Curt Cavin: Carb Night Burger Bash VII set for May 23

Question: With all this talk about new qualifying procedures and car count and upgrades to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, there is one glaring omission to all the weekend activities and plans: Is there any information you can provide for the (sixth?) annual Carb Night Burger Bash? (John, Little Neck, N.Y.)

Answer: Actually, it will be the seventh Carb Night Burger Bash, and for those new to the sport or the 500 it's a free, outdoor, family-oriented racing event held Friday night, May 23, at 96th Street Steakburgers on 96th Street (north side of town). I host it along with Kevin Lee, and we invite special guests. There's a drawing for prizes and an auction, and all proceeds go to initiatives that support hearing issues of children in this community. Burgers, fries and unbelievable milkshakes are available for purchase. The goal is to push our total event donation to over $100,000 this year. By the way, Scott Dixon was our original guest, in 2008, and he won the 500 that year. Other past attendees include Dan Wheldon (a race winner and a runner-up in the years he attended), Ed Carpenter, Tony Kanaan, Alex and Bronte Tagliani, Pippa Mann, Johnny Rutherford, Simona De Silvestro, Conor Daly, Katherine Legge, Randy Bernard, Beaux Barfield, and I'm probably leaving someone out. The event begins at 6:30 p.m., includes the live radio show from 7-8 p.m., and concludes sometime around 10 p.m. Again, it's free and fun, and photographs of past events are in the photo section of curtcavin.com.

Question: Simply put, after incidents where a driver like Ryan Hunter-Ray is at "fault" for an avoidable incident, do times like Andretti compensate the other teams for damage? I would imagine that a smaller team like SFHR might have a harder time absorbing such costs. Or is it simply accepted (and budgeted for) as part of the cost of racing? (John, Los Angeles)

Answer: A lot of the latter, although there have been numerous examples over the years of teams helping others out, sort of as compensation. But like a lot of states, this sport is no-fault in terms of repairs. One point to be made though: Hunter-Reay wasn't officially charged with anything.

Question: I have a note on the calendar that there is testing at the Speedway on April 30. Is that still on and is it on the oval or road course? (Jay, Martinsville, Ind.)

Answer: Yes, it's still on, and that's the first road course test. It's an open test, so all competitors should be in attendance. IMS hasn't said what the public availability, but the area around the museum is always open at no charge.