The RACER Mailbag, March 5

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 be saved for the following week.

Q: I was looking at the IndyCar Milwaukee 250 website yesterday. We’re planning on going; it will be my girlfriend’s first ever professional race. Lo and behold, it’s now the Snap-on Milwaukee Mile 250. And it’s a multi-year deal. That seems like big news that has been lost in the shuffle. Was this Penske forcing it on Snap-on? Or does it matter? Any title sponsor is good news for the series.

Also, I was pumping gas the other day, and FOX’s Pato O’Ward ad popped up on the annoying gas pump video screen.  Awesome job so far from FOX Sports.

Tobey Taylor

MARSHALL PRUETT: Yes. I checked with IndyCar, and Roger jumped across his desk when the Snap-On CEO was in town, did a judo hip toss, hit him with some ground-and-pound, got him in an arm bar, and said the guy could “sponsor Milwaukee, or get his arm broken.” Thankfully, the CEO submitted and chose the former. I’m waiting on the security footage from Penske Corp. to share from the encounter.

And yes, it did get lost in the shuffle. Seems like something to have saved for after the first race since everyone’s attention is on St. Pete, not a race at the end of the season. And yes once more; Snap-On is a longstanding Team Penske partner, and like most of their sponsors or business-to-business deals, they tend to get spun into some form of IndyCar angle.

Saw the Alex Palou ad while I was filling up our Mazda on the way to the airport and my flight out to St. Pete. I’ve noticed some folks complaining about those ads on a refilling terminal, and the tune-in mailers with Josef Newgarden on the cover of the envelope, who’ve positioned both as cheap or desperate ways to market the series, and I passionately disagree.

Having grown up in and worked in the CART IndyCar era when it was the No. 1 racing series in the country, there was a complementary layer to that widespread popularity, and it came in the form of CART promos being found in common areas. Having dinner at a major chain restaurant in the 1990s version of an Applebee’s or Chili’s, and it was common to see a Miller beer placard on your table with Bobby Rahal’s Miller-sponsored IndyCar. Go to the local mini mart and the posters in the windows, which have NASCAR or F1 cars today once had CART cars. Open a magazine at the doctor’s office, and there was a strong chance you’d see a full-page ad from one of the many auto companies involved in CART, or a Fortune 100 sponsor, repping their IndyCar involvement.

Wherever we went, IndyCar was a normal part of our world, and not the rarity it is today. So, hit me with the Josef tune-in junk mail. Show the FOX Sports ads at the gas station. And keep doing the things that normalize IndyCar in our regular lives, and that’s how familiarity with the product starts to improve.

Q: I was wondering if you got any feedback on FOX’s coverage? I really didn’t see anything wrong with the coverage last year – until I saw the practice session on Friday. I think the FOX coverage looks very professional and polished, compared to what seems to have been just phoned-in coverage of the races. I give FOX an A, and the only reason it’s not an A+ is because I know it will get better. Looks like more cameras, better pitlane coverage, and all the cool graphics, plus the TV personalities… it is headed in the right direction.

John Furnis

MP: Great first effort, and yes, received constant feedback from folks. Plenty of glitches and improvements to make, and I appreciate FOX Sports’ approach by swinging for the fences with new graphics, new features, new tech, and trying to introduce everything up front instead of slowly rolling them out at each new race. There were some issues, but they went big and have ample time leading into Thermal to iron out most of the kinks.

Q: Looking so forward to the new season, the anticipation is big. I’m getting excited and decided to go to the IndyCar web page. There is all sorts of merch for the IndyCar fan to purchase. As I’m looking at the merch for a few of my favorite drivers, I notice it is all 2024 merch. Hard to believe that this is our option at the beginning of the season. I’m sure that by the 500 in May teams and IndyCar will have an updated page, but why not now? Aren’t they missing a great opportunity to cash in? It’s not my biggest frustration but it is disappointing. Can you explain why this is”

Bruce Taylor

MP: Many teams did their formal unveilings one to two weeks before the start of the season, which is the issue. Arrow McLaren unveiled its new liveries the night before opening practice at St. Pete. That conspires against having a full line of 2025 car models and driver jerseys ready to sell at race 1.

But what you point out, which is totally correct, is that this needs to be improved for 2026. IndyCar has no formal guidelines on when liveries and uniforms need to be locked in, and using your note, and how IndyCar’s rivals tend to be ahead in this merch game, maybe it’s time to level up.

Q: Based on St. Pete qualifying, this this is going to be a hell of aninteresting IndyCar season:

1. Both Meyer Shank cars outqualify every car from CGR..2. DeFrancesco leads the RLL trio3. Lundgaard leads the McLaren cars, with Siegel putting in animpressive run.4. VeeKay, in a Dale Coyne car, outqualifies Power5. Shwartzman from PREMA, in his first IndyCar race for a brand newteam, beats Indy 500 winner Rossi in an ECR car

Alex, I’ll take “Things I didn’t expect” for $100, please!

Ben Malec, Buffalo Grove, IL

MP: Let’s also not forget, for those who love pettiness, that Rinus VeeKay finished ninth, driving for the smallest team, one spot ahead of his replacement, Alexander Rossi, driving for one of the (newly) wealthiest, and how the electronic advantage Josef Newgarden used to win last year’s race (which was later stripped via DQ) turned into an electronic disadvantage this year when a shifting glitch stopped his pursuit of victory and dropped him from second to third.