2024 IndyCar News/Misc.

These guys are building up to be something fierce in the long run. I’ll be interested to see how quickly they get on next year; if they manage to bring Robert Shwartzman back into the fold as is rumored I’ll be pretty excited.

 
Curious where Vips fits into this. Bobby and Graham both seemed to want to elevate him from reserve role when it was announced Lundgaard was moving onto McLaren. Maybe they’re looking to replace Pietro in the 30 as well. I think Graham has at least another year in him before he moves solely into management/ownership.



 
Sounds as though one of the casualties of the charter system and strict 27-car grid cap will be CGR downsizing from five to three entries. They may pick up the alliance with MSR that Andretti currently holds though.

Hopefully there’s more of a plan for creating value than placing an arbitrary limit on field capacity.

racer.com

IndyCar silly season update, August 2

It’s been a whirlwind IndyCar silly season, and while we’re down for a few weeks with the Olympic break, it’s worth running through the latest state of affairs to catch up on which teams are solid …
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FLRacingFan said:
I think Graham has at least another year in him before he moves solely into management/ownership.
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I think it could be more than one. Yes the two most recent 500's have been terrible for him but outside of that he hasn't been that bad even though Lundgaard often outshined him. I don't see RLL retaining Fittipaldi and with the possibility of two young guys joining the team Graham could be an important mentor for them.
 
Can-a-bean-o is heading back to Argentina to enjoy some of the South American winter weather. I was rooting for him right up until he decided to play the victim because his fans were sending death threats at his request. Now I won't miss him.
 
virtualbalboa said:
Can-a-bean-o is heading back to Argentina to enjoy some of the South American winter weather. I was rooting for him right up until he decided to play the victim because his fans were sending death threats at his request. Now I won't miss him.
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Yeah, I was rooting for him to make a good transition and thought he showed flashes of pace, but his fans are the worst and he did nothing to quell their actions. He’s been melting down ever since he got benched at Road America. See ya.

Daly tested for the team last week and would be a good sub with as many ovals as there are in the stretch run.
 
FLRacingFan said:
Yeah, I was rooting for him to make a good transition and thought he showed flashes of pace, but his fans are the worst and he did nothing to quell their actions. He’s been melting down ever since he got benched at Road America. See ya.

Daly tested for the team last week and would be a good sub with as many ovals as there are in the stretch run.
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Father in-law is putting in OT for Conor to continue to grt opportunities.
 
Kiante said:
Just saying this because Doug Bowles (President of IMS) is Conor's father in-law.

There is a reason why he's always the first to get a call up, that's all I'm saying.
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I was more or less suggesting that this swap is good news for those who want more Americans. If Daly gets the drive ride for the rest of the season, it could be his last chance to impress and get a full-time ride for next year. I like Daly, so I am hoping he makes the most of it.
 
Kiante said:
Father in-law is putting in OT for Conor to continue to grt opportunities.
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I respect the hustle honestly. I’m not sure Conor is full-time caliber in the current IndyCar driver market, but he’s always been a solid super sub. I think his standout runs were when he was filling in at fledgling Carlin and had a string of Top 10s, and even grabbed pole at Iowa.
 
FLRacingFan said:
He and Santino would be the best lineup Foyt have had in many years, but neither of them are bringing money to the team…hopefully this isn’t for the 14 car.
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I didn't think of that possibility tbh but it absolutely makes sense. I do think David would definitely not perform worse than Santino. If they can't keep both drivers, I hope Santino lands another equally competitive ride.
 
donthaveanickname said:
I didn't think of that possibility tbh but it absolutely makes sense. I do think David would definitely not perform worse than Santino. If they can't keep both drivers, I hope Santino lands another equally competitive ride.
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Yeah, I didn’t see a car number or teammate mentioned. Robb brings close to an eight-figure sum of money and the 14 is funded mostly by Marlyne Sexton. I’d love to see Santino and Lil Dave together since they’d give Foyt a pair of top 10 contenders, but I can’t imagine where the funding comes from if Robb is out. And Malukas had to have gotten a healthy salary to turn down both MSR and RLL.
 
I think by this point the only teams Conor hasn’t driven for are Penske and Ganassi? If you consider the SPM heritage in McLaren.
 
Kiante said:
Called it.

He'll do well on the ovals, for sure.
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I think if a team is looking for an experienced substitute driver Conor is the first to come to mind even if you don't factor in his connections.
There is a reason he hasn't returned to a full-time ride though. He has had some good results in the countless mid-pack rides he's had but he seldom outperformed them.
That's also why I don't see him in the 78 (or any full-time ride) next year .
 
Conor burns through his tires. Iowa 2022 was a glaring example of this. That's why he's never gotten to the next level.
 
Weather for Portland weekend doesn't look nice. Scattered showers Friday-Sunday and only upper 60's and lower 70's. Can make for interesting racing but lousy for fans.
 
A few nuggets from MP in the Mailbag today:

- Rossi is in danger of not being in the series next year. They’ve (he’s managed by his dad) gone to everyone with an opening and the feedback is that his asking price is still too high. Unless it happens with PREMA, it may not happen at all.
- Robert Shwartzman has supposedly signed a full-time deal with PREMA
- Malukas was signed by Penske and is a one-year loan to Foyt
- There’s a desire to emphasize quality over quantity by Penske and the 27-car cap could be closer to 24 or even 22 by the end of the decade

racer.com

The RACER Mailbag, August 21

Welcome to the RACER Mailbag. Questions for any of RACER’s writers can be sent to [email protected]. We love hearing your comments and opinions, but letters that include a question are more likely …
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I was at Alexander Rossi's last win - that was the August IMS race in 2022. Obviously he isn't bad, but he also isn't setting the world on fire. The driver market has a lot of competition, and how much are you losing if you bring in, say, a Santino Ferrucci? Doesn't seem like much.
 
virtualbalboa said:
I was at Alexander Rossi's last win - that was the August IMS race in 2022. Obviously he isn't bad, but he also isn't setting the world on fire. The driver market has a lot of competition, and how much are you losing if you bring in, say, a Santino Ferrucci? Doesn't seem like much.
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It wouldn’t be the end of the world, but he’s still a top 10 driver, only 32 years old, and has a pretty sizable fan base. I would say this year in particular he’s found his speed again but has been bitten by bad luck quite a bit. He was pretty open about how he took a few years to adjust to how the aeroscreen affected his handle on the road courses.

It does seem that he might have to settle for no longer being paid as a top-tier driver, or no longer getting the contract length of one. Still a chance something comes together late, but you have to wonder if he at all regrets not taking the one-year extension offer from McLaren.
 
FLRacingFan said:
(Rossi) Still a chance something comes together late, but you have to wonder if he at all regrets not taking the one-year extension offer from McLaren.
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He would have had a full year to cement his place and would have continuity on his side. Right now, he has nothing. An Indianapolis champion should never be in that position.
 
FLRacingFan said:
It does seem that he might have to settle for no longer being paid as a top-tier driver, or no longer getting the contract length of one. Still a chance something comes together late, but you have to wonder if he at all regrets not taking the one-year extension offer from McLaren.
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Doc Austin said:
He would have had a full year to cement his place and would have continuity on his side. Right now, he has nothing. An Indianapolis champion should never be in that position.
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I'd be considering new management.
 
In my bold opinion, IndyCar ovals should probably be outdrawing European Le Mans Series races! Since it’s a doubleheader it should be over 30-35k weekend attendance, but jeez. This is hardly encouraging talk.

 
FLRacingFan said:
In my bold opinion, IndyCar ovals should probably be outdrawing European Le Mans Series races! Since it’s a doubleheader it should be over 30-35k weekend attendance, but jeez. This is hardly encouraging talk.

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If I wasnt two weeks away from having my second kid, I'd so be there this weekend. Weather looks pretty good too, I'm worried I really hope the fans show up. I dont mean that in a condescending way either as whats bandied about on socials when a track comes back or a suggestion is made to go back to a track because Indy Car needs to be at Milwaukee, we dont have ovals enough as it is on the schedule. I have zero interest in a Road Course/Street Course/Indy 500 schedule which is scarily what we're close to having.
 
Jorge De Guzman said:
If I wasnt two weeks away from having my second kid, I'd so be there this weekend. Weather looks pretty good too, I'm worried I really hope the fans show up. I dont mean that in a condescending way either as whats bandied about on socials when a track comes back or a suggestion is made to go back to a track because Indy Car needs to be at Milwaukee, we dont have ovals enough as it is on the schedule. I have zero interest in a Road Course/Street Course/Indy 500 schedule which is scarily what we're close to having.
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I think that’s always a valid concern when the series goes (back) to an oval. I mean, the place is smack in the middle of a metro area and they lucked out with the Badgers playing Friday night and the Brewers on the road. Gotta get butts in seats. Even if you’re not technically the promoter for this one, it’s always your job to market the series effectively and I just get the impression that everyone important in IndyCar is still some old geezer who’s just fine doing print newspaper ads.

While we’re at it, NASCAR beating IndyCar to Mexico when they’ve had Pato for however many years now is another indictment of either not utilizing or not promoting your stars well enough.
 
FLRacingFan said:
I think that’s always a valid concern when the series goes (back) to an oval. I mean, the place is smack in the middle of a metro area and they lucked out with the Badgers playing Friday night and the Brewers on the road. Gotta get butts in seats. Even if you’re not technically the promoter for this one, it’s always your job to market the series effectively and I just get the impression that everyone important in IndyCar is still some old geezer who’s just fine doing print newspaper ads.

While we’re at it, NASCAR beating IndyCar to Mexico when they’ve had Pato for however many years now is another indictment of either not utilizing or not promoting your stars well enough.
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yeah I dont think its the fans that arnt showing up, its the hustle to put asses in seats. I'm only an hour and a half away from West Allis and there's been zilch, zero for marketing. Folks on reddit that live in the Milwaukee area say theres been no promotion/marketing either. Thats egregious in my view. Fans can blame other fans all they want for not showing up but as a promoter you have to try to get people to show up. Just for fun, I went on the Mile website to purchase tickets to see what it would cost, a garage pass all weekend with a weekend pass for 2 was $457 before fees. Not great but not the worst either, but theres been zero social media to even promote this race.
 
Jorge De Guzman said:
yeah I dont think its the fans that arnt showing up, its the hustle to put asses in seats. I'm only an hour and a half away from West Allis and there's been zilch, zero for marketing. Folks on reddit that live in the Milwaukee area say theres been no promotion/marketing either. Thats egregious in my view. Fans can blame other fans all they want for not showing up but as a promoter you have to try to get people to show up. Just for fun, I went on the Mile website to purchase tickets to see what it would cost, a garage pass all weekend with a weekend pass for 2 was $457 before fees. Not great but not the worst either, but theres been zero social media to even promote this race.
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The good thing is that it’s possible - five years ago, you wouldn’t imagine in your wildest dreams the new heights F1/WEC/IMSA would reach and just how much NASCAR would do to keep the bottom from falling out. They all look wildly different than they did just before COVID and all find themselves in good health right now. I just haven’t seen the same type of vision or investment yet here. F1 took huge losses the first few years under Liberty Media’s ownership because they were spending so much to try to catch up with the times (F1 didn’t even use a YouTube channel until 2015 because Bernie Ecclestone thought the sport should be exclusive to old rich people who buy Rolexes). Last year Penske was taking money out of the Leaders’ Circle payments to teams to reallocate towards the marketing budget. It all just feels very cheap and uninspired.
 
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