IndyCar

Zak Brown wants “better blend” of IndyCar quality vs quantity

The CEO of McLaren passes judgement on the quality of IndyCar’s racing product, and wonders if harsher penalties would results in better passing moves

Joey Barnes

Published: Jul 25, 2024, 4:02 PM

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Will Power, Team Penske Chevrolet, crash

Will Power, Team Penske Chevrolet, gets turned around at the opening corner at Detroit

Photo by: Phillip Abbott / Motorsport Images

McLaren chief executive Zak Brown has suggested that the IndyCar Series should strive for more quality in its racing product instead of being enamored with the quantity.

There have been several races over the past couple of seasons that have struggled to live up to expectations, namely with ill-advised passes leading to numerous cautions and hindering the event.

It’s no secret that IndyCar has pushed showcasing statistics on the number of total passes (TP) in a race, as well as passes for position (FP).

While last year’s season finale at Laguna Seca featured 432 TP, with 264 FP, there were also eight cautions – all for contact – that made up for 35 of the 95 laps. In turn, there were eight penalties for avoidable contact.

When the series returned to Laguna Seca this year, there were 564 TP with 537 FP and only three of the five cautions – that totaled 14 laps under yellow – for contact.

Then there was the debacle in Detroit, which saw 47 of 100 laps run under caution after the yellow flag flew eight times due to collisions in some form – with five penalties handed out for avoidable contact. The race had 217 TP, with 170 FP.

Kyffin Simpson, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, clashes with Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing Honda at Detroit

Photo by: Josh Tons / Motorsport Images

Where things get even trickier, though, is how the racing product has been since the introduction of the hybrid unit earlier this month at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

With four races now under its belt, the new era has produced a 652 TP (116 at Mid-Ohio; 192 at Iowa 1; 204 at Iowa 2; 140 at Toronto), with 390 FP (78 at Mid-Ohio; 100 at Iowa 1; 95 at Iowa 2; 117 at Toronto). Additionally, even with 16 lead changes over that same span (665 laps), none have been on-track but all instead through pit cycles.

Even with the limited passes there was still a plethora of contact happening last weekend on the streets of Toronto, with all five cautions (including a red flag) the result of contact.

In an exclusive interview with Motorsport.com ahead of last Sunday’s race, Brown addressed his thoughts when asked if he was concerned about the quality of racing since the midseason introduction of the hybrid unit, especially considering a new network TV deal with FOX looms in 2025.

“Hats off to Max Papis (race steward) and Jay Frye (president of competition and operations) because they listen well,” Brown said. “I think that we’ve had a lot of areas needed for improvement on how we run the races.

“If you look at Detroit, Laguna, these were poorly-executed races. I know it was pre-hybrid, but those were bad races because where we were restarting, restart procedures, things of that nature.

“So, we’ve fed in comments that Max and Jay have responded to that to improve making the racing better.”

The IndyCar field scatters across the grass an Indianapolis

Photo by: Josh Tons / Motorsport Images

Brown believes some of the contact that has impacted the racing could be aided with steeper penalties for the drivers guilty of committing the crime, with the current standard being some form of either giving the position back, a drive-thru or stop-and-hold penalties.

“We also need to more penalize the drivers when they make an error,” Brown said. “If you give someone a free shot at someone and their penalty is to just give the position back, it’s not really a penalty; all that encourages is overdriving and irresponsible overtaking at times. ‘Hey if I get it wrong, I just have to give it back.’

“A penalty would be, no you got to give it back and you’re gonna have 10 seconds on your next pitstop. Then drivers would be a little less likely to be banzai-ing their moves because there is actually a penalty.

“Right now, it’s ‘Hey, I got a free punt. I can just try a crazy move and if it doesn’t work, I just have to give the position back’. That’s not a penalty. So, I think there’s cleaning up that needed to be done that I’m seeing, that we have open communication on, that will make the quality of racing better.

“I think we have a tendency to think the quantity of passes is what we’re looking for, I think it’s quantity of passes is what we need to be looking for.

“I think Formula 1 has proven how popular that sport is, with high quality racing and few passes versus demolition derby we’ve seen at Laguna and Detroit; there might have been 5,000 passes but it was a shitshow.”

Chaos reigns in the IndyCar 2023 season finale at Laguna Seca

Photo by: Richard Dole / Motorsport Images

And Brown went a step further to suggest that the quality could also be extended to the field size being lessened.

“We need to shift into quality versus quantity,” he said. “You know, we tend to (focus on) car count quantity. I think our car count is too high.

“I don’t think we need 27 cars. I think 20, 22, 24, great cars. I think we’re focusing too much on the quantity and we need to find a better blend of quality versus quantity.”

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