The RACER Mailbag, August 7
08/07/2024 05:30 AM
Welcome to the RACER Mailbag. Questions for any of RACER's writers can be sent to mailbag@racer.com. We love hearing your comments and opinions, but letters that include a question are more likely to be published. Questions received after 3pm ET each Monday will appear the following week.
**Everyone needs a vacation and the Mailbag is no exception, so it will be spending next week lying in a hammock and sipping drinks with little umbrellas in them. Keep sending your questions in, and we’ll run them when the Mailbag returns on Wednesday, August 21.**
Q: I was hoping you could shed some light on the current status of the legal dispute between Alex Palou and McLaren? The complexities of contractual agreements in the racing world are well known, but McLaren’s recent actions have left many of us puzzled. It seems almost paradoxical for a team that has shown such a disregard for contracts to expect unwavering commitment from their drivers under similar circumstances.
Bruce
MARSHALL PRUETT: I stopped tracking this story once I got the feeling there was no interest by McLaren to actively resolve the matter. I can't recall any recent movement that would get this into court and reach a swift settlement; the strategy, as I've understood and written about, remains the same: Prolong the process and extract maximum financial pain. This could drag on for years and has the potential to leave Palou in financial ruin.
McLaren has the resources and apparent anger-fueled motivation to take this slow, and it wouldn't do so unless it believed its case was a winner. This felt personal from the outset, and if it was purely about the money, you'd expect McLaren to be pushing the pace to get a favorable settlement out of Palou or to get this in front of a judge or an arbitrator to take money off of Palou today.
Instead, letting this play out over years, which McLaren can afford, and will take a meaningful amount of money away from Palou with legal fees, sure looks like the ongoing plan.
Q: My wife and I decided to add Gateway to the list of tracks we have gone to this year, but all we hear is doom and gloom about how bad the race is going to be from many within the series itself. It's gotten so bad I'm considering either staying home, or going to Michigan to watch NASCAR. Please tell me everything I hear is wrong and give me some optimism!
Brian, Joliet, IL
MP: I've had a few drivers and engineers share versions of the same opinion, which is that in reaction to some tire blowouts (and at least one crash because of a tire failure) in oval testing in recent months, they believe there has been a decision to go conservative on the tires used at Iowa and that were tested last week at World Wide Technology Raceway. Those tires had minimal degradation and, as a result, presented limited opportunities to pass once they came up to temperature.
Based on their collective feedback, unless a less durable tire is brought for the race, they aren't expecting a lot of passing. But it's a great weekend, and all it takes is a few clashes or crashes or mistakes on pit lane to add intrigue to the race. The more restarts, the better.
Q: With the 2024 IndyCar season drawing to a close and FOX taking over as the broadcasters for 2025 onward, when can we expect an announcement regarding commentators and driver analysts? Are you aware of any details about who might be considered for those roles? While there are talented people out there, it would be better to have people well versed in IndyCar than NASCAR commentators.
Another problem is that NBC offered streaming through PEACOCK, and FOX doesn’t have a streaming option, to my understanding. A lot of people don’t want cable or satellite and do not want to pay for channels they don’t need or use if all they want to see is IndyCar. Is the series doing anything there to remedy this issue?
IndyCar has a terrific streaming service of its own in IndyCar Live. Unfortunately, Americans and Canadians can’t view the races on it and can only view practice and qualifying. If IndyCar and FOX could work something out so both sides could make money, fans would no doubt pay for IndyCar Live.
David Colquitt
MP: Not since the last question in the Mailbag about it was sent in and answered. Adam Alexander has been mentioned as a solid option as the host in what is currently Leigh Diffey's role, but he's also coveted for other series. Hinch is a strong candidate for a driver analyst role, and Kevin Lee is like Hinch — a freelancer — who would bring continuity and comfort as the series moves from NBC. Beyond that, I continue to hear FOX will want to use a lot of its talent to anchor the broadcasts.
I hear what you're saying on not wanting to dress the coverage in NASCAR sensibilities, but take Lee, for example. He was an IndyCar guy, who was added to the IMSA broadcasts on a regular basis a little while ago, and despite not having a background in endurance sports car racing, he studied hard, got to know the people in the paddock, and now blends seamlessly between both series when asked.
A good broadcaster is a good broadcaster, whether they're folks we know from NASCAR or wherever else. There's also the Jamie Littles of the world who've covered all forms of racing and who blends into whatever task she's given.
Q: I love IMSA multiclass racing, but I find the NBC Sports scoring pylon to be very frustrating. It tries to be all things to all people by only showing the top five in each of the four classes. Do you know of anyone at NBC who might be open to discussing a different format, one that would show the entire GTP class for a while, then the entire LMP1 class for a while, etc? I can’t be the only one who grumbles at the TV while there is some fantastic racing going on. It’s not like the leader just evaporates when he goes in the pits, right?
Chris Doutre
MP: Like most of the constructive criticism aimed at a series or broadcaster, I'd recommend using the public tools available on social media. A groundswell of interest for change or improvement on any topic will be seen by your IndyCars and IMSAs and so on.
