Welcome to the RACER Mailbag. Questions for any of RACER’s writers will be despatched to mailbag@racer.com. We love listening to your feedback and opinions, however letters that embody a query usually tend to be revealed. Questions obtained after 3pm ET every Monday might 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 possibility in the present day 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 rules 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 staff from including vents to no matter was desired.
Q: Aaron Telitz deserves a shot at IndyCar. He dominated open-wheel within the Street to Indy, defeating Kyle Kirkwood, Colton Herta, and the remaining. His drawback was not expertise . It was funds. He’s constantly quickest in his IMSA seat. Somebody give him a possibility!
Joe Weiss
MP: Sounds rather a lot like our dialog in Milwaukee. Aaron gained the 2016 Professional Mazda championship, in the present day’s Indy Professional 2000 sequence, however by no means competed in opposition to 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 Yr 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 staff didn’t really feel that was proven in 2023 so he was shifted to a part-time position 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 automobile 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, should 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 all the things about racing. If reminiscence serves me accurately, the drivers are so as of how they completed within the factors. I acquired 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 instances, considering someway they meant that he was the primary automobile to complete second, however nope, they make the declare that he’s in reality the winner of the 2006 Indianapolis 500. A little bit ticky tack, however incorrect nonetheless. I’m unsure methods to get it corrected and provides the precise winner his recognition. Any strategies?
Convey again the Cleveland Grand Prix.
Steve, Lorain OH
MP: Of all of the issues which may preserve Sam Hornish awake at night time, idiocy in a bio on an app isn’t one in all them. And agreed, deliver again Cleveland!
Q: What would be the influence on IndyCar in 2026 and past as a consequence of the Honda/Nissan merger?
Gordon, Dallas
MP: Exhausting to reply because it hasn’t occurred but. Want to attend for the merger to really occur earlier than we will speak about what would possibly or won’t change.
Ah, so now we all know what he does for the remainder of the yr. Sam Cobb/Motorsport Pictures
Q: Who would be the rookies within the 2025 IndyCar Collection?
Chris Fiegler, Latham, NY
MP: RLL’s Louis Foster, PREMA’s Robert Schwartzman, and probably one or two drivers from Dale Coyne.
Q: Within the 12/18 Mailbag someone requested about utilizing the present Tremendous Components 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 pace and wall proximity, however are they tougher to the purpose that IndyCar wants a massively completely different chassis? Lately, Tremendous Components had a crash at 130R at Suzuka, and F1 had a number of crashes that have been reported at +50G power this yr.
Does the FIA, Dallara, IndyCar, or anyone else preserve a database of crash information that may be helpful for evaluating the influence/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 staff, and Dallara descend on broken vehicles as soon as the autos are returned to their garages or transporters and ADRs — accident information recorders — get downloaded, which give forces and speeds and different information. In addition they take images of the crashed automobile and numerous bits to doc the injury and draw insights that go into their stories.
Q: I do know everybody hates Components E (besides, after all, the followers who’re making the sequence develop yearly ) however their automobile does look extra twenty first century than an IndyCar. Do you assume a brand new automobile that took styling cues from FE and as bonus made much less downforce whereas on the similar time making numerous noise and burning copious quantities of fossil gas would make any sense?
Pete, Tucson
MP: It’s attainable, however why would IndyCar have to make their automobile 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 in the present day’s pattern 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 decreasing downforce equates to creating higher racing. Avoiding an extreme quantity of downforce is an efficient factor, however should you slash downforce, you get drivers who aren’t in a position to be aggressive with the throttle aside from within the slower corners.
