Welcome to the RACER Mailbag. Questions for any of RACERโs 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: Will we ever see an IndyCar series race on the Chicago Street Course at Grant Park? The same street course that NASCAR races on in the summer?
Chris Fiegler, Latham, NY
MARSHALL PRUETT: No, not unless the city ditches NASCAR or vice versa, and the city chooses to engage IndyCar.
Q: I love the low, sleek, missile-like look of the Lolas and Reynards from the late 1990s and early 2000s. They just looked fast, even when standing still. The current DW12 lacks some of that look, as its side profile looks taller in the center. The tall center visually shortens the car and takes away much of the sleekness.
Part of that is due to the aeroscreen, which I would never dream of suggesting eliminating. However, for me, the biggest part of the tall center appearance is due to the camera pod atop the roll hoop. From the side profile, it looks a little like a snorkel and takes away any low, long, sleek car presence. The camera in the pod is great for the TV product and provides excellent shots of both the side-by-side racing action and cockpit activity, however, I would love to see that camera pod removed in favor of cameras integrated into the car’s lines. Maybe in the center of the roll hoop and/or within the top ring of the aeroscreen halo.
Have you heard any discussion or suggestion about integrated camera placement in the new car design?
Tim Hubbel, Gypsy, OK
MP: I havenโt, but Iโll ask.
Q: I read the Mailbag every week and it seems I am not the only one disappointed about the lack of IndyCarโs presence in video game form. I, like many of your readers, are casual gamers (been playing some sort of console racing game since I was 6, playing the Al Unser Jr racing game on the original NES). Through the years I have played many games, most currently Forza Motorsport on Xbox X.
Currently, IndyCar is not part of the Forza platform (or any other) but it used to be, along with the Long Beach street circuit. Bi-monthly, Forza issues a new track to go with its current selection of tracks. How great would it be if we could get IndyCar and Forza Motorsport to get together and get back into the gaming world? LBGP could be released just prior to the April race with the crapwagon DW12 gen-whatever-weโre-on-now, but it would be a great start. It would be a great way to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the race and seems almost too smart an idea to pass up.
They could even have a โbeat the lapโ-type challenge where gamers try to best a current drivers lap. Additionally, Forza already has a lot of the current tracks (IMS, Road America, Laguna, Mid-Ohio) so you could have an IndyCar mini-series.
Tom, Blue Bell, PA
MP: Yep, all kinds of things they could do. As Penskeโs Mark Miles told me towards the end of the season, thereโs nothing imminent. Hopefully that changes.
NASCAR’s going to be the only series that races past bars that serve Malort for the foreseeable future. Motorsport Images
Q: What is the status of Honda’s future in IndyCar? With Nissan and Honda joining together, will Honda leave Indy and have Nissan take its place?
David Tucker
MP: Hondaโs supply contract runs through 2026. It will decide on whether it wants to stay within the next year. A planned merger with Nissan has been announced, which is different from an actual merger having taken place. Itโs got to happen before they can make decisions on such things, if itโs even a consideration.
Q: In the previous Mailbag, you suggested allowing manufacturers to create styling options so that the cars were visually distinct.
How would what you’re proposing be different from the aero kits from the mid 2010s? Those brought visual differentiation between manufacturers. They were supposed to attract Boeing and other aerospace companies, but failed to do so.
I think the pitch sounds good now, but I also thought it sounded good then. No one seemed to like the aero kits then, and no one was sad when they went away.
Kyle
MP: Thatโs not true. I was sad when they went away. The 2015-2017 aero kits did offer some visual differentiation, but the rules were written to allow great freedom with downforce, which led to crazy explosions of wings upon wings, and in speedway form, super tiny wings. What didnโt happen was the creation of aero rules that were focused on styling variety, as I donโt think of crazy numbers of wings as being about styling.
Right now, there are two manufacturers, not five or 10, so itโs not an overly complex thing to create. Come up with between three-four styling options for manufacturers to choose from, but make those options a set package with items that are unique.
For example, if adding a shark fin to the engine cover is allowed, it can only be used by one manufacturer. And if they all want it, flip cons, or arm wrestle for it. But donโt let all of them use a shark fin because then weโre back to the same problem of all the cars looking alike.
The nose of an open-wheel car sets the tone for the rest of its looks. Create three or four options. Sidepods do the same from the side. Do the same there. And so on. This isnโt about performance. Itโs about making a Chevy stand out from a Honda and a ??????? to stand out from a Chevy and Honda.
And like IMSA does with its GTP cars, take them to a wind tunnel, benchmark their downforce and drag and center of pressure and ride height figures and sensitivities, and make adjustments to make them as equal as possible.
