Q: I have been an open-wheel fan for over 10 years now and live in western Canada and attended the Vancouver and Edmonton races on a regular basis but now with the Edmonton race cancelled I was wondering what race you would recommend attending. I know the obvious choice would be to go to the Indy 500 but that won’t be in the plans this year. I am a very big fan of the street and road courses so if you could give me any tips on what would be the best race to attend that would be great.

Jeff Warrilow

RM: Baltimore was a helluva street show last year and a great setting while Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham has fantastic viewing for spectators. Long Beach has great atmosphere and tradition and Toronto has good food and pretty women. Sonoma is gorgeous, just not real racy, and only 45 minutes from San Francisco.

Q: Ron Howard has an upcoming movie on James Hunt and Niki Lauda and the 1976 F1 season. The world championship between the two came down to the season-ending race in Japan. The racing conditions in Japan were horrendous, and neither Lauda nor Hunt won the race. You and I both know who did. Has the winner of the 1976 Japanese Gran Prix ever talked about that win with you? If so, what did he have to say?

Steve, Aurora, Colo.

RM: Mario said it was the worst conditions he’d ever seen when the race began and as the track dried he had to nurse his rain tires in order to get to victory lane. For a guy known for always charging, it was an example of outsmarting the competition as they crashed or burned up their tires.

Q: I know generally what owners do with their race teams in the off season, but I'd like to know more details. Robin, if you were a team owner with Penske money, how would prepare for the 2013 race season. And conversely, if you were on a shoestring budget like many race teams, how would you prepare under those constraints.

Gerry Courtney

RM: Testing is limited so you go to the wind tunnel and 7-post shaker rig if you’re the Big 3 and all the little teams try to do the same but, obviously, at reduced pace. Those are the only two areas that seem to make a difference, I just hope there’s not a big gap between the haves and have nots this season.

Q: In my infinite pontificating of the meaning of life and all its tasty sundries, I got to thinking about how Indy car racing is, or at least can be, analogous to so different aspects of life – its trials, tribulations, heartaches, elations, etc. And this got me thinking about the city of New Orleans, a place I have only been since August of last year. It, like especially the Indianapolis 500, but also open-wheel racing in general, carries with it a lore and history that isn’t easily ignored - an entity that conjures joy and celebration and sadness and despondency, all in a sloppily wrapped bundle of genuine human emotions. They also share another unfortunate commonality, that of corruption, incompetence, mismanagement, and the influences of unforeseen and unfortunate happenings. But to leave the story here is to diminish the fight and courage that I see in these people and city every day. To me, diehard Indy car fans are much the same, in that we have no qualms about fighting for what we believe in and love. Rather than acquiesce to the fears of extinction, these people, like us - a community of proud individuals, born of a proud past - work to stave off what should have probably happened long ago. My point is this: As we settle into our easy chairs this weekend to watch the Super Bowl, let us see, as a metaphor if nothing else, a city, once and always on the brink of annihilation, basking in the glory of recovery and prosperity. Let us hold out hope that with proper leadership, and a few good ideas, that IndyCar can do the same.

Daniel Pratt, The Big Easy, USA

RM: A good way to end January and start February.

The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEED.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or SPEED.

Robin Miller brings 40 years of experience to his role as SPEED.com's senior open-wheel reporter, and serves as a frequent contributor to SPEED Center and Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain.