Q: Ya know Robin, deep within the clanking old gears of my warped mind, I can see why Arrow McLaren SP chose that naming order. Otherwise, they might be forever known as…wait for it. SPAM. My wife says I need to go sit in the corner now…

Jim Mulcare, Westbury, NY

RM: No, that was suggested by a reader several months ago and Marshall and I used it all the time until McLaren politely asked that we stop. And they loved Monty Python too.

Q: Last week one of the great American originals passed away. Bill Fowler, 89, was Dan Gurney’s first employee and spent 25 years with The Big Eagle and All-American Racers. He was my mentor and such a smart mechanic and great guy. Hope you can pay him a little tribute.

Terry “Piggy” Malone, Idaho

RM: I didn’t know Bill but thankfully you have provided enough information that we can at least acknowledge his achievements. I love this photo of Bill (on the left-front tire) with designer Len Terry (right front), Carroll Shelby and Dan at the launch of the first Eagle (image courtesy of All American Racers). I read a story about him and he was a hot-rodder and he also went to Bonneville before working with Jerry Eisert at Frank Arciero’s. That’s where he first met Gurney. Anyway, thanks Piggy for giving me a heads-up on one of the true pioneers of the golden era of open wheel.

Q: Back in your August 14, 2019 Mailbag, your response to a question about the potential for increased power at Indy and relaxing the engine rules for the 500 was in part: “I told Jay Frye that I really don’t think people care anymore about a new track record or somebody upping the speed every day. Practice and qualifying haven’t drawn crowds since The Split.” Although I tend to question that take on things, I didn’t write until now that I know The Captain is listening.

I’m in my late 40s and have been to the 500 over 25 times with my college roommates. We’ve also been up for Pole Day, back in the day. What I can tell you is that the three of us liken streaming Indy 500 practice to watching March Madness at work, joking about how our company bandwidth is down while we have the video, audio and timing & scoring up. Texts will fly back-and-forth among us throughout the day about Marco going out to set a big number, whether the Penske cars are sandbagging, what effect the weather is having to the cars and what the no-tow speeds are, no name a few. To us, the speeds at Indy are still a huge intrigue.

So, are we the “old guys” hanging onto the past and out of touch with what the current masses want? I don’t know, I’m not sure you know, and I’m pretty certain IndyCar doesn’t know. We can speculate and have opinions, but what I do know for sure is that IndyCar and IMS both have my email address and that they’ve never once sent a survey or asked for feedback. Do you know if R.P. will be refocusing marketing efforts and/or agencies? My guess is that he probably has a darn good marketing team on staff and I hope they start to look into the minds of passionate fans that would be glad to provide insight.

Also, have you ever considered doing polls on RACER.com or your Mailbag? You have a nice following and I see many diverse age groups write in. Thanks for the platform to voice our thoughts!

Darren, Knoxville, TN

RM: I think R.P. is going to take this first year to observe and evaluate everyone at IndyCar and IMS before he makes any major changes — or at least wait until after May. I appreciate your take on speeds and the three most-watched shows we had last May on NBC Gold were the three practice days, so obviously a lot of folks share your attitude. Not sure we’ve ever done any polls at RACER.com [ED: We did for a while, a few years ago] but it’s certainly something worth thinking about because we’d probably get a pretty accurate read from IndyCar’s fan base. Thanks for your note.

Q: It’s now been about two years since the NBC deal was announced (March 2018). At the time I thought this could be a game changer. Immediately, any driver or team seeking sponsorship could guarantee significantly more exposure for a partner than before: eight NBC network races (compared to five on ABC), better coverage (NBC’s team has done an excellent job), and the continuity of one network instead of flipping channels back and forth. As you talk to drivers and teams now, what impact do they think it has had?

Stu, Wisconsin

RM: I think everyone involved at IndyCar and IMS is thrilled with the amount of promotion that NBC has provided because it’s obviously heavily concentrated on Indianapolis but it’s also about the season. Last year’s Kentucky Derby was an infomercial for the Indy 500 and the race has never received that kind of coverage.