Yahoo Autos The RACER Mailbag, October 2
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.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Mailbag is taking its final scheduled break of the year next week, but keep sending your questions and we’ll save them for when it returns on Oct. 16.
Q: Is the charter system really just a grid spot guarantee (except for Indy) plus maybe the rights to sell your grid spot guarantee to the highest bidder down the road if you want to exit IndyCar? And did any of the team owners take exception with the fact that there is no merit-based payout to the leader’s circle award and that the Leaders Circle does not cover all charters?
Andy, Detroit, MI
MARSHALL PRUETT: The Leaders Circle continues to be a merit-based system where the members with the 25 charters have equal opportunities to earn one of the 22 $1 million LC contracts.
According to those who told me about it, Michael Andretti/Dan Towriss pushed Penske to expand the LC to cover all 25 charters — an annual increase of $3 million in prize money outlay by the series’ owner — and he took umbrage at the idea.
Penske’s response was that he would not increase the LC to cover all 25 by putting in the extra $3 million, but if Michael really wanted it to increase from 22 to 25, he’d do it and just divide 25 into the $22 million and dilute everybody’s deal to $880,000 to pay for the extra three LCs. To the surprise of nobody, it has stayed at 22 LCs at $1 million apiece.
Q: Please explain Andretti Global to me. My understanding is Andretti Global is (was) owned by Michael Andretti. Does Andretti Global include all Andretti race teams (IndyCar, IMSA, Formula E …). Does it also include the attempted Formula 1 effort? What does the recent change mean to the Formula 1 plans?
Who is Dan Towriss? Was he a part-owner all along? Does he have any motorsports background and/or knowledge? Can the fans expect a different look from the team? or will it be business as usual? And the big question: Why?
Shocked and confused, Buffalo, NY
MP: Michael Andretti and Dan Towriss formed a new parent company a few years ago named Andretti Global which, I believe, houses all of the teams we know of, including, and especially for, the F1 program. We’ve written about Towriss for many years — you’ll find some of those pieces here, here and here.
He arrived in IndyCar in 2018 as a newcomer and sponsor of Zach Veach at Andretti with Group 1001/Gainbridge. The F1 plans are going forward and have experienced no planning or financial interruptions. No changes are expected with anything that I know of, except for seeing less of Michael.
As for why, the team, and Andretti, and Towriss, are working hard to present this as a happy and welcome development. I don’t buy it. To push this hard, and to get this close to restoring the team’s greatness in IndyCar and to getting the nod to make it into F1 as an entrant, and then all of a sudden, this is the time to step away? Nobody I’ve spoken to believes this went down in the gosh-and-golly manner it’s being sold.
Q: What’s the real reason Michael is relinquishing ownership? I don’t buy any of what is being reported. Make no sense as his racing enterprise has been expanding, along with a huge new headquarters being built.
Anthony, Wellington, FL
MP: Same. I’ve heard some interesting theories floated from F1 insiders about Cadillac wanting to move forward without the Andrettis — but not without Towriss and his giant funding via the Andretti Global team he controls — with its desired F1 program, and this is the expression of that organizational play. We’ll see what the future reveals.
Q: Trying to make sense of some of the Andretti Global news. On Sept. 5, RACER reported that WTRAndretti is changing its name to WTR, according to Wayne Taylor, “at the request of Cadillac to both simplify the name and to honor the longstanding, championship-winning heritage that exists between Taylor and General Motors in endurance racing.” That didn’t smell right, since decoupling the Cadillac and Andretti names would not seem to help the duo’s ongoing mission to enter F1 together.
Then on Sept. 24, as it relates to IMSA GTD class with Lamborghini, a press release appeared on the IMSA website announcing, “Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti will return to the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in 2025 in the Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) class.”
So Lamborghini wants to be associated with the Andretti name, but Cadillac wants nothing to do with it?
Subsequently, RACER reported that Michael Andretti is transitioning to a “strategic role” at Andretti Global, while SI reported that McLaren’s Zak Brown has joined the board of directors for Andretti Acquisition Corp. II.
Any insights into how this all adds up to the future of Michael Andretti’s involvement in racing, or the future of Andretti Global, would be much appreciated.
Lifelong Andretti Fan
MP: The GTP program is a factory deal where Cadillac foots most of the bills. In GTD with Lamborghini, that’s not a factory deal, so there’s no linkage.
I don’t know what we’ll see from Michael in the coming years, but I’m not a fan of him being almost entirely on the outside looking in.
The official explanation about Michael’s next steps seems to have made most people more confused about what he’ll actually be doing. Motorsport Images
Q: I was very surprised to read the article about Michael Andretti stepping back from his ownership role in Andretti Global.
Any inside details you can share? The article notes Michael stepping back to “focus on a more strategic role,” whatever that means. Is this the only was to get the F1 team truly approved, by having Michael out of the picture operationally?
Do you see Cadillac ultimately taking over full control in the years to come and perhaps set up a team with both IndyCar (switching to Chevrolet power) and F1 interests in the way McLaren has?
I wonder how much longer the Andretti name will be associated with the teams (IndyCar, F1, IMSA) going forward.
Rob Pobiega, Lemont, IL
MP: Continuing from the last question, I’ve heard there’s a desire for something closer to a Cadillac Racing F1 program than an Andretti Global+Cadillac situation, and considering all of the money that can be made by being the entrant/team behind the program, there’s a valid reason to do whatever it takes to get accepted.
I don’t foresee GM approving a massive budget to do it all on its own with Cadillac, not with huge investments coming across its move to going electric by 2035.
If we look to next year, Chevy is up from 12 cars to 14 out of the 27 full-timers. Honda has 13. For Chevy to take on three more from Andretti, who gets dropped? A.J. Foyt? Arrow McLaren? Ed Carpenter Racing? Juncos Hollinger Racing? PREMA Racing? Team Penske?
Juncos and PREMA are the two newest members of the Chevy family, so that’s the only place that makes sense with Penske and Foyt in an alignment, plus the strength of Arrow McLaren, and the patriotic angle with Carpenter in mind.
The question here is whether Chevy is truly motivated to make everything at Andretti Global a GM product or whether it only cares about F1. The WTR/GM link existed long before Andretti/Towriss bought WTR, so it would be smart to look at that as more of a reunion of former partners than some giant Andretti initiative. I think WTR and GM would have gotten back together with or without it being part of Andretti’s portfolio.
Q: I just read that Michael Andretti is stepping back at Andretti Global. Reading between the lines, it sounds like he was pushed out by the big money man he brought in to fund all of his expansion. What’s the full scoop?
Josh, Erlanger, KY
MP: The story they’re telling is this is something Michael has wanted. Racing is the centerpiece of his life, as it has been since he was a child. To suggest he wants to step aside, become a special advisor and, comically, an ambassador for his own team, is a reminder that we live in a free society where and have freedom of speech, which includes saying silly and insulting things and trying to pass them off as the truth.
Q: When teams talk about setup, other than camber, tire pressure and damper stiffness, what does that entail? What is the magnitude of those changes? Millimeters or inches?
Shawn, MD
MP: Lots of units of measurements including metric and standard, with millimeters and inches, with inches expressed not in fractions, but decimals. You also have degrees for angle measurements with camber and wing elements.
Of the most common items of adjustment with chassis setup, you have camber, castor, toe, ride height, anti-roll bar stiffness, coilover springs on the four dampers, springs on the third dampers/heave springs front and rear, packers/shims on the third dampers, damper build changes, geometry changes through moving the suspension mounting blocks, and wing angle or gurney flap changes. There’s gear ratio changes and differential changes that are also regular factors — more on the ratios side — in setup changes.
Q: Why on earth would IndyCar have a street race in Dallas when there is a magnificent speedway in Fort Worth? TMS has had some of the most entertaining and exciting IndyCar races in series history. The track has awesome amenities, great parking and it’s easy to get in and out. There is not a bad seat in the house and you can see the entire track. Street races have very limited sightlines, minimal passing and tend to be single file with an occasional banzai pass.
I live in the DFW area and have attended most of the IndyCar races at TMS since the track opened nearly 30 years ago. Next to the 500, the Texas race was my favorite event. I have attended races at Indy (55 straight), Texas, Fontana, Sonoma, St. Louis, Michigan, Houston, Homestead, Disney, Phoenix, Long Beach, Laguna Seca and St. Pete. The street races that I have attended were absolutely boring.
I hope IndyCar is reading this. This street race is a stupid idea and I won’t be wasting my time and money. Time for everyone involved to get their heads out of their asses. Ditch the street race and get back to TMS!
DB, Texas
MP: Why try something new when there’s something old and unsuccessful to hold onto?
Having been to TMS 20-plus times since the first IndyCar race and seen it become a shadow of its former self in terms of attendance, the argument to do nothing new and go back to where IndyCar was a failure is not one that can be made if the series is going to grow.
And who knows, maybe the race around the Cowboy’s stadium will be a failure. Considering the sorry state of that team and its penchant for failure, it just might rub off on the race. But since TMS has a long history of delivering small IndyCar crowds, it makes sense to try something new to see if something better can be done down the road in Arlington. And if that event sucks, there’s always TMS to consider.
Q: IndyCar heading to Dallas is great news. Easy city to fly into. This is a perfect example of sanctioning money. Who is paying IndyCar $1 million to race there? The City of Arlington? The Dallas Cowboys? Jerry Jones? Who is shelling out the cash to make this happen?
Bob Gray, Canoga Park, CA
MP: We’ll have all the details when it’s announced on Oct. 8, provided the date holds.
Will the Dallas Cowboys roll out the red carpet for IndyCar at their stadium? Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images
Q: The IndyCar season is over and now IndyCar stories are mostly about the FBI, Michael Andretti being demoted, and Ed Carpenter getting a new partner. The announcement regarding the future race in Dallas is positive and I hope it doesn’t follow the Boston GP or the Hawaiian Super Prix in never coming to fruition.
It should be noted that IndyCar has nothing on the calendar until March of next year. Formula 1 has six more grands prix through the first week of December, NASCAR has six more race weekends through November 10th, the NHRA has three, and even the Outlaw sprint cars will run at seven more venues through mid-November.
When nearly half a calendar year passes with no IndyCar races when all other key motorsport entities are still quite busy, is it little wonder why IndyCar struggles to remain viable in the public consciousness?
Alex Palou has just won his third IndyCar championship in four years — an amazing accomplishment the likes of which the series hasn’t witnessed since Dario won four of five in 2007, 2009-11. Yet, Speedway, Indiana aside, if one entered 99% of the nation’s sports bars and brought this up to any of the patrons, the unanimous response would be, “Alex who?”
I believe the IndyCar Series drivers champion should be revered on a level along with all other sports championships for individuals. I believe most of those who log on to RACER and review these comments would agree with me.
The masses still need to be sold.
James Herbert Harrison
MP: All great points. Palou is Ganassi’s new Dixon in rapid success and, sadly, his ability to walk anonymously down almost any street in America. Meanwhile, IndyCar wets itself with excitement whenever it finds an influencer — inevitably with 2X or 3X the followers of Palou, if not more — to play with IndyCar for the weekend. In terms of effort and priorities here, the math ain’t mathing when there’s a greater emphasis on embracing disposable influencers than growing the reach of the series’ mainstays.
Q: Most of the charter deal is good for IndyCar. The part I do not like is the cap of 27 entries outside of Indy. Tracks like Iowa, WWTR, Milwaukee, Portland and Road America can easily race 30 cars. So, IndyCar is saying “we are closed for new business.”
And if you’re going to have your 25 charter teams, then either expand the Leaders Circle money to 25 teams or make it available to all 27 entries, since the other two (PREMA) can’t buy a charter unless a current charter team downsizes or leaves. Penske has left no room for new teams to compete in IndyCar. Between Penske and Miles, they have been drinking too much of what Zak Brown has been serving up.
AE, Danville
MP: There’s some great aspects to the charter program, but yes, in every way possible, it’s about protecting the “made men” with the 10 existing teams and not opening the books for any new earners (Can you tell I’m writing this while Donnie Brasco is on in the background).
Zak didn’t dream up the charter.
Q: I would enjoy hearing a reporter ask A.J. Foyt what he thinks about Max Verstappen getting fined for swearing. I’m guessing that his response would be epic! Uncle Bobby probably would have had some choice comments as well. Can you relate any past instances of colorful language being dropped live during a racing broadcast?
Donald, Estero, FL
MP: None that come to mind. We don’t get many F-bombs or similar on IndyCar or IMSA broadcasts.
Q: I’ve been attending IndyCar races at the Milwaukee Mile since the mid-1970s. One thing occurred to me during this year’s doubleheader. The race pace for a modern IndyCar was between 135-145mph for both races. This is the slowest race pace I can ever remember. Even the IRL machines slogged around at about 155-165mph. So what gives? Why such a tortoise-like pace?
Will, Hales Corners, WI
MP: The first race was indeed slow due to most teams going into fuel-saving mode right away. There were stretches where the lap speeds were at or below Indy NXT’s pace. Sunday was better — faster — and we had a bunch of cautions to kill the need for fuel saving.
Q: I don’t understand why there is the difference between the 22 Leaders Circle payments and the 25 charters in IndyCar. Between the top four teams plus the “technical alliance” teams there are (I think) 16 cars that are clearly going to be in the money. Isn’t this creating a situation where the slowest none non-PREMA cars are having a race for six spots?
This seems to be creating a situation where the three slowest cars that have charters but not Leaders Circle payments will be forced to perpetually be searching for pay drivers.
Will, Indy
MP: That’s one way of looking at it. The teams fighting for Leaders Circles each year are almost always the ones with paying drivers or who halfway suck, and as long as there are fewer LCs to go around than there are entries, the teams duking it out to get inside the top 22 will be back there because they either halfway suck or have to take paying drivers to stay in business, which is another way to suck in all but the rarest of occasions. I don’t see much of a difference to the LC fight with charters.
Q: It’s never been publicly stated, but I feel that Penske may be paying some of Malukas’s tuition at Foyt until he graduates to The Captain’s team. Could the same thing be happening with Armstrong and Ganassi at MSR?
John, Ohio
MP: Armstrong’s successful family auto dealership network has supported his career. He’s been rumored to bring between $3-4 million per season.
Armstrong’s blessed with both talent and financial support Michael Levitt/Motorsport Images
Q: It is known in all forms of racing that money equals speed. IndyCar just finished another great season, and I was wondering if they would consider a few changes for the interest of the fans watching the sport?
The big teams already have an advantage with people and testing because of their funding. Why don’t they go back to the random draws for qualifying order instead of points? It would give the smaller teams a chance — from time to time — to watch other teams qualify before they went out. I also think it would be interesting if they capped adjustments for cars in the qualifying line. Settings for a car should be set once you leave your garage area, not allowing for adjustments based on your teammates’ performance. Something has to help level the playing field for the smaller teams to compete.
Jerry, Topeka, KS
MP: Most of the races are on road and street courses where qualifying orders are set by splitting the results of the second practice session. Sure, we could jumble things up in oval qualifying, but how would that stop the haves from doing what they always do, which is go to the front?
Q: We ended the season with an IndyCar vs football match-up. So, what’s the verdict? Did IndyCar do well enough in the ratings that they might consider scheduling races during the football season? For the record, I watched more of the race than the football game that was on at the same time
Tim Davis, Detroit, MI
MP: According to SportsMediaWatch.com, the Nashville Speedway finale on NBC drew the smallest network audience of the year with 483,000 viewers, which is downright terrible.
The Boston Consulting Group was right a decade ago and continues to be right today: IndyCar is too small to go head-to-head with the NFL.
Q: Is there any timeframe or framework for increasing the output of the hybrid system? It made sense to start low, but it would be nice to get them to a point where they more clearly offer more in power than they give up in weight. Do we know if different levels will be experimented with at the open test next month?
Granted, I think the extra weight is worth it solely on the ability of the driver to restart the car. On that, it seems that it’s not a given that drivers are able to do this. Pit stops get practiced and it would be nice if teams had driver restart procedures down pat before St. Pete. I think it’s easy to look past this as a small thing, but prolonged cautions hurt the product. If fines or penalties were issued for not being able to restart an undamaged car (avoidable delay?) I’m sure teams would be on top of it.
Parting shot for the offseason: IndyCar — mandate that driver’s names are prominently displayed in a common spot on the car. Liveries change constantly and the cars themselves are spec, so this is often the only way for a more casual fan to know who they are looking at on screen. Think IROC.
George, Albuquerque, NM
MP: Still a TBD, George. With the anticipated drop in speeds, I would expect IndyCar to consider its options for upping the power at the 500. The addition of 100 pounds of weight is an issue, but the greatest problem is the mechanical drag the heavy drum inside the MGU places on the engines on the long straights. I’m not sure what the horsepower hike would need to be from the ERS to negate that effect.
Agreed on the names.
Q: I wanted to share with you the fun fact (and photo) that the Santucci Justice Center is a real place in Roseville, Calif. While it is apparently the site of the Placer County Superior Court, I have not confirmed whether they also deliver justice for (or against) Santino Ferrucci.
SK
MP: I haven’t been to Roseville in about a decade, but on my next drive through, I know where I’m going first.
Q: Is Arrow McLaren still moving into Andretti’s old shop?
Bob
MP: McLaren purchased the building from Andretti and will move in at the end of 2025.
Q: We hear a lot about tire degradation making good racing. We also hear a lot about tire marbles dirtying tracks so that there’s fewer lines to try to pass on-track. It seems to me that the desire for optimal tire degradation might be a fool’s errand. Am I missing something here? With current technology, can Firestone or Goodyear manufacture a tire that degrades but doesn’t dirty up the track? Or do series have to prioritize either tire degradation or clean tracks?
Matt, Sacramento, CA
MP: Racing slicks roll over the track surfaces on whatever ovals and when lateral loads are applied — in the corners — the rubber carcass is treated like cheese being grated by the circuit. That’s why we get the rolling effect of the rubber, in tiny bits, moving to the inside of the carcass and coming off as “marbles.”
The only way to stop that is by making the carcass so tough that it doesn’t shed rubber in the grating/rolling effect, and if they do that, the tires will be rock solid and offer no grip. So no, there’s no way anybody knows of to create degradation by going to a softer carcass while making the carcass act like it’s rock by eliminating marbles.
Only solution is to send out the sweepers once or twice.
Q: Where is the Vanderbilt Cup that was used for the U.S. 500 Champ Car trophy? Let’s locate it, dust it off and use it as the award for a late-season 500-mile race to compliment Indy.
Indy is like the Masters or the Kentucky Derby, so treat the second 500 mile signature race like the U.S. Open or the Breeders’ Cup and rotate the venue. One year have it at Michigan, the next year it’s at Texas, the next year at Homestead-Miami, etc.
We may not be able to call it the U.S. 500 again — too many hurt feelings, perhaps — so call it the [sponsor name here] All-American 500? Sounds like a name the FOX could embrace.
This could give the Indy-only teams a second race to enter each year. It doesn’t have to reward an Indy-size purse, but pay more than $40k for the winner.
Sometimes to make something a big deal, you merely have to act like it’s a big deal.
Nick
MP: We might need to pull off a Nicholas Cage-style caper from “National Treasure” and lift the Vanderbilt Cup from The Smithsonian. Also, how creepy is the “Breeders’ Cup?”
[ED: According to the Vanderbilt Cup Races website, the original, early 20th century Vanderbilt Cup has been in the possession of The Smithsonian since the 1930s, and is currently in a storage facility in Maryland. The Champ Car-era trophy is reportedly on display at the Penske Racing Museum in Arizona]
Technically, Sebastien Bourdais didn’t steal the Vanderbilt Cup, but he didn’t let anyone else have it for four years. Michael Levitt/Motorsport Images
Q: To bring about some fun, here is a little challenge. The challenge is purely hypothetical but should be a track in the 2024 calendar.
If you could choose one IndyCar track for F1 to race on, what would it be?
If you could choose one F1 track for IndyCar to race on, what would it be?
And because I’m a Brit, if you could choose one British track (excluding Silverstone or Brands Hatch) for IndyCar to race on, what would it be?
My answers would be F1 at Road America, IndyCar at Spa and IndyCar at Snetterton (because it’s my local track).
Dan Mayhew, Cambridgeshire, UK
MP: Easy: Welcome to Road America and cheese curds, F1, and welcome to Knockhill, IndyCar. I want to see Dallara DW12’s fire over the hill and get more air than they did over the train tracks in San Jose.
CHRIS MEDLAND: This is tougher than I thought, Dan, but mainly for selfish reasons of me wanting to visit certain places in the U.S. through an F1 race. I’d nearly go to Nashville for that very reason! But to take it more seriously, I definitely would go with Road America as well. Honorable mentions go to Long Beach, Laguna Seca and Barber, but that would surely be a great track to throw an F1 car around.
I don’t want to just copy your list so I can pick others from here on. I’d love to see IndyCar race at Suzuka, although I think they’d also be awesome to watch on a number of the European circuits, too.
And for the British track, I’m going to go with Oulton Park. Sadly not local for me (that would be Thruxton now as you’ve ruled out Silverstone) but I actually covered my first single-seater event there with my university’s Formula Ford project, and it’s a great track.
Q: How does the Andretti/FBI situation affect the team’s contract with Honda? They cannot be happy that Michael went after another Honda team, especially given the relationship his team has now with GM.
Also curious if anyone knows the reaction in F1 to this news? Obviously this can’t help his cause.
David Tucker
MP: If I could figure out how Andretti allegedly involving the FBI over alleged IP theft by a rival would have any bearing on a valid engine supply contract for the following year, I’d happily share it. If what’s alleged is true, why would Honda be mad about a client exercising its rights to protect its property? Wouldn’t the anger, if all of this is true, be better aimed at the team that received the stolen goods and failed to report it? Seems like everything’s presented backwards here.
CM: From an F1 perspective, it has been all quiet on the Andretti front for some time. Liberty Media has been in contact with the DOJ about its investigation into the decision not to grant Andretti a place on the grid, and while that is ongoing — and as I understand it, likely to involve clear explanations of the process — it feels very much like any plans for Andretti to try and join as a new team are on hold.
I don’t think the FBI situation would have an impact, to be honest, especially without many of the details being public. Michael stepping back from ownership of Andrew Global could have a bigger impact, though, if Daniel Towriss has a different vision of how to try and get onto the grid.
It will be interesting to see if there is a change in approach on the F1 side now, given the investment already made into a facility at Silverstone.
Q: Just saw Chris Medland’s article about Miami having additional track layouts now. Does IndyCar have any interest? And we all know that it’s about sponsorship money, but I was curious if this is an area where Indycar is somewhat more inclined to seek sponsorship? Also, does F1 have any clause preventing another open-wheel series from hosting any event at the track as part of the F1 race contract (outside of F1-affiliated series’).
Tom, Greenwood, SC
MP: I sure hope not regarding IndyCar looking at being a distant second to the huge draw of F1 at Miami. It has nothing to do with sponsorship. IndyCar went to COTA and it was an embarrassment; nobody showed up to watch. That lesson has been learned. Don’t play with F1 on the tracks it dominates. Not unless you want to look like an absolute failure.
CM: In terms of on the support card to F1, that does need F1 approval as the hosting contract is with F1 for that weekend. It’s not something that specifically blocks another series from racing, but it’s usually the commercial elements that would stop that happening.
Contracts would prevent certain sponsors being placed trackside, non-F1 broadcasters showing the event during that weekend – that sort of thing – that logistically just wouldn’t make it possible to run a commercially viable support race in some circumstances.
Q: Do you know if Adrian Newey has been completely removed from the Red Bull Racing side since his decision to leave?
I know Red Bull keeps saying how their engineering side is strong and will not miss a beat, but it seems more than coincidental that this is the first time in many, many years that the chassis development has stagnated relative to some other teams.
Ed Kelly
CM: He has been removed from car development, yes, although he still was due to attend certain races in a trackside capacity to help with execution during race weekends. He’s also focusing on delivery of the RB17 Hypercar that was unveiled at Goodwood earlier this year.
I totally agree with you, Ed. Christian Horner has regularly referenced the fact that the problems being faced now are inherent traits in the car since 2022, and while that is likely to be the case — and therefore something that Newey worked on at the time — you’d imagine the team would be better off with his input into how to rectify those issues than not.
You’ll still see Newey hanging around Red Bull’s Hypercar for the next little while, but he’s no longer involved with the F1 team’s design department. Red Bull Content Pool
Q: When the NASCAR Xfinity Series deal with The CW network was announced, it was stated that the races would be live on the CW platform. However, that’s not happening. They’re released the next day. Are there plans for the Xfinity race to be live on CW’s streaming app, like other sports? The streaming app is the only way I can get The CW. (Due to the location of my home I can’t get antenna TV programs, and I currently don’t subscribe to other services which carry it).
Kevin, Pennsylvania
KELLY CRANDALL: The CW Network ended up taking over the final eight races of this season as it prepares for the 2025 season. Right now, the races air live on broadcast and, as you stated, then become available the next day on the app. However, when the deal with NASCAR was originally announced for the 2025-31 seasons, NASCAR released a “what you need to know” sheet and said that beginning in 20245, all 33 races will air live on The CW Network and the CW App, as will the majority of practice and qualifying sessions. So, my expectation is that when The CW has fully integrated itself next year there will be additional ways to consume the product.
THE FINAL WORD
From Robin Miller’s Mailbag, October 2, 2013
Q: Why are you so gung-ho for bringing back the apron at IMS? If I remember correctly, it was taken out for safety reasons to lessen the angle of impact on common spins. In my opinion, this is a better reason to not have the apron than any reason I have seen to bring it back. Do we need more passing? Sixty-eight lead changes last year was borderline ridiculous. You always talk about wanting drivers to have more of a challenge, but you want them to have an extra lane to cut the corners short? I don’t get it.
Since the apron did allow drivers to cut the corner a little short, I believe it was an artificial inflator of lap times/speed. I’ve never heard/read anyone else mention this, but it had to be a factor. This is another reason I’d rather see the warm-up lanes stay and the apron stay away. Could you ask around and see what engineers and/or Donald Davidson think about this?
Kyle Jenkins, Shiloh, IL
ROBIN MILLER: Go watch a YouTube clip of Michael Andretti and Rick Mears, Bill Vukovich and Jack McGrath or Lloyd Ruby and Mario and tell me why you wouldn’t want the apron. It gave drivers another groove and an escape route from a badly pushing car (ask Gordon Johncock about those final 10 laps in 1982). It could also help pump a little life into the Brickyard 400. I don’t care what engineers think, I know what I saw and it was all good. As for the angle of crashes, etc. well that was before the SAFER Barrier and before they got rid of those IRL 500-pound gearbox battering rams.
