The RACER Mailbag, September 6

Welcome to the RACER Mailbag. Questions for any of RACER’s writers can be sent to [email protected]. Due to the high volume of questions received, we can’t guarantee that every letter will be published, but we’ll answer as many as we can. Published questions may be edited for length and clarity. Questions received after 3pm ET each Monday will appear the following week.

Q: Coyne needs to sign Sage Karam to a one-race deal to be David Malukas’s muscle.

Shawn, MD

MARSHALL PRUETT: McLaughlin’s twice his size, so you might be onto something here. In a throwback to the 2000s, I feel like someone needs to start the 2023 version of ChuckNorrisFacts.net but for Lil’ Davey Malukas to sell the false impression that he’s the world’s toughest man. We’d get gems like this (borrowed from here):

• Death once had a near-David-Malukas experience.
• David Malukas spices up his steaks with pepper spray.
• David Malukas once kicked a horse in the chin. Its descendants are now known as giraffes.
• The flu gets a David Malukas shot every year.

Q: What if a team took a current Dallara tub and Firestones as the safe base, and then added any drivetrain and aero package from any set of USAC/Champ Car/IRL/IndyCar rules package since 1960? Unlimited boost? Unlimited displacement? Multiple engines? AWD? Active suspension? Monster wings? Side skirts? Active aero? What did I leave out? Could this car lap Indy at 300mph? I wanna see it!

Trent

MARSHALL PRUETT: The formula behind big speeds at Indy involves light weight, high power, and ample grip to maintain that speed through the corners. That makes chucking multiple engines into the DW12 a bit of a non-starter. But here’s an idea: If you could strap two NHRA Top Fuel motors to a Dallara, and get them to last a lap, I imagine you could go fast enough on the straights to where having big World of Outlaws wings on the front and back could allow you to maintain decent speeds in the turns. Maybe if we hit 450mph on the straights and can do at least 150mph in the corners, we’d get to an average lap speed of 300mph or more. Active aero and active suspension would definitely help.

Q: What went wrong with Graham Rahal’s race at Portland? He seemed to be leading effortlessly up to his first pit stop.

Donald

MARSHALL PRUETT: Lots, including another strategy masterpiece by Ganassi. Here’s what Graham said: “I was at the wrong place, at the wrong time a lot today. Every time we came out of the pits, we were in a gaggle of cars. Every time we came into the pits, we had lapped cars in front of us that cost us a lot of time. The Canapino deal cost me four or five seconds on an in lap which cost me three spots. On the last stop, we had a little fueling issue and that cost us. We should have been well ahead of McLaughlin, and instead we were four cars behind by the time everything had cleared.

“I’m clearly not happy, but not pointing fingers. Maybe there were times that I could have maximized it more. I can’t think of a clear mistake that I made but maybe there was a lap or two that I could have gotten more out of. Our balance on blacks on the first stint, I was really, really loose and I think that hurt us. Shoulda, coulda, woulda.”

Q: I am excited to see that the hybrid unit successfully completed some grueling testing at Sebring. I’ve been wondering about the transition of this project from MAHLE to Chevy and Honda.

I searched the web and read several articles about it from various outlets, but none of them provided a significant amount of detail. I read everything from: a scenario that suggested MAHLE is still involved and supporting it, even now, as a joint venture with Chevy-Honda-IndyCar; or, conversely, that the initial MAHLE product received was entirely inadequate, leading to Chevy-Honda-IndyCar taking over out of necessity; to numerous other postulated situations. Not all of them can be accurate.

What happened? Was this transition planned? Is MAHLE still involved? Have they been manufacturing the parts as the technology has continued to be developed and refined? Will MAHLE have expert support personnel at the tracks next year? Or did Chevy-Honda-IndyCar take over due to an insufficient product that required their intervention? If that’s the case, who will be manufacturing the hybrid unit for the teams?

Richard

MARSHALL PRUETT: From what I understand, and for a variety of reasons, MAHLE was not going to be able to deliver its proposed system on time. With the clock running out on being able to mass produce energy recovery systems to go with the new 2.4L motors in 2023, a radical change of plans was required to keep the series on its path to hybridization and, critically, to keep Honda on board. That plan shelved the 2.4Ls, took those budgets, and applied them to designing and creating a new ERS solution with IndyCar’s two engine partners working together on the project.

I am not aware of MAHLE having any involvement today. Team Chevy/Ilmor is working with a different European vendor to make the motor generator unit, and Honda Performance Development is working with another European vendor to make the supercapacitors. Look for more details in another installment of our IndyCar hybrid video series on RACER.com in the near future.

Q: After getting dressed down by the team following his Q1 elimination, are there any prospects left for Romain Grosjean in IndyCar?

Ryan, West Michigan

MARSHALL PRUETT: Grosjean has received interest from three teams, but there’s also a chance he won’t have a seat next year. The hostilities between himself and the timing stand was not only a bad look, but it’s also not the look you want while trying to sell yourself as the right person to hire in another corner of the paddock. He needs to start over somewhere else and to bring that cheery and fulfilled version of himself that we saw in the opening months of the season.

Q: Week after week we hear complaints about lapped cars impeding cars in contention for a possible podium. How about doing your best Robin Miller impression and give IndyCar an earful to correct this? My solution: once a car is a lap down, IndyCar disables its push to pass. Pros and cons?

Rick Schutte

MARSHALL PRUETT: I don’t know if I’ve seen anything different with lapped cars in 2023 than I saw in 2013. They’re always a problem, in every series I follow. It’s part of the puzzle for the leaders to solve, and depending on the driver, series, or race, backmarkers can bring some spice and drama to a snoozefest. Give people nothing to yell about — at the TV, in the grandstands, or on the timing stands — and we’re in trouble.

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