAR for open-wheel this year and admitted she doesn’t have the funding to even move from the Truck Series into the Xfinity Series (which definitely means not for the Cup Series), and she’s not looking for a ride.
The second part is a bit harder to answer. Based on the research that I was able to do, it is known for sure that in the 1949 race on Daytona Beach, there were Ethel Mobley, Sara Christian, and Louise Smith. After that, the most recent race with more one woman entered would likely have been in the 1950s. After that, females making starts in the Cup Series became very sporadic, and it doesn’t look like many overlapped.
Q: Another Racing Christmas has come and gone. As a NASCAR guy, I am biased, but I have to say, the Coke 600 had to be the best race of the day! Prime Video absolutely hit it out of the park with its race day coverage. Watching the pre-race and post-race show gave me Speed Channel vibes from my childhood on NASCAR days! Even had significantly less commercials last night than FOX/FS1.
Every green flag lap was shown live, even when they went to commercial. And the final 60 laps were shown commercial-free. FOX could take some pointers from that!
As far as the racing, that might have been the best race of this Gen 7 era. Byron and Hamlin put on a masterclass in battling for the lead and not wrecking one another. And Chastain just came in at the end and made it more exciting, stealing what would’ve been an exclamation point stamped on Byron’s night. As a 24 fan, I’m heartbroken for Byron. He wasn’t the most dominant driver, but he was strong all night and ran in the top two all night long.
But Chastain, man, he drove a heck of a race and earned that win. Even though I’m a Hendrick/24 fan, I respect Ross a lot. Ross had to work his way up to Cup. He didn’t have the fortune of being able to get funded for a ride to compliment his talents like many young drivers have in Cup. He had to claw is way up and endure heartbreak climbing the ladder. But he’s now a six-time Cup winner and he’s won himself a crown jewel!
Kevin, Arizona
KC: Agreed. I mentioned in my post-race video report for the RACER social channels it was a great race and the story within the story is what Ross Chastain and his team accomplished with the backup car. They were the best car in practice before the tire blew and he crashed, and the shop guys worked until 2:30am on the backup before returning at 5:30. The car had to be at the racetrack for inspection after 1 or 2:00, and then the race. Phil Surgen, Chastain’s crew chief, said he had about two and a half hours of sleep. I also wrote in my column how the oval continues to deliver great racing.
Q: Was there anyone speaking at Monaco about the controversies in IndyCar with regards to Penske's scandal?
Daniel Francis, Burton upon Trent, UK
CHRIS MEDLAND: In terms of senior personnel speaking on the record, no. The only person with skin in the game in that sense was McLaren's Zak Brown, and he didn't do any specific media, only the general one-on-one broadcast hits he does on a Saturday or Sunday, so those focused on how the F1 team was doing.
From a wider media point of view, absolutely. We had quite a few friends and colleagues in the paddock just saying how wild it appeared, trying to understand what had happened and likening it to when teams have to make changes to their designs in F1. No bias here either, but a number of people in the media center also mentioned Marshall's videos on it to me and what a great job he was doing covering it – that's how quite a few of them were learning about what had been going on.
Given the race happens on Sunday night European time when we're all still flat out working on reaction from Monaco, the Penske stuff was probably a bigger talking point than the 500 itself in the F1 paddock in the end!
THE FINAL WORD
From Robin Miller's Mailbag, May 27, 2015
Q: I was thinking back about Indy history, and the thought occurred to me that if all of the CART teams had shown up in Indy in May of ’96, they would have crushed the IRL regulars and the 25/8 rule. Seems like the PR nightmare this would have created for Tony George would have been a much better way to fight back than staging a race on the same day in Michigan. I know the people running CART made a lot of blunders, but this just seems too easy. Why didn’t they think of it?
Josh Wagar
ROBIN MILLER: Well, they were too busy selling their old cars to IRL teams and I think most CART owners weren’t worried about Tony George’s series. In hindsight, most agree the war would have ended after Orlando and Phoenix in 1996 had CART showed up because without the Indy 500, most of those IRL teams couldn’t have continued.
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Marshall Pruett
The 2025 season marks Marshall Pruett's 39th year working in the sport. In his role today for RACER, Pruett covers open-wheel and sports car racing as a writer, reporter, photographer, and filmmaker. In his previous career, he served as a mechanic, engineer, and team manager in a variety of series, including IndyCar, IMSA, and World Challenge.
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