INDYCAR: Miller's Mailbag, 10.3

INDYCAR: Miller’s Mailbag, 10.3

Always genuine, never lite: It's Miller time. Here's the latest Q&A from SPEED.com's IndyCar guru.

Robin Miller | Posted October 03, 2012

The addition of Pocono to the 2013 IndyCar calendar is just one of the topics discussed in this week's Mailbag. (Photo: Ed Carpenter Racing)

Hello open-wheel types and thanks for all your questions. I intend to answer your questions every week during the season, so just email me at . Don’t feel left out if I didn’t directly respond. I appreciate your interest and passion.

~Robin Miller

Q: Overall I’m very happy with the latest schedule but I am concerned about the gap in Sept. and hopefully Kentucky will fill the void. I am excited to have live IndyCar racing on Saturdays and Sundays on three weekends next year, hopefully it will turn some of the TV numbers around. Any idea what the weekend schedule will look like?

Ryan, Greenwood, IN

RM: I think the promoters want practice and qualifying on Fridays and that makes sense to me because it gives them a better story. Not sure if the plan is to have warm-ups on Saturday and Sunday but it seems to make sense.

Q: I like the new schedule but they need to do something more in September. I get not going up against football (college or pro) but surrendering the month is just crazy. What is Road America doing in September and weren't there more road courses? Don't they (whomever is putting out stories about Mr. Bernard's demise) know this kind of negative publicity is bad and will scare sponsors (and more importantly $$$) away as putting the company's name on an IndyCar could seem to be extremely risky? Oh wait, you point that out on Page 2 of The Cult of Negativity, we need to figure out who is putting that story out and make them shut-up somehow. We (the mailbag mailers) should get Mr. Bernard a shirt that says "reports of my firing are greatly exaggerated" and he should wear it whenever he has to take to the podium to explain it away. My 9 and 8 year old are interested in IndyCars because of this season.

Jason Shacreaw

RM: I think the hope might have been a race at Kentucky or Elkhart Lake but the finances couldn’t be worked out and most promoters don’t want to go up against the NFL monster. I think you can guess who wants to get rid of Randy.
Q: I have to believe Randy feels pretty good right now. I don’t care for ABC’s coverage of IndyCar, but I am impressed with their willingness to step up like they are in 2013. It should help grow the sport and hopefully help Randy make the 2014 schedule even better. The best part of that schedule is the standing starts. I wasn’t sure I would go to the race in Detroit again this year, but now I’m sure I’ll go. However, due to the late start time on Sunday I’ll only go to the Saturday race. I just wonder why one of the doubleheaders is at the worst track on the 2012 schedule. Will the new configuration help that much? Is Circuit of the Americas on their radar March 2 maybe with Grand-Am a great way to open the season? My last question is why not hold the Sao Paulo race at Interlagos? Street courses are great, but permanent road courses are better.
Ryan in West Michigan

RM: Detroit promoter Bud Denker promises to go back to the old racier configuration and to re-pave the track and I guess he got a doubleheader because he was gung ho about the idea from the start. Bernard has been to Austin a couple times but nothing planned as yet. The Brazil street course is one of the best in terms of passing and the crowds are big so no reason to change.

Q: Got my Pocono tickets this morning as soon as they went on sale. On the start-finish line on the last row of the grandstand. At $75 IMO a bargain. Hopefully the other ticket will be taken by my dad. Stop at Gettysburg on the way up and then watch a great weekend of racing. From what I am seeing on Facebook and TrackForum, the response is good. I have seen some grumblings about the distance and $1 million dollar payout for the Triple Crown. I say as long as it is 400 miles or more it is good enough for a TC. Heck, horse racing's TC is on three tracks of different distance, so why does it matter? As for a $1 million dollar payout? That's still good money and Rome wasn't built in a day, but this is a good start.

William Bledsoe

RM: Just looked at the Pocono web site and I like what I see – grandstand tickets on race day from $25 to $75 with children under 12 half price. A family of four can attend for less than $100, that’s exactly how to rebuild an event that’s been gone for 24 years.

Q: So now we have the schedule and I see the logo for the Pocono race on Facebook, and the big thing I see "Pocono IndyCar 400." Is it a 400- mile race or is it 500 miles like Indy and Fontana? Any word yet on how they will differentiate the races for the doubleheader weekends? I've heard rumors of different layouts for Detroit. How possible would that be to pull off for Toronto and Houston? If Providence or NOLA is added to the schedule, do any of the doubleheaders go away?

The Tattooed Enigma

RM: It’s a 400-miler because ABC only has a three-hour window available but I think it’s worth losing 100 miles to gain national television. No final word yet on doubleheaders but Randy Bernard said full distance, full points on Wind Tunnel With Dave Despain. Same track at all three doubleheader sites to my knowledge (Sonoma had talked about running two different ways if it had a twin bill). Added race would not affect doubleheaders.

Q: Having 19 races is a smart and economical way to increase the number of races with minimal extra expenses. Yet, it is still only 16 local markets. And, there are four race-free weekends after Sept. 1, right when the NFL is back gaining most of the sporting media attention. This would be a good time to have another race, say the proposed Quebec City race that was long-rumored, which is less prone to being ignored due to football. Or, perhaps even back to Mexico, or some city without an NFL franchise, like Providence. What do you think will finally happen in this gap?

Rick Moris

RM: I think Quebec City is a strong contender for 2014 but IndyCar needs a good Mexican driver to ever go back to Mexico City. I originally thought Providence might be slotted in September if it comes on board or maybe Kentucky but not many promoters want to buck football, college or pro.

Q: Enjoyed Wind Tunnel last Sunday night. For all there is to complain about regarding schedule (which we open-wheel fans could find the doo-doo in a field of unicorns and kittens), there's a lot to take away from it. There are prime time races on ABC in the middle of the season, first night street race in Houston (a Top 10 media market) and while we'd all like to see Richmond, KY, NH or PHX at least we got Pocono and a Triple Crown. F1 takes a month break in August and football gets top billing in September anyway so who cares - viewing success will be in May & June, so can't we please look at the positives?

Andy, Nashville, TN

RM: I think the packaging of the NBC and ABC races is a big plus and, naturally, a prime timer at Texas on ABC (Houston is both day shows) and I believe Richmond or Phoenix or MIS (at least one of them) will make it back on a future schedule. You can’t make promoters take a race in September but I think it’s a pretty damn good schedule.

Q: Do you think this schedule is concrete? There are large gaps in August and September, though I figure one is Rhode Island? Also, I love the return to Pocono (I'll be there), but my only beef are the doubleheaders. My fear is that there will not be enough done to differentiate the two races, and Sunday will be a replay of Saturday. May benefit track attendees but will turn off the TV audience.

Greg (Belleville, NJ)

RM: I think Randy would like to add another race but not sure it’s going to happen. Let’s look at your last statement: right now one TV race on the weekend isn’t getting squat in terms of viewership so maybe if somebody has a choice of Saturday or Sunday, that can improve. And it should help the promoters.

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Robin Miller

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