The RACER Mailbag, October 15

On Oct 16, 2025

Q: I’m curious what happened to the final three episodes of the 2025 season of 100 Days To Indy (Season 3). The first three episodes aired before the 500. The final three episodes were supposed to run at the end of the season and cover the final championship run. Did Palou’s dominance and early clinching cause FOX to cancel the final three episodes?

Fred (Indiana native now living is St. Louis)

MARSHALL PRUETT: Mystery solved… the confusion comes from changing the name of the final three episodes to “Road to the INDYCAR Championship.” They have aired and are available on FOX Nation.

Q: When should we expect to see some concept drawings of the new chassis? I remember IndyCar having several different concept designs from manufacturers years ago, approximately 2010. A whole two years before the DW12 rolled out to the track. It kept me engaged with the sport.

I know the chassis has been delayed. With the long off-season and most of the major silly season pieces having fallen already, Penske Entertainment should at least give us a glimpse of the future. I am curious if it would look anything like the recent Blackbird Mk 66.

Your thoughts?

Not that awesome manager of Scott Dixon, Stefan Johansson

MP: I’m told it looks like an evolution of the DW12, with F1-style wings, and not a revolutionary design. I’m also told to be on the lookout for the rendering in 2026.

Q: Any thoughts on the Palou and McLaren lawsuit?

It seems that both sides have some culpability. Now, I don’t know the parties personally so I can’t comment on the truth. But you guys at RACER have some access to this story. So what is the truth as it stands today?

Steve

MP: My thoughts: It’s sad, wasteful and vengeful. I’ve heard the combined costs with lawyers and all of the associated money spent on their cases with research and expert witnesses and whatnot is north of $20 million, which is damn close to what’s being sought in damages. That’s the wasteful and vengeful part, and stupid.

The sad part is how this was mishandled from the beginning by Palou and his former managers. If he’d gone to Zak Brown, said he’d lost the will to drive for the team, was mostly inspired by the chance to get to F1, and just wouldn’t be motivated to step down to Arrow McLaren, which was a significant step down at the time, I have to believe Zak would have listened.

I’m sure it would have angered him, and I’m sure it would have cost Palou a few million as a buyout, but Zak’s smart enough to know that one thing you can’t buy in a contract is the heart and will of a driver to give everything to the team. It’s a crappy scenario, but we’ve seen it plenty of times in recent years in a variety of sports. A player has lost faith in the team, has a multi-year contract, and wants out. Forcing the driver – Palou in this case – to honor their contract was going to be bad for both parties.

A miserable driver, even a two-time champion like Palou at that stage, would not deliver what the team needed to level up. Again, Zak’s done this long enough to know that a happy and inspired Palou would transform his IndyCar team, and a pissed and disinterested Palou would waste the his time and the team’s time while waiting to run out his contract. Instead, the poking-the-giant-bear approach was taken and a McLaren team with inexhaustible financial resources is said to be burning mountains of cash to ensure its wrath is felt.

The Ganassi team has his back, and appears to be fronting the costs to wage the counter fight, but what kind of financial ruin will be visited upon Palou in damages to pay McLaren and to Ganassi for the legal support? I don’t pretend to know the depth of the Palou-Ganassi legal defense deal, but it’s wild to consider how this could have been resolved long ago, in a person-to-person discussion, and even if it took a while to get to that point, and came with a stiff price tag for Palou, instead of this nonsense that’s been going for two years.

Seems like the real winners in the McLaren/Palou lawsuit so far are the lawyers. Alastair Staley/Getty Images

Q: Stoked to see Mick Schumacher so enthusiastic about this IndyCar opportunity. He would instantly become a star if he makes the switch. Two things:

First, I noticed a conspicuously large Honda logo on his helmet (along with other Honda branding elements). Is this an indication that if he were to switch, Honda would be supplying free engines/paying his salary?

Second, why isn’t IndyCar/IMS productions live streaming or at minimum producing a 30-minute testing recap ? Seems like an easy way to drive engagement in the offseason. Every test should have at least some sort of prompt recap to feed the content machine

Jah in the dirty south

MP: Mick’s a pro. Honda Racing Corporation US made its prized driver-in-the-loop simulator available to him and the RLL team last Friday to learn the Indy road course, and that’s the kind of gesture which comes with a logo, in kind, on one’s helmet. HRC also sent a film crew to document the DIL visit and Mick’s run on Monday, which adds another layer of investment from the brand in the test.

It speaks to the potential seen by Mick’s side and the team and manufacturer for 2026. There was intent behind the test, which should be obvious by all of the added elements and investments by RLL and Honda, and Mick seemed to enjoy himself and the car. Mick’s mom flew out for the test! Met the team, saw the grand RLL shop, etc. It’s the kind of thing that happens when you’re 26 and serious about making a major life change, right?

If he wants to become a full-time IndyCar driver, the door appears to be open at RLL. Now we’ll have to wait and see what Mick decides.

On IMS/IndyCar, they don’t have an unlimited budget. This wasn’t an official series test day, as in, a test organized by the series for the entire field. It was a private day, organized by RLL, and joined in by some other teams, so other than administering the test, this wasn’t the series in action on Monday. But, the series did send a shooter to grab some shots and put together a b-roll package and posted some social content. F1 doesn’t send film crews to do what you say IndyCar should do with 30-minute private testing features and live streaming. IMSA doesn’t do it. NASCAR doesn’t do it.

I wish they all did, but since it isn’t the norm, I can’t take issue here with IndyCar.

Q: Do GTP and LMP2 teams have spare cars as backups like IndyCar and other series, or do they just carry a crap ton of spare parts and hope the main tub survives? I’ve seen the videos of teams thrashing to make repairs to damage during practice and it hit me that I just don’t know what they do if it’s damaged beyond overnight repairs.

The GTP cars are pretty expensive to build so I can not see teams wanting to build more than are needed.

John Balestrieri, Waukesha, WI

MP: Every team is different, so there’s no single answer. Yes, many have spare cars, but not all. For GTP manufacturers and ORECA, maker of the 07 LMP2 chassis, there’s at least one spare tub and enough spares to built a brand-new car, if not more.

Q: Millions of people tuned into to College Gameday this Saturday and saw the Oregon Duck mascot take a shot at the Indy 500 and the state of Indiana as a whole. Indiana proceeded to thump Oregon 30-20. What would it take for Firehawk and The Duck to meet in the octagon at the Portland GP next year?

Max S

MP: This was hilarious. Firehawk is too friendly to scare anybody. Murderhawk? It scares everybody. But I just saw the guy behind the Murderhawk social account is retiring the account, so the duck is safe.

Q: I’d like to know about the rumors around Nick Tandy. There is some fans within the BTCC fan base that saw his drive with the Mini side of NAPA racing as a front for a drive in the full BTCC seat in 2026, given Porsche scaling back (yes, still in IMSA, but I’m guessing Penske will increase funding for that team) and that Dan Rowbo is expected to leave the team for Jason Plato’s new team. For me, this is wishful thinking and unrealistic, but what are the vibes around that camp?

While we’re on sports cars racing, do you think 2027 will see a return of WEC to the UK? Heard rumors it is a yes. (Definitely after how packed ELMS was in September).

Dan Mayhew, UK

MP: Why would Nick need to do a one-off drive as a front for what he’s doing next year? Wouldn’t he just do the BTCC next year if that’s what he wanted to do? Nick told me he absolutely loved the run in the Mini. I told him to do more of those types of races – just for fun – and he said he wanted to. He’s one of the greatest sports car drivers of the century. If his current employer is uninterested in his services, he’ll be snapped up by a rival manufacturer in an instant. If he wants to downsize his life and take a massive pay cut, he’ll go from GTP to BTCC, which I wouldn’t recommend.

I’ll never understand why the WEC doesn’t have a permanent race in the UK, but since it’s a fleeting or fluctuating thing, I hold limited hope that the oversight will be corrected in 2027.

Q: I don’t want to get my tin foil hat on too tight, but the news that Porsche is ending its WEC Hypercar program at the end of the year gets a guy wondering and hoping that maybe they could be reallocating resources to develop a 2.4L twin turbo V6.

Add to that the rumors of AO being interested in expanding into IndyCar, as well as their relationship with Porsche, it really has me doing some major wishful thinking that we could be seeing some dinosaur liveries powered by Porsche in 2028. I’m not getting my hopes up as this seems more a pipe dream as of now, but who knows?

Alan Bandi, Sarver, PA

MP: We’ve expected one of Porsche’s 963 programs to end and spent the first months of the year in fear it would be GTP, but learned it was solid, which meant Hypercar was the concern.

It’s worth noting that AO isn’t interested in expanding into IndyCar. As the team’s head of PR told me, its CMO was asked about whether the team had interests outside of IMSA, and the answer was a general yes, with a mention of NASCAR and IndyCar, and so on.

There’s two people who dictate AO’s future, and that’s the owner/driver/funder PJ Hyett and driver/team principal Gunnar Jeannette, and they aren’t looking to go racing in NASCAR or IndyCar. So, unfortunately, that pierces a few holes in the tinfoil hat. Expressing a general interest in expansion outside of IMSA with no plans for expansion outside of IMSA is how I’d process this one. If that changes, it would be awesome.

Porsche is downsizing its factory racing programs due to a shift in EV strategies; its EVs haven’t been selling well in Europe, and then there’s the bigger issue, which is an overall decline in global sales. Its Formula E program keeps an EV-specific project going, but I wonder how long that will continue, and its marquee GTP effort in IMSA is solid through 2027, I hear, which maintains its factory involvement in its biggest sales market.

Pulling out of WEC, committing to IMSA, and spending tens of millions to do engines for a second North American racing program would be amazing, but it’s not the current plan.

IndyCar is likely to remain dinosaur-free – unless one of the current teams decides to run with it. Any takers? Brandon Badraoui/IMSA

Q: There are still quite a few significant decisions to be made for the 2026 IndyCar season. Coyne, JHR and RLL are some of the ones that people are discussing on social media. But they seem to be ignoring the big glaring decision, and you may be a prominent person having to make that decision.

What am I talking about? My kids and wife ask that question a lot. I’m talking about today’s grand announcement! The big one so many have been waiting for! Rush is going on tour in 2026. So, what do you if their weekend in your area is also an IndyCar race weekend elsewhere. What do you do? WHAT DO YOU DO?!?!?

John Balestrieri, Waukesha, WI

MP: IndyCar = Will be around for a long time.

Rush on tour, albeit minus the GOAT on drums = Will not be around for a long time. Go to the concert because it might not happen again.

Q: I saw the minor bombshell you dropped in the Mailbag last week about VeeKay going to Juncos. Assuming this leaves Lundqvist without a seat for 2026 then? Shame, if so. Do you know if he has anything else lined up?

John A.

MP: By the time you’re reading this, Rinus is confirmed at JHR. Linus is still working on opportunities; spent time with him last week at Petit Le Mans and introduced him to a few IMSA team owners to make sure he explores both paddocks. Saw him on Monday at Indy as well and can confirm he’s doing his best to find an IndyCar home. Without money to offer, he’s at the mercy of those who are willing to pay for him to drive their cars, and there aren’t many of those left.

Q: Intrigued by the Blackbird 66 idea, if only because some out of the box thinking is welcome – if not necessarily practical, as Marshall pointed out with respect to cornering.

But is it really necessary to go that far to get the desired results? Didn’t CART in the ‘90s have the correct formula: big HP engines in chassis that relied more reliance on mechanical grip than aero? I’m no engineer, but wouldn’t more power and less downforce create a racy beast?

Al, Boston

MP: No. the CART cars of the 1990s had tons of aero and constant development and had lots and lots of downforce when needed.

Action in racing happens in four phases: On the straights, into the corners, in the corners, and exiting the corners. Downforce is pretty important in the last three phases if you like Indy cars to go fast. You can go back to pre-1968 where wings weren’t allowed, and there was great racing, but there wasn’t great power. Or speed. The performance was balanced in that regard where no single area jumped far ahead of the others.

The Blackbird 66 takes two areas – giant power and a near-total lack of downforce – and goes wild, which is really fun, but it takes the overall performance way out of balance.

There’s a belief that some refuse to let go of with big power/small downforce being the magical answer to things, but I don’t know what question is being asked. As well, I can’t find a modern example where huge power/minimal downforce been proven as the best formula.

If we go back many decades, sure, we can find things like Can-Am where 1000hp-plus Porsches and McLarens thrilled the world, and they were rockets on the straights and unable to do much with all of that speed once corners were involved. Also, almost every single thing about those cars has changed by a massive amount. Chassis construction. Engine type. Transmissions. Tires. Electronics. Aerodynamics. Etc.

If fans want to see explosive power and acceleration followed by explosive deceleration and blindingly fast cornering, downforce will be required to tie all of the four phases together. If that’s not what people want, you can throw the balance out the window, dial up a few areas of performance, get Indy-style dragsters, and hope the racing is entertaining. It might be. We just haven’t seen it in the real world, so it’s all speculation until we see a pack of Blackbird 66s in action.

Q: One of the most exciting open IndyCar seats for me is the fourth Arrow McLaren car at the Indy 500, because they usually have a big name in that car. Do you have any ideas about who could be in for 2026? Any other potential Indy 500-only entries? The only one-off entries confirmed so far are Helio Castroneves at Meyer Shank and Jack Harvey for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.

Frank Lehmann

MP: I don’t have any confirmation, but I have my eye on Ryan Hunter-Reay.

Bryan Herta Autosport has been looking for the right fit to get back to the 500 with Honda. On the Chevy side, the answer is all about PREMA. Other drivers and teams I’ve spoken with in the Chevy family tell me they’re waiting to see what happens with PREMA, and if they fold, gaining access to an extra engine for the 500 becomes more likely. Until that gets answered, I’m told most of the midfield teams that want to run another car are in limbo and unable to sign an Indy-only driver.

Is there a papaya-tinted Month of May in Hunter-Reay’s future? James Black/Penske Entertainment

Q: I wouldn’t say I’m following the Palou/McLaren saga, but I will glance at the headlines. Being an American, I don’t understand the outside world. No matter the outcome, can a British court tell a Spanish citizen working in America for a corporation, if not registered in some tax shelter island, is headquartered in the U.S.’s most boring state of Delaware, what to do?

Shawn, MD

MP: Palou signed contracts with a UK-based company. The UK-based company has taken him to court in the UK to resolve the matter. If the court couldn’t tell him what to do, he wouldn’t be in the UK, at the trial and centrally involved in the trial, if they couldn’t tell him what to do, right? The answer is usually found in the action.

Q: What can a regular fan do to help JR Hildebrand’s Blackbird 66 project?

Edward

MP: JR’s pretty easy to find on most social media outlets. I’d reach out and ask.

Q: Thank you for your article in September about the status of the silly season. Regarding the AJ Foyt team, you wrote: “The driver who replaces Malukas and the Penske budget that put him in the car will need to make a significant contribution to the operating costs.”

I don’t understand what that means and hope you can shed some light on how budgets and sponsorships work. I’ve heard other comments about drivers who come with their own sponsors. Are drivers responsible for bringing in money? How can they possibly find the time to do that?

Joe Stern

MP: It means Penske paid for Foyt to run Malukas, and that whoever replaces Malukas will need to pay for the opportunity to drive the car. Some teams have sponsors who pay the $8-12 million annual budget for a car to compete in IndyCar and the team hires an elite driver. Some teams have some sponsorship, but not the full amount, and take on a paying driver to cover half or whatever the percentage ends up being for the annual budget. And some teams have drivers who pay 100 percent of the budget. The Penske-Foyt arrangement was a unique one where Penske signed Malukas in 2024, needed to place him with another team since it didn’t have a vacancy in its own team, and farmed Malukas out to Foyt for the season and paid for them to run him in 2025.

So with Malukas leaving and Penske’s funding leaving, the next driver of that car – likely Caio Collet – needs to fill in the big financial void that’s been left. IndyCar drivers have 17 races per season, which is one out of every three weekends in a calendar year. Those races are usually from Friday-Sunday. For those who aren’t well-paid professionals, they have an abundance of time.

Have you ever really wanted to do something and had to raise the money to do it? A trip, a car, etc.? It’s no different here. Of the 27 full-time drivers from 2025, I count 17 as being properly paid by a team, as in, being 100-percent hired for their talent, which leaves quite a few who wake up every day searching for more money to continue their careers in 2026 and beyond.

Q: I am not entirely sure why I was thinking about this, but I was randomly thinking about some impressive non-winning races that drivers had. The one that came to my mind was Sébastien Bourdais’ drive to ninth place at Barber with the Lotus engine in 2012. Max Verstappen in the rain in Brazil also comes to mind. I’d love to hear some others.

And, a less-positive question. Stirling Moss had 16 F1 wins and no titles. Given the way the new rules packages may shake things update, which F1 driver may risk breaking that record? Lando, Oscar both have nine. One of those two will most likely win the title. Charles has eight and George has five. Given their relative ages, I think all four of those guys could win 16+ races.

If you could pick one who wouldn’t win a championship, who would it be? My guess would be the McLaren drive who doesn’t win this year. I can’t imagine Ferrari being down forever, and rumors of Mercedes having the car to beat next year put George in prime position.

Taco Montgomery

MP: Alex Palou at Milwaukee in August is the most recent example that comes to mind. Led from pole, dominated all day, and got beaten in the closing laps by a charging Christian Rasmussen on new tires as Palou’s surrendered. Happened to Palou twice last season, actually, with his dominance of Mid-Ohio becoming a second-place finish after falling off the road near the end and watching teammate Scott Dixon streak by to claim victory.

In the pantheon of such IndyCar things, it might not get much better than Scott Goodyear’s 1992 Indy 500 when the Canadian started 33rd and last and came within 0.043s of beating Al Unser Jr. in their famous photo finish.

CHRIS MEDLAND: Damon Hill in Budapest in 1997 for Arrows. It all came together for that car and tire combo, but then he got hit by hydraulic and throttle linkage issues and was stuck in third gear. Despite a heartbreaking loss of victory, he still came home second, showing how dominant he’d been in a car that was nowhere all season.

I feel like more and more would spring to mind the longer I thought about it, but another that came to me pretty quickly was Nico Hulkenberg for Sauber in Korea 2013 – finishing fourth and holding off Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Nico Rosberg for what felt like an eternity.

From the drivers you just listed to win enough races but not a title, I’d actually say Charles Leclerc. I feel like McLaren will still be very competitive next year and in the new era (don’t forget it has the Mercedes power unit right now and is beating Mercedes with it), but Ferrari is so hard to see getting it right for a full season and sealing the deal.

Leclerc is a real talent but he also hasn’t had a proper crack at the title yet and I wonder how he’d handle that after such a long wait if it ever came his way. But I hope all of the above get one and it’s because we have plenty of competitive racing in future!

Hill’s drive to second place in the clunky Arrows at the 1997 Hungarian GP was one for the books. Getty Images

Q: In last week’s Mailbag

, regarding Colton Herta you said:

“Then I’d expect him to be fighting for the title the following season, before looking to step up to F1 in 2028. That would allow Cadillac to find its feet, too, and the experience of Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez to really help with the team’s development before considering any changes to the line-up.”

Do you really think Colton would do two seasons in F2? I know both Checo’s and Valtteri’s contracts were announced as multi-year, but that could mean one year with an option, right? Unless I missed the news that they were definitely two-year contracts.

My feeling has been that Cadillac will have Colton do one year in F2, then evaluate both his progress and Checo’s and Valtteri’s, with the intention of putting Colton in F1 in 2027, not 2028. I just cannot imagine Colton doing two years in F2. Why would he? He will learn pretty much anything he needs (tracks, F1-style racing, etc.) in one year. TWG (obviously former Andretti) has wanted Colton in F1 since Michael Andretti first announced the team’s intention to join. If Colton had a better season in IndyCar and had already gotten enough points for his Super License, they might have even put him in the F1 car in ’26 alongside one of the more experienced drivers. I reckon Valtteri or Checo is out of a seat in ’27 to make way for Colton.

Nikki

CM: I really do think Colton could do two years. That’s not because I think that’s what Cadillac/TWG wants to do, but more the reality of the situation. Two experienced drivers were picked to help develop the team and build it up, and that work won’t be complete in just 12 months, plus neither will have wanted to sign a contract for just one year to then be immediately replaced by Colton – they talk about the project and doing the hard yards now to hopefully reap the rewards later on.

If (and it is an if) one of the two race drivers clearly struggles more than the other and Colton has a great first year in F2, then yes there could be a change that quickly, and it would make sense. But given what we spoke about of Colton learning and re-adapting in a very competitive series, it’s a big ask and a lot of pressure to put on him.

Simply by moving to F2 shows that Colton and TWG are willing to do the time required to be as best-prepared as possible, and to that end I think they know it might end up being two years of development and prep before it is best for the team to replace one of Valtteri or Checo.

For Colton as well, his best chance of being a success is if the team is performing strongly in F1, and to do that it needs Valtteri and Checo to do well too, so it’s not a simple equation.

To directly answer your question of why would he do two years, is for the Super License points. It’s still a big move for him and if it takes him a little while to hit the front (or his team struggles at all) then the first year might not yield the required Super License points even if he’s performing well, and he’d potentially need the second year to lock those in.

Q: Chris, I noticed your comment about Colton Herta having a learning season in F2 and then challenging for the title in 2027. That would be wonderful, but I am skeptical. Do you agree with the following: F2 drivers are extremely ambitious to get to F1. They’ve been in somewhat similar cars and tracks for years. They are mostly quite talented but some are quite rich. They are young and by and large very aggressive. This is their make-it-or-break-it chance. Not that Colton is exactly old, but it would be like going to a party with a pretty loud young crowd… one heck of an adjustment. Agree?

Jeff Brown, Bernardsville, NJ

CM: I agree to an extent Jeff, but that’s exactly what Colton would need to be competing with anyway – like IndyCar, F1 is not a walk in the park and you’ve got to perform every weekend, so being aggressive is generally the requirement for most drivers.

I actually think he’s better prepared for F2 though in the sense that IndyCar really does encourage elbows-out racing, to a greater degree than the European ladder might. So while you’re right that the pressure is high and drivers are trying to prove themselves worthy of an F1 chance, I don’t think it will shock Colton at all.

I’d also say that there are some very rich drivers but the overall standard is extremely high, and the cost cap in F1 has made pay drivers almost obsolete – you’ve got to be immensely talented, and if you bring serious money that’s an added bonus. That filters down to F2 as well, where simply buying your way to the top doesn’t cut it anymore. Even the richest F2 drivers are high quality.

There will be a lot of new things for Herta to adapt to in F2, but intense racing isn’t one of them. Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment

Q: This question may be answered by the time you get to it, but if George and Mercedes cannot agree, where would he likely land?

Doug Farrow, Plymouth, MN

CM: I think you’re right that the answer will come our way in the coming weeks to make this an obsolete one, but there’s only really Alpine for George. Red Bull I’m sure would show interest too, but he’s a Mercedes-managed driver so would be placed somewhere where it still had full control of his future if there had ever been a need to do that. But he’s not going to be on the market.

Q: I watched the RACER Debrief with David Malsher-Lopez, Laurence Foster and JR Hildebrand. Very interesting. Three or four times during the discussion JR mentioned potential insurance issues. Can you provide some color on what he might have been referring to? Are there polices in place that put restrictions on what various series are allowed to do?

Don Weidig

JR HILDEBRAND: In the context of the Debrief conversation, talk of “insurance” with respect to speed limitations is a proxy for “safety-related” speed limitations. We hear these terms used somewhat interchangeably within the industry – I used “insurance” more gratuitously in the podcast to simplify some responses in my own mind but can appreciate that some context might help!

Tracks and sanctioning bodies together must be able to carry risk insurance for attending fans and drivers/crews, with the sanctioning body being dominantly responsible for any issues that could arise from an incident on track (and therefore the policies associated with that). These policies are based on the assessed risk of the speeds and competition style of a given series at a given track. In simple terms, how bad could a crash be for driver(s), crew(s), and/or fans, and how likely is that to happen? When we talk about this as a constraint for what the on-track product is, that’s down to the idea that, at a point, either in the context of a single car on track or multiple cars on track, a certain level of potential risk with respect to the outcome of a crash can not only be viewed as “over the limit” strictly on the grounds of pure safety in the eyes of a sanctioning body (with input from drivers and teams) but can also make these insurance policies dramatically more expensive and/or unobtainable.

In the context of a single car on track, a significant portion of the true safety risk is peak crash energy in a corner, which is a function of cornering speed and the general dynamics of the car and track in that scenario. The faster it goes through a corner, the greater the impact energy in that corner, all else being equal. This scenario is dominantly what we were talking about on the podcast. Take an IndyCar at IMS as an extreme but simple example; the current car could be at track-record speed in no time by just adding power, but will accomplish it by going faster about equally everywhere. This includes an increase in cornering speed (and momentum), which results in an increase in potential crash energy.

I don’t know how close to the “limit” an IndyCar is at IMS in qualifying with respect to what IndyCar considers a tolerable impact dynamic, but at 230+ even a small difference in speed hitting a wall is non-trivial when considering how it affects impact energy; the faster you go the more each mile-per-hour increase the energy. So there is fundamentally a *real* safety limit there somewhere, and also a projected one in the eyes of those who are responsible for dealing with and/or underwriting the consequences.

Our conversation centered around how different vehicle formulas (for example, one that relies less on cornering speed in the first place) might offer new ways of looking at these safety-related constraints.

Q: Will we see Katherine Legge or another female driver in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2026?

Chris Fiegler, Latham, NY

KELLY CRANDALL: Katherine Legge has expressed her desire to do as much as she can in NASCAR, and I would expect that to continue in 2026. However, it always comes down to funding, and she’s been putting together some great programs to get on track as much as she can right now. Legge is approved to run on all racetracks in the Craftsman Truck Series and the Xfinity Series, and she can run on everything except superspeedways in the Cup Series. So, I imagine that it will come down to funding and where she prefers to run and what races are open with the teams she works with going forward.

As for another female driver in the Cup Series next year, I don’t see it happening. Who is out there and ready for that step? No one comes to mind.

Legge’s not waving goodbye to NASCAR if she has any say in it. Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Q: Why does NASCAR allow “ringers” in the playoffs? Las Vegas was not the first showing of Almirola but the first in this format so one must assume that it is gamesmanship by Gibbs and Toyota. One might have hoped Gibbs was above this sort of thing, but perhaps not.

NASCAR should rule against this or perhaps compel him to race at Talladega as well so we can see how gamesmanship plays out there.

KC: I don’t believe it was gamesmanship by Joe Gibbs Racing in putting Almirola in those races specifically. It comes down to a few factors: what races the sponsors want, where Almirola can run, and where other drivers can’t run. The latter refers to the fact that NASCAR does have rules in place that say Cup Series drivers cannot run races that are in the Xfinity Series playoffs. Almirola no longer falls into that category. So, any team, like Gibbs, has to plan its year for which drivers it will be able to use when the postseason starts. Plus, Gibbs is chasing an owner’s championship, and Almirola is the experienced driver in their stable who can help them do that at this time of the year.

THE FINAL WORD

From Robin Miller’s Mailbag, October 16, 2013

Q: The first race I ever saw was the 1982 Indianapolis 500. To date, I still believe that is the greatest 500 that’s been run in the last 35 years. I was 13 then and what kept me coming back were the cars. The innovation and new styles every year were exciting. I know you have indicated that you believe that the DW12 has produced the most exciting racing in the last 40-plus years but we have to look at the history of the sport. The legends became legends because of their ability to master cars on the edge of technology.

I would recommend going back and looking at some of Paul Page’s intros to the 500; his words were 100 percent correct. Now, where is the innovation? Where is the technology?

I also get that it’s about money but I will suggest that good racing alone will not bring back the fans. Yes, we need stars and new legends but I will suggest that the cars and the technology will create the stars. Think about it: there were more fans in the ’80s and ’90s when very few races were up for contention at the end. Now most are and we are in the doldrums.