Welcome to the RACER Mailbag. Questions for any of RACER’s writers could be despatched to mailbag@racer.com. We love listening to your feedback and opinions, however letters that embody a query usually tend to be printed. Questions acquired after 3pm ET every Monday will likely be saved for the next week.
Q: I observed whereas watching the 1990 and 1991 CART races that Al Unser Jr would run a vent off the cockpit right into a hose that went into his go well with. I assume that is for cooling. Might this be a choice right this moment in IndyCar along side the helmet vent?
Tom Harleman, Carmel, IN
MARSHALL PRUETT: That’s what the brand new ducting atop the aeroscreen is supposed to do. From a laws standpoint, groups can’t do no matter they need, but when it’s an affordable request, I’d think about it might be entertained. On this occasion, there have been no guidelines to cease a workforce from including vents to no matter was desired.
Q: Aaron Telitz deserves a shot at IndyCar. He dominated open-wheel within the Highway to Indy, defeating Kyle Kirkwood, Colton Herta, and the remaining. His downside was not expertise . It was price range. He’s constantly quickest in his IMSA seat. Somebody give him a possibility!
Joe Weiss
MP: Sounds loads like our dialog in Milwaukee. Aaron received the 2016 Professional Mazda championship, right this moment’s Indy Professional 2000 sequence, however by no means competed towards Herta or Kirkwood that season. He didn’t dominate Colton within the first yr of Indy Lights they did collectively; Herta was Rookie of the 12 months taking third whereas Telitz was sixth, and the subsequent yr Colton was second behind Pato O’Ward. I’m an enormous fan of Aaron and rooted for him at each step, however let’s not make up a historical past that by no means occurred.
Aaron was a rocket within the Lexus for more often than not, however the workforce didn’t really feel that was proven in 2023 so he was shifted to a part-time function final season. I hope he will get again to his greatest kind and a full-time seat within the WeatherTech Championship. At 33, and having final raced an open-wheel automotive in 2019, I can’t discover an angle to recommend he deserves a shot in IndyCar earlier than a bunch of drivers who’re combating to get in or combating to get a shot.
Q: So, when you go on the IndyCar app, as you scroll down there are driver biographies. So there I used to be, scrolling and clicking and simply studying all of them as a result of I’m a fan and luxuriate in every part about racing. If reminiscence serves me appropriately, the drivers are so as of how they completed within the factors. I received to the final driver, who’s Marco Andretti. His bio says he’s the winner of the 2006 Indianapolis 500. I learn it a variety of occasions, pondering one way or the other they meant that he was the primary automotive to complete second, however nope, they make the declare that he’s in actual fact the winner of the 2006 Indianapolis 500. Somewhat ticky tack, however incorrect nonetheless. I’m unsure tips on how to get it corrected and provides the precise winner his recognition. Any options?
Convey again the Cleveland Grand Prix.
Steve, Lorain OH
MP: Of all of the issues which may preserve Sam Hornish awake at evening, idiocy in a bio on an app isn’t one in every of them. And agreed, deliver again Cleveland!
Q: What would be the impression on IndyCar in 2026 and past as a consequence of the Honda/Nissan merger?
Gordon, Dallas
MP: Onerous to reply because it hasn’t occurred but. Want to attend for the merger to really occur earlier than we are able to discuss what may or won’t change.
Ah, so now we all know what he does for the remainder of the yr. Sam Cobb/Motorsport Photos
Q: Who would be the rookies within the 2025 IndyCar Sequence?
Chris Fiegler, Latham, NY
MP: RLL’s Louis Foster, PREMA’s Robert Schwartzman, and presumably one or two drivers from Dale Coyne.
Q: Within the 12/18 Mailbag any individual requested about utilizing the present Tremendous Formulation chassis as a foundation for the 2027 IndyCar, and the reply was no due to security.
Oval crashes are inherently going to be extra violent on common than highway course crashes simply due to velocity and wall proximity, however are they tougher to the purpose that IndyCar wants a massively completely different chassis? Lately, Tremendous Formulation had a crash at 130R at Suzuka, and F1 had a number of crashes that have been reported at +50G pressure this yr.
Does the FIA, Dallara, IndyCar, or anyone else preserve a database of crash information that might be helpful for evaluating the impression/violence between sequence?
Will, Indy
MP: Sure to all three. As IndyCar is its personal sanctioning physique, it wouldn’t report its findings to the FIA. However within the case of our crashes, IndyCar, it’s security workforce, and Dallara descend on broken vehicles as soon as the automobiles are returned to their garages or transporters and ADRs — accident information recorders — get downloaded, which offer forces and speeds and different information. In addition they take pictures of the crashed automotive and varied bits to doc the harm and draw insights that go into their reviews.
Q: I do know everybody hates Formulation E (besides, after all, the followers who’re making the sequence develop yearly ) however their automotive does look extra twenty first century than an IndyCar. Do you suppose a brand new automotive that took styling cues from FE and as bonus made much less downforce whereas on the identical time making numerous noise and burning copious quantities of fossil gas would make any sense?
Pete, Tucson
MP: It’s potential, however why would IndyCar have to make their automotive look something like what’s present in one other sequence? That’s by no means been the case. In case your favourite band hadn’t put out new music in a decade, would you need them to return with songs that sound like no matter right this moment’s development occurs to be, or with an up to date model of their signature sound? I’ll go along with the latter.
Additionally, there’s a fallacy about lowering downforce equates to creating higher racing. Avoiding an extreme quantity of downforce is an efficient factor, however when you slash downforce, you get drivers who aren’t capable of be aggressive with the throttle apart from within the slower corners.
