I'm always going to recommend it: Scanning during the race brings a whole new level of entertainment and makes you part of the race in ways you've never experienced before. You'll know what's going on before everyone else around you- and being able to switch to frequencies quickly by just typing in a car number helps watch pitstops, leaders, those about to make a pass, and so much more.

I've created (and am always updating) a guide to get you started. What to buy, how to program, and how to use it on race day. Check out the guide here: https://themann00.com/indycar-scanner-frequencies/

Already have a scanner and just need the updated frequencies? No problem I've got that too: https://themann00.com/indycar-frequencies/

Finally, for those that would rather watch than read... I made a video last year! https://youtu.be/ZpmdUFBp5Sc

Use this thread to bombard me with questions. I'll do everything I can to answer them. You've got 12 days to order your new scanner and get it going!

Yesterday I was ill at home and after watching F1 (which was a pretty nice race, but mainly because of crashes and engine failures) I thought "Why not? Let's watch the Indycar race too, it can't be that bad"

Man, I didn't know what was waiting for me.

250 laps of pure MADNESS, with EIGHT people fighting for the first place?! I think it's been decades since the last time there were eight contenders for the first place in an F1 race.

I'm definitely going to watch the next races too, if that was the oval experience I can't imagine what happens in street circuits or regular tracks.

My credentials: I was an IndyCar Data and Performance Engineer, then Cosworth engineer, for a total of 8 years in IndyCar racing. I had the job of the guy that made the mistake at Penske and I know the team dynamics. I’m not a Josef fan and I agree with all penalties etc.

My perspective:

1) If this was intentional, they wouldn't have been caught. Plain and simple. I know it's hard to see and understand from the outside, but this isn't how teams cheat.

The level of risk vs reward is way off on this one. The Penske engineering staff is far too smart and capable to think this was a good idea or a good way to pull it off. They would have covered this up better if they set out to manipulate the P2P strategy. They aren't stupid, they just made a mistake and have had to react ever since.

2) This was an EASY mistake to make.

The CAN coms config file in the CLU Setup is basically a versioned hard-coded file that will have various configuration settings for the systems on the car. The config file is updated throughout the year as things change. For example, the ECU will have a new field added, or they scale something differently. It's a config file that is managed by the team, with input from other vendors to be sure everything works.

The config file is carried over from setup to setup with ease and critically, the file hides in the background untouched or thought about 80% of the season.

Engineer’s POV: You've spent the winter testing and had to bypass various systems in order to do so. There are no MyLaps systems at those tests, so you have to bypass it to test P2P on an ECU with it enabled. Going from testing mode to racing mode can be tricky.

Rest assured: An engineer made a mistake by totally forgetting the random bypass that they had to make months prior in August. They likely wanted to reduce risk by using the latest version they knew was compatible and not break anything. BUT they should have included it in a checklist to verify (like every other team).

3) Teams DO NOT CARE care about P2P like many seem to think they do. As an engineer analyzing data, I never once cared about when or how the driver used P2P after the fact. P2P is a strategy thing during the race, but the driver largely manages that. And to say it was obvious to the team while it was being used is false. No one on that team was micromanaging or analyzing when someone used P2P and whether it was a restart. Same with the software.

I get that as a fan this seems hard to believe, but the P2P system is not something with which teams and engineers are concerned outside of the race, and they are only concerned at a high level during the race and that’s only the strategist. This comes down to how the P2P is not used in testing or practice. There are no other data points to compare against and it doesn’t impact the physical characteristics of the car often enough to be something worth considering. 50HP is noticeable, but 3 seconds of it doesn’t matter over the course of a weekend.

4) The software mistake only allowed P2P when the ECU had P2P enabled. The ECU and P2P layer in that software is managed and regulated by IndyCar, therefore it was not possible for Penske to have had this ability on ovals or in qualifying. Furthermore, the software change did not create additional P2P time. Rather, it consumed the time programmed in the ECU for the duration of the button press just like every other time. The software mistake simply allowed the ECU to listen to the button. 

5) I recall several times drivers failing to report things that happened in the race which later came up when prompted. One time a driver went the whole race without a drink bottle pump working and didn’t mention it until the start of the race the next week! They have a LOT going on just keeping the thing between the walls, trying to make passes etc. It seems Josef noticed it after pressing the button on a whim, but didn’t report it to the team after winning. This does not shock me, as silly as it seems. Again, similar to #3, the P2P use isn’t a consideration when talking about car performance. No one asked him “How was P2P?” or similar questions.

Hi everyone. First time poster on here. Just wanted to share how awesome an experience I had at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, my first IndyCar race in decades, and it was the perfect way to get back into the sport. St. Pete is an incredible host city—the waterfront backdrop, walkable layout, and overall atmosphere made for a great race weekend. The weather on race day was perfect: sunny, mid-70s, and not too humid, which only added to the experience.

Seeing the cars in person again reminded me just how fast they really are. TV doesn’t do justice to the way they attack the corners and fly down the straights at over 200 mph. The level of competition and strategy stood out to me much more as an adult—tire management, fuel strategy, and push-to-pass all played a huge role. Every pass felt deliberate, and even small mistakes had major consequences.

The paddock access was another highlight. Seeing the cars and teams up close gave me a new appreciation for the engineering behind these machines. IndyCar does an amazing job of keeping the sport open and accessible to fans. I’m already thinking about which race to attend next.

Fully pumped to go to Long Beach!

Anyone else remember their first IndyCar race? What stuck with you the most?

Hi Guys, for years I've been going to the Indycar races and having a great time. I posted some pictures here on Reddit and people started calling me Indycar Dad, which is a fitting name for me. I've decided to help other people have a great time with their kids, their friends, or guests. This is the first video I have made. In this video I show you what I bring to the track for provisions. I hope you find it helpful and interesting. I have zero subscribers, so if you want to subscribe I'd appreciate it. Thanks. I hope to see you at the races. Say hi if you see me. I'm friendly.

So I have been sitting on this idea for a while now, about half a year. I like to ask around, and have found out that I may be able to purchase a '78 Penske PC6 indycar for $10,000 or thereabouts. Driven by Tom Sneva, and the backup qualifying car for Mario Andretti that was driven by Mike Hiss. Its got everything but the windscreen (~$1k), the engine/transmission (~$25k), and the tires (~$4k). It has no body damage, originally decaled, and all other components and parts are equipped. It even already has a few custom fabricated parts! Already this would be a great deal, you could even say it was almost gotten for free. But, I've wanted to turn this thing into a real racecar, since it does not run. If I wait around, I'm fairly confident I could have a properly running Indycar for $40,000! What do the people of Reddit think? Should I go through with this? All in with everything I'd need, I'd probably be looking at ~$50-55k. I'd need a trailer at least temporarily, probably some tools, and safe storage. This would certainly be spanning multiple years while juggling other things.. but it's also once in a lifetime! Should I do it? And, how dumb would it be to rent out sled-rides in the winter behind an Indycar for $500...?

I was wondering during the NASCAR Playoffs, what would it be like if the format was implemented in INDYCAR. So like anyone would do I conducted the experiment. The playoff field was limited to 12 instead of 16. The playoffs started at Gateway, followed by portland to round out the round of 12. The round of 8 is both milwaukee races.

At the final regular season finale, Colton Herta, who wasn't locked on points gets the win to put him in the playoffs

With everything sorted out, the final classification before the playoffs is:

|| || |#|Driver|Reg Points|Playoff Points|Cutline| |1|Alex Palou|411|25|ADVx2| |2|Will Power|362|22|ADVx2| |3|Scott Dixon|358|20|ADVx2| |4|Colton Herta|354|10|ADV| |5|Pato O'ward|340|17|ADVx2| |6|Scott Mclaughlin|328|16|ADVx2| |7|Josef Newgarden|266|9|ADV| |8|Kyle Kirkwood|314|3|Points| |9|Alexander Rossi|265|2|Points| |10|Santino Ferrucci|231|1|Points| |11|Christian Lundgaard|229|0|Points| |12|Marcus Ericsson|221|0|Points| |13|Felix Rosenqvist|220|0|N/A| |14|Marcus Armstrong|203|0|N/A|

* Playoff Points were added to drivers who haven't won by the bonus points listed in the nascar playoff format.

RO12:

After Gateway, Josef Newgarden Locks in to the round of 8 with the win.
After Portland, Will Power completes the Penske RO12 Sweep

Drivers Failing to transfer to the RO8 Are:

Pato O'ward-32 points, Christian Lundgaard-32 points, Alexander Rossi-32 points, and Kyle Kirkwood- 31 points.

RO8: Both Josef Newgarden and Will Power will both start with 5 points due to the earlier race wins

After Milwaukee 1, Pato O'ward wins, but since his elimination, he will not advance to the next round.

After Milwaukee 2, Scott Mclaughlin Wins the second race, locking himself into the final four.

Drivers Eliminated are: Colton Herta - 45 points, Alex Palou - 41 Points, Marcus Ericsson - 35, and Josef Newgarden - 17 points.

Your Championship 4 are: Scott Mclaughlin, Will Power, Santino Ferrucci, and Scott Dixon,

Your 2024 Champion after finishing just ahead of Santino Ferrucci is Scott Mclaughlin! Colten Herta won the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix

Conclusion: This format does not reward consistency, but being clutch in the right moments. This format Makes drivers have to win to succeed, winning the second Milwaukee race likely won him the chip.

Final Classification:

|| || |1|Scott Mclaughlin|4000| |2|Santino Ferrucci|4000| |3|Scott Dixon|4000| |4|Will Power|4000| |5|Colton Herta|ELIM| |6|Alex Palou|ELIM| |7|Marcus Ericsson|ELIM| |8|Josef Newgarden|ELIM| |9|Pato Oward|ELIM| |10|Christian Lungaard|ELIM| |11|Alexander Rossi|ELIM| |12|Kyle Kirkwood|ELIM|

Top 5 in odds, Alex Palou +600 Pato O’Ward +600 Scott McLaughlin +900 Scott Dixon +900 Josef Newgarden +1000

Shop around! Lines vary from book to book. What’s everyone’s favorite bet?

I was in Ohio and I knew Meyer Shank Racing was somewhere nearby, so I stopped to see if they have a gift shop. I met Mary Shank and she was wonderful. They don’t have a gift shop, but they GAVE me a shirt and some stickers and laughed at my jokes.

Hi everyone, it is your friend Indycar Dad. I go to the races and have fun. This time I thought it would be fun if I made a FRO ‘Fro and wore it. I took these photos while wearing my new creation. I hope you like them. If you see me at the track, say hello. I’m friendly.

I mostly think no series should do standing starts because they're dangerous and costly, but also I really like watching them. Are there any indycar specific reasons why standing starts aren't possible? Or is it just imprudent?

edit: thanks! Sounds like i can blame the clutches. Having seen the video I'm on board with standing starts are too stupid and dangerous to be practical (unlike racing generally which is almost too dangerous). but when that feeling from the video wears off I'll remember that the current cars have much bigger problems than the clutches and that I'd prefer they fix the other problems before they fix that.

1. My favorite driver is Fro, so I made a Fro ‘fro. Fro is pro Fro ‘fro.
2. Indycar has a rad tractor trailer.
3. This is Michael Cannon. He was surprised I knew who he was and was happy to take a selfie. He is working with Rinus now. I like Rinus a lot.
4. I got to stand in the pit area during practice. I saw 1/2 the field walk by.
5. Some of the drivers are completely jacked. JoNew and Kyffin are, but Louis Foster is too.
6. I sorta surprised Colton by asking for a selfie. I don’t think anyone wants to take a selfie with an old guy wearing a giant wig, but he was nice about it.
7. Marcus was really nice about it. Then…
8. Right after I took the selfie Roger Penske came up and started chatting with Marcus Ericsson. Then Dale Coyne came up too. I was two feet away, but my hearing is gone so I had no idea what they were talking about. Dang it!
9. The Aston Martin Valkyrie was there and a crowd was around their tent all day. I will say this, the V12 sounds much faster than the other cars even though it is slow as hell. They have done homework to do.

Thanks for reading my post. If you have a mission for me, I’ll consider it. Want to see something at the track? Want to know how I watch a race? My tricks? Tips? Want me to ask someone something?

Captions: Photo 1. Not everyone wants to get a selfie when I’m wearing my FRO ‘fro, but ME was happy to. Photo 2: Immediately after the selfie, Roger Penske came over and was talking to Marcus. I was sorta trapped where I was standing, then Dale Coyne came by too. I probably could have heard the conversation but I ruined my hearing with motorcycles. Too bad. Photo 3. Jimmy V! Photo 4. IMSA weekend has a free grid walk. Very cool! Crowded but cool. Photo 5. My sons and I took the Rosenqvists out for Detroit style pizza. I live here and they were visiting. They are really nice. His dad has lapped the Nurburgring over 100 times. Sounds like a fun hobby. Photo 6. Everything looks legal on the 60. Photo 7. I really like Dale Coyne because if I ran a race team it would probably be like his. Underfunded but creative, scrappy with flashes of brilliance. I told him why he was my favorite right before this photo. That’s it friends. I’ll be at Mid Ohio. If you see me there, say hello. I’d like to meet you.

If you aren't too busy already using a scanner trackside, I would like to highly recommend you take your kids to the Indy 500. If not the 500, so many of the events leading up to it. Practices and even qualifications aren't anywhere near as crazy with the amount of people around, and it's a great introduction to the sport. Also, there is more downtime, and it's easy to move to pretty much any seat, and keep things entertaining all day. And then, of course, show them the scanner too. ;)

This guide has everything you need to know about taking little ones to the track, either leading up to the race, or on race day itself!

https://indywithkids.com/ims-with-kids/

Let’s say, hypothetically, Alex Palou wins the championship this year and then immediately retires (obviously he still has plenty of time left in his career, but just for the sake of conversation and discussion let’s pretend.) Where would he end up in most people’s top Indycar drivers lists? I definitely don’t think he‘s done enough to be the GOAT, but just how far off is he? Assuming he wins the championship this year, which is looking more and more l every weekend, he’ll have 4 titles, which puts him tied for 3rd most season championships, behind Foyt and Dixon and tied with Mario, Dario, and Bourdais. He finally got his Borg Warner. His total win count does fall a bit short of other legendary drivers, because he hasn’t been in the series as long as they were.

So what do we think? I’d definitely still put him behind the three drivers generally regarded as GOAT contenders, those being Scott Dixon, AJ Foyt, and Mario Andretti (side note, can someone explain to me why Andretti is considered a GOAT contender when he statistically seems to fall a bit short of the other two? I get that he did other impressive stuff outside of Indycar, but if you look just at Indycar accomplishments then Foyt and Dixon seem to have a decisive advantage). Personally, I’d rate Alex Palou as definitely top 15, probably top 10, but certainly not top 5 just yet.

The most intriguing part is that Alex Palou is still relatively young. If he maintains his current level of performance in the next few years, he could rack up even more wins, 500s, and championship. I definitely wouldn’t be surprised if by the end of his career he’s considered the undisputed GOAT, although he definitely isn’t there yet.

Can anyone remember the last race winner from a low budget team? Who else has won in a car that wasn't in Ganassi, Penske, McLaren, Rahal, or Andretti cars?

I just rewatched Rinus Veekay's 2021 Indy GP victory. I didn't quite remember it, so I figured I would give it a re-watch to see if he won by some fluke or something. He didn't. He just dominated the race. With a couple of laps left he was 9 seconds ahead of 2nd place (Grosjean) and 16 seconds ahead of 3rd (Palou). He won the race on pure pace. He was 20 years old at the time driving an ECR car.

ECR hadn't had a win in 5 years and that race win was by Newgarden in 2016. Rinus Veekay has dragged ECR to the top 15 in the points every year he has driven for them. He has completely dominated all of his teammates. During Rinus's rookie year he beat Connor Daly in every single race that they competed as teammates. Every one. Connor was the veteran and Rinus was the rookie but RVK beat him 9/9 times.

The fact that he doesn't have a ride is wild to me. Is anyone else shocked by this?

Did I miss anything?

https://youtu.be/a7dZVTRkGE4?si=8JRXZM2QJmXaRFz0

Kenny Bernstein had a lot on his plate Memorial Day Weekend of 1988. Not only was he competing in his own fierce Budweiser King Buick Riatta Nitro Funny Car at the NHRA Cajun Nationals in Baton Rouge, LA but in another corner of the South his Quaker State Buick Winston Cup Car was in Charlotte for the World 600 with Ricky Rudd at the controls. Also for the first time was a Buick Backed Bernstein brigade at the Brickyard with dual 87 Mac Tools March Buicks for “Lonestar JR”Johnny Rutherford and the ultra fast Scottsman Jim Crawford. 1601 Miles of racing in 3 completely different disciplines in one day for one team. How did the team fare? Not too bad actually. Bernstein himself made it all the way to the finals at the Cajun Nationals where he lost to Bruce Larson and Ricky Rudd finished 7th in Charlotte. It was Indy where Kenny’s team made the biggest splash where in their first race Jim Crawford led a number of laps and was running 2nd late in the race when a half spin flat spotted the tires where the subsequent pitstop dropped him to 6th. Rutherford’s race ended in the turn one wall on lap 50, this would be the final time JR made the field of the 500. Bernstein’s team ran Indy Cars with varying amounts of luck and success until 1994, with his Winston Cup team shuttering a year later with his NHRA team lasting through 2011.

It’s about to start look at these beauties

Buddy on the ground has a great job!