Welcome to the RACER Mailbag. Questions for any of RACER’s writers may be despatched to mailbag@racer.com. We love listening to your feedback and opinions, however letters that embrace a query usually tend to be printed. Questions obtained after 3pm ET every Monday will probably be saved for the next week.
Q: I’ve learn eight or 9 articles about Thermal within the final couple of weeks, together with final week’s Mailbag. Under each article within the reader feedback part, everyone seems to be complaining concerning the absence of followers on the tv broadcast. The principle set of spectator bleachers have been set excessive up on an embankment, about 20 toes above the observe floor. The TV cameras are arrange at observe stage. Because the cameras pan across the observe to catch the racing motion, there isn’t a manner they may catch a view of the spectators as a result of the bleachers are so excessive.
The bleachers at Thermal have been packed, and it appeared like there was extra followers than Portland and a number of other different races. At the start of the printed there was a quick drone shot of the bleachers and so they appeared full. Unsure what may be completed to catch pictures of the followers, however they have been there – simply excessive up and out of sight of the cameras.
Bob Grey, Canoga Park, CA
MARSHALL PRUETT: There weren’t extra individuals at Thermal than “Portland and a number of other different races,” until we’re speaking about Portland and different tracks and their non-IndyCar occasions. In that case, sure, the current SCCA Regional at Portland had fewer followers than the Thermal IndyCar occasion.
There was certainly a small stretch of stands at Thermal that weren’t in an important location for TV cameras to catch, however we don’t must dip into “alternate information” to start out a story that it was well-attended. I want we have been speaking about a lot of followers, however I used to be there, all three days, and no false impressions got attributable to digicam placement. I’d fortunately say so if that was the case.
Q: Because it was April Fools final week, are you able to share any good pranking (or comparable) tales out of your time within the paddock?
I keep in mind watching a Grand Am race and chuckling to myself when the printed crew reported {that a} European producer, Volvo possibly, was constructing a Daytona Prototype after studying a “report” about that on April 1st.
Kyle
MP: Yeah, these have been our associates at DailySportsCar who cooked up the thought-it-was-obvious-it-was-a-joke Volvo piece that was errantly raised as one thing actual.
No April Idiot’s tales to share from my days as an IndyCar or IMSA crew member, and that’s as a result of the date was meaningless — not less than in my period — as a result of there wasn’t simply at some point the place such issues have been tolerated; most days have been spent messing with one another, making up nonsense to see who we may deceive, and working towards basic asshattery to amuse yourselves or one another.
Don’t go away your automobile keys sitting out as a result of they may find yourself hanging from the ceiling or tied in the course of 20 toes of string that may take an hour to untangle. Don’t go away your automobile unlocked or one thing will get disconnected — nothing apparent and simply solvable — and go away you stranded for an hour. Don’t go away you telephone untended, or your laptop computer unlocked…
Hell, it nonetheless goes on right now. One colleague left his laptop computer/e-mail open on the Nashville season-finale final 12 months and we had loads of enjoyable. One individual talked about sending one thing, so at my urging, one other colleague despatched me an e-mail from the individual’s work account, saying they have been burned out, bored with the corporate, searching for a change, and needed recommendation. I replied (and copied within the proprietor of the corporate) that I used to be actually dissatisfied in them for going to me first as a substitute of the proprietor, chided them for the poor decision-making, and so forth. All whereas they have been out taking pictures and oblivious to the pretend e-mail trade about eager to stop. The proprietor, who’d grown accustomed to seeing pretend and inflammatory emails when laptops have been left open, knew it was a joke, however performed alongside.
Did not heed my very own recommendation at Thermal in 2023 after I went for a couple of scorching laps with Stefan Wilson. Put my telephone and no matter else I had in my pockets on the pit wall, donned my helmet, strapped into the passenger seat, and off we went for 10 minutes. Sadly, Anders Krohn, who loves discovering untended telephones, knew that whereas he couldn’t unlock my telephone, there was (nonetheless is?) an exploit the place you may entry and use the digicam from the lock display screen.
Stef pulls in, I hope out, and Krohn has that large dumb smile on his face. I knew I’d been “Krohn’d” and located not less than 100 obnoxious selfies he took — possibly extra — throughout our lapping session. I’ve saved them on my telephone as a reminder.
Sure, we’re all a bunch of idiots. However we do have enjoyable…
Subsequent you’re going to inform me that the 2022 IMSA press launch about plans to run the Roar Earlier than the 24 on a mud supercross observe was a prank, too. Picture through IMSA
Q: I’ve seen this on RACER feedback: If IndyCar goes to lose each producers, which suggests their advertising cash can also be gone, why not undertake IMSA’s mannequin of gasoline stream and torque restrict to chop growth, with producers free to produce engines to as many groups as they need? In the event that they need to have a manufacturing unit crew solely, high-quality. In the event that they need to provide it to extra groups, high-quality too. Everybody would nonetheless construct a V6. And Ilmor may very well be used to produce engines for groups that may’t make a cope with an OEM or another impartial engine builder (if it’s financially viable for them to affix). Cost the identical charges as IMSA and see the place the sequence goes this fashion.
I imply, what else does IndyCar must lose (in a state of affairs the place they’re already dropping Chevy and Honda)?
Yet another query: How a lot did it value to lease the Honda V8 again then? Did Honda subsidize the entire grid?
William Mazeo
MP: Honda equipped CART engines for a few years, so there’s no single reply. In lots of instances, the engines have been free, or free plus loads of money, which was a standard apply for each producer with its finest groups (or groups that had a driver whose nationwide origin was the identical because the producer) throughout CART’s finest days within the Nineteen Nineties. Adjusted for inflation, hundreds of thousands for the choose groups with out the proper ties or driver, or ran in direction of the again.
